Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: The Affectionate Spirit and the Troll Awakens
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🚫 ACCOUNT BLOCKED 🚫
One week suspension.
Overall power ranking 8th. Greatsword Master Chae Ji-yeon.
She was also a core member of the White Night Guild.
At the sight unfolding before her eyes, she was plunged into shock and confusion.
"A nature spirit... acting spoiled?"
To a human, no less?
In that instant, a nightmare she'd barely managed to forget resurfaced in her mind.
The one time in her life she'd encountered a nature spirit inside a gate.
That ferocious temper had made her and her guildmates sweat bullets.
In the end, they'd barely cleared it with help from the top-ranked Full Moon Guild. Even recalling it now was utterly horrifying.
"Is that one some rare case among nature spirits?"
How could it possibly be that docile?
Harboring doubts, Chae Ji-yeon cautiously took a step forward.
The spirit immediately flashed its eyes and let out a threatening hiss.
Shiiik—!
Sensing mortal danger, she reflexively stumbled back.
"Uh-uh? No, you can't do that."
But when Yi Chrog scolded it with a stern face, the spirit blinked innocently as if nothing had happened and started nuzzling its head against her nape.
"...Huh."
A bewildered laugh escaped her lips.
To clear a gate occupied by a nature spirit, one had to capture it using a special container crafted from rare materials.
Not only did producing those containers cost an astronomical fortune, but the spirits' savage dispositions led to countless injuries and fatalities. That was the massive drawback.
As a result, nature spirit gates—especially ones where the spirit was acting all cute right in front of you—were the type rankers dreaded encountering the most.
"I wonder what that person would say if they saw this."
The White Night Guild kept spirits captured from gates imprisoned deep underground in their guild building.
Obsessed with spirits, the guild master had abandoned all duties to attempt taming one and hadn't emerged from the basement in ages.
"Can't even remember the last time I saw their face."
The guild master displayed such excessive fixation on spirits.
Seeing the scene playing out right before her eyes...
What kind of reaction would they have?
Well, she could more or less guess.
"...Just act like I never saw it."
Even if she kept quiet, the guild master would probably find out eventually.
But for as long as she could manage... as long as possible.
She had to protect this girl from that weirdo...
—With those thoughts, Chae Ji-yeon stared into empty space with unfocused eyes.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"That ice flower—you the one who bloomed it?"
Asking brought a beaming smile from the spirit as it nodded vigorously.
"It's so pretty... To think you bloomed something this gorgeous. You're amazing!"
The spirit's eyes went wide at my words; its cheeks flushed red, and it began circling around me excitedly.
Probably shy from the praise.
After spinning for a good while, it suddenly darted off somewhere, then returned clutching a single ice flower in its grasp.
"A gift for me? Thank you."
The moment I took the flower from the spirit,
🌸 ITEM INFO 🌸
Glacie Bloom
• Miracle flower that blooms amid eternal winter • Contains powerful chill and purification energies
[Effects]
• Purifies foreign substances and toxic mana within the body • Refines impure mana into high-purity elements for a period: Stabilizes magic circuits and maximizes efficiency of advanced spellcasting
[Uses]
• Glacie Elixir: Ultra-rare restorative made by mixing one petal with a drop of Pristine's tears • Snow Rune Drop: Crystallized flower core forming a rune shard. Grants cold resistance when held
"In the world..."
The Glacie Bloom's effects and uses were so extraordinary that comparing it to Lumina Bell almost felt unfair.
"A flower like this existed."
As a plant enthusiast, I naturally burned with the desire to cultivate it myself.
Unfortunately, unlike with Lumina Bell, direct cultivation seemed impossible.
Because...
—It only bloomed under the touch of the Ice Spirit Pristine.
This was a flower only the spirit before me could produce.
It was disappointing, but simply learning of its existence was a meaningful achievement in itself.
Now then... it was about time to wrap up playing with the spirit.
I quietly asked Chae Ji-yeon, who was staring blankly into space.
"If awakeners' attacks don't work on the spirit, do we just leave this gate rampaging forever?"
"Ah, no. There is a way."
She snapped back to attention and answered my question.
"Forcibly capture it and take it outside the gate... but you need a capture tool."
"But if Yu-rang or I step away even briefly, it'll rampage again in the meantime."
Another disaster would unfold.
My heart raced at Chae Ji-yeon's added explanation.
"Capturing the spirit."
I'd die before letting that happen.
But leaving it like this would cause the gate to rampage again, hurting people outside...
"There's also a method to soothe the enraged spirit and send it back to nature... but that's practically impossible."
The moment I heard the second option, an arrogant thought crossed my mind.
It follows me so devotedly—maybe it'd listen to me.
"Then, let me give it a shot."
Even if it meant taking a hit, I wouldn't regret it.
Forcing a capture on the spirit... I absolutely hated that idea.
I set the spirit down where we'd first met and knelt before it.
"I'm sorry."
Puzzled by my sudden action, the spirit tilted its head and gazed at me.
"Nature's changing more and more... Doesn't that make you sad?"
The spirit puffed out its cheeks, nodded glumly, and began frantically blooming ice flowers across the ground.
It seemed to be its unique way of expressing emotions.
I was so entranced by the beautiful clusters of ice flowers that I had to slap my soft cheek to snap out of it.
"I'm truly sorry. But I want you to return to nature. I know it's shameless, but please—just this once."
The spirit slowly raised its head.
Tears welled up in its eyes.
Porrr—It fluttered to my shoulder, hugged my neck, and rubbed its head against me.
Don't want to part. That's what it seemed to say.
I had no idea why it liked me this much, but seeing it cry like that tugged at my heartstrings.
And so,
Without thinking, I blurted out the words swirling in my mind.
"Argh, whatever! Wanna come with me instead?"
A radiant smile bloomed on the teary-faced spirit.
It spun circles around me again, scattering ice flowers everywhere, then suddenly tucked itself right into my palm.
I carefully opened my hand,
and there, amid scattering frost crystals, sat a tiny seed.
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The moment I got home, I flopped onto the floor.
"Drained dry..."
After closing my eyes for a few minutes of rest, I planted the new seed in the pretty pot I'd bought on the way back.
But due to the special conditions attached to the seed, sprouting it right away would be tricky.
"Need some dopamine..."
I flopped back down and naturally opened the community app.
Was it because of the daytime events?
The boards were overflowing with posts singing my praises.
Apparently, there had even been live streams—several posts featured my face plastered huge on the thumbnails.
My head spun for a moment.
But I decided to think positively.
"Yeah. Since it's come to this."
Time to leverage my newfound fame and achieve my dream of becoming a big name.
A sly grin crept across my lips.
📰 Forum Post
[Healer Here: Thanks everyone for the praises lol] Didn't really do anything special, but getting all this praise... don't know where to put myself lol
If I subtly hinted that I was the person from the news, people would recognize me, right?
—Or so I thought.
But as expected,
this time too,
I received zero attention.
Before, at least hate comments rolled in. Now, not even those.
Utter, complete indifference.
"Do my posts smell or something?"
My lips pouted farther and farther from my face.
That's when an explosively viewed post caught my eye.
📰 Breaking Post
[That person from the news!! She's the protagonist of the post I wrote!!] I told you, right? Good healers do exist in this world! Proven not a self-post... ㅠㅠ Ha... finally feel relieved...
Again.
Again, that Sprout Guild guy.
The No.1 rival who'd claimed the top spot in my heart since starting on the Awakener community—he'd posted again!
"The actual protagonist in the post can't even get hate comments..."
I was already in a foul mood.
Just like that post's views exploding, so did the jealousy inside me.
"......"
In the end, I shot up from my seat and cracked my neck with a series of pops.
The ego I'd kept carefully hidden wriggled, desperate to see the light of day.
I changed my nickname from "Healer Here" to "Plant Fanatic," then immediately dropped a comment on Choi Han-ul's post.
— Plant Fanatic
?That dumbass? Just got lucky with a healer and hyping it up lol
Ding-ding— Notifications blared noisily as replies poured in under my comment.
— Anon123
Hype? You really see this as hype? If you're serious, I recommend seeing a doctor.
— PlantGalVet
Plant Fanatic's a known troll from the plant forums too. Don't engage.
— AwakenerX
Trolls have levels, but that crossed the line hard, no?
— AgreeBot
Yeah, totally crossed it.
"...Oh?"
The old "Plant Fanatic" had spammed countless posts just to snag a single hate comment.
Reviving that experience with one snarky line, and getting this level of fervent attention? Never expected it!
Plus, people remembering the "Plant Fanatic" name...
Maybe I'd halfway achieved my dream of becoming a Plant Gal named already...?
"Enlightened."
The way to gain attention on community boards.
From then on, it was like I'd awakened—every time a post praising me went up, I fired off a contrarian comment.
📰 Praise Post
[Truly amazing things about the Seongbuk-gu healer] Openly using a heal skill there would've blown up on the news and sold her face in seconds... Showing that courage regardless? Deserves all the praise.
— Plant Fanatic
Nah, not really lol. Seriously nothing impressive.
📰 Another Post
[Heard tons of injured, but she treated them all?] That lady must have killer skills too? The healer I ran into before was mana-starved and barely healed at all.
— Plant Fanatic
Healer on request? Anyone can do it ㅇㅇ
Every comment I dropped drew a storm of attention my way.
Nearly all of it hate, but who cared?
I was racking up way more replies than Choi Han-ul's latest post.
This superstar vibe.
So thrilling.
Dopamine exploding in real time...!
Riding the momentum, I dropped over 30 comments before finally,
🚫 ACCOUNT BLOCKED 🚫
One week suspension. Reason: Aggro-pulling and trolling
the message on my phone forced my fingers to a halt.
And that backlash...
splashed over to a place I never saw coming...
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