Chapter 2
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Second Chance
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Eloise, do you have any idea where you just barged into?"
"I said it's dangerous! Gerard-nim is in danger. You need me!"
"I always need you! But not right now. If you don't want to die, get out!"
Among all the Rainbow Holes that had appeared so far, the most powerful Purple Hole had emerged, and the mages were utterly overwhelmed.
Gerard was the only one who stayed until the end, attempting to destroy the core, but...
'He looked like he was struggling.'
To save him, I followed him into the Purple Hole...
I died.
My skin peeled away, my hair melted off, my muscles twisted, and my bones shattered into pieces.
As Eloise lay dying like that, Gerard watched her with tears of blood streaming down his face.
Why are you crying?
And what will become of you now that you've lost your healer?
Those were Eloise's thoughts as she was dying.
In her final breath, the world plunged into darkness.
"Eloise, are you seriously not getting up? You're going to be late!"
With Merlin's urging, the bedroom door flew open once more.
Eloise shot up from the bed like a coiled spring.
This voice...
It was exactly this voice from Merlin that had woken her up a week ago.
She was alive.
She had gone back.
Back to her third year as a lowly civil servant, scrambling desperately just to survive.
"Got it, I'm coming!"
Eloise jumped to her feet and staggered for a moment.
Suddenly, her vision flashed, and vivid scenes and text flooded her mind.
They were events that would happen in the future.
Eloise yanked out a notebook and frantically scribbled down everything that came to her.
The handwriting was a messy scrawl, but it covered the upcoming Rainbow Holes, their characteristics, and even the damages they would cause.
The amount of information was vast, and it was all precise.
Her hand, scribbling away like a woman possessed, suddenly stopped.
Starting from a week ago, information about the Rainbow Holes would pop into her head like this without warning and then vanish.
Eloise quickly scanned her notes.
Most of it matched the reports still in her memory.
But there were details she hadn't even realized she remembered.
A spark lit in Eloise's eyes.
Detailed information on the Rainbow Holes that would soon erupt...
What could she do with this?
She was curious how she'd ended up living a second life and where this genius memory had come from.
But this was a life she'd gotten back, so she just wanted to live it well.
Without any regrets.
She wanted Merlin, Gerard, and everyone she'd ever crossed paths with to be safe and happy.
'And I won't just put up with everything anymore! I'll show them the new me!'
Eloise's eyes sparkled brightly.
"I'm so dizzy from the magic buildup, I'm gonna die! Connect me to a healer, quick!"
"I'm sorry, but your magic poisoning level is stage 2 out of 10—perfectly mild. If your headache is severe, I can contact the health team for you."
"Are you freaking insane? Do you even know who I am?"
As the mage jabbed a finger at her, Eloise's professional smile deepened.
"Of course, Mage-nim. You're one of the heroes protecting our continent from the Rainbow Holes."
"Then you know you should be fetching a healer for me, right? Who do you think risks their neck diving into those pitch-black holes?"
Eloise checked the man's paperwork.
He was a D-rank mage who had only applied for the easier Red Holes and Yellow Holes among the Rainbow Holes.
'Even then, he hasn't gone on any dispatches for the past two months, claiming slow mana recovery.'
Yet here he was throwing a fit for a healer.
"You see my papers? Then you know how long it's been since I got any healing."
Eloise nodded halfheartedly, and the man launched into threats.
"What if I lose control and blow your head clean off? It'll be too late for regrets then!"
"Oh dear. How truly frightening."
Her serene expression and flat tone made the mage's eyes bulge.
Due to the healer shortage, D-rank and lower mages only received healing when it was absolutely necessary.
C-rank and above got assigned personal healers with regular schedules—that was protocol.
No matter how capable Eloise was, she couldn't accommodate his demand.
Besides, judging by his behavior and attitude right now, it wasn't like he actually needed healing...
Eloise's smile slowly faded as she caught the lecherous look on his face.
She spread her hands wide to avoid crumpling the paperwork and rose slowly from her seat.
"I'm sorry, Mage-nim, but there are no available healers on the schedule right now."
"Hey, don't lie to me. I know you've got healers sitting around drinking tea and loafing."
"They're off duty, so they're resting."
"Who doesn't know that? That's why I came here myself to ask. You can call in off-duty healers, right?"
"Only in emergencies..."
"You little runt! I dragged myself down to this musty basement to beg, and you're just gonna keep ignoring me?"
The mage glanced around and wrinkled his nose in disgust.
The Support Team under the Magic Management Bureau handled administrative tasks for mages and healers, helped match them up, and more.
They even aided civilians injured by Rainbow Holes.
It was a team swamped with work.
But since they had zero claim to the valuable byproducts from Rainbow Holes, they were constantly dismissed.
The worthwhile loot from the holes was first split between the mages who entered and the bureau, with the bureau's share managed by the Allocation Policy Office.
That office handled the bureau's sole revenue stream, so its staff got decent treatment.
But the rest, like Eloise on the Support Team, were treated like dirt by the mages.
'Being a mage makes them think they're nobility!'
Ever since Rainbow Holes started appearing on the continent, a new class system had emerged.
It was an era where A-rank and higher mages commanded more respect than minor imperial branches with shaky power bases.
Mages were the heroes saving the continent. They deserved respect.
But some mages were the problem.
The ones who treated anyone who wasn't a mage like parasites.
"Hey, you."
"Hey, you? Did you just 'hey you' me? What's your name?"
There it was.
The complainer's second favorite trick.
'Asks for the name thinking it'll scare someone? Total jerk, hothead, and creep.'
Eloise cursed him inwardly while responding politely on the surface.
"Please don't make a scene here, Mage-nim. Bureau guidelines state that stage 2 poisoning doesn't qualify for healer matching. As you know, even those with severe poisoning are on waiting lists due to the shortage."
"You think you're my teacher? Lecturing me? Just give me your name!"
If even that didn't work...
"Call your superior."
"Call the team leader?"
The man and Eloise said it in unison. He shot her a glare.
"You a mage? Reading my mind or something?"
"If I were a mage, I'd be standing over there instead of here."
Eloise pointed to where the man was standing.
"Fair enough. Ahem. Anyway, call the team leader! I can't even talk to a peon like you."
As if we'd been having a real conversation until now.
Eloise swallowed her frustration and walked around the long table toward the exit. The man scowled deeply.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"You told me to get the team leader. I'll go fetch him."
Only then did the man flash a satisfied smirk.
He thought his complaining would work, but no way.
Her direct superior, Support Team Leader Collin, would just repeat exactly what she'd said.
That was the guideline!
Civil servants couldn't step outside protocol.
If they ignored rules to cater to a complainer and got caught?
At best, a pay cut. At worst, fired. No wonder civil servants played it safe.
'Active administration? More like passive administration forever!'
Eloise grumbled to herself as she knocked on the team leader's office door.
There was a rustle from inside, and the door flew open.
Since it was an urgent situation with an enraged mage, Eloise skipped the greeting.
"A D-rank mage with stage 2 poisoning is requesting a specific healer match. He's demanding to see the Support Team Leader now."
"Eloise, you need to handle something like that on your own."
The man who would normally bellow right away kept his voice low and subdued.
"I've got a guest here. You take care of it."
Was he dodging with an excuse?
Eloise peered suspiciously past Collin's shoulder.
But there really was a guest.
And it was someone Eloise knew well.