The Tone-Deaf Healer Kills with a Song - Chapter 57

—————
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 057
That night, I found myself captivated by Jung Hwan-jae. He had declared with unwavering resolve that while he would gladly allow his hunters to transfer to Nikero if they wished, he himself would never set foot in that place.
Watching him declare that he would remain in Hanttae even if he stood alone—I couldn’t help but admire him.
Others would surely call him inflexible and stubborn.
But what does it matter if I find him admirable? Was I supposed to second-guess my own feelings?
Dante had vehemently rejected both of us, repeating his refusal so forcefully that he seemed to have no choice but to back down for now.
But we both knew this wouldn’t end here.
After returning to our respective rooms and sleeping, the next day arrived—the day of Dante and Jung Hwan-jae’s battle.
“It feels rather empty, doesn’t it?”
“Well, there are only three of us left now. And this battle isn’t even being broadcast outside.”
“You’re right, it does feel sparse. But if I left now, my senior would be too lonely, so I’ll just watch carefully from here. Since I can only observe from this vantage point, it’s both thrilling and nerve-wracking.”
“…Thank you.”
Jung Hwan-jae’s expression grew slightly overwhelmed by such simple words.
I hadn’t said anything particularly profound—I’d merely promised to wait while the battle unfolded.
I could see Dante standing alone at a distance. All the Nike hunters had left, so there was nothing to be done about it.
“Senior, just a moment.”
“Yes?”
“Please wait just a moment.”
After seeking his permission a few more times, I approached Dante.
He noticed me as he prepared to enter the arena in different equipment than yesterday, tilting his head slightly. That faint smile I’d seen yesterday and on the day we first met was there again.
After staring at him for a while, I opened my mouth.
“You looked lonely standing by yourself. I came to tell you to do your best.”
“If I try too hard, Hunter Jung Hwan will definitely lose.”
“Ah, the Guild Master will try hard too, so it’s fine. Well then, I’ll be going.”
I waved coolly and returned to Jung Hwan-jae. I didn’t have the leisure to hear his response.
He looked bewildered when he noticed I’d returned within mere seconds of leaving.
What would he think if I told him I’d gone because standing alone seemed pitiful and I wanted to comfort him? And now that I thought back on the situation, it seemed more like I’d gone to scratch an itch rather than offer consolation.
Dante’s gaze seemed to cling to me persistently, so I didn’t dare turn around to look.
“I should head in now.”
“You must win.”
“Yes.”
Not “I’ll do my best” or “I’ll consider it positively”—but that firm, decisive “Yes” was what moved me.
Hearing those words made me believe he would never lose under any circumstances. The strongest hunter I’d ever seen, and the Guild Master who guided me.
Opportunities to witness his true combat were rare.
Most dungeons were trivial to him, and no matter how strong Hanttae’s hunters were, they couldn’t compare to him.
Fighting the second-ranked hunter now was a rare chance for him to truly unleash his power.
Dante and Jung Hwan-jae disappeared into the Divine Temple.
I found myself alone in the vast space, standing before the scoreboard, and without realizing it, I closed my eyes and began to pray to Liri.
‘Liri, just as you’ve helped me do well until now, could you help my senior do well too?’
I knew the structure of this prayer meant I couldn’t receive an answer. But I believed that if it were Liri, she would surely hear my words.
I drew a sharp breath, tension coiling through me, when the display screen before my eyes flickered to life.
Since this ranking tournament was a global event, somewhere in the world people were ordering chicken and watching from home, while others gathered together for simultaneous viewing.
Unlike me, watching this scene alone, those people would be listening to a cheerful-voiced commentator relaying the situation in real time.
I considered searching community information but decided against it.
I didn’t want my attention drawn elsewhere. An opportunity to witness something like this wouldn’t come around often.
The two people who had greeted me separately earlier were the two most famous hunters in the world.
‘I wonder how well-known I’ve become.’
I understood that Rosalind Brown was a hunter who ranked within the top ten.
As the light from the display screen washed over my entire body, reality suddenly struck me. Did that mean I had become a hunter ranked within the top ten in the world?
I opened my stat window again to verify. There was no way I could be considered top ten.
All the hunters who had been called rankers until now were living under an unimaginable level of fame.
I felt viscerally that once I left this place, I would have to face that situation to some degree.
[Hunter ‘Jung Hwan’ VS Hunter ‘Dante’]
The two figures appeared alongside text that had become somewhat familiar to my eyes by now.
The scene that unfolded was unlike anything I had witnessed before. The ground beneath their feet wasn’t ground at all.
It seemed as though they were floating in the air, yet it was neither the sky nor the universe as I knew it. The place displayed on screen was an entirely different world.
Incomprehensible characters drifted in all directions, becoming the very platform the two men stood upon. Multicolored light enveloped them, only to be swallowed by darkness moments later.
A system window appeared on the screen as if on cue.
To commemorate the battle between the two strongest awakened ones from the previous ranking, the Valkyrie Network is providing a portion of its space as a battleground.
The two awakened ones may freely utilize any knowledge available within the Valkyrie Network. However, intervention by assigned staff is prohibited.
I don’t fully understand how much of a privilege it is to access the knowledge within the Valkyrie Network. I still can’t properly use the detailed search function.
Whenever I try to search for a single song, dozens of system windows appear, and after failing to find the song among them, I usually end up singing an old song I already knew.
How exactly do ranker hunters conduct their battles?
I couldn’t tell if it was still in mute mode, but there was no one to read the dialogue for me.
“Ha….”
At least one thing was fortunate—the two men before my eyes weren’t doing anything, just staring at each other.
The battle had clearly started, yet the two of them showed no change in expression, simply facing each other. No matter how closely I observed, I couldn’t discern what they were thinking.
Neither seemed intent on attacking first, nor did they appear to be sizing each other up. Dante even turned his body to look around the place as if finding it fascinating.
Jung Hwan-jae waited for him patiently, showing no intention of striking from behind.
If it were me, I would have desperately rushed at him, thinking I had to win by any means necessary. Was that too petty of me?
In the midst of this, Jung Hwan-jae opened his mouth.
“What was the last dungeon you cleared?”
‘I can hear his voice…?’
I quickly glanced around.
Of course, there was only me. Yet his voice had come through with crystalline clarity, as if spoken from right beside me.
It must be some kind of service provided because I’m here alone.
A privilege of ranking third. The ability to eavesdrop on the conversation between the first and second ranked hunters during their battle.
It seemed like nothing special at all.
“It was an unconfirmed dungeon in the Pacific Ocean.”
“What was it like?”
“People will analyze our lip movements second by second and try to interpret what we’re discussing. Is that why you keep bringing up such topics?”
“Everyone is quite interested in such matters.”
Jung Hwan-jae, speaking those words, wore an expression of complete indifference.
Indeed, the people were thinking exactly that—what could the rankers possibly be discussing?
However, Dante couldn’t possibly extend an offer to recruit Nikero in front of the entire world watching, so he played along gracefully with the conversation.
The two of them spoke about dungeons in the Pacific Ocean whose information hadn’t been properly disclosed yet, and casually revealed skills that didn’t matter if others knew.
“I suspect people are expecting something a bit more… bloodthirsty. A real fight, perhaps? Shall we begin?”
“Yes, I was thinking it might be time as well.”
Dante smiled and made a gesture as if pulling something from thin air. In that instant, a gleaming rifle adorned with wheat-colored feathers materialized in his hand.
Decorated with platinum and feathers, it resembled something straight out of a romantic fantasy novel. In response, Jung Hwan-jae drew a scythe that was its complete opposite—black and crimson.
The beginning of a final confrontation that would never be seen again.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————