The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 303

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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 124

The summit was within sight.
“Just a little… more. Haah.”
Under normal circumstances, I could have leaped up and reached it in a single bound.
But weighed down by the burden of hardship, it felt impossibly distant.
With each step forward, my knees sank deeper into the snow, and fresh wounds joined the bloodstains already covering my hands.

[ The weight of hardship increases further. ]
[ The weight of hardship increases further. ]
.
.
.
Each time the message appeared, the crushing force pressing down on my entire body grew heavier.
It felt as though someone were tying invisible weights to my back, one by one.
I was overwhelmed.
It was agonizing.
Yet Kang Han was smiling.
Unlike before, the messages that updated with each step felt like the system’s final death throes.
Three steps.
With only three steps remaining to the summit, I paused and turned to look back.
It was something I hadn’t done once during the entire climb.
The path that had been nothing but suffering from the moment I set foot on it—true to the name “Mountain of Hardship”—had transformed into a dazzling snowy landscape.
“Ah.”
A soft gasp of realization escaped my lips.
Beyond the Forest where the Gate had been created, the Snowy Field I’d thought stretched endlessly actually met the Sea.
The dark indigo Sea, visible clearly even from this distance, churned ceaselessly against the shore, raising white foam that never ceased its assault.
When I turned my gaze back to the white plain, I spotted a small silhouette engaged in battle with a pack of wolves that had burst from the Forest.
It was the Cheongmun Guild.
The moment I remembered their existence—something I’d forgotten while climbing—waves of emotion surged through my heart.
‘I’ve wasted too much time.’
It had already been five hours since I entered the Mountain of Hardship.
During that time, which felt far longer than five hours, Chung Moon and the others had likely defeated countless monsters.
‘If one boss monster isn’t enough…’
Murky turbidity clouded my previously clear thoughts.
My grip on the summit weakened, my hand that had been so firmly fixed on reaching it losing all its strength.
An overwhelming urge consumed me—to bury my exhausted body in the snow and rest at last.
When I lifted my head, those final few steps I’d thought were within reach now seemed impossibly distant.
If all this suffering led only to defeat, I wasn’t sure I could bear it.
Perhaps it would be better.
Perhaps it would be better to simply…
My clouded eyes, sinking into despair, turned toward the Snowy Field.
If I just let go of this hand that was struggling so hard to hold on, I could finally rest in peace.
It was precisely when such thoughts flooded my mind.

“If a climbing Quest appears, don’t think about anything else. Just run straight to the summit.”

My trained, broad back convulsed sharply.
As if I’d plunged into ice water, my senses snapped back to clarity.
Simultaneously, the world came into sharp focus once more.
The snow that had seemed so inviting now felt bitterly cold against my skin.
Only a handful of steps remained to the summit.
And there—a new system window I hadn’t noticed until moments ago.

[ The weight of hardship increases further. ]

Only then did Kang Han understand.
Even that desire to abandon everything had been part of the weight of hardship.
Now that I’d grasped the system’s machinations, I could not remain frozen.
Especially not when Chung Moon’s efforts made victory uncertain.
“Haah.”
With a sharp exhale, Kang Han began moving again.
Understanding the truth didn’t erase the weight that had been crushing me.
But I chose to fight the hardship rather than surrender to despair.
I knew well that helplessness could sometimes be more agonizing than pain itself.
Two steps.
One step.
And finally.
Thud!
Kang Han’s hand grasped the summit.
“Hngh.”
Drawing upon every last ounce of strength to pull my body upward, I collapsed onto the summit and gazed up at the azure sky.

[ ! Quest Complete!
You have conquered the Mountain of Hardship! ]

“Haa, haa….”
As I drew ragged breaths that heaved my chest, my exhausted body surged back to life with exhilaration.
It wasn’t merely a sense of accomplishment.
The stamina I’d expended climbing the Mountain of Hardship was returning to me.
My blood-soaked hands had miraculously healed, and the clothes that had clung heavy with melted snow and sweat were now pristine.
I had been restored to my state before ascending the mountain.
I rose slowly to my feet and took in the sight of the mountain peak I had finally reached.
A fairly expansive plateau stretched before me, as if the peak of a towering mountain had been cleanly sheared off.
Unlike the depths below where snow had piled high enough to sink past my knees, the snow beneath my feet here was shallow.
Swoosh.
As I brushed it aside with my boot, the hard, smooth surface of ice was revealed.
I peered intently, but I could not fathom its depth.
It occurred to me that perhaps the Mountain of Hardship itself was merely the tip of a colossal iceberg.
Crack!
Fissures spread across what I had thought was a massive boulder buried in snow, and something trapped within was awakening.
Boom, boom!
With each large fragment that fell, a heavy tremor reverberated beneath my feet, and finally, what had slumbered within forced its way through the gap and raised its head.
“Sssssssss—!”
A serpent as massive as myself opened its gaping maw toward me, its split jaw stretching wide to reveal a dark crimson interior.
But there was not just one.
Writhe, writhe.
Whoosh!
Those things, moving like blazing flames, finally shattered through the ice and revealed themselves.
It was at that very moment a new Quest appeared before my eyes.

[ ! New Quest!
Slay 108 Hydras, the jailers who have committed an unforgivable sin. ]

108.
I laughed upon seeing that number.
I could almost hear a voice crying out, “Boss monsters—a total of 108 of them!”
A light, bursting laugh escaped me.
“Ah, Yeo Joo.”

* * *

[ “What could it be! The name of Yeo Joo, the Kang Han Guild’s healer, just came out of the guild master’s mouth!”
“It seems like there’s something only the two of them know!”
“Right. It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen the Kang Han Guild Master smile like that!”
“Hehe. I’m not sure what’s going on, but it’s the kind of smile that makes anyone watching feel all ticklish!” ]

The commentators and casters giggled like children.
I could feel Ryu Sang Eun’s gaze rolling his eyes as he stared at me.
“What?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Those aren’t the eyes of someone saying it’s nothing.”
“Isn’t it natural to think of someone important during crucial moments? Even before bungee jumping or rappelling training….”
“That’s not what this is.”
What kind of comparison is he making right now?
I answered because it seemed like I needed to clarify, but Ryu Sang Eun didn’t seem to believe me at all.
Instead, he practically shouted nonsense like “You have someone you like!” under his breath, stomping his feet and making a fuss.
“That’s not it…. Sigh, never mind.”
Kang Han is simply marveling at my foresight right now.
I should just keep quiet.
I shook my head and refocused on the TV screen.
Inside the Gate, Kang Han and the boss monster remained in a standoff.

[ “The Gate Ecology Research Institute has confirmed that the boss monster is an A-rank Hydra. Isn’t there a problem, even for an S-rank guild master like Kang Han, Hunter Lee Kyung Pyo?”
“That’s correct. A single A-rank Hydra would be weaker than the Snowy Field wolves or Wendelli Bear we saw at the base of the mountain. However, what we’re seeing on screen isn’t multiple heads sprouting from a single body. Each one appears to be an individual entity with A-rank combat capability!”
“My goodness, there are already dozens visible on screen.” ]

To be precise, there were 108 of them.
While 101 Dalmatian puppies might be cute, these massive black serpents writhing as one body were downright repulsive.
But despite their constant hissing and threatening displays, the Hydras didn’t dare rush at Kang Han easily.
It was the sorrowful fate of jailers condemned to guard this place for eons as punishment.

[ “The Kang Han Guild Master begins to move!” ]

After observing them for a moment as if contemplating something, Kang Han drew his spear.
Immediately, brilliant yellow and white sparks crackled menacingly from the spear’s blade.
It was his signature skill, “Punisher’s Lightning,” which he used most frequently.
The attack launched from the spear tip as he leaped lightly exploded amid the cluster of Hydras.

[ “Kyaaaaaagh!”
“Ssssshhh!” ]

With a single strike, more than ten snake heads burst apart like fireworks before my eyes.

[ “Incredible power, Guild Master Kang Han!”
“Is this the true strength of an S-Rank hunter?! The Hydra can’t keep up!” ]

The excited commentator and caster’s voices echoed sharply through the hotel room.
Their words were half right.
It was true that I was S-Rank, and it was true that among S-Rank hunters, I was particularly strong.
But the reason the Hydra’s heads fell so helplessly to my basic attacks wasn’t just that.
These creatures were ‘jailers who committed unforgivable sins’.
And my skill was called ‘Punisher’s Lightning Strike’.
“I’m telling you, our Guild Master is really smart?”
In short, to those snake heads, I was their natural predator.

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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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