The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 166

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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 166

Late at night.
I slipped quietly out of the Guild and arrived at the Korean Awakener Hospital.
After visiting a few times, the building had become familiar; I glanced up at it briefly before heading toward the director’s office.
The door was unlocked as promised, and I immediately caught sight of Seo Yu Baek’s profile as he studied something intently.
Just as I was considering stepping away to avoid breaking his concentration, Seo Yu Baek seemed to sense my presence and looked up.
“Come in, Yeo Joo.”
“Knock knock. Pardon the intrusion, Professor.”
“What would you like to drink? Coffee? Water?”
“Do you happen to have juice?”
“I had a feeling you’d ask for juice, so I prepared some.”
How does he know my tastes so well?
I drank the cold orange juice he handed me in eager gulps.
But it wasn’t ordinary juice.

[ Detection: You have consumed ‘Orange Juice (B)’. ]
[ Stamina recovery rate increased by 5%. ]

“Huh?”
Seo Yu Baek explained my surprise away.
“I used my skill on regular store-bought juice. Drink it without worry.”
“If you gave it to us, we’d drink anything, Teacher.”
“I know you’re joking, but with Yeo Joo, it feels like you’d actually do it, so I’m a bit concerned.”
It wasn’t a joke.
As I pretended to examine the juice bottle while rolling my eyes around, Seo Yu Baek let out a small sigh.
I needed to change the subject quickly.
I set the bottle down on the pristine white table that resembled Seo Yu Baek and spoke.
“Thank you for listening to my request today, Teacher.”
After calming Sung Yo Na, who had been startled by the breaking news, I called Seo Yu Baek and made the request.
Whether I could see the condition of Hunter Kim Min Jung.
It was a request that might not be appropriate depending on perspective, given to a doctor who bore responsibility for his patient.
So I had prepared myself for rejection, but Seo Yu Baek surprisingly agreed to set up a time readily.
“Hmm. There’s nothing to thank me for. Actually, I was thinking of contacting you myself. Hunter Kim Min Jung is a patient who weighs on my mind.”
“Is she perhaps a friend of yours…?”
“No, it’s not like that. It would be a similar case to yours, Yeo Joo. Hunter Kim Min Jung is a patient my skill doesn’t work on at all.”
Seo Yu Baek wore a slightly bitter smile.
“Two years ago, when Hunter Kim Min Jung was brought to the hospital, I was harboring rather arrogant thoughts. That with my skill, there was no one I couldn’t save. But then…”
“Your skill didn’t work on Hunter Kim Min Jung at all?”
“Yes, not just me—no healer in the hospital has been able to restore Hunter Kim Min Jung.”
Wait.
That’s a bit strange.
“Not even trauma?”
“Yes, not even trauma.”
“Then…”
“Exactly. Hunter Kim Min Jung still carries all those wounds from back then. So when you first suggested it, honestly, I felt a bit relieved.”
A small sigh followed the end of Seo Yu Baek’s words.
“I’m showing my friend a lot of pathetic sides today.”
Seo Yu Baek was always composed and serene.
But the way he spoke about Hunter Kim Min Jung, as if confessing a sin, was certainly very different from his usual self.
He seemed smaller somehow, more defenseless.
“We shouldn’t be doing this. Let’s go.”
I sprang up from my seat and spoke.
“Friends are there to help when things feel hopeless!”
“That’s reassuring.”
Seo Yu Baek rose with a quiet laugh in his throat, and by then he had already returned to his usual composed demeanor.

* * *

“Kim Min Jung, I’ll excuse myself for a moment.”
Seo Yu Baek spoke as though addressing a conscious patient, then opened the hospital room door.
“Hello. I apologize for the intrusion as well.”
I followed Seo Yu Baek with a quiet greeting and entered the hospital room.
Beep, beep, beep.
The quiet, sterile hospital room was filled with the ambient noise of countless machines.
And at the center of a tangle of tubes and wires hanging like grapevines, Kim Min Jung lay motionless.
“Ah.”
I had steeled myself somewhat for what I might see.
But the sight of Kim Min Jung’s condition drew an involuntary gasp from me.
When I’d heard she still bore the wounds from two years ago, I’d imagined merely scratches and cuts scattered across her body.
Yet Kim Min Jung’s condition was far more severe than I’d anticipated.
“Truly, it’s exactly as… described.”
Sung Yo Na had said that Kim Min Jung had gone berserk inside the dungeon.
That she’d lost her reason and attacked her allies.
Kim Min Jung seemed frozen in that very moment.
Her half-open eyes were bloodshot with burst capillaries, and black veins bulged across every inch of her skin.
Blood seeped from beneath the bandages wrapped around her arms and legs, evidence of wounds beneath.
As I stood silently, taking in the sight of Kim Min Jung, Seo Yu Baek approached the bedside.
Without a word, he changed the bandage wrapped around her left arm.
The gesture felt like an apology from a doctor unable to ease his patient’s suffering.
‘Being too kind is a problem in itself.’
It was precisely because he was such a person that he would meet his end treating people during a dungeon break.
I shook my head inwardly and pulled up Kim Min Jung’s status window.
My initial purpose in coming here was simply to see her exact condition so I could reassure Sung Yo Na.
‘But I can’t just leave after seeing her like this.’

Kim Min Jung A
1. Tremor of the Earth ( A )
2. Inferno Storm ( A )
3. Water Veil ( B )
4. Delicate Wings ( B )
Abnormal Status – Darkness Addiction 100%, Berserk, Suspended
Equipped Items – None

Something was off.
According to the status window, Kim Min Jung was currently in a rampage state.
I carefully asked Seo Yu Baek.
“Based on the black veins and appearance, she looks like a Hunter in a rampage.”
“That’s right. She might indeed be in a rampage state.”
“But you said she’s been in the same state for two years. How could she possibly remain in a rampage for such a long time….”
I examined Kim Min Jung’s status window again.
Paused.
What would happen if someone pressed the pause button on a washing machine mid-cycle?
No matter how much time passed, the clothes and water inside would remain exactly as they were.
‘If Kim Min Jung is in a similar state.’
Then her current condition made sense.
When a Hunter’s darkness addiction level rises above a certain threshold, they enter a rampage.
And during that time, the darkness matter accumulated in their body is expelled outward, allowing them to regain stability.
I approached the hospital bed and took Kim Min Jung’s hand.
Then I activated my skill.

[ Skill ‘Darkness Purification’ is being used. ]
[ Purification is impossible due to the target’s abnormal status ‘Paused’. ]

Damn it.
Is it really impossible?
But then the system made a suggestion.

[ Would you like to remove the target’s abnormal status and attempt ‘Darkness Purification’ and ‘Body Recovery’? ]
[ Stamina required: 110. ]

Are you serious?
Still, being able to attempt Darkness Purification at all seems like a blessing… or does it?
I checked my stamina.

[ Current Stamina: 115/150 ]

In other words, I’d have to spin the abnormal status random draw again.
But I have Im Chung Soo’s tonic….

[ Potion use is not possible. ]

Why? Why? What on earth why?

[This information is still inaccessible.]

I asked several more times, but the system continued to return the same answer.
“Sigh.”
I had lost.
At least there was one consolation—Seo Yu Baek was beside me.
“Teacher, I’m going to lock the door for a moment.”
“…Yeo Joo?”
After locking the door and returning, I took Kim Min Jung’s hand again and made a request of Seo Yu Baek.
“I’m going to try something.”
“Is it something that consumes stamina?”
“Yes, but quite a bit more than usual.”
At my answer, Seo Yu Baek’s expression darkened.
“No, Yeo Joo. There’s no need to go that far….”
“Kim Min Jung is an important person to me too. I really hope she wakes up.”
That way, I could clear Sung Yo Na’s name.
If Kim Min Jung regained consciousness and testified about what happened inside the Dungeon, Sung Yo Na would be able to walk anywhere with her head held high, free from suspicion.
“Even if I collapse like last time, please don’t panic. Just lay me on a soft bed, and I’ll wake up after some rest.”
“…Understood.”
Hearing Seo Yu Baek’s response, I closed my eyes.
For some reason, I felt like I needed to concentrate far more than usual.
This was the first time I was using two skills at once and dispelling a status ailment.
‘Let’s try this.’
Don’t be scared, Yeo Joo.

[Consuming 110 stamina.]

Vertigo struck me.
As if gravity had suddenly increased tenfold, my entire body grew heavy and my breath caught.
“Gasp.”
A few seconds felt like hours.

[Status ailment removal successful!]
[Darkness Purification successful!]

The moment I thought ‘thank goodness’, I felt Kim Min Jung’s hand move slightly in my grip.
But before I could open my eyes and check her condition, a new message filled my vision.

[ Current Health 5/150 ]
[ You are receiving a penalty for excessive skill usage. ]

And for some reason, the spinning wheel before my eyes—which looked even more ornate than last time—began to rotate with a cacophonous whirl.

Whirrrrrrrr—
Ding!

[ Penalty Random Draw Result! ]
[ The abnormal condition ‘Hemoptysis’ will persist for 15 minutes. ]

“Ugh!”
The moment I finished reading the message window, something hot surged up from deep within my chest.
Before I could even attempt to hold it back, I found myself doubled over, coughing up bright crimson blood.

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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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