The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 114

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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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Yeo Joo Saves the World – Episode 114

The day the Regular Gate Auction House opened.
“Ugh, I just washed it yesterday!”
Jang Su Ho cried out in despair as he watched the steady rain falling.
“I told you not to do it. You never listen, Jang Su Ho.”
I clicked my tongue disapprovingly.
At that, Jang Su Ho muttered with considerable grievance.
“No, you said it yourself, Yeo Joo—that we’d be getting our pictures taken.”
“That’s true.”
I’d been pushing the guild members since yesterday.
They’d be standing in front of cameras, so they needed to pay attention to their appearance.
And this puppy Jang Su Ho had fussed over his car instead of himself.
‘Well, they’re all handsome enough that just combing their hair would do.’
I turned to look at the guild members, who had all boarded the car by now, and nodded.
“Then let’s depart!”
With Jang Su Ho’s shout, the car began to move.
I turned my head and gazed out the window.
The Justice Guild Building was gradually receding beneath the overcast sky.
As I watched it for a moment, Kang Han, sitting beside me, asked.
“Is something the matter?”
“No. Nothing’s wrong.”
“It doesn’t seem that way.”
Kang Han’s green eyes gazed at me intently.
Ah, there’s no hiding anything from this man.
I shook my head slightly and spoke quietly.
“I feel uneasy.”
Truth be told, I’m quite uneasy.
Gwak Ho Young has been far too quiet.
Or rather, it’s Sa Ma Young behind Gwak Ho Young.
It’s hardly a secret that the Taesan Guild has thrived under the backing of the Sama Guild.
So think about it.
Why did we have to go all the way to Gangwon Province to be assigned a Guerrilla Gate in the first place?
It was because of Sa Ma Young’s interference.
Yet we broke through that sabotage and closed the Gangneung Gate, capturing the public’s attention entirely.
And we snatched it right from the hands of the Taesan Guild, which was close to the Sama Guild.
Then the Taesan Guild suddenly proposed a joint conquest.
I seized the opportunity, but I suspected there had to be some ulterior motive behind it.
“But nothing’s happened so far.”
“Either way, we’ll be fine. If things get dicey, we can always go back to mining.”
Kang Han spoke with a hint of amusement in his voice.
So he’d learned to joke around by now.
“That’s right. I saw how good you are with a pickaxe last time, remember?”
I smiled back at him as I spoke.
But that didn’t entirely dispel the nagging unease I felt.
‘Could they be trying to make us spend more money?’
The Justice Guild’s only real weakness was still finances.
‘I need to film more commercials soon.’
Once this Regular Gate Auction House conquest was over, I’d need to seriously focus on earning money again.
I made that resolution while gazing out the window at the Awakener Association building.

* * *

Unlike the Yeouido Mining Dungeon Auction House, the Regular Gate Auction was overseen by the Awakener Association.
It didn’t operate on a fixed schedule.
The schedule fluctuated according to the Gate Prediction Headquarters’ decisions, but whenever an auction was held, the area in front of the Awakener Association was always packed with crowds.
Today was no exception.
Reporters lined up right behind the press line, and enthusiastic supporters from each guild filled the area so densely that traffic in the vicinity came to a standstill.
But that was only at the beginning when the major guilds arrived.
As the surroundings grew quieter, Reporter Choi from the Jogang Daily News quietly stepped back a few paces and called over his junior.
It was a deliberate move to avoid the YouTube livestream camera that was filming nearby.
“Should we start wrapping up?”
“Yeah, we’ve got all the shots we need anyway.”
I checked my phone and saw the livestream viewership was already starting to decline.
“Once Taesan goes in, I think we can really turn off the camera.”
Reporter Choi’s junior said while wiping rainwater off his glasses.
“But Taesan isn’t even a top-tier guild. Why are they so popular anyway?”
Reporter Choi asked while watching Gwak Ho Young, who had just arrived and was still answering interviews from journalists.
“Well, he’s got decent looks. And he’s friendly with supporters.”
“Is that so? What’s with kids’ tastes these days? I don’t think he looks that impressive….”
“There’s some bad gossip about Gwak Ho Young, but what do regular people know about that.”
“True. Hey, wait. Another car coming in?”
Reporter Choi instinctively raised his camera as he spoke.
It was a black van still approaching from a distance, but through the camera lens, the lettering was clear.
“Justice… Isn’t that the Justice Guild?”
Other journalists who had been killing time nearby also sensed something and raised their cameras.
Dozens of lenses—including YouTube livestream cameras—glinted as they focused on the Justice Guild’s black van, which was just now slowing down as it entered the Awakener Association.

* * *

A parking attendant approached and took the van keys from Jang Su Ho.
“Let’s go.”
Kang Han said this as he opened the car door.
At the same moment, a crackling sound erupted, and we were greeted by a barrage of camera flashes.
“It’s the Justice Guild!”
“Get the shot!”
The Justice Guild’s popularity hadn’t suddenly skyrocketed.
Rather, everyone seemed to be in a rush to capture us on camera simply because we’d appeared at the Regular Gate Auction House—the sheer novelty of it all.
Looking back, the younger guild members, including Im Chung Soo, seemed somewhat tense, yet they maintained their composure admirably.
It was gratifying to see them so well-trained.
“Look over here, please!”
Led by someone’s shout, the reporters beyond the press line thrust their cameras forward even more aggressively.
Even the media outlet that had been interviewing Gwak Ho Young just moments before.
‘Serves him right, absolutely.’
For Gwak Ho Young—the ultimate attention-seeker—this was a cruelly ironic situation.
‘Look at that. See him glaring?’
Gwak Ho Young, his cameras suddenly stolen away, was now staring at us from across the way with a forced smile.
Then our eyes met.
‘What are you going to do about it?’
I responded with a smile of my own.
We were locked in this silent staring contest when a black umbrella suddenly blocked my view.
“Why are you standing in the rain?”
The person holding the umbrella over me was Kang Han.
“We’re going inside soon anyway.”
“Still, it’s not good for your health.”
Perhaps it was the rain.
Or perhaps it was because we were sharing the same umbrella.
But at that moment, Kang Han’s voice seemed lower than usual, and somehow unfamiliar.
“Guild Master Kang Han!”
At a reporter’s call, Kang Han shifted his gaze from me and looked up.
“Is the Justice Guild challenging a Regular Gate on your own?”
“That’s not the case. The Justice Guild is—”
“The Justice Guild is partnering with us at Taesan—”
Gwak Ho Young, who had drawn near, tried to interrupt Kang Han’s words.
But Kang Han didn’t allow it.
Regardless of what Gwak Ho Young said, he simply continued speaking.
“The Justice Guild intends to challenge the dungeon in alliance with the Taesan Guild.”
Naturally, the reporters’ microphones and cameras remained focused on Kang Han.
‘Ah, this is Kang Han.’
More precisely, it was the gravitas of the man called Kang Han and the enduring influence that came with the name “Justice Guild.”
“The Justice Guild’s popularity has been rising since the Gangwon Province Gate incident last time. How do you feel about that?”
Even to this somewhat unexpected question unrelated to the dungeon auction, Kang Han remained unshaken.
“We at the Justice Guild will strive even harder to ensure the peaceful lives of our citizens.”
It was an honest and reassuring answer befitting a former soldier.
People loved this side of Kang Han.
You could tell just by watching the reporters unconsciously nod their heads.
Wasn’t this the very difference in star quality?
Moreover, Kang Han had learned without instruction how to captivate reporters.
“The auction will be starting soon, so I’ll head inside now.”
“Ah, Guild Master!”
“Please answer just one more question!”
“Let’s go, Yeo Joo.”
I bowed respectfully to the reporters on Kang Han’s behalf, then moved forward.
An umbrella tilted over my head.
One of Kang Han’s broad shoulders was taking the full brunt of the rain.
“Guild Master, if your shoulder gets wet, it diminishes your dignity.”
I said this while pushing the umbrella handle toward Kang Han.
“What does it matter if it diminishes a little?”
The black umbrella tilted back toward me almost immediately.

* * *

As we entered the auction house, the scene that had unfolded before the press line moments earlier repeated itself.
Every eye in the venue turned toward us.
The Taesan Guild following behind had long since become mere background players.
“What? The Justice Guild?”
“The Justice Guild, you say?”
The massive auction hall began to stir with murmurs.
“Justice is already here?”
“Do they think the Regular Gate Auction House is their personal playground?”
The faces of those casting hostile glances our way were familiar.
They were all hunters from the top guilds whose faces I’d seen countless times on raid broadcasts.
Yet their expressions carried an unmistakable undercurrent of tension.
It was a reaction that wouldn’t have surfaced if they weren’t secretly wary of the Justice Guild’s meteoric rise.
As I stood there for a moment, facing their piercing stares with my entire being, it happened.
“Justice Guild! It’s been forever!”
A cheerful voice called out to us, bright and alone.
“Look who’s here!”
Yoo Myung Hwa, the guild master of the Dongbaek Guild, bounded up the stairs with long strides, waving her hand.
“Ugh, seriously….”
Without thinking, I tried to hide behind Kang Han and slip out of Yoo Myung Hwa’s line of sight.
But over Yoo Myung Hwa’s shoulder, I caught sight of a devastatingly handsome face.
“…Damn it.”
It was Sa Ma Young.

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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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