The Owner of the Healing Therapy Shop Is Ranked 0th in the World - Chapter 24

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Owner of the Healing Therapy Shop is World Rank 0

Chapter 24

“Why, what’s wrong?”

At Mimi’s menacing voice that I was hearing for the first time, my shoulders instinctively shrank.

Mimi opened my status window to check the time limit once again and let out a deep sigh.

“Do you know why the time limit suddenly decreased?”

“It must be because we cleared the Gate easier than expected.”

“Senior did?”

“Strictly speaking, your abilities were better than the Gate anticipated, so it entered difficulty adjustment mode.”

“….”

It was an unexpected answer.

I furrowed my brow and asked cautiously.

“I don’t understand. Are Gates some kind of living beings that can think?”

“You could consider them higher life forms than humans.”

“Like you?”

“They’re inferior to me.”

I couldn’t continue speaking. I had never thought of Gates as living beings, and it was beyond my common sense to understand.

“Then is the Gate’s goal to make the Gate burst?”

“You could say that.”

“So that’s why it makes the Gate more difficult?”

When Mimi nodded, I bit the inside of my cheek.

“It sounds like even more tremendous Gates will occur in the future….”

“This is just the beginning.”

Mimi was calm, as if she had given an obvious answer to an obvious question.

In contrast, I swallowed dry saliva.

How could I be unaffected after hearing that the Maze Gate, which no ranker in the world except Senior Jinseong and I could handle, was just the beginning?

If this is the beginning, then how much is the end….

My fingertips grew cold.

“I’m leaving now.”

Mimi suddenly manipulated her mana. She was planning to open a portal and go somewhere.

“Where are you going!”

I noticed the sign and quickly grabbed Mimi’s hind leg.

“You just woke up after a week and you’re trying to go somewhere!”

“Europe Gate. They made a move over there.”

“Wait, hold on!”

At the mention of going to Europe, I jumped up from my seat.

“I’m coming with you!”

“Why would you.”

Instead of answering, I grabbed a handful of oils I had placed on the workshop table.

“This! I made these while you were sleeping!”

“So you weren’t just playing around.”

What I proudly showed Mimi was none other than ‘Perfect’ grade oil.

“I thought it would be good to give this to Senior.”

The oil Senior currently has is ‘High Quality’ grade oil. But since the Gate adjusted its difficulty and even reduced the time limit, I thought he would need better oil than that.

Mimi also seemed to agree with my words as she nodded without complaint.

At the signal to depart immediately, I grabbed my phone and glasses with disguise effects and entered the portal with Mimi.

* * *

‘8 Gates remaining now.’

The remaining Gates were now only in countries too far from Korea or in Hunter superpowers.

The United States, China, Britain, and France, which respectively possess world rankings 1, 2, 3, and 4, announced they would directly attempt to clear them.

However, now more than a week since the Gates erupted, none of these countries had succeeded in clearing them.

Britain and France, which possess 3rd and 4th rank rankers, had sent in their clearing teams a day ago, but there was still no news.

The United States and China, which had stepped back to observe Britain and France’s situation, eventually decided to postpone their clearing schedules and received criticism from their citizens.

The world was literally in chaos.

Senior Jinseong’s destination was soon where the world’s attention was focused, and his single word determined national economies and stock prices.

His influence was tremendous beyond words.

But with even the time limit reduced, the world’s dependence on him had grown even higher.

‘Is Senior really okay?’

Whenever I exchanged messages with him, he always replied that he was fine. He was the one who told me not to worry, and since he had come to a country with a big time difference, he told me not to watch the broadcast and go to sleep first.

But seeing him directly in France, I began to question whether he was really okay.

Senior’s back as he barely managed to walk surrounded by people didn’t look okay at all.

His stern expression was visible even from a distance, so I couldn’t even fathom how difficult it must be inside.

I felt ashamed of myself for just sending a single message asking if he was okay and then acting like I had done everything I needed to do.

‘Still, I need to deliver the oil….’

I was fiddling with the bag containing the oil when I finally took a difficult step.

It was when I was about to call Ean to get an entry pass.

“Bonjour~”

A woman’s coquettish voice called out to Senior.

When I turned my head, I saw a woman with stunning beauty walking over, pushing away the reporters.

‘The Saint?’

It was the famous S-rank Saint, Alice. A Hunter with tremendous abilities who could completely save even people on the brink of death.

Her hair dyed bright gold curled beautifully, and the features on her small, white face were distinct and pretty.

Despite her small stature, the woman with definite curves exuded a model’s presence even in just walking.

It was a moment when I understood why she held the title of the Hunters’ celebrity.

The reason she’s particularly famous in Korea is because she’s a Korean-French person.

“Oppa, it’s been a while!”

The Korean coming from her exotic appearance was quite strange.

Senior’s face showed no signs of discomfort as he received her unreserved greeting.

“Thank you for visiting France first, gentleman!”

“Come in.”

Even at her playful joke, Senior just indifferently pointed to his container.

“Still so cold.”

Alice lowered her eyebrows but soon smiled brightly.

“No! I just stopped by to say hello. You heard, right? That if two hours pass after oppa enters and you don’t come out, I’ll go in?”

“Yeah.”

“Most took about an hour. I won’t have to go in, right? Then good luck!”

Tap tap. Her white, slender fingers tapped Senior’s shoulder and left.

And while pushing through the crowd, our eyes met.

It wasn’t a mistake. When our eyes met, she winked at me.

“….”

I was watching the Saint’s retreating figure when I could finally look away at the sound of Ean’s voice calling me.

* * *

At the news that Yebichnna had come, Jinseong jumped up from his seat.

He didn’t know how she could have come to this distant place, but what mattered was that she was here now.

Jinseong headed straight toward Yebichnna, not even realizing that his stride had widened.

“Senior!”

Yebichnna, who had spotted him, greeted him cheerfully.

Her brief smile made it feel as if the stifling air had instantly cleared.

Jinseong approached Yebichnna without showing his emotions.

He could smell Yebichnna’s characteristic fresh grass scent and floral fragrance.

Jinseong unconsciously broke into a gentle smile.

“How did you get all the way here.”

At his voice filled with worry about why she had come to such a dangerous place, Yebichnna instead smiled brightly and pulled something from her bag.

“I came to give you this!”

“What is this?”

Jinseong carefully received the oil bottle Yebichnna handed him. On the surface, it looked no different from the items she had given him before.

However, judging by her much more confident voice and posture, there seemed to be a clear difference from before.

“It’s ‘Perfect Grade’ oil! What I gave you before was ‘High Quality’ grade oil.”

“The grade has improved.”

“That’s right. I thought it would help when you clear the Gate.”

Yebichnna’s eyes sparkled brightly as she looked up at him.

She looked like a puppy hoping for praise, and Jinseong couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“You worked hard. Thank you.”

“You’re the one working hard, Senior. I’m just helping.”

“Thanks to you, I think I’ll clear it quickly.”

It wasn’t because of this oil, but because seeing Yebichnna had boosted his confidence, though Jinseong didn’t bother to voice this thought.

Jinseong finished his brief rest of about an hour and entered the Gate.

Nothing was known about the French Gate.

All the Gates he had entered so far were different types of Gates, and the kinds of monsters that appeared were also different.

However, with Yebichnna’s oil, he could find the exit, and the structure remained the same where finding the exit would clear the Gate.

There were no monsters strong enough that he, an S-rank with enhanced abilities from the contract buff with Yebichnna, couldn’t handle, nor had Yebichnna’s oil ever failed to work properly.

Therefore, Jinseong felt no fear or hesitation when entering Gates.

Moreover, thanks to Yebichnna’s unexpected visit this time, he even felt an inexplicable confidence that he would clear this Gate earlier than usual.

Jinseong landed in the Central Plaza of the Gate, his trademark long gray coat fluttering behind him.

“…Damn.”

But contrary to his expectations, what escaped his lips was a low curse.

All the civilians and Hunters gathered in the Central Plaza had collapsed unconscious.

He immediately ran over and placed his fingers on people’s necks. Fortunately, they hadn’t lost their lives, but their condition clearly wasn’t good.

By his estimation, they seemed to have been attacked by a psychic-type monster.

Jinseong looked toward the entrance of the Maze.

If there was one clear difference from other Gates, it was that there was exactly one entrance leading from the Central Plaza into the Maze.

He stared at the Maze entrance covered in grayish-white fog with narrowed eyes.

The air entering his lungs was humid and heavy.

Jinseong felt an ominous premonition.

Psychic-type monsters had poor compatibility with most Hunters. They were creatures with no particular weaknesses that showed patterns of acting cautiously without revealing their true forms.

‘This might take a long time.’

Jinseong activated the timer on his wrist and walked into the Maze.

As he entered through the entrance, the walls of the Maze made of smoke began to writhe and move.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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