The Former Empress Roughly Hides Her Abilities - Chapter 489

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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 93

“Gasp!”
I drew a sharp breath and jerked upright from where I’d been slumped across the kitchen counter.
“Just now, that was…….”
Had I fallen asleep in Sa Ma Young’s space?
Was it a nightmare?
Because I’d decided to prevent the Apocalypse?
Ding—
The System chimed, as if answering me.

[ You have received your First Reward. ]

“Oh.”
Now it came back to me.
The System had announced that synchronization was complete, and I’d received my First Reward.
“The System loves its rewards, doesn’t it!”
I slammed my palm on the counter in exasperation.
“Stick me with a wretched nightmare and then call it a reward? How does that work!”
As always, the System had nothing to say…….

[ It was not a nightmare. ]
[ Yeo Joo, you have just received your First Reward. ]

When you’re shocked enough, you can’t even scream.
I quickly slapped my hands over my eyes.
Then I parted my fingers slightly and peeked through, checking to make sure.
That I hadn’t just imagined it.
As if to mock my doubt, the System message still hung there in front of me.
“Huh…….”
What do I do. This seems real.
I swallowed hard and asked carefully.
“Um. Is anyone there?”
The System replied.

[ I am always with you, Yeo Joo. ]

“I, I think I’m losing it. Why is it answering me?”
Even as fear gripped me, a thought flashed through my mind.
So now I could ask about all the things I’ve been curious about this whole time, couldn’t I?
I spent a frantic moment rolling through my head before firing off several questions.
“Why am I here? Why was I given a Purification Ability? And can I stay in this world forever?”

[ You have come to prevent the Apocalypse in this world. ]
[ The answer to your second question is the same as the answer to your first. ]
[ It is an ability necessary to prevent the Apocalypse. ]

After a brief pause, the System continued with one more message.

[ The Apocalypse is a catastrophe that can be prevented. ]

“So how do I prevent it going forward?”
I waited patiently.
It might take a while for it to formulate an answer to such a difficult question.
“Hello?”
But the System didn’t respond again.
I quickly pulled up the System message log, but there was no record of it having answered me just now.
As if it had all been an illusion.
Wondering if I wasn’t fully awake, I opened the window and let the cold air wash over my face, then drank some cold water.
I asked the empty air more questions, but the System remained silent.
After fumbling around like that for a while, a thought struck me.
‘So what if it was fake?’
I completely agreed with what the System had said.
Shin Tae Jung was wrong.
The Apocalypse is a catastrophe that can be prevented.
I’ll be the one to save this world.

* * *

The Apocalypse Cult Hideout, where even a damned cricket wouldn’t sing at night, was in chaos.
Shin Tae Jung had returned, barely escaping from the Gimpo Gate.
“Potions! Bring more potions!”
“Vice Cult Leader, get a hold of yourself!”
The Apocalypse Cult’s Cult Leader, Bishop Yi, had taken a step back and was barely suppressing the urge to retch.
In a world of people with one eye, those with two are treated as mutants.
There was a time when he’d wondered if he was the strange one.
Everyone followed the Vice Cult Leader with such devotion—why did he find this man so repulsive?
That difference had isolated Bishop Yi.
He held the title of Cult Leader in name only; the Apocalypse Cult truly belonged to the Vice Cult Leader.
Between Shin Tae Jung and his followers, all pledged to him utterly, Bishop Yi had always been an outsider.
But he understood the reason now.
Shin Tae Jung’s Brainwashing Skill simply hadn’t taken hold of him as deeply.
Perhaps because they were both S-Rank.
“Good heavens, Vice Cult Leader……!”
“You can’t leave us!”
“Sob……!”
“Please, please save our Vice Cult Leader…….”
The Apocalypse Cult’s faithful had gathered around Shin Tae Jung, who had lost consciousness upon his return, and they wept.
Some prayed with desperate fervor.
‘Ridiculous.’
Living under the Apocalypse Cult, pledged to a doctrine that the world should end—to whom exactly were they praying to save Shin Tae Jung?
Bishop Yi scoffed, but he didn’t hate the followers for it.
They were merely victims of Shin Tae Jung’s brainwashing.
“Monstrous bastard.”
Bishop Yi glared down at the fallen Shin Tae Jung and spat on the ground.
He felt he needed to do it to dispel this revulsion.
“Oh, how pitiful our Vice Cult Leader is…….”
“Those wretches from the Justice Guild!”
While the followers were in an uproar as if death itself had come for them, Shin Tae Jung, having consumed the potions, was already regaining color in his face.
It was proof that his S-Rank body was beginning to recover.
“Let’s move the Vice Cult Leader inside quickly!”
“His wounds could worsen—we need a stretcher!”
The pitiful followers, like worker ants, pooled their strength for Shin Tae Jung.
Taking advantage of their confusion, Bishop Yi quietly entered the building.
“That bastard will be out of it for quite a while, I’d wager.”
Bishop Yi had watched the assault on the Gimpo Gate from beginning to end without missing a moment.
So he knew exactly how severe Shin Tae Jung’s injuries were.
Even with potions poured down his throat, he’d need at least several days of recovery before he could move about—unless Yeo Joo came herself and used her skill on him.
Which meant now was his chance.
Bishop Yi headed toward the most remote storage warehouse in this wretched hideout.
Creak.
The rusted door swung open with an unpleasant groan.
Normally, the noise would’ve drawn someone running, but right now they were all too busy wailing over their brainwashed grief—what did it matter.
Bishop Yi let out a bitter laugh.
But as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, his expression twisted.
“Damn it all.”
Anyone who saw this deplorable state inside the warehouse would’ve cursed.
Shin Tae Jung deserved to die a hundred times over for orchestrating this.
Gritting his teeth, Bishop Yi approached a woman sitting blankly on a shabby bed, one arm bound, and spoke.
“Hey, can you hear me?”
“…….”
Fortunately, her cognitive ability hadn’t been stolen, as her eyes slowly turned toward him.
But that was all.
She looked like a finely crafted doll—no trace of her former glory remained.
“This is a cutter knife. I’m not trying to hurt you. So don’t attack me, understood?”
Not that explaining it would make her understand, but better to be safe.
Bishop Yi quickly cut through the rope binding her wrist to the bed frame, clicking his tongue.
As crude as the brainwashing was, the restraints for an A-Rank Hunter were pathetically inadequate.
“At least be thorough if you’re going to be cruel.”
After cutting through all the ropes, he checked that no one was outside, then pushed the door wide open.
Even as he did, the woman simply stared blankly at him.
“Ah, damn. I’m going to ache from this.”
By the look of her, she wouldn’t be able to walk properly.
Which meant he’d have to support her to the hideout’s exit himself.
“I can’t leave, so I’ll have to drag you out if needed.”
Bishop Yi planted his hands on his hips and sighed deeply, then made one final plea to the woman looking up at him.
“I’m letting you out. Once you’re outside, grab anyone passing by and ask for help, got it?”
“……outside.”
“Yeah, outside this damned warehouse.”
“Damned, warehouse…….”
“No, why repeat just that part!”
Frustrated, Bishop Yi ran a hand through his hair, then gripped her shoulders firmly with both hands.
He leaned in close, searching her eyes, and said:
“You’re not the kind of person who should be in a place like this, looking like this. Aren’t you, Shin Se Hee?”
Shin Se Hee, once the heir apparent of the Muwoon Guild, though she was known to have lived in seclusion since the Guild Cup.
“Shin, ……shin, se hee.”
A spark.
As Shin Se Hee faltered through the syllables of her own name, her eyelashes trembled slightly.

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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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