The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 307

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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 128

The protagonist is truly the protagonist.
Kang Han is just lucky, they say?
“How did it feel…?”
Silently invoking the god of lotteries, I asked carefully.
“How it felt?”
Kang Han repeated the question, his eyes growing distant for a moment before he spoke.
“It felt… pleasant.”
“I see.”
That was a good sign.
Not only had he encountered the entity trapped within the Gate, however briefly, but he had felt genuine warmth meeting it face to face.
“What does this mean?”
I could only answer Kang Han’s question with a smile.
Unlike information about the Gate itself, I couldn’t let him know about that entity beforehand.
One wrong move could ruin everything.
I patted Kang Han on the shoulder and said, “Tell me in detail what happened inside the Gate.”
Kang Han gently rubbed the shoulder I’d struck and began recounting the events that hadn’t been broadcast to the public.
Kang Han had awakened a new skill.
A skill called “Heavenly Thunder Descent” that allowed him to strike lightning wherever he wished.
I was somewhat surprised, but it was as I’d anticipated.
Except for one thing.
I tried not to show excessive surprise as I asked, “What did the Gate clear message say?”
“It said, ‘You are granted qualification for defeating all of the contemptible jailer Hydra.'”
“…Ah, my throat is parched. Guild Master, could you fetch me some water? Really cold water, please.”
“Understood.”
After sending Kang Han out of the Hospital Room, I searched my memory.
In 【Sejong’s Barrier】, it was indeed Kang Han himself who cleared the Jeonju Glacier Dungeon.
More precisely, he had entered as part of the Sama Guild’s assault team and succeeded in climbing the Mountain of Hardship alone.
It was a Gate covered in considerable detail within the story.
But no matter how hard I tried to recall it, there was no mention of “being granted qualification.”
Something had changed.
And as a possessed devoted reader, I could say with confidence:
Something has changed.
And as a possessed devoted reader, I can confidently say.
Only administrators can modify the content of Quests that emerge from within a Gate.
For example, someone like Mollig, a lower-ranking administrator.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Mollig had given Bishop Yi an item.
An item that could control the interior of a Gate from outside, by any means necessary.
There was no way Mollig would have mentioned “qualifications” through a Quest to Kang Han.
Judging by the flow of events, it seemed like a qualification to meet the entity trapped within the glacier, but my instincts were telling me otherwise.
That encounter—barely more than a fleeting brush—wasn’t worth altering the Quest’s content for.
“Could it be…”
I had my suspicions.
Mollig’s intervention in this dying world through Bishop Yi was tantamount to breaking the administrators’ unspoken code.
“I brought ice water. You’re not running a fever again, are you?”
Kang Han placed his hand on my forehead to check my temperature as he asked.
“No, it’s not that.”
“Yeo Joo.”
“Yes?”
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I won’t ask any more difficult questions. Still, don’t try to carry all this burden alone. When the time comes, I’d like you to share that weight with me.”
Kang Han had a way of leaving me speechless sometimes.
As if he’d been inside my head, as if he understood everything in my heart.
So I nodded quickly.
It was a strange thing to admit, but I found myself looking forward to the day when I could tell Kang Han everything and we could put our heads together to prevent the apocalypse.
Just then, a knock at the door interrupted us, and a new voice entered.
“Doctor’s rounds.”
“Teacher!”
Seo Yu Baek, dressed in a white coat, stood in the hospital room doorway and waved lightly toward me.
But he wasn’t alone.
Behind Seo Yu Baek, I could see Im Chung Soo.
“Chung Soo, you came to visit?”
“Yeah, well.”
He shrugged with his hands buried in his padded jacket pockets.
Now a sophomore in high school, he was in the final stages of growth, his height increasing noticeably day by day, but his characteristic sullen expression remained unchanged.
“What’s with the hospital visit over a cold? Come in quickly. You too, teacher.”
“It’s been a while, Director Seo.”
Kang Han stood and shook hands with Seo Yu Baek.
“The less you see a doctor, the better. I watched the match, Guild Master. Congratulations on your Round of 16 victory.”
A photo of Seo Yu Baek in his coat and Kang Han together—what a sight.
And with the handsome young prospect Im Chung Soo visible at a glance, it was quite a pleasant scene.
I was nodding and smiling with contentment when Seo Yu Baek asked me.
“How’s your condition, Yeo Joo?”
“I’m fine. I’m perfectly healthy—can’t I be discharged?”
“Let’s get all the nutritional supplements done first, and then we can consider it.”
I’d expected Seo Yu Baek to refuse discharge outright, but his response was more flexible than anticipated.
If things went well, maybe I could sleep at home?
I was grinning at that thought when it happened.
“Would you mind stepping out for a moment, Guild Master Kang Han?”
Seo Yu Baek slipped both hands into the pockets of his coat and turned toward Kang Han.
But his gaze remained fixed on me.
“Is something wrong?”
“Nothing like that.”
Seo Yu Baek offered no further explanation.
Given his usually gentle nature, he would normally have explained his reasons for asking Kang Han to leave the hospital room properly.
Kang Han seemed to find Seo Yu Baek’s changed demeanor strange as well, so he didn’t move immediately.
When he looked at me as if asking if I knew the reason, I could only shrug.
Then Seo Yu Baek smiled faintly and spoke.
“It’s nothing serious—I just need to discuss something about potions.”
“…I understand. I’ll wait nearby.”
Kang Han answered briefly and pulled out his phone from his pocket.
“Yeo Joo, would it be alright if I contacted the Association Director about the person who was spotted in Jeonju?”
He meant to inform the Awakeners Association about the item Bishop Yi possessed.
Even if there were limitations, it was best to act quickly.
When I nodded, Kang Han gave Seo Yu Baek a brief bow of courtesy before leaving the hospital room.
Click.
The door closed, and Seo Yu Baek, who had been watching Kang Han’s departing figure, turned to face me.
The faint smile he’d been wearing was gone, replaced by a cold expression.
Though we hadn’t known each other long and rarely had deep conversations, it was immediately clear that Seo Yu Baek was furious.
I glanced at Chung Soo, and he avoided my eyes.
So he told him.
I let out a small sigh and pointed to the chair where Kang Han had been sitting, speaking to Seo Yu Baek.
“Have a seat, Doctor. You seem to already know everything.”

* * *

Im Chung Soo’s fists clenched inside his pockets as though a massive boulder had settled in his stomach.
He had discovered Yeo Joo’s secret several weeks ago.
That day, the weather had been unusually beautiful, and his mood had matched it perfectly.
The night before, Maeng-i had undergone evolution.
The creature that had once fit in the palm of his hand had grown to the size of an adult squirrel, and most remarkably, it had begun to speak.
So he had rolled up his sleeves to finally tackle the long-neglected task of organizing the storage warehouse, but while checking inventory, he immediately noticed something amiss.
“What? Why is it so empty?”
No matter how many times he cross-referenced the ledger, the count of stamina-boosting potions didn’t match.
And it wasn’t just one or two bottles—a full thirteen were missing.
Wondering if he’d simply forgotten them in a box somewhere, he searched every corner of the warehouse but found nothing.
“The only person who would do something like this is that money-obsessed older sister.”
By now, I could produce dozens of stamina-boosting potions with my eyes closed.
So I would have given her as many as she wanted, yet Yeo Joo always stole potions like a thief.
I had scolded her about it several times, warning that it made inventory management a headache, but she continued anyway.
“Maeng-i, let’s go confront her.”
[ “Yeo Joo good.” ]
The moment I mentioned visiting Yeo Joo, Maeng-i’s delight was so pure that I hoisted the creature onto my shoulder and headed toward the dormitory.
I had just entered the corridor leading to her floor when it happened.
Whoosh!
Maeng-i, who had been sitting on my shoulder rubbing its eyes and washing its face, suddenly burrowed into my hood.
“What’s wrong, Maeng-i?”
[ “Scared.” ]
“Scared? Of what?”
In response to my question, Maeng-i poked out only the tiniest finger from inside the hood and pointed toward Yeo Joo’s door.
[ “Baek Ho. Angry. Sad.” ]
“Baek Ho?”
Had Sa Ma Young somehow snuck into the dormitory building like he had in Jongno?
My face twisted in alarm as I yanked open Yeo Joo’s door and burst inside.
“Yeo Joo! What’s going—”
I couldn’t finish the sentence.
Drops of crimson blood were scattered across the floor of Yeo Joo’s dormitory room.
And sitting at the center of it all was Yeo Joo, collecting the blood flowing from her hand into an empty potion bottle.
“Why did you just barge in without knocking!”
Upon noticing me, Yeo Joo snapped at me in anger, then immediately ran her hand through her disheveled hair and lowered her head.
“Of all people, why did you have to catch me, Im Chung Soo.”

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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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