Please Give Me A Kiss, Healer! Chapter 121

Jiwoo immediately used the pet skill, “I Can Hear Your Voice.”

After a short beep, like the sound of a call connecting, Dongsik’s voice came through.

— This is a secret from Jiu, quack. If she finds out you little ants and I have been secretly trading candy…

“Dongsik?”

— Nya-nyanyack! When did the call connect?! Jiu, you’ve got it all wrong, quack!

“Dongsik, go get Heeseong! Hurry!”

— Got it, quack! Wait a moment, nyack!

Sensing the urgency in her voice, Dongsik hurried off to find Heeseong.

— Huh, noona. What’s up? I’m busy right now.

“Heeseong, you said your portal creation skill was upgraded last time, right?”

— Yeah.

“Does that mean you can create a portal anywhere, even outside a safe zone?”

— Uh, I haven’t tried it, but I should be able to create one anywhere I am. Why? Is there somewhere you want me to make one?

“Yes, right now! The starting point is Yeouido, where I am, and the destination can be any open space nearby!”

Heeseong agreed immediately without asking for details.

— Then I’ll make one at the Cholog Elementary School playground. It’ll take about five minutes to get there.

“As soon as you set it up, return to the safe zone without looking back. Got it?”

Jiwoo made sure to remind him of the precautions. No matter how bad the situation was, she couldn’t put her little brother in danger.

Next, Jiwoo picked up her communicator.

Everyone was fighting for their lives, so the radio channels were quiet.

She switched to Channel 12, where the Emergency Disaster Response Team was connected.

“This is Hunter Do Jiwoo of the Gongbaek Guild! We’ve established an evacuation route connecting to another part of Seoul at the park intersection in Sector B-1!”

Lee Yeonwoo’s voice came through immediately.

[Hunter Do Jiwoo, is that really true?]

“Yes! Please send all nearby civilians to Sector B-1!”

[Understood. I’ll notify all Hunters in Yeouido right away.]

Jiwoo explained the location of the portal’s destination. Perhaps because she already knew most of Jiwoo’s abilities, Yeonwoo accepted the explanation without asking many questions.

Jiwoo defeated the monster she was fighting and ran toward the barricade.

‘It’ll be safer to set up the portal inside the barricade.’

The rescued people, who were still trembling with fear, hurriedly moved out of her way.

— Noona, I’m ready. Should I connect it to where you are now?

“Wait one minute!”

Before opening the portal, she needed someone to guard it.

It was a dangerous mission: they would have to fight off monsters so countless civilians could use the portal safely, while also keeping everyone under strict control.

Jiwoo hated to admit it, but there was only one person who came to mind.

“Hunter Kang Jaegyu!”

“Hunter Kang Jaegyu? You’re getting a little too casual with me, huh?”

“Hurry! Come over here!”

Kang Jaegyu, who had been some distance away, ran over with a frown.

“Am I your damn dog, coming whenever you call? Just because I’ve been letting you get away with things lately, you think you can— Huh?”

Before he could finish speaking, a bright blue portal opened beside Jiwoo.

“Shit, what the hell? Another Gate?!”

Kang Jaegyu hurriedly backed away and took a fighting stance. If she left him alone, he would obviously cause a scene.

“I made this portal!”

“What? You did, Do Jiwoo?”

Strictly speaking, it was Heeseong who had made the portal, not Jiwoo. Portals were an ability that only a tiny number of Awakened with rare, miscellaneous-type abilities could use.

‘It’s too late for me to keep hiding my abilities, but I absolutely can’t let anyone find out about Heeseong.’

Besides, Kang Jaegyu had already seen her summon monsters with his own eyes, so there was no point worrying about him knowing that much. Kang Jaegyu couldn’t even wait a moment before pressing her for answers.

“You made this portal? Where does it lead?”

“Near the Gongbaek Guild headquarters. We need to evacuate people through it… Wait, where are you going?! I said we need to evacuate the people!”

“Ah, let go! Can’t you see all those monsters coming this way? I have to save myself first!”

“No, you can’t!”

Jiwoo desperately clung to Kang Jaegyu to stop him. He was a Hunter, after all. She never thought he would act so selfishly even in a situation like this.

‘It was my mistake to think I could trust someone like him, even if he is a B-rank damage dealer!’

As their increasingly loud argument drew the attention of people nearby, Team Leader Go Jaepil approached. He lowered his hammer to the ground, its surface dripping with monster blood.

“What are you doing?”

“T-Team Leader Go Jaepil.”

Jiwoo and Kang Jaegyu immediately stood up straight as if nothing had happened.

Team Leader Go Jaepil walked closer and looked over the portal. As an experienced Hunter, he recognized it at once.

“Could this be the evacuation route they announced over the communicator?”

“Yes, that’s right! It’s a portal provided by the Emergency Disaster Response Team. Hunter Kang Jaegyu volunteered to guard it personally and escort the civilians to safety.”

Jiwoo assigned Kang Jaegyu his role without asking for his permission. She could feel him staring at her in shock, but—

‘What’s he going to do about it?’

Jiwoo pretended not to notice. Team Leader Go Jaepil fixed his gaze on Kang Jaegyu.

“Ahem, of course. If not a member of our Donghae Guild, who else would be willing to take on such an important task?”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

Kang Jaegyu nodded without daring to argue. He shot Jiwoo an unhappy glare, but she was far too busy to care about that.

[Hunter Do Jiwoo, everything is ready. We’ve also stationed Hunters at the destination as a precaution.]

Once Lee Yeonwoo confirmed everything was ready, Jiwoo immediately moved on to the next step.

“Everyone, come this way! If you go through this portal, you’ll reach a safe open space. Officials from the Association will guide you through the next steps there!”

At her words, the people trembling inside the barricade quickly gathered around.

Hunters who had received the message also began arriving one after another. The Guild Master and his direct team came along with Special Team 7.

Shin Ilguk, who was carrying two children in his arms, asked her,

“Hunter Do Jiwoo, is it true that an evacuation route has been opened?”

“Yes, Ilguk! The portal is just inside there!”

With reinforcements arriving at the intersection, the battle began to turn in their favor.

But the Hunters weren’t the only ones gathering in one place. As people fled to the same location, the monsters that had previously been spread across a wide area suddenly charged toward the portal, as if they had all received the same signal.

“Hold the line!”

“The left side is breaking through! Tanks, move forward!”

The barricade collapsed, and fierce battles broke out in every direction.

Since even the slightest impact could cause the portal to disappear, the Hunters fought desperately to keep the monsters away.

Kang Jaegyu was among the Hunters guarding the portal.

“Goddamn it, why the hell do I have to do this…? How much longer am I supposed to put up with this shit?”

Kang Jaegyu muttered curses while keeping an eye on Team Leader Go Jaepil.

Jiwoo, standing beside him, also looked up at the sky.

‘We can’t hold out much longer like this.’

So far, they had somehow managed to hold the line. The Hunters kept fighting without retreating, and even the Healers, who were usually looked down on, were actively using their skills to support them.

But even though it had been a long time since the Gate opened, the number of monsters pouring out showed no sign of decreasing.

If anything, it felt as though there were more and more of them.

Before long, messages flooded in from the Emergency Disaster Response Team, which was overseeing the entire operation.

[Sector B-1, where the evacuation route is located, is now designated as the main sector. All Hunters in Sector A must withdraw immediately.]

In the end, they were ordered to abandon the center of Yeouido and fall back.

Less than a third of the civilians had been evacuated safely, but if things continued like this, everyone would be wiped out.

Their best option was to gather the forces scattered throughout Yeouido and concentrate on protecting the portal.

The responses were divided.

[What about the civilians in Sector A?]

[There must still be a lot of people hiding inside buildings…]

[But what else can we do? If the people in charge order us to withdraw, we have to withdraw.]

The communicator crackled with voices. Most people supported retreating, but some argued that they couldn’t just abandon Sector A.

Then a familiar voice came through the radio.

[This is Shin Woohyuk, Guild Master of the Gongbaek Guild. I will enter Sector A and rescue the survivors.]

“Guild Master?”

Startled, Jiwoo looked toward Shin Woohyuk. He cut off the communication and kept advancing, slicing through the claws of a monster rushing toward him.

He was never going to listen if anyone tried to stop him. That was just how Shin Woohyuk was.

She remembered the time they had first encountered an A-rank Dungeon Gate.

‘Protecting the people from Gates is a duty shared by every Hunter. Now that I know civilians have been caught up in this, I can’t just pretend I didn’t see it.’