The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 16

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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 16

“This building is absolutely incredible.”
The weather was clear, and the sunlight blazed so brilliantly that my eyes watered just looking up at it.
Compared to the Justice Guild—nothing more than a dilapidated four-story building tucked away in a corner of Jongno—the scale here was almost laughably grand.
“Of course, it’s Maestro.”
The rumor that Maestro possessed the most wealth among the Four Major Guilds wasn’t baseless.
They had the financial power to purchase the entire Jamsil Tower, a structure that a major conglomerate had staked its corporate fate upon.
Even now, among non-combat awakeners, the proportion of crafters remained surprisingly high.
While several crafting guilds existed, even if you combined all of them, they wouldn’t reach Maestro’s heel.
The variety, quantity, and quality of items they produced were unparalleled.
Even when compared to renowned crafting guilds overseas, Maestro consistently ranked among the very best.
“It’s no wonder they call it the luxury brand of the hunter world.”
Among Maestro’s offerings, the most renowned and expensive were the Guild Master’s “creations.”
They had transcended the realm of mere items into something far more exalted.
Yet the Guild Master remained anonymous, revealing neither their name, face, nor any personal information.
Last time, when Vice Guild Master Geum Eun Dong stormed into my hospital room, he was acting as Maestro’s official guild representative.
“Let’s go inside and take a look around.”
I stepped into the Maestro Tower, its interior gleaming with such lustrous polish that even walking felt like an indulgence.

“It’s similar to a department store?”
On the first floor, where foot traffic was heaviest, they sold cosmetics, perfumes, and health supplements infused with the skills of crafting-type awakeners.
Since the primary customers were ordinary people, the effects weren’t dramatically superior to regular products, but who were we?
We were the Korean people who would boil tree roots if it was good for our health.
The health supplements sold on the first floor of Maestro had long since become a popular item that sold out every holiday season.
“What do they sell on the second floor?”
The escalator, completely silent and smooth, felt like standing on a cloud as I rode it up to the second floor.
“Ah, so the shop is here.”
The moment I stepped off the escalator, a dessert shop came into view directly ahead.
The design mixed hot pink and neon green, and there was an enormous lollipop model so dizzying to look at that my eyes felt like they were spinning.
The desserts at this brilliantly decorated shop were apparently quite famous.
Jang Su Ho, the only one in the guild who had a sweet tooth, had even handed over his crumpled pocket money and asked me to buy some.
“Welcome to Candyland!”
The moment the employee greeted me with a bright smile, I thought to myself.
I wanted to leave again.
I’d come planning to sample various things since it was so famous, but my mind had changed.
“Could I get one bag of your most famous gummy candies, please?”
I’d buy only what Jang Su Ho requested and leave quickly.
“Of course! I’ll help you at the counter!”
As I looked at the employee’s uniform, as colorful as the shop’s interior, I suddenly said something.
“Actually, make that two bags.”
There was one other person who loved sweets just as much as Jang Su Ho.

* * *

“Ha, I’m happy.”
After buying the candy, I turned without hesitation and stepped onto the descending escalator.
Passing through the first floor where perfume and cosmetics fragrances still seduced shoppers, as I descended further, delicious aromas began to drift up.
“Now this is fragrance, real fragrance.”
My heart began to race eagerly at the scent wafting from the Basement Level 1 food court.
“Sushi, sushi, sushi.”
Of course, conveyor belt sushi was the standard in department store basement food courts.
I began rummaging through the sprawling food court like a hungry hyena.
“Found it!”
About three conveyor belt sushi restaurants were clustered together in one spot.
I took a seat at the one with the most customers.
And immediately popped a tamago sushi into my mouth.
“Mmm, delicious.”
The fluffy, sweet sushi seemed to sing in my mouth.
After rapidly consuming the two pieces of sushi on the plate, just as I reached for a small shrimp sushi next.
“…A golden plate.”
A plate rimmed with gold—something I’d never given a second glance to in my life—was slowly approaching.
Checking the menu, it was toro sushi.
“Should I, should I take the challenge?”
But that’s a gold plate.
It must be incredibly expensive.
I hurriedly opened my banking app to check my account balance.
With all the various expenses I’d incurred, my balance wasn’t quite what a lottery winner’s should be, but still, I had enough leeway to afford sushi on a gold-rimmed plate.
Yes, that was fine.
“I’ll take the challenge.”
After steeling myself with purpose, I picked up the golden plate.
I wiped the chopsticks I’d used for the tamago sushi with a napkin, then reverently placed the toro sushi in my mouth.
“Oh, an orchestra!”
If the white plate sushi I’d eaten moments ago was my home playing a joyful recorder, this was a symphony performed by an orchestra.
The title: Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, From the New World.
After that, I picked only the golden plates.
Everything is difficult at first, but now my palate had become unable to return to white plates.
“Ah, I’m so full.”
As I patted my rounded belly while eating the complimentary udon the owner had specially prepared after witnessing my golden plate feast, I wanted to abandon all subsequent plans and return to my lodging to sleep.
Savoring the lingering resonance of the symphony in my mouth.
But having come all the way to Jamsil, I couldn’t do that.
I had to go earn money.
I checked the time.
“Still some time left.”
The owner of Workshop Sugar was so unmotivated that the shop didn’t open until 1 PM, well after lunch hour.
I decided to visit Hunters, the exclusive hunter community, to digest a bit before heading out.
But I kept seeing posts about me scattered throughout.

[ Does anyone know which guild the A-rank healer joined? ]
[ She must be playing the field between the Four Major Guilds. Not a single recruitment article has dropped yet. ]
[ The moment she signs a contract, it’ll be breaking news, right? In an era where healers are this rare. ]

“Oh, right.”
I’d been too busy to remember.
Guilds don’t always issue press releases to the media every time they recruit a hunter, but cases like mine—where I’d become a hot topic—were different.
Just as famous soccer players get photographed holding their new team’s jersey while grinning for articles, hunters get their images plastered everywhere too—holding the guild uniform and shaking hands with the guild master.
It’s a kind of declaration: “Don’t even think about poaching this one.”
“But we don’t even have uniforms yet.”
Besides, this sort of thing was usually handled by the guild master, vice master, or whoever managed the business side.
The guild master was Kang Han, who cultivated the way indifferent to worldly affairs. Han Ji Sung was probably too preoccupied with his own recovery to even think about guild publicity. That left the person in charge of the business division.
“Which is me.”
Honestly, recruitment articles were as far from my interests as pickled ginger I hadn’t even touched with chopsticks.
But right now, the Justice Guild desperately needed even a single article that could positively influence our rock-bottom reputation.
Just then, my phone rang from an unknown number.
“Yes, who is this?”
[ “Oh, you finally answered! Hello, Yeo Joo. I’m Lee Ji Han, a reporter from Live News.” ]
Could the timing be any more perfect?
Normally I would’ve hung up immediately, but things were different now.
“Yes, hello.”
[ “You must be incredibly busy these days, but the public is very interested in your whereabouts, Yeo Joo! If anything has been decided, could you share it with us through Live News?” ]
“Mm. Yes, I can.”
[ “Y-you can?” ]
The reporter himself sounded surprised.
The early bird doesn’t always catch the worm—the lucky bird does.
I rinsed my mouth with green tea and spoke.
“I joined the Justice Guild.”
[ “Yes? Which guild?” ]
“The Justice Guild.”
[ “….” ]
The reporter fell silent for a moment.
After a few seconds, his voice came through the phone again, as if he’d barely regained his composure.
[ “The Justice Guild? The Justice Guild I know?” ]
“Probably. I signed a contract with the Justice Guild under Guild Master Kang Han.”
[ “Why, why would you?” ]
It was almost time to head to Workshop Sugar, but instead of giving a hasty answer, I responded carefully, thinking about what would make a good headline.
“I hold the Justice Guild’s potential in high regard. I believe people underestimate them far too much. Personally, I’ve even received help from the former guild master, Kang Young Won.”
[ “Ah, is that so….” ]
“That said, this decision wasn’t made on sentiment alone. As I mentioned earlier, the Justice Guild is simply facing difficult circumstances due to a convergence of setbacks, but I believe they will one day recover their former prestige. Everyone will certainly question my decision now, but given time, they’ll understand. That my choice was the right one.”
[ “I, I see. Then may I ask just one more follow-up question? You mentioned earlier that you had a connection with Kang Young Won….” ]
“I apologize. I have somewhere I need to be right now. I’d appreciate the coverage.”
[ “Wait, Yeo Joo!” ]
The reporter’s desperate call of my name echoed like a refrain, but I hung up the phone decisively.
Now it was time to accomplish the real reason I’d come to Jamsil.

* * *

I rode the escalator downward, a bag of candy jingling in one hand.
From Basement Level 2 onward, the atmosphere shifted noticeably.
While the upper floors were unmistakably a department store, this level resembled the electronics district of Yongsan.
The exhibition halls of the upper levels, which had felt like a museum, gave way to merchandise that looked decidedly crude at first glance.
‘There’s definitely a quality gap.’
The basement of Maestro was a space where apprentices who hadn’t officially joined the guild could sell their creations.

[ Crude Potion ( F ) ], [ Clumsy Short Sword ( E ) ]….

The quality of items grew increasingly pitiful the deeper I descended.
Honestly, rather than paying to buy them, they should be paying me to take them off their hands.
And then there was the lowest level, Basement Level 4.
In the most remote corner sat a small shop with a sign that didn’t even have its lights on.
‘Workshop Sugar’
Basement Level 4 was already deserted with few visitors, but Workshop Sugar was utterly devoid of any presence.
Though the door was open, suggesting the owner was inside.
I stepped into the workshop with a heart that beat a little faster.
“Hello.”
I greeted in a small voice, but no response came back.
Yet someone was there.
A shaggy-haired man hunched over a desk beside the counter, his broad shoulders curved as he meticulously crafted something.
The owner of this enormous Jamsil Tower and guild master of Maestro—Jung Je Hwa.

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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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