Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: [Reality] Why Is She Mad?
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Suddenly, this woman came up to me asking if I was Lee Jun. No matter how I looked at her, she was a pretty girl who had zero connection to my life.
Come to think of it, back in school, all the pretty girls in my class would recoil whenever they saw me.
Calling me a germ or whatever, even crying because they had to sit next to me.
'Aaaargh, stop thinking.'
Just recalling it made goosebumps crawl all over my body.
Memories that shouldn't exist, horrific ones at that.
Is this what fucking Cthulhu is? No way anything else is.
Unspeakable cosmic horror?
Fuck that.
My school days were way more unspeakable, you bastards.
'Anyway, the conclusion is...'
The only women who talk to me are scammers.
Especially if she's pretty?
Scam probability: 98.91%.
The remaining 1.09% are people asking for directions.
Come to think of it, they've been saying scammers are even pretending to ask for directions these days.
Truly a world where you can't let your guard down.
And she even knows my name.
Super suspicious.
Lee Ah-rin was glaring at the woman while chewing viciously on her straw.
A murderous glint in her eyes.
She must have sensed the scammer vibe too.
Well, she's quicker on the uptake than me, after all.
If even I noticed, she would've clocked it ages ago.
"Um..."
Lost in those thoughts, the woman spoke up again.
I couldn't just ignore her completely, so I figured I'd respond.
But no dropping my guard.
One minute you're chatting because her face is a little pretty, and next thing you know, you're out 300,000 won, 400,000 won.
It could escalate to hundreds of millions.
"Yes, I'm Lee Jun. And you are?"
When I shot the question back, she looked flustered.
She glanced around left and right, then gave an awkward smile before speaking.
"Ah, you don't remember me? From the variant gate the day before yesterday..."
"Variant gate?"
Variant gate?
Now that I looked closely, she did seem kinda familiar.
"Ah!"
I remembered.
After dealing with the twin-headed minotaur, when I was half-dead and cradled in Erika's arms.
This was the healer peeking out from behind Erika's face.
The one who'd been diligently healing me.
How could I forget such an important person?
I'm no human being.
But it couldn't be helped.
My condition was shit, and with Erika's face right there, her features had blurred in my memory.
Looking at her now, she's pretty gorgeous too.
"Ah, the healer? Sorry. I was totally out of it back then, so I didn't remember properly..."
"Hehe, that's understandable. You lost so much blood. I almost didn't recognize you either. Your clothes are totally different from then."
Maybe because I'm not in my usual sloppy clothes, but the ones Ah-rin bought me.
Time to nod along appropriately.
"Ahaha. Yeah, right?"
"More importantly, how's your body holding up? I healed you as best I could yesterday, but it's only been a day, so there might be aftereffects."
"I'm good. Totally fine. Um... that is..."
Come to think of it, I don't even know her name.
"I'm Kim Min-ji."
As I hemmed and hawed, she told me her name.
Pretty face and quick on the uptake.
"Thank you. If it weren't for you, Kim Min-ji the healer, I'd really be dead."
"No, no. Compared to all the people you saved, what I did was nothing."
And humble to boot.
Doesn't sound like empty words—she really means it.
How can people like this exist?
Well, everyone gathered there was similarly kind-hearted.
They'd all moved to protect civilian victims.
Probably way more hunters who didn't show up.
No need to take risks and suffer losses for nothing.
"More importantly..."
The healer, who'd been laughing "ahaha," turned to Ah-rin.
"Is the woman next to you... your girlfriend?"
"Pffft!"
Ah-rin, who was slurping her iced Americano, choked and coughed.
Girlfriend, my ass.
She's my little sister who basically hates me, only taking care of me because Mom forced her.
Having to hear that while stuck with me? Gotta suck.
Before Ah-rin's mood soured even more, I waved my hands frantically.
"Nah, no way. What kinda nightmare is that? She's just my sister, blood sister."
How's that? Nailed it, right?
I'm quick on the uptake too.
But when I glanced at Ah-rin, her face was all crumpled up.
Should've denied it faster?
"Ah... your sister, huh. No wonder... you kinda have a similar vibe. Ahaha."
The healer gave a slightly embarrassed laugh, adding that, but her eyes... how to put it.
Might be my one-sided delusion, but it felt like "Knew it" or "As expected."
She seemed convinced once I said sister.
A slight... pang.
Oh well, what can you do.
We're in different leagues.
Ah-rin's an S-rank world-class beauty by any measure.
Compared to her, me? I'm not ugly, but next to Ah-rin, I'd look like an orc.
Still, saying we have a similar vibe—empty compliment or not—puts her in the top 1% for personality.
The healer smiled warmly and greeted my sister.
"Hi. I'm Kim Min-ji. B-rank hunter, working as a healer."
"...Hi. I'm Lee Ah-rin."
Ah-rin usually puts on polite airs in public, but today she's ice-cold.
Short, dry response, frowning as she sips her coffee again. Total "don't talk to me" vibe.
Even the healer looked a bit taken aback by Ah-rin's frosty reaction.
'Why's she suddenly like this?'
She seemed in a good mood earlier.
And this is someone I know—ignoring her like that isn't cool.
She greeted so nicely too.
But calling her out would be awkward.
Fighting in front of a stranger? Nah.
As an awkward silence started to settle, the healer spoke up again.
"By the way, perfect timing. I was gonna ask the Association for your contact since I didn't have a way to reach you."
"Huh? Contact? Why?"
"Oh, nothing big. About that variant gate incident. We've already submitted all the reports."
"Ah... right. Thanks. I should've done it."
"No. You weren't even fully recovered—it's only natural we handled it."
Is that normal?
Worried she'll get suckered living like that.
"The Association's finished assessing, so you should get a call today about loot distribution and merit recognition."
"Oh yeah, loot and merits."
"We all agreed you should take it all. You soloed everything."
"The others agreed too? Won't that mean you barely get any compensation?"
"Yeah, but if you've got a conscience, you can't dip into it. You and... that foreign friend took them all down."
"Whoa..."
Speechless.
Variant gate with a C-rank raid boss—rewards should be hefty.
And they gave it all to me without taking a cut.
Gotta buy those hunters a meal if I see them.
Though with the healer, it'd feel like I'm hitting on her if I offer.
"Could you pass on my thanks to the others too?"
"Sure. Or you could tell them yourself next time you meet."
"Ah... I don't remember their faces or names."
"Ahaha! Then I'll relay it. Oh, but... there's some bad news."
"Bad news? What?"
"Those twin-headed minotaur weapons. It had four, right?"
"Yeah?"
Axe, flail, glaive, and chain.
All nasty pieces of work.
"The axe, flail, and chain are pretty much trashed."
"What? Why?"
"Your friend there... sliced them way too cleanly."
"Ah..."
[Hakuna Kirimaru] strikes again.
Not just halving the minotaur with that slash—it wrecked all its weapons too.
Too OP is a problem.
"No value as weapons, just scrap material now. Especially the chain—got severed in layers."
"Got it..."
Fuck, my money.
C-rank raid boss gear would've fetched a fortune intact.
Bitter taste.
But unavoidable in that situation.
Life or death—no time for that.
"The glaive's intact, though. Good condition since it wasn't sliced. Should sell well."
The glaive that wrecked my shoulder?
Coming back as a golden goose. Life's ironic.
"That alone will fetch a good price. Gotta appraise it, but high chance it's an artifact. At least a few hundred mil, lucky? Could hit billions."
"Billions...? For real?"
The word slipped out with a gasp.
Knew it'd be pricey, heard hunters make bank, but that much?
Worlds away from my pebble days.
"Gotta be super lucky, so don't get hopes up. Might be just a few hundred thou."
"Aha."
Knew it.
Still, a few hundred's nice.
Please be an artifact.
"Plus a decent-sized magic stone from the boss, and from the wolf monsters—should be quite the haul. Variant gates are emergencies, so low taxes."
"Right, magic stones too."
They still tax, huh.
Sales commission and tax at 33%?
Ridiculous.
You'd think hunters would riot, but surprisingly they accept it.
Funds go to death benefits, family support, etc.
Hunters pissed off means big trouble, so after some old incident, they publish full transparent usage reports.
Heard one even tried nuking Seoul.
Probably exaggerated.
Who'd be that insane?
"Good news. Thanks for letting me know."
"No thanks needed. It's the least."
Might offer her the healer spot in my future harem party.
B-rank healer's rare talent.
Pretty face, curves in all the right places—hips wide enough for an "uhuhu."
Lost in that fantasy.
Business seemed done, but she hesitated.
"Anything else?"
"Ah, and actually... one more thing."
"You free this weekend by any chance?"
"Weekend? Yeah, but... what's up?"
"I've got a regular party. Raid scheduled, but one member's out for personal reasons. Need a DPS sub-tank."
"Looking for a sub?"
"Yeah. Canceling last-minute means penalties, messes future schedules."
I didn't know that.
Nodded like I did.
"If you're interested, wanna join? Straight N-split pay. Extra for emergency sub. Your skills? Soloing everything but the boss proves it."
Scout offer.
Not guild join, just one-off merc gig.
Half-hoped date, but nah.
Obviously.
No way a girl like this asks me out.
Wasn't expecting anyway.
For real.
'C-rank gate, huh...'
Money tempts.
More the better.
No weekend plans.
Need more real-world combat XP.
'Building rapport with a healer like Kim Min-ji ain't bad.'
B-rank healer to boot.
No healer's stuck doing low-grade gates for their rank.
Buffers/debuffers help, but rarer than healers.
Desperate? Potions.
Like they grow on trees.
Lucky drops or alchemist-made—pricey as hell.
Healers are nobility.
Excuses aside, main reason: she saved my life.
Not helping someone who saved you? Not human.
"Standard C-rank dungeon, not too tough. All vets, easy with your skills. What do ya say?"
"I'm in."
Decision made; tuned out the rest.
"For real? You'll come?"
"Yeah, seems easy. Gotta help each other out. After all you've done."
"Yay!"
She squealed happily, then pulled out her smartphone.
"Can we exchange numbers? In case you change your mind or something urgent."
Whoa, normies swap numbers this easy?
I was agonizing if it was okay post-agreement. Feel like an idiot.
"Ah, sure."
My number in her phone, hers in mine.
Saved as [Kim Min-ji Healer].
Come to think, first girl number besides Mom and Ah-rin.
"See you weekend, Lee Jun. I'll text details. Sorry for bothering."
"Ah, yeah. Take care."
"Nice meeting you too, sis. Bye."
Healer waved cutely and left.
Refreshing personality.
"Hm."
Satisfied with the gains, I sipped my coffee.
Thud.
Sudden hard clunk of a cup.
Ah-rin glaring at me with a rotten expression.
Low-pressure Ah-rin since earlier.
Period hit or something?
"What's up?"
No response.
Lips pursed tight, stabbing glare.
Then, out of nowhere, the last words I expected.
"...Oppa."
"Huh?"
What?
Ears broken?
Pretty sure I misheard.