The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 198

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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
Part 2, Episode 19

Korean Awakeners Association.
Sa Ma Young sat in the Association President’s Office, gazing out the window lost in thought.
His contemplation traced back to that moment in the Ruins Dungeon when he’d touched another Gate—one unlike any he’d encountered before.
His gaze shifted to his own fingertips.
“….”
Cold. Hard.
Unlike ordinary Gates that allowed passage into dungeons without resistance, this one was different.
It had rejected him.
As if he lacked the qualifications to enter.
Knock, knock.
A soft knock preceded the Association Director and a man in his late thirties entering the office.
“I’ve brought Park Sang Hyun, a researcher from the Gate Prediction Division.”
“Thank you. You may leave.”
Despite Sa Ma Young’s dismissive gesture, the Association Director showed no displeasure, quietly closing the office door behind him as he departed.
Park Sang Hyun let out a bewildered laugh at how the Guild Master of the top-ranked Guild treated the Association Director as though he were merely a subordinate.
“Sit.”
Sa Ma Young commanded Park Sang Hyun.
“That’s not necessary. I won’t be staying long.”
“…Suit yourself.”
“State your business. I can’t afford to be away from the Research Lab for long.”
“You must be quite busy these days, aren’t you?”
“….”
Park Sang Hyun remained silent.
He was the director overseeing research into the recently emerged double dungeon phenomenon.
Since Gates first appeared, this anomaly had never occurred before, and he bore the responsibility of uncovering its cause.
Thus, he was devoting himself to research, sacrificing sleep and even meals.
Yet here he was, summoned to this pointless meeting.
“So, have you discovered the cause of these double dungeons?”
“…That’s classified information. I cannot disclose it to outsiders.”
“Outsiders? We’re alone in the Association President’s office with no one else present. Can’t you tell the difference?”
“I understand that you have some arrangement with the Association Director. But that doesn’t grant you access to state secrets.”
Park Sang Hyun possessed an unyielding character.
His colleagues would grumble that “the sharp stone gets struck,” but one’s innate nature couldn’t be changed by such remarks.
That’s precisely why I found the Guild Master of the Sama Guild even more distasteful.
I could roughly guess how he’d manipulated the Association Director.
It was hardly a secret that the Association Director had a weakness for bribes.
But even that wouldn’t be enough to bring down Park Sang Hyun himself.
“We plan to organize our research findings and hold a press conference soon. You can hear about it then, along with the entire nation.”
“Hmm. So you have discovered something.”
Sa Ma Young rose slowly from his seat and approached Park Sang Hyun.
“It seems you have no intention of being forthright.”
“S-stop right there and speak from where you are.”
The doctor, instinctively sensing something, stumbled backward and cried out.
“Good instincts.”
Sa Ma Young smiled as he looked at Park Sang Hyun.
At the same moment, Sa Ma Young’s earring began to glow crimson.
“S-stop… sp…”
Park Sang Hyun’s pupils, which had been trembling with fear, went vacant and unfocused.
Sa Ma Young continued to advance, but the doctor no longer retreated.
“Don’t tell the public. From now on, all research results regarding double dungeons will be reported only to me. No one else can know. Report directly to me alone.”
“…Yes, I understand.”
Satisfied with the hollow response, Sa Ma Young smiled contentedly.
Park Sang Hyun’s face flushed as he stared blankly at the beautiful curve of his crimson lips.
Sa Ma Young tapped that flushed cheek lightly with his fingertip and spoke.
“Good, you’re obedient.”

* * *

It had already been three days since I entered the Ure Dungeon.
In that time, we’d made a complete circuit around the forest that encircled the plains.
It was the result of investing every moment except for meals.
“I’m exhausted, so exhausted.”
Crouched beneath a massive boulder that at least kept the rain off, I muttered to myself while pouring Chung Soo’s tonic into my mouth.
The tonic replenished my physical stamina, but the mental fatigue it couldn’t cure was inevitably accumulating layer upon layer.
When I was clearing Guerrilla Gates that ended in a single day, it was manageable.
But Regular Gates that stretched on for days like this were undeniably taxing.
“I miss Na Baek Ho.”
Given how harsh the Ure Dungeon’s environment was, leaving the Familiars behind had still been the right call, I thought—but that didn’t stop me from missing them.
Just then, black military boots came trudging toward the rocky crevice where I sat.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes, everyone is waiting for you.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
I pushed myself up using my aching knees and walked back into the rain, but something felt off.
My face should have been stinging from the heavy raindrops.
Curious, I looked up and saw Kang Han’s palm.
Shielding my face from the falling rain.
‘He’s subtly thoughtful, isn’t he.’
Whoever his future partner was, I thought they’d have their hands full, and I shook my head with a wry smile.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing really.”
With such a somewhat overwhelming escort, I arrived at the gathering place.
Kang Han, still keeping one hand over my head, explained.
“The moment we leave this forest, we’ll enter the boss monster’s territory. Stay alert, and once we encounter it—”
Kang Han glanced at me, looking like a drowned rat, and said.
“Let’s finish this as quickly as possible and head home.”
“Yes!”
“Ugh, I want to shower in warm water!”
“I just want to sleep in a comfortable bed.”
It seemed I wasn’t the only one suffering from homesickness.
If even the patient Han Ji Sung was thinking about beds, that said everything.
“Let’s go.”
Led by Kang Han, we emerged from the forest.
The moment my feet touched the plains, the air around us shifted, and my skin tingled with a prickling sensation.
‘Is this the power of an A-rank monster?’
It wasn’t as though I’d never encountered A-rank monsters before.
But perhaps even within the same rank, there were degrees of strength.
If even I, whose senses were duller than other hunters, could feel it this intensely, this creature had to be exceptionally powerful.
How much further did we walk?
In the distance, a massive tree stood solitary in the middle of the Plains, catching my eye.
And beneath it, five hybrid monsters—half-human, half-beast—were rising partway and glaring at us.

[ Minotaur Kenta (A)
: Master of the hybrid Ure Dungeon. Alert status. In heat. ]

[ Minotaur (A)
: Hybrid creature. Alert status. ]

The one with a name was likely the boss, and the other four seemed to be its subordinates.
The problem was that all the Minotaurs were A-rank.
‘In heat? What’s that about?’
My intuition was screaming danger.
I’d heard that elephants become incredibly violent during mating season.
“Five Minotaurs…?”
“They all feel like A-rank to me.”
The twins pulled their weapons from the Subspace, their expressions darkening.
“…Looks like an easy trip home is off the table.”
“Are Minotaurs particularly troublesome?”
Jang Su Ho gave a short nod in response to my question.
“They have a habit of not fighting individually.”
“So they cooperate in combat?”
“Yeah. Yeo Joo, you just stay here.”
I was about to shake my head at Jang Su Ho’s words.
“Right, Yeo Joo should stay with me here.”
Yoo Jin Rok stepped forward as well, telling me to remain in the safe zone.
“Understood. I’ll stay here. If you get hurt, come back quickly.”
I said this to the twins like a plea, and they laughed.
Then Jang Su Ho, who had been warming up with his shield, pressed his massive body against mine and asked.
“Yeo Joo, what about me? What about me?”
“Don’t get hurt.”
“Ha, got it. I’ll come back without a scratch.”
Times like this made me truly resent having no combat ability whatsoever.
I wished I could be of some help.
Then the Minotaur pack slowly began to rise.
“…Massive.”
They were so enormous they could flick someone like me away with a single finger.
Especially the boss Minotaur named Kenta appeared at least 1.5 times larger than the others.
“Hmph, big or not, cattle is still cattle.”
Lee Yu Chan scoffed, but the tension in his fingers already gripping the bowstring revealed just how nervous he truly was.
“I’ll handle the boss alone, so Soo Ho, take the others and pull it toward the three o’clock direction. Finish it as quickly as possible and regroup with me.”
Handle that massive bull-headed creature alone?
But I was the only one harboring such doubts.
The moment Kang Han finished speaking, the rest of the team began circling around the plains in motion.
“We’ll be back shortly. Yeo Joo, please stay safe here.”
With those words, Kang Han leaped high into the air toward the boss Minotaur that was glaring in our direction.
Still, Kang Han had not drawn his Silent Blade.
Instead, in his grasp—
Crack—!
Lightning blazed brilliantly in his palm, far more radiant than usual.

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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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