Chapter 102
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: The Dignity of an SSS-grade Healer (2)
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"Thank you, Healer."
"As expected of an SSS-grade Healer."
"Whoa, it feels so refreshing."
"Please take good care of us during the fight with the S-grade monster too."
At the hunters' flattery, Eom O-su looked over at Im Hyeji with a smug expression.
This was Semi Guild's main base.
The hunters who should have openly taken Im Hyeji's side were ignoring her entirely and fawning over Eom O-su alone.
S-grade hunters, SS-grade hunters.
It was a perfectly natural reaction that didn't surprise her at all, but since she'd come here today specifically to crush Im Hyeji, her shoulders lifted a bit with satisfaction.
Of course.
She'd been getting trashed all over Nutube and the other SNS lately, and all her scheduled shoots had been canceled, leaving her in a foul mood. This was starting to make her feel a little better.
"This is how it should be."
"Right? What do ordinary people know anyway? Those dumb guys are just haters jealous of hot young chicks like you. Don't let it get to you."
"Exactly. If she can't even use a single heal because she's cowering, the game's already over."
Surrounded by her fawning attendants, Eom O-su wrapped up the satisfactory footage and declared a break.
"Whew, that should be enough."
She hadn't liked how people were nitpicking and blasting her just because she'd only talked the talk.
That's why she'd come to this S-grade dungeon that included Im Hyeji.
To crush her with pure skill.
Eom O-su believed that was the essence of being a hunter.
Even those guys who usually trashed her, pointed fingers calling her ugly, and mocked her as the "sewage saint" instead of the true saint.
In the end, they all acknowledged her skills. That was the reality.
And so, Eom O-su's mind jumped to a different conclusion.
They're just dragging her down with irrelevant crap about her looks because they have nothing on her actual abilities.
This time would be the same. Once she showed off her undeniable skills, they'd shut up again, mumbling something like "Well, her skills are something else..." and back off. She was sure of it.
And that would boost her confidence to another level.
It was the way Eom O-su, who'd never once heard anyone call her pretty or beautiful in her entire life, built up her one shred of self-esteem.
The frustration of those who hated and looked down on her being silenced, unable to touch her skills.
The superiority that came from that.
She'd already filmed everything she needed for her video, so Eom O-su had no more interest in this dungeon.
Now, all that was left was to achieve her one remaining goal.
"Healer, could you spare a heal for me?"
After the battle ended, one of the staff members approached cautiously and asked.
Eom O-su, lounging in her folding chair, scowled.
"Why would I waste my heal on a fight with no S-grade monsters? There are plenty of other healers."
"Ah, yes. Sorry..."
The staff member backed away quickly at her venomous shout, and Eom O-su called out to them.
"The SS-grade healer's right over there. Why isn't Hyeji healing? Does healing have a cooldown or something? Hohoho."
Her booming laugh, clearly meant to be overheard, drew all the hunters' gazes to Im Hyeji.
"Ah, Hunter Im Hyeji is out of mana and resting."
"Already? What did she even do? I didn't see anything. Oh, right. Hyeji's heals don't pack much punch, huh? Even among S-grade skills, the difference in power matters that much."
"For real, sis."
"One sis is better than ten S-grade healers."
Eom O-su's blatantly obvious reason for joining this S-grade dungeon support.
No one tried to stop her or intervene, even as she publicly tried to bury Im Hyeji.
Not even Guild Master Han Semi, who quietly went to Im Hyeji's side, apologized, and tried to soothe her.
Even seeing that, Eom O-su smirked and puffed out her chest.
This is the dignity of an SSS-grade healer.
Daring to challenge her authority just because she lucked into one good skill?
"Resurrection should have come to me."
Above all, what made her the most jealous was that the skill Im Hyeji had luckily obtained was a cheat-level ability even Eom O-su coveted.
Anyone would think the same.
That's why she was going after Im Hyeji so directly this time, unlike before.
She couldn't steal the skill, after all.
She just hated how it kept drawing eyes and getting compared to her own.
"Right? If it'd gone to you, sis, she'd be the perfect saint."
"So she's not now?"
"Oh, sis, that's not what I meant. Hohoho."
Anyway, plenty of fake saints had tried to threaten her position before.
Those jealous types had attacked her eagerly every time.
But she was still holding the saint's throne.
This time would be no different.
A single skill wouldn't last long anyway.
Especially with its fatal cooldown flaw and the downside that it could only be used after dying— it was only a matter of time before news of her death somewhere came in. Eom O-su was convinced of it.
So she just planned to squash her down hard enough to keep her in line.
Unlike the loser haters who bashed her irrationally, Eom O-su was crushing Im Hyeji with pure facts and logic, using only the qualities a dungeon hunter needed.
As she scanned relentlessly for any opening, her eyes caught Im Hyeji's porter rummaging in his backpack and pulling out a tumbler.
He looked familiar.
She didn't usually bother remembering men's faces unless they were exceptionally handsome, so if he stuck in her mind, it wasn't for good reasons.
"Who's that guy?"
"Sis, that's the coffee guy."
"Coffee? Oh! That coffee?"
One of the attendants from the building during her collab with Im Hyeji filled her in.
Watching him pull out two tumblers, stick a straw in one, and hand it to Im Hyeji, Eom O-su shouted.
"Hey, you! Coffee guy!"
Not far away, Im Hyeji's manager—no, her porter—turned his head toward them.
"Yeah. Come here."
She questioned Kang Jik, the porter who approached holding the remaining tumbler.
"What's that?"
"Coffee."
Gruff tone.
Her eyebrow twitched at the prickly attitude, but she forced a smile.
This little power play? No way.
"Give me one too. My throat's dry."
As if it were natural, she spoke like he'd brought it for her, and Kang Jik rummaged in his backpack while holding the tumbler.
"This is the last one."
"Just give me that one then."
"This is the one I was drinking..."
She'd clearly seen him pull it straight from the backpack without touching it, but suddenly he slurped loudly on the straw.
Deliberately.
"Hah. Are you insane?"
The words flew out without passing through her brain.
It was too ridiculous.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, you lowly porter?"
Her piercing voice drew everyone's stares.
Kang Jik scratched his head at her serious yelling.
"Uh, well..."
Looking embarrassed, he glanced around, then reached back into his backpack and pulled out another tumbler just like it.
"....It was a joke... Don't you have your own porter, Healer? Why try to steal someone else's coffee and make a fuss..."
In an instant, he treated her like the weirdo, set the tumbler on the table by Eom O-su's folding chair, and sauntered off.
".....Th-that..."
Eom O-su, about to yell more, caught the barrage of looks directed her way.
Even someone as thick-skinned as her wasn't completely devoid of common sense.
Yelling profanities at a porter who'd kindly brought her coffee she hadn't even ordered herself wasn't just a temper issue—it was the kind of thing that'd get her labeled a psychopath, and rightfully so.
She recalled the already poor public opinion on Nutube and the communities.
No need to give them more fodder.
Her resentful glare followed Kang Jik as he went to Im Hyeji and whispered something while glancing back at her.
"That bastard... I'll deal with him somehow."
She took a sip of the iced coffee in the tumbler, the ice still clinking crisp and cold, and her anger eased a bit.
"....Magic bags can do this kind of thing?"
It tasted exactly like the premium franchise beans she loved.
Just like freshly brewed coffee poured straight in.
Not even a hint of watered-down ice melt.
Her sharp gaze turned to the attendant doubling as her porter.
"...Sis, magic bags can't do that. The icebox isn't a freezer."
"Then what's his deal? What, does he have some temperature-preservation magic ability and that's why he's slumming it as an SS-grade lackey?"
"Sorry... I'll look into it."
Nothing pleased her.
Im Hyeji. That porter guy.
And the Semi Guild members who didn't fawn over her.
At first they'd been gushing about how great she was, but now she could feel their distant stares.
It wouldn't be long anyway.
Those people would learn soon enough.
Just like the other hunters who traveled with her—they'd have no choice but to suck up, read the room, and treat her right, whether they liked it or not.
"S-grade monster spotted! Heading this way!"
"Getting ready for battle!"
The hunters' shouts rang out.
With her vast experience, Eom O-su sensed it instinctively.
"Hmph, showtime."
As everyone else stood and prepared for combat.
Eom O-su entered the prefabricated (8-person) tent she'd set up and told her attendants.
"Call me when one or two have died. That's how they learn my value and I shine even brighter."
"Got it, sis. Don't worry, it's not like this is our first rodeo."
"We'll call you at the perfect timing."
The porter and guards sat down in front of the tent as if it were routine.
The monsters approaching from afar looked like quite a few.
"Looks like a lot. She'll be okay, right?"
"Semi Guild isn't some noob trash guild. They won't drop to that level. And sis might seem ruthless, but she's not the type to let people die just to win a pissing contest."
"....R-really?"
"If it looks dicey, we call her a bit early and have her wait. No biggie."
"Yeah. She's just timing her grand entrance anyway."
As the battle grew fierce and one attendant entered the tent.
Eom O-su yelled from the toilet.
"Can't come out. Can't come out, so handle it yourselves squeeee!"