The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 167

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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 167

I instinctively clamped my mouth shut, but it was useless.
Blood seeped through the gaps between my fingers, dripping onto the floor with a sickening patter.
“Cough!”
Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe properly, as if I’d been plunged underwater.
To breathe, I had to continuously spit out the blood rising in my throat.
“Yeo Joo!”
Seo Yu Baek, his face even paler than mine as I coughed up blood, rushed toward me in shock.
I stretched out one hand—still free of blood—to signal him to stay back.
If he came too close, blood would stain his white coat.
But instead, Seo Yu Baek grasped my outstretched hand with both of his.
“Cough! Cough!”
Unable to straighten my back as I continued to expel blood-tinged coughs, my hand was enveloped by Seo Yu Baek’s cool warmth.

[ Healing Skill ‘Oath of the White’ has been activated. ]
[ It does not apply to status abnormality penalties. ]
[ Healing Skill ‘Emergency Treatment’ has been activated. ]
[ It does not apply to status abnormality penalties. ]

Only Seo Yu Baek’s precious mana was draining away steadily.
“*Cough* It’s… it’s useless… *hack*!”
The moment he said that, I felt a sinking dread.
I realized the current situation was no different from what Seo Yu Baek had described two years ago.
That day when none of his skills could save Kim Min Jung.
“Yeo Joo…”
As expected.
Seo Yu Baek’s face had gone rigid.
His hand, gripping mine, was trembling violently.
“It’s… *cough* fine, I’ll be… *hack* done soon…”
Don’t be too alarmed.
But the more I tried to reassure him, the worse his expression became.
At this rate, he’d start crying.
“Yeo Joo, w-what do I do…”
Now that his healing skills were useless, Seo Yu Baek was no different from an ordinary person.
All he could do was hand me a towel he’d retrieved from somewhere and continue holding my hand.
“*Cough, cough!*”
At least this damned system wasn’t trying to kill me outright—between the bouts of hemoptysis, there were moments to catch my breath.
“Haa… don’t waste mana using skills. *Cough!*”
Though the coughing would inevitably start again soon enough.
During the fifteen minutes the abnormal condition persisted, Seo Yu Baek had to fetch another towel.
And finally, the ordeal—during which I’d nearly crossed the river of death several times—came to an end.
“Haa… I thought I was dying.”
My entire body ached as if it had been beaten, from the continuous coughing and blood I’d expelled.
“Is it over now?”
“Y-yes… *exhale*.”
The hemoptysis had stopped, but my remaining health was only 2.
At this rate, I really would die.
Just as I was about to open a Subspace with trembling hands to retrieve Im Chung Soo’s potion—

[ The healing skill ‘Oath of the White Coat’ has been activated. ]
[ All health has been restored. ]

“Wow.”
The phrase “as if washed clean” was perfectly apt—my blurred vision and aching body had been completely restored in an instant.
S-rank really is something else.
I, still in the midst of skill growth, couldn’t even dare to aspire to such heights.
“Teacher, you’re really amazing….”
“Do you do this every time?”
Huh?
Seo Yu Baek was angry.
I tossed the blood-stained towel I’d been holding and waved both hands frantically as I answered.
“No, no. This time was a really special situation. If I did this every time, I couldn’t function as a healer.”
“But it means you could end up in this much pain again.”
“Well, it’s fine. I won’t ever die from it.”
The system’s tricks infuriate me, but even if the pain is severe enough to kill, I won’t actually die.
That’s what matters.
“It’s not fine.”
Seo Yu Baek spoke firmly.
Yet his hand gently wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth with infinite tenderness.
Was he angry or wasn’t he?
As I cautiously watched his expression, uncertain how to read him, he sighed and spoke.
“I’ll bring you clothes to change into. They’re hospital gowns, but still.”
As Seo Yu Baek left, his retreating figure clearly showed his anger.
“Sigh.”
I’m not an idiot—I can read the room.
Seo Yu Baek wasn’t angry at me.
He was angry at himself for being able to do nothing but hold my hand.
“These people are all too kind—that’s the real problem.”
I should live more moderately, like a normal person.
I wiped the dried blood from my hands with a towel and clicked my tongue.

* * *

When I emerged from the Restroom after changing clothes, the Hospital Room was quiet—Seo Yu Baek had apparently stepped out to give me space.
“I can’t believe I’m actually wearing a patient gown.”
Having received a healing skill and being in perfect condition, wearing the patient gown felt utterly ridiculous.
I hastily folded my ruined clothes and set them aside, then approached the bed to check on Kim Min Jung’s condition.
“She’s completely recovered.”
Kim Min Jung now looked like someone sleeping peacefully.
There were no more signs of her rampage, and the external injuries beneath the bandages had surely vanished entirely.
“Heh.”
That’s right—I’m capable of this much.
But something had been nagging at me since earlier.
It was the message the system had displayed before the coughing blood started.

[ This information is currently inaccessible. ]

The word “currently” implied I would eventually learn it.
It could also be interpreted as meaning my present qualifications were insufficient.
‘Is it because of the synchronization rate?’
That was the only thing that stood out.
The “synchronization rate” I’d seen every time a skill leveled up.
What even was that?
How was I supposed to increase it?
I was mentally cursing at the system that naturally offered no answers when Seo Yu Baek returned to the Hospital Room.
Whether he’d washed up like I had, his bright face was slightly damp.
“Teacher! Did you see? Kim Min Jung is all better now!”
Honestly, I wanted to boast about it.
After all, I’d healed a sick person.
“Indeed. Thank you, Yeo Joo.”
Seo Yu Baek, returning to his usual composed demeanor, examined Kim Min Jung and nodded.
‘I should tell him now that she’s doing well.’
I cleared my throat once and spoke.
“Teacher, please don’t tell anyone about me coughing blood today.”
It’s a random status ailment that wouldn’t occur with proper stamina management.
But even so, a penalty is still a penalty.
There’s nothing good about revealing a skill’s weakness.
“…Are you asking for confidentiality between doctor and patient?”
“More than that—it’s about loyalty between friends.”
Requesting a doctor’s duty of confidentiality would be fine, but somehow I sensed this approach would resonate more with Seo Yu Baek.
My instinct proved correct; Seo Yu Baek’s expression showed he’d been caught off guard.
After a moment of being at a loss for words, he finally relented and opened his mouth.
“Yeo Joo, you really are something else.”
“Oh, I hear that a lot.”
In this harsh world, being soft-hearted was a compliment, so be it.
That was when it happened.
“Mm…”
A small groan escaped from the hospital bed.
“Kim Min Jung.”
Seo Yu Baek, who had instantly shifted back into his doctor’s demeanor, strode briskly toward the patient’s side.
“Are you regaining consciousness?”
“Is this… a hospital?”
“Yes, that’s correct. The Korean Awakener Hospital.”
“I see…”
Kim Min Jung, who had been alternating her gaze between Seo Yu Baek and the hospital room, asked a question.
“What about Yo Na? Is Sung Yo Na from Fantasia Guild alright?”

* * *

Justice Guild Underground Training Grounds.
A bead of sweat dripped from Sung Yo Na’s forehead as she evaded the arrows shot by the machine.
It was nearly dawn, but that didn’t matter.
After Yeo Joo left for the hospital, the mounting anxiety made sleep impossible anyway, so I chose instead to keep my body in constant motion.
The machine I had created sensed her position and fired arrows.
Sung Yo Na twisted her upper body to dodge, her teeth clenched.
‘I should never have run away back then.’
Two years ago—I was furious at my weaker self.
It was I who chose to flee alone, consumed by fear. It was I who lacked the courage to stand before others and speak the truth.

“R-run away. Yo Na, escape…”

Even during the rampage, that voice had endlessly urged me to run. It still echoed clearly in my ears.
Whoosh!
Sung Yo Na rolled across the ground to evade the arrow aimed directly at her heart, her fists clenching.
If only I had been stronger then.
If only I had overcome my fear and used all my abilities.
Endless regret and rumination chained together relentlessly.
That was my mistake.
This time, I noticed the arrow aimed at my head too late.
It was already too late to dodge.
Sung Yo Na, startled, immediately activated her skill.

[Using skill ‘Spatial Compression’.]

The space behind the incoming arrow compressed, and the distance between me and Sung Yo Na increased slightly.
But it was only a fleeting moment.
There wasn’t nearly enough time to evade an arrow flying at the maximum speed the machine could be set to.
Sung Yo Na squeezed her eyes shut.
Imagining the terrible pain that would soon arrive.
But no matter how much time passed, the pain never came.
“…Huh?”
Opening her eyes cautiously, she saw the arrow.
The arrow hung suspended in mid-air, frozen in its trajectory.
“That… why…”
I had the ability to create a Subspace and manipulate spatial dimensions, but I didn’t have the ability to interfere with the flow of time itself.
So why.
Faced with a situation I’d never encountered before, Sung Yo Na carefully pushed herself up.
She slowly approached the side of the arrow, reaching out to touch it.
Creak.
“Kim Min Jung has awakened, it seems.”
Kang Han opened the door to the Training Facility and entered with the news.
Whoosh!
As if time itself resumed flowing, the arrow shot forward like lightning and embedded itself in the wall.
Sung Yo Na quickly stopped the training machine and turned to Kang Han.
“Just now… you’re saying Min Jung unnie has woken up?”

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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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