The Female Lead Saves the World - Chapter 416

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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 3, Episode 20

The conversation among the Guild members had begun with the grotesque appearance of the monsters, but they were grasping the true nature of the Jongno Dungeon.
Humans who had willingly become Chimeras.
From our perspective, it was an incomprehensible choice, but what must it have been like for the members of a civilization that had once flourished so brilliantly?
If one could selectively acquire diverse abilities from other life forms and make them one’s own?
If one could escape the limitations inherent to a purely human body?
Wouldn’t the willingness to bear the inevitable costs and be reborn anew have become a sort of trend and a measure of wealth?
I thought, “No matter what, would they really go that far?” but the world reconstructed by the Jongno Dungeon had developed in precisely that way.
And it had been defeated by the Apocalypse and vanished.
Now it remained only as a shadow within the Dungeon.
If we failed to prevent the Apocalypse, it would be the reality that awaited us.
‘Absolutely not.’
I couldn’t bear to see Kang Han become an S-rank monster and be slaughtered by someone’s hand.
Just imagining it made my chest tighten with fury.
“Ugh, seriously. Why can’t I see it?”
I tensed my calves and rose onto my tiptoes, but the building I was searching for remained out of sight.
It was a matter of lacking height.
‘If I’d known this would happen, I should have listened to Mom and gone to bed earlier.’
I regretted my past habit of binge-reading whenever I discovered an interesting novel, staying up all night for it.
“Is there somewhere higher around here?”
Just as my calves were about to cramp and I gave up, looking around for a spot higher than the broken pillar, it happened.
Whoosh—!
“Oof!”
A strong wind blew at the worst possible moment, and my body swayed.
As I lost my balance and tilted to the side, I thought blankly.
‘I won’t die just from falling here, right?’
I had just been marveling at Chung Soo’s foresight in packing trauma healing potions so generously when the tilted world righted itself, and instead of the cold ground, I found myself cradled in strong, solid arms.
The fresh scent of grass and trees mixed with a sharp, bitter fragrance—it was Kang Han.
“Yeo Joo.”
The hands gripping my shoulders were tense with force, and sure enough, Kang Han’s face when I looked up was quite angry.
“What were you doing so recklessly? You nearly got hurt.”
“Thank you for catching me. Phew, my forehead almost split open.”
“Your forehead… Don’t even joke about things like that.”
Kang Han examined my perfectly intact forehead as if to confirm it, then growled between his teeth.
Even through his rock-solid chest, I could feel his heart pounding—he was genuinely startled.
I soothed him by patting below his collarbone, then pointed to a tall tree nearby.
“Guild Master, perfect timing. Could you lift me up there?”
“Why there?”
“I’d like to see the view from up high?”
Of course, that wasn’t the real reason.
I wasn’t so scatterbrained as to talk about sightseeing after entering a Dungeon that would explode if we failed to clear it.
I’d said it because of the drone that had flown nearby and was filming us.
After catching a glimpse of its shiny camera lens, I whispered to Kang Han.
“I found something.”
Kang Han let out a displeased sigh, then leaped toward the tree I’d indicated.
I was startled, but I felt no fear or anxiety.
I was in Kang Han’s arms, after all.
“Wow, you’re right—from up here, I can see everything!”
The surrounding buildings, which had barely shown their rooftops from the pillar, came into full view.
And from the tree, I could faintly make out the place I’d been searching for all along in the distance.
“See that white building over there? Doesn’t it look like some kind of government office?”

* * *

Splurch—!
The monster’s head targeting C Team exploded as Lee Yu Chan’s arrow struck it.
With its bizarre blend of a medium-sized dog and a sewer rat, it was deceptively difficult to fight despite being only C-rank, moving with barely a sound.
Over twenty of them remained, moving in packs, and as Lee Yu Chan nocked arrow after arrow without pause, he couldn’t suppress his grin.
‘S-rank is the best!’
Since my re-awakening, I’ve been training relentlessly to adapt to my new power.
But this was my first real combat.
Moreover, the tension that had knotted my neck from the constant emergencies since entering the Gate transformed into exhilaration the moment battle began.
Especially the coordination with Han Ji Sung was flawless.
“Yu Chan!”
“Yes, sir!”
Screech— Crack!
Han Ji Sung freezes, and Lee Yu Chan shoots.
By using targeted skills rather than area-of-effect ones, Han Ji Sung could conserve mana, and the frozen monsters were far easier for Lee Yu Chan to aim at.
Frozen targets shattered into pieces with a single arrow—even better.
Lee Tae Yoon was experiencing the effects of re-awakening just as vividly.
Tap!
Light footsteps bounded up the tall building walls of the Commercial District.
Yet the fist that came crashing down carried the full weight of a body honed to its limits and the raw power of his skill.
Boom—!
As if an explosion had occurred, a massive crater formed in the stone floor, and every monster within the blast radius turned to ash.
More than ten monsters vanished in a single attack.
“I didn’t have an area-of-effect skill before. When did I get one?”
Lee Tae Yoon stared down at his fist, muttering in bewilderment.
With my help keeping Han Ji Sung’s darkness addiction perfectly managed, and now Lee Yu Chan and Lee Tae Yoon beginning to unleash their full power, C Team’s pace of clearing the Commercial District gained tremendous momentum.
“Any card fragments?”
“Not this time either.”
Ju Sa Eun shook her head in response, and Han Ji Sung downed a low-grade mana potion in one gulp, swallowing the sigh that threatened to escape.
Shadows stretched across the path, which lay in disarray from the aftermath of battle.
“The sun’s already setting.”
Even within the Dungeon teeming with chimeras of unknown origin, the sunset burned crimson.
“No contact from the other teams?”
“Not yet.”
If they’d recovered a card fragment, they would have radioed in by now.
The radio that Lee Yu Chan carried at his waist remained silent.
“Should we check in?”
“No, they’re all busy. Let’s not interrupt them. We agreed to notify each other if anyone gets seriously injured. The fact that we haven’t heard anything means they haven’t found a card fragment yet, but at the same time, there’s no major problem.”
“No news might be good news. We’re fighting this smoothly, so the other teams should be managing fine too.”
“Chan’s really grown up.”
Han Ji Sung ruffled Lee Yu Chan’s hair, which had become noticeably more mature lately, and smiled.
“Yeah, everything should be fine.”

* * *

“I’ve seen all kinds of ridiculous things while clearing this Dungeon.”
I let out a hollow laugh, looking up at the darkening sky in exasperation.
“I mean, there were more monsters than expected, so it took some time.”
That was why I’d brought Kang Han into the Residential District.
The difficulty was higher than the Commercial District.
But still.
The Snowball rolling slower than anticipated was moving like this?
I glared at the firmly shut government building door and ground my teeth.

[ – Wakellas City Hall –
We are currently closed.
Please visit again when the sun rises! ]

Keep the realism in check!
A government office inside a Dungeon closing its doors because business hours are over—does that even make sense?!
Knowing full well the door wouldn’t open no matter how hard I yanked the handle, a new System window appeared below the notice.

[ Please wait a moment!
Only “4 hours and 48 minutes” until sunrise! ]

The cheerful tone only made me more frustrated.
“There’s definitely something here, at least.”
Jang Su Ho, who had also tried to force the door open like me, narrowed his eyes.
“Still, just to be safe, we should search the surroundings more thoroughly over the next five hours. Yeo Joo, you look exhausted—why don’t you rest here for now?”
At Kang Han’s soothing words, I collapsed onto the unnecessarily grand steps in front of City Hall and nodded weakly.
Kang Han probably figured it out from the moment I suggested we dash toward the government building.
That the card fragment is inside this City Hall, and that I already know it.
But in a situation where every second counts, waiting around for five hours would look suspicious, so I’m trying to keep the team moving.
“Since there’s no sign of monsters nearby, the area in front of City Hall might be safe, but just in case, let’s have Ryu Sang Eun and the Healer stay here with Yeo Joo.”
“Ah, finally I can stretch!”
Jang Su Ho, who had been stuck guarding my side and hadn’t gotten into any real combat, was the most delighted by Kang Han’s orders.
With the assault team departing, I leaned my head against a pillar of City Hall.
Then Ryu Sang Eun pointed toward the Rooftop of the tall City Hall building and made a suggestion.
“If you’re tired, why not head up there and get some rest?”
“…I suppose I could.”
I was indeed a bit exhausted.
While not as reassuring as Kang Han, with Ryu Sang Eun’s help, I managed to settle onto the Rooftop.
“Should I lay out a sleeping bag? Or a Tent? Actually, since it’s night, I’ll set up a Tent with a sleeping bag inside.”
“Ryu Sang Eun’s taste as a Hunter is certainly… unique.”
Seeing the pink items emerging from the Subspace, Ryu Sang Eun shrugged and replied.
“They’re not mine. The Guild Master gave them to me to prepare one set each for the Healers.”
“Really, that’s excessive.”
No matter how fragile I am, this feels like overprotection.
I don’t have the nerve to lie around in a Tent with a sleeping bag while my Guild members are struggling.
“If you have a blanket, just that one….”
As the sun set and the wind grew cold, I reached toward the hot pink blanket.
Crackle—.
The walkie-talkie in my uniform pocket crackled to life.

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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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