The Tone-Deaf Healer Kills with a Song - Chapter 165

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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 165
Now I understood why Lucy had orchestrated such a dramatic display.
He was showing us what happens when someone consumes a fragment of the Dungeon.
It was likely information that couldn’t be accessed through the Network immediately.
The fragment fuses with the consumer and absorbs them into the body of the catastrophe.
If So Yi-yoon were to consume a Dungeon fragment, he could potentially merge with Ragnarok itself.
“We shouldn’t be sitting here like this. Shouldn’t we be going after So Yi-yoon?”
I lowered my voice to a whisper.
Jung Hwan-jae nodded, clearly grasping the situation.
“Your disciplinary action will be decided by Baldur, not by me. Return and file a report on the Awakener’s death.”
“…Understood.”
“Currently, signs of a second catastrophe permeate this land. Therefore, add to the data what kind of person your Awakener was, what actions they took that could hasten the catastrophe, and which factions they were affiliated with.”
“Yes.”
Lucy didn’t even grant the Elf a moment to mourn the Awakener’s death.
Or rather, he refused to allow it.
There was no mercy to be given to the one who had created such an ending.
“Does what I’m saying seem unreasonable to you?”
“No, it’s just…”
“I won’t return the dead to you. I’m merely data myself, after all. Occasionally, there are those who make such requests.”
Lucy, who had been making a gesture of scratching his ear, waved his hand as if the hearing was now concluded.
Though to be precise, it had been less a hearing and more a series of one-sided, somewhat coercive questions.
The Elf, who had been forcibly suppressing his emotions until now, lowered his head.
“Then please seal me away forever instead.”
Lucy, who had been sitting awkwardly, tilted his head with a “Hmm?” sound.
His expression suggested that wasn’t his jurisdiction.
“Another absurd request.”
But the Elf seemed indifferent to who was listening.
He continued speaking as if he couldn’t bear it if he didn’t tell someone.
“I failed to protect my one and only Awakener. So…”
“That’s not something to tell me. Go up to Baldur and receive an objective judgment.”
Now completely exasperated, Lucy waved his hand dismissively.
The Elf’s lips moved as if he still had more to say, but the conversation had already ended.
Lucy shifted his gaze toward the ceiling, as if to completely ignore that desperate look.
After some time had passed, he uttered a single phrase.
“It seems you’re speaking that way because I was sealed away for a long time, but my situation is different from yours. Now go.”
There was no emotion in that voice.
That flatness was a more powerful rejection than anything else.
After all, Lucy maintained a light demeanor even in the most serious circumstances.
He struck the air three times with his staff as if refusing any further conversation.
With three distinct sounds—thud, thud, thud—the Courtroom and the Elf vanished.
The shadows that had filled the courtroom to observe the hearing naturally vanished as well.
“What about collecting the body? Should I call someone, or would you prefer I send it somewhere no one will find?”
“Don’t do anything strange to the corpse now that we’ve called people.”
“My emotionless Awakener is being cold to me after all the effort I’ve put in.”
Lucy, who had returned in casual clothes as if nothing had happened, laughed.
The ennui and authority that had emanated from the courtroom moments before had vanished like a lie.
Jung Hwan-jae shook his head and cast a protective spell over the corpse.
His intention was to prevent the body from deteriorating in the external environment.
Crimson mana spread out like a dense net.
“Ye-ah, you can withdraw your mana now.”
“Oh, yes.”
I hadn’t even realized I’d been exerting this much power.
If I told people, they’d say it was a luxury only those naturally blessed with abundant mana could afford.
As I withdrew my mana, I found myself speaking without thinking.
“That staff member looked so tormented.”
Lucy, who had begun walking ahead to collect the next fragment, stopped and turned to look at me.
After a moment of apparent deliberation, he spoke.
“Assigned Staff Members typically develop an attachment to their charges that Awakeners can’t comprehend. You all know that already.”
“Yes.”
Lucy joked that it might also be an attraction programmed into their data.
Even so, that emotion wouldn’t become false.
“If he’d forcibly restrained that person, he could have prevented their death. He couldn’t have foreseen it, but since you arrived, you may have saved their life.”
Lucy continued his explanation in a matter-of-fact tone.
In fact, Awakeners die far more frequently than their Assigned Staff Members, just like Dan Myeong-ah and other victims.
Whether from natural causes or sudden accidents.
“This time the cause of death was just a bit unusual—nothing particularly significant.”
“But.”
“If he’d truly wanted to save the Awakener, he would have used force regardless. But his desire to grant what that child wanted was stronger than his will to save them.”
Jung Hwan-jae regarded Lucy with an unreadable expression.
The corpse, covered in dark crimson mana, appeared at first glance as though it lay in a noble coffin.
“Everything is a choice. Whether to follow the Awakener’s wishes or their life.”
“A choice.”
“If the Awakener dies because of that choice, a price must be paid. Even that suffering is the cost.”
If I hadn’t arrived in time, we would have had to clear another dungeon with time running desperately short.
An Assigned Staff Member who must face punishment and enter sealing because of such circumstances.
I felt pity for him.
All the more so because he was mourning and giving his heart to the very person who would seal him away.
“Lucy.”
“What, are you about to say we need to find Awakener So Yi-yoon instead of collecting fragments?”
Lucy, who had been about to move forward, immediately looked at Jung Hwan-jae with an exhausted expression.
You all acted as though time was desperately pressing, yet you kept holding me back—your attitude made that abundantly clear.
“Why did you become sealed?”
“Ah, that? Well, I did something deserving of punishment.”
Lucy fielded the question with practiced ease.
Completely unlike me, who would flounder and lose my bearings when caught off-guard.
But it was a clear refusal nonetheless.
His attitude suggested he couldn’t discuss it now.
“Will I ever find out?”
“When I feel like it.”
Jung Hwan-jae glanced at me once, then extended his hand.
His gesture suggested he was willing to concede this round to Lucy.
“Ye-ah, we must choose now. Should we search for the Dungeon fragments, or track So Yi-yoon?”
“I was initially uncertain about tracking.”
“Yes.”
“So Yi-yoon already has people pursuing him. Let’s trust them and handle the remaining fragments ourselves.”
“Yes, I also believe those people will handle it well.”
Three hunters formerly of Hanttae, and one researcher.
“But with only one damage dealer and three healers, wouldn’t the balance be a bit off?”
I took Jung Hwan-jae’s hand as though it were natural and began walking forward with confidence, then suddenly stopped.
Jung Hwan-jae stood motionless, having failed to interlock his fingers with mine, and his eyes darted about for a moment.
“….”
“Let’s talk while holding hands.”
“Yes.”
I smoothly redirected the conversation while slipping my fingers between his.
At some point, we began holding hands like this regularly.
It was my fault for mentioning that mana transfer became easier with close contact.
“How irritating.”
Lucy grimaced as though he’d witnessed something he shouldn’t have.
I’m honest enough to know that if I simply said I disliked this, Jung Hwan-jae would immediately withdraw without touching me further.
If anything, my fault is greater.
As I let my thoughts drift aimlessly, Lucy’s fake cough brought me back to reality.
“Anyway, I’m a bit concerned whether this really isn’t a balance collapse.”
“Even Ye-ah, who is a balance collapse in herself, is classified as a healer for now.”
Jung Hwan-jae’s gaze turned toward the shattered fragment pieces.
But not everyone fights the way I do.
Especially Hwa-jon—he’s not the type to rush forward and engage in combat.
“We don’t know what might appear in the Ragnarok Region anyway.”
Jung Hwan-jae raised his hand to stop me and shook his head.
“No, it should be fine.”

* * *
Hwa-jon and Sung Ji-wook lifted their gazes toward the sky.
A creature unlike any they had encountered before was crawling forth from the barren expanse of Ragnarok.
This was undoubtedly an emergency.
“Hwa-jon, let’s conserve our strength.”
“…That should work.”
The two exchanged glances with practiced urgency.
A whip lashed out before them, seizing the charging creatures in unison as azure light erupted from its length.
And through the gaps, black tendrils surged forth.
The shattered remnants of the monsters scattered across the ground in an instant.
“Whoa, the researcher isn’t messing around?”
Sung Mi-ju, perched atop an enormous rose, called out with delight.
Harp, standing tall beneath her, lifted his head.
He withdrew the whip back into his hand and spoke with finality.
“It’s not my power.”
Faint dragon scales shimmered across his cheeks.

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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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