The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 4

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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 – Episode 4

“Ah, I slept well.”
I rubbed my eyes and sat up, only to realize it was already time for everyone else to head to work.
Yesterday, I’d opened my status window and gotten excited about a skill called Darkness Addiction, but then I’d been frustrated to discover that using it required building affection—and I’d fallen asleep in that irritated state.
I was definitely quite annoyed before I went to bed.
“Hmm. Well, it’s not that bad, I suppose.”
I scratched my belly and thought about it—having such a skill was better than nothing, wasn’t it?
“Besides, if I get really close to them, the efficiency skyrockets, right?”
I was, after all, a genuine devoted reader of “The Chronicles of King Sejong.”
I’d transmigrated into a novel I loved so much—I had no desire to make enemies of the characters.
Getting along with them would be good from the start, wouldn’t it?
I nodded to myself and sat down at my desk.
It had been so long since I’d written anything that I hastily wiped away the thin layer of dust and opened my notebook.
“I need to write everything down before I forget.”
That’s what everyone does in transmigration stories.
Wracking my brain—which hadn’t been used for writing since the college entrance exam—I recalled everything I needed to do going forward.
My ultimate goal: prevent the world’s apocalypse.
But to achieve that, I need at least four key elements.
First, as many Hunters as possible must survive until the apocalypse arrives.
This is where I can try using my Darkness Purification skill.
The affection-building part is a hassle, but I’ll figure it out somehow.
Second, I need to strengthen the Justice Guild.
When the apocalypse comes, the Justice Guild must become the central pillar of humanity’s resistance.
The other guilds are just motley crews pursuing their own interests—they need someone to set an example and lead the charge.
Third, Familiars are just as important as Hunters.
Right now, people think of Familiars as lucky companion pets, but as time passes, their true importance will become clear.
The problem is that humanity doesn’t have much time.
I need to take charge of ensuring the Familiars’ survival and evolution.
And finally, the most crucial element remains.
“Kang Han needs to become stronger.”
Kang Han is the protagonist of this world.
But unlike other fantasy novel protagonists who start out incredibly powerful and successful, Kang Han is different.
He’s a growth-type protagonist burdened with multiple handicaps from the beginning.
The Justice Guild, which had been counted among Korea’s Top 5 Guilds since Kang Myung Heon—Kang Han’s maternal grandfather and Korea’s first Awakener and first S-rank Hunter—is now completely ruined.
The catastrophic Fifth Dungeon Break was blamed on Kang Young Won, Kang Han’s mother and a Hunter who died while clearing that Dungeon, and on the Justice Guild itself.
In the end, all that remained for Kang Han was a small, decrepit building, a mountain of debt, and nothing but the contempt and ridicule of others.
Moreover, despite being S-rank, he didn’t understand the true nature of his skills and couldn’t unleash their full power, earning him the mockery of being called a “fake S-rank.”
In a world where Gate locations and their ranks were still perfectly predictable, Kang Han was the protagonist who grew by breaking through his own limitations.
The crucial word here is “still.”
As time progressed, Gates that defied headquarters’ predictions would appear with increasing frequency, and with them came mounting casualties and injuries.
Only then would Kang Han and the Justice Guild be reevaluated, but by that point, they would have already fallen far behind.
With all these factors intertwined, Kang Han’s true growth wouldn’t begin until the novel’s midpoint.
“Did I really think I’d see that happen twice?”
What if Kang Han and the Justice Guild recovered their former glory faster than the novel’s timeline?
And what if he awakened to his true power much earlier?
I rummaged through the drawer and pulled out another notebook, my pen moving across the pages.
The names of Kang Han and the Justice Guild members, along with other high-rank Hunters, their key skills, and even their weaknesses.
Every major event that unfolds from the beginning to the end of “Sejong’s Twilight” was documented.
Next came items that could be administered like elixirs, Hunters who died regrettably or failed to demonstrate their true abilities, and finally, the Awakened individuals who would make perfect matches for these people.
After hours of writing as if possessed, I had filled an entire thin notebook.
I reviewed it once more to check for any omissions, but this was everything I could recall at the moment.
“Phew, protecting 25 billion won is really exhausting.”
I massaged my aching hands and carefully committed everything I’d written to memory once more.
My 25 billion won depends on all of you!

* * *

After checking my skill window, organizing my knowledge about Sejong’s Barrier, and planning my next steps.
I walked through the night streets toward Yeouido Hangang Park.
This wasn’t a leisurely evening stroll.
“What they’re doing in the Air Raid Shelter is ridiculous. Absolutely pathetic.”
Beneath dim lighting, crowds had gathered in numbers rivaling a Christmas-season Myeongdong.
“Hit him! More! Hit him!”
“That’s it! Right hook!”
“Good, Fighter One! Yes!”
“Damn it, do you know how much I bet on you!”
“Get up and fight, you bastard! Ten, get up!”
Securities firms from the Yeouido area, investment companies, and even National Assembly members wearing their official badges.
Those who wore respectable suits and composed expressions during daylight hours now had veins bulging from their necks as they screamed profanities.
This was an illegal fighting pit where people wagered money on combat outcomes.
The greater problem was that the two fighters battling bareknuckled on concrete with only crude bandaging—no ring, no proper arena—were both Awakeners.
Whoosh— Crack!
“Yes!”
Thud— Smack!
“Is that all you’ve got, you Hunter bastard! Hit harder!”
Using items to conceal their faces, clothing, and hair completely, they resembled two black mannequins fighting, yet the blood streaming from their wounds was brutally vivid.
“Press him, Fighter One! Finish him!”
Fighter One, slightly taller and more muscular, seemed to have considerable popularity.
The combat between Awakeners who transcended human limits was so fast that ordinary eyes struggled to follow, making it all the more disturbing.
Crack!
Crunch!
Finally, Fighter One’s powerful punch connected, and the sound of Fighter Ten’s jaw shattering signaled the match’s end.
“He won! Damn it, he won!”
“Hell, Fighter Ten is such a weakling.”
“I told you Fighter One was the champion, but you bet on Ten anyway. Tsk tsk.”
Many people seemed unhappy with Fighter One’s victory.
“I’m buying drinks for everyone tonight!”
“Wow! You’re truly a great representative!”
The fighters themselves used items to hide their identities, yet those illegally gambling did so without hesitation.
In the midst of the frenzy, Fighter One—the actual victor—remained silent.
He simply stared down at Fighter Ten, who still lay on the ground, abandoned by everyone.
Then, shortly after, Fighter One quietly left the fighting pit and headed into the dark corridor of the Air Raid Shelter.
I slipped through the crowd and followed him.
Thud— Thud—.
Weary footsteps echoed through the dark, damp corridor.
Though he surely sensed my presence following behind him, Fighter One showed no sign of turning around, as if accustomed to it.
‘I’m probably not the first person to follow him trying to learn his identity.’
I continued to follow the man numbered 1, maintaining a careful distance.
The destination wasn’t far.
He collapsed onto a makeshift chair positioned in a place far narrower and colder than the corridor he’d entered through.
Then, leaning his back against the concrete wall, he exhaled a deep sigh that sounded almost like a groan.
“Haah.”
Pssht.
With a faint sound of something turning to powder and vanishing, the item concealing his face dissolved.
Sweat-matted brown hair, bruised cheekbones, and a split lip bleeding freely.
A man with weary green eyes staring into the void.
The protagonist of this world—Kang Han.
Just then, a man approached from the opposite end of the corridor.
I quickly hid myself around the corner and listened to their conversation.
“Hey, Kang Han. You weren’t in great shape today.”
“….”
Kang Han didn’t respond.
He had neither the energy nor the will to do so.
“How rude. You think I don’t know you were given a break because your opponent was B-rank?”
The man, wearing a contemptuous sneer, tossed a bundle of cash at Kang Han’s feet.
“Come back next week, yeah? Don’t disappear for months like last time.”
As the man’s humming faded into the distance, Kang Han silently stared down at the pile of bills on the ground.
Then, slowly, he picked it up.
His hand—stained with blood, whether his own or his opponent’s, he couldn’t tell—gripped the thick wad of money so tightly it crumpled.
But that was all it was.
The pride of the Justice Guild’s third guild master, who had once saved this nation.
And the honor of a soldier who had protected his country before awakening.
All of it exchanged for this money.
Watching him drop his head with hollow eyes, I quietly turned and left the Air Raid Shelter.
There was no point in approaching Kang Han right now.
“Just wait a few days.”
Before I could walk the path of helping this world’s protagonist prevent the apocalypse, I too had preparations to make.
And something I absolutely had to confirm.

* * *

The next day.
They say even a thousand-mile journey begins with a single step—or perhaps ten thousand miles.
I left home with confidence to register as an Awakener at the Awakener Association, only to face an overwhelming decision at the very first crossroads.
“Should I take the bus, or… a taxi?”
Until now, my meager finances had never allowed me to ride a taxi even once.
But I’ve hit the mega lottery, and I have 25 billion won in my account—surely a taxi ride wouldn’t be excessive?
After a brief moment of deliberation, I flagged down an empty taxi passing by.
“P-please take me to the Awakener Association. The one next to City Hall.”
Did it show that this was my first time taking a taxi?
Fortunately, the taxi driver said nothing and simply began driving.
It was a weekday afternoon, so traffic wasn’t heavy.
I finally tore my eyes away from the rapidly climbing meter and gazed out the window.
A gentle breeze flowed through the open window.
‘So this is why people take taxis.’
The air was even more refreshing because it carried no trace of acrid exhaust fumes.
“Ah, this is nice.”
Like a dog on a drive with its owner, I leaned my head halfway out the window and savored the clean air.
This was a defining characteristic of this world.
About forty years ago, after the first Gate opened and humanity discovered what they called Dungeons within, civilization graduated from fossil fuels.
Energy sources were replaced by mana stones extracted from Dungeons, and the taxi I was riding in now ran on refined mana stone fuel.
When the first Gate opened in the heart of Seoul, the monsters pouring out nearly reduced the city to rubble.
But as Awakeners emerged and the Gate prediction system stabilized, people began calling Gates humanity’s second chance.
They had no idea that while they complacently enjoyed peace, the patterns of the Gates they’d discovered would shatter, and the apocalypse would draw near.
“Oh my, there are doomsday cultists protesting ahead. Once we pass them, I’ll take a detour down another road, okay, passenger?”
Looking ahead at the taxi driver’s words, I saw at least a hundred people walking across the road under police escort.
“The apocalypse is upon us! Follow the Messiah to heaven!”
“You must believe in the Messiah who saves all suffering beings, everyone!”
People holding signs reading things like “Messiah’s Heaven, Disbelief’s Apocalypse!” marched about shouting, creating quite a bizarre spectacle.
“Right, those people exist too.”
They say the protagonist’s path is thorny, but this is more like a minefield from the start.
“Pardon, passenger?”
“It’s nothing. Please just take the route you know, driver.”
I brushed it off vaguely and turned my gaze back to the window.
A bus happened to be in the next lane, and I looked over without much thought.
“Insane.”
I felt the taxi driver’s gaze on me through the rearview mirror, but that wasn’t important right now.
I knew that Hunters were more popular than idols or celebrities in this world, but I never expected to see him plastered across such a massive advertisement.
The advertisement for the intermediary platform that allowed ordinary people to purchase items and Dungeon byproducts acquired by Hunters was simple.
A man was simply lying on his side at an angle.
Yet the effect of capturing attention was undeniably powerful.
The slightly damp black curls, the taut bare chest visible between the lapels of his refined black suit where a shirt should have been.
And that dangerously captivating visage, crowned by a smirk that twisted upward on one side of his mouth.
“Sa Ma Young, of all places.”

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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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