Chapter 213
Chapter 213
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Nayeo-ju Saves the World Part 2 Episode 34
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The scanner was now glowing with a lustrous emerald green.
Jeong Je-hwa glared at the green light for a moment before roughly raking his hair back.
'What the hell was that just now.'
His hand brushed down the arm wrapped in a thin knit sweater.
It was a motion to dispel the lingering tingle still prickling his skin.
The first rampage he'd ever experienced had been terrifying.
From the moment that divine wrath crashed over him, the agony that scorched through his entire body like fire had shattered any ability to think.
His reason and thoughts had scattered like in a sudden car crash, leaving only instinct to fill the void.
What had happened just moments ago felt like a distant, ancient memory.
All that surfaced were the pain that had clenched his teeth and the soft warmth of Nayeo-ju's body hugging him tightly.
"Hoo."
Thinking of her brought a rush of heat to his body, and Jeong Je-hwa squeezed his eyes shut tight.
The pain—like every cell and nerve burning up—was undoubtedly ferocious.
Yet the other energy that had seeped in to soothe that excruciating torment had been insanely sweet.
It was so seductive it could obliterate the sensation of rampage in an instant.
He knew exactly what it was.
It was her energy, a perfect match for its owner.
Nayeo-ju's ability that quelled the rampage fever in one shot.
Jeong Je-hwa opened his eyes and glared at the scanner dangling from his wrist.
With a rough yank, the bracelet was torn off and clattered carelessly to the floor.
'Should I just smash it.'
The savage impulse rose unbidden.
The scanner he'd poured his heart into creating suddenly felt like a dangerous abomination that had no right to exist in the world.
'Even if we make the scanner, is it really okay for people to learn their own Dark Addiction rates?'
Nayeo-ju's intent—to free Awakeners from the suffering of rampage—was noble.
But he feared the ripples this scanner would unleash.
That sensation from moments ago, the one Nayeo-ju could bestow... it had left its mark on his unconscious after just one taste.
And if the scanner spread, if others discovered its true value...
"Haa."
Another deep sigh escaped him.
He picked up the bracelet rolling on the floor, but for a long while, he couldn't lift his bowed head, couldn't stand and return to Nayeo-ju. He just stayed rooted in place.
"From now on, ignore anything with 'god' in the name. Don't even glance at it."
I ground my teeth as I tore the leaves off the herbs piled on the table one by one.
I'd slept like a log in Jeong Je-hwa's workshop, but the mental exhaustion refused to fade.
"What happened?"
Im Cheong-su, sitting beside me and trimming herbs just like I was, asked.
"Nothing. But seriously, how long do we have to keep trimming these?"
"Finish this pile, then the ones over there too."
"If you're gonna make us do grunt work like this, at least pay us a daily wage."
As I grumbled, Choi Su-won, sitting across from me and plucking herbs, slyly pulled my stack toward himself.
"Nayeo-ju-ssi, let me handle this..."
"Ehey! Oof! We need every hand we can get. There's still a mountain left! Besides, Nayeo-ju sis has nothing better to do anyway."
This heartless punk, Im Cheong-su.
The herbs he'd swiped slid right back in front of me.
No way... it looks like even more than before!
"Hey, Im Cheong-su. I've got a ton on my plate, you know? You have no idea how much I suffered today!"
"What suffering?"
"Uh? Oh, well, that... Anyway, it was something!"
I couldn't exactly say I'd gone to Jamsil to invent a scanner, things went sideways, and I ended up saving a rampaging S-rank!
"Anyway, what is it? Did sis go do something weird again?!"
"Kid, anyone overhearing would think I stumble into trouble every single day."
"You do. Things just quiet down, you bid on a dungeon. Get a bit free, you stir up some mess. If that's the case, don't whine about wanting a break."
"...Hmph."
He was so annoyingly right that I shoved a portion of my herbs over to Im Cheong-su.
He eyed what I was doing, made a face like 'better me than her', and got back to trimming.
"Su-won oppa, you settling into the guild okay? No troubles?"
"Of course. The work's fun, dorm's super comfy—love it. I've even gained 2 kilos."
Choi Su-won beamed, showing off his porcelain-white forearm at me.
"Not giving you the cold shoulder like Im Cheong-su does to me?"
"Why would I bully Su-won hyung? He's not the type to go getting banged up everywhere like someone."
He'd spotted the fresh scratch on my arm from Jeong Je-hwa earlier and unleashed a torrent of nagging.
Im Cheong-su shot me a displeased look and snorted. He was sulking because I wouldn't tell him where, who, or how I'd gotten hurt.
"Im Cheong-su."
"What."
"Don't try to know everything about your sis. You'll regret it."
"...What are you on about? Just stop getting hurt."
His concern was kinda cute, so I smiled, and he swiped a herb leaf across my face mid-pluck.
"Pfft! Hey! Don't wipe my face with that!"
"......"
Im Cheong-su pursed his lips instead of snapping back.
But that didn't mean I could spill what happened to me today.
Not the right time yet.
I was pondering whether to pivot the topic to tonight's dinner menu when—
"Pardon the intrusion."
"Director!"
"Long time no see, Nayeo-ju-ssi."
Seo Yu-baek, who'd come to tour Im Cheong-su's lab and greenhouse today, waved cheerfully in greeting.
"Wow! What an amazing space, Cheong-su student."
Im Cheong-su's face flushed red at the praise.
Weak to compliments, that one.
I was already scheming how to tease him about it later when Seo Yu-baek strode right up to me.
"Nayeo-ju-ssi, look here."
Seo Yu-baek wiggled their index finger back and forth in front of my eyes.
I rolled my eyes left and right to follow as instructed, but then they flicked on their phone flashlight and shone it right in my eyes.
"Ugh, too bright, teacher."
"After that incident last time, we have to check your vision. As your primary physician. Good news—it's back to normal."
"Ah, that."
They were referring to the debuff from the desert dungeon last time, when drug overuse had stolen my eyesight.
The system had no loose ends like aftereffects, but better safe than sorry.
After checking my vision and sharing the heavy fruits they'd brought, the conversation naturally shifted to the wound treatment potion that Im Cheong-su and Seo Yu-baek were researching together.
"The phase 1 clinical trial results we wrapped up recently are fantastic."
Seo Yu-baek said with a proud smile.
"It boosts cell recovery rates, so it can't fully eliminate the accompanying pain yet, but it'll be incredibly useful in trauma centers."
"Ah, that stuff. It hurts like hell."
I chimed in from experience, having poured it on a burn once.
"Even so, thanks to the wound treatment potion, we saved one hunter."
"......Someone must've been seriously hurt."
Im Cheong-su, who'd been quietly trimming herbs until now, finally reacted.
"Yes. During a gate raid, there was an accident—a hunter with a severe abdominal laceration was rushed in. C-rank support type, so natural healing was slow. Massive blood loss, heart had stopped once already, and significant organ damage. It was critical. For that level of trauma, even if another healer and I had used skills simultaneously, we couldn't have guaranteed survival. But with medical anesthesia and the quick potion treatment, they were discharged today."
"Wow......"
A person even an S-rank healer couldn't confidently save had lived thanks to Im Cheong-su's potion.
Chills ran down my spine.
Pride swelling, I glanced at Im Cheong-su—his earlobes were already beet red.
"Well...... it still causes pain, so it's hard to use outside hospitals. Long way to go."
Thrilled but pretending otherwise.
"That's why—for the phase 2 trial potions..."
Seo Yu-baek, Im Cheong-su, and Choi Su-won dove into a world of herbs and medicine that sailed right over my head.
Time for me to make myself scarce.
"Nayeo-ju-ssi, heading out?"
"Yeah, got an appointment tomorrow with your friend, Director. Gotta prep."
"My friend...... Ah! You mean Do-kyeong-ssi?"
"Yep, Cheongmun Guild Master."
Tomorrow was finally the day for the underwater dungeon tour I'd been dying for.