Please Give Me A Kiss, Healer! Chapter 113

The first thing Jiwoo needed to take care of was the food issue in the safe zone.

After all, nothing was more important than having enough to eat.

“How’s the farming going?”

— Harvest season has arrived, gaem! We’ll start harvesting tomorrow, gaem!

Gam124 had originally been in charge of the farm, but after being attacked by Kang Jaegyu, he’d been recovering ever since.

Gam89 had taken over as acting farm manager.

The blessed soil of the Safe Zone, combined with the special fertilizer made by mixing in seaweed gathered by the Black Dolphins, created incredible synergy.

The crops grew so quickly that you could practically watch them sprout before your eyes.

“Wow…”

A sea of golden grain stretched across the vast fields.

Every time the cool breeze swept over the land, the ripe crops danced in waves.

There looked to be enough food to feed the Antmen and the Whitebirds for at least a year.

“Heeseong, harvesting requires a lot of too—… Oh. You already made them.”

The backyard was piled high with farming tools.

They looked crude, but they were perfectly functional.

Heeseong had made them himself after studying farming books ever since they’d planted the seeds.

‘Looks like I don’t have to worry about this.’

If he could make farming equipment on his own, there was no point interfering.

Leaving the farming to the Antmen and Heeseong, Jiwoo moved on to her next task.

This one absolutely required her help.

Making special potions.

The special potion business had been progressing smoothly.

Not long ago, she’d successfully signed a supply contract, with deliveries scheduled for the last day of every month.

‘This month I’m supposed to deliver one hundred potions.’

Thankfully, she’d kept the first shipment small.

The person she’d chosen for the job was Dongsik, who had faithfully served as her assistant all this time.

Naturally, he’d put up a little resistance.

— What? You’re telling the great Dongsik to babysit a stupid pot?!

“Dongsik, it’s not a pot. It’s a cauldron.”

— Same thing! Dongsik is a very busy bird! Move it! I’m not doing it!

The moment Dongsik saw the cauldron—which was nearly as tall as he was—he shrieked and fled.

Unfortunately for him, his short little legs weren’t much help.

“Go, Whitebirds! Catch that short-legged bird!”

Dongsik’s rebellion lasted less than a minute.

“Dongsik… I really don’t have anyone else—I mean, any other family member—to ask.”

— Why me?! What about those seagulls? Or the ants? Or the dolphins?!

“Because you’re the Safe Zone’s second-in-command. Everyone trusts Do Dongsik more than anyone.”

— …Well, I am pretty amazing.

“Exactly. I can’t entrust something as important as these life-saving potions to just anyone. You’re the only one I can rely on.”

— Ahem! Then what does your right-hand bird have to do?

Everything was going exactly according to Jiwoo’s plan.

Of course, calling him the second-in-command and her right-hand man had just been flattery.

There was actually only one reason she’d chosen Dongsik to oversee potion production.

His Replica skill.

Skill

Pet Skill: Kiss Kiss, Like My Master (S)

Copies a skill possessed by the owner.

Skill effectiveness is adjusted according to affection level.

When Jiwoo had first seen the skill, she hadn’t thought much of it.

‘What skill would he even copy from me?’

Maybe I could teach him Heal someday and have him run the Safe Zone’s own emergency clinic.

But now…

She realized the skill had endless potential.

She had Dongsik copy her Special Potion Crafting (S) skill.

Skill

Pet Skill: Special Potion Crafting (Copied)

Crafts potions capable of curing various abnormal status effects.

Tip: Potion production efficiency is reduced by 300%.

Jiwoo had Dongsik make potions in her place using the copied skill.

Fortunately, the finished products were virtually identical.

— Nyaaah! I have to stand over this thing for twelve whole hours?!

…Although it did take roughly three times longer than when Jiwoo made them herself.

After giving Dongsik a few instructions, Jiwoo entered the mansion.

The Antmen and Dongsik apparently cleaned the place every day.

Everything sparkled.

‘This place has really changed so much.’

Thinking back to the little shack she’d started with almost brought tears to her eyes.

Jiwoo walked past the fountain in the garden…

Past the statue of the baby angel…

And through the mansion’s enormous front doors.

A magnificent crystal chandelier glittered in the center of the first-floor hall.

The floor was polished marble.

Expensive-looking paintings and sculptures decorated every wall.

Apparently the Antmen thought the mansion looked too empty.

They had raided the treasure vault and donated the decorations themselves.

‘…Wouldn’t those sell for a fortune outside?’

Let’s see…

One…

Two…

Three…

Jiwoo’s eyes sparkled as she began counting.

There were exactly 101 pieces displayed in the main hall.

‘Hehehe… How much money is all this worth?!’

Since they’d been gifts, she couldn’t exactly sell them whenever she wanted.

‘Still… surely no one would notice if just one disappeared? Selling a single piece would make an amazing emergency fund!’

Sadly, her fantasy ended there.

Heeseong noticed what she was thinking and sprinted over, catching Jiwoo red-handed as she reached for one of the paintings.

“Absolutely not! You’ll have to step over my dead body, Noona!”

“Then lie down! I’ll step on you!”

“Have you seriously lost your mind?!”

In the end, Dongsik and Gam89 had to join forces just to drag Jiwoo away.

Confined to her bedroom on the second floor, Jiwoo hugged a pillow miserably.

“You ungrateful little brats… It’s just one painting! Couldn’t you spare me one? After everything I’ve done to feed you!”

It wasn’t as though she desperately needed money.

The advance payment from the potion contract alone had been enormous.

On top of that, she’d earned more than enough from countless dungeon missions through the guild.

‘Still… you can never have too much money.’

Especially when I could be arrested at any moment…

Jiwoo buried her face into the pillow.

The Safe Zone had always functioned fine while she was temporarily away.

But disappearing completely…

That was another matter.

‘If Kangwoo were here, I could leave everything to him without worrying.’

His absence felt enormous.

She needed someone she could open her heart to.

Someone she could lean on and show her weak side to instead of pretending to stay strong.

She missed him terribly.

 

****

 

 

 

Jiwoo spent a week in the Safe Zone.

She occasionally checked on the busy Antmen working the fields and supervised Dongsik’s potion production.

‘It’s about time I found out what’s happening outside.’

She used a portal to return to the apartment.

Not to her own unit—

But to Kangwoo’s apartment downstairs.

‘I’d better stay away from my own place. I’d rather not get caught.’

The apartment building was quiet.

Still…

There was no telling whether Hunters had been sent to wait for her.

Jiwoo pulled a baseball cap low over her face, then pulled the hood of her hoodie over it.

She even put on a pair of glasses.

Unless someone looked very closely, they wouldn’t recognize her.

“Perfect. My disguise is flawless!”

For good measure, she bought a disposable face mask at the nearby convenience store and put it on.

Then she boarded a bus headed toward the crowded university district.

It felt strange returning to the human world after so long.

Yet…

Nothing had really changed.

Except…

There were far fewer people walking the streets.

‘Huh? Is it just because it’s a weekday?’

Still, even then…

There shouldn’t be this few people in such a busy area.

Just then—

An emergency news broadcast flashed across a giant electronic billboard.

Breaking News: Popular Idol A Attacked by Doppelganger

Doppelganger attacks continue escalating… What measures is the government taking?

National Emergency Response Team announces official safety guidelines

Every headline was about doppelgangers.

‘What happened while I was in the Safe Zone?’

Startled, Jiwoo hurried into a nearby PC café.

She sat down at a computer, opened the internet, and sorted the latest news by publication time.

“Recently, incidents of doppelgangers openly attacking civilians have been increasing. The latest attack shocked the nation, taking place during a live television music broadcast, where the assault on Idol A was aired in real time. Let’s take a look at footage from that emergency broadcast.”