The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 387

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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 208

Sa Ma Young’s statement concluded, and finally it was time for the journalists to ask their questions.
The spacious press conference hall was packed with media outlets so densely that hands shot up eagerly and eyes gleamed with anticipation.
A journalist seated in the front row was granted the opportunity to ask a question and grasped the microphone.
“Does leaving the Sama Guild mean a complete break from the Sama Group itself?”
“That’s correct. According to the special clauses included in the contract, the moment I submitted my written notice of withdrawal, the effect took place immediately, and all the hunters under me, including myself, have had our contracts with the Sama Guild properly terminated. We do not plan to receive any support from the Sama Group going forward.”
Another journalist’s question followed immediately.
“You mentioned that the five hunters under you also left the Sama Guild together—are they the team leaders of the raid teams?”
“That’s correct. Hunters Woo Jun Kyung, Bang Wi Jin, Bang Ri Ri, Oh Young In, and Ju Sa Eun.”
As expected.
I had anticipated it from the moment Sa Ma Young said “the hunters under me,” but they were all Sa Ma Young’s closest associates, well-known to everyone.
In other words, the central pillars that formed the Sama Guild had all disappeared.
The journalists swallowed hard.
‘This isn’t just a family dispute?’
Sa Ma Young’s older brother, Sa Ma Jung, had long since become a figurehead, but the Sama Group had been postponing the announcement of a successor.
So there were many predictions that this announcement of leaving the Sama Guild was merely an attempt to shake things up.
But this move was a seismic shift not just for the Sama Group, but for the entire hunter industry.
After that, there was no end to the journalists asking questions.
Sa Ma Young still wore that serene smile, but his growing boredom was plainly revealed in the tapping of his feet beneath the table, hidden from everyone’s view.
Though he was deliberately giving many opportunities for questions, no one had yet asked what he truly wanted to hear.
Just as Sa Ma Young was about to make a gesture to end the press conference, unable to endure it any longer.
“What was the decisive factor in your decision to leave the Sama Guild?”
A journalist sitting in the corner finally asked a worthwhile question.
Sa Ma Young’s eyes narrowed slightly, and his expression became quite sorrowful.
It was such a beautiful face that even those who knew his fierce temperament well couldn’t help but gasp.
“It’s because I cannot trust the current management decisions of the Sama Group.”
Murmurs rippled through the hall.
The shocking statement caused the audience to stir momentarily, but Sa Ma Young did not stop them.
He simply sat quietly, allowing them to raise their own expectations for what would come next.
As the commotion settled, Sa Ma Young, sensing the right moment, opened his mouth.
“Through my skills, I have confirmed that multiple executives of the Sama Group are under mental control by someone. I believe this forceful intervention regarding the healer Yeo Joo is a result of that.”
“Is this confirmed information?!”
“Of course.”
“Who is controlling the executives of the Sama Group?”
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to ascertain that much. The Sama Guild has fought to advance hunters’ rights all this time. But now that I’ve discovered there’s a hidden hand behind the government—which has the opposite agenda—attempting to forcibly conscript a hunter, I’ve made the decision that the Sama Group can no longer be trusted.”
Watching the panicked journalists, Sa Ma Young thought of Yeo Joo, who must be watching this press conference right now.
‘She must be quite shocked.’
It wouldn’t be because of someone lurking in the shadows.
She would have already figured that much out by now.
I deliberately didn’t mention it to keep the focus from shifting away from the Sama Guild, but she’d likely have already guessed that Captain Yoo Se Ran is also under mental control.
But she couldn’t have anticipated that I myself would leave the Sama Group.
It was a shame not to see her face in person at this very moment.
As I stared at the camera directly in front of me, it felt like I was looking into Yeo Joo’s eyes, and Sa Ma Young exhaled a soft, bittersweet sigh.
This press conference was my own serenade for Yeo Joo.

* * *

“Sa Ma Young, are you insane?!”
I had jumped to my feet while watching the press conference, but my legs gave out and I collapsed back onto the sofa.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes… no.”
My head was throbbing.
Sa Ma Young is abandoning the Sama Guild?
The same Sa Ma Young whose life goal is to consume the Sama Group?
“There’s no way Sa Ma Young would leave the Sama Group of his own volition.”
“Something more important must have come up.”
I shook my head at Je Hwa’s words.
That couldn’t be it.
Even with his high affection toward me, Sa Ma Young isn’t the type to bungle his work over that.
“His obsession with the name ‘Sama’ is extraordinary. Unless he’s pretending to take a step back while actually trying to swallow the entire Sama Group whole.”
…That actually makes sense.
If Sa Ma Young, who seems to harbor a hundred serpents in his belly, were doing this instead, it would make more sense.
By announcing that the Sama Guild’s executives are under someone’s mental control, he’d be trying to seize Chairman Sa Ma Jin’s consolidated power.
But even so, I couldn’t fully understand all of Sa Ma Young’s actions, so I was racking my brain furiously.
“…Miss Yeo Joo will continue to remain in the dark about…”
I heard Je Hwa murmuring something low beside me, but it went in one ear and out the other.
‘In any case, this isn’t a bad situation.’
Sa Ma Young’s sudden move would put the brakes on their side too.
‘First, I need to find out for certain who the Vice Cult Leader of the Apocalypse Cult is…’
A warm cup of tea was placed before me as I was laying out various plans.
“It’s chamomile tea.”
“I was just getting thirsty anyway. Thank you, boss.”
Sip.
As I slowly drank the warm tea with steam rising from it, my confused mind seemed to naturally settle and calm down.
At that moment, Je Hwa, who had been quietly sipping chamomile tea like me, casually dropped a comment.
“It seems you’re worried about Guild Master Sa Ma Young.”
“Worried?”
I tilted my head for a moment before responding.
“Not at all. Sa Ma Young is the type who wouldn’t lose. He’s probably already signed the lease for an office with his inner circle. He never plays losing games.”
“Then, what kind of person do you see me as, Yeo Joo?”
It was a sincere question.
I set down my cup on the table and looked at Je Hwa.
With his long legs crossed and his body relaxed against the backrest, he appeared at ease, yet a subtle anxiety flickered in his dark eyes.
Then I should answer seriously too.
“Well, boss, you are….”
I focused on the Je Hwa I’d come to know through direct encounters, rather than the Je Hwa I’d read about in books.
“Boss, you’re like Jamsil Tower itself.”
“You don’t seem to be talking about real estate value.”
“No, I am talking about value.”
How could I not mention that when speaking of Jamsil Tower?
“You were fortunate to have a good mother, but ultimately, you inherited nothing. Yet look at it now. Everyone in the world knows that Jamsil Tower is the ‘castle’ of Je Hwa. Your castle.”
“My castle?”
“Yes. They say this expensive land of Jamsil used to be just an island, then a sandbar. But now, look how luxurious the area around Maestro Tower has become. You’re exactly like that—someone who builds a castle everyone wants to enter in the middle of a wasteland.”
Then something I’d been curious about for a while suddenly came to mind.
“By the way, boss. Is the ‘M’ symbol on Jamsil Tower the M of Maestro, or the M of Master?”
“…It’s the M of Master.”
“Pfft, ahem, I see.”
I barely managed to suppress a burst of laughter that threatened to escape.
“Now that I think about it, you really do like writing your name everywhere. Is that a characteristic of Crafters who make items?”
Or perhaps possessiveness?
I recalled the “Crafter: Je Hwa” label attached to every single item I owned, and for a moment, I forgot about Sa Ma Young’s accident and laughed.
Ding—
Startled by the sudden affinity increase notification, I turned my head.
“…Boss?”
Je Hwa’s posture on the sofa remained unchanged.
But his face, which I expected to wear his usual warm smile, was different from usual.
His eyes gleamed darkly like the Han River at midnight, piercing right through me, and the muscles around his well-defined jaw were taut as if clenched.
I watched the blue veins bulging on his interlaced hands resting on his knees for a moment, then lifted my gaze upward, where the speech bubble that had been floating gently revealed new text.

《 ♥ 77 : Stigma
(Stigma)
》

Not only did my favorability skyrocket all at once, but the keyword changed as well.
‘A mark?’
The only mark I knew of was a slave’s brand.
Either way, it didn’t seem to carry a particularly good meaning, so I rolled my eyes deliberately.
In the meantime, Je Hwa drew a deep breath.
Like someone who had forgotten to breathe for a moment.
Then, with eyes still gleaming, he slowly reached out his hand toward me.
It was a leisurely movement I could have easily dodged.
But when I waited without resistance, I saw deep satisfaction spread across Je Hwa’s face.
“This is quite the predicament.”
His voice, tinged with a sigh, was soft as if troubled, and his hand—brushing my fallen hair behind my ear—remained tender.
“I’ll have to take responsibility.”
“…For what?”
To my question, Je Hwa simply gazed at me with eyes so deep their depths were unknowable.

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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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