The Tone-Deaf Healer Kills with a Song - Chapter 158

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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 158
‘At first, I thought of Harp as just another instrument, but it’s fascinating that you named yourself after it—meaning “half.” So why did you attach that meaning to it?’
‘I’m fundamentally lacking in both character and skill. Without you, I’m incomplete.’
Today, it was that dream again.
Harp pulled himself upright.
I thought I’d grown accustomed to it, but my entire body was drenched in sweat.
“Ha….”
Even a single sigh made my voice crack clearly, as if I’d been groaning in my sleep.
I staggered to my feet, drank a glass of water, and only then did my mind clear.
Yeom Ye-ah’s birthday had been just days ago, and she’d stopped by earlier today to thank me for celebrating with her.
No, since it was past midnight, yesterday.
‘There’s nothing particularly remarkable about it. Why did I have this dream again?’
It was Dae’s doing.
It made no sense, yet the side where his gaze had been implanted burned with a sharp pain.
Knowing it was phantom pain, I reflexively channeled mana into that spot.
‘No. Even if the day comes when I disappear, you’ll be able to unleash your full potential.’
‘How is that possible without you? Logically, I can’t even access the Valkyrie Network. And what do you mean by disappear?’
What had been the look in the Ancient Dragon’s eyes as it gazed at me then?
I’d been arrogant enough to think I could remember everything, but these days, lost in dreams, even that face grows hazy.
Perhaps it had said that if I were gone, they would understand just how remarkable a being Harp truly is.
Or perhaps not.
What good would it do to dwell on such things now?
Yet I still felt as though I were facing a wall.
I reached for my phone and found hundreds of unread messages piled up.
‘How bothersome….’
It had become my habit to ignore anything that didn’t seem urgently important.
Whether the contact came from Hanttae, the Hunter Association Chairman, or the Assigned Staff Members themselves—I decided the priority of matters.
The reason Yeom Ye-ah came by earlier was because I’d made it clear that if she wanted to know about the mana flow coming from Ragnarok, she should come directly.
‘Actually, I didn’t come to hear about that mana flow. I came because I was curious whether Researcher Harp had lifted the curse placed on me.’
That was the problem with what I’d heard earlier.
Now that I thought about it, the two weeks I’d mentioned to Yeom Ye-ah had already passed.
The people from Hanttae had waited, assuming that if I truly lifted the curse placed on me, I would naturally contact them.
Those who hadn’t urged me even once had come directly to check on the situation.
‘They must have grown impatient.’
Kim Kyung-hoon’s whereabouts remained unclear.
In such circumstances, I’d uncovered the connection between Dungeon fragments and Ragnarok.
The possibility that it might be related to the staff member killers had even been mentioned.
Expectations must have grown. Along with anxiety.
“Kim Kyung-hoon.”
The only way to track him was to find his traces remaining within my body.
I had to succeed.
But failure, failure, and more failure.
Countless failures.
I’d brought up Ragnarok first out of sheer bravado, trying to prove that ‘I haven’t done nothing’.
Pathetic.
“What would you have done, Dae?”
A question that would never receive an answer.
Eyes that could perceive everything, yet they refused to show me the solution.
More important than the flow of mana emanating from Ragnarok was the deactivation of this—whether buff or debuff, I couldn’t tell.
I knew that without accessing the Valkyrie Network, I couldn’t even obtain the slightest clue.
‘The Valkyrie Network isn’t a place you can’t access.’
‘You’re probably coexisting with both your Assigned Staff Member’s buff and a debuff you’ve imposed on yourself. That’s why you’re not activating your status window or search function right now.’
‘Am I unconsciously suppressing it?’
‘That’s quite likely.’
“I don’t want to see it…”
Perhaps I really was thinking that way.
I agreed with their position that I had to find Kim Kyung-hoon. I understood that this was necessary to minimize further damage.
But it didn’t give me the courage to face all of this.
Harp knew the root cause of the problem in his own heart.
If he truly saw the system window in this situation and accessed the Valkyrie Network, it felt like he’d be admitting that he was fine without his Assigned Staff Member.
“Am I really going insane?”
The one who knew best that this was ultimately what people—and his Assigned Staff Member—wanted said so.
Knowing it was dawn and shouldn’t be doing this, Harp picked up his phone and called someone.
―…Hello?
A hoarse voice came through. It seemed the sudden call had woken him from sleep.
“Hunter Joke, I have a question.”
―Ah, Researcher Harp… Go ahead.
I could feel him clearing his throat, trying to compose his voice.
It wasn’t Yeom Ye-ah or Jung Hwan-jae.
It had to be Sung Ji-wook.
The only healer who could fully retain memories of Harp’s hunter days, of Kim Kyung-hoon, and of their time as healers.
“If I can’t deactivate this buff, is there really no way to stop it?”
Silence came through the phone.
The breathing that came through was clearly tinged with bewilderment, too deliberate to suggest he’d fallen back asleep.
“I’m not giving up because I’ve tried every method and found nothing, so just answer comfortably.”
―Should I just share my personal opinion? And… would this answer actually help you, Researcher Harp?
“I won’t know until I hear the answer.”
He let out a short laugh at my opaque response.
It was only now that the word ‘revenge’ came to mind.
If I’d wanted to take revenge on Kim Kyung-hoon, there had been countless opportunities until now.
The fact that I haven’t committed such an act simply means I’m not the kind of person who would.
It was merely a fleeting thought that crossed my mind.
I wondered if the desire for revenge might kindle the flames within my hesitation.
Perhaps that too was impatience on my part.
‘If I don’t produce results, far more victims will suffer than before.’
Last time, it ended with my injuries and Dae’s disappearance, but this time, thousands—tens of thousands—might perish.
―Harp, you have the ability to see what’s right. If you can’t dismantle it, you’ll accept that as your decision and find another path.
“Hmm?”
―You’ve always been that way. You regret your actions, but never your choices. No matter how many times you retrace your steps, you know how to say that path was the best one.
“You’re talking about me like I have some kind of foresight.”
―You always have. That’s why I told everyone at the Guild. This time too, you won’t make a choice you’ll regret. So let’s wait and see. That’s why….
“Why?”
―If you must see it, then you will see it—not because you want to, but because you must. And besides, this is Hanttae’s request, not your obligation.
“That’s a carefree thing to say.”
―And I’ve become somewhat optimistic after hearing something recently.
“What did you hear?”
―It seems a miracle-like event will find us soon.
“That’s flimsy reasoning.”
Sung Ji-wook didn’t even hear Harp’s response before the call ended.
I knew it was rude to him, but my heart was racing too violently to bear.
No, that’s not it.
Everything he accomplished was made possible because his Assigned Staff Member provided guidance and support.
Without him, Harp is merely half of what he should be.
I fled from my duties in fear of challenging the impossible and failing again, instead drowning myself in the meaningless.
That can’t be right.
In that moment, a memory flashed through my mind.
‘With these eyes of mine, I will shield your closed world from all intrusion until the day you open your eyes. You will surely come to know it—that there will come a moment when you must open your eyes. And I know this: you will not turn away from that moment.’
His final words.
What my Assigned Staff Member left behind at the end was not eyes that could see everything.
It was a shield—a defense that covered the eyes Harp had closed shut, letting nothing through.
The source of the Valkyrie Network is data, and the origin of data is knowledge.
Knowledge springs from enlightenment.
I understood why one who had closed their eyes must now see.
‘You couldn’t even close your eyes easily while protecting me.’
Noise erupted across my vision.
It had been far too long since I’d seen this.
Connecting to the Valkyrie Network.
The Valkyrie Algorithm grants access to the spring of information toward a stronger Awakener.
The moment to open my eyes had arrived.
Changing the class of ‘Eyes of Memory and Healing’.
‘Eyes of Memory and Healing’ → ‘Guide of the Sage with Closed Eyes’
And the small human does not turn away from that moment.
The sacred data conversion of ‘The Final Wings of Civilization’ has been completed. Confirmation of ‘Eyes of Dimension’ possession.
The Ancient Dragon’s divinity and azure mana surged violently.
His eyes blazed with brilliant light.
Transmitting data.
That dawn, numerous people in the Research Laboratory witnessed a brilliant flash of azure light erupting from the small room near the Dormitory.

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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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