The Tone-Deaf Healer Kills with a Song - Chapter 74
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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 074
A week later.
Dan Myeong-ah had always wondered about one thing: why wasn’t her surname something other than Dan?
Myeong-ah was a beautiful name, but when prefixed with the surname Dan, didn’t it sound like she was destined for a short life?
‘That’s it! Am I finally going to die?’
To have a short lifespan—though the character for “myeong” meant brightness, not life itself.
Amid such thoughts, she awakened as a Hunter. Though her average stats capped at E-rank, she studied diligently and joined the Hunter Association.
Her only joy was entering the Beginner Tutorial Dungeon alongside newcomers to teach them the dungeon’s rules, and leaving work sharp at quitting time to watch Netflix at home felt like paradise on earth.
‘I thought I was living earnestly without resentment toward anyone.’
She could barely scrape by, and while she was satisfied with that, she only felt sorry for the Handler assigned to her—someone stuck managing such an incompetent Hunter.
[Leng-leng: Dan Myeong-ah, snap out of it!]
[Leng-leng: Dan Myeong-ah!]
“Dan Myeong-ah!”
Dozens of spears called out her name, but only when he actually manifested and breathed divine power into her body could she finally regain consciousness.
Her last memory was walking home after accompanying newcomers as a mentor in the Beginner Tutorial Dungeon.
It wasn’t a remarkable achievement, but she’d felt her stats subtly strengthen, and she’d been excited at the thought that more than half her abilities might soon break into D-rank—
Then she’d inhaled a billowing poison fog in one breath and collapsed on the spot.
‘Was I kidnapped? Why me?’
“Are you alright?”
Leng-leng, Dan Myeong-ah’s Handler, examined her face with concern.
Since Dan Myeong-ah had no detoxification skills or buffs whatsoever, she could only barely endure with the divine power Leng-leng provided.
“Are you coming to?”
It was a voice she’d never heard before.
Dan Myeong-ah barely opened her blurry vision and looked ahead.
“Dan Myeong-ah, Hunter Association representative. Twenty-seven years old. Beginner Hunter mentor… Oh, you were pretty good at studying in high school?”
“What are you talking about right now…?”
“Actually, we don’t usually do background checks, but you’re a civil servant, right?”
Only then could she piece together the situation. Someone had apparently put out a contract on her assassination.
She didn’t work in a department that handled complaints, so there was no reason anyone would hate her this much. She wasn’t even a ranker. What on earth was this about?
She stared at the man reciting her personal information right in front of her. He was spouting details she’d never mentioned to anyone—
He rattled off her school of origin, her major, even the circumstances of her awakening as if he’d been waiting to do so.
“A low-rank Hunter getting assigned such an exceptional Handler—that’s why you’re meeting this fate.”
He even spoke with a tone of regret.
The figure of the man, eyes downcast as if pitying and lamenting the situation, disappeared from view. Leng-leng had stepped in front of him. Waves began to surge from beneath his feet.
‘Hello, Dan Myeong-ah. I’m Leng-leng, your Handler. Congratulations on becoming an awakened one.’
‘Leng-leng? What does it mean?’
‘It’s just a name I gave you because it’s cute.’
Nineteen years old. Her grades had declined compared to her first and second years when she’d ranked among the top, and her awakening had come alongside physical illness from excessive stress.
But her life hadn’t suddenly changed. It was because of her mediocre stats. Naturally, no Guild had contacted her when she turned twenty, asking her to join.
‘Aren’t you frustrated being the Handler for someone as weak as me?’
‘Not at all! Dan Myeong-ah is my one and only precious Awakened One in this world. I can do anything for her.’
‘Anything….’
It wasn’t as though I possessed some grand sense of mission. I had simply recalled my aspirations toward education or teacher training and resolved to become a Hunter mentor.
There was no reason I should have made an enemy of anyone.
The scent of paper drifted through the air.
“Where is this… Who are you?”
“This is the Library of the Tomb. You needn’t know who I am.”
The figure spoke with courtesy, yet refused to offer the answer Dan Myeong-ah sought. Pressing my palms against the ground, I barely managed to rise. My legs, completely overtaken by poison, trembled beneath me.
Leng-leng gazed at me with concern before quickly moving to support me. When was the last time I had truly engaged in combat?
I was never a Hunter specialized in battle.
Drawing ragged breaths, I focused my mind. From the presence alone of the figure before me, I could sense they were far stronger than myself.
‘One Who Knows Connection’ explores the interior of the Dungeon.
Life Leaves Traces (E) Skill’s effectiveness is forcibly reduced by the Dungeon’s level.
Trace detection commences.
Detection and transformation—my ability to serve as a mentor stemmed from being a specialized Hunter who could peer into Dungeons and arbitrarily lower their difficulty.
The Library of the Tomb was a B-Rank Dungeon. I’d heard there had been many mysterious deaths there recently.
I had to buy time, however little. Even if heaven collapses, there is a hole through which one may escape; even if a tiger bites, one survives if one keeps their wits about them.
Life signature detected.
Life signature detected.
Detection forcibly halted due to excessively powerful mana!
Excessively powerful mana…?
Before I could even comprehend the situation, red sparks erupted from the man’s hand before me.
Leng-leng rushed forward and struck the sparks away. It was a torrent of water so formidable it would have overwhelmed Dan Myeong-ah.
“Dan Myeong-ah, listen carefully.”
My heart lurched in that instant.
The realization that something was unfolding which I could neither evade nor defend against.
And the intuition that if I did not act now, I would never see the Staff Member I had spent so long with again.
I was powerless.
Leng-leng approached me. A majestic wave of water enveloped me. Between white foam, Leng-leng’s lips moved.
[My true name is Nereus.]
I am the origin of all transformation, and I have long protected those who wish to change, and that has become my pride.
‘Nereus, the Sovereign of Transformation Drenched in Water’ reveals his name to ‘One Who Knows Connection’.
All divinity is transmitted to ‘One Who Knows Connection’!
* * *
“Ow!”
“Ye-ah!”
Jung Hwan-jae, who had been sweeping aside piles of books ahead of me, rushed back in alarm.
My forehead throbbed where it had struck the edge of a book. Everyone else had entered safely.
“I’m… I’m fine…”
I hadn’t anticipated books cascading down on my head the moment we stepped into the dungeon.
Why did the dungeon let everyone else pass through smoothly, yet heap this humiliation only on me? Wasn’t this harassment?
To be despised by a dungeon itself. How depressing.
The edge of the book had struck me hard, and it hurt terribly. I lifted my head, forcibly holding back the tears that threatened to spill.
“All this pain, pain, fade away.”
“Hunter Yeom Ye-ah, what are you doing?”
“Healing.”
As I hummed softly with a gentle rhythm, my swollen forehead—which looked ready to sprout a lump—cleared up instantly.
I was giving Dante a light explanation, as if he’d never heard such a phrase before, when a second wave of books came crashing down.
Books with teeth gnashed as if ready to devour me at any moment. With a single wave of my hand, they all burned away in green sparks.
“This really is a massive library.”
“It’s a place with many out-of-print books, so everyone’s been saying it’s a tremendous loss.”
Sung Mi-ju looked around with a regretful expression.
She didn’t seem like someone who read much, but as we walked, I noticed her diligently pulling books from the shelves and placing them into her inventory—a side of her I hadn’t seen before.
“Do you like books?”
“I just don’t have time to read, but I suppose so? Sung Ji-wook really hates reading though.”
“I prefer watching videos to reading text.”
I never expected to have such a relaxed conversation even inside a B-rank dungeon.
It felt like we were on a field trip, so I looked around.
Bookshelves stretched endlessly in every direction. Normally, when a location becomes a dungeon, its interior warps like this.
Originally, it was supposed to be a moderately-sized library of about four floors.
“Could it be around twenty floors? Still, we should be able to clear it quickly, right?”
I ventured the question cautiously, but no answer came back.
“…Just how large is this dungeon?”
Sung Ji-wook, who had been silent for a while, finally spoke up hesitantly.
“This dungeon is… approximately the size of all of Seoul.”
“What?”
“That’s a rough estimate. And it continues to expand.”
“What?”
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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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