The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 327

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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 148

Am I hearing things from mana exhaustion?
I downed the potion Ji Sung gave me in one gulp, but Ha Young Hyun’s voice continued to ring out as if she’d lost all reason.
“You can’t just leave any random person next to the healer—you have to go out and fight! That’s the sub-guild leader’s duty!”
Hah, heh heh.
A hollow laugh escaped me.
I wanted to rub the back of my neck where a dull ache was building, but I couldn’t—not with Sa Ma Young’s hands stained crimson with blood.
“Sigh.”
Though the wounds were healed, I took a deep breath to avoid looking at Sa Ma Young still lying in the pool of blood.
That Sa Ma Young isn’t the Sa Ma Young I know.
I had to remind myself of this over and over.
Right, I’m just shocked because of Sa Ma Young.
The Utopia Guild leader’s outrageous behavior isn’t exactly surprising, is it?
After all, I’m a reader who’s been sick of seeing her act like this throughout the entire “Chronicles of King Sejong.”
So I’ll endure it.
Endure—
(忍)
—three times, and even murder can be forgiven.
“I cannot participate in combat. I must protect the rear—the mages, including healer Yeo Joo. Of course, Guild Leader Ha Young Hyun as well.”
Unlike me, barely holding back my fury, Kang Han’s voice was composed and measured.
“What kind of irresponsible nonsense is that!”
Endure.
“We’ve raided countless coalition dungeons, and we’ve never had front-line combatants take this much damage! Are you saying I’m wrong that this happened because Sub-Guild Leader Kang Han was absent, leaving a gap in our offense?”
Endure.
“It’s unavoidable. Surely you understand that the higher the dungeon’s difficulty, the more the raid’s success depends on securing the safety of rear-line personnel like healers.”
“Who said anything about abandoning anyone? I’m just saying the healer’s busy enough without being left unguarded.”
Just endure, endure…
“Sub-Guild Leader Kang Han, why are you being so selfish?”
Enduring is bull—
“Listen here, did you take a bullet to the head, Ha Young Hyun?”
“What?”
“Hunter Chae Jung Woo got hurt and now you can’t see straight? And you’re still a guild leader. Is Utopia really all you’ve got?”
Right now, the one who can’t see straight is me.
“Hey, you…!”
“What?”
I brushed away the hand on my shoulder and walked forward to stand before Ha Young Hyun.
“What did you leave with the Justice Guild and Kang Han? You keep bringing up responsibility and obligation, but there’s a limit to playing the victim. Utopia came in with two people trying to take one out—don’t you think that’s the selfish move here? Or does Utopia not have the right to speak?”
It was one thing to overlook such behavior out of consideration for guild members, but not repeatedly.
“And why are you blaming Kang Han for Chae Jung Woo’s injuries during combat?”
“That’s obvious! Look how much the Justice Guild takes every time we do a joint raid!”
“There’s nothing obvious about it. We’re all risking our lives out there—what’s obvious about that?”
“You seem unfamiliar with things since you just awakened. Healer Yeo Joo, high-rank hunters have corresponding responsibilities and obligations!”
“Anyone listening would think Chae Jung Woo was F-rank. By that logic, as an A-rank, should I just lie down in fear and do nothing? Be grateful you’re riding on the Justice Guild’s coattails since you’re weaker. If you hate that the Justice Guild takes so much, then work on improving your skills and try to handle it yourselves. And.”
I took another deliberate step closer.
“Before criticizing others, get yourself in order. If you’re going to complain to Kang Han about protecting the healer, then Chae Jung Woo shouldn’t have received treatment from me.”
“That, that’s…!”
“Get your head straight. From now on, when you or Chae Jung Woo get injured, don’t make me say ‘I can’t do more because I’m A-rank.'”
Ha Young Hyun trembled but said nothing.
I hadn’t wanted to say such things as a healer, but she was the one who crossed the line first, throwing around accusations about selfishness toward Kang Han.
Just then, Sa Ma Young and Chae Jung Woo seemed to regain consciousness and were getting to their feet.
I walked toward the edge of the safe zone and spoke.
“Hunter Ji Sung, can we talk for a moment?”

+++

Standing in the wind flowing from the tunnel, my heated mind gradually cooled, and embarrassment crept in.
‘I should have just held back.’
But now that I’d vented, my chest felt lighter.
“Are you alright?”
Han Ji Sung asked with a smile.
“Yes, well. I feel better now. Sorry for raising my voice.”
“Don’t apologize. Someone should have said that long ago. But why did you call me out separately? Am I getting scolded too?”
He seemed concerned about my earlier comment about “two coming in and one trying to leave.”
After all, Han Ji Sung had also been planning to leave with Chae Jung Woo back then.
“No, I have an idea I wanted to discuss with you.”
“An idea?”
“A way to significantly reduce the number of Magma Sprites—the failed creations that spawn every hour. The way we’re doing it now, bursting them one by one, consumes too much mana.”
I’d focused on the detail in the Magma Sprite information: “low durability.”
These creatures would burst with a single needle poke, yet Han Ji Sung was currently swinging a sledgehammer to deal with each one individually.
In an environment where the matchup was already unfavorable, mana consumption was inevitably severe.
“The method is basically…”
What came to mind was the “freezing steam” technique that Han Ji Sung had used in the Flame Dungeon in reality.
If that simple area-of-effect skill—which I’d perfected after getting the idea from an offhand comment I made upon seeing a mug of hot coffee—were to unfold before me again, wouldn’t it trigger Kang Han’s memories?
“It might work even better if we get Hunter Gye Young Ho to help concentrate them in one spot. Or we could have him spray water on the ground first to create steam. Right?”
I added my own opinion to match the situation, but Ji Sung said nothing.
He simply spread his right hand wide, crushed a small ice fragment within it, then used the wind blowing through the tunnel to transform it into water vapor, creating a glittering miniature blizzard of lethal intent.
“Whoa, be careful. You might hurt your hand like that….”
“Thank you.”
Ji Sung dispelled his magic and grabbed my hand firmly as he spoke.
“Thank you, Yeo Joo the healer.”
I wanted to answer with something like ‘It’s nothing’ or ‘You don’t need to go that far’.
But I couldn’t say anything at all.

“Thanks, Yeo Joo.”

It was that exact same smile he wore when he first created the keyword ‘benefactor’ and looked at me.
I wanted to remind myself that the Ji Sung of reality and the Ji Sung of this place were different people.
So I had searched for differences in his speech patterns and personality.
But what could I do when he smiled with that same face, in that same way?
“…Please don’t get hurt.”
In the end, those were the only words that escaped my lips.

+++

“Now we’re getting somewhere!”
As the magma spawn disappeared completely under the combined assault of Gye Young Ho and Ji Sung, Yoon Ki Baek, finally able to focus solely on the battle before him, shouted with renewed vigor while bringing his shield down.
Everyone who heard his voice broke into smiles, but they didn’t last long.
The situation was far from favorable.
The prolonged battle had produced a steady stream of wounded, leaving Yeo Joo the healer in a state of complete exhaustion.
No matter how many potions were poured in, there were limits to what could be done.
To make matters worse, the countdown had barely any time remaining.

[ ! WARNING ! ]
The volcano will soon erupt and the supreme being will reveal itself.
Time remaining until eruption: 00 : 31 : 09

“Everyone, move back.”
I drained the last mana potion Sung Ro Sa had left behind in one gulp and cast a wide-area skill.
Brilliant arrows of light cascaded down from the heavens.
Boom! Crack! Thud!
Because I’d spread the range as far as possible, the damage was diminished, but dozens of golems staggered from the impact and fell into combat incapacity—and the hunters who’d stepped back seized the opening without hesitation.
But there was an unforeseen consequence.
One of the golems that Yoon Ki Baek had herded into the center like livestock caught sight of Sung Ro Sa and began charging toward the rear.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Kang Han’s form burst forward to intercept the golem, which drew closer with each thunderous step.
He reduced its movement speed by striking it with a thick spear of lightning, then leaped high and aimed for the two eyes of the golem that glowed red-hot.
At the same moment, Gye Young Ho and Han Ji Sung—now moving in surprising synchronization without exchanging a single word—sprang into action.
Whoosh—!
Gye Young Ho laughed brightly as a towering water barrier froze solid in an instant.
“We should’ve done this from the start! Right, Hunter Han Ji Sung?”
“Exactly. At this rate, we could block the beam several more times….”
Crack!
A sinister but infinitesimal sound—that was all.
Han Ji Sung lowered his head and looked down at his chest.
“…Why?”
He couldn’t comprehend it.
Why there was a hole larger than a fist, dark and gaping, bored through that spot.
With that thought as his last, Han Ji Sung’s body crumbled.

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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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