The Owner of the Healing Therapy Shop Is Ranked 0th in the World - Chapter 81

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

The Owner of the Healing Therapy Shop is World Rank 0

Chapter 81

The rain outside the window showed no signs of stopping, only growing fiercer.

On the railing of a high-rise building, a woman sat receiving the falling raindrops with her entire body. It was Alice.

She seemed unable to feel the sensation of wet fabric clinging to her body, staring into the void with unfocused eyes.

“Ha, to think I’d have to use this again…”

Alice muttered quietly and closed her eyes.

From her fingertips, bizarre and ominous black magic power began to ripple.

It was a forbidden wide-area search skill that craved information by consuming life force, far removed from a saint’s blessing.

The price of using it repeatedly in a short time was immediate.

Black spots that started from Alice’s nape crawled up along her jaw like insects and covered half her face.

When even the whites of her eyes were stained a murky black, Alice wore an expression of emptiness as if her soul had been drained.

She threw herself down from the building into the darkness below.

But just before hitting the ground, her body floated up into the air as if defying gravity.

Alice flew up like a ghost and stood before the massive glass window of a specific floor.

When she lightly reached out her hand, the special reinforced glass designed to withstand Hunter attacks shattered silently into pieces.

Inside the room was Jang Dohun.

At the sudden ambush, he instinctively wrapped thick, heavy iron chains around both wrists and assumed a combat stance.

However, the moment he confirmed the intruder’s face, he withdrew his chains.

“…Saint?”

Alice destroyed the loudly blaring alarm system with a single gesture and entered the room with detached composure.

Jang Dohun turned on the lights and examined her face closely, unable to hide his shock.

“Your face! Don’t tell me… you touched the forbidden?”

Alice sneered and replied coldly.

“Be careful. Once is difficult, but twice is easy.”

Jang Dohun let out a hollow laugh at the eerie killing intent in Alice’s eyes and sat on the opposite sofa.

“I’ll watch my tongue before my head flies off. What’s the reason for visiting me in the dead of night looking like that? You didn’t come to have a drink, I assume.”

“I came to make a deal. That Enchanter you’re desperately searching for – I’ll tell you everything from personal information to weaknesses.”

“Now? What kind of change of heart did you have?”

Jang Dohun couldn’t shake his suspicious gaze and asked again.

“The price will probably be enormous. Am I wrong?”

“The price is simple. Destroy her thoroughly, that woman. To the point where no one would want to get their hands on her.”

The corners of Jang Dohun’s mouth curled up viciously.

“Ah, the Saint doesn’t want to dirty her hands? You want vicarious satisfaction, is that it?”

“That’s right, I have to be a damn noble saint after all.”

Alice arrogantly lifted her chin and poured out the information she had just learned using the forbidden technique.

Yebichnna’s personal information and the store’s defense system, the fact that Gangjinseong and the S-ranks would enter Seokchon Lake Gate at 3 AM, and crucially, that supply materials would move to the store at 6 AM.

Jang Dohun was thrilled, but looking at the terrible spots covering Alice’s face, he asked.

“Those spots… are they the price for this information?”

Alice tilted her head back and let out a long sigh.

“Just spots? I sacrificed much more than that.”

“You’re vicious too.”

When Alice fell silent, Jang Dohun rose from his seat.

He intended to target that fleeting moment when the S-ranks disappeared into the Gate and Yebichnna’s side would be most vulnerable.

It was both a warning to Seondonguk not to bring up useless talk about past Gates and venting anger at Gangjinseong for escaping his grasp and acting independently.

Chess pieces that rebel against Dohun’s leash must be severely punished or left to be torn apart by enemies.

Just as he had always done.

* * *

Time had already passed midnight.

Just when only the sound of rain drumming on the roof echoed in silence, the bell on the store door rang cheerfully.

“Excuse me?”

A large shadow stood in the doorway.

It was Oppa Seondonguk, neatly wearing a coat and showing a gentle smile.

Having become Yebichnna’s ‘guard’ through drawing lots, he rushed to Yebichnna as soon as the other S-ranks finished preparing to enter the Gate.

“Oppa Seondonguk! You came early? By the way, you really don’t need more treatment?”

Oppa Seondonguk carefully shook off his wet coat and smiled.

“I’m so healthy it’s a problem. There was no issue with being discharged, but I stayed a few more days because of mother’s nagging. If I hadn’t come to protect you, Yebichnna, I’d still be unable to leave the hospital.”

“Still, you never know. What if you overdo it and your body gets worse?”

I led Oppa to the store heater.

When I served him a warm cup of tea, Oppa Seondonguk wrapped the teacup with his large hands and slowly looked around the store.

“I couldn’t look around properly then, but seeing it like this, the store is really pretty. May I look around?”

“Of course.”

I followed Oppa Seondonguk around and explained about the store.

Adding explanations even for parts he didn’t ask about was because I was excited by Oppa’s excellent reactions.

“This is the massage room, where we provide skin care or upper body massages. We also light incense sticks in your preferred scent.”

“Wow, you can do massages too? Amazing. Whose idea was it to let customers choose incense sticks?”

“It’s a small service. No matter how good the effects are, everyone has different preferences. This is where we collect perfume fragrances. We also conduct experiences where customers directly blend scents to make their desired perfumes.”

“Customers make perfumes themselves? Wow, I never knew there were so many scents in the world. It’s incredibly fascinating.”

Oppa Seondonguk affirmed whatever I said and showered me with praise.

It was a moment when I newly understood why people say they feel entertained and comfortable when they’re with Oppa Seondonguk.

“You became a complete expert while I wasn’t looking?”

“I was already an expert before you got hurt, you know?”

“I know, I know.”

After finishing the store tour, we returned to the lobby sofa.

While quietly listening to the rain and sipping tea, Oppa began speaking in a calm voice.

“Actually, when I woke up, I had many worries. Even though my circuits were miraculously normalized, when I asked if I could return to Hunter life, no one gave me certainty.”

“…Having those thoughts after waking up after three years is so like you, Oppa.”

“They say people change when they come back from the brink of death, but I seem to be the same?”

“Completely.”

“So I was depressed. If I couldn’t return to Hunter life, I felt like I’d become useless and didn’t understand why I woke up.”

My heart felt heavy at Oppa’s sincere confession.

It was bitter to realize that the weight of responsibility he carried hadn’t lightened at all even after three years.

“That’s not like you to think that way, Oppa.”

Oppa Seondonguk smiled brightly.

“But I learned during rehabilitation. My magic circuits are sturdier now than when I collapsed. Magic efficiency improved incomparably and addiction symptoms were minimal.”

Just like I had earlier, Oppa continued speaking with an excited face.

Could the fact that he could fight on the field again be this joyful?

I looked at Oppa’s face and smiled silently.

“In short, I wanted to say thank you.”

“I’ve received enough thanks. We settled our debts to each other.”

“Thinking about it, I think my debt was bigger?”

“Oh, there you go again.”

“Yebichnna, I heard from Jinseong. You have a special item.”

“Senior said that?”

“Yeah, he told me to ask you to use that item when I go to the store today? He called it an employment contract?”

Senior seemed worried about me being left behind even until the moment of departure.

‘It’s not like I’m some child he left by the waterside.’

Though I thought that way, the corners of my mouth curved into a round arc against my will.

“If Oppa is okay with it, I’d welcome it. I don’t think there’s another part-timer as good as Oppa.”

When I spoke brightly, Seondonguk Oppa also looked at me and smiled broadly.

“Then how do we make that contract? Do I just inject mana like with a scroll?”

“Ah.”

I had forgotten.

That damn embarrassing contract formation method.

Haah.

‘…I have to do that again.’

A sigh escaped me involuntarily.

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