The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 250

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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 71

“Ah….”
“Really? You’re in pain from this, sister?”
Lee Yu Eul asked with wide, disbelieving eyes.
“Yeah. I feel like I got hit by a car.”
“Oh no, how are you supposed to enter a Double Dungeon with such a fragile body!”
While Lee Yu Eul panicked, tearing at her own hair, Lee Yu Chan covered his mouth with his hand and muttered softly.
“A defenseless body with terrible stamina, and on top of that, you have to share your power with someone else….”
“Hey. Yeah, you’re right. You’re right, but do you have to point out every single thing like that?”
My ribs hurt, but somehow the facts stung even more. I rubbed my chest, and the twins’ expressions grew serious.
Then they each took one of my hands.
“We’ll get stronger soon, sister.”
“We’ll train harder, so please wait a little longer.”
“That’s right—if we train, we’ll get stronger, and then you won’t get hurt.”
“Then you won’t need to use your skills on us.”
“And you won’t have to drink potions because of low stamina.”
Usually they bickered over the smallest things.
“You two really are twins, aren’t you?”
“Ugh, seriously!”
Lee Yu Chan and Lee Yu Eul grimaced and shook off my hands, then bolted away in opposite directions.
Even their movements were perfectly synchronized, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Pfft!”
But the laughter didn’t last long.
I turned around at the tap on my shoulder to find Han Ji Sung looking at me with an expressionless face.
With nothing to do in the hospital room, I’d been lounging around watching broadcast footage of the Double Dungeon we’d entered.
Naturally, I learned what happened after I collapsed.
Especially what expression Han Ji Sung had worn when he held my unconscious body.
“Ji Sung.”
“….”
Han Ji Sung just blinked silently.
Wait, could it be.
“Are you… crying?”
“…No, I just like the sound of your voice, Yeo Joo.”
He denied it, but his voice trembled with moisture.
Soon, Han Ji Sung’s delicate, cool hand descended upon my head.
“Yeo Joo.”
“Yes, oppa.”
“Could you promise not to scare me like that again?”
In that instant, the image of Han Ji Sung crying out that I wasn’t breathing flashed through my mind.
What if the roles had been reversed—if he had collapsed instead of me?
If I’d thought, even briefly, that Han Ji Sung was dead?
Could I still smile and speak so gently as he was doing now?
“…Oppa, you’re really too kind. Aren’t you even angry?”
“Angry?”
Han Ji Sung rolled his eyes once in thought before speaking.
“I am angry—at myself for not noticing sooner. Looking back, you always drank a stamina potion before using a skill. Chung Soo said he figured it out because of that too.”
“It’s my fault for hiding it without telling you. You didn’t do anything wrong, oppa.”
“Maybe.”
Han Ji Sung spoke with a shallow sigh.
“But when you collapsed like that, Yeo Joo, it didn’t matter whose fault it was anymore.”
“Ugh, oppa, how can you be so kind?”
At my sincere lament, Han Ji Sung let out a soft laugh.
Then he looked at the food on the table, which had gone completely cold.
“I should ask them to take this back and reheat it.”
“Right. I’ll help. Let’s carry it together.”
“No, you seem busy.”
I turned to look where Han Ji Sung was pointing, and Jang Su Ho was walking toward me.
Fortunately, his expression wasn’t angry.
Rather, he was grinning so widely that he looked like the happiest person in the room.
“Yeo Joo, are you doing okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine, so they gave me discharge permission.”
“You’re tough. I’m sorry I couldn’t visit while you were hospitalized.”
“I was out of it anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”
“It’s different though. I really wanted to go, you know? I was worried. But Kang Han said I couldn’t…”
“He did?”
This was the first I was hearing of it.
Suddenly, I became intensely curious about what had happened during those seven days I’d been lying unconscious.
But then, Jang Su Ho suddenly pulled me into his embrace and spoke.
“Let me give you a hug.”
“Huh?”
Before I could even push back, I found myself tightly wrapped in Jang Su Ho’s arms.
Because he was so large, it felt like being wrapped in an enormous, thick, heavy blanket.
It was reassuring, and not unpleasant.
Except for one very minor detail: that the one holding me was Jang Su Ho.
Jang Su Ho and I are the same age.
Compared to typical friends, we’re more physically affectionate, but it’s nothing serious.
We’d hold hands for skill usage, playfully put each other in headlocks, or after exercise when I’d collapse, Jang Su Ho would scoop me up and drag me around—that sort of thing.
But suddenly he’s hugging me?
I wasn’t concerned about my own condition; I needed to check if something was wrong with Jang Su Ho.
“Hey, what’s gotten into you all of a sudden? Let me go and—”
“You’ve worked hard.”
I almost burst out laughing.
It wasn’t just me who felt awkward.
Jang Su Ho was stiff as a board.
Yet despite that, he pulled me into an embrace just to properly convey those words of gratitude.
I felt genuinely grateful and touched.
His arms no longer felt uncomfortable around me.
I wrapped my arms around him and patted his back gently.
“That’s why I’m telling you not to recklessly get hurt when you enter a Gate.”
“Yeah, I won’t get hurt from now on.”
“How can a tank not get hurt, you idiot?”
“If I’m good enough, I can?”
“Yeah, right.”
As we continued our usual banter, someone’s hand gently separated Jang Su Ho and me.
“Oh, Guild Master?”
“Do you two really need to embrace so tightly to have a conversation?”
“No, sir! Nobody said anything about embracing!”
“Guild Master, you’re really jumping to conclusions! You shouldn’t interpret camaraderie so inappropriately!”
As Jang Su Ho and I protested indignantly, Kang Han nodded briefly in acknowledgment and pointed to the table, which was being refilled with steaming hot food.
“The food will get cold again. Let’s eat first.”
“Oh, I’m suddenly starving.”
My stomach, which I hadn’t even noticed was empty, churned at the sight of the delicious spread.
Since I was the guest of honor at this gathering, I took a seat in the center where I could reach all the dishes.
Just as I reached for japchae, my favorite dish, I noticed something odd.
“Wait, where are Chung Soo and Yo Na?”
There were so many people around that I hadn’t noticed until now.
Im Chung Soo and Sung Yo Na were nowhere to be seen.
In response to my question, Kang Han told me where the two were.
“Chung Soo has been holed up in the Secret Workshop for days now, saying he’s going to create a new stamina potion.”
“I figured as much. He never listens when I tell him that overworking himself like that will stunt his growth.”
Im Chung Soo loves japchae too.
I should ask the kitchen to pack some food for him and take it to the Research Lab.
“And what about Yo Na?”
“Sung Yo Na is in the same situation.”
“Huh? Sung Yo Na?”
Kang Han nodded.
“After hearing about your penalty, she said she might be able to do something about it, went into her room, and hasn’t been seen since.”
That didn’t make sense.
No matter how much I recalled Sung Yo Na’s skills, there was nothing that seemed to connect with a drug abuse penalty.
Before I knew it, I was poking the tender meat of the braised short ribs on the plate in front of me and putting it in my mouth, tilting my head in confusion.
“What exactly is she trying to do about the penalty?”

* * *

The next day, Yoo Jin Rok arrived with Yu Ga Young.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to your discharge celebration party yesterday.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. It was just an excuse for everyone to eat something delicious to celebrate my discharge.”
“Still. Today, Ga Young wanted to give you a discharge gift, so I brought her along.”
“Ooh, you’re giving me a gift?”
I deliberately spoke in a brighter voice and made a fuss over it.
It was because Yu Ga Young’s complexion didn’t look very good for someone who had gone out of their way to bring a gift.
“Yeo Joo, here.”
What Yu Ga Young held out was a teddy bear with impressively fluffy fur.
She’d picked out exactly the kind of gift I would have chosen.
“I was really happy when I was discharged too…”
“Thank you. I was thinking the room felt a bit empty anyway. This will be perfect next to my bed.”
But Yu Ga Young was definitely acting strange.
When handing over the teddy bear, she quickly withdrew her hand to avoid touching me, nearly causing me to drop it.
“Oops.”
I quickly caught the teddy bear and pulled up Yu Ga Young’s status window.
Something was definitely off.
Just how much had her addiction rate increased?

[ Yu Ga Young ??
Unawakened (!Awakening Imminent!)
Status Abnormality – Darkness Addiction 45%, Darkness Vulnerability, Runaway Syndrome ]

…Awakening imminent?

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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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