The All-Time Best Talent was F-Class Purification - Chapter 39

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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39
Chapter 39 – An Elite Talent Awakened as an F-Rank Purifier
Creak—
The door swung open with the groan of rusted hinges. In that instant, it was not our eyes but our noses that greeted us first.
“Ugh…”
Seo Eun-ha reflexively covered her nose. The splendor of her Dominion days had faded, but beneath her disheveled hair dyed a deep crimson, her sharp, piercing eyes still betrayed the sensitivity of her nature.
“The smell… it’s like rotting corpses mixed with disinfectant. Absolutely vile.”
Lee Ji-young, standing beside her, withdrew a handkerchief and pressed it to her nose. Behind her cold, silver-rimmed glasses, her typically sharp eyes trembled faintly.
“It’s the stench of decay. There’s no ventilation system at all.”
We stepped carefully inside. The interior was shrouded in darkness. Beneath a single flickering bulb that hung precariously overhead, the impoverished lay scattered like cargo—some with severed limbs, others covered entirely in pustules—their moans filling the oppressive air.
We navigated between the patients toward the innermost room, a medical clinic concealed behind a blood-stained curtain.
“Come… in.”
A woman’s voice, strained as though wrung from her very soul. I drew back the curtain.
There she was—Han Su-jin.
My first impression of her was that of a cracked saint’s statue. Her hair, cascading to her waist, had been bleached of all pigment until it hung limp and dull white, and her neck, exposed beneath a loose gray robe, was deathly pale. Yet within that pallor dwelt features so hauntingly, achingly beautiful they sent shivers down one’s spine.
But her hands told a different story. The hands visible beyond her robe’s sleeves were grotesquely twisted. Each finger joint was swollen into a deformed bulge, and the skin had blackened and necrosed into a sickly crimson hue.
Upon the surgical table lay a man whose legs had been crushed. As though pinned beneath construction materials, his bones protruded through torn flesh, everything drenched in blood. Worse still, from the wound site rose Zone 99’s distinctive black miasma.
“Please… save me… Holy One…”
Han Su-jin did not respond, her vacant eyes fixed upon the wound. Then she extended her hand, suffused with white light, toward the man.
“Heal.”
It was ordinary healing magic. Light enveloped the wound, but the black miasma pushed back against it, obstructing recovery. The wound remained unhealed.
“…As I thought. Ordinary healing won’t work.”
Han Su-jin murmured softly. Her expression twisted in agony. She had no choice. Drawing a deep breath, she altered her incantation.
“Transference.”
The moment the words left her lips, something grotesque occurred.
Whoooosh—
The black miasma clinging to the man’s wound and the shape of his shattered bones transformed into black mist, flowing through Han Su-jin’s hands and being drawn into her body.
Crack. Snap.
The man’s legs aligned as though nothing had ever been wrong. The miasma vanished, the bones fused, the flesh restored. It was a miracle. A contaminated wound that no potion could ever heal was instantaneously cured.
But the price was immediate.
“Aaaahhhhh!”
The scream came not from the man, but from Han Su-jin. Her left leg began to twist grotesquely, just as the man’s had been moments before. The sickening sound of intact bone fracturing of its own accord was laid bare and horrifying. It was the law of conservation of suffering.
“Gasp… gasp…!”
She tumbled from her chair and writhed across the floor.
“What… is this method?”
Park Jae-jung turned away, unable to bear the sight.
Lee Ji-young offered an explanation.
“That’s the price of an S-rank talent. She transfers impossible wounds that ordinary healing cannot mend into her own body. The patient survives, but the healer is destroyed… it’s an act of self-sacrifice.”
Han Su-jin crawled across the floor, rummaged through a drawer, and retrieved a low-grade potion, which she drank.
“Treatment… is complete… please… leave…”
The healed man left without a word of thanks, checking his perfectly restored leg before fleeing the medical clinic in terror. The look in his eyes wasn’t that of someone gazing upon a saint, but a cursed witch.
Only ragged breathing remained in the room. As her robe fell away, half of her face was already covered in horrific burn scars and tumors. The traces of suffering she had accumulated while saving other patients in the past had never properly healed—they had accumulated like contamination within her body.
I approached her slowly. She sensed my presence and lifted her head. The moment our eyes met, her gaze turned fierce in an instant.
“Don’t come near me…!”
She cried out.
“You’re not patients. You’re perfectly fine.”
She scanned my pristine clothing and the colleagues standing behind me.
“Did you come from a guild? Or are you some rich young master? Get out of here. I’m not accepting any scouts. I don’t want to die cleaning up after your filthy deeds!”
She knew exactly what we were. Not sick people, but people who coveted her abilities. I could see how many had tried to use her as a tool and then discarded her.
“Your leg is broken.”
I ignored her words and knelt down.
“If you leave it as is, it will necrotize. Your ordinary potions won’t properly set contaminated bone.”
“I don’t care… it’s my body… what business is it of yours!”
She tried to back away, but the broken leg only drew a pained whimper from her.
I removed my gloves. With my eyes grown to D-rank, I could see it. The terrible aura coiling around her body. It wasn’t merely physical trauma. Every time she used her substitution ability, the contaminated mana and curses she absorbed from others couldn’t be expelled—they accumulated like toxins within her body, clogging her veins.
She was an S-rank Healer, yet she was trapped in the paradox that healing didn’t work on herself. Her body was so packed with filth that no healing magic could take effect.
“It’s not karma.”
I said.
“It’s simply that you haven’t been cleaned.”
“…What?”
“Your body is completely clogged. You only accept others’ garbage in their place, but you can’t dispose of it, so it’s rotting away inside you.”
I reached out my hand. She screamed and tried to knock my hand away.
“Don’t touch me! If you touch my body, it’ll transfer to you too. This curse…!”
“Stay still.”
Park Jae-jung gently but firmly held her shoulder from behind. Taking that opportunity, I placed my palm over her shattered leg.
[Warning: High-concentration complex contamination detected.]
[Physical trauma, curses, toxins, and mana backflow are intermingled.]
The system’s red warning window filled my vision. Just touching it felt like my fingertips were burning away. That she had lived with this level of pain without her mind collapsing was a miracle.
‘I’ll consume it all.’
I drew my core energy to its maximum.
“Purification.”
Whoooooosh—!
Pure white light filled the narrow medical clinic. The stench of rot that had been vibrating through the air cleared in an instant, and a sacred aura spread outward.
Ssssshhhhh!
Black smoke poured from Han Su-jin’s leg. She tried to writhe in pain, but her expression quickly went slack.
“Huh…?”
There was no pain. Instead of that relentless agony that tore flesh and scraped bone, a coolness like dipping her feet in a cold mountain stream washed over her. The skin that had turned black returned to white, the misaligned bone found its place and knitted together. Most of all, the grotesquely protruding tumors melted away, revealing her original smooth skin beneath.
Just one minute. The wound and contamination in her leg that had tormented her for five years vanished without a trace.
“How… how is this possible….”
Han Su-jin touched her own leg with trembling hands. There was no pain. For the first time in five years, she felt a state of perfect wholeness. Unable to believe it, she pinched her own leg and stared blankly at my face.
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and stood up.
“I didn’t just fix your legs. I also cleaned out all the accumulated toxins festering in your body. I haven’t finished completely yet, but breathing should feel much easier now.”
She stared up at me blankly. Without the scars, her face was far more delicate and beautiful than I’d expected. Yet her large eyes brimmed with tears.
“Who… are you?”
She asked in a trembling voice. The wariness had faded, but fear remained—the look of someone terrified that salvation could come so easily, wondering what the price would be.
“I’m Lee Tae-hyun, Guild Master of Munglade.”
I didn’t extend my hand to her. Instead, I stepped back, giving her space to rise on her own.
“We need a healer. Your substitution ability is desperately vital to us.”
“…So you’re just asking me to suffer in someone else’s place instead.”
She bit her lip. Disappointment flickered across her face.
“No.”
I shook my head.
“When you bring our team’s wounds to yourself, I’ll burn them away for you. You carry them, and I erase them. Every single day, I’ll clean away any residue so nothing accumulates in your body.”
“Every day…?”
“Yes. A promise that you’ll never suffer alone again.”
She went blank. An existence that could circulate her cursed ability. For five years she’d been alone in hellish agony—this was salvation, her only liberation.
“If you’re lying…”
She murmured, lowering her head.
“If you’re lying… I’ll kill you.”
She gripped the wall and struggled to her feet. And for the first time, she didn’t avoid my gaze—she looked directly at me.
“Take me out of this hell.”
In her tear-filled eyes burned an intense, blazing will to live. I smiled and nodded.
“Let’s go. To where you belong.”
The van lurched to a stop with a subtle vibration. The ashen landscape of the slums that had filled the window vanished, replaced by the gleaming underground parking lot of the Golden Tower, wrapped in brilliant lights.
“Get out. We’re here.”
Seo Eun-ha popped her gum loudly as she opened the car door. Her bleached red hair was disheveled in a short bob, piercings dangled from her earlobes, and she wore a loose rider jacket. Gone was the neat uniform from her Dominion days—she looked every bit the rough punk from the back alleys.
Her speech was as jagged as her rough appearance, but she subtly positioned herself in front of Han Su-jin, shielding her from the security guards’ stares as they passed.
Han Su-jin hesitated to get out. She alternated her gaze between the filthy robe she wore and the gleaming epoxy floor, shifting nervously.
“It’s fine. If it gets dirty, we can just clean it.”
I extended my hand to her. She hesitated for a moment, then carefully stepped out without taking my hand.
The 35th Floor Penthouse. I showed her to the bathroom first.
“Wash up. I’ll leave clothes outside the door. Use as much hot water as you’d like.”
Han Su-jin entered the bathroom with a blank expression. Shortly after, as the sound of running water filled the space, silence and exhaustion descended on the living room.
Park Jae-jung collapsed onto the sofa and rubbed his shoulders, while Seo Eun-ha pulled a beer can from the refrigerator and cracked it open. I stood by the window, gazing down at the night city. We’d finally found it. The lifeline of our party.
Thirty minutes later, the bathroom door opened and Han Su-jin emerged. We fell silent for a moment.
The filth washed away, dressed in the white t-shirt and training pants I’d prepared—her platinum blonde hair damp and clinging to her shoulders, her skin pale as glass, her large eyes innocent of the world’s cruelties. The witch of Zone 99 had vanished entirely, replaced by a frail yet ethereal beauty.
“Sit down. Let’s have something to eat.”
Park Jae-jung had prepared porridge and clear broth. Han Su-jin picked up a spoon but couldn’t bring herself to eat.
“…The price.”
She murmured in a small voice.
“What’s the price for all this? Treating me, letting me stay… nothing in this world is free, right?”
“Exactly. This is an advance payment. Han Su-jin, you’ll become our party’s main healer. You may have to endure the agony of broken bones and torn flesh thousands more times. Of course, I’ll purify you each time, but the process itself won’t be pleasant.”
I pushed the bowl of porridge toward her.
“So eat up. This is an investment.”
My matter-of-fact tone seemed to ease her tension instead. With trembling hands, she began spooning the porridge into her mouth. As the warm food entered her, silent tears streamed down her cheeks. For the first time in five years, she was tasting a life that felt human.
After the meal, we gathered in the living room. Now it was time for a practical assessment.
“Han Su-jin. We need to understand your abilities precisely.”
I pulled out my notebook.
“Besides pain transference, are you capable of standard healing as well?”
She wiped her tears and nodded.
“Yes. I have a basic spell called Healing Light. I can treat abrasions and minor fractures without pain transference. But….”
“But?”
“Poisoning, curses, mana corruption, and fatal wounds—standard healing doesn’t work on those. That’s when I have to use Atonement. And it requires direct contact.”
“Direct contact….”
Seo Eun-ha crossed her arms.
“So you’re saying you have to rush out and touch us during combat? The healer has to come to the front lines? That’s dangerous.”
“That’s why we need a bodyguard.”
Park Jae-jung chimed in.
“I’ll stay by Han Su-jin’s side. While you and Seo Eun-ha deal damage, I’ll focus entirely on protecting the healer.”
Our roles were taking shape. If we maintained this cycle, we could fight like the undead.
After dinner, the night grew late.
“I should head out now.”
Lee Ji-young picked up her handbag.
“I have an early meeting tomorrow morning. I need to go home and change.”
“I’ll drive you.”
Park Jae-jung started to stand, but she waved him off.
“No need. I’ll just call a taxi. Focus on managing the healer instead. Don’t let her run away.”
She stepped out through the foyer and gave me a wink. She played it cool, but her actions today showed far more than mere curiosity.
“Get some rest.”
I assigned guest rooms to both Seo Eun-ha and Han Su-jin. Seo Eun-ha carried another canned beer into her room, while Han Su-jin bowed repeatedly in gratitude before carefully disappearing into hers.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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