Please Give Me A Kiss, Healer! – Chapter 17

Author: Asternkm

Life in the Otherworld for so many years had devastated him.

An unending cycle of pain. Pain that bit into pain, trailing on for ages.

His mind had grown blurry, and the memories of his life were not even half intact.

All that remained in him was the longing for her.

Kangwoo fiddled with the necklace hanging around his neck.

The hourglass-shaped pendant Jiwoo had once given him.

‘Kangwoo, as long as you’re wearing this, you’ll be able to find me anytime, anywhere.’

Her gentle whisper echoed in his mind.

Kangwoo’s eyes slowly flushed red as he lifted his gaze toward the barricades and the dozens of hunters blocking his view.

‘If I just erase all of them…’

Then he could stay by her side with no interference. No more chasing her. Together, forever.

Blue flames flickered at the tips of his long fingers. But just as the flames were about to surge forward—

“…But then you’d hate me. Right, Jiwoo?”

Because he had promised. That he would do everything the way she wanted.

Being abandoned by her once was more than enough.

A lonely smile tugged at Kangwoo’s lips, and the red in his eyes faded back into a brilliant gold.

He began searching for another way— a way to stand naturally beside Jiwoo, a way she wouldn’t fear him.

A short while later.

A post appeared on the fan café SeoSaMo (Seo Kangwoo’s Lovers’ Club):

Title: OMG I just saw Kangwoo-nim at Yeoksam Intersection

(photo)

I came here for something else and literally ran into him by accident ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Even from far away he was glowing. I’m never washing my eyes again.

Comments

Holy sh*t… whoever marries Kangwoo-nim should morally pay like 10x more taxes.
└ I’ll pay my whole salary in taxes… please…

Didn’t know I liked white tees and jeans but okay, clothes ARE wings, someone please archive this
└ No no no the clothes aren’t wings, Kangwoo-nim’s FACE is like a supersonic jet engine
└ I want him in combat gear please, just once—black leather gloves and a military harness

OP: Who is the one person who pressed ‘dislike’ on my post……? I’ve never murdered anyone before so my hands are shaking ^_^
└ LOLLLLLLLL
└ But seriously, isn’t Yeoksam under gate lockdown right now?? Why is Kangwoo-nim there??
└ OMG you’re right, the pic looks like it was taken inside the gate barricade
└ Huge news guys—they say he was spotted again in front of the Hunter Association
└ ?? Huh? Why is our Kangwoo-nim THERE??
└ Does that mean Kangwoo-nim is a hunter now?? What about Daewoon Group??
└ ??????

“Step back! Civilians are not allowed past this point!”

In front of the A-rank gate at Yeoksam Station.

The Association employee had been repeating the same sentence like a machine for hours.

Despite the full lockdown, people kept gathering, pushing forward endlessly.

As the employee massaged his stiff shoulders and rolled his neck—

A man suddenly appeared out of nowhere, without a single sound.

“Uh….”

The employee stared blankly at the man before him.

By regulation, he should push the man back and prevent him from coming closer.

But the moment the man’s eyes—glinting faintly in the dark—met his own, an overwhelming pressure crashed down on him.
He couldn’t even twitch a finger.

“E-excuse me…”

He forced the words out. The man, who had been walking past him toward the gate, stopped dead.

“Y-you can’t enter the barricaded zone! Identify yourself!”

The man’s sharply shaped eyes narrowed slightly.

A faint menace seeped into his face—an artist’s masterpiece marred with something chilling.

“By… by regulation, we need to check IDs…”

“……”

The handsome man remained silent.

During that silence, the employee found himself barely able to breathe. It made no sense, but the man’s gaze felt like he was deciding whether or not to eliminate him.

Thankfully, the man complied in the end.

He reached into his wallet and pulled out a rectangular card.

As he slowly handed over the card, his well-shaped lips curved faintly.

“Here.”

His low voice slipped softly into the employee’s ears.

The sweet, velvety tone snapped the employee awake.

“W-wait, excuse me! You can’t use a business card to— huh?”

Before he could finish his sentence, the man was gone. Vanished—cleanly, instantly—from his field of view.

The Association employee stared blankly at the direction where the man had disappeared.

It all happened so fast that it felt like a dream, but the paper in his hand was very real.

Did I just get hypnotized or something?

He glanced down at the card in his hand.

And moments later, he jolted in shock and grabbed his radio.

The mysterious man’s card—

Under the official Association certification mark, it read:

Seo Kangwoo
Rank: SSS / Nonstandard (EX)
Note: Returnee

****

Meanwhile, right after Jiwoo and Shin Woo-hyuk leapt into the gate—

Throughout the entire passage through the gate, Jiwoo had only one concern.

‘Don’t tell me… the skill won’t work just because it’s an A-rank dungeon?’

I refuse to die in some gloomy dungeon like this. My dream is to become the oldest resident in Silver Town! Growing old gracefully and dying of natural causes is my life goal!

The moment her feet touched solid ground, Jiwoo didn’t even bother to look around—she checked her skill first.

“Activate skill, [Welcome to My Home!]”

And the result…

Thankfully—it worked!

System

You may use the skill [Welcome to My Home (SSS)].

Would you like to move?

“Yes! YES! Guildmaster, we’re saved!”

My god, how can the tiny sentence ‘Would you like to move?’ be so precious?!

She wanted to kiss the system window floating in the air.

Jiwoo hopped in place, cheering. Woo-hyuk, startled but following her lead, raised his hand, and they shared a rapid clap-clap-clap—a high five.

“Hunter Do Jiwoo, what exactly has ‘worked’?”

“Haha, Guildmaster, I’m sure you’ve already noticed… I’m not just an ordinary low-rank healer.”

“Yes. I’m aware. Ordinary healers don’t normally sense when a gate is about to open.”

His expression hardened—like he was interrogating a criminal.

“When did you start hiding your second awakening?”

“Hiding? I wasn’t hiding anything! I was planning to go to the Association today and get re-evaluated but…”

“Don’t.”

“…Sorry?”

Woo-hyuk bent forward to meet Jiwoo’s eyes directly.

“Don’t get re-evaluated.”

“Uh… but that’s literally a crime.”

According to the Awakened Management Act, all awakened individuals must report any change to their status within three days.
It’s difficult to track, yes—but failing to report it is still a serious crime.

And Woo-hyuk? He was the definition of an FM (“follow-the-manual”) hunter, the model among models. Jiwoo had expected him to nag her more harshly than anyone.

But instead—

“Hunter Do Jiwoo, you can’t live your life naïvely trying to follow every law.”

The model hero was… encouraging her to break one.

Jiwoo blinked in shock.

But Woo-hyuk remained completely serious.

“If your ability becomes known, you’ll be in danger. Especially from the Emergency Disaster Team.”

The Emergency Disaster Team. A government division that managed dungeons nationwide, operating in 24-hour shifts.

Their obsession with gates bordered on fanaticism.

If word got out that Jiwoo could detect gates before they opened, the Disaster Team would be the first to go insane.

They’d rush over immediately—kidnapping, threatening, confining her—doing whatever it took to take her.

And the bigger problem was… They wouldn’t be the only ones after her.

…And among those dangerous groups… was Shin Woo-hyuk as well.