The Former Empress Roughly Hides Her Abilities - Chapter 499

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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 103

Yeongdeungpo held a profound place in Korea’s Gate history within the world of Sejonmak.
It was the site of the first Gate’s appearance and where the First Dungeon Break had occurred.
A Gate materialized in the middle of a massive shopping mall, and monsters came pouring out of it.
An ordinary office worker passing through the area on business awakened and prevented greater catastrophe—he was Kang Myung Heon, Korea’s first Awakener and the first S-rank Hunter.
It was both the scene of the first tragedy and the birthplace of a hero.
“Apparently they moved deeper into that alley.”
After receiving the report, I arrived near the location with the Awakener Association’s filming crew, Jang Su Ho, and Moon Na Rin.
It was some distance from the initial call-in point.
Once the Berserk State began in earnest, the Hunter had apparently fled to this back alley.
“But Master, the atmosphere here feels a bit…….”
Despite the midday hour, the street lay dark and deserted, and Moon Na Rin shrank back toward me with a chill running through her.
“I told you to just stay at the hospital.”
“M-Master, of course I have to follow where my teacher goes!”
Should this really be going out on live broadcast?
I glanced at the PR staff, worried, but only received a gesture to keep going.
“Clinging to another Healer won’t help you. You should be hiding behind a dependable Shield like that.”
“But I feel more at ease being by your side, Master.”
Moon Na Rin played the adult well enough when alone, but she was still just a seedling at heart.
Born and raised in a world where Gates had become routine, the seedling was still too inexperienced—Yeongdeungpo was simply a frightening, crime-ridden district to her.
“It’s fine. This is just where people live too. And we have an S-rank Shield here, don’t we?”
I had no intention of scolding Moon Na Rin for her nervousness.
To be honest, even by my adult standards, Yeongdeungpo—especially this vicinity where the call had come from—had genuinely unstable public safety.
Now, with various systems in place and many Awakeners around, Gate-related damages were being repaired immediately.
But at the time of the First Dungeon Break, the entire nation—no, the entire world—had been in a state of emergency.
Rather than repair buildings that might collapse at any moment or rebuild the city, everyone had been frantic simply to prevent the crisis unfolding before their eyes.
It took considerable time before the government resumed its proper role, and in that interval, Yeongdeungpo, abandoned by ordinary citizens, had never regained its former appearance.
By now, too much had changed for even a policy or two to reverse.
“Come to think of it, it’s been a long time since I’ve been around here.”
“Have you visited before, Master?”
“Not here exactly, but over where the day-labor market is.”
That was the day I first met Kang Han.
Under the still-dark predawn sky, Kang Han staring blankly into a bonfire and the people muttering around him came back to me as vividly as if it were yesterday.
“It’s this way.”
As we ventured deeper into the alley, I felt a twisted energy.
Jang Su Ho, who had been looking the same direction as me, naturally took the lead.
But I noticed he didn’t even draw his shield, suggesting he’d judged the berserk Hunter to be no stronger than himself.
‘That’s at least a relief.’
I followed Jang Su Ho, my brow furrowing without meaning to.
The twisted energy of the Berserk State was fierce yet feeble.
As though the Hunter had almost no strength left to endure the berserk condition.
“Let’s hurry.”
I overtook Jang Su Ho and broke into a run, and the others immediately quickened their pace to follow.
At the far end of the alley, which looked like a dead end, wedged in a narrow gap of a collapsed wall, we found a female Hunter in the grip of a Berserk State.
‘……You could call her homeless.’
Her tangled long hair and clothes wholly unsuitable for the cold weather were torn and filthy.
Whether she was truly homeless was impossible to know, but it was clear she’d abandoned her home long ago.
“Uhhh…….”
As I took a step closer, the woman tried to back away.
But a pile of rubble blocked any movement.
“Take it slow,” Jang Su Ho said, stepping ahead of me.
He was the one who understood better than anyone that instinct overtakes reason during a Berserk State, and tension was plainly written across his face as he prepared for any contingency.
“It’s alright. This doesn’t look like an aggressive berserk.”
The manifestation of Berserk State varies from Hunter to Hunter, but it generally falls into two categories: the type that attacks everything in sight, and the type that becomes listless like a machine switched off.
If this woman had been an aggressive-type berserker, we probably couldn’t have approached at all.
“Hello, we’re from the Berserk Hunter Rescue Team.”
“Uhhh, huh.”
“My name is Yeo Joo, a Healer. I’ve come to stop your Berserk State.”
“…….”
The woman gave no answer.
She only curled herself up more.
“……Pardon me for a moment. This will make you feel better soon, so please don’t be startled.”
It was fortunate that purifying Darkness didn’t require physical contact.
I activated my skill on the woman lying a few steps away.

The woman’s body stiffened briefly in surprise, but that was all.
She didn’t lunge forward or convulse.
It seemed she didn’t even have the strength for that.
Moved by pity, I poured more energy into the purification.

While I tilted my head at the unexpected system message, the Berserk State stopped.

[ Current target’s Darkness Addiction Rate: 10% ]

The woman exhaled a long breath and went limp.
She seemed to have lost consciousness from exhaustion.
“Let me treat you!”
Quick-witted Moon Na Rin rushed over and grasped the woman’s hand.
As her limp head lolled to the side, her face became visible through the strands of hair.
“……Shin Se Hee?”
Her appearance was so transformed that imagining her former self was difficult, yet it was enough to recognize her.
Shin Se Hee, the former successor of Muwoon Guild, who had vanished without any activity since after the Guild Cup.

The Association’s PR team withdrew, muttering that the meaning of the Berserk Hunter Rescue Team had come across well enough.
The rest of us returned to the Awakened Healer Hospital.
After sending Moon Na Rin to the Emergency Room, Jang Su Ho and I headed to the Hospital Room.
It was the room where Shin Se Hee, found in the Yeongdeungpo back alley, had been admitted.
“Seriously, it really is Shin Se Hee,” Jang Su Ho muttered bemusedly, looking at her still-unconscious form lying in the bed.
“How did things come to this…….”
“I thought she was just holed up at home, staying under the radar.”
Jang Su Ho nodded along with my words in agreement.
Then he lowered his voice a bit and spoke softly.
“She lost the succession fight to Guild Master Shin Tae Muk over the Guild Cup with us, didn’t she? After that she hasn’t appeared in any Muwoon Guild raids, and hasn’t there been all sorts of rumors?”
There were even rumors she’d left Muwoon and transferred to a different guild, or that she’d gotten married and decided to retire.
“Yeah, that’s true. But to be found in this condition…….”
My heart didn’t feel right at all.
Her use of forbidden techniques in the Guild Cup had certainly been wrong.
But I hadn’t hoped for things to come to this.

[ Shin Se Hee A-rank

Drug addiction?

What on earth had happened to Shin Se Hee all this time?
I was staring at her sleeping form with a hollow laugh escaping my lips.
“Hunter Jang Su Ho, could you step out for a moment?”
Seo Yu Baek asked gently for Jang Su Ho’s consent.
But Jang Su Ho cast a glance at Shin Se Hee and furrowed his brows.
“I’m a bit uneasy about this.”
“Even if Shin Se Hee regains consciousness, she’s not in a state where she could attack us.”
“If you say so, Director……but if anything happens, just call out right away.”
Jang Su Ho left the room without entirely concealing his discomfort, complying with Seo Yu Baek’s request.
Click.
The moment the door closed and I confirmed the soundproofing engaged, Seo Yu Baek spoke to me.
“It appears Shin Se Hee has been confined somewhere for a long time.”

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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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