The Tone-Deaf Healer Kills with a Song - Chapter 196

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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 – Side Story 1-2
“I’ll do it.”
“No, wait—let me explain first….”
“No, I’ll do it.”
Dan Myeong-ah’s resolve was firmer than I’d ever seen it.
Jung Hwan-jae and I exchanged a quiet glance, unable to even get a word in about the Dungeon before she cut us off.
I understood the desperation driving her.
How could she not be desperate?
At first, she’d thought it enough that her Assigned Staff Member was alive.
But now, even the slimmest chance of saving him had her willing to risk everything.
Jung Hwan-jae shook his head.
He’d realized she couldn’t be persuaded.
“In that Dungeon, you can’t receive skill support from others. But since it’s rated S-Class at minimum, we’ll both accompany you.”
“B-both of you?”
“Yes, because clearing that Dungeon alone would be too difficult for you. Besides, the capacity is only three people.”
The new Dungeon that Harp discovered was hidden in a Subspace Arena so small that the Gate itself was barely visible.
Baldur had wanted to seal it because too much divine power from their staff had been invested, but Liri had stopped them.
The meaning of “no skill support” was crystal clear.
Even if we went together, we couldn’t heal her wounds or injuries.
“We’ll clear the surrounding monsters to minimize your injuries. From what I hear, the place most similar to Baldur is at the end of that Dungeon.”
“Will I have to walk there?”
“Yes, and the path will be extremely harsh.”
Dan Myeong-ah fell silent for a moment.
For the first time, she seemed to be genuinely hesitating.
It was natural to feel some concern when risking one’s life….
“Then I’ll take leave and come back. Please wait a moment.”
But what came from her lips was something I never expected.
“When people know there’s a way, they’ll do anything—that’s human nature.”
Lucy, who had somehow taken the form of a doll and peeked out his face, spoke calmly.
True enough—Jung Hwan-jae and I had spared no effort searching for Liri and Lucy when we thought they’d disappeared.
We’d resolved to do whatever it took if we could.
“You’re remarkably enthusiastic, even knowing there’s a possibility it won’t work.”
Jung Hwan-jae gazed after Dan Myeong-ah with a complicated expression.
I shook my head while naturally taking his hand.
“Even the slimmest chance is worth betting on. That’s what hope looks like for people.”
Jung Hwan-jae’s gaze turned toward me.
That soft expression that blooms only when he looks at me, that smile spreading gently across his face.
His tenderness reserved only for me.
All of it touched my heart with warmth today as well.
And my own heart melted into softness for him alone.
I felt such confidence that I could sing any song in the world. I laughed along with her.
“I took time off work. Since I didn’t know how long it would take, I used up all my accumulated leave at once, so it should be fine. If I die inside the Dungeon, I’ll get death benefits anyway, so I even wrote my will while I had the chance.”
And the atmosphere shattered because Dan Myeong-ah had casually wagered her own life in such a businesslike manner.
This was a Dungeon we were entering for the first time ourselves.
I’d heard that because the Dungeon’s structural integrity was unstable, there was a possibility it would close permanently once we entered and exited.
So we did need to go in together now, but he was more resolute than necessary.
Lucy looked at him and let out a small laugh, then moved his short limbs.
[Quest: Beyond the Horizon
Awaken the Assigned Staff Member ‘Nereus’ sleeping beyond the horizon.
Reward: Reunion with the Assigned Staff Member]
It was probably just a Quest window in form only.
But even that alone seemed to grant Dan Myeong-ah some sense of purpose.
“I will definitely bring Leng-leng back.”
And so a three-person Dungeon raid party was formed this way.
“Tell me the Dungeon’s name before we go, Dan Myeong-ah.”
I reached out my hand toward him with an awkward smile.
But Jung Hwan-jae was faster.
Before my hand could even touch him, Jung Hwan-jae naturally grabbed Dan Myeong-ah and turned her away.
Jealousy in the strangest places.
Though that point was quite endearing.
“Ah, the Dungeon’s name?”
“Yes, they call that place Valhalla.”
Where Valkyries go when they die.

* * *
The Dungeon name Valhalla alone conjured images of resplendent landscapes unfolding before my eyes.
[Liri: This is where the Valkyrie Network was first operated in the past.]
[Liri: The very first Ranking Tournament took place here as well.]
[Liri: So while the odds are extremely low, there’s a high chance it could be connected to the Valkyrie Network and Baldur.]
[Liri: I suppose I should cast someone named Harp to our side.]
I had no time to pay attention to Liri, who vanished in a strange fervor.
Everything had become hopelessly tangled since we entered.
More precisely, all the misfortune seemed to be targeting only Dan Myeong-ah.
“You’re significantly weaker than the creatures here, so it can’t be helped.”
Lucy, manifested in the form of a human avatar, leveled a sharp remark at Dan Myeong-ah.
Wouldn’t that kind of bluntness hurt her feelings?
“I understand. If it weren’t for the two of you—no, three of you—I wouldn’t have made it a single step forward. Thank you.”
I had planned to mock her, but Dan Myeong-ah’s politeness was so refined that even Lucy felt deflated.
“Still, this place doesn’t match the name Valhalla. It feels so desolate.”
“Everything built here was transferred to a different server. This is just a dead place. The remnants of a network that’s lost its function.”
The environment within the Dungeon was a desert, and I couldn’t apply our temperature-control buff to Dan Myeong-ah.
Her skill abilities couldn’t completely shield her from heat like this.
“Hold this against yourself.”
I finally pulled out an ice stone I’d brought along in my inventory just in case.
Items weren’t treated as buffs, so I could distribute various things freely.
Even though I’d raided Hwa-jon and Kim Kyung-joo’s workshop before entering and equipped her thoroughly, her stats were still pathetic.
“Ye-ah.”
“Yes!”
And I handled the creatures that began flying at us from all directions to threaten our group.
Perhaps because my skill execution ability had improved, I could bisect monsters with just a whistle.
While Jung Hwan-jae’s sword energy and my musical notes incinerated the surrounding creatures, Dan Myeong-ah kept walking relentlessly.
Her face was flushed red, and I worried whether she was suffering from burns.
But the real problem emerged after that.
[Warning! Mana consumption intensifies from this area onward!]
[Warning! Holy power intervention from Staff Members intensifies from this area onward!]
[Warning! Awakened ones’ resistance weakens!]
At the same moment, my vision wavered with dizziness.
Jung Hwan-jae and I barely endured, but Dan Myeong-ah collapsed forward without resistance.
Without hesitation, we both urgently reached out and lifted the fallen Dan Myeong-ah.
“Are you alright? Right now, I should….”
I should have said I’d heal her, but the words wouldn’t come.
After my lips moved uselessly for a while, all I could do was brush the dust from Dan Myeong-ah’s clothes.
Dan Myeong-ah, who retrieved a potion from her inventory and drank it, wore an expression far more composed than mine.
“Don’t worry. I still have plenty left, and I can keep going.”
“Beyond this point, divine interference will intensify, and our capacity to resist it will diminish. Both physically and mentally, this will become increasingly arduous.”
Jung Hwan-jae spoke with unmistakable concern etched across his features.
Yet Dan Myeong-ah merely offered a faint smile, as though she had already anticipated as much.
After all, this woman had navigated countless crises armed with nothing but duty and righteousness.
I exhaled softly as I followed in her footsteps, lowering my voice so only Jung Hwan-jae could hear.
“But I have to admit, this is genuinely difficult. There’s this suffocating sensation, this heaviness, and these strange worries and anxieties creeping in….”
Jung Hwan-jae listened intently to my words before nodding slowly.
Then he gently took my hand.
How strange.
That single gesture alone seemed to dissolve all my apprehension.
“Anyway.”
Even Lucy’s grumbling voice reached my ears, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
We shared that warmth for a moment before releasing our hands—the swarm of monsters was approaching again.
“Why are there so many monsters emerging from the Network’s remnants?”
“Discarded data.”
Lucy smirked and swept his hand downward, unleashing a blood-crimson torrent of electricity that obliterated the monsters in an instant.
Before I could even attempt anything, the situation had already concluded.
He turned back to us with casual composure.
“What are you doing? Go back to your date.”

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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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