Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Spirits Are Scary? Why?
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The thanks directed at me showed no signs of ending anytime soon.
Just when I was starting to think it was about time to wrap it up—
The gaze of the man sitting across from me froze in midair.
His face drained of color, turning ashen blue.
"H-Healer... b-behind you...!"
I slowly turned my head in the direction his trembling finger pointed.
My eyes met those of a wolf blanketed head to toe in pure white snow, no more than ten centimeters away.
Cold sweat trickled down my spine.
I was starting to wonder if this was a dream or reality.
'Wait. Why is there a wolf here...?'
And more importantly, it's spring right now. Why is it covered in snow?
Grrr... grrr—
The wolf's ragged breathing as it inhaled hit my skin directly.
Crack—
The vivid sound of its jaws parting seeped into my ears.
The moment terror made me squeeze my eyes shut.
Thud—!
A dull impact echoed, and the wolf collapsed limply to the side.
"Sorry I'm late!!"
Behind it emerged a woman in full plate armor, wielding a massive greatsword.
Her arrival instantly thawed the frozen atmosphere.
"Isn't that someone from White Night Guild?"
"Whoa... seeing a ranker in person..."
Amid the murmurs, the word 'ranker' caught my ear.
'That woman is a ranker?'
Awakener communities were full of posts about rankers.
Reading them, one thing stood out.
Rankers were treated like special idols performing on stage.
Seeing one in person, it seemed true enough.
Everyone nearby stared at her with eyes brimming with admiration, unable to look away.
The woman at the center of all those gazes muttered softly.
"Hmm...? I heard there were injured people, but why does everyone look fine?"
She cleared her throat and raised her voice.
"Ahem. Alright! I'm recruiting two volunteers to close this rampaging gate with me! You all know opportunities like this don't come around often, right?"
Her speech and demeanor oozed confidence in her own abilities.
But despite her bold call, no one stepped up—everyone just exchanged hesitant glances.
It was understandable, really.
They'd witnessed the terrifying monster from the gate firsthand, gotten injured by it themselves, and seen the wounded with their own eyes.
"I'll go in."
A calm, composed voice came from behind me.
Turning at the familiar tone, I saw a face I recognized.
It was the short-haired woman who'd been my sole ally during the first gate raid.
"...Huh!?"
She looked surprised at my greeting and returned a faint smile.
I hadn't expected to see her here again, so my joy doubled.
"Okay, one spot left! Anyone else volunteering?"
I could feel the crowd's eyes slowly turning toward me.
They weren't saying it outright, but they clearly hoped the healer would step up.
Ugh... I really don't want to.
This wasn't even a low-grade gate—it was mid-grade.
Who knew what horrors lurked inside? I really, really didn't want to...
Truly...
With every fiber of my being, I didn't want to go in...
"I'll... go with you too..."
But the thought of that short-haired woman—who'd been my only supporter in the first gate—heading into that nightmare without a healer was even worse.
"And what class is our lovely lady?"
"H-Healer."
My answer wiped the grin clean off her beaming face.
Her intense gaze pierced straight through me.
"For real...? Seriously?"
She asked two or three times, as if she couldn't believe it, then suddenly unleashed a torrent of words.
"I-I finally get to party with a healer? Oh man, this is unreal... I'm so happy..."
A strange madness emanated from her as she rattled on without changing expression.
"But my mana is tapped out right now. I need time to recover."
"Huh? Why would your mana run out outside the gate...? Hold on."
A furrow creased her brow.
"No injured outside a rampaging gate... Don't tell me..."
Once more, her piercing stare bored into my face.
I rolled my eyes desperately to avoid it.
"I. Can't. Hold. Back."
Snap—
With a flick of her fingers, a square cube floated up before her eyes.
She then began pulling out mana potions from it without restraint.
Egg-sized mana potions, apple-sized ones, engraved stamp-shaped ones, long slender ones...
All sorts of mana potions rapidly filled my bag.
I'd brought a roomy bag just in case they paid in cash, and now it was stuffed full in seconds.
"Why only this many...? Why didn't I bring more potions today...?"
Her self-reproachful mutter marked the end.
We stepped into the pitch-black gate.
Before diving into the real raid, we exchanged quick introductions.
"Chae Ji-yeon from White Night Guild."
"Song Yu-rang, from Bloom Guild."
The short-haired woman gave her name right away, but the White Night ranker ignored her, fixating solely on me.
"Y-Yi Chrog. No guild yet."
...Again.
Her beaming smile vanished once more.
Was I unknowingly offending her somehow?
Her expressions kept flipping, making me nervously swallow.
Silence blanketed the gate.
Sensing my awkwardness, Song Yu-rang broke the ice first.
"No time to waste. Shall we raid?"
The ranker's gaze on her held a sharp edge.
"Sure."
They exchanged glances, engaging in a subtle battle of wills.
Bloom Guild and White Night Guild clearly weren't on good terms.
'But why sandwich me in the middle...'
I was dying here, caught between them.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The gates I'd entered so far were just tutorials.
This first mid-grade gate was on another level entirely from anything before.
The monsters were incomparably larger than low-grade ones, their forms so grotesque I didn't even want to look.
But my party members casually drew weapons and charged like it was routine.
"Woo-hoo—! Seven!"
"...Eight."
"Huh? Nine!"
"Ten."
Counting kills while sniping at each other was par for the course.
Fine, whatever.
Let the guilds snipe at each other if they had beef.
'But why am I the collateral damage...!'
Was it because of the healer?
Or their natural style?
They flung themselves at monsters heedless of wounds, driving me insane.
'Shield... Heal, Purify... Heal... Shield, Purify...'
My mana drained steadily.
I gulped potions from my bag frantically.
Spam skills again, grab another potion.
Infinite loop.
If they weren't sniping, we could've raided more calmly...
For their safety, I dashed around too, slipping on ice and falling on my butt at least seven times.
'Anyway.'
She'd grown so much.
Song Yu-rang was a completely different person from when we first met.
'Bloom Guild member, huh? Surprised.'
Did she join after getting strong?
Or get strong after joining?
Didn't matter which— she was way stronger now.
Just as their competitive numbers topped twenty—
"......"
"......"
They halted abruptly, falling silent.
The ranker's playful face hardened.
Even the ever-calm Song Yu-rang showed fear for the first time.
Following their gazes, I spotted a tiny creature.
A spirit.
Standing in the heart of the snow-blanketed wasteland.
A small, beautiful spirit.
Ice flowers bloomed thickly around it.
Swoosh—
The spirit fluttered its wings gracefully, so exquisitely sculpted it seemed a living doll.
"Of all things, a nature spirit..."
The ranker muttered in dismay.
Song Yu-rang gulped nervously, face pale.
Their sudden shift felt utterly alien.
"What's wrong?"
I asked cautiously, gauging their mood. After hesitating, the ranker spoke.
"Nature spirits are terrifying monsters."
Her voice trembled faintly.
"They're brutally vicious, despise humans... But worst of all, awakener attacks don't work on them at all."
Attacks don't work at all?
So this gate rampaged not because it wasn't cleared, but because it couldn't be?
"Rankers prioritize stopping gate rampages. But against nature spirits, our attacks are useless..."
"Healer, be really careful from now on."
Song Yu-rang added gravely from the side.
But I couldn't buy their words.
A spirit that bloomed such pretty ice flowers couldn't be a monster.
I turned back for another look at the ice flowers.
Our eyes met as it glanced my way.
Tilt—
It cocked its head in an eerie twitch, then flew straight at me.
Sparkling petals bloomed along its path.
The spirit reached my feet, looked up with another tilt, then fluttered up to perch on my shoulder.
That instant, Chae Ji-yeon gripped her weapon anxiously.
Song Yu-rang trembled in fear but assumed a fighting stance.
Meanwhile, face-to-face with the spirit, I was overcome with awe inside.
'So pretty...'
How could something this beautiful be called a monster?
It was so adorable, a smile bloomed on my face unbidden.
"Hi?"
I greeted the spirit on my shoulder with a smile. It made an incomprehensible sound, hugged my neck, and nuzzled my head.
"Ahaha! So cold..."
My party members stared in stunned horror.
As if witnessing the impossible.
But to me, their reaction was the weird one.
It was so sweet and cute.
What was there to fear?