The Tone-Deaf Healer Kills with a Song - Chapter 192
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Tone-Deaf Healer Kills with Song – Episode 192
After we gradually returned to our daily lives, we were swamped with work for quite some time.
“Senior, are you finished with work now?”
“Yes… The Hunter Association keeps contacting me about it.”
Dan Myeong-ah was reassigned to the field team after risking her life to save countless people back then.
Apparently, her own strong opinion played a significant role in the decision.
‘I’m the field team’s strategy captain now. That’s why I decided to stay with the field team.’
Kim A-jin said she would stay by his side to make sure he didn’t recklessly enter dungeons again and risk his life.
We added one more objective to our investigation into unsealing the Assigned Staff Member.
[Awakening Leng-leng]
This is the story from when we were each facing our respective So Yi-yoon.
Jung Hwan-jae said that during the battle, he realized most of those fragments changed direction and came toward him.
Since so many were converging on him, they couldn’t immediately come at me.
Lucy was also nearly depleted of his holy power when he made the proposal.
‘Take my power. Otherwise, there’s no way.’
Light and matter-of-fact in tone.
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Well, it’s only natural for a father to save his child first. From now on, I’m your dad.’
But even if Lucy gave me his holy power, victory was far from guaranteed in that situation.
The enemies were too numerous, we were isolated, and we were exhausted.
That’s when Jung Hwan-jae noticed the ring.
‘What if I send all my power and your power into this ring?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Would that give us any chance of winning?’
‘… Are you planning to die?’
Jung Hwan-jae said that was the first time he’d ever seen Liri make such a face.
An expression of despair as if losing a precious child—he said he never wanted to see that face again.
That’s when Jung Hwan-jae showed Lucy the Okwanhdan.
‘What if you consume this and temporarily amplify your mana?’
‘So if you subtract 100% from 110% amplified mana, you’d have 10% left and might survive? If it were that simple, why would the staff members have died?’
‘In theory. I’m not certain, but if we’re lucky, we might preserve our lives. Both of us. And right now, Ye-ah is here with us.’
The faith and trust Jung Hwan-jae placed in me was astounding.
He risked his life believing I would find some way.
“Even if I died, I believed that Ye-ah, who received my power, would definitely accomplish something.”
“And what about my heart, left behind after you died?”
“…”
Jung Hwan-jae quickly lowered his eyes with a remorseful expression.
Seeing that face, I couldn’t bring myself to be angry anymore.
I couldn’t deny that the Okwanhdan split in half and my power had saved him.
‘I’m just data, Hwan-jae. Even if I disappear, I’ll remain in the myth. You should consume it all and preserve your own life.’
‘I don’t want to lose this data. There’s no one else like you. Even if I’m not your father, I’m still family.’
Lucy regarded Jung Hwan-jae with an unreadable expression before accepting his proposal.
He poured all his strength—save for the mana and holy power of a single Okwanhdan—into the ring.
And the two of them fell into ‘sleep’ as if by mutual agreement.
“Even then, I honestly prepared myself for death. It’s not that I didn’t trust Hwa-jon.”
“I understand.”
I learned later that the new power Hwa-jon awakened in the United States that day was a support skill.
A power that sustains life by filling the target with what they lack most.
And the very essence of all that power was contained within the Okwanhdan.
And if my song to awaken sleep hadn’t existed.
“In that moment where I couldn’t tell if I was asleep or dead… I heard you calling for me.”
“Yes, that song was created because of you, Senior.”
“Because of me?”
“A love serenade, you might say?”
Jung Hwan-jae, blinking as though hearing this for the first time, continued in his characteristically slow manner.
When I came to my senses, my entire body was in shambles, but my song and mana showed him the way.
Moreover, he said he gradually felt mana returning to his body.
Walking endlessly like that, step after step, he found me again.
“But Lucy disappeared. Except for that staff.”
“So did I.”
I was certain I had held their holy power in place with my song so it wouldn’t vanish.
The fact that they didn’t completely disappear and left behind traces this small suggests they haven’t truly vanished.
They must be sealed away or fallen into a long slumber.
“They say Dan Myeong-ah probably became the same as her assigned staff member.”
“That’s likely.”
We may not be able to meet them while we’re alive.
But the fact that they haven’t completely disappeared is enough.
“I think I understand now what Dan Myeong-ah meant when she said that was enough back then.”
“But it keeps us from giving up. The possibility of meeting again…”
I agree.
Even if a verdict were handed down that I couldn’t meet them again before I die, I hold onto a glimmer of hope.
Who knows? Maybe we could meet.
“You’ll search for a way?”
“Of course. Aren’t we continuing to make efforts even now?”
I lifted myself slightly and perched on the edge of the bed.
Jung Hwan-jae, as if he’d been waiting, pressed himself against the far wall to make room.
My stats dropped from EX and are now fixed at S+ across the board.
Depending on the conditions that day, my singing can fall as low as A-.
As if to say: ‘We can’t allow S+ for a tone-deaf person from birth!’
“They say Gates won’t appear for a while. Though they haven’t disappeared either.”
“If I disappear, the Guild will have to close. I can’t allow that.”
Was that really something to answer so seriously? A smile leaked through at his earnest demeanor.
“It’s fine if it closes. I’ve done all sorts of work anyway. I’ll support us.”
If worse came to worst, I could always open a Hunter Convenience Store run by a former Ranker.
“…Let’s work together. I’m good at what I do too.”
He murmured this with his cheeks flushed crimson.
A brief silence.
“I’m sorry, Ye-ah. I’m not talented at lines like this.”
Realizing belatedly that something felt off, he covered his face with his hand.
The ring caught my eye.
I grasped his hand—the one covering his face—with both of mine. The ring still gleamed on his right hand.
“This won’t do.”
“Pardon?”
He looked at me, his face still flushed.
I shook my head firmly and slipped the ring off. Then I immediately placed it on his left ring finger.
“Yes, Ye-ah.”
“Of course this is the correct hand, but you didn’t want it there? I moved mine a long time ago.”
I might appear to be speaking casually, but my heart feels like it’s about to burst.
How much nonsense had I spouted about needing to do this so that Lucy and Liri would gain some interest and return sooner?
I couldn’t even recount half of what I’d said.
“Anyway, you understand, right? From now on, you’re wearing it here. You can’t take it off even when bathing.”
“I’ll ask to be cremated with it when I die.”
“That’s a good resolve. Though I’ve heard it’s made of non-combustible material.”
We both gazed at the rings on our left ring fingers.
Did Kim Myung-joo know this was how it would be used when she made them? I stared quietly at the ring.
“Do you love me?”
“Yes.”
It was the most resolute answer I’d heard all day.
I smiled slightly.
“Yes, I love you too. So let’s live together from now on.”
Jung Hwan-jae’s gaze fixed directly on me.
I no longer avert my eyes from his. Because I know how completely I’m reflected in them.
Because I understand so acutely what emotion flows from those eyes.
“Yes, let’s live together. For as long as we love each other.”
“I’m still your exclusive healer, right? So there’s something I need to say….”
He blinked, then stammered before suddenly opening his mouth.
“J-just in case you need better terms, tell me anytime. As long as you don’t change jobs….”
Laughter burst out.
I cupped both his cheeks and pressed my forehead against his.
“Why didn’t you tell me the debuff was gone?”
“Huh?”
He opened his mouth with a flustered tone, his face flushed red.
“The mana depletion debuff—it’s been resolved, right?”
“Oh, that’s….”
I first sensed something amiss after we emerged from the Dungeon.
With neither of us having the presence of mind and Lucy absent, the debuff symptoms from his mana depletion had vanished without a trace.
The headaches, the fatigue, even the basic mana he’d been expending without restraint as we returned to daily life—all gone.
“What’s going on?”
“That’s….”
“You hid it and kept receiving treatment from me? You think it’s okay to lie to a healer?”
“….”
Jung Hwan-jae’s eyes rolled to the side. Struggling desperately to avoid my gaze, he mumbled under his breath.
“I wanted to be worried about….”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————