My Beloved Sister And The Woman I Once Loved (1)

After spending a sleepless night filled with regret and anger instead of celebration following the first dive, I waited early in front of Mina’s hospital room.

Hearing the nurse announce visiting hours, I was the first to enter the room, quickly heading towards the bed where she lay.

Skin and bones. That was truly the perfect description.

Mina’s arm was so thin, it looked like a thin, flesh-colored film draped over a skeleton. Seeing her frail figure made my chest feel tight and heavy.

Even though this was not the Earth I lived on, the bond of blood was not a simple matter to ignore, and I couldn’t stop the tears while looking at Mina.

The foolish former version of myself would have been grateful to the doctors and the hospital for draining Mina’s blood to the point of leaving only skin.

‘Should I have wished for my sister’s recovery?’ I felt self-reproach as Mina’s condition was looking so severe.

‘Check.’

With the divine command, Mina’s physical information revealed its secrets.

Luck at 0. No, more than that, if it’s a Unique grade, it’s almost like a curse of a rich level. Is there such an existence on Earth? Above all,

‘Originally, it was a demigod level curse?!’

What on earth is happening to Mina?

“Just a little… Just wait a little longer.”

Since finding out that Mina’s condition was a curse and not an illness, I had been thinking of a solution.

After yesterday’s successful dive, the possibility increased even more. There’s not much time left.

The remaining time, according to the confirmation window, was 93 days.

“93 days? Summon Contract.”

It’s similar to the time specified in the contract? With 2 minutes left on the countdown, I anxiously watched the contract time and Mina’s status window alternately.

And finally, the contract time changed to 92 days.

‘Check.’

Just in case, I reactivated the check command and anxiously watched Mina’s status window.

The time is different. Along with a strange sense of relief, an uneasy feeling lingered.

“This is strange…”

The intuition honed over 30 years on the battlefield was warning me that something wasn’t right about this.

But the worry stopped there. The nurse informed me that visiting hours were over.

Now, I just need to prepare a few things in advance before the next dive and execute it.

‘Yeah, it’ll work out.’

After I left the treatment room, a breeze stirred once at Kim Mina’s bed in the far corner of the empty intensive care unit, then subsided.

Simultaneously, a shallow moan escaped from her lips, followed by a puff of white smoke that dispersed with a deep sigh.

After leaving Mina’s intensive care unit, I headed to the bank.

Upon arriving at the bank and stating my name, the staff politely guided me to the branch manager’s office.

“Oh! Come on in.”

The man greeted me warmly.

He was so large that he could put any bulky figure to shame. If we had met outside, he might have been mistaken for a gang member rather than a bank branch manager.

I bowed politely to the man whose few visible gray hairs made him appear more intimidating.

“Hello, Uncle?”

He is my uncle.

When other relatives were eyeing my parents’ inheritance and insurance money, the image of him rebuking them with his imposing figure was still vividly etched in my mind—more precisely, in the mind of the ‘me’ living in this dimension.

“Yes, you rascal. Why haven’t you contacted me even once all this while?”

“I’m sorry. I’ve been busy with one thing or another.”

“Busy, my ass! You’ve been preoccupied with Mina, haven’t you? I know everything. So, have you eaten?”

“Yes.”

A smile naturally formed on my lips at my uncle’s still warm inquiry.

It seems that to the ‘me’ in this dimension, this uncle is remembered as the only person to rely on after losing my parents. My body reacted instinctively, as if acknowledging this.

‘Check.’

However, I am not ‘the old me.’ Even if someone seems close or reliable, people cannot be easily trusted.

I smiled and looked at my uncle, initiating a verification.

Fortunately, the level of affinity was favorable. Among the seven stages of enemy, hostility, caution, neutral, friendly, favorable, and trust, it was ‘favorable,’ just below ‘trust.’

The possibility of my uncle deceiving or betraying me was very low.

I added a safety measure to that.

“Uncle, I have something to tell you.”

As the skill activated and the intimacy level rose, my uncle listened to my story with even more caution and focus.

“Although Mina’s hospital bills are free, the unknown medication is not covered by insurance, so a considerable amount of money was needed, and we put the house up for sale.”

“What?!”

With a worried face suggesting whether we were impoverished enough to sell the house, I asked my uncle to continue listening and proceeded with my story.

“While organizing things after putting the house up for sale, I discovered a letter left by my father. I don’t know what he was involved in or what he was doing before he passed, but it seems he felt threatened. He left some belongings secretly for Mina and me, especially worrying about Mina. So, I want to dispose of them.”

“Hmm… Jae-sung and his wife must have gotten involved in something bad while trying to cure Mina…”

‘Huh?’

The lie I concocted to dispose of the precious metals obtained from the dive revealed a truth even I, or rather ‘I’ in this place, didn’t know, as it slipped from my uncle’s lips.

Did my parents really try to treat Mina?

Well, they weren’t as frustratingly clueless as I am.

They might have realized that what the hospital was doing to Mina wasn’t treatment but research.

“I’m not sure. But the inheritance left behind consists of gold bars without serial numbers and jewels without appraisals.”

“…Hmm. That’s fine. There are many high-ranking individuals connected to the bank who actually prefer such things.”

“Then…”

I opened the bag slung over my back and stacked twenty 1kg gold bars on the table. And one large diamond as well.

My uncle, who was looking at me with surprised eyes as I casually took out all these items, asked in a trembling voice.

“I-is this all…?”

“I’m not sure. Depending on how you handle it, there might be more.”

“…You’re doing well. Yes! You shouldn’t fully trust even me. That’s how you survive and Mina survives. The world is like that.”

“Yes…”

“Haha, kid. There’s no need to feel sorry or embarrassed. I’m really praising you for doing well. Before, you were so kind that I was worried, but now I see it was all unfounded.”

Family. Unlike others bound by blood, my uncle doesn’t hide his genuine smile, feeling proud rather than hurt by my words.

Then he stood up, retrieved a secure bag from the safe, and carefully packed the gold bars and diamond.

“By when should I handle this?”

“Pay more attention to discretion than speed. Just in case someone bothers Mina or me.”

“Alright, got it. The gold bars… just wait 3 days.”

“Thank you, Uncle. The brokerage fee is 10%.”

“Hahaha, it’s fine. If there’s more business in the future, take care of it. This kind of deal benefits me too.”

“Yes.”

“By the way, 20 gold bars might only be worth between 800 million to 900 million, but this diamond, even to an amateur like me, seem extraordinary. It must be worth at least in the billions. This will take some time.”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

The money needed right now was already sufficient. The character for the next dive was also ready. With an 8-day dive cooldown, there was still plenty of time.

“Alright. While you’re here, let’s have a drink together, nephew.”

“Pardon…?”

“A drink. You should learn about drinking from an adult. Let’s go.”

“…Yes.”

Unable to tell my uncle, who was smiling mischievously while cracking his knuckles, that I’d already tried most drinks, including the ‘Black Dragon’s Breath,’ which could be lethal to an average person. After all, it was all in the past in a future sense.

The place we entered with my uncle after leaving the bank was a typical pork belly restaurant.

I remember my father was weak with alcohol, but my uncle, on the other hand, could drink like a fish.

Anyway, it wasn’t until we drank ten bottles of soju between us that the drinking session ended.

I contacted my aunt to escort my uncle, who was now unconscious, back to their house.

Politely declining my aunt’s offer to stay the night, I returned home to find it was already dawn.

“Whew…”

After undergoing two forced transformations, there was no physical fatigue, but a wave of mental exhaustion swept over, leading me to walk to the bed and close my eyes.

I fell asleep, newly realizing that time flows incredibly fast for those who need it.