The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 215

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Yeo Joo Saves the World
Part 2, Episode 36

The Underwater Dungeon we were visiting was located merely a ten-minute walk from the Guild.
“Right in front of the Guild, then?”
With a slight exaggeration, it was practically as if a fixed Dungeon sat in the Guild’s front yard.
A small tunnel constructed to control access through the Gate positioned just beneath the water’s surface carried the sound of gentle waves lapping against it—pleasant yet carrying an eerie undertone.
The black Gate rippled like an enormous strand of seaweed in the seawater, amplifying that unsettling impression.
Ryu Ja Kyung brought over a pair of what appeared to be late-teenage hunters and introduced them to us.
“These two are newly recruited Hunters who have officially joined the Cheongmun Guild. They’ll be joining us on today’s tour.”
“We look forward to working with you!”
“If they’ve officially joined, were they already affiliated with Cheongmun Guild before?”
“Yes! We’re graduates of the Cheongmun Youth Program!”
Just as I suspected.
Like the children I’d encountered at the café earlier, these two had received their education through Cheongmun rather than commuting to Seoul Awakener School.
Then, as they awakened, they naturally became part of Cheongmun.
Other Guilds wouldn’t have had the chance to make recruitment offers.
‘That’s a smart approach.’
It seemed I’d gained insight into the path Justice Guild needed to take going forward.
“We’ll enter now.”
“Wait—do we need to equip any special items? I thought we’d need to prepare for underwater breathing….”
Ryu Ja Kyung, pulling out a dungeon camera in response to my question, laughed and shook her head.
“Deep-sea Dungeons sometimes require special items, but this one doesn’t need anything like that.”
Then how exactly do we breathe underwater?
The unanswered question was still floating around in my mind when it happened.
Ryu Do Kyung waded into the water without a moment’s hesitation.
Being a fixed Dungeon in front of the Guild, he was accustomed to it, but for someone seeing it for the first time, it was a sight that made your eyes widen involuntarily.
And before continuing further into the Gate, he turned back to address us.
“Please don’t worry too much and go ahead with entry. There is a time limit, so please hurry.”
“A time limit?”
This wasn’t even a Gate on the verge of a Dungeon Break—what was he talking about?
With that thought, I followed the Cheongmun people toward the Gate.
A chill ran down my spine as the cold seawater touched me, but it was only when I took a few more steps and was about to set foot into the Gate itself that something happened.

[ Current Occupants: 4/30 ]
[ Time Limit: 6 Hours ]
[ Do you wish to enter the Gate? ]

There were limits on both the number of people allowed inside and the duration of stay.
Since this was my first time encountering a Dungeon with such restrictions, I felt a flutter of tension as I surrendered my body to the cold seawater below.

* * *

“This is quite remarkable.”
Despite being underwater, I could breathe without any equipment and even speak normally.
It felt like I had become a single fish.
If I tried to swim, I could swim; if I thought about walking as I would on land, that too was possible.
As I moved my arms about, the sensation of water flowing between my fingers made me acutely aware that this place was not reality but inside a Dungeon.

[ 05:58:01 ]

The crimson timer at the top of my vision continued to count down.
A question suddenly occurred to me.
“Guild Master of Cheongmun, what happens when this timer runs out? Do we get forcibly expelled from the Dungeon?”
“No, nothing like that happens. You simply lose the ability to breathe underwater.”
“…I’d honestly prefer forced expulsion.”
There was no visible water surface to swim up toward.
If I suddenly lost the ability to breathe while walking along the bottom of this deep sea…
The mere thought was horrifying.
“Though it’s classified as large-scale, Underwater Dungeons are actually smaller in scope than other Dungeon types. There’s plenty of time to tour the deeper levels and return to the Gate, so please don’t worry too much.”
“There are no remaining monsters in this area. However, we can’t guarantee what unexpected situations might arise within the Dungeon, so please exercise caution. For now, we’ll move for about an hour to reach the deeper levels of the Dungeon.”
After listening to the kind explanations from the Ryu siblings, we began moving.
“Hey, everyone, look! Swimming is way easier!”
“Oh, really?”
“Dolphin sighting off the Waters of Incheon—Yang Hwa Yeon edition!”
“Ugh! Have you lost your mind?! Where do you see a fire-breathing dolphin?!”
A bouncy ball inside bounces just as high outside.
Today as well, the high-spirited Conquest Team 2 swam through the Underwater Dungeon like a pod of dolphins.
I considered stopping them, but since Ryu Ja Kyung was smiling as she captured Team 2 on camera, I let it be.
Yes, as long as everyone’s having fun, that’s what matters.
Though there were no fish to observe, the scattered pod of Team 2 dolphins swimming around provided entertainment, and the occasional coral clusters and dungeon flora that resembled dark seaweed made the journey far from boring.
About thirty minutes had passed when it happened.
“Insane.”
Im Chung Soo, who had been walking beside me, suddenly came to an abrupt halt.
“What’s wrong?”
“Unnie, could you ask if it’s okay to harvest some of this?”
Im Chung Soo’s gaze was fixed on white coral growing right beside the passage.
The spiky protrusions jutted upward in clustered bundles, resembling thorns bundled together.
“You may harvest it.”
It seemed Ryu Do Kyung had overheard Im Chung Soo’s question, for he approached and spoke first.
“If it’s needed for research, I can also have it sent to the Justice Guild periodically.”
“Really?!”
Im Chung Soo’s face brightened at Ryu Do Kyung’s kindness.
Then he cried out in a voice brimming with excitement.
“This is crown coral! With this, I think we can succeed!”
“Succeed? At what?”
“A wound-healing potion!”
With Ryu Do Kyung’s permission, Im Chung Soo quickly retrieved a mesh bag and a small hoe from his subspace, carefully tapping and harvesting the coral as he explained.
“When it touches skin, it causes numbness. That’s why you’re not supposed to touch it directly, but if we use this properly….”
“It would have an anesthetic effect.”
Understanding what Im Chung Soo was trying to convey, I felt a slight chill run down my spine.
For the past few months, Im Chung Soo had been working with Seo Yu Baek to research ways to reduce the side effects of healing potions, sacrificing sleep in the process.
Yet here he was, discovering the breakthrough in such an unexpected way.
Im Chung Soo looked delighted, but simultaneously bewildered.
“Right, there are plants in the water too, so why didn’t I think to look for aquatic plants? Ugh, am I an idiot? Or a genius?”
His muttering lips alternated between laughter and irritation without pause.
“If it’s a wound-healing potion, you’re referring to that trauma medication currently undergoing clinical trials at the Awakened Hospital, correct?”
After confirming there were no dangers nearby and returning, Ryu Do Kyung crouched down and watched Im Chung Soo harvest the coral, smiling.
“This young friend is quite remarkable.”
“Right? This kid is truly impressive.”
Ah, I was trying not to be a doting guardian.
“Director Seo told me that even with the incomplete potion, one Hunter’s life was saved. Once the wound-healing potion is completed, the number of Hunters dying from trauma in Dungeons will decrease dramatically.”
“That’s truly wonderful work.”
Im Chung Soo, listening to my conversation with Ryu Do Kyung, seemed to choke up slightly, biting down on his lower lip.
Moved by his earnest expression, I gently stroked his hair, which felt even softer in the water.
The boy, who would normally have bristled and avoided me, instead moved his hands more eagerly, filling the mesh bag to the brim with crown coral.

* * *

Chung Soo took a bit longer collecting coral, but we managed to reach our destination safely.
“We’re almost at the deep section now. You’ll see it once we go over that hill.”
Do Kyung pointed beyond the aquatic plants sprawling across the modest mound as he spoke.
I wondered what the depths of the Underwater Dungeon would look like.
I was cresting the hill, vaguely picturing a dim cave or a deep trench, when it happened.

[ You have arrived at the ‘Ruined Temple’. ]

“…A temple?”
An ominous premonition sent a chill down my spine.
I’d sworn off anything related to ‘gods’, yet here I was arriving at a temple out of nowhere.
“What is this suddenly….”
But unusually, Do Kyung seemed flustered too.
And then a genuine emergency unfolded.

[ ‘Benevolent Divine
(God)
Statue’ discovered! ]
[ Hidden Dungeon is opening! ]

Before the crumbling Ruined Temple situated below the hill, a black Gate materialized like a dark vortex.
Another Gate appearing within the Dungeon we’d entered through the first Gate.
“It’s a nested dungeon.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————