The Tone-Deaf Healer Kills with a Song - Chapter 106

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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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Tone-Deaf Healer Kills with Song – Episode 106
“Huh? Why?”
The elevator continued its steady ascent.
Jung Hwan-jae, who had been watching Sung Ji-wook with concern, shifted his gaze toward me.
“He was essentially forced to step down from his position as a Hunter. It’s better to use the title ‘Researcher’ here.”
“Ah….”
I nearly made a careless mistake without realizing it. Of course, Harp had such an even-tempered personality that even if I called him a Hunter, he wouldn’t point it out.
Not pointing something out and being fine with it are completely different things, so I needed to be careful.
On top of everything else, making a bad first impression while we were in the middle of asking for a difficult favor would be the worst possible outcome.
So I should just call him Researcher Harp. As I was thinking this, the elevator came to a stop.
“Researcher Harp is still a difficult person for me to understand.”
“Didn’t you two fight in the ranking tournament? Both Ji-wook and the Researcher are healers.”
Sung Ji-wook nodded.
I thought fighting in the ranking tournament would naturally create some kind of bond.
Since that had been my experience, I’d assumed it would be the same for others, but looking at the faces of the two men beside me, that didn’t seem to be the case.
Just as I was about to ask if something had happened, the elevator doors slid open wide.
“It’s incredibly spacious.”
“The department that manages and researches Staff Members is practically at the core of what we do here.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“Quite a bit.”
This place was staffed with Staff Members of various temperaments and abilities who participated in research.
So if you were unfortunate enough to be hit by divine power they accidentally released, you could end up in the hospital. Of course, that was only for people with normal stats.
Jung Hwan-jae opened his mouth as if to reassure me, saying that even if I were hit, such a thing wouldn’t happen.
I didn’t want to admit it, but I kept forgetting that I was ranked first. Compared to how I thought “wow, ranked first…” every time I saw Jung Hwan-jae, my self-awareness was pathetically lacking.
“This place also receives direct support from Baldur, so sometimes people lose their minds here.”
“Lose their minds?”
“Staff Members are too powerful and contain vast amounts of data accumulated over too long a time. If someone actually brought down all that data, just facing them would cause brain damage.”
The Staff Members usually cooperated and came down, but after a few of them died, they started sending only their avatars.
Avatars are also aggregates of massive data. Those with weak mental fortitude or poor condition would experience temporary confusion just from seeing one.
“That sounds rather frightening.”
“You don’t need to worry, Ye-ah. If you were unaffected by seeing Lucy’s avatar, you won’t be mentally shaken by the avatars here.”
[Liri: That’s right. We only have Staff Members ranked lower than us here. It’s impossible for anyone higher than us to be here….]
So we were currently being sent with people like the kings of Staff Members.
I didn’t voice my thoughts aloud and simply followed the others as we walked.
There was a massive square hall in the center, with stairs and escalators running up along its edges.
“This feels almost like using a separate building.”
“We use several entire floors for this department, so it’s not exactly a lie.”
“Several entire floors?”
It really was an enormous place. When I’d seen the Research Institute from the outside, it hadn’t felt this large.
I’d gotten the impression it was just a wide building about five stories tall, nothing more.
[Liri: This facility has received authorization from the Hunter Association, the National Land Ministry, and Baldur. We’ve placed protective divine energy throughout the building.]
[Liri: The exterior only has designated zones, but the interior has been expanded using Subspace Arena and arbitrary data design.]
[Liri: In other words, it’s larger on the inside than it appears on the outside.]
For some reason, this reminds me of a certain foreign raccoon’s pocket. If you cry out “Help me, Baldur!” it seems like something would pop right out of that pouch….
I stopped that train of thought and forced my expression back into that of a well-behaved child.
“Since this facility utilizes the Subspace Arena, movement via elevator essentially traverses that space. You could think of it as moving between different buildings.”
“Is there no other way to move besides the elevator?”
“If you don’t use the designated staircase, you’ll get lost. I’ve heard that even the researchers lose a few people per day.”
-Attention all Staff Members in the Department. Harp, the Research Division Chief, has gone missing within the Subspace Arena.
-If any tracking Hunters capable of locating positions are available, please visit immediately for rescue operations.
Speak of the devil.
The announcement contained a familiar name. The very person we were heading toward with such grim determination….
“How do we find them?”
“We could use mana tracking skills, or since this space is relatively confined, we could use clairvoyance skills. Alternatively, we could force a teleportation here.”
“There’s a song I’ve been wanting to try. Would it be alright if I performed it?”
I already knew it wasn’t a tracking skill. But there was a song I absolutely had to try once, and I thought I might achieve comparable results.
I took a deep breath.
Even though I was suddenly insisting on performing a song at the Center, the men before me showed no signs of stopping me.
I cleared my throat several times. As if waiting for this moment, windows appeared.
‘Ambition’ activates the ‘Accompaniment’ function.
Mana research is complete. From now on, each special stat will develop further.
It seemed the research I’d been leaving unfinished indefinitely had finally concluded.
All the effort of keeping the ring on my body without removing it, even while sleeping and bathing, while having stat-related options selected, had finally paid off.
Creative Technique adds an ‘Arrangement’ function to your song.
Your song is being arranged.
Arrangement function.
Was this like auto-tune that makes even the most tone-deaf voice sound somewhat human?
Regardless, I opened my mouth with a voice full of anticipation.
“Hide, hide well, your hair is showing.”
But contrary to my expectations of auto-tune covering my voice, what flowed out was an Eastern, melancholic melody.
I wondered if such an arrangement suited this song, but the sorrowful, gloomy timbre was occasionally punctuated by intentional, deliberate off-key notes.
“Hide, hide well… your hair is showing.”
At the same time, my mana began spreading out in a very pale hue. It gradually covered the surroundings, caressing them this way and that.
My eyes glowed an even deeper green, reflected in the railing as if I were trying to see through something.
“Where, where are you hiding? Behind a tree? Inside the Center? Did you roll down the stairs?”
The name of this song was Hide and Seek, and it had been registered in my data at some point.
It probably happened when I was holding my phone in my hand, unable to find it, muttering things like “Please, goblin, give it back to me, hide hide well, your hair is about to show.”
Even in trivial situations, the variety of songs kept multiplying. Even the ones where I simply attached melodies to sentences and proceeded haphazardly.
My mana spread out for quite some time, as if searching for the one hiding.
Then, a very, very small voice reached my ears.
-Just a little more…. Just a little more.
“Hold on, don’t let your voice be heard….”
The accompaniment swelled to its crescendo. Amid the deliberately scattered notes, Jung Hwan-jae scanned the surroundings.
As I moved toward the source of the sound, he followed without a single question, matching my steps.
-Just a bit more, just a bit more, this won’t work. I’ll be discovered, ah, damn it….
With those muttered words trailing off, the ajaeng’s voice surged to its peak.
A sharp screech, and all the music stopped. My mana floating in the air gradually dissipated. It seemed impossible to track as clearly as Sung Ji-wook could.
But a sufficiently concentrated area was visible to me now.
I reached my hand toward it.
“Is there a space that could cause disappearances over there? I think I hear a voice coming from that direction. I’m not sure of the exact coordinates, but… roughly that way. Someone’s muttering ‘just a bit more’ over there.”
Jung Hwan-jae nodded and looked toward Sung Ji-wook. He clicked his tongue and extended his hand, shooting light toward my mana that hadn’t fully dissipated yet.
The scattered traces quickly solidified into a location. It was about four stories up. I was about to rush toward the escalator when Jung Hwan-jae simply scooped me up like a princess.
“Huh?”
“We’re going. Hold on tight.”
He pulled me close and vaulted over the railing, dropping down in one fluid motion.

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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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