The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 134

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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 134

Why is she hiding in there?
I walked slowly toward where Na Baek Ho’s tail was sticking out, deliberately muttering loud enough for him to hear.
“Oh my, where could Na Baek Ho be? I don’t see him anywhere.”
Tap tap.
His honest tail struck the floor in protest.
I bit back the laughter threatening to spill from my lips and settled myself on the floor beside the bed.
“Na Baek Ho, are you really not coming out to see me?”
Flinch.
His white tail twitched once.
This guy was definitely listening to everything with his ears perked up.
“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you. Are you really going to stay under there?”
“Mrrrow.”
Finally, with a small cry, Na Baek Ho slowly emerged from beneath the bed.
“Hey, you….”
His appearance was a mess.
Even accounting for the fact that he’d just come out from under the bed, his fur was completely unkempt—he hadn’t groomed himself in ages—and those eyes that once gleamed like river stones were now dull and sunken.
I’d heard he’d been depressed, but I’d never seen Na Baek Ho like this before.
For a moment, I was at a loss for words and could only stare at him.
In that silence, it was Na Baek Ho who moved first.
He walked slowly at a distance, circling around me repeatedly.
As if checking whether any wounds remained on my body.
But that was all.
“…Na Baek Ho?”
I’d expected him to bound over to me as he usually did.
Instead, Na Baek Ho simply sat down a few steps away, his eyes dark and lifeless as he looked at me.
So this time, I was the one who moved.
I crawled toward Na Baek Ho on my bottom.
Fortunately, he didn’t run away or anything.
Encouraged by that, I slowly reached out my hand.
After all, I wanted to comfort Na Baek Ho, who seemed to have been through emotional turmoil.
“Na Baek Ho, I worried about you so much… Ugh!”
Swipe!
That was when Na Baek Ho swung his left front paw and struck my hand away.
It was what was commonly known as a “cat punch.”
But Na Baek Ho was no mere cat.
Small though he may be, he was still a tiger.
Drip, drip.
The sound of small droplets falling echoed softly through the quiet room.
It was the sound of blood from the wound on my hand falling to the floor.
Looking down carefully, I could see three distinct claw marks on the back of my hand.
The wound stung and ached considerably, but I remained composed.
“Mewww….”
Rather, it was Na Baek Ho who was startled.
Upon seeing the wound on my hand, his dark blue eyes trembled as though an earthquake had struck, his gaze fixed on his own left paw.
I opened my mouth quietly to comfort him.
“Na Baek Ho, I’m fine.”
But he was not fine.
In the dim room, his dark blue eyes looking at me glistened with tears that threatened to spill at any moment.
[ (இ﹏இ) ]
“Hey, I told you I’m okay?”
“Mewww.”
“Look here.”
I covered the wound with my uninjured hand and activated a skill.

[ Skill ‘Body Heal’ is activated. ]
[ Self-healing penalty is applied. ]
[ 20% of your health has been consumed to treat the wound. ]

My stamina had taken a hit, but the wound Na Baek Ho had inflicted had vanished as if washed away.
I held up my now-smooth hand and spoke.
“See? It’s all gone, isn’t it?”
“Kyuung!”
Na Baek Ho made a strange sound and rushed over to embrace me.
The solid weight that pressed against me was noticeably lighter than before.
[ ๐·°(৹˃ᗝ˂৹)°·๐ ]
“There, there. I’m sorry. Were you really worried?”
“Krung, kruu.”
Na Baek Ho buried his face in my embrace and began to whimper and mutter.
I couldn’t make out the exact words, but I understood well enough that he was complaining.
“Hey, but I can’t take you to such a dangerous place.”
“Kruuu.”
“No matter how much you protest, some things just can’t be done. When you grow a bit more, we’ll go together then.”
I stroked Na Baek Ho’s back, trying my best to soothe him.
His fur wasn’t as fluffy as usual, and though it had become somewhat coarse and disheveled, it was still soft to the touch.
“Goodness, when will I ever finish raising you?”
I was now saying the very words my parents had once said to me.
After patting and comforting him for a while, Na Baek Ho settled himself across my lap and lay down.
“Krung.”
“What, you want my hand?”
I brought my injured hand closer, giving him what he wanted.
Na Baek Ho then began to lick the wounded area with his slightly rough pink tongue.
“Ung, ung.”
I stroked his round head as he whimpered apologetically.
Yet at the same time, a small sigh escaped me.
We had made up this time, but what would I do next time? That was the sigh.
‘But I can’t just stop entering dungeons either.’
Thinking I should discuss this problem with other Familiars’ owners, I stroked Na Baek Ho’s head once more.
Pitter-patter.
As he licked my hand, a single tear rolled down from the corner of Na Baek Ho’s tightly closed eye.

* * *

Na Baek Ho’s strange behavior began the next day.
“Ugh, ugh.”
“Is he throwing up again?!”
At Lee Yu Eul’s cry, I bolted up from my seat where I’d been eating breakfast.
“Throwing up again?!”
This was already the second time he’d stuffed himself with snacks until his little belly was bloated, only to vomit it all back up.
I rushed toward Baek Ho while the guild members stared at me with eyes wide in shock, mirroring my own alarm.
“Ugh!”
The creature, hiding his body behind a potted plant, squeezed his eyes shut as if the retching caused him pain, finally expelling everything in his stomach.
“If your stomach’s upset, you shouldn’t eat snacks!”
I scolded him while cleaning up what Na Baek Ho had vomited.
But the little beast was stubborn—I couldn’t imagine where he’d inherited that trait.
Despite his exhausted body barely recovering from the vomiting, he dragged himself toward the snack container again, moving unsteadily.
I quickly moved and put the snack container away entirely, then scooped Na Baek Ho up into my arms.
“Na Baek Ho, why are you really doing this?”
“Whimper.”
Na Baek Ho clamped his small mouth shut and turned his head away abruptly.
This little rascal.
“You can’t keep doing this. No matter how delicious the snacks are, you didn’t need them in the first place! You’re already getting all the energy you need from me! Those are just like supplements….”
Wait.
While scolding Na Baek Ho, I suddenly understood.
The reason he was pushing himself so hard to chew and swallow the snacks.

“No matter how much you fuss, some things just aren’t possible. When you grow a bit more, we’ll go together then.”

It was something I had said carelessly yesterday.
And that guy had taken it literally, without a doubt.
He thought he needed to grow quickly so he could enter the Dungeon with me.
“Oh, Na Baek Ho.”
I scooped up Na Baek Ho, who was still fidgeting about going for snacks, into my arms.
And I patted his plump little bottom gently.
“You wanted to grow up quickly after eating snacks? So you could follow me into the Dungeon?”
“Whimper.”
Na Baek Ho flinched as if struck at the heart of the matter, then nuzzled his face against my chest like a spoiled child.
[ ๐·°(৹˃̵﹏˂̵৹)°·๐ ]
“I see. Our Baek Ho was really worried about his sister.”
I stood there holding Na Baek Ho for a moment, gently swaying to soothe him.
The expressions of the other Awakened Beast owners watching us grew complicated.
They had just learned why Na Baek Ho had been pushing himself so hard to eat snacks.
“Mm.”
Kang Han set down his coffee and stroked the small head of Baek Young coiled around his arm.
“To think he was considering such things.”
Im Chung Soo, looking somewhat shocked, hugged the front pocket of his hoodie where Maeng Yi was sleeping, only to receive a sharp ‘chirp!’ of protest.
Gung Gi simply lay on the sofa, watching over all of us with indifferent detachment.
[ (๑o̴̶̷̥᷅﹏o̴̶̷̥᷅๑) ]
Still cradling the whimpering Na Baek Ho, I carefully broached the subject with Kang Han.
“When we go mining today, I was thinking of bringing the kids along. What do you think, Guild Master?”
Baek Ho, who had been drooping listlessly, suddenly lifted his head and barked loudly.
“Woof!”
[ ( ✪ワ✪)ノ ]
There was a reason why Im Chung Soo, Lee Yu Eul, and Lee Yu Chan had all submitted field trip forms and gathered for breakfast on a weekday morning.
The mining rights to the Ansan City C-Rank Flame Dungeon we had conquered last time had been transferred to us for one week.
It was a kind of reward given to the Guild that successfully conquered it.
Before the dungeon management obligations and mining auction rights were transferred to the Awakeners Association, we had the authority to extract mana stones first.
Usually, large Guilds either entrust it to dedicated mining teams operated separately within the Guild, or commission external companies like the Incheon Mansu Mountain Dungeon where Kang Han and I first entered.
But the Justice Guild, lacking both money and manpower, had to do it ourselves, which is why we were up early preparing.
“Will it be alright?”
Kang Han asked me with a rather worried expression, looking down at Baek Young.
Even though Baek Young had grown a bit, he was still small, and his face showed concern about whether he could adapt to a C-Rank Flame Dungeon.
“Ideally, I’d like to take him when a lower-ranked Dungeon opens up, but as you can see, Baek Ho is in this state. Besides, we’re the only ones available today, and if he struggles, I can just send him back to the Subspace right away.”
Im Chung Soo, listening to our conversation, took the sleeping Maeng Yi out of his pocket and asked.
“Maeng Yi, do you want to come to the Dungeon today? A C-Rank Dungeon—will you be okay with that?”
It seemed he was worried since the Flame Dungeon was so hot with flames flickering everywhere.
“…Chirp.”
Maeng Yi, drowsy and yawning, answered curtly as if the question was obvious, then burrowed back into the warm depths of Im Chung Soo’s hoodie pocket.
“Baek Young.”
Kang Han also raised his arm, lifting Baek Young to eye level as he asked.
“Will you be alright in the Dungeon?”
At the word “Dungeon,” Baek Young’s closed eyes suddenly sparkled open.
[ (˶˚ ᗨ ˚˶) ]
Though invisible to the others, Baek Young was actually delighted.
With what seemed like joy, Baek Young’s small tail trembled slightly as he wriggled forward and rubbed his tiny head against Kang Han’s face.
“…Baek Young says he likes the idea too. Let’s give it a try.”
That was the moment three familiars were added to the mining team.
Sung Yo Na, who had been sitting beside Gung Gi and brushing his black fur, suddenly furrowed her brow and spoke.
“Someone’s come to the Guild.”
“At this hour? Who?”
In response to my question, Sung Yo Na picked up the screen remote and turned on the monitor.
Soon the image of a visitor standing in a space with dozens of doors filled the screen.
“Huh?”
I couldn’t believe my eyes and walked toward the screen.
His towering height came through the display, his hands clasped behind his back revealing distinctly muscular physique, his fashion entirely black, and his expressionless face.
“Why is he coming here?”
Jung Je Hwa was knocking on the door of the Justice Guild.

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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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