The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 179
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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 179
“I am Colonel Park Han Jung. Let’s discuss this inside first.”
The military officer who had introduced himself entered the barracks ahead of us.
I turned to address my guild members.
“I’ll be back in a moment. Keep preparing while I’m gone.”
“Yeah, hurry up and get back out here. I’m itching for action, seriously.”
Jang Su Ho flashed me a grin and gave me a thumbs up as if to say not to worry.
The other guild members felt the same way, even the former Magma Guild members who had just joined Justice Guild.
When Kang Han suggested entering an A-rank Gate right before a dungeon break, they hadn’t hesitated—they’d practically jumped at the chance.
I took one last look at the Gate, its surface rippling with darkness, before stepping inside the barracks.
Colonel Park regarded me with a puzzled expression, as if he’d expected a private conversation with Kang Han.
“You are….”
“I’m Yeo Joo, the manager of Justice Guild.”
“Ah, the manager. So Justice Guild has two leaders. But is this real? Justice Guild is actually going inside the Gate?”
“That’s correct. But before we do, can you contact your superiors?”
“My superiors….”
“There’s a promise that the VIP needs to make before Justice Guild enters the Gate.”
“Hmm.”
Colonel Park stared down at the red telephone on his desk.
It was likely a hotline connected to the presidential office.
After a moment of deliberation, Colonel Park picked up the phone.
“This is Colonel Park. Please connect me to the President. Right now….”
After explaining the situation, Colonel Park waited without hanging up.
And shortly after.
“Sir. A guild has arrived saying they intend to enter the Gate. They appear to have conditions…. Yes, I understand. They’re requesting to speak with you directly.”
The phone was handed to Kang Han.
“Yes, this is Kang Han, Guild Master of Justice Guild. Our request is simple. Please postpone all legislative initiatives regarding Awakeners.”
[ “….” ]
I couldn’t hear the voice on the other end of the line.
But Kang Han’s words alone were enough for me to infer the conversation.
“Gong Gil Yeon and the Awakeners Association hunters won’t be coming. They’re hoping for a dungeon break. For them, legislation regarding non-Awakeners is no longer important.”
[ “….” ]
“Please make a quick decision. Will you abandon Pangyo and tens of thousands of citizens as things stand, or will you make this promise and at least attempt to prevent the dungeon break?”
Silence filled the barracks as we waited for the President’s response.
And shortly after.
“We’ll enter immediately. Im Chung Soo, a Hunter from the Justice Guild, is heading your way now. Please send the presidential oath document with the President’s signature to him.”
After the call ended, Kang Han handed the phone to Colonel Park.
Colonel Park, accepting the phone with a face that laid bare his heavy heart, asked us as we prepared to leave the Military Barracks.
“Are you really going in?”
“If the Gate isn’t cleared, a Dungeon Break is inevitable.”
“One of the researchers from the Prediction Division who evacuated earlier said so. The monster population has increased—that Gate is closer to S-rank than A-rank now.”
“I see.”
Kang Han answered calmly while looking at me.
He said nothing, yet strangely, I could read the meaning in his eyes.
He clearly wanted to leave me behind and enter the Dungeon alone because it was dangerous.
“Don’t even think about it.”
The Guild was entering a dangerous Dungeon, and he wanted to leave a perfectly capable Healer behind?
When I glared at him with wide eyes, Kang Han let out a small sigh and spoke to Colonel Park.
“…Even if the danger level has risen, nothing changes. We received a promise, so the Justice Guild will enter.”
It was as we were saying goodbye to Colonel Park and stepping out of the tent.
“What were you doing in there? We don’t have time—hurry up and get in!”
“Guild Master Yoo Myung Hwa?”
Yoo Myung Hwa, the Guild Master of the Dongbaek Guild, and her guild members had somehow mixed in with the Justice Guild members and were standing before the Gate.
I asked in surprise.
“Why are you here?”
“Why else? To stop the Dungeon Break. Traffic was terrible, so I ran here, but it looks like the Justice Guild beat me to it.”
Yoo Myung Hwa laughed, winking with one eye.
Then Lee Cho Rok shouted from behind.
“That’s a lie! We got intel that the Justice Guild was here and used Spatial Movement to come! We’re repaying the favor from when you stopped me from going berserk!”
“Lee Cho Rok! Why are you saying unnecessary things?”
A quiet laugh escaped me.
Whether for good or ill, that was so like Yoo Myung Hwa—someone who couldn’t live without repaying debts.
Kang Han seemed to share the thought, for with a smiling face, he drew Muk Chang from the Subspace and spoke.
“We’ve secured the government’s promise. We can enter immediately.”
“That took a while. Good, is everyone ready?”
Yoo Myung Hwa turned and asked, and everyone answered by raising their weapons.
Thud, thud.
Kang Han stood beside Yoo Myung Hwa before the Gate, his heavy military boots making a distinct sound.
My position was at the very back of both the Justice Guild and Dongbaek Guild, beside Yoo Jin Rok.
Kang Han checked the time on his wristwatch and spoke so everyone could hear.
“Two hours and thirty-four minutes until Dungeon Break.”
Crackling yellow electricity sparked from his Muk Chang.
“Let’s go.”
* * *
It was a desperate struggle.
The moment we entered, monsters attacked from all directions in a relentless onslaught that left no room for thought.
“Screeeech—!”
“Take down the big ones first!”
Over thirty hunters scattered across the dungeon in different directions.
It was a disadvantageous position for defense, but a necessary decision to eliminate as many monsters as possible in the shortest time.
“Grrrrgh, grrrrgh.”
“Shriek, cough, cough!”
The monsters that fearlessly charged at us had taken on grotesque forms so bizarre that their original species were indistinguishable.
It was a common phenomenon that occurred just before a dungeon break—monsters fusing and splitting with one another.
And I was already on my third bottle of stamina-boosting elixir.
[ Consumption of ‘Stamina-Boosting Elixir’ has been detected. ]
[ Overuse of potions is dangerous. ]
What else could I do?
I dismissed the system warning with a wave and focused on Yoo Jin Rok, who lay collapsed in front of me.
“Ugh… cough.”
“Teacher, just hold on a little longer.”
Yoo Jin Rok had been injured while protecting me moments ago.
Despite knowing that a dungeon on the verge of breaking was dangerous for a C-rank hunter, he insisted on coming with me rather than let me enter alone.
If something happened to Yoo Jin Rok here, I could never face Yu Ga Young again.
[ Skill ‘Body Healing’ is being used. ]
[ Consuming 50 stamina to treat the target’s critical wounds. ]
[ Due to the effect of ‘Stamina-Boosting Elixir’, stamina will not be depleted. ]
Chung Soo, I really can’t thank you enough.
You’re the most filial one here.
I watched as Yoo Jin Rok’s thigh wound, which had been bleeding profusely, gradually sealed itself closed, and I couldn’t help but praise Chung Soo.
But regardless of the potion’s effectiveness in maintaining my physical stamina, the mental exhaustion was inevitable.
My head throbbed, and my vision blurred with waves of dizziness.
How many Hunters had I healed by now?
I couldn’t even remember properly.
As I stared blankly down at my hands stained with Hunter blood, a sharp crack echoed nearby, followed by a monster’s agonized shriek.
“Kieeeek, gack, gack!”
I jerked my head up in shock to find a monster impaled on a spear of electricity, pinned against the wall.
It was Kang Han, who had been fighting monsters in the distance away from where I stood.
But somehow, he had already moved to my side.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. So please, don’t worry about me….”
BOOM—!
A deafening roar erupted, and something scattered in all directions.
I found myself on my feet, surrounded by Yoo Jin Rok wrapping his arms around me and Kang Han shielding us both with his back.
In the chaos, I thought hazily.
Could it be that time had already run out and the Dungeon was collapsing?
“KYAAAAAAAGH—!”
I managed to lift my head, only to witness a sight I couldn’t determine was fortunate or catastrophic.
[ The Dungeon’s Master has grown furious! ]
Beyond the system window loomed a colossal Relicia, tearing through the Boss Room’s door as she emerged.
That explosion from moments ago had been the sound of Relicia shattering the dungeon’s constraints that had bound her.
Now even the dungeon’s boss had broken free from her designated territory.
A dungeon break was truly imminent.
Kang Han beside me and Yoo Myung Hwa fighting deeper within the dungeon lunged toward Relicia simultaneously, as if they’d made a pact.
Crackle—!
Boom—!
Relicia let out a piercing shriek as she took the simultaneous strikes from both S-rank hunters.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
Relicia’s scream was more than mere echoes of pain.
“Kek, kek!”
“Kwooogh!”
“Krrrrr—.”
Like a wolf’s howl calling to its pack, Relicia’s cry summoned an avalanche of monsters from the branching passages deep within the dungeon.
“Ah….”
A mage from the Dongbaek Guild who had been supporting the front lines with magic near me let out a groan of despair.
That wasn’t all.
With Relicia’s appearance and another monster wave crashing down, many hunters lost their will to fight.
“Can we… stop this?”
Yoo Jin Rok, clutching at wounds that hadn’t fully healed from the earlier commotion, muttered with eyes gone dark as coal.
That was when it happened.
“Here we go!”
“Damn it, let’s all charge in!”
“Mages, fall back to support positions!”
Roughly a hundred people suddenly appeared in the common area before the Boss Room where the battle raged.
I didn’t need to open an information window to know.
They were hunters.
“Sorry we’re late!”
“No time for apologies—let’s kill one more monster instead!”
“You two S-rankers, focus only on the boss!”
“That’s right! We’ll handle the rest!”
My strength suddenly drained away, and I stumbled—but Yoo Jin Rok caught me.
“Ah….”
By rough estimation, less than an hour remained before the dungeon break.
Yet they came.
Without knowing what conditions awaited them inside the dungeon.
Knowing full well they could die if the dungeon break couldn’t be prevented.
All these hunters had crossed the Gate themselves to try to prevent further casualties.
“Hyaaaah!”
Jang Su Ho swung his shield with tremendous force and let out a mighty roar.
At the same time, the hunters began attacking the monsters.
Boom!
Crack!
Combat resumed.
I cast my skills on the hunters being carried in from all directions.
Fortunately, one of the volunteer hunters was a B-rank healer, which allowed us to treat far more of the wounded.
“Thirty minutes remaining!”
Someone shouted.
“Kyaaahhh!”
Finally, the massive Relicia let out a long scream as she began to crystallize.
Kang Han and Yoo Myung Hwa had no time to catch their breath before they were torn in different directions, continuing the fight.
“Twenty minutes!”
The relentless flow of monsters pouring out suddenly ceased.
“Fifteen minutes!”
“Ten minutes!”
Before long, the number of monsters and hunters had become roughly equal.
And finally.
Thrust!
Kang Han’s spear pierced deep through the chest of the last monster standing.
That was the moment.
[Congratulations!
You have successfully cleared the Dungeon before the break! ]
[ Reward – Currently calculating your contribution… ]
A system window suddenly materialized before my eyes.
“W-we blocked it.”
Hunters from the Justice Guild, the Dongbaek Guild, and countless others of unknown affiliation erupted in unison with cheers.
“We’re alive!”
“Insane! We actually blocked it!”
“Yes! We did it!”
I lacked the strength to scream and simply collapsed onto the ground where I stood.
“I nearly died before I could even stop the apocalypse.”
Relief and laughter mingled through my muttered words.
“Yeo Joo.”
Kang Han appeared before me, bending down to meet my eyes.
“Guild Master, you worked hard.”
“You worked hard as well, Yeo Joo.”
“You’re bleeding.”
I reached out and healed the wound on Kang Han’s forehead.
As he closed his eyes, long lashes casting shadows, I spoke to him.
“You understand, don’t you? The real fight is just beginning.”
Kang Han opened his eyes and looked at me.
“The Justice Guild and Dongbaek Guild now stand in direct opposition to the coalition led by the Sama Guild.”
“That’s how it will be.”
“It’s going to be exhausting, isn’t it?”
Kang Han laughed deeply at my words.
“We can do it, because you’re here, Yeo Joo.”
He certainly knew how to say things that could be misunderstood.
After confirming that Kang Han’s wound had fully healed, I extended my hand to him.
“My legs feel weak. Help me up.”
His large, warm hand grasped mine firmly and pulled me to my feet in one smooth motion.
As I brushed the dirt from my pants, Kang Han asked.
“Should I carry you?”
“Absolutely not.”
I needed to get rid of that “protected person” status as soon as possible!
I shot Kang Han a glare and headed toward the Gate.
I was sick of this Dungeon.
As I heard Kang Han’s footsteps following behind me and stretched one foot toward the shimmering Gate, it happened.
“Noona! Let’s go together!”
“Why are you two leaving first? Come on, wait up!”
Voices called out to us from behind.
I shouted back at them loudly.
“Hurry up!”
There was a mountain of work waiting for me!
– 【 Yeo Joo Saves the World 】 Part 1 Complete.
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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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