The Tone-Deaf Healer Kills with a Song - Chapter 17

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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 017
The potion bottle in my hand gleamed brilliantly as a black space unfurled beneath my feet. With the sensation of falling downward, I heard a murmuring voice.
“Let’s go home, Ye-ah.”
As I walked through the black space, I stole a glance at Jung Hwan-jae’s expression. He didn’t seem particularly displeased.
But something was clearly weighing on his mind.
“Did I need to establish some kind of senior-junior dynamic with that workshop owner earlier? I didn’t call you guild master or anything.”
“…No. I should have called you Yeom Ye-ah there, but it just came out naturally. I apologize.”
“Oh, no. There’s nothing wrong with it.”
If the name Ye-ah was going to slip out reflexively like that, I should have been calling her that all along. A small laugh escaped me.
Because we were walking through the black space, we inevitably had to hold hands. Yet he kept opening these portals despite saying the journey wasn’t easy.
“That workshop owner from earlier isn’t a bad person at all. He just has a playful side to him.”
“Ah, he didn’t seem like a bad person. But… there’s nothing harmful in this potion, right?”
“Yes, it’s fine.”
Only then did my heart settle, and I smiled. I felt a breeze blowing from somewhere.
Beneath my feet, something like an infinite universe spread out, and it felt as though I were walking across the sky itself, exhilarating.
And the certainty that if I let go of his hand, I would absolutely lose my way.
“Guild master, realistically speaking, there’s no way I could become a ranker in just one month, right? Unless I resolve one of these issues—either my skill level or this debuff.”
“Generally, people in the top 100 are called rankers, but if you actually make it into the top 1,000, everyone considers that a rank-in.”
…
He seemed to be making every effort to comfort or convince me. I’d imagined becoming a ranker in my heart, but I also knew reality.
My role was better suited to being an ordinary citizen in a supporting role rather than a protagonist. For someone like me, to suddenly awaken was fortune enough for my entire life.
I know how to dream, but I can also compromise with reality. The ambition actually seems to come more from this man in front of me than from myself.
“Actually, I realized today that I have my limits, and that made me think something.”
“What did you think?”
“That it would be better for you to hire another healer for a fixed term with a large sum of money rather than teach me from scratch and turn me into some useful healer.”
It was a matter of cost-effectiveness. For a guild of Hanttae’s standing, it was a position that even hunters overseas aspired to.
Which meant there were plenty of people who could replace me.
Bringing in a healer was difficult, but not impossible. Overseas, there were more hunters working on fixed-term contracts for signing bonuses than those affiliated with guilds.
“It has to be Yeom Ye-ah.”
“Pardon?”
My thoughts were burrowing deeper into the ground when he seemed to notice, and suddenly a firm voice cut through.
Startled, I looked up to find Jung Hwan-jae had stopped walking and was looking down at me.
I wasn’t particularly short myself, but I suddenly became acutely aware of the height difference between us.
It had been a long time since I looked up at someone who was waiting for me.
‘He’s large.’
It wasn’t just because of his height. In this place where shadows couldn’t be seen, he appeared unusually imposing. All the darkness here seemed to be his shadow.
Such a man held my hand and gazed at me intently.
In this dark place, he seemed to emit light, and the things swirling in the breeze blowing from somewhere felt far too surreal.
“Other healers might be more helpful to Hanttae. If necessary, we could hire all the overseas healers we need for dungeon conquests.”
“That’s true.”
“If we truly need them, we call in people like that and hire them for short-term work.”
I couldn’t grasp what he was trying to say. I wasn’t even sure how much the Guild actually needed me.
He held both my hands so I couldn’t look away, his gaze fixed on me.
“But I need Yeom Ye-ah.”
“Pardon?”
“Not Hanttae Guild—I need healer Yeom Ye-ah for hunter Jung Hwan-jae. There are things I can’t do without you.”
I found myself facing two possibilities.
One was that he meant every word, and the other was that he was spinning crocodile tears—a lie designed to keep my heart from breaking entirely.
In truth, he had no reason to lie for my sake. What kind of precious, tender relationship did we even have?
“Why?”
“Because only Yeom Ye-ah can fix me. The rank one position will slip away the moment I lose my life, won’t it?”
“That’s true….”
He wasn’t wrong.
No ranker can hold their position once they’re dead. There’s even a joke that the person who most wants the hundredth ranker to die is the hundred-and-first.
A person who wouldn’t bleed even if pierced with precious equipment, someone who could dodge a lightning strike from the heavens with a single step….
Why would he need me?
“That’s why I’m thinking that even if not right now, someday I’ll give my rank one position to Yeom Ye-ah.”
“Pardon?”
Why was the conversation suddenly veering off in a different direction?
I was almost moved by this man, but then I got sidetracked. I was about to say I’d do my best to become a healer worthy of him, but my heart went cold.
“When that day comes, everyone in the world will covet Yeom Ye-ah.”
“Ah, well, yes.”
‘If the day comes when I knock the rank one hunter off their throne, then perhaps. But shouldn’t we be realistic about these things?’
All my emotion shattered, and I could only blink as he carefully looked down at my hands.
My hands were objectively rough and calloused. Cracked, weathered, scarred in places, with calluses built up from hard work.
I wasn’t ashamed—it was the result of living diligently. But the way he stared at them made me self-conscious.
“That’s why I’m investing in you choosing me, even on that day.”
“….”
I blinked slowly.
He looked at me with a serious expression, as if everything he’d said came from the depths of his heart.
I couldn’t find the words to respond. Not only did I have nothing to say in that moment, but he seemed like he had more to add.
“Even if everyone in the world wants to recruit Yeom Ye-ah and tempts you with impossible conditions, I hope you’ll remember that I was the first to recognize you, and that it weighs on my heart enough for you to choose me.”
“Um, well….”
So he was asking me to remember today if I ever reached the top, and to stay with Hanttae.
That felt impossibly distant. Like something that could never happen. Me, reaching the top?
Still, it didn’t feel bad. How often does a rank one hunter choose someone out of sentiment?
“Don’t carry guilt or burden because of such a cowardly heart—I’m already doing my best right now.”
“If that was meant to comfort me, it worked incredibly well. I feel like things are going well.”
“It’s not comfort—it’s the truth.”
Jung Hwan-jae spoke with such genuine indignation that I burst out laughing. At the sound of my sudden laughter, he looked startled, his eyes widening.
Sometimes there’s nothing more comforting than genuine sincerity. But this wasn’t the moment to indulge in sentiment. He was consoling me, yet clearly he harbored expectations as well.
And I’m the type of person who feels compelled to make desperate efforts when someone places such faith in me—I can’t help it.
“Once I head back, I’ll need to practice my singing. Shall we stop holding hands and standing in this incomprehensible space?”
“Ah, I apologize.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for. Thanks to you, I’m feeling much better.”
He nodded and resumed walking. A door appeared in the distance ahead.
“By the way, where are we headed?”
“To Yeom Ye-ah’s Dormitory. I’ll see you there and then head to work.”
For someone whose days would need forty-eight hours to be enough, he’d even waited for the opening rush because of me. He must have accumulated quite the backlog of tasks.
Feeling oddly apologetic, I steeled my resolve. No matter what, I would improve my vocal abilities.
He escorted me to the door’s threshold and then vanished via teleportation. This time he didn’t open that strange space to travel through, which was odd. If he were in a hurry, he should move faster.
‘Liri, are you there?’
[Liri: I thought you’d completely forgotten about me! I deliberately stayed quiet since you didn’t call, but my heart was so hurt. Ye-ah, how could you forget about me like that?]
I’d only just called out, yet the response came immediately, and I couldn’t help but let out a genuine laugh.
‘Help me become someone worthy of being a hunter.’

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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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