The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 121

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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 121

“It’s over.”
I brushed off my pants and stood up from the spectator seats as I spoke.
I had never worried that Jang Su Ho would lose the sparring match.
He had merely been inhibited by the handicap he carried, but now that Jang Su Ho had broken free from the constraints he had imposed upon himself, there was truly nothing left to see in this contest.
I approached Jang Su Ho, who still stood motionless, and offered my praise.
“You did well. You can do it when you try, Jang Su Ho.”
“Yeo Joo.”
Jang Su Ho turned to face me, his expression brimming with emotion.
“Impressive, Jang Su Ho. But don’t hug me.”
“I can’t?”
“You can’t.”
Jang Su Ho, who had instinctively reached out to embrace me, froze at my words.
Between us, an embrace meant nothing, but it could mean something entirely different to others.
And the last thing we needed was rumors spreading.
While Jang Su Ho’s face fell slightly at the failed embrace, Kang Han stamped his approval to Gwak Ho Young.
“I understand that Hunter Jang Su Ho will take the front line during joint operations.”
“…Yes, of course. So we can only trust the Justice Guild?”
Gwak Ho Young’s attempt to laugh magnanimously while unable to voice his true feelings due to pride was rather amusing.
Why pick a fight you can’t possibly win?
Even if someone underestimated Jang Su Ho, this was absurd.
When he gets angry, he tears monsters apart with his bare hands.
There was no way even the experienced Kim Han Kwon could defeat a composed Jang Su Ho.
It was obvious if one thought about it for even a moment.
“Then let’s conclude the training here.”
With those words, Gwak Ho Young turned and left first.
I was thinking about teasing them a bit more before letting them go, when I heard a hushed conversation coming from the entrance.
“How could you say Jang Su Ho won right there! If he just got back up and kept fighting, we would have had a real chance!”
Kim Han Kwon, his face flushed with indignation at losing such an obviously one-sided match, was complaining to Hunter Yoo Jin Rok.
He was simply making excuses because he was embarrassed about losing.
But Hunter Yoo Jin Rok, who had been quietly listening to this unreasonable complaint, threw a direct punch at Kim Han Kwon.
“If the shield falls like that in an actual combat situation, all your allies behind you are in danger, Han Kwon. A shield must hold their position no matter what.”
There was nothing wrong with what he said.
“Anyone listening would think you’re still the Taesan Guild leader, Hunter Yoo Jin Rok. Stop acting so superior.”
With nothing left to say, Kim Han Kwon made that final jab and followed Gwak Ho Young out of the Training Facility.
His retreating figure looked even more pathetic than when he’d lost to Jang Su Ho.
“Sigh.”
Yoo Jin Rok let out a deep breath, shaking his head silently.
It seemed less an expression of anger at Kim Han Kwon’s mockery and more a manifestation of concern that his advice wasn’t being heeded.
The other Taesan Guild staff had all left the Training Facility, leaving Yoo Jin Rok alone—so I approached him.
“Yoo Jin Rok.”
“…What is it, Yeo Joo?”
He looked puzzled as I, someone he’d only met once, suddenly approached him.
“Could you spare me a moment?”
With that, I immediately retrieved a box containing ten bottles of Chung Soo’s ‘Vitality Enhancement Tonic’ from my Subspace.
“I remembered hearing that your daughter was admitted to the Awakened Healer Hospital last time. Please take this.”
“What is… this?”
“See that boy over there who looks like a squirrel? Despite appearances, he’s an S-rank Potion Master—Im Chung Soo. This is a vitality potion he made.”
“S-rank….”
Yoo Jin Rok alternated his gaze between the box I offered and Im Chung Soo still sitting in the spectator stands, then waved his hand dismissively.
“I can’t accept something this expensive.”
Despite it being related to his daughter, his response was quite reasonable.
Of course, I hadn’t expected him to accept it outright from the start.
I pressed the box toward him again, persuading him.
“I understand your position makes it difficult to accept gifts because of the situation between Taesan and Justice Guild. But this could help your daughter’s condition.”
This was a tonic made by none other than an S-rank Potion Master.
Yoo Jin Rok, who couldn’t possibly not know that, began to waver slightly as I urged him once more.
“That may be true, but….”
“No one on our side will mention this gift to Taesan Guild. Just take it and consult with your daughter’s attending physician before using it. There’s a chance it might not be effective anyway.”
Yoo Jin Rok seemed to be deliberating.
But it didn’t take long before he closed his eyes tightly and accepted the box I offered.
No parent could stubbornly refuse to the end when there was even a chance their one and only young daughter could suffer a little less.
“Thank you for your consideration… Yeo Joo.”
“Not at all. I heard you helped Jang Su Ho when he was in a difficult situation. Think of it as a belated expression of gratitude.”
The potion responded with the now-familiar cheerful chime.

《 ♥ 6 》

A new number appeared above Yoo Jin Rok’s head.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
Ding—
Ding—
Ding—
Ding—
Ding—
Ding—
It was absolute chaos.
Curious about what was happening, I glanced around and saw affinity speech bubbles floating above the heads of the Justice Guild members.
It seemed my concern for Yoo Jin Rok had raised their affinity toward me.
They must have arrived and been listening for a while now.
Jang Su Ho and Kang Han’s affinity increased by two points each.
‘Jang Su Ho is the former guild master, so that makes sense. But why Kang Han?’
His expression was as expressionless as always, but his eyes were definitely smiling.
…I had no idea.
Who could fathom what lay beneath that facade?
Thinking that good things were good things, I turned back to Yoo Jin Rok and spoke.
“If the potion has any effect, please let me know. I can provide as much as you need.”
“…Why do you care so much?”
“Well.”
Of course, the real reason was to recruit him into the Justice Guild.
But considering Yoo Jin Rok’s personality, if I laid everything bare, he might even return the gift I’d given him.
I smiled and answered.
“How about I explain after we finish clearing the dungeon?”
Yoo Jin Rok was a seasoned hunter.
That meant he’d already sensed why I was suddenly offering such a precious gift.
But nothing could overcome his feelings toward his daughter.
“…I understand.”
Yoo Jin Rok nodded and spoke.
“Thank you, Yeo Joo.”
…Lately, I’ve been hearing gratitude quite often.

* * *

The day of the joint regular Dungeon conquest between Justice Guild and Taesan Guild.
Despite the early hour of 4 AM, the quiet residential area of Ansan City, Gyeonggi Province, bustled with activity.
I muttered to myself while watching the swarm of Taesan-related personnel around the civilian access barrier drawn by the Awakener Association.
“Why did those people bring so many unnecessary people? Shouldn’t only the conquest team come?”
Lee Yu Eul, who had been clinging to me from behind while worrying that the cold dawn air might give me a cold, answered.
“Gwak Ho Young loves showing off. Whenever he enters a Dungeon, he apparently makes his employees suffer like this.”
“…Gwak Ho Young’s character is worse than I thought.”
“You’ve seen what he does to Jang Su Ho every time we meet. I thought I’d die holding back my anger. Sister, I did well, right?”
Lee Yu Eul rested her chin on my shoulder and whimpered, seeking praise.
“Yeah, yeah. But there are more reporters than I expected.”
“That? Only six came.”
“Dongbaek Guild is entering an A-rank Dungeon starting this morning. So six is quite a lot.”
“I see.”
“There are quite a few people in the live broadcast chat. Two thousand.”
I pulled out my phone to check the viewer count on the YouTube live stream.
But Lee Yu Eul suddenly snatched my phone from behind and said.
“No, sister. This is the Taesan Guild broadcast channel. Our guild’s broadcast channel is this one.”
“Huh? There are two broadcast channels?”
“Look, look. There are two cameras, see?”
Following Lee Yu Eul’s fingertip, I could indeed see two cameras filming separately—one toward us and one toward Taesan.
“Most joint conquests are like that. Separate cameras, separate broadcast channels.”
“Then when we did a joint conquest with Nakseung Guild last time?”
“Yes. We were watching the Taesan channel.”
The live broadcast channel labeled with Justice Guild’s name that Lee Yu Eul showed me had barely over a hundred viewers waiting.
Unlike Taesan’s channel where chat messages scrolled up fairly quickly, the chat window here was quiet.
But it didn’t matter.
“They’re all coming for a pilgrimage ahead of time.”
Once the actual conquest began, far more people would flood into Justice Guild’s channel than Taesan’s anyway.
I was determined to make that happen no matter what.
The moment I put my phone away with that thought, Im Chung Soo, who wasn’t entering the Dungeon today, approached and started nagging me.
“You brought the wound healing potions, right?”
“How many times are you going to check, Im Chung Soo? I said I brought everything. Is this another flag for you?”
“Flag? What’s that?”
“You know, like in movies. When a minor character about to die says, ‘Once this war is over, I’ll definitely propose to her.'”
“Eek! Words can become reality!”
“No, you’re the one planting those seeds right now!”
Despite my protest, Im Chung Soo’s palm kept slapping my forearm.
Just then, Kang Han, who had finished talking with the Awakener Association staff, returned to collect me.
“It’s time to enter now.”
“Already? Has it gotten that late?”
I spun around in surprise to find a Gate already beginning to materialize sluggishly in the empty air, with the remaining guild members standing before it, waiting for me.
And moments later, a blue access barrier line cleaved the space between us and Im Chung Soo.
“Everyone, please be careful and come back safely.”
“There won’t be any problems, so head back to the guild and wait for us.”
I told Im Chung Soo, who seemed far more anxious than we were crossing through the Gate, and turned away.
But then I clapped my hands sharply and stopped in my tracks.
There was one thing I’d forgotten.
“Oh, that’s right. Chung Soo.”
“Yes?”
“Once we finish this Gate, this time we’re definitely going to grill meat on the rooftop and—”
“Ah! Noona! Come on!”
The kid was adorable, really.
I giggled at Im Chung Soo’s exasperated expression and followed Kang Han through the Gate.

* * *

As always, entering the Dungeon was effortless.
The Gate swallowed us whole as if welcoming us, and nothing obstructed our passage.
But the change came after that.
To be precise, it was the moment Tae San’s healer—the last member of the raid party—set foot on the Dungeon floor.
A Quest window appeared before everyone’s eyes.

[ ! Emergency Quest ! ]
Defeat all monsters and earn the right to challenge the Dungeon’s master.

“Emergency… Quest?”
Someone muttered in bewilderment.
In the silence where not even a breath could be heard, I screamed internally.
I’d watched countless strategy videos from other guilds while preparing for today, but the system had never issued a Quest like this before.
Everyone had simply followed the same formula—defeat the boss monster, destroy the Dungeon’s core, and close the Gate.
In other words, the Dungeon that had remained unchanged for decades was beginning to transform.
“Of all times.”
I slapped my own mouth repeatedly, replacing Im Chung Soo’s hand, for having set a flag right before entering.

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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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