The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 379

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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 200

Beyond the protective barrier lay absolute darkness.
With each breath, dark spores hanging heavy in the air triggered relentless coughing fits.
“Sa Ma Young! Where are you! Cough! Where did you go!”
Just before the spores erupted, I recalled the direction where Sa Ma Young had been standing and stumbled forward blindly.
I tripped over what felt like rocks several times, but fortunately the spores were gradually thinning.
And then I found Sa Ma Young collapsed on the ground.
“Sa Ma Young! Can you hear me?”
No matter how much I shook his shoulders and called out, Sa Ma Young gave no response.

[ Status Abnormality – Darkness Addiction ???% ]

The immeasurable addiction rate was something I had anticipated.
But I had at least expected some signs of a rampage reaction.
“Open your eyes!”
I never imagined he would be completely unconscious, going limp at my touch like this.
Black tears like ink simply streamed down from the corners of his closed eyes.
I had brought a purification potion in one hand, planning to give it to Sa Ma Young the moment I found him, but it proved useless.
I set the potion bottle down carelessly on the ground and took Sa Ma Young’s hand.

[ Using skill ‘Darkness Purification’. ]
[ Due to special constitution , purification efficiency increases. ]
[ Due to high affinity, purification efficiency increases. ]

The purification seemed to be proceeding smoothly.
But soon a red system window warned me.

[ Warning: The target’s darkness addiction rate is dangerously high! ]
[ Due to the influence of ‘Darkseed
(Darkseed)
‘, purification rate cannot be calculated. ]

My heart sank once more.
Did that mean the Purification skill was ineffective?
Then, as if answering my question, the System displayed a window I hadn’t seen in a very long time.

[ Expanding the contact range will enable more effective skill usage. ]
[ Please expand your physical contact range with the target. ]

There was a way, then.
I leaned my body over Sa Ma Young’s upper half as he lay there, wrapping my arms around his large frame.
Then I spoke a warning into his ear.
“Don’t you dare die in front of me, Sa Ma Young.”

* * *

Kang Han stood rooted to the spot where Yeo Joo had left him, as if nailed in place.
As always, her words were right.
Stepping outside the protective barrier would only lead to a rampage.
So I let her walk alone into the darkness.
I couldn’t afford to become a burden myself.
Without blinking once, Kang Han watched the direction she had gone, and the moment the spores cleared, he bolted out from behind the protective barrier.
Fortunately, it wasn’t long before Yeo Joo’s figure appeared behind a rock.
She lay there with her eyes closed, limp and unconscious.
“Yeo Joo.”
The reason he couldn’t call out that name loudly, with emotion surging up, was because of the empty potion bottles scattered around her.
‘Four potion bottles.’
Kang Han counted the bottles on the ground without stopping his stride.
Yeo Joo couldn’t drink more than five stamina potions.
Which meant that now, having emptied four bottles, she had used the maximum amount of potions possible while staying within the threshold to avoid status abnormalities.
Step, step.
As he drew closer to her, more and more details came into view.
“A mana stone.”
For instance, the mana stone bracelet that she was gripping tightly in her hand as she lay there unconscious.
The bright smile on her face when she said Ji Sung had given it to her flashed vividly before his eyes.
And there was one more thing that captured Kang Han’s attention.
“….”
Sa Ma Young’s hand, greedily embracing Yeo Joo’s body as she lay collapsed on top of him, even while unconscious.
Kang Han clenched his teeth, first removing that hand, then gently placing his own hand on the spot of Yeo Joo’s back where Sa Ma Young’s hand had been.
Please, please.
His large hand trembled finely under a pain as sharp as a blade piercing his heart.
And finally, when his palm touched her back, which radiated a faint warmth.
Thump, thump, thump.
A faint but unmistakable heartbeat transmitted through her skin.
She was alive.
“…Yeo Joo.”
It was a sigh of relief, almost a groan.
That was enough.
As long as you’re alive, as long as you haven’t died.
At Kang Han’s soft call, Yeo Joo’s eyelashes trembled and she opened her hazy eyes.
“Kang… Han.”
There was no strength in her voice.
Her voice, which always tickled his ears and made them flush crimson, now resembled a fragile candle flame on the verge of extinguishing, so Kang Han silently stroked her small back.
Patter, patter, patter!
The hunters who had escaped the protective barrier rushed forward in Kang Han’s wake.
“…Yeo Joo the healer?”
Yoo Myung Hwa, who arrived first, came to an abrupt halt.
The others were the same.
Sa Ma Young lay on the dungeon floor bearing clear traces of a rampage, while Yeo Joo lay draped protectively over him, her eyes closed.
It was as if they had witnessed a sacred sacrifice.
“Yeo Joo the healer, is it possible that you’re…dead?”
Yoo Myung Hwa asked the question no one else dared voice, her voice strained and pained.
Though the question was directed at Kang Han, the answer came from Yeo Joo, whose eyes remained closed.
“Yoo Myung Hwa, you’re too much—killing a perfectly healthy person like that.”
“Ha! Yeo Joo the healer!”
Yoo Myung Hwa’s relief was palpable, yet she could not bring herself to step closer.
For reasons she couldn’t explain, it felt wrong to approach carelessly.
The other hunters felt the same way.
They remained frozen several paces away.
But the anxious Sama Guild hunters cried out urgently.
“Our, our lord!”
“Is our lord unharmed!”
Their voices were as loud as their worry.
Finally, Oh Young In could not contain himself and made to step forward to check Sa Ma Young’s condition.
But he had to stop.
A flinch.
It was not of his own volition.
A chilling wave of dread ran down his spine.
Every hunter’s gaze instinctively turned toward Kang Han.
Sharp, piercing green eyes were fixed upon Oh Young In.
The cold, murderous expression was something none of them had ever witnessed before.
Only Yeo Joo, with her eyes closed, remained untouched by the intangible pressure radiating from the S-rank hunter.
“Guild Master, I….”
As she stirred, trying to rise, Kang Han moved immediately.
His careful hands, as if handling a delicate piece of glass art, cradled her body with such tenderness that it was impossible to believe this was the same person who had just unleashed killing intent upon those hunters.
“Sigh.”
Only after leaning into that secure embrace did Yeo Joo release a weary breath, then suddenly broke into a grin as she looked up at Kang Han.
“I did it.”
There was no strength in her fist as she tapped his chest.
“This time, I didn’t let you die in front of me.”
That time.
It was a phrase only Kang Han could understand among the countless people watching the broadcast from this location.
The Dream Dungeon.
She was speaking of Ji Sung, who had died so meaninglessly in that place they had escaped together.
The thought filled him with boundless joy, yet also with aching sorrow.
Kang Han wiped her round forehead, damp with cold sweat, and answered.
“You did well, Yeo Joo.”
“Haha.”
She laughed with relief, but soon her eyelids grew heavy and she closed her eyes again, reassuring Kang Han.
“It’s just that my stamina is depleted, so don’t worry too much. I’m just going to sleep.”
“Understood. Leave the rest to me.”
“That’s reassuring.”
Her lips moved slightly as she seemed about to drift off.
Kang Han leaned down, tilting his ear to catch her faint words.
“The boss monster’s… item, make sure you… get it….”
Worrying about items even as consciousness slipped away.
It was so perfectly her, and a faint smile spread across Kang Han’s lips.
“Yes, I’ll collect it. Now you get some proper rest, Yeo Joo.”
“Mm.”
With that sound—whether a response or a drowsy sigh—she fell asleep.
After listening to her peaceful, steady breathing for a moment, Kang Han stored the item lying at Sa Ma Young’s feet into his Subspace.
He didn’t even bother to examine what it was.
Right now, getting Yeo Joo to safety was his only priority.
Cradling her in his arms, Kang Han rose effortlessly and headed straight for the second Gate.
Sa Ma Young, still unconscious, knew nothing of this.
Since he hadn’t died, there was no reason for Yeo Joo to grieve, so it no longer mattered.
Thud, thud.
As he passed through the Gate swiftly, Seo Yu Baek was waiting right ahead.
“Yeo Joo…!”
“Director Seo.”
Kang Han cut off Seo Yu Baek’s startled cry with a low voice upon seeing Yeo Joo cradled in his arms.
Understanding the situation, Seo Yu Baek quickly closed his mouth and used a skill to assess her condition.

[ Abnormal Status – None ]

Fortunately, Seo Yu Baek hadn’t fallen into some strange abnormal status where his skills were completely ineffective.
It was simply exhaustion.
“Any casualties?”
Ji Jung Hwi, the Association Director who had been waiting in front of the second Gate, asked Kang Han the same question.
His expression was grim, naturally assuming that unavoidable casualties must have occurred.
Streaming broadcasts were impossible to watch inside the Gate, and the last update had been when two S-ranks were already on the verge of going berserk, so his assumption was reasonable.
“There are none.”
“…What?”
“I report that we have cleared the Double Dungeon that occurred in the Gwanak Mountain A-rank Gate. And there are no casualties.”
Kang Han spoke while looking down at Yeo Joo, who had fallen asleep peacefully in his arms.
“It was thanks to the healer Yeo Joo purifying all three S-ranks who were going berserk.”

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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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