The Owner of the Healing Therapy Shop Is Ranked 0th in the World - Chapter 34

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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 34

The entrance of the Korean Hunter Association was packed with a sea of people. The heat emanating from thousands of people was so intense it seemed to burn the air.

“Save Gangjinseong!”

“Disband the Association that treats hunters like disposable goods!”

“Did you not learn your lesson after losing S-rank Seondonguk like that!”

The protesters’ shouts crashed against the barrier surrounding the Association building like fierce waves. The layered magical barriers rippled with blue light.

Right behind that boundary line, Korea’s S-rank hunters Ohyeongtaek and Shinnara stood guard.

“It’s even more annoying because they’re not wrong about anything.”

Ohyeongtaek jerked his chin toward the protesters.

“We did work Jinseong hyung too hard.”

Instead of answering, Shinnara let out a heavy sigh.

Her gaze was directed toward the top floor where Jinseong lay sleeping.

“Really, if the Gate bursts at this rate, we’ll all be heading to the afterlife together, won’t we?”

Shinnara tried to speak playfully, but her voice trembled slightly at the end.

Ohyeongtaek frowned and tapped Shinnara’s shoulder.

“I’m here, aren’t I? At least it won’t be boring when we go?”

At Ohyeongtaek’s joke, Shinnara burst into laughter and shook her head.

“Right, it won’t be boring.”

“Hyung will wake up. Among all the hunters I know, he’s got the longest lifeline. Disgustingly long!”

“Well, it is Gangjinseong after all.”

After that conversation, silence fell between the two. Despite their words, they had no real confidence that Jinseong would wake up.

The protesters’ clamor grew louder, and they seemed ready to break through the barrier at any moment.

That’s when it happened.

The middle of the crowd split like the Red Sea. An eerie silence fell over the chaos that had been filled with screams and curses.

Those who emerged through the crowd were five or six men dressed in matching black suits.

On their left arms were armbands with ‘WHP’ (World Hunter Police) embroidered in vivid gold thread.

“…World Hunter Police?”

Ohyeongtaek’s eyes narrowed.

The WHP, a judicial organization directly under the International Hunter Union, was a group that wielded tremendous power worldwide under the pretext of investigating hunter-related crimes across national boundaries.

The reason they had come to the Korean Hunter Association at this chaotic timing was obvious.

The man at the front adjusted his sunglasses and walked confidently up to the barrier. Shinnara and Ohyeongtaek immediately readied their weapons and blocked their path.

“Stop.”

Despite Ohyeongtaek’s threatening warning, the man paid no attention. Instead, he smiled coldly and pulled out official documents from inside his jacket.

“The Korean Hunter Association will need to cooperate with us. We are WHP Investigation Team 1. We’ve come to conduct an official investigation into the charges of hunter murder that occurred during Hunter Gangjinseong’s Gate raid.”

“What? Murder charges?”

Shinnara let out a hollow laugh as if she couldn’t believe it.

“You’re not unaware of Hunter Gangjinseong’s current condition.”

Ohyeongtaek stepped closer and flicked the man’s tie.

“An investigation when someone is fighting for their life? I guess gentlemen like you don’t think.”

“Hunter Ohyeongtaek, we are following proper procedures according to international agreements. Please show some courtesy.”

His words were smooth. But after finishing his statement, the man brushed off the tie that Ohyeongtaek had touched. It was a blatantly rude attitude, as if something dirty had gotten on it.

“Huh? Courtesy? It seems like you’re the one who messed that up first.”

“Please clear the way. If you don’t remove the barrier, we’ll consider it obstruction of official duties.”

The man’s tone wasn’t just high-handed—it was downright rude.

At his behavior of lifting his chin and looking down at Shinnara, Ohyeongtaek’s eyes instantly turned cold.

“Someone is dying, so let’s maintain courtesy as fellow hunters. Okay?”

Ohyeongtaek gave a final warning while emanating rough magical power. As the WHP agents tried to enter combat stance against him, Ohyeongtaek snorted.

“You want to face me?”

Then the man at the front removed his sunglasses and pointed to a robed woman behind him.

“We don’t want unnecessary conflict either. Our purpose is investigation, but we’ve brought a mental-type healer for Hunter Gangjinseong. We heard Korea doesn’t have mental-type healers. If it’s not needed, we’ll have no choice but to return.”

“…”

“But time is of the essence, isn’t it? We’re offering to treat him first, so I don’t think there’s any need to refuse our goodwill.”

At his attitude of using even the offer to treat Gangjinseong as a means rather than genuine goodwill, veins bulged on Shinnara’s forehead as she listened quietly.

Her patience was snapping bit by bit.

“If you’re waiting for the Association President’s permission, don’t worry about it. The moment we set foot on this land, negotiations with the Korean government are concluded.”

It wasn’t wrong. The WHP was that kind of organization.

Ohyeongtaek and Shinnara looked at each other.

Anger surged, but the words “mental-type healer” held them back.

In the current situation where all of Korea’s healers were struggling helplessly to treat Jinseong, there was no reason to refuse a mental-type healer who had walked right into their hands.

If the person they brought truly had skill, it might be the only chance to save Jinseong.

Finally, after a long standoff, Ohyeongtaek gritted his teeth and deactivated the barrier.

“You’re coming with me, mister.”

“Fine. Being escorted by Hunter Ohyeongtaek would be an honor.”

“Escort my ass.”

Unable to bear it any longer, Shinnara muttered curses under her breath and headed inside the building first.

* * *

Amid the mechanical sounds of the oxygen respirator and the smell of herbal medicine filling Jinseong’s bedroom, Erica, the healer brought by the WHP, extended her hand over Jinseong’s forehead.

Purple magical power rippling from her fingertips seeped into Jinseong’s temples.

After concentrating for a while, Erica frowned and withdrew her hand.

-It’s a nasty dream demon. It’s not simply instilling fear, but completely dominating his entire mind.

Maeng Seokwoo, the Korean Hunter Association President who had been watching anxiously beside her, looked puzzled after hearing the translation.

“Nasty? To me, Hunter Gang looks very peaceful.”

Indeed, Jinseong’s expression on the bed was serene, with no trace of the agonized look he had when he first came out of the Gate.

Erica glanced at Maeng Seokwoo with disdain and replied.

-That’s exactly why it’s nasty. This man is currently dreaming of overcoming his most painful trauma and living the happy life that came after. It might be the happiest moment of his entire life.

“Then if we just leave him alone, will he wake up naturally?”

Erica clicked her tongue. She wondered if this man was really Korea’s Hunter Association President.

-The price of that happy dream is his lifespan. Dream demons are monsters that show perfect dreams and feed on the happiness their targets feel, draining their life force. Leave him like this? He’ll be happy in the dream, but his physical body in reality will wither away soon.

Erica looked down at Jinseong with pitying eyes.

-At least it won’t be painful though.

Maeng Seokwoo’s face instantly turned ashen upon hearing the translation.

“Wh-what? Then we need to wake him up right now! What are you doing!”

At his shouting outburst, Erica shook her head.

-I told you. He’s completely dominated. To forcibly wake him, I’d have to directly access that man’s memories and tear apart that happiness. That’s the problem.

“A problem?”

-The prognosis would be terrible. When you forcibly break out of the paradise designed by a dream demon, it’s common for the mind to go insane after returning to reality. Becoming a cripple or an idiot? Honestly, I don’t want to touch this either. It’s dangerous.

Maeng Seokwoo’s jaw dropped. The back of his neck was drenched in sweat.

“Wh-what’s the probability of becoming an idiot?”

Erica shrugged and answered.

-Well, fifty-fifty? We’d have to leave it to luck. So, do it or not? The longer we delay, the more dangerous it becomes for sure.

Under Erica’s blunt gaze, Maeng Seokwoo’s cold sweat flowed even faster.

He felt like he was holding humanity’s hope on the tip of his tongue. With trembling hands, he rubbed his face dry and looked down at Jinseong sleeping peacefully on the bed.

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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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