The Tone-Deaf Healer Kills with a Song - Chapter 52
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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 052
Since my existence is being threatened, it seems the debuff is still active.
Reflecting on the time that has passed, this debuff appears to respond to my will whenever I want to do something well or accomplish something.
A stat that strengthens my desire to advance further—if this opens up, it might grant explosive buffs.
Or perhaps my suppressed stats could rise again.
Either way, it’s something to welcome.
“Ye-ah! I missed you!”
“Hello, Rosalind Brown.”
I desperately dodged Rosalind Brown as she rushed toward me from a distance, clearly intending to embrace me.
But my efforts were futile, and I found myself caught in her arms.
On the evening of the third day of the ranking tournament, only about fifty hunters remained.
Sung Mi-ju, who still had to compete on the fourth day, was forcibly holding onto her younger brother, so Sung Ji-wook hadn’t been able to go home yet either.
I’d run into Kim Myung-joo earlier too. She’d acknowledged me, saying she’d maintained her position within the top hundred this time as well, then left.
“Rosalind Brown, my average stats are only around B-. If you apply more force, I’ll break.”
“No way! Ye-ah, I’ll never break you. And even if you did break, I’d fix you—but before that, Jung Hwan would kill me!”
Rosalind Brown spoke cheerfully. She said it so casually that I found myself wondering if that wasn’t actually such a big deal.
Jung Hwan-jae was watching us intently from beside me.
Since this was no longer about determining the top hundred but rather rankings beyond that, it had apparently become customary for everyone to eat dinner together at this point.
We were busy conversing while wearing our respective translation devices.
“It’s rare for rankers to suddenly drop out of the top hundred in a single day, isn’t it?”
“I’ve heard things get chaotic between eightieth and one-hundred-fiftieth place, but here, rankings rarely shift more than five positions at a time.”
“I see…”
Rosalind Brown mentioned that positions could shift by about five places depending on the matchups, then sighed.
Everyone here knew about the tragedies caused by the bracket arrangements, but ordinary people had no idea, she said.
I hadn’t known either. Now whenever someone suddenly drops five positions, I assume that hunter must have had their condition deteriorate far worse than imaginable.
“Korea originally had fourteen hunters, right? With Ye-ah and Joke coming in, that makes sixteen now? Ah, I’m jealous.”
“Kim Kyung-hoon dropped out of the rankings entirely, and Harp retired starting this year, so the numbers are the same.”
Jung Hwan-jae, leaning against the wall at an odd angle, spoke matter-of-factly.
After hearing their conversation, reality suddenly crashed down on me. I realized I’d been avoiding the massive truth approaching me, lost in admiration for myself for enduring four days.
That’s right—the fact that I’d made it this far meant something different: Yeom Ye-ah was now ranked within the top hundred.
‘A hunter who entered the top hundred less than three months after becoming an official hunter.’
It was an overwhelmingly grand title to attach to my name.
I began imagining guilds from around the world sending love calls my way, begging me to join them, offering conditions beyond imagination.
And then I pictured myself turning around coolly, saying, “Unfortunately, I must keep my promise with Hanttae, so I’ll have to decline that offer.”
Imagining scenarios that would never happen and indulging in pleasant thoughts lifted my spirits a bit.
Since I’d awakened as a healer, I should enjoy whatever fortune came my way while I could.
“Um, Rosalind Brown.”
“Yes?”
“I’ll be competing against you in the ranking tournament tomorrow. Of course, I’ll be far behind, but I look forward to it.”
Rosalind Brown’s eyes widened in surprise, as if she hadn’t expected me to say something like that.
She was such a stunning beauty that people around her couldn’t help but stare.
She gazed at my outstretched hand for a long moment, then instead of taking it, she cradled my cheek in her palm.
Her hand felt cool against my skin, slightly lower in temperature than my own body. Unease flickered through me, and I met her eyes uncertainly.
I couldn’t shake the worry that she might suddenly grab my collar or pinch my cheek.
“Your eyes turned such a brilliant green. Like summer.”
“Pardon?”
“I wanted to join Hanttae, you know. But Jung Hwan absolutely refused to accept me. I suppose it’s because I’m Dante Brown’s sister?”
Dante Brown.
Brown was Rosalind’s surname. Even with my poor memory, I remembered that much.
So she’d wanted to leave Nike, where her brother was, and join somewhere else? As someone without siblings, I couldn’t quite understand the reasoning.
Wouldn’t most people want to stay where their family was? Besides, Nike wasn’t some small-time guild.
“Why…?”
“Dante Brown’s nose is too high. He has no manners, he trusts his own abilities far too much. He’s boring. Hanttae, on the other hand, has so many interesting people, doesn’t it?”
I couldn’t deny that Hanttae had interesting people. But if I were in Rosalind’s position, I would have naturally chosen Nike.
Perhaps my expression betrayed my thoughts, because Rosalind giggled and began twirling my hair around her finger.
“But since he refused me so thoroughly, I’ve been dying to know just how incredible the person he was trying to recruit must be.”
“…I’m really not that remarkable.”
“Oh please, you cast a buff skill right there in front of everyone and expect me to believe that?”
Rosalind shook her head, telling me to talk sense, and a brief flash of light emanated from her fingertip.
With my hair still caught around her finger, I tensed, fearing she might zap me with lightning. But her finger slipped away naturally.
Instead, the strand of hair wrapped around her finger had been beautifully curled.
Rosalind laughed with a smirk and tilted her head. High-ranked hunters, regardless of gender, seemed to have a rather peculiar sense of personal distance.
“Be careful. The Brown family is greedy. I’ll do my best tomorrow, and you should too.”
“Ah, that’s naturally…”
“And Dante Brown will also do his best to claim Hanttae. If you truly love Hanttae, then strive more desperately than you do now.”
Whether it was a warning, mockery, provocation, or something else entirely, I couldn’t tell. I simply blinked slowly.
Rosalind turned away without hesitation, as if she’d said all she needed to say, and walked off.
It felt like a whirlwind had swept through. The stew was gradually cooling. Now I finally felt hungry.
“Senior, when is the battle with Dante scheduled?”
“Typically on the sixth day. That is, if neither of us suffers defeat before then.”
There was a calm certainty in the implication that defeat wouldn’t come.
I hoped Jung Hwan-jae would overwhelm Dante with his superior power. With that wish, I downed the sikhye beside me in one gulp.
Yet my mood remained unsettled, and I spoke with a slight frown.
“It seems like Rosalind and Dante don’t get along well.”
“Rosalind awakened a bit later, and their relationship deteriorated in the meantime. After Dante’s awakening, he received so much attention from all sides that various unfortunate incidents occurred.”
“I see…”
“Rosalind awakened as a rare healing-type hunter, and Dante contacted her for the first time in a long while.”
Rosalind had struggled desperately not to join Dante’s guild, but ultimately ended up being pushed into it.
Since Hanttae had only been founded not long before, Jung Hwan-jae naturally suspected that Rosalind, being Dante’s sister, harbored ill intentions toward Hanttae. He resisted her entry with considerable effort.
From that point on, Dante had continuously coveted Jung Hwan-jae and Hanttae. He seemed to be the type who, whenever he desired something and felt it would be useful and valuable, simply had to possess it.
And as a mysterious healer belonging to Hanttae, I was no exception to this fate. My heart grew heavy.
“Rosalind wouldn’t want you to go to Nike either. But she won’t stop you from doing so. Still, Yeom Ye-ah is an exceptionally powerful hunter.”
“Yes, I’ve seen that firsthand. But I’ll do my best too. Senior, please cheer me on!”
“What?”
“Cheer me on!”
I clenched my fist and raised it in a fighting stance.
Jung Hwan-jae examined me with a bewildered expression. He could have simply said “Fighting!” in three syllables, but apparently that wasn’t enough.
As if facing an ordeal he’d never encountered in his life, he gently bit his lip before suddenly lowering his head and pulling my wrist toward him.
As I was drawn forward without resistance, soft lips brushed against the back of my hand.
“You sing a song stronger than any I’ve ever heard. There’s no way you could lose.”
“….”
I felt my ears burn as I nodded in acknowledgment.
Rankers really do have a strange sense of distance, don’t they.
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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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