Chapter 21
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Translator: MJK
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Being a Neglected F-Class Healer Was Nice, Though?
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3. Baridegi's Domain (4)
The figure standing before me wasn't clear.
I could only make out the hem of its robe, its face shrouded in fog.
"You can rest for a bit."
When had I last heard that voice? It felt like before the possession.
It wasn't that long ago, so why couldn't I remember?
I tried to take a step back, but my knees wouldn't obey.
My body felt like it was sinking downward.
I knew that if I sat down, it would be over, yet the urge to do so was overwhelming.
'Great Potion Maker.'
I recalled those words again, but my heart didn't stir.
It was strange.
Those words had clearly been my chosen path, yet now they failed to hold me steady.
Scenes floated up through the mist.
A laboratory.
People lying ill in beds.
Faces gasping for breath after drinking potions.
Those scenes felt familiar, like something I'd witnessed once before—safe.
And that became an excuse to stop pushing forward.
"You're doing plenty well as it is."
The figure extended a hand toward me.
The hand looked warm.
If I took it, my thoughts would stop.
If they stopped, I wouldn't have to agonize anymore.
I gritted my teeth.
I didn't take the hand.
Instead, I shook my head.
"No."
My voice trembled, but it was firm.
"That's not enough."
The mist rippled for a moment.
The figure's hand touched my wrist.
The instant it did, memories flooded in.
The school training grounds.
The sudden dungeon alarm.
Screams.
Scenes from the original story I'd seen repeated endlessly overlapped.
So many people from this school had died.
That tragedy was the trigger for the protagonist's awakening.
I knew that fact.
And it made me suffer even more.
'Does it have to take that many deaths?'
That question stabbed at my chest.
My breath caught.
My vision blurred.
Then, another wish surfaced.
It was intensely powerful.
More direct and heavier than becoming a great potion maker.
The kids need to survive.
The people in this school need to survive.
I wanted the tragedy to be a wall to overcome, not fuel for awakening.
"I want to save more people."
At that moment, the density of the mist changed.
The coziness vanished, revealing the texture of the path.
The figure gripped my wrist tightly.
"That way is dangerous."
For the first time, emotion laced those words.
I shook off the hand.
"I have to go anyway."
Once the hand fell away, the figure no longer followed.
I walked toward where my wish led.
My steps were heavy, but the direction was clear.
The mist parted, and a door appeared ahead.
This time, it was the exit.
This time, I didn't hesitate.
Passing through the door, the space shifted.
It was the dungeon boss's chamber.
A low hum filled the room.
Voices overlapped and flowed out.
Resentment.
Grudges.
Abandonment.
Tales that had vanished namelessly seeped into the walls.
Even as I heard those sounds, I held fast to my wish.
I want to save more people.
That desire didn't waver.
In the center of the room stood the figure.
Only then did I realize it was merely a shadow. Whose shadow was it? Before I could ask, the shadow spoke.
"You have passed the trial."
The voice was low and resolute.
The figure raised a hand, offering an object.
It looked like an ordinary bowl at a glance.
No decorations, no glow.
"The Nameless Vessel."
With those words, the bowl settled into my hands.
It wasn't cold or warm.
Only the sensation of emptiness was distinct.
At that moment, a cheer erupted from the earring.
[This is mine! Tell me it's mine!]
Erich was jubilant.
I couldn't help but smile at the sound.
The tension in my facial muscles eased.
"Okay, okay."
[For real? It's a promise! You promised!]
Erich repeated himself several times.
It was rare for the magic sword to show such blatant greed.
That meant this vessel was incredibly important to him. I knew why. I'd come here precisely because of that.
'Even the Ego Sword's soul grows heavy if its grudges deepen, right?'
The boss's shadow quietly overlooked the scene.
The hum of resentment and grudges in the space gradually subsided.
Gazing at the Nameless Vessel in my hands, the shadow spoke.
"This is not an item for the living."
The words sounded like both a warning and an explanation.
"This vessel is meant to hold the names of the dead."
"It holds no power for the living."
I nodded.
And smiled.
The corners of my mouth lifted naturally.
"I never planned to keep it for myself anyway."
At those words, the boss's shadow fell silent for a moment.
The pause felt close to surprise.
I placed a hand on the earring.
It was always cold, tinged blood-red.
The vessel for Erich's soul.
"Erich."
As I called his name, an excited presence stirred from within the earring.
[Yes! Do it!]
I brought the Nameless Vessel to the earring.
In that instant, the vessel vanished without a sound.
It didn't shatter or melt.
It disappeared without a trace, as if it had never been there.
At the same time, the earring's color changed.
The blood-red hue faded gradually, a deep purple seeping in.
A dark, profound purple.
I held my breath, watching the transformation.
[It's done.]
Erich's voice was far more stable than before.
The excitement had settled, leaving satisfaction behind.
[I feel like I could fly.]
The boss's shadow nodded quietly.
"The final chamber remains, then."
I nodded back, and the shadow seemed to smile faintly.
"Do you know? That we were waiting for you."
What?
But before I could ask, the room's boundaries began to blur.
The echoes of resentment and grudges fully quieted, and the space felt like it was resolving.
I didn't linger.
Whatever that last statement meant, I'd gotten what I came for.
The next moment, I stood outside the dungeon.
Cold night air brushed my face.
The moonlight still cast a dim glow, and the clearing looked unchanged.
I glanced down at my hands—nothing there.
Hyeon Yi-seo and Lee Hae-sol both looked at me curiously at the same time.
They exhaled a beat late.
Seeing their expressions, I flashed a bright smile.
"Strikeout."
I tossed the words out lightly.
As if I'd truly come away empty-handed.
Hyeon Yi-seo pressed her forehead with a sigh.
"You're really reckless."
Lee Hae-sol let out a long breath too.
"Still, you're back safe. That's a relief."
Sincerity filled those words.
We headed back together.
The farther we got from the dungeon, the fainter the twilight sensation became.
As the dormitory came into view, Lee Hae-sol asked cautiously.
"You'll go again."
I thought for a moment.
I felt the stable purple presence emanating from the earring.
"Probably."
I nodded.
"Feels like the last one. I'll give it a shot."
By the way, those three gold coins' skills were one-time-use teleports.
Transferable teleports, at that.
"Probably won't need 'em, though."
"Huh? What'd you say?"
"Nothing, Hae-sol."
Having teleport skills always feels like some event requiring one will pop up.
Probably just my imagination.
The third visit started differently from the outset.
In the original plan, it should've just been Hyeon Yi-seo, Lee Hae-sol, and me.
But right before departure, Yoo Han-seong said he'd come along.
"I heard from Lee Hae-sol. Instead of a rope, if I use my skill to hold onto you, it'll be way safer."
Strangely, in that moment, I couldn't find words to refuse. When he offered to join, a subtle sense of security outweighed any burden.
"Thanks."
On top of that, a completely unexpected person tagged along.
Gong Seo-yoon.
He was the perfect picture of a playboy—someone who lightened any mood just by being there.
Seeing us gathered, he approached with a grin.
"What's this, a midnight stroll?"
His tone was so casual that no one could deny it outright.
"Mind if I join?"
It was less a request and more a declaration.
Hyeon Yi-seo frowned, and Lee Hae-sol glanced at me briefly.
I shrugged.
No reason to block him came to mind.
If anything, more people might make it less dangerous this time.
Reading the subtle atmosphere, Gong Seo-yoon joined seamlessly without pressing.
And trailing quietly behind him was Yoo Hee.
Unnoticed by the others.
Her presence was so faint that even I only noticed after a while, thanks to Erich.
True to form as someone who always lingered on the fringes in the original story, she didn't impose.
Our eyes met briefly, but she smiled brightly and played it off.