The Former Empress Roughly Hides Her Abilities - Chapter 494

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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 98

Safe? How could it be?
Kang Han’s sharp question left me speechless.
From the moment Gates appeared and monsters began spilling out of them, there had been no such thing as “safety” in this world.
Worse still, by all accounts, this world was scheduled for apocalypse.
It meant there wasn’t a single safe spot beneath heaven and earth.
“You know as well as I do, Yeo Joo. The Gates are becoming increasingly dangerous.”
Kang Han spoke in a voice that had softened somewhat, though it remained resolute.
“Re-awakening may carry risks, but nothing compared to the unpredictability of a Gate. And certainly nothing compared to entering one unprepared.”
“That’s… true.”
I nodded in agreement.
His unfamiliar intensity unsettled me, but what he said made sense.
At the same time, I found myself reflecting.
I’d been speaking carelessly without realizing it.
“My thinking was shallow.”
This was the time to steel myself.
“You’re right, Guild Master. The stronger we become, the safer we are.”
Of course, it was unfortunate that re-awakening meant revisiting trauma.
‘That’s just how the System works.’
I was shaking my head when I felt the weight of a stare on my face.
“What is it?”
After a brief silence, Kang Han answered my question.
“…I’m sorry.”
His damp brown hair fell heavily across his forehead as he bowed his head.
I caught myself thinking ‘This man really does suit having his bangs down…’ and hurried to refocus.
“You have nothing to apologize for, Guild Master.”
“No, I spoke too emotionally. You were only expressing concern for people.”
“You were doing the same thing. You were frustrated because you want the hunters to become stronger.”
“Yeo Joo…”
Kang Han watched me silently as I shrugged, then continued.
“I’m clearly your senior.”
“You are. If we’re being strict about it, you’re my senior. Should I call you that way?”
Was he trying to clarify our forms of address?
When I thought about it, I called all my older guild members “senior” or “sister.”
Yoo Jin Rok, who was older, I called “instructor.”
But Je Hwa, Kang Han, and Sa Ma Young—I’d never called any of them “senior.”
It would take some time to change now.
“Han? My senior?”
He flinched.
Kang Han’s shoulders heaved dramatically, and he dragged his palm across his face with a groan.
“That… wasn’t what I meant to suggest.”
“You don’t like it?”
“It’s not that I dislike it, but my point was that you’re more mature than I am.”
Was that so?
I couldn’t think of anyone with more senior presence than Kang Han.
“Sigh.”
Kang Han exhaled a long breath, as if trying to calm his racing heart.
“By the way, congratulations on finding the re-awakening method. Sincerely. You’ve suffered for a long time.”
Since it felt like I’d glossed over the congratulations earlier, I offered them again—and this time, Kang Han’s ears flushed crimson.
“Ahem.”
The tense atmosphere had eased, and now Kang Han cleared his throat awkwardly; the air around him seemed to shimmer with embarrassment.
‘Should I ask?’
I decided to venture into the question I’d been holding back.
“You seemed to have a lot on your mind since the Gimpo Gate incident. Have you worked through it?”
“Did it show that obviously?”
“A little?”
“Just had some things to think about. It was the first time an SS-Rank Dungeon Break nearly happened, after all.”
It was a reasonable and plausible explanation.
The only problem was, it didn’t quite ring true to my ears.
It seemed he wasn’t ready to speak about it yet.
‘I’ll leave it at this for today.’
A few more questions might have revealed the real concern.
But I didn’t want to pry into feelings he wasn’t yet ready to share.
I steered the conversation back to the re-awakening method.
“But this re-awakening catalyst—does the Awakener really have to experience a powerful sense of crisis?”
“I’m not certain yet.”
“Hmm, I wish there were a way that’s at least a little less dangerous. If there’s anything I can help with, please let me know. Anything.”
“Understood. As we attempt this with guild members one by one, we might discover more varied methods.”
“I just hope it doesn’t involve Darkness Addiction or my Purification Skill. I won’t always be here.”
Maybe I should reach out to Shane, who’d been quiet lately.
He’d hate an ambush, but if I could get even a hint about the re-awakening method…
“What did you just say?”
Kang Han grabbed my wrist urgently, his eyes fixed on the bell-shaped icon there.
“Pardon?”
“You said you won’t always be here. Are you planning to go somewhere else? Where?”
Kang Han’s pupils trembled with anxiety.
“Are you thinking of changing guilds? Or leaving Korea…?”
“Wait, Guild Master. Calm down.”
I patted the back of his large hand, but Kang Han couldn’t seem to shake his agitation.
“Did I upset you by acting emotionally? If that’s the case, I’ll be more careful from now on.”
“I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about right now, Guild Master.”
Then Kang Han seized both my hands and spoke urgently.
“You said ‘I won’t always be here,’ didn’t you?”
“I did?”
I said that?
I tried to recall, but I couldn’t place it.
Won’t always be here.
Where would I go?
Kang Han spoke to my tilted head, his tone almost pleading.
“You can’t go anywhere else. Absolutely not.”
“I’m not planning to go anywhere, Guild Master.”
I clasped his hands in return and spoke clearly.
“Remember? I poured all my lottery winnings into Justice Guild. Why would I leave that behind?”
“…Really?”
“Of course! I must have misspoken, or you misheard me. Don’t worry about that.”
“If that’s the case, then… I’m relieved.”
Kang Han pressed his forehead against the back of my hand and murmured softly.
His broad back, so defenseless and exposed, struck me as both pitiful and endearing.
I didn’t know what he’d misheard, but that the mere suggestion that I might leave could provoke such a reaction…
I gently stroked the back of this man, whose frame was twice the size of mine.
His large body gradually began to rise and fall in an even rhythm.
“Where would I go?”
Without the Purification Skill I’d been given, this world could not escape its apocalypse.
Whether I liked it or not, I had to help Kang Han fight if I wanted to survive.
And more than anything, I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere but with Justice Guild.

“Someone has to keep showing them. That there are still people who haven’t given up. That they shouldn’t give up either.”
“Isn’t that right?”

But why, of all moments, did that memory surface now—the reward the System had shown me?
That hopeless world slowly being consumed within the Sejong Barrier, the last Gate.
“I’m not going anywhere. Not ever.”
I murmured it to myself, pressing my face into Kang Han’s back.

* * *

Geum Eun Dong, sub-guild master of the Maestro—self-proclaimed and universally acknowledged as the greatest Crafting Guild—waved goodbye to the guild member who’d aided his Spatial Teleportation.
“Th-thank you.”
“Not at all. What time should I come retrieve you? Would you like me to wait here?”
“N-no. You’re busy, so g-go back. I’ll c-contact you when the meeting ends.”
Having sent the guild member away, Geum Eun Dong walked down the corridor of the familiar building.
Due to his position as sub-guild master, he often found himself in this place—the Korean Awakener Association.
“Why d-did she have to ask m-me of all people…”
He despised crowded places.
Whether it stemmed from his childhood, spent largely alone in a hospital room, or simply his introverted nature, Geum Eun Dong found his own workshop—empty and quiet—the most comfortable place in the world.
But today, he couldn’t ignore the Association’s summons.
The person who’d called him was none other than Yeo Joo, the healer.
“I c-could have just t-talked to the Master…”
It had been quite some time since the Maestro’s guild master had returned from Justice Guild.
The reason she suddenly wanted to meet at the Association was utterly baffling to him.
“H-here it is.”
Geum Eun Dong opened the door marked “Grand Conference Room” without much thought.
Bang!
Then closed it.
“Wh-what… is…?”
Did he see wrong?
He probably did.
Geum Eun Dong polished his thick glasses with his shirt hem and opened the Grand Conference Room door again.
He hadn’t seen wrong.
“Wh-why are you all… h-here?”

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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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