The Tone-Deaf Healer Kills with a Song - Chapter 168

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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 168
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that!”
“Huh?”
A textbook death flag straight out of a novel.
A Staff Member voluntarily revealing their own name directly to an Awakened One was tantamount to courting death itself.
“Of course, I know there are some whose names are easy to guess, and there are Staff Members whose identities are publicly known. I’m aware it’s not as catastrophic as it sounds.”
“Exactly. If I reveal my name directly and you don’t consent to the contract granting power, nothing significant actually happens.”
“Still, I’d rather not prepare in advance for such a scenario to occur.”
“Wouldn’t sudden loss or crisis be even harder to bear?”
“Even so.”
I acknowledge that in such perilous circumstances, everyone must be prepared to die.
I’ve already resolved that any part of my body could be torn away.
If I said such things aloud, people would be startled and try to stop me, as if I’d resolved to do something horrific.
When I suddenly said I’d pretend not to hear, Lucy’s expression filled with confusion.
It was as if he were asking why I’d object despite understanding.
“I can’t even categorize what kind of stubbornness this is.”
“Anyway, whether I or Jung Hwan-jae try to learn directly or not, in an urgent situation you’ll use your power by force regardless.”
Harp and Dan Myeong-ah were the same, he said.
They tried to resolve situations without losing their Staff Member no matter what.
But their love for their Awakened One was greater.
Their infinite love, willing to sacrifice themselves, ultimately overcame their will, he said.
“If anything, it’s better not to know things like names.”
Preparing for contingencies is always necessary, but what matters more is preventing that situation from happening in the first place.
If I dwell on their names right now, I’ll become consumed by imagining losing them.
“Even if the moment comes when I learn it, I won’t prepare from now on. Is that all you wanted to tell me?”
I don’t want to know.
I don’t want to think about the worst right now.
“Well… if that’s what you think, there’s nothing I can do. It’s not like I can impose my views on someone else’s Awakened One anyway.”
“I’m sorry. Thank you for your concern regardless.”
“Concern becomes meddling when the other person doesn’t need it. I don’t want to be that kind of person.”
Even when I considered the best outcomes, countless moments plunged me into confusion and made me continuously feel that I couldn’t save everyone.
So there’s no reason to dwell on worse moments right now.
“Ye-ah, you were here.”
Jung Hwan-jae approached before me.
With just that action alone, the worry creeping up inside me seemed to fade slightly.
Lucy, who had been about to say something more, shook his head. He shifted his gaze toward Jung Hwan-jae.
“You’ll need to do better when catastrophe strikes.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing. If we want to avoid creating things to worry about, we need to do well from the start.”
He spoke words only I could understand before he began flying through the air.
His body was becoming increasingly transparent.
It seemed he was planning to return to his workplace.
As I watched him, Lucy’s small frame suddenly turned to look at me.
“Ah, and Liri, you don’t need to worry too much. I just have a lot to handle—it’s not that I can’t come. It’s just a matter of timing.”
“So you’ll be back soon?”
“Well, I’ll probably return before the catastrophe begins. For now, you’re not in a state where you absolutely need an Assigned Staff Member.”
Lucy took a few steps toward me before vanishing in an instant.
Perhaps it was from maintaining his manifestation for so long.
Or maybe he’d expended more power than necessary conducting that hearing earlier.
Jung Hwan-jae stared at the spot where Lucy had disappeared, his expression clearly bewildered.
“That hearing earlier was really something, wasn’t it?”
I broached the subject carefully, trying to shift the atmosphere however I could.
I had no confidence I could lie convincingly if Jung Hwan-jae asked what Lucy and I had discussed.
“When I asked about it before, they told me that not all Assigned Staff Members can manipulate space like that.”
“That makes sense.”
If it were possible, Dan Myeong-ah’s Assigned Staff Member wouldn’t have stood alone against him like that.
I watched him making calls here and there to announce that the last Dungeon fragment had been eliminated.
“Lucy still hasn’t returned.”
“No… It seems what he did back then was either quite strenuous or required significant power expenditure.”
Still, hearing Lucy say directly that it would be fine eased my mind a little.
There didn’t seem to be anything we needed to do immediately.
“Since we’ve eliminated all the Dungeon fragments, where do we regroup now?”
In terms of firepower, it seemed right for us to join the So Yi-yoon tracking team.
I was narrowing my eyes, thinking about which direction was correct, when the Ranked Hunter Chat Room suddenly erupted.
More precisely, Sung Mi-ju was sending urgent messages through the private chat reserved only for guild members.
Sung Mi-ju (29)
Ye-ah, we’ve made it almost to the center of the Ragnarok Region, right?
But the whole area around here is blocked off by this dark blue mist-like barrier, so we can’t get through.
Harp’s got some serious burns, so Ji-wook and Hwa-jon set up a big shield and we fell back.
The gravity of the situation came through clearly even through the screen.
I grabbed Jung Hwan-jae’s shoulder beside me and urgently relayed the situation.
His face, which had been receiving another call, grew serious.
“Researcher Harp sustained burns?”
“He’s probably been treated by now, but still… It seems access to that area itself is difficult right now, so meeting up with those who’ve come out should be the priority.”
Jung Hwan-jae nodded in agreement with my words and extended his hand to me.
Seeing him draw out his scythe, I roughly understood what action we’d take next.
I grasped his arm and pressed myself firmly against him as the scythe cut through the air.
He’d said it was a high mana-consumption action, but this was an emergency situation.
And if we ran short, I could always replenish it.
The moment the black Subspace Arena opened, we both rushed inside as if racing each other.

* * *
“Ah, someone’s been spreading rumors again.”
Harp’s actual condition was better than I’d anticipated.
There were burn marks scattered across his body, but nothing that qualified as severe burns.
Yes, if I hadn’t known their combination, I would have answered the same way.
“So you’re saying that Harp, Hwa-jon, and Ji-wook—all three of you together—managed only this much?”
“Yes….”
The problem here was that despite the world’s most renowned healers being involved, it wasn’t a complete cure.
“He can’t feel the sensation, so he insists on making direct contact if this is the right direction.”
Sung Mi-ju vented her frustration, still visibly upset.
I agreed that he had been considerably reckless.
I furrowed my brow and placed my hand on his wound.
Green light spread brilliantly, and the scar marks gradually began to fade.
“If it were any weaker, his entire body would have melted instead of just burning.”
“Is it a high-temperature mist?”
“It’s closer to poison.”
Hwa-jon was the one who answered about the mist.
Initially, it was possible to push it back just by swinging Hwa-jon’s sword.
But gradually its range increased, and it took four of us fighting at nearly full power to finally halt its advance.
“Is So Yi-yoon dead?”
“I don’t believe he’s dead. If he were, my master said it would have been sucked back in and become a Gate instead.”
That meant So Yi-yoon hadn’t yet become a Dungeon.
In other words, his Assigned Staff Member was somehow holding on.
And yet, even in such circumstances, the Ranked Hunters had to fight desperately.
“This man’s body was more than half ruined.”
“You dealt with it quickly.”
“Ah, that hunter over there fed me something, and then I recovered right away.”
Harp pointed to Hwa-jon.
What he said was fed to him was likely the Okwanhdan I’d been working to perfect.
I hadn’t wanted to verify its effects this way. I exhaled softly.
“We need someone who can enter that place and a method to do so.”
Jung Hwan-jae’s complicated expression turned toward the window.
As if to console him, I gently squeezed his hand, and he grasped mine in return.
He seemed to have made a decision and opened his mouth.
“I’ll try contacting Nike.”

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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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