The Tone-Deaf Healer Kills with a Song - Chapter 142

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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 142
Shunt, Ranking 41st.
A person working as a journalist without belonging to any Guild.
Yet not even one in ten could be called a conscientious reporter. Nothing but sensational issues and gossip.
Views! Attention!
‘Isn’t Shunt a tabloid hack?’
‘Right. But if not for Shunt, where else would we hear rumors about those people?’
‘That’s a fair point, though.’
With powerful tracking and eavesdropping skills, he excavated the private lives of Rankers and exposed them daily.
There was no shortage of wealthy patrons willing to pay exorbitant sums for their romantic entanglements, financial troubles, and personal histories.
“Hunter Shunt, ranked 41st—it seems you’ve dropped a bit from last time. It’s only natural your combat prowess would suffer when you’re using skills meant for Dungeons to tail people instead.”
He was confident he wouldn’t be caught.
Though his face was already widely known among Hunters, his ability to conceal himself with subtle cunning was unmatched by others.
How diligently he had honed his Camouflage skill.
Naturally, the celestial-tier Hunters within the top twenty had sensed his presence, but they chose to ignore Shunt rather than waste effort responding to each petty provocation.
Dante and Jung Hwan were that type.
True Rankers who refused to engage with gossip, unbroken by such slander.
“I’m not entirely sure why you’ve suddenly summoned me and spoken to me this way….”
So Shunt found himself utterly unable to comprehend his current situation.
He had never imagined he would find himself in a private meeting with Hanttae’s Guild Master in the United States.
And certainly not in a space where such a gentle waltz melody drifted through the air.
It had been barely an hour ago.
While he was writing a new video and article about the covert exchanges between Dante and Yeom Ye-ah, someone blocked his path.
“Excuse me.”
The translation function activated, suggesting the person wasn’t a native English speaker.
He lifted his head to observe them.
A face that seemed familiar yet whose identity eluded him.
‘Where have I seen them? Why can’t I remember?’
The face wavered as if he’d been hit by a skill.
Yet even to another man’s eye, he was strikingly handsome.
“What’s the matter?”
“I have something to ask you.”
Watching the silver hair sway slightly in the windless space, Shunt became certain.
This person was a Hunter.
This area was where all manner of Dungeons appeared, and the Ragnarok Region and Nike Building also existed nearby.
Thinking the person was simply asking for directions, Shunt nodded readily, indicating he would hear them out.
“Are you perhaps Hunter Shunt?”
There was no hostility in that gentle voice.
A tone that seemed curious whether he truly ranked within the top fifty Hunters.
It was a sensation he’d forgotten while avoiding public attention and trailing Yeom Ye-ah and Dante.
‘A fan of mine.’
My heart couldn’t help but flutter—it was an inevitable path.
Especially since I loved attention so much.
Shunt, who had been blinking, smiled gently.
“Yes, but I’m afraid photographs would be difficult for me at the moment due to certain circumstances.”
There was no helping it if someone recognized my face, but I couldn’t afford to let my current location be exposed.
I let a trickle of mana flow to cast a secrecy oath on the man before me without arousing suspicion.
Yet strangely, my mana couldn’t even reach him, let alone seep into him.
Skill casting conditions cannot be met.
Right to Ignorance casting cancelled (Reason: Target’s stats exceed the caster’s.)
A stranger whose face I didn’t even know had stats higher than mine, ranked 41st.
Before I could even process the situation, something like black feathers flickered before my eyes, and my consciousness cut out.
When I opened my eyes again, I was here, facing Jung Hwan alone.
“You do realize this is kidnapping, don’t you?”
“Don’t worry. It’s not kidnapping.”
I had no memory of writing any articles about Jung Hwan recently.
Rather, wasn’t there a new rising star that had caught everyone’s attention?
‘Hunter Yeom Ye-ah’.
She appeared like a comet, and not only was she hired as Hanttae’s exclusive healer, but she brazenly surpassed all the other renowned rankers to claim the top position.
Wherever Yeom Ye-ah went, Jung Hwan always followed, and rumors that Dante from Nike also desperately wanted her were already widespread.
She had even cleared a sudden S-Rank Dungeon that broke out at a research institute recently.
Truly, she was the protagonist of all sorts of rumors and fandom creation.
People wanted to know about Yeom Ye-ah, whose past remained largely unrevealed.
‘But honestly, there was nothing scandalous enough to write about.’
She was exceptionally quiet at school, and as someone who had done every odd job imaginable while living in poverty, Yeom Ye-ah had no shortage of humble origins.
There was nothing particularly sensational about her romantic relationships, and the story of how she went from being tone-deaf initially to reaching her current level had already been used as material by countless media outlets.
Even after awakening as a hunter, she had remarkably little interaction with other hunters.
That’s why everyone found her such a peculiar figure of interest.
At most, she only associated with people from within Hanttae and the Brown siblings.
‘But rankers associating with each other isn’t really newsworthy.’
So to extract any sensational story, the easiest approach was to write about Yeom Ye-ah and the two men who coveted her.
Creating a story by linking it to the number one ranker would sell better, but for various reasons, I decided to save that as a card for later.
Instead, Dante, who was currently declining, was the perfect target.
He had become ‘Nike’s discarded piece,’ and there existed contracts that had been hanging over him from long ago.
He was in a relationship guaranteed safety by Nike.
But how did I end up suffering this humiliation at Jung Hwan’s hands?
“I rather don’t understand why you’re questioning me now. Haven’t you caused countless people suffering through false articles until now?”
“I received tips and wrote based on my investigation. It’s hardly a false article when I clearly had sources.”
“How did you verify the facts?”
“I believe you already know what my primary skill is.”
The ability to discern numerous facts and relationships if there’s even a shred of truth in a tip.
A literal human network.
There was only one reason I stood my ground so stubbornly even before Jung Hwan.
If I backed down here, I’d be branded as someone who spews false articles recklessly. And on top of that, I had no idea what kind of disadvantages might come my way.
“So you’re saying you’re innocent.”
“Yes. If people found out that you’re interrogating me like this right now, Hanttae would suffer considerable damage as well.”
The position of a Ranker sometimes grants excessive authority to an individual.
Regardless of what misdeeds that person commits or mistakes they make, they receive absolution simply because they are a Ranker.
Even if the same person committed the act, if their ranking was high, it was often packaged as serving the greater good.
Of course, if the names of Shunt and Jung Hwan surfaced, public opinion would lean toward Jung Hwan.
But I’ve already been cursed enough that my lifeline has stretched considerably—a bit more cursing wouldn’t be a major problem.
It might even be an opportunity, wouldn’t it?
Reporter Shunt, who was insulted by Hanttae, reveals the truth he’s kept silent about until now due to Hunter camaraderie—such an excuse.
Jung Hwan, who had been staring intently at Shunt’s face, responded.
“That’s wrong.”
“You mean Hanttae suffering damage? Hanttae isn’t a sacred place either, so why would you think that way?”
“I know. That Hanttae is just a guild.”
There was no common remark like whether guild members of a mere guild deserved to suffer such scandal.
If there had been, it seemed he knew that Shunt would think Jung Hwan was right and write an article about Jung Hwan’s interest in Yeom Ye-ah, or seize some other pretext to press further.
He seemed to think for a moment, then withdrew his body. As if it wasn’t he who should attempt conversation.
The door to the narrow room opened and someone entered. This was the first time they met in such close quarters.
Yeom Ye-ah.
She looked at Shunt with an expressionless face.
A silence that felt almost unbearable flowed between them.
It was only an instant later that a soft, inscrutable smile appeared on her face.
“I have a few things to ask you. It would be better for you to answer while I’m still being nice.”
Green mana surged violently.

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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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