The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 13

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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 13

Han Ji Sung didn’t answer and avoided my gaze.
His face, tilted slightly to the side, looked like a sculpture.
But right now, art appreciation wasn’t the priority.
“How can you possibly have not a single penny to your name?”
Lee Yu Chan’s claim that there was nothing to squeeze out of the Justice Guild wasn’t wrong.
This guild really was completely broke.
“I suppose we’ve been focused on paying off debts all this time.”
“Even so, this is ridiculous.”
I should have realized something was wrong from the moment I saw the four-story building with high ceilings had a broken elevator left in disrepair.
The Justice Guild, which had paid off 25 billion won in debt with my investment, was truly starting from zero again.
“After paying off 24.9 billion won, the remaining money went to overdue utility bills?”
We almost had the electricity cut off.
Imagining Lee Yu Chan practicing archery in a basement with no lights made my head spin.
I fell into thought.
It was as expected, but seeing the ledger made the severity hit home.
The Justice Guild needed money.
What could generate immediate income?
As I was pondering this for a moment, Han Ji Sung spoke up.
“It’s my lack of ability. I should have pursued additional revenue streams more actively.”
“Additional revenue streams?”
Han Ji Sung nodded and pulled something from a drawer inside the office.
It was something like a chunk of ice slightly larger than a fist.
“It’s a frozen construct made from Ice Spear, one of my skills.”
“This is Ice Spear?”
Normally, Ice Spear manifests in the form of an ice lance, true to its name.
The higher the awakening rank and the more mana poured into it, the larger it becomes and the more destructive power it gains.
But no matter how I looked at it, the frozen construct before my eyes was in a roughly spherical shape.
“Did you carve this from an Ice Spear?”
“That’s correct.”
Oh, lottery gods above.
My mind went blank at this unexpected development.
“Using mana consumes considerable stamina, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it does.”
“But you frequently go berserk, Sub-Guild Master.”
This time, he simply nodded without saying a word.
Watching his silver-like hair shimmer with the movement, I found myself even more exasperated.
“So you’re saying you make this, go berserk, make this, go berserk, and repeat?”
“…Not quite that frequently.”
“Either way, you do go berserk. Without even needing to clear dungeons.”
Another silent affirmation.
“By any chance, does the Vice Guild Master aspire to an early death?”
“…What?”
“No, I’m not going to stop you if that’s the case.”
Even within 【The Chronicles of Sejong】, Han Ji Sung hadn’t lived long.
His body, worn down from repeated berserker rampages—and being a mage with weak stamina at that—couldn’t even make it past the midpoint of the novel before dying.
And one of the reasons for that was this very side income.
“I understand. If you hadn’t done this, the Justice Guild would have collapsed long ago. I do understand that.”
I spoke while touching the ice crystal Han Ji Sung had created with my fingertips.
It was refreshingly cold, certainly suitable as a refrigerant for mana stone air conditioners or mana stone refrigerators.
“Don’t do this anymore.”
“But the Guild Master’s mining income alone isn’t enough to sustain the Justice Guild.”
“It’s fine. We’re going to make a lot of money from now on.”
At that moment, a cheerful chime rang out, and pink heart shapes began popping up from Han Ji Sung.

《 ♥ 10 》

“What’s your plan?”
Look at this man.
He was that delighted at the mention of making money.
How much hardship must he have endured managing such a tight budget all this time?
Thinking briefly of the struggles this ice prince of a man must have faced, my heart ached for him.
“…Give me a moment. It’s not something that just comes out whenever you press the button.”
I was racking my brain while avoiding Han Ji Sung’s increasingly eager gaze.

[ Hobak! ]

A notification popped up on my phone.
It was a message from someone interested in buying some of the items I’d listed on Hobak Market.
They wanted to meet at Mangwon Station, which happened to be right near my home.
“I’ll step out for a bit and be right back.”
I showed Han Ji Sung the Hobak Market screen and stood up.
…It’s absolutely not because I couldn’t think of a plan and was running away.

* * *

I hurried home a bit earlier than our scheduled meeting time, stashed all the remaining furniture into my subspace, and arrived at Mangwon Station where we’d agreed to meet.
As I glanced around the area, someone cautiously approached from beside me and asked.
“Are you… Hobak?”
“Oh, yes. You’re the one buying the furniture, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. But the items…”
The man who’d driven a small moving truck tilted his head in confusion.
“They’re in my subspace. Should I unload them there?”
“Wow, you’re an Awakener. Yes, that works.”
After that, I retrieved the bed frame, desk, bookshelf, and dining table from my subspace and completed the transaction smoothly before heading back onto the subway toward the Justice Guild.

[ Hobak! ]

“What now?”
It was good that another buyer appeared so quickly, but this one turned out to be quite demanding.
Far from a smooth transaction.
“They’re really nitpicky.”
By the time I arrived at Jongak Station from Mangwon, I’d been haggling over the price the entire way and barely managed to reach an agreement.

[ Ssagaessagae: Hey, are you available to trade right now? ]

And they were impatient too.

[ YeoJoo: I’m on the move right now, so I’m not sure. Where would you like to meet? ]
[ Ssagaessagae: Jongak Station would be great. ]

“Fine, let’s just sell everything.”
It’s not like I’m losing money on these deals anyway.

[ YeoJoo: K then, see you at Cheonggyecheon Plaza in 10 mins ]

Upon arriving at Cheonggyecheon Plaza, I deliberately retrieved the items from my subspace beforehand.
Unlike my fierce haggling from before, the items they’d decided to purchase were all trivial goods.
And once again, someone called out from behind me.
“Are you, by any chance, Hobak?”
“Yes, I am… Wait, who are you two?”
The Hobak Market buyers were familiar faces.
“Shouldn’t you two be in school right now? What are you doing here?”
“Today classes ended early because of the shortened schedule… But wait, you’re the Hobak Market seller?”
Lee Yu Eul asked with wide, surprised eyes.
“Ah, so the nickname was your real name.”
Lee Yu Chan nodded belatedly, as if he’d just realized it.
“Hobak, nickname, whatever. Seriously.”
I gazed up at the clear Seoul sky once more and took a deep breath.
“Let me ask you something. Why are you buying these kinds of things from Hobak Market?”
They were items I’d listed, but they weren’t exactly profitable.
Unless they were just buying them cheap for personal use.
“…To resell them.”
Lee Yu Chan answered hesitantly.
“We buy them cheap, mark up the price a bit, and resell them on Hobak Market. That way we can earn some pocket money.”
“Pocket money? Ah, I see.”
It was obvious without explanation.
These two were intelligent high school students, but they couldn’t ask the guild for allowance when it was already struggling financially.
But still, that didn’t make it right.
“I mean, we do think what we’re doing on Hobak Market is kind of unethical…”
“Is that really the problem right now?”
“Isn’t it a problem?”
“The problem isn’t your conscience—it’s that you’re wasting golden years of your time earning pocket money!”
Lee Yu Chan and Lee Yu Eul are twin siblings with extraordinary potential.
Like all the other guild members, their skills are restricted, preventing them from reaching their full strength, but their futures are so bright it’s dazzling.
Yet here they were, worrying about pocket money instead of training.
“Come with me.”
“Where are we going?”
“Where else? The guild.”

* * *

I convened an emergency guild meeting using my authority as manager.
But my patience, which I thought had already snapped with Han Ji Sung and the twins, burst twice more.
“So you’re saying you went to work unloading delivery packages.”
“I’d rather not enter dungeons. The pay for unloading at the Hunter Market logistics center is decent daily wages.”
“And the guild master went out mining again, I see.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
But looking at the red wound marks around Kang Han’s jaw as he answered, it was clear he’d come from an illegal fighting pit, not mining.
At the same time, my patience finally ran out.
“Do you really think anything will change if you just keep doing part-time jobs and side gigs?”
I could see all the guild members wince at my words.
They’d been working hard all this time, so hearing something like that would sting.
“But the guild needs money,” Kang Han said in a firm voice.
But that made my frustration explode even more.
“I paid off all the debts. But not a single person has come to me with a proposal about what we should do moving forward.”
The area around the round conference table fell silent as a tomb.
“What’s truly frightening about poverty isn’t the lack of money itself—it’s becoming accustomed to that helpless situation.”
Without money, you cannot plan for the future.
Immediate survival and debt repayment take priority.
But.
“I made it clear when we signed the contract. The 25 billion wasn’t a loan—it was an investment. So instead of thinking about repayment, you should be focused on delivering results and multiplying my investment.”
My words were sharp, but Kang Han didn’t get angry.
He must have realized his own mistake.
“So from now on, everyone stops the part-time work.”
I looked at Kang Han once more as I spoke.
“Let’s focus on planning how to grow my investment.”
“How should we proceed?” Han Ji Sung asked immediately, as expected.
He understood the Justice Guild better than anyone—perhaps even better than Kang Han himself.
“I spent the entire day today assessing the state of the Justice Guild with the vice guild master.”
Five pairs of eyes focused on me simultaneously.
“The financial situation is dire,” I said.
A heavy silence fell among the team members.
The recent incident where the guild nearly faced seizure had made everyone acutely aware of how critical the situation truly was.
“So I’ve drafted a plan for the future.”
Since I had much to discuss, I took a sip of water before continuing.
“First, we’re going dungeon mining in four days.”
“Mining?” Jang Su Ho asked, his eyes widening in surprise.
And as expected, Kang Han came out strongly against it.
“Mining?”
Jang Su Ho widened his eyes and asked back.
And as expected, Kang Han came out strong.
“Mining isn’t permitted.”
“Why not?”
“…Either way, mining isn’t permitted.”
His transparent reasoning was obvious without him even saying it.
“You don’t want the guild members to become laughingstocks at the labor market the way the guild leader was, right?”
“Brother….”
At my words, Lee Yu Chan looked at Kang Han with tears welling in his eyes.
The others felt the same way.
All this time, they’d only heard Kang Han insist he’d handle it alone, never understanding why.
I pressed my advantage and continued.
“But honestly, the Justice Guild is going to be a laughingstock no matter where it goes right now.”
“Yeo Joo.”
Kang Han called my name in an angry voice.
But it wasn’t wrong, was it?
“I’m not trying to insult you—I’m stating reality. But you can’t keep living like this just to avoid being mocked for a while, can you?”
“I think what Yeo Joo says is right, Han.”
Han Ji Sung backed me up from beside me.
When even Han Ji Sung, whom Kang Han trusted and followed, said so, his green eyes wavered helplessly.
“That’s right, oppa. I’ve been so frustrated all this time. Whatever happens, let’s do this together.”
Lee Yu Eul agreed.
I waited a moment for the tension among the guild members to settle before speaking.
“Then let me explain in more detail. We won’t be going to the labor market. So don’t worry about that.”
“Then how do we mine the dungeon?”
Jang Su Ho, who was my age, asked.
“The guild had no money before. But now it does, doesn’t it? I have it.”
“Then could it be….”
Lee Yu Chan seemed to catch on to something.
“We’ll win the dungeon at auction. Let’s do some proper mining for once.”

* * *

Yeouido, once brimming with securities firms.
After the dungeon break occurred nearby in Yeongdeungpo, it didn’t take long for the damaged buildings to be reconstructed.
However, the newly built structures weren’t occupied by securities companies, but by fresh organizations instead.
“Found it. The Free Dungeon Auction House.”
Across the globe, dozens of dungeons open and close at this very moment.
It was a number far too vast for the hunters—an infinitesimal fraction of the population—to clear entirely.
That’s why each nation’s Awakener Association took responsibility, managing dungeons to prevent breaks and distributing them to guilds as quickly as possible.
But therein lay the problem.
Higher-grade dungeons were more difficult to conquer, but the rewards were proportionally greater.
The grade of mana stones and the quality of items dropped by monsters differed vastly.
So typically, large guilds like the Four Major Guilds, which possessed many high-grade hunters, focused on conquering high-grade dungeons.
This naturally created ambiguous cases like the Mansu Mountain Dungeon from before, and auction houses like this existed precisely to allow guilds to bid for the right to clear such dungeons.
“Well then, shall we enter?”
Six Justice Guild members, including myself, headed toward the venue where the dungeon auction would soon commence.
Though it resembled a theater in appearance, the stage held photographs of the dungeon’s interior, a narrow podium for the auctioneer, and a microphone—that was the difference.
And as expected, the moment we stepped inside, all eyes converged on us.
Kang Han’s face was far too famous, and the other guild members had each caused considerable incidents for various reasons.
The concentrated gazes quickly transformed into whispers.
I caught the words of an awakener seated nearby, speaking to his companion.
“What? Isn’t that the Justice Guild? Why are they here?”
Why indeed.
You have no idea we’ve come to secure a goldmine of a dungeon.

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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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