'Kang Animal Medical Center'located on the outskirts of Seoul.
even past 2:00AM. the surgical lights showed no sign of turning off.
"Scalpel."
JIn-woo's voice was raspy. it was a major surgery that had been going on for seven hours.Lying on the operating table was a large German Shepherd. Its hind leg muscles and nerves were horribly mangled after being caught in a hunter's trap. Every other hospital had recommended euthanasia, but Jin-woo refused to give up.
"Blood pressure is dropping!"
"Inject 0.5cc of epinephrine. And prepare for suturing."
Jin-woo's fingertips trembled slightly from extreme fatigue. He hadn't slept properly for the past three days. Between the constant flood of rescue requests for abandoned dogs and house calls for farm animal, his daily life was already paralyzed.
why did he go this far? Some called him a 'madman,'while others called him a 'saint.'But Jin-woo, the reason was simple, it was because these little ones had no mouths to say that they were in pain.
"done.suturing complete."
Only after trying the final knot did Jin-woo toss aside his surgical gloves. The steady breathing of the Sheperd replaced the warning deeps of the monitor. As he took off his blood-stained gown, he out the window.It was pouring rain.
The Final Commute
Jin-woo stepped out the back door of the hospital and opened his worn-out umbrella. Normally he would have taken his car, but today, for some reason, he wanted to walk while listening to the sound of the rain. His mind was cluttered.
'How much longer can I keep doing this?'
He was in his late thirties. While his classmates had opened sophisticated cat-only clinics in Gagnam and drove luxury cars, he was still rolling in the mud of rural farms of treating injured stray animals, only accumulating more debt. To endure on a sense of duty alone, both his body and soul were worn thin
It was then.
Beneath a streetlamp in an alleyway, he saw a strange figure huddled in the rain. it wasn't a dog, nor a cat. If he had to describe it, it was a creature he had never seen before-like a tiny dragon with butterfly wings.
"You...where are you from?"
Jin-woo approached instinctively. It was a professional habit. Up close, the creature had a deep laceration on its flank, bleeding golden blood. Its eyes sparkled like jewels, seemingly containing a wisdom deeper than that of a human.
Without hesitation, Jin-woo knelt on the ground. Despite his pnts getting soaked by the rainwater seeping from the pavement, he pulled out an emergency first aid kit from his bag
"Stay still. I'll make you feel better soon."
the moment his hand touched the creature's wound, the entire alley was engulfed in a blinding white radiance. The sound of a rain vanished, and a strange sensation of weightlessness washed over him.
[Suitable subject identified.][Summoning 'Healer' as the restorer of the dying ecosystem.]
An inorganic voice echoed in his mind. Just before losing consciousness, Jin-woo saw tiny dragon he was trying to treat offer a faint smile.