The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 358

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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 179

“What did you say?!”
The Association Director bolted from his seat, his voice sharp as a blade.
Ow, my ears are ringing.
Our Association Director is still spry enough to serve the nation for another forty years, it seems.
“An S-rank Healer, you say….”
“Yeo Joo, when exactly did you….”
Kang Han looked equally stunned, his eyes wide as he asked the question.
“Well, it hasn’t been that long.”
I gave Kang Han a meaningful glance as I spoke.
I couldn’t mention the Dream Dungeon in front of the Association Director, so I was hinting at the truth.
Fortunately, Kang Han seemed to understand immediately, nodding slightly.
“You know that day when I suddenly started seeing my status window? It was around then. A System Message appeared about skill re-awakening or something, and I was confused, but when I checked my status window, I’d re-awakened as S-rank.”
“You… you’re only telling me this now?!”
Ji Jung Hwi, the Association Director, looked half-dazed as he listened to my explanation before suddenly erupting.
“That was already several days ago! If something that important happened, you should have reported it immediately!”
“Well, it is important, but there’s no need to broadcast it to everyone right away, is there?”
Since I hadn’t mentioned it back then, I’d managed to use it as a negotiating card now.
But the reaction wasn’t good at all.
Both the Association Director’s and Kang Han’s expressions hardened simultaneously.
“….”
In the uncomfortable silence, I found myself reading their expressions like a scolded puppy.
What did I do wrong?
“Yeo Joo, you troublemaker.”
The Association Director called out to me with a heavy sigh.
“I’m not criticizing you for not disclosing your status window immediately.”
“Then what?”
“…Never mind.”
Ji Jung Hwi, the Association Director, clamped his mouth shut with a distinctly sullen expression.
What is this about?
Kang Han spoke to me as I tilted my head in confusion.
“It seems the Director is disappointed that he wasn’t aware of the significant change that occurred with you.”
“…Oh.”
I never would have guessed it was that kind of situation.
I fell silent for a moment, regarding Ji Jung Hwi with fresh eyes.
Now that I looked closer, he wasn’t angry—he was pouting.
A handsome middle-aged man, certainly, but watching someone his age sit there with such a sullen expression drew an involuntary laugh from me.
“Director Ji Jung Hwi, think about it. You’ve been incredibly busy lately. I just came back from clearing a Gate, you know?”
“Does a phone call take one hour or two?”
“I became an S-rank Healer—you wanted me to just tell you over the phone?”
“Hmph.”
“So I came straight here to tell you in person. Please, cut me some slack. Don’t be upset with me.”
“…You’re something else. Goodness.”
Still pouting, but visibly in better spirits than before, Ji Jung Hwi waved his hand dismissively.
Yet another deep sigh followed.
“You’re still upset?”
“It’s not anger—it’s concern.”
“Concern? About me?”
Ever since I announced my promotion to S-rank, his expression had been nothing but question marks.
I’d expected him to clap his hands in celebration immediately.
But contrary to my expectations, Ji Jung Hwi’s reaction leaned far more toward worry than joy.
“When you undergo rescanning, not only will it reveal you’re an S-rank Healer, but your Darkness Purification ability will be exposed as well.”
“That’s true. It could draw excessive attention.”
Kang Han added his voice from beside me.
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that. The Darkness Purification skill won’t show up on scans.”
“…Which is precisely why you’ve managed to keep it hidden all this time.”
“Exactly. The System can be convenient in moments like these.”
“If that’s the case, then that’s a relief. But are you truly certain about this? You don’t have to make an announcement. Even without doing so, I can help with matters related to Moo Woon’s investigation within the limits of my authority.”
“Hmm.”
I couldn’t answer immediately.
It wasn’t that I was hesitant about making the announcement itself.
I simply found myself momentarily at a loss for words standing before people who genuinely cared about me.
…It was a bit embarrassing, but the feeling wasn’t unpleasant.
“It’s fine. I want to boast about becoming S-rank anyway.”
The words of an S-rank Healer carry weight.
My strength will be needed more and more from here on.
“What about holding a press conference?”
“A press conference?”
“I want to announce it properly, with everything set up right, so everyone knows.”
Watching Ji Jung Hwi nod in agreement, I added one more thing.
“And Director, I’ll need some materials before the announcement.”

* * *

6:50 PM.
Reporters who would normally have already left the office gathered in the press conference hall of the Korean Awakeners Association.
“What they’re announcing is probably that, right? Kang Han’s status window?”
“That must be it. They could’ve done this tomorrow, so why rush it at this hour?”
Several reporters made no effort to hide their indifference.
It was true that considerable interest had focused on Kang Han’s new status window after the overwhelming display of power in the quarterfinals, but there was also an awkward element to it all.
It was because of Moo Woon.
“Moo Woon is also holding a press conference in a little while, isn’t he?”
Moo Woon, who had publicly admitted to his own misconduct, had announced a press conference at around the same time to reveal the whereabouts of Sub-guild Leader Shin Se Hee.
“That one’s probably going to pull in better viewership numbers.”
A reporter who’d been scooped by his senior on Moo Woon’s press conference clicked his tongue in frustration.
And at exactly 7:00 PM.
As the press conference began, the door to the podium opened and three figures emerged.
“Yeo Joo the Healer?”
“Did she come out as a co-representative of the Justice Guild?”
The murmuring ceased as Association Director Ji Jung Hwi began to speak, and all attention turned to him.
“Thank you all for coming at this late hour. Since you’re all busy, I’ll get straight to the point. Despite having no obligation to undergo a re-scan, the Guild Leader of the Justice Guild, Kang Han, accepted the Awakeners Association’s request. We will now publicly unveil a new skills window officially registered in the Korean Awakeners Database.”
As Kang Han’s status window appeared on the front screen, Association Staff members began distributing pre-prepared press releases to the seated reporters.

Kang Han S
Judgment of Thunder ( S )
Strike of Heaven ( S )
Spear of Justice ( S )
Information Viewing Rights ( S )

“As you’ve already seen from the match….”
As Ji Jung Hwi, the Association Director, explained the skill, camera flashes erupted from all directions.
The screen displayed a segment from the quarterfinal stream showing Kang Han’s new skill.
“It really does feel like the old Justice Guild….”
Someone muttered this quietly without thinking.
The reporter who had been frustrated about losing Moo Woon’s press conference to a senior colleague paused for a moment, then quickly checked the materials she’d prepared just in case.
Sure enough, Hunter Kang Myung Heon also possessed a skill called ‘Spear of Justice’.
‘The name is identical?’
This could work.
She’d thought there was nothing new to report, but this was substantial enough to weave into an article.
Unlike Hunter Kang Young Won, who faced more negative opinions due to the Fifth Gate Break, Kang Myung Heon was a hero everyone acknowledged.
However, it was known that Kang Young Won and her father Kang Myung Heon had a poor relationship.
So what about Kang Han?
She became curious about Guild Master Kang Han’s comments regarding his grandfather and the skill.
The eager reporter raised her hand to claim the floor as soon as the explanation ended.
But Ji Jung Hwi shook his head with a smile.
“There is one more announcement to make. We’ll have plenty of time for questions after that.”
What else could there be?
The bewildered reporters gasped as the screen switched abruptly.

Yeo Joo S
Body and Mind Fortification ( S )
Nurturing Sprouts ( S )
Even Dried Squid Yields Water When Wrung ( A )
Hymn of Life ( C )

“S-rank…?”
“Wasn’t she A-rank originally?”
As murmurs rippled through the room at the ‘S’ prominently displayed next to Yeo Joo’s name, Ji Jung Hwi picked up the microphone again.
“It is with great pleasure that I announce to the esteemed members of the press present here today: Following Guild Master Kang Han of the Justice Guild, healer Yeo Joo has also undergone re-awakening and has been promoted to S-rank.”
After an intentional moment of silence, his solemn voice resonated through the press conference hall once more.
“Korea has now become a nation with two S-rank healers.”
Boom!
Amid the barrage of flashes erupting from all sides, Ji Jung Hwi continued.
“Now we’ll take questions.”

* * *

As the question-and-answer session began, every journalist in the room thrust their hand upward.
The half-hearted atmosphere from the start of the press conference had completely evaporated.
“Hello, this is Today News….”
“I’m from the Korea Daily….”
Initially, the questions inevitably concentrated on me.
After all, my sudden announcement was bound to generate more buzz than Kang Han’s anticipated re-awakening.
As we reached the midpoint, the main topic I’d been waiting for finally emerged.
A bespectacled journalist seated in the front row was granted the floor and posed his question.
“It seems re-awakenings happen unusually frequently within the Justice Guild. I’m curious whether the guild possesses some kind of exclusive know-how.”
It was a fair question.
Not only Kang Han and I, but the Eul Chan twins had also undergone re-awakening.
Moreover, Lee Yu Chan had even re-awakened before everyone’s eyes during a live broadcast while preventing the Kangneung Dungeon break against the colossal monster Yungkadeus.
It was a question we’d anticipated and prepared an answer for during the press conference preparation.
Kang Han was the one to respond.
“There was previously a dispute between myself and Shin Se Hee, the Sub-guild Master, that was covered by the media. My position then remains unchanged now: the rank at the time of awakening is not absolute. It is merely a starting point.”
“But isn’t that something only the Justice Guild Master—who awakened as S-rank from the beginning and has repeatedly undergone re-awakenings—could say?”
The journalist pressed back with a slightly skeptical tone.
I knew this was coming.
Now it was my turn to step in.
“I have data to support what Guild Master Kang Han said. Could you look at the screen again?”

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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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