Please Give Me A Kiss, Healer! Chapter 15

Slurp!

Jiwoo downed the strawberry latte Woo-hyuk had handed her and snapped her head up.

“Huh? Yesh? Why?”

Seeing her plump lips smeared with whipped cream, Shin Woo-hyuk simply shook his head.

“…Nothing. Forget it.”

There was no way that person could be someone like this.

No—thinking that would be an insult to him.

Glancing briefly at his watch, Shin Woo-hyuk got straight to the point.

“Hunter Do Jiwoo, I understand you experienced a difficult situation because of our guild member, Hunter Kang Jaegyu.”

“Oh, yes. That did happen.”

If it hadn’t been for that jerk, she wouldn’t have gotten stranded in the dungeon.

Still, thanks to it she awakened a second time, so she didn’t hold a grudge.

Woo-hyuk continued.

“Hunter Kang Jaegyu has already been disciplined by the guild. He couldn’t come today due to… certain circumstances.”

“Circumstances?”

“Yes. He’s currently unable to move.”

“Huh? Was he injured?”

Shin Woo-hyuk simply smiled without giving details.

He couldn’t very well say that Kang Jaegyu had been beaten half to death in the name of ‘discipline.’

“I’m sincerely sorry, Hunter Do Jiwoo. On behalf of the entire VOID Guild, I apologize.”

“No, no! It’s not something the guild master should apologize for.”

Jiwoo waved her hands, thinking inwardly, “So hurry up and give me the settlement money.”

Perhaps her desperate telepathy worked, because Shin Woo-hyuk slid an envelope across the table.

“This won’t fully make up for what happened, but I want to ensure you are compensated for the harm you suffered.”

“Ahaha, you don’t need to—an apology is more than enough.”

Contrary to her words, Jiwoo opened the envelope faster than light and checked the contents.

Compensation for the D-rank dungeon incident, physical and mental distress from the stranding, the by-products from that dungeon…

Scanning the total, Jiwoo’s eyes widened.

‘Wow… this really is VOID-class money. How many zeroes is that?!’

This wasn’t just enough for a beef barbecue party—this was whole-herd-level money.

Before she could finish savoring the financial healing, Shin Woo-hyuk pushed another document toward her.

“And this one is unrelated to the incident. It’s something we’d like to offer you directly.”

 

〈VOID Guild Employment Offer〉

 

The bold words on the paper made Jiwoo go blank for a moment.

“Joining VOID? M-me?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

“Uh… why me?”

Why would they pick a good-for-nothing E-rank, barely-above-porter-level healer like her?

Jiwoo blinked rapidly in confusion.

‘Did they somehow find out I awakened a second time? No way…’

She hadn’t even gone to the Association for a re-evaluation yet.

The only ones who knew her rank had changed were the flower-boy Kangwoo and the annoying penguin Dongsik.

Shin Woo-hyuk began explaining calmly.

“When Hunter Kang Jaegyu was getting beat—ahem, disciplined, a report on you was submitted. According to Hunter Shin Il-guk, you’re highly skilled and should absolutely be recruited.”

Shin Woo-hyuk was convinced Jiwoo wasn’t a high-rank healer, but that didn’t change the fact that the guild needed capable hunters.

He continued in a serious tone.

“However, we can’t ignore your current hunter rank. So Hunter Do Jiwoo, you would join as a probationary guild member.”

Even if it was only a probationary position, the contract conditions lacked nothing.

Shin Woo-hyuk had full confidence in his own guild—and thus, he was certain.

He fully expected Jiwoo to accept the offer with joy on the spot.

But her response left him blindsided.

“Umm… Guild Master. I really appreciate the offer, but… I don’t think I can accept.”

“Yes, welcome to VOID Guild— …Sorry? What did you just say?”

“I’ll have to decline. There’s another guild I have in mind right now.”

Jiwoo gently returned the offer letter, smiling softly. Polite, sweet—and utterly firm.

…it felt strangely like getting rejected before even confessing.

Zero confession, one immediate rejection.

A complex emotion he’d never experienced before made Shin Woo-hyuk’s expression stiffen.

Jiwoo, meanwhile, had her own reasons.

‘It’s a great opportunity, sure, but… it doesn’t feel right. Not with a guild tied to that whole mess.’

Once her re-awakened S-rank was revealed, she’d be able to choose any guild she wanted.

Even if she didn’t join the #1 guild, she would still be drowned in VIP treatment.

‘…And VOID Guild is connected to Kangwoo.’

However small the chance was, she didn’t want to risk running into him.

“So, let’s just pretend the offer never happened. I’ll just gratefully accept the compensation—”

Just as Jiwoo was about to decline again—

A violent red system window exploded in front of her eyes.

 

※ WARNING ※
Certain monsters that have an affection toward you are sending danger signals.
Evacuate the area immediately.

Dungeon Break in
00:05:00

 

“What—what is this…?!”

Jiwoo shot to her feet, startled out of her mind.

‘Did I finally lose it? Am I hallucinating?’

After everything that had happened recently, losing her mind a bit would be understandable.

But no matter how hard she rubbed her eyes, the red warning window remained.

Shin Woo-hyuk rose in alarm at her sudden panic.

“What’s wrong? Is something the matter?”

“No, it’s just—well, the system—”

Even as Jiwoo stammered, more messages flashed.

※ WARNING! WARNING! ※
Evacuate the danger zone immediately.
Dungeon Break in
00:04:40

※ WARNING! WARNING! ※
00:04:39

※ WARNING! WARNING! ※
00:04:38

Two or three windows popped up every second.

The flickering lights in her vision gave Jiwoo vertigo, and she staggered.

Woo-hyuk quickly caught her and asked gravely,

“Hunter Do Jiwoo, is your Awakener system malfunctioning?”

“No, it’s not like that… the dungeon gate is about to—”

She almost read the text out loud, then froze.

‘What am I thinking? How am I supposed to explain this? That my “system” is warning me? That monsters are sending me danger signals?’

She was confused.

First—
She didn’t know if she could trust this sudden system message.

Second—
She wasn’t even sure whether the gate warning was real.

She’d never even heard of a system sending this kind of alert.

And lastly—

‘What if I say something and I’m wrong?’

If she caused a scene and it turned out false, the responsibility would be entirely on her.

Her green eyes flicked to Shin Woo-hyuk.

Would he even believe her? To him, she was just a normal E-rank healer.

She made up her mind quickly.

‘Let’s pretend I didn’t see it. Even if a dungeon appears, it’ll probably be C-rank, no big deal.’

Korea was blessed ground.

In North America or other parts of Asia, vast land meant frequent high-rank dungeons.

But Korea, despite being small, had high-quality hunters and mostly low-rank gates.

‘Grandpa Dangun really picked prime land. Small but powerful!’

Our ancestors were amazing!

Jiwoo forced a smile and sat back down.

“I thought I saw a pair of cockroaches crawling on the floor, but I guess I was mistaken—”

Then another window appeared.

 

Analyzing danger signals…
Estimated Dungeon Rank: A
A dungeon gate will activate within a 100m radius.

Time remaining
00:03:25

“An—A-rank?!”

BANG!

Jiwoo slammed the table and shot up again.

An A-rank dungeon.

The highest rank ever recorded in Korea.

An A-rank dungeon required the combined force of high-level hunters and multiple guilds to clear.

They were rare—but recently increasing.

Still—

‘An A-rank gate in the middle of Seoul? With no prior warning?’

Her head spun.

She looked around at the crowded café.

It took at least 3–4 days to form a raid team.

During that time?

No rescue. No response. Nothing.

By the time hunters arrived, everyone in this building would be dead.

[00:03:10]

Jiwoo stared at the flashing timer, trembling.

After a few seconds—

She made her decision.

“Guild Master Shin Woo-hyuk.”

“Yes?”

“We need to evacuate everyone. Right now. Within three minutes.”

“…I’m sorry?”

“A dungeon gate is going to open here! An A-rank gate!”

“…….”

Woo-hyuk’s expression turned even more doubtful.

He had been wondering since earlier whether Jiwoo was in her right mind.

“Hunter, I believe you may be suffering PTSD from the recent incident. I’ll transfer you to a specialist—”

“No! I’m fine! This is real! It’s happening right now!”

Whether he looked at her like she was insane or not, Jiwoo grabbed his sleeve and pulled hard.

“There’s no time! We have to run!”

She didn’t care if she became the “shepherd boy” who cried wolf.

Who cares about embarrassment? She could just be known as a clout-chasing hunter!

People could die here—ALL of them.

“Hunter Do Jiwoo, please calm down. Suddenly saying this—”

“Argh! I said there’s no time! We have two minutes left!”

Jiwoo gave up convincing him and shouted to the whole café:

“EVERYONE, GET OUT! A DUNGEON GATE IS ABOUT TO OPEN!”

A 100-meter radius—that was exactly the size of this building. If they ran now, they could escape the range.

But—

“Huh? What’s she talking about?”

“A dungeon gate? Does she even look like a hunter? She’s tiny.”

“Hey, quiet, she can hear you.”

Severe safety complacency.

Korea’s Hunter Association had near-perfect early detection systems.

They detected 99% of dungeon gates before they formed and sent alerts for evacuation.

A flawless system admired worldwide.

But ironically—it made the public complacent.

“WHY ARE YOU ALL STILL HERE?! I SAID EVACUATE!!”