The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 256

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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 77

Time drifted on, and the Team Four interviews had already surpassed the midpoint.
In the meantime, Sung Yo Na had fled with the excuse that “I’ve done enough photosynthesis, so I’m going back to work,” but since I’d at least fed her, I’d accomplished my goal.
“Still, I’m grateful the weather turned out so nice.”
Having completed all my good deeds for the day, I luxuriated in the warm sunlight streaming down, letting it envelop my entire body.
Then, the moment school ended, I watched the twins devouring milk tea and toast from a food truck without even changing out of their uniforms, and I asked them a question.
“Soon the year will change. What are you two planning to do on January 1st?”
“Mm? Ai-i-ha-aah, um-um.”
“…Finish eating first, then talk.”
At my reproach, Lee Yu Eul grinned, swallowed her toast in one gulp, and spoke.
“Nothing in particular, really.”
“Why not? You’re becoming adults, after all. What about you, Lee Yu Chan?”
Lee Yu Chan, whose appetite had grown noticeably lately and now surpassed Lee Yu Eul’s, finished his fourth toast and reached for a fifth, shrugging his shoulders.
“Same here. It’s just another day—what’s different about it?”
“But it’s a day that only comes once in a lifetime!”
“Noona.”
“Hm?”
“Every single day only comes once in a lifetime.”
“…Just eat your toast, Lee Yu Chan.”
Learning life’s bitter truths from a nineteen-year-old—how painful.
But since I’m someone who loves to indulge in wasting days that only come once, I soon recovered and nagged them.
“Still, it’s not every day that when the clock strikes twelve, things that weren’t allowed before suddenly become permitted! Go out and play with your friends!”
“If you’re that frustrated, I’ll keep you company.”
Lee Yu Eul stirred her iced milk tea in circles despite the cold weather, laughing.
“Hm? Me?”
“You’re supposed to learn how to have fun from adults, after all.”
“That’s true enough.”
“There are plenty of adults around us, but you’re the only one who’s genuinely serious about having fun. Right, Lee Yu Chan?”
In response to Lee Yu Eul’s question, Lee Yu Chan exchanged something like a knowing glance that only the twins seemed to share, then nodded.
“Why don’t you buy us some alcohol?”
“Alcohol…?”
I’d told them to go out and have fun since they were becoming adults, but I couldn’t quite picture these little bundles of joy cracking open soju bottles.
Besides, wouldn’t December 31st be absolutely packed with people?
Just thinking about it exhausted me, and I hesitated, unable to give a quick answer.
“I thought you were supposed to learn drinking from adults.”
“Hey, don’t pressure her. We can just go out and drink among ourselves. Sure, we might overdo it and cause some trouble while drunk, but what’s the worst that could happen?”
“Well, it all becomes a memory once it’s over.”
“Fine, fine, you two. Let’s go. But no soju. Beer only.”
As I surrendered, the twins grinned at each other and toasted with milk tea. I was laughing at how absurd it all was when someone suddenly tapped my head and appeared beside me.
That heavy hand, devoid of any consideration for a Healer, carried an oddly irritating quality—it could only be Jang Su Ho.
“Our manager sure is spending money generously, isn’t she?”
“Mmph—ngh, grr.”
I clenched my teeth and said, “Don’t bring up money,” then clicked my teeth together threateningly as if to bite. Jang Su Ho laughed at my display as if it were ridiculous.
“If you’re going to be that stingy about it, why take on such a big project?”
“Just an interview alone wouldn’t look impressive, you know? It needs to have presence.”
“Yeo Joo, honestly, ugh.”
I lunged to bite the finger that Jang Su Ho was lazily poking into my cheek.
I’d naturally expected him to make a fuss and run away, but Jang Su Ho did something unexpected.
Instead of dodging, he shoved his finger straight into my mouth.
I suddenly became someone who was genuinely biting my friend’s index finger.
As I pushed away his thick, hard finger and blinked in confusion, Jang Su Ho grinned and started stroking my head.
“That’s right, good job.”
“…You bastard.”
Was he treating me like a dog?
“Try biting a real dog with that kind of sincerity.”
Just as I was opening my mouth wide to lunge at Jang Su Ho’s thick forearm—
“Um…”
An unfamiliar voice called out from behind.
Sure enough, the twins and Jang Su Ho had already stopped their actions, having sensed someone approaching from behind.
My face was burning with embarrassment.
I clicked my tongue inwardly and turned toward the person who’d spoken.
“Oh… hello?”
“Hello, Healer Yeo Joo!”
The man who bowed in greeting had unusually dark eyes that shone with an almost burdensome brightness.
I’d never seen him before, yet his face seemed familiar.
Then it suddenly came to me—I’d seen this face on the interview broadcast screen just moments ago.
“Ah! You’re Choi Han Gyeol, right?”
“Yes! You saw my interview.”
Choi Han Gyeol laughed shyly.
“Actually, I’m usually a fan of yours, Healer Yeo Joo. Would it be okay if we took a photo together?”
“Of course.”
Honestly, I found it bothersome to get up from my seat, but I nodded readily anyway.
I didn’t want to risk him posting somewhere later that the Justice Guild was unpleasant if I acted too busy.
Jang Su Ho offered to take the photo, but Choi Han Gyeol declined, saying he wanted a selfie taken together instead.
I left behind about three photos to show my sincerity, then returned to my seat.
I’d given him what he wanted—there was no reason to linger.
Choi Han Gyeol gazed at the photos we’d taken together with a satisfied expression and spoke.
“I don’t think I’ll pass the interview, but still—getting to see the Justice Guild and taking photos with Healer Yeo Joo… it’s amazing.”
“You did well though.”
I hadn’t witnessed Choi Han Gyeol’s interview earlier, unlike Jang Su Ho and the twins, but my assessment differed from his.
“The final decision rests with Yoo Jin Rok and the Kang Han Guild Master, so I can’t guarantee the outcome, but the interview atmosphere was good, wasn’t it?”
Yoo Jin Rok in particular seemed quite pleased with Choi Han Gyeol’s illusion magic.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have kept asking him to demonstrate one technique after another.
Yet Choi Han Gyeol smiled ambiguously and replied.
“Hmm. I don’t think I did that well, though…”
His tone was strange for someone merely lacking confidence.
“Why do you think that?”
“Just… I don’t need to wait for the results. I know I won’t pass.”
Not “I don’t think I’ll pass,” but “I won’t pass.”
For someone who’d cleared the document screening and come all the way to the guild for the interview, his complete lack of hope seemed peculiar.
‘Is it because of that noise I saw earlier?’
If so, that made sense.
Noise would be a fatal flaw in illusion magic, where lifelike realism was everything.
As I watched Choi Han Gyeol with sympathy, hurried footsteps approached from a distance.
“There you are… Han Gyeol.”
“Noona!”
She appeared to be Choi Han Gyeol’s guardian who’d accompanied him.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“Hehe. Healer Yeo Joo was here. She took photos with me.”
“Really? Oh—Yoo Sung bought those fish-shaped pastries you wanted. Let’s go.”
“Okay! Healer Yeo Joo, thank you so much!”
“It’s nothing, really. Go on in.”
After exchanging farewells with me, Choi Han Gyeol waved at Jang Su Ho and the twins.
His parting gesture was quite friendly, and I thought he must be an affable person—I noticed Jang Su Ho waving back with a smile.
Moreover, Lee Yu Eul added this:
“Bye! Be careful!”
I flinched momentarily but tried not to show it.
Once Choi Han Gyeol had walked away with his sister, I carefully broached the subject.
“Lee Yu Eul.”
“Yes?”
“Speaking informally to Choi Han Gyeol like that… wasn’t that a bit rude?”
“Rude?”
“He looked older than me…”
“Who did?”
“Choi Han Gyeol.”
“Huh?”
Lee Yu Eul tilted her head, clearly confused.
Jang Su Ho and Lee Yu Chan showed similar reactions.
A sudden sense of dissonance washed over me.
“By the way, how old did everyone think Choi Han Gyeol looked?”
The three exchanged bewildered glances before answering my question.
“At most, maybe around eighteen?”
“They looked younger than that to me.”
“Hmm, around sixteen?”
A chill ran down my spine, and my entire body tensed.
“What about their appearance? Pretty ordinary… right?”
Jang Su Ho and Lee Yu Eul immediately protested.
“How is that an ordinary face! They were absolutely adorable!”
“That’s right! Their skin was so fair, and they had such defined double eyelids. They even had a somewhat foreign look to them.”
Lee Yu Chan even asked with concern.
“Noona, are you feeling feverish or something?”
“No, I’m certain that—!”
I hurriedly looked toward the direction where Choi Han Gyeol and their sister had disappeared, but both figures were already out of sight.
A powerful sense of déjà vu suddenly struck me.
A youthful appearance that didn’t seem Korean, and illusion magic.
“…I need to use the restroom for a moment.”
I quickly stood and made my way to the restroom in the Guild Dining Hall of the nearest Dormitory Building.
I turned the faucet to full blast and splashed my face with ice-cold water, then took a deep breath.
While it could have been dismissed as a mere incident, something told me I couldn’t ignore this.
“Phew.”
I calmly dried my face and stepped out of the restroom.
I needed to stop the interview and inform Kang Han about this immediately.
But before I could even leave the deserted Dormitory Building, my path was blocked.
“…Choi Han Gyeol, this is a restricted area for outsiders.”
“Oh, really? I’m so sorry! I didn’t know! I was just looking for the restroom…”
Choi Han Gyeol’s eyes widened in surprise, and they appeared genuinely flustered.
Then they glanced around quickly before flashing me a sly smile and asking.
“Did I get caught?”
I fought the urge to step back and activated my skill.

[ Skill ‘See What You Know (EX)’ is activated. ]

Bishop Yi’s S
1. Example (S)
2. As Spoken (S)
3. Hierarchy (A)

Damn it. So it really is him.
My instincts moved before my mind could catch up.
I could never show fear in front of this bastard.
I furrowed my brow with an air of annoyance and spoke.
“We have no interest in cults. Could you just disappear?”
A perverted freak so ancient that no one knew his actual age, yet he paraded around disguised as a child.
A lunatic who genuinely believed the apocalypse was salvation.
Bishop Yi, the Cult Leader of the Apocalypse Cult with hundreds of thousands of fanatic followers, grinned widely at the sight of me.

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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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