Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: The Heroine Saves the World
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‘Do I... like her or something?’
Jang Su-ho’s mind was spinning in confusion.
It got even worse when he recalled the conversation he’d had with the guild master after emerging from the guerrilla dungeon.
In the special room at the Awakener Hospital, Kang Han gazed at Nayeo-ju, who lay weakly on the bed, and asked.
“Why was Nayeo-ju-ssi the target?”
“I... don’t really know. Back then, I couldn’t see anything but her...”
Jang Su-ho roughly raked a hand over his face, still marked with traces of the dungeon, and continued.
“I wanted to kill her. But it was a little different.”
“Explain in more detail.”
It had been a raid full of questions.
Under Kang Han’s steady gaze, Jang Su-ho finally confessed with difficulty.
“The previous times I lost my reason, all I could think about was destroying everything. But with Nayeo-ju... she scared me. That’s why I charged at her, I think.”
“She scared you.”
Jang Su-ho nodded.
“When I turn berserk, I become someone else. But Nayeo-ju’s presence felt like it could erase that version of me—it made my hair stand on end with terror.”
“Like feeling an instinctive threat.”
“Yes. But then Nayeo-ju’s hand cooled my head in an instant. That’s how I came back to my senses...”
Jang Su-ho trailed off.
There was something he couldn’t bring himself to say out loud—especially not to Kang Han.
The moment her hand touched him, even after berserk mode ended, he could only see Nayeo-ju.
It was as if the world split into ‘Nayeo-ju’ and ‘everything that wasn’t Nayeo-ju,’ like some kind of imprinting.
But that was that, and this was this.
Su-ho let out a deep sigh and turned to look at Yeo-ju.
“Don’t you have something more fun? Like, with punching and smashing.”
“Huh? Unnie likes that stuff? Got it. How about this one?”
“Oh, that looks kinda fun.”
Yeo-ju yawned hugely as she chatted with Yu-eul.
No matter how you looked at it, she was light-years away from Su-ho’s ideal type.
Just then, a piece of popcorn Yeo-ju was bringing to her mouth dropped to the floor.
“Oops, hasn’t been three seconds.”
She picked up the fallen popcorn and crunched it noisily.
In that instant, Su-ho’s mind cleared like a sunny day.
And he thought.
‘Yeah, I can’t mistake pity for attraction.’
With that settled.
Su-ho grinned widely and picked up his own dropped bag of potato chips.
While the action movie I wanted played, I took a moment to review things.
For starters, my limit on stamina potions seemed to be five bottles.
Anything more, and that damn roulette spun, plunging me into some unavoidable status ailment.
This time, I’d lucked out with just passing out, but who knew what it’d be next time.
So instead of relying on potions, I should stock up on items that boost my absolute stamina.
Also, Jang Su-ho’s berserk mode seemed to sync with the darkness emerging from inside gates.
Compared to the Awakener Association training ground last time, where he could relatively easily control himself even when angry, that was my conclusion.
‘And there’s something more to this darkness purification skill, I think.’
This was just a hunch.
But it was too strong an intuition to ignore outright.
Pretending to watch the movie, I pulled up my status window.
Nayeo-ju A
I’d always only paid attention to the ‘Strengthen Body and Mind’ skill’s Dark Addiction healing ability.
But this time, my eyes went to the empty skill slot below.
‘Empty’ meant something else could go there.
Maybe it wasn’t just about purifying darkness—perhaps an ability to ‘control’ it. That kind of hunch.
‘Please don’t give me something weird like that roulette.’
And then the uninvited system responded.
‘Yeah, right.’
Suddenly making my healing skill fail and knocking me out—what part of that was for my benefit!
What if that happened mid-battle!
At least I had Kang Han, who’d carry me and run no matter the situation.
Before the system clammed up again, I asked.
‘So what options are on that roulette?’
‘Ugh.’
My mistake for expecting a straight answer from the system.
I chewed and swallowed my frustration toward the system along with some popcorn.
Before long, the second action movie ended.
Before everyone headed back to their rooms, I brought up what I’d prepared in advance.
“Let’s get this properly appraised.”
It was frustrating, but what could I do.
I knew what this holy grail was, but the others didn’t.
No choice but to bring in an official appraisal certificate with authority.
“Appraisal? Isn’t that expensive?”
Lee Yu-chan asked as he tidied up the snack bags.
“The guild has that kind of money now.”
“Oh, right. I keep forgetting since you guys always act so broke compared to us.”
“When did I ever act broke?”
“I saw you pick up that popcorn from the floor earlier.”
Young eyes sure are sharp.
When did he even see that?
“Anyway, it seems like no ordinary item, so better to get it appraised early and figure out storage.”
“Let’s do that.”
Kang Han agreed immediately.
He probably sensed it too.
This holy grail wasn’t just any item.
“But who do we get to appraise it? Don’t appraisers usually have months-long bookings?”
The world was overflowing with items, and most hunters couldn’t even properly check their own status windows.
So appraisers with appraisal skills were busy and expensive.
But I had Jeong Je-hwa.
“I know just the guy.”
“Can I come too?”
Jang Su-ho suddenly chimed in.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“He’s super shy with strangers. Might not even open the door if you’re with me.”
Jeong Je-hwa wasn’t that standoffish, but still.
Anyway, conversations wouldn’t flow normally like usual.
Not with my big mouth open now.
“Tch.”
Jang Su-ho pouted.
Hey, since when did he stick to me like that?
I didn’t know what effect the ‘master’ keyword had, but it felt like I’d accidentally adopted a clingy giant dog.
As we bantered like that, Lee Yu-eul approached.
“Unnie, when you go for the appraisal, could you get this one checked too?”
What Lee Yu-eul held out was the jungle machete I’d picked up and started using in the jungle dungeon.
“You still have this?”
“Yeah. Um, it seems like this guy turned into an item, so I kept it.”
“Turned into an item?”
I hurriedly pulled up the machete’s info window in surprise.
“Whoa.”
This was the real jackpot.
A weapon that perfectly matched Lee Yu-eul’s skills and tendencies had emerged from the dungeon as an A-rank item—and it was even imprinted.
Now no one but her could use it.
I couldn’t stop my lips from curling up, so I covered my mouth with my hand and replied.
“Sure, I’ll get it appraised tomorrow.”
Justice Guild—we might actually be pretty lucky.
We arrived at Maestro Tower in Jamsil.
I bought a bag of candy as usual and headed down to B4, toward Sugar Workshop.
I flung open the door and shouted.
“Knock knock! It’s me!”
Jeong Je-hwa, hunched over his workbench tinkering with something, looked up.
“Why do you look so surprised?”
His eyes, visible through black horn-rimmed glasses, were wide round.
“I was just about to contact you.”
“No way, you mean...?”
“It’s done—the earrings you commissioned.”
I tossed the candy bag carelessly onto the counter and rushed to the workbench.
Jeong Je-hwa placed the earrings on a cloth gleaming with black luster.
“Holy shit.”
The moment I saw them, an uncontainable gasp escaped me.