When I Returned to Farming, National-level Big Juniors Flock - Chapter 20



Only Krnovel

20. Get off

A S-rank gate held in Busan a year ago.

Joo Ji-hye suffered a serious injury to her back while going inside with her team members and attacking the boss.

Although he barely survived after intensive care and surgery, the problem is that he suffered psychological aftereffects.

For a hunter, it was nothing less than a death sentence, something he had thought would never affect him for the rest of his life.

She suffered from anxiety when she learned that it was a precursor to the Awakened’s psychosis.

After I started to experience insomnia at some point, the more I couldn’t sleep, the worse the symptoms seemed to get, and the more anxious I became.

Even on the bloody battlefield, Joo Ji-hye, who was fine, felt as if her insides were being twisted as soon as night came.

At some point, her head became increasingly filled with noise.

Even though you are clearly thinking and living normally, it feels like your head is filled with cloudy things.

The noise gradually increased, and I felt myself becoming more and more nervous.

But what’s scariest of all is that they feel no guilt about treating others rudely and intimidating them.

As if the noise were masking the emotions.

“Huh…!”

But for some reason, it’s clear now.

Only vivid and clear pain is engraved all over my body.

It’s the sound of your muscles begging to stop and your lungs screaming for oxygen.

“Hehehe…! Hehehe…!”

Joo Ji-hye, who had collapsed, lay down looking up at the sky.

She was covered in dirty dirt and dust, but she didn’t care because she liked to be neat and tidy.

Tears flow from my eyes and sweat from my body.

“You’ve worked hard. It’s the first day, so let’s stop here for today. We’ll start full-scale training tomorrow, so you’d better get used to it quickly.”

“That, that can’t be…”

Joo Ji-hye looks up at Oh Hyeon-seong with tears in her eyes.

It is her tears that made countless male viewers shed tears in the drama.

But Oh Hyun-seong went in without even giving her a glance.

“It’s good to lie down, but if you go quickly and don’t rest properly, tomorrow will be harder.”

“I… bad… ugh..”

Joo Ji-hye put her hands on the ground, her arms trembling.

She barely got up and headed home on wobbly legs.

Entering the room in the annex, she collapsed without even thinking about washing her body, which was covered in dirt and dust.

“…Cool.”

She just fell asleep.

***

A basket full of sweet potatoes and potatoes.

This time too, Han Su-yeon only took the potatoes.

Oh Hyun-seong had no choice but to pick sweet potatoes for balance, and he has no regrets about that choice.

“…is crazy.”

“Isn’t it time for you to get used to it now, senior?”

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this taste again until I die.”

Wow!

Oh Hyun-seong swallowed the remaining sweet potato in one bite in a manly manner.

Han Su-yeon spread out the documents she had brought in front of him.

Time passed so quickly.

It was a compilation of data collected through rehabilitation and training over the past seven days.

“My insomnia has definitely improved. Over the past week, my average time to fall asleep has been just 3.18 seconds. This isn’t a cure, it’s torture.”

“It would be the most effective and excellent rehabilitation. What other data?”

Insomnia is just a symptom anyway.

It’s not a reliable number because it was forcibly put to sleep due to lack of strength.

Of course, since she fell asleep right away, the anxiety that had been eating away at her in bed would have disappeared, which would have helped her improve her condition.

I think getting a good night’s sleep would have helped your condition.

Anyway, what’s important now is the other items.

Han Soo-yeon took out the self-diagnosis report that Joo Ji-hye had submitted.

“He said that he barely felt tired after sleeping at set times for several days. His hand tremors disappeared, and the level of anxiety he felt was greatly reduced. He never lost his mind or showed any aggressive behavior even during the extreme training, so I think his psychological state is generally stable.”

During the week I was here, all my symptoms improved significantly.

However, anxiety symptoms are entirely subjective.

Because it is a mental problem, it is not easy to judge and diagnose it from the outside.

But it’s not like there was no way.

The magical power becomes rough and the body becomes physically weak.

These are common phenomena that occur among hunters before they become psychic.

That is why Oh Hyun-seong has been quantifying and measuring under the pretense of rehabilitation for the past seven days.

“All indicators grew significantly during training. It is impossible for someone in the midst of psychosis to see this level of increase.”

“That means the root cause has been identified.”

The precursor symptoms of psychosis that were eating away at the body and mind have improved.

Joo Ji-hye, who had been on a downward slope since her injury a year ago, showed a complete rebound.

This gave them confidence.

It’s not just that the deterioration has stopped, but that the psychological aftereffects have noticeably improved.

“The Hunter’s spirit, which was collapsing… has recovered.”

This is a story that would be absolutely impossible with conventional wisdom.

But it worked.

Since training alone could not have achieved this, Oh Hyeon-seong’s hypothesis that the spirit crops might have a healing effect was proven correct.

“I can’t believe it. I didn’t know something like this was possible.”

“Thanks for helping me too.”

Of course, the training they initiated was by no means empty.

Luckily for Joo Ji-hye, the two hunters who had been attached to her were two legends from the first generation.

Even in a short period of time, the stability of magical power has noticeably improved, and there has also been a rapid increase in physical strength, which had been declining since the injury.

After about three days, it seemed like she was starting to feel more relaxed as she followed the training.

Oh Hyun-seong knew all too well how to push high-level hunters to their limits and extract maximum growth from them.

‘Of course, we’ll have to wait and see if this is just a temporary improvement or a fundamental cure. But what’s certain is… the guy is getting better.’

***

Joo Ji-hye is sitting alone in her room, crouching down.

If it had been her before, she would have cried and thought about getting out, but she was just staring blankly out the window.

“…pretty.”

The sky and clouds drifting by.

A view of lush green mountains and forests.

As the days of training passed by without a trace, things that had been invisible before began to become visible.

Knock knock!

At that moment, Oh Hyeon-seong opened the door and came inside.

Then Joo Ji-hye quickly straightened her back and took a proper posture.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes! I slept well!”

“Good. Pack your bags and come out.”

“…You’re packing?”

“Okay, training is over now.”

“Yes? But… why?”

Joo Ji-hye, embarrassed, asked back without realizing it.

Of course, it was good that the hellish training was over.

But because each day passed by so quickly, I didn’t even realize how many days had passed.

Besides, a corner of her heart thought that there were still too many things lacking.

“The promised date has passed. And then I got a call from Jeong-il. He said he had to go up because of his schedule.”

Ugh.

She got her confiscated cell phone back.

It’s already been a week.

Joo Ji-hye made a bewildered expression.

However, my body was already moving, packing my things as instructed by Oh Hyun-seong, and when I came out, Oh Hyun-seong and Han Su-yeon were standing in front of the gate.

“Thank you for your hard work, Jihye.”

“You did a great job, beyond my expectations. You can be proud of yourself. The promised time is over. Now, let’s get off.”

“Instructors…”

“I told you the training is over. Don’t call me instructor.”

“Ha, but can I really leave? What if insomnia comes back again?”

Joo Ji-hye said hesitantly.

It was a really difficult time for her, but at the same time, it was also a time of comfort.

In the midst of a constant vicious cycle that pushed me to my limit mentally, it was the only place where I could be without worrying about anything.

Then Oh Hyun-seong handed her the large box he had been listening to while she was still standing there.

Let’s take a look inside. It’s filled with fresh strawberries.

“If you feel anxious, eat them one by one.”

When Joo Ji-hye’s surprised gaze turned to Oh Hyun-seong, he smiled.

“Although it was short, you went through my training course. Those who have been in my hands have not died easily, no matter where they go. So, don’t be afraid of that little disease.”

***

Shiver shiver.

My legs are shaking so loudly that they won’t stop.

Inside the waiting room at a drama filming site.

Joo Ji-hye was biting her fingernails with a very nervous expression on her face.

There was nothing to be anxious or afraid of, but it wasn’t as easy as it sounds.

As I left Oh Hyun-seong’s house and returned to a familiar space, the anxiety that had seemed to have disappeared slowly began to raise its head.

“Hey, you’re not going to cancel filming today either, are you?”

“It’s lucky you don’t give us shit. Why on earth did you bring the woman who ruined the last drama?”

“What I’m saying is.”

Outside the waiting room, the voices of staff members chattering could be heard.

They thought they were talking in a lowered voice, but Joo Ji-hye could hear everything they were saying.

“Shut up so they can’t hear you.”

Joo Ji-hye frowned and muttered.

If it were just a few days ago, I would have gone out there and killed those idiots.

It must have turned the entire filming set upside down.

However, Joo Ji-hye just shook her head.

She couldn’t just dismiss their words as nonsense.

In fact, even though he received a huge amount of money for his last drama, he ruined it by receiving harsh criticism for his worst acting skills since his debut.

Even without that, with his gate performances slumping, he was already being called a complete loser as an actor.

The fall was as steep as the popularity and expectations were high.

“Hoo…”

Joo Ji-hye looked down at her trembling hands again.

A heart that can hardly be calmed down.

I became even more anxious, wondering if the aftereffects of my own feeling anxious were getting worse again.

“Huh.”

But what caught her eye was a single strawberry in a small package.

‘Come to think of it… I told you to eat it when you feel anxious.’

Joo Ji-hye hesitated for a moment and then carefully reached out her hand.

Let’s eat strawberries, and as expected, a fantastic taste explodes in your mouth.

But it’s not just about taste.

A piece of strawberry eaten after finishing a training session that was so hard it felt like I was going to die.

More than anything, the time, place, and feelings of that delicious moment came to mind.

Soon, memories of that time expand.

Cool night air, a sky filled with twinkling stars, and a quiet landscape.

The city lights she longed for merely obscured the stars in the sky, and the crickets that had disturbed her sleep on her first night made her hum.

For some reason, when I thought about that time, my anxious heart calmed down.

“Let’s get started.”

Joo Ji-hye woke up and stormed out of the waiting room.

Standing confidently in front of numerous staff members and cameras, her gaze instantly changed to the cue given by the director.

As if I were a different person.

No, it captures in one picture a shining moment that only actress Joo Ji-hye can achieve.

Everyone present was spellbound and looked at her, struck by the deep resonance that everyone had forgotten about.

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