The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 328

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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 149

Whoosh—!
I heard that sound too.
I thought it was a cold wind blowing from the tunnel.
If not for the blue protective barrier that had wrapped around my body for an instant before vanishing, and the searing pain spreading from my right shoulder.
When I checked in alarm, red blood was seeping across my shoulder.
Once I became aware of it, the pain I’d thought was merely “hot” intensified to a degree that wouldn’t even let me scream.
But the impact of Ji Sung crashing heavily against me from behind was even greater.
“Ji Sung?”
It was strange.
No matter how difficult things got, he wasn’t the type to lean so heavily on someone else.
Not like a child asking to be carried, so why from behind… behind?
A thought flashed through my mind amid the pain that made my teeth clench involuntarily, and I turned my body.
Then Ji Sung tumbled completely into my arms, and I saw two red eyes gleaming from within the tunnel.
They belonged to the failed Golem.
Why? The bell hadn’t been rung yet?
During that brief moment of thought, the two eyes were drawing closer.
“Kang Han!”
I don’t even know.
Why that name escaped my lips instead of a scream.
Even knowing he was fighting beyond the ice barrier, I squeezed my eyes shut and pulled Ji Sung’s body tightly against me as I cried out.
And then I felt someone lift both Ji Sung and me into the air. When I opened my eyes again, I saw Kang Han’s retreating figure growing distant, and beyond the ice wall, two failed Golems colliding with each other.
Boom!
The deafening crash of the Golem shot from the tunnel colliding with the other Golem that had been rushing toward the ice wall sounded like a bomb exploding.
Without thinking, I curled protectively around Ji Sung, who was still cradled in my arms.
“Hold them back!”
“The bell hasn’t even been rung, you bastards!”
Fortunately, Kang Han wasn’t fighting alone.
I let out a relieved sigh as I watched Sung Ro Sa and Gye Young Ho, along with other rear-line personnel who had fallen back, firing skills to assist.
“Hey, Ji Sung. Come to your senses now….”
Ji Sung’s eyes were open.
Empty blue eyes were looking at me.
No, they weren’t looking at anything.
“Uh, why…?”
Silver hair streamed across my eyelids, yet even my lashes remained perfectly still.
“Ugh…!”
Without thinking, I pressed my hand against Ji Sung’s chest, then yanked it away in shock.
Where solid muscle should have been, there was only a gaping void.
Through the charred hole, I could see my own legs.
Like a broken machine, the events of moments ago began rewinding slowly in my mind.
The red eyes that appeared before the bell rang, before the shipment was ready.
The soft ‘pop’ sound, the defective specimens firing beams from their eyes, and Ji Sung standing behind me.
Behind me.
“No, this can’t be….”
I placed both hands on Ji Sung’s body and activated my skill.

[ Skill ‘Body Restoration’ activated. ]

But the System displayed a message I’d never seen before.

[ Cannot be used on targets already deceased. ]

“…Deceased?”
No.
How could Ji Sung be dead.
That’s impossible.
The System must have malfunctioned.
This skill had been working perfectly just moments ago.

[ Skill ‘Body Restoration’ activated. ]
[ Cannot be used on targets already deceased. ]
[ Cannot be used on targets already deceased. ]
.
.
.
[ Cannot be used on targets already deceased. ]

The System continued to display the same message over and over.
“This can’t be happening.”
Plip.
A tear fell from my eye onto Ji Sung’s cheek.
But that was all.
Only Ji Sung’s time had stopped.
His eyes, wide open in shock, didn’t flinch or turn away.
Ji Sung was dead.
“No. This can’t be.”
The defective creature that had suddenly rushed forward, forcing Kang Han—who had always been at my side—to move.
And another defective creature that appeared from the tunnel without warning, without any signal.
It was because of me.
My fingers trembled as they cradled Ji Sung’s pale, gaunt cheeks.
Even as his body grew cold against mine, I spoke with cowardly desperation.
“It’s not real. It’s not real. It’s not….”

“Thank you, Healer Yeo Joo.”

That was the face that had smiled at me.
He had frowned, feeling useless, but when he found something he could do, he smiled with such relief.

[ Using skill ‘Body Healing’. ]
[ Cannot be used on a target that is already deceased. ]

“Don’t die.”
With a face identical to my precious person, don’t die.
Patter.
Hot tears poured down once more.

+++

Kang Han stopped in his tracks, staring blankly at the tears smeared across his palm.
Despite wiping them away, he realized they continued to fall.
“Ah.”
His chest felt like it was being torn apart.
Even with Yeo Joo weeping mere steps away, I couldn’t take another step forward.
The lifeless white face of Han Ji Sung was unbearable to look at.
Losing comrades had become routine.
Or had it?
Why am I crying right now?
Questions that didn’t fit the situation surfaced in my mind.
“Han Ji Sung!”
Sung Ro Sa screamed Han Ji Sung’s name like a wail, rushing past him.
Though his shoulder was shoved and he stumbled, Kang Han couldn’t comprehend anything.

“You’re Kang Han?”
“Why don’t you want to become a Hunter? Are you scared? Is that why?”

Han Ji Sung, an S-rank Hunter from Fantasia Guild, who had found me hiding on the Awakener School Back Mountain without hesitation.

“Han, I… please take me in.”
“I have nowhere to go. No guild wants me, Han.”

Han Ji Sung who had come at dawn, muttering with parched eyes—I couldn’t tell which memory was real.
Even amid such confusion, the tears continued to flow.
Boom! Crash!
The sounds of the still-ongoing battle echoed from behind, yet I had no desire to turn around.
Then Yeo Joo’s small voice reached my ears—a whimper as she retreated, having surrendered Han Ji Sung’s body to Sung Ro Sa.
“Ji Sung oppa isn’t dead. He’s not dead.”
It sounded like words spilling from someone unable to accept the reality unfolding before her eyes.
But that voice, like a supple fishing rod, hooked another memory.

“I think Yeo Joo might be trustworthy.”
“Do you believe that story about your mother saving his life long ago?”
“Either way, she’s the one who saved us from being handed over to Sama Guild. She came with a bag of money and paid off all our debts. Now you don’t have to go to that illegal fighting ring anymore.”
Han Ji Sung, with unmistakable shadows beneath his eyes, smiled sadly as he spoke.
“Somehow, I think I can trust that person.”

It was a conversation held in a dilapidated Guild Office.
Though the memory felt foreign, as if it belonged to someone else, Kang Han recognized it instantly.
It was the office of the old Justice Guild Building he’d inherited from his grandfather.
Another memory surfaced, chasing the tail of the first.
This time, he stood before a magnificent structure surrounded by mountains.

“Can you believe it, Kang Han? This is our building. All of this belongs to the Justice Guild.”
It was the Doksan Gate Branch of the Justice Guild.
He and Han Ji Sung stood watching Yeo Joo converse with an architect in front of the construction site that wasn’t yet complete.
“Yeo Joo feels like salvation to me. She’s a benefactor sent from heaven, telling us never to give up.”
Yeo Joo’s voice drifted on the wind—’Expensive must mean good quality. Just make sure the construction is done properly!’—and Han Ji Sung, who had been smiling softly, suddenly spoke with a stern expression.
“So listen, you treat Yeo Joo well. Don’t go pushing your feelings on her like that. If you do, I’ll scold you.”

“Ah.”
Kang Han covered his mouth with his hand and staggered violently.
“How…”
How could I have forgotten?
How could I have lost all of these memories?
Rumble.
The ground trembled.
Both the Dungeon walls and ceiling vibrated with unstable intensity.
Simultaneously, the countdown that had been blinking in the corner of his vision changed.

Time until explosion: 00:15:03

As if someone had fast-forwarded time itself, the numbers shifted in a blur.

Time until explosion: 00:00:00

Boom—!
The sound of a volcano erupting in the distance reached his ears, and a System window suddenly materialized before his eyes.

[ ! Dungeon Clear !
Evacuate immediately. ]

“What… is that?”
I turned my head to follow Gye Young Ho’s gaze as he murmured in astonishment.
All the hunters who had survived were staring wide-eyed at the Gate that had materialized before us.
The Gate was golden—a luminous portal that seemed to swallow the darkness of the tunnel like an abyss.
Like someone whose eyes were dazzled by that radiant light, I closed my eyes for a long moment.
And when I opened them again, green eyes found her.
“Yeo Joo.”

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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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