The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 315

—————
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 136

Coalition strategy meetings where major guilds gathered were always chaotic.
Other guilds constantly invented excuses to snatch even a fraction of the largest share that the Justice Guild—which had played a central role for years—claimed for itself.
But they couldn’t make demands so brazenly without losing face, so they needed a pretext.
And today’s sacrificial lamb was Yeo Joo, the Healer.
Having an A-rank Healer accompany them would certainly provide peace of mind, but no guild would abandon a rare S-rank Gate raid just because the Healer wasn’t included in the party.
So the usual approach—tossing a few items their way or slightly increasing their share of byproducts—would suffice to placate them and keep them in line.
“What is he saying, Han?”
Kang Young Won, standing by the window with hands clasped behind her back, gazed down at the nightscape of Jongno and laughed.
“Sa Ma Young finally showed his childish nature and handed us this gift. Of course we should seize it.”
He’d apparently deliberated until the last moment between the Sama Guild and the Justice Guild.
Thanks to Sa Ma Young’s petulant behavior—stemming from his failure to secure an A-rank Healer—everything had unfolded remarkably smoothly.
“Yeo Joo the Healer also handled it beautifully. By accepting, she silenced Ha Young Hyun completely, didn’t she?”
“She had no choice but to accept.”
I recalled her fingers clenched so tightly beneath the table they’d turned white, and her lips trembling slightly.
Kang Han spoke clearly to his mother, who still wore that serene smile.
“You, the Guild Master, and the Justice Guild made it so she had no other option.”
“True, true. But we only need one Healer to accompany us—there’s no reason to expend the guild’s high-grade items, is there?”
Kang Young Won tapped her son’s solid shoulders lightly.
“Don’t worry too much. With several S-rank Hunters going in, the Healer shouldn’t face any dangerous situations, son.”
“…I’ll prepare assuming S-rank or higher threats.”
Even as Kang Young Won watched her son turn away, refuting what he’d just said, she simply smiled.

* * *

The next day.
I received a text message on my way to work.

[This is Kang Han.
I’d like to see you for a moment.
Cheonggyecheon-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, XX Street, X.
I’ll be waiting.]

When I searched the address, it turned out to be a small building near the Justice Guild, in the vicinity of Jongak Station.
Next, I looked up Kang Han’s contact information from the emergency contact list within the Guild.
“…This is the Sub-guild Master’s number, isn’t it.”
On my first day of work, I was suddenly dragged into a meeting and met all those famous Hunters I’d only seen on TV, then entered an S-rank Gate with them, and now today I’ve even received a text from Kang Han.
And not just any text—one asking to meet separately.
“I really did it, I really succeeded.”
Since I was already nearly at the Justice Guild Building, I changed direction toward the location where Kang Han said he’d be waiting.
Last night, I’d steeled myself for the task of entering an S-rank Gate.
Honestly, there were moments when it felt like too much, but I decided to look at it positively.
After awakening as an A-rank Healer, unless I chose to work at the Awakened Healer Hospital, I couldn’t do only safe work.
That’s why Healers affiliated with Guilds earn so much money.
Naturally, I’d eventually enter high-risk Gates, and starting with South Korea’s finest S-rank Hunters by my side wasn’t such a bad thing.
But I decided not to tell my parents.
They’d worry.
The reason I could accept reality so smoothly this way was.
“Honestly, that face is the Justice Guild’s greatest benefit package.”
Watching Kang Han gaze down at Cheonggyecheon with that serene expression, my true feelings spilled out before I could stop them.
His towering height and superior physique alone were striking enough, but his sculpted features radiated an even more captivating beauty.
People passing by during rush hour would stop in their tracks and glance back repeatedly.
“Mmph.”
Fortunately, the surrounding noise probably masked it, but I quickly closed my mouth anyway—and that’s when Kang Han suddenly turned toward me.
The moment he spotted me standing on the street, I thought I saw him smile faintly.
Maybe I wasn’t fully awake yet since it was morning.
“I’m sorry for asking you to meet on such short notice.”
Kang Han, who had walked up to me before I knew it, spoke.
The man who ranks first in Hunter popularity every year had a wonderful voice too.
“It’s fine. I was heading to work anyway. What’s this about?”
“Well, shall we head inside for a moment?”
Following Kang Han as he led the way, I entered an old building that looked modest compared to the forest of structures surrounding it.
Though bearing the marks of time, the interior was well-maintained and tidy.
“But what kind of place is this? It looked like Justice Guild Hunters were standing guard.”
“This is where the Justice Guild was first established.”
“Really?”
“As we expanded, we inevitably relocated to our current location, but this place remains the soul and roots of the Justice Guild, so we preserve it as much as possible in its original state.”
I was grateful I’d been hired as a special recruit Healer.
If they’d asked this in a regular recruitment interview, I definitely would’ve failed.
Kang Han himself didn’t seem particularly concerned that I hadn’t known the significance of this building.
Instead, before a door as massive as a bank vault, he went through complex procedures—iris recognition and a lengthy password—before revealing a staircase leading underground.
“The matter is downstairs.”

+++

“What… what is all this?”
I should have realized it from the elaborate security measures alone.
Deep beneath the earth, the ‘purpose’ finally revealed itself, and I couldn’t help but gape in astonishment.
“It’s the Item Storage Vault.”
Yes, I understood that much.
I stumbled backward, overwhelmed by the sheer expanse of the cavernous space crammed with countless objects, each bearing sterile labels like ‘A-235’.
This was the Justice Guild’s treasure vault.
“Why did you bring me here… I don’t think I should be seeing this.”
“Since you’re with me, there’s no problem.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. What if I get tempted? Why would you bring me somewhere like this…?”
Temptation strikes! Knowledge breeds trouble! A needle thief becomes a rope thief! Late-learned theft… wait, is that even a saying?
Regardless, humans are greedy creatures!
If I just took a few items from here and ran, I could buy an apartment in Seoul!
My entire life as an ordinary citizen flashed before my eyes like a lantern show, and I wanted to cry out.
One shot at life…!
Just then, Kang Han stopped in his tracks and asked.
“Will you regret that I brought you here?”
The moment I heard those words, my mind cleared.
Bathed in the vault’s bright interior lighting, Kang Han’s figure shimmered with an almost enchanting radiance, his lustrous hair catching the light in a way that could easily be mistaken for gold.
And those calm emerald eyes looking down at me sparkled like precious gems.
My mind, clouded by greed just moments before, suddenly became lucid, and my heart—which had been racing at the sight of treasures—began to race for an entirely different reason.
To disappoint someone like him would make me worthless.
“Oh, no! Absolutely not, I wouldn’t!”
“…Heh.”
With a soft, breathy sound, Kang Han covered his mouth with his loosely clenched fist.
“You… you were teasing me.”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
My shoulders, which had been rigid with tension, relaxed, and an overwhelming emotion welled up inside me—yet I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the gentle curve of Kang Han’s eyes as he smiled.
Was he perhaps the type with more playfulness than what the media portrayed?
In any case, Kang Han stepped closer, as if examining my sullen expression, and apologized once more.
“I’m sorry. Were you startled?”
“Well, a little. But what you said earlier was sincere. You can’t just bring anyone to a treasure vault like this.”
“The security measures are properly in place, befitting a treasure vault. Not just the entrance, but the stairs and corridors we walked through, the walls—everything. And though I’m not entirely sure myself.”
He spoke while tracing his lower lip with the tip of his neatly manicured finger.
“I really wanted to bring you here, Yeo Joo. To this place.”
“Me?”
“And I have something to give you.”
Kang Han strode through the aisles between display cases with long, purposeful steps as if shopping, gathered several boxes of various sizes, and placed them all directly into my arms.
“It’s all because of Yeo Joo.”

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