The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 394

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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 215

Before the spatial transporter arrived, I shed my transparent coat and donned a mask and hat.
The destination was not where the middle manager would be.
Since I was out and about alone for the first time in a while, there was someone I needed to meet first.
I arrived at a luxury apartment complex near Yongsan.
When I called for the 25th floor from the first-floor entrance, the person on the other end opened the door without hesitation.
Standing before the entrance I had arrived at.
Without needing to ring the doorbell, Ji Jung Hwi, the Association Director, stood beyond the front door that was already open.
Confirming that no one was following behind me, he frowned with displeasure before speaking.
“…Come in.”
“Excuse me for intruding.”
“Wait a moment. I’ll bring some tea.”
The living room, left to myself, was tastefully arranged, yet appeared no different from an ordinary household.
There was even an old wedding photograph hanging in the most prominent spot.
It was a space filled with the warmth of daily life—entirely different from the temporary lodging in the rural village where I first met the Association Director.
Click—
When I unconsciously lifted my head toward the teacup placed before me, it happened.
“Uh….”
The moment my eyes met Ji Jung Hwi’s, my mind grew distant, and simultaneously a ‘ding—’ system notification sounded.
But I couldn’t move my eyes to read the contents of the popup window.
It felt as though I had instantly lost control of my body.
Through ears that felt as hazy as if I’d been drinking, I heard the Association Director’s voice.
“On the day we first met, what was I doing?”
“You were picking up trash.”
The answer flowed out without passing through my mind.
Like a reflex—the kind where you jump in surprise if someone taps you.
“…Looking like a real beggar, too.”
“You bastard.”
Along with his blunt tone, my mind snapped back into focus.
As if someone had splashed cold water on me, I regained control.
Unlike before when I couldn’t even move my eyes as I wished, I now watched my fingers wriggling under my own volition and understood.
“Did you just use a mind control skill on me?”
At that, Ji Jung Hwi nodded while sipping his tea loudly.
“If you were already under the influence of another mental-type skill, it wouldn’t work.”
“Oh, so there’s a way to do that.”
I was surprised, but I could understand it immediately.
With high-ranking government officials and even the Sa Ma Group chairman losing their minds these days, there’s no harm in being cautious.
“Mental-type Hunters really are terrifying, aren’t they?”
The experience of losing all control over my body in an instant was honestly so horrifying that I never wanted to experience it again.
“That’s probably why Mental-type Hunters are so rare.”
The Association Director readily nodded in agreement.
“I’m glad you’re not a bad person, Association Director.”
A power to control others at will.
Isn’t that a temptation you can never escape once you fall into it?
As I shuddered at my own words, Association Director Ji Jung Hwi let out a short laugh before his expression hardened and he scolded me sternly.
“Knowing that, you still came here all alone without backup? Where’s your bodyguard?”
“My bodyguard?”
“The Kang Han Guild Master.”
“He’s at the Guild, I’m sure. I just felt like having some freedom today.”
“What kind of time is this to be saying such carefree things? Do you have any idea how many organizations are drooling over you right now? And how did you even find this place?”
“I’m quite interested in you, Association Director. It’s possible to know these things. But don’t worry—I didn’t have anyone follow me or anything like that.”
When I called the Association Director to arrange this meeting, I told him something.
To meet at ‘home’.
Officially, the Association Director was known to live in an official residence near the Awakener Association.
But Ji Jung Hwi preferred to stay here, where memories with his wife remained.
Because this was his ‘home’.
Though I could have pressed further, I smiled gratefully at the Association Director, who was watching me with a dissatisfied expression, and asked.
“About that favor you asked for last time—the background check on the Muwoon Guild.”
“…I had a feeling that’s what this was about.”
After a moment, Ji Jung Hwi returned with a thick stack of papers in his hands.
The investigation results were as I had expected.
“It seems Shin Se Hee can be ruled out as a suspect.”
“Being pushed out of the successor position seems to have been quite a shock. Judging by how she doesn’t leave the house and stays in seclusion.”
“That’s probably the case.”
From what I’d experienced directly, Shin Se Hee wasn’t the type to carry out covert schemes like the Vice Cult Leader of the Apocalypse Cult.
She didn’t even have Mental-type skills to begin with.
“In the end, that leaves the Shin brothers….”
“Both of them are very suspicious.”
The Association Director’s hand was quite rough as he rubbed his own forehead, which bore slight wrinkles befitting his age.
“Their movements have gaps in between, and both of them are constantly running around. Especially this one.”
Ji Jung Hwi pointed to a photograph of Shin Tae Muk, the elder of the two brothers.
“His instincts are so sharp that he caught a tail within three days and used him as a punching bag.”
“But you didn’t stop the investigation, did you?”
“I assigned someone with a higher-level concealment skill. But why do you think the Shin brothers are connected to the Apocalypse Cult?”
“I explained this before. The Sanjeong-dong Gate. The story doesn’t add up, which is why.”
“I have my suspicions about that too… but without clear evidence, I can’t act rashly.”
“That’s how you operate, Director.”
But I don’t.
If I have enough circumstantial evidence to identify which of the two is the Vice Cult Leader of the Apocalypse Cult, I can obstruct their path through various means instead of relying on official authority.
“The Muwoon Guild has been expanding ever since Shin Se Hee was pushed out, which makes things even more complicated.”
“Expanding, you say?”
“They’re opening a branch in Seoul, apparently. The eldest will oversee the headquarters in Busan, while the second son, Shin Tae Jung, will manage the Seoul branch.”
“…What did you just say?”
“The Awakener Association received an official notice. They plan to formally announce the establishment of the Muwoon Guild’s Seoul branch next month.”
Found it. Sufficient circumstantial evidence.
I let out a hollow laugh and sank into the back of the sofa.
I knew exactly why the Muwoon Guild, based in Busan, was suddenly establishing a branch in Seoul.
‘By then, we won’t be able to travel to Busan anymore.’
There was a phenomenon that served as the opening salvo of the full-fledged apocalypse route.
A massive dome-shaped barrier that appears across the Seoul Metropolitan Area, including Seoul itself.
(Dome)
shaped barrier.
That hemispherical, semi-transparent wall cannot be pierced by anything.
“…The second son?”
Noticing the change in my expression, Association Director Ji Jung Hwi asked.
“Most likely.”
No, I’m certain.
The Vice Cult Leader is Shin Tae Jung.
The image of him struggling to control the rampaging S-rank Hunter in the Dark Spore Dungeon sent chills down my spine.
‘It was good that I came alone today.’
Since they were already preparing for that time, I needed to act as well.
“Director.”
I had intended to tell Ji Jung Hwi about the apocalypse process.
Unlike how things fell apart in the previous timeline, Ji Jung Hwi’s Awakener Association was performing its role admirably.
While he would certainly be shocked, I believed he wasn’t the type to collapse in despair.
But my mouth wouldn’t open.
It felt different from when I was hit with a mind control skill.
A greater ‘fear’ swallowed the desire to confide in him about the future and seek his help.
Why? What am I so afraid of?
As my sense of self seemed to fragment, a red system window appeared across my blurring vision without a sound.

[ ! Warning !
This is an irreversible choice.
Do not speak of the Apocalypse Process. ]

“…I should get up since I have another appointment.”
I had one more reason to meet with the middle manager.

* * *

The three men who had been enjoying their leisurely time learned of Yeo Joo’s absence through various channels.
Sa Ma Young’s messenger was Hong Joo.
Hop.
When Sa Ma Young reached out his hand to pet the Familiar’s head as usual after it suddenly leaped onto his lap, Hong Joo spoke in an unusually small voice.
“[Yeo Joo’s gone.]”
“…What?”
“[Baek Ho complained. Apparently Yeo Joo went somewhere alone again.]”
“Where is she now?”
“[Don’t know. But it’s not dangerous.]”
Since the Familiar could instinctively sense its master’s condition, there was no doubt about its words.
Still, Sa Ma Young immediately rose from his seat.
It was an instinctive urge to verify that she really wasn’t in bed as she’d said she was going to sleep.
Sa Ma Young’s face contorted as he was about to head toward the Dormitory Building.
The spot where Kang Han had been sitting just moments ago was now empty.
Meanwhile, Kang Han was already halfway up the emergency stairwell without even waiting for the Elevator.
“…Yeo Joo.”
There was no reason.
It was simply that anxiety had suddenly surged within me.
The intuition commonly called a “hunch” drove me forward.
I knew it logically.
Yeo Joo was probably sleeping peacefully in her safe bedroom.
Yet despite this, I stood before Yeo Joo’s door.
I hesitated with my hand extended toward the electronic door lock.
I had known the password for a long time.
But I had never told anyone this fact, and I had never intended to use it myself.
I had only determined it necessary to know it in case of emergency.
‘She’ll be angry.’
How startled would she be to see a stranger suddenly punch in the password and enter while she was in deep sleep?
It was certainly an issue that could lose her trust.
‘But.’
It was at that very moment that I, having resolved to investigate this inexplicable anxiety, was about to place my hand on the door lock pad.
Ding—
The elevator doors slid open with a crisp, cheerful chime, and Sa Ma Young stepped out, his brow furrowing as he spoke.
“What? Yeo Joo really isn’t in her room?”

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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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