The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 146

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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 146

Lee Ji Yeon, a freshman attending university in Sinchon, had recently fallen into a state of existential emptiness—the realization that all things come and go, that we arrive with nothing and leave with nothing.
In short, life had become utterly tedious.
She had endured the hellish final year of high school, clinging to the adults’ promises that a good university would open doors to a fulfilling life.
Yet even after entering university, life remained inscrutable, and each day dragged on in monotonous boredom.
No—it felt as though the struggle had never truly ended.
During the first semester, she had wandered about carelessly, caught up in the novelty of it all, but as the second semester began, that exhilaration gradually faded.
Everyone had begun to sense the next obstacle approaching.
Employment.
She didn’t even know what career she wanted to pursue for the rest of her life, let alone what she truly enjoyed—yet suddenly she was expected to prepare for job hunting.
So when she found herself trudging toward the lecture hall with heavy steps today, it was then that something changed.
“Why are so many people gathered here?”
Startled, she glanced around to find crowds of people swarming like clouds on New Year’s Day outside Bosingak, and the path to the lecture building was completely cordoned off with blue tape.
“A Gate opened?”
“Yeah. You didn’t get the text? It’s C-rank.”
A spark of life flickered in Lee Ji Yeon’s eyes, which had been as lifeless as fish left out of a refrigerator for days.
‘A Gate opened?!’
And right on the path to the lecture hall, no less?
Gates were natural disasters.
Of course, missing a lecture because of one was entirely beyond one’s control.
Her heart began to race.
“Excuse me, I’m going to slip through. Sorry. Pardon me.”
Lee Ji Yeon braced herself for the disapproving glances and began pushing her way through the crowd.
Finally positioning herself just in front of the blue cordon, she pulled out her phone.
And she checked the emergency alert she had ignored moments before.

Emergency Disaster Alert
[ Gate Prediction Management Bureau ]
C-rank Gate opened in nearby area (Seodaemun-gu, Sinchon-dong).
Justice Guild en route.
Citizens at the scene, please follow the guidance of Bureau personnel.

“Oh, the Justice Guild.”
I had a vague awareness that it was one of the hottest guilds trending online these days.
“I should take a photo and brag about it in the group chat.”
It was while I was thinking such thoughts.
The area below the cordoned-off path grew noisy, and soon the Justice Guild came into view.
Lee Ji Yeon quickly pressed the video recording button.
But while the camera was rolling, words tumbled from my lips before I could stop them.
“Are they filming a movie?”
No, it felt as though I had somehow stepped into a film myself.
Each member of the Justice Guild looked different, yet they all possessed flawless beauty.
“What’s with the silver hair and formal suit? What’s going on?”
“That guy has that athletic build. What’s his name?”
“Jang Su Ho? Kim Su Ho? Something like that, I think.”
“The ones in school uniforms look like idols fresh from a music video shoot….”
“Who’s the girl in the one-piece dress? She’s absolutely adorable!”
The crowd around me erupted into excited chatter.
But unlike them, Lee Ji Yeon remained silent.
I was entirely focused on capturing the Justice Guild’s approaching figures as perfectly as possible on video.
“Ah….”
As I watched their receding silhouettes disappear above the path where the Gate was opening, I let out a wistful sigh.
My hand trembled slightly as I pressed the stop recording button.
Unlike the people around me who were losing interest and drifting away one by one, I found myself rooted to the spot.
I placed my hand over my racing heart and murmured.
And belatedly, I recalled my major in advertising and public relations.
“Guilds have… PR teams, right?”

* * *

Fortunately, this time I didn’t have to push through crowds of people like at the Guerrilla Gate near Gangnam Station.
The Awakener Association had already set up a controlled corridor for us.
But this presented its own kind of ordeal.
“Where were they coming from that they’re all dressed so casually?”
“I’ve never seen a Hunter enter a Gate in a sundress before.”
No matter how rushed, I should have changed clothes.
That regret flickered through me, but at the same time, I realized that coming straight from a photo shoot to clear the Dungeon might not be such a bad thing after all.
“Who is that person? They’re really handsome.”
“Kang Han really doesn’t photograph well, does he?”
“Right? I’ve watched a few of his clear videos, and the camera just couldn’t capture his true appearance.”
The guild members, radiant from professional styling, had captivated everyone’s attention.
‘Actually, this might turn out better than expected.’
I spoke softly to Kang Han walking beside me.
“I’m a bit out of breath—could we walk a little slower?”
At my words, Kang Han looked slightly concerned but nodded silently in agreement.
The goal was to maximize the time we spent in front of the cameras.
So we walked at a slower pace than usual until we reached the end of the controlled area.
An anxious-looking Awakener Association staff member was waiting for us there.
“The Gate already opened thirteen minutes ago.”
Come on, even if we’re both in Sinchon, we got here plenty fast.
Unless they wanted to send a teleporter instead.
I grumbled internally while listening to the staff member’s explanation.
“This Gate that opened at Seyeon University Campus in Seodaemun-gu, Sinchon-dong has been classified as Danger Rank C. It’s been confirmed as a Fairy Tale Dungeon, and we have three hours before a Dungeon Break occurs.”
“Three hours?”
So that’s why they seemed to be rushing.
The Gate, already fully open and rippling with darkness, felt like a time bomb about to detonate.
“Understood. We’ll enter immediately.”
“Wait a moment. The broadcast crew hasn’t arrived yet—oh, there they are.”
The Association staff member who had criticized us for being late said nothing to the filming team that arrived even later—apparently they were from the same company.
Favoritism at its finest.
“Are you ready to film?”
“Good grief, I’m exhausted. We’re all set.”
I’d noticed earlier that they came with a Space Awakener assigned by the Association.
The filming team, embarrassed about being late, made a big show of how exhausted they were.
“Then let’s enter right away.”
Kang Han said only that before entering the Gate first.
His retreating figure moved with unusual urgency, unlike at other Gates.
He didn’t even say goodbye to Im Chung Soo, who would be left behind.
Thinking back to what happened during the last Dungeon Break, I understood completely.
The three hours the Association staff mentioned probably felt like thirty minutes to Kang Han.
“Go rest in the tent.”
I greeted Im Chung Soo before immediately following Kang Han through the Gate, swallowing a small sigh.

* * *

“A Fairy Tale Dungeon, they said, and it really is a campus.”
Jang Su Ho was right.
Even though we’d passed through the Gate, the surrounding landscape appeared completely unchanged.
“The realization degree is quite high, isn’t it?”
Han Ji Sung adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses in admiration.
“But the doors won’t open!”
Lee Yu Chan, who had tried pulling the doorknob of a nearby building, cried out.
But I had no leisure to survey the dungeon’s interior.
“There are so many… mannequins.”
I merely muttered that to myself while subtly hiding behind Kang Han.
‘Why mannequins of all things.’
They were one of the things I truly despised.
Mannequins, masks, doll-like figures shaped like people.
I couldn’t properly explain why, but it had been that way since childhood.
A couple in a clothing store wouldn’t have bothered me, but this dungeon was filled with featureless white mannequins.
“Since it’s a Fairy Tale Dungeon, it seems the people within the campus have been replicated as they were.”
Kang Han glanced back to confirm my approach and spoke.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, well. It’s just unpleasant, that’s all.”
I spoke as calmly as I could manage.
“Let’s venture deeper inside for now.”
At Kang Han’s words, we began moving slowly.
But there was another strange point.
“Is this a dungeon without aggression?”
“Right? They just seem to be going about their business.”
It was an eerie sight.
They must have sensed the intruders in the dungeon, yet the mannequins didn’t attack us.

[ Student B-14 ( C )
: An undergraduate heading to the lecture hall.]

Even when I used a skill, only this explanation appeared.
I’d even checked the information on a mannequin that moved noticeably slower than the others, dragging its feet,

[ Graduate Student V-61 ( C )
: A graduate student heading out to buy coffee. ]

That was all the system window displayed.
‘It seems like I could clear this pretty quickly.’
Guerrilla Dungeons end once you defeat the boss monster.
I couldn’t even imagine what the boss monster might be in this dungeon that seemed synchronized with the campus.
The accident happened the moment I let out a sigh of relief.
“Should I smash one?”
“Hey, Jang Su Ho! You can’t do that…!”
By the time I tried to shout and stop him, it was already too late.
Jang Su Ho had smashed the head of one of the couple mannequins sitting on a bench on the grass taking a selfie.
“Ugh.”
I hid behind Kang Han again.
Hundreds of mannequins that had frozen in place as if I’d pressed a pause button all turned their heads toward us.

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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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