Please Give Me A Kiss, Healer! Chapter 19

“Hunter Do Ji-woo, this way is safe.”

Korea’s strongest S-rank Hunter—an overwhelmingly powerful fire-attribute damage dealer.

Shin Woo-hyuk cleared a path while shielding Ji-woo so that no monster could get near her.

But after cutting down so many enemies, his movements had become noticeably slower than before.

Ji-woo, who had been repeatedly using her Detection skill from behind him, quickly noticed his condition.

“Guildmaster, should I use a healing skill on you?”

“No. I’m fine. Please continue using your Detection skill.”

“Really? But you look very tired.”

“…I can still hold out for now.”

Wiping the sweat gathered on his jawline, Shin Woo-hyuk checked the distance to the emergency exit.

He had somehow managed to fight his way up to this point, but the higher they climbed in the building, the closer he came to his limit.

“Let’s head up for now. If we stay here, the monsters we passed earlier will gather again.”

Spotting the emergency exit in the distance, he sliced through a plant-type monster blocking the way.

Ji-woo, sprinting behind him, grabbed onto the hem of his clothes.

“Huff… huff… Guildmaster, wait!”

“Is it too much for you? Still, please endure just a little longer. Staying here longer will become even more dange—”

“No, no! It’s not that I’m tired—there’s something over there!”

Ji-woo pointed to the right side of the emergency exit.

She moved closer, feeling along the dark wall. A faint glint appeared in the vision of her goggles.

System
You have discovered an ant burrow for the first time!
Effect: +1 Wisdom
Achievement: There Is a Sad Legend in This Tunnel
Status window updating…

[You have obtained a Hidden Title as an achievement reward.]

System
Title: Mole (F)
Effect: When underground, HP and mana regenerate very quickly.

Ji-woo quickly scanned the notifications.

Forget the effects and the title… what’s this “ant burrow” thing?

At that moment, Shin Woo-hyuk—having just finished off the monsters rushing toward them—approached, exhausted.

“Don’t get any closer. This is an underground-type trap.”

“A trap?”

“Yes. I found a similar structure during a past A-rank dungeon raid.”

Normally, a dungeon exit appears after all monsters are cleared.

But during the previous A-rank gate, even after exterminating every monster, no exit appeared.

“While searching, the hunters discovered a tunnel like this. Ten hunters went in first as a scouting party… and never came back.”

Ten top-tier hunters had died inside that trap.

The memory hardened Shin Woo-hyuk’s expression.

“We must not enter. This kind of trap has nothing to do with the exit. And our objective is not clearing the dungeon—it’s rescuing the civilian. We avoid unnecessary risk—”

Flap, flap.

“Look at this, Guildmaster.”

Ji-woo waved a scrap of cloth in the air.

A tiny piece of bright yellow fabric had been snagged on a protruding nail.

“That girl, Kim Mina—didn’t they say she was wearing a yellow T-shirt?”

“…No way…”

“When people get scared, they hide in the place that feels safest. To a kid, a cramped space like this probably looks the safest of all.”

Ji-woo herself had curled up under desks when she was little, finding comfort in tight, sheltered spaces.

Given that the girl was swept into the gate, it was highly likely she was inside this burrow.

“So that means we have to go in.”

Ji-woo tightened her goggles with a determined expression as she stared into the pitch-black tunnel.

Two hours later — deep inside the burrow.

Kim Mina curled up, stifling sobs.

Ever since the monsters dragged her here, her eyes stung and her stomach felt sick.

I should’ve waited a little longer to use the bathroom…

Someone had been inside the café restroom, so she went up to the second floor… and during that time, a gate opened.

“Mom…”

It felt like her mom would show up any moment screaming “Mina!” but no matter how much she cried out, her mother never appeared.

Only the distant screech of monsters echoed through the tunnels.

Kieeeek!

Terrified, Mina hugged her knees tighter.

And she instinctively understood her situation.

I’m their food.

The monsters brought me here to eat me—slowly.

She was far too young to face death, yet the unknown terror gnawed at her mind.

Then suddenly—

“Mina.”

A soft whisper.

Mina, who had been covering her ears against the monster screeches, hesitantly dropped her hands.

“Mina, Kim Mina, right?”

“…?”

“Here! Look up!”

When she snapped her head upward, she saw a woman hanging from the ceiling of the burrow.

Tap.

“Are you hurt anywhere? All ten fingers and all ten toes still there?”

Ji-woo landed lightly on the ground and pulled Mina into a hug.

Her gaze was gentle as she checked the child from head to toe.

“U-unnie*… are you a Hunter?”
(*Unnie: what a young girl calls an older girl/woman)

“That’s right, I’m a Hunter. And I’m a super strong one, so you’re safe now.”

But Mina didn’t look relieved.

She had seen countless monsters while being dragged here—more than a hundred.

Even if this unnie was super strong, how could she beat all of those?

“There are so many monsters here. More than a hundred. It’s dangerous if you’re alone…”

“Wow, you’re really calm. You saw all that?”

Mina nodded slightly.

Even while being dragged, she had forced herself to take in everything around her.

“At first I tried memorizing the paths, but they all looked the same. Still… I left little marks here and there…”

“Hey, hey—don’t worry about that. Grown-ups like me will handle it. You just think about going outside to meet your mom.”

“…M-my mom?”

“Yes. You want to go see her, right?”

Ji-woo gave her a playful wink.

Trying so hard to act brave, Mina finally broke down when she heard “mom.”

Her small sniffles soon grew into loud crying.

“Hueeeeng!”

Unfortunately, her crying caught the attention of nearby monsters.

FOOM-FOOM-FOOM.

They sprinted straight toward them.

Mina jolted in terror and clamped both hands over her mouth—but it was already too late.

Sharp antennae reached toward them—

But—

“Mina, it’s okay. You can open your eyes.”

“Huh…?”

The monsters… ran right past them.

As if they didn’t even notice them.

Some even seemed to greet them—wiggling their antennae, almost dancing.

And so, seven-year-old Kim Mina found herself watching a spontaneous monster dance performance from zero meters away.

“See? I said there’s nothing to worry about.”

“H-how…!?”

The monsters are dancing! They’re dancing with their antennas!!

Mina, eyes now ten times wider, stared at Ji-woo.

But Ji-woo only grinned, offering no explanation.

Because… I’m not exactly sure how this works either.

Ji-woo’s monster-taming had actually begun two hours earlier—right when she first entered the ant tunnel.

 

 

***

 

 

 

Right after Ji-woo and Shin Woo-hyuk entered the ant burrow—

“What an interesting structure. The entrance is narrow, but I didn’t expect the inside to be this spacious.”

“There are probably hundreds of these tunnels branching out. There should be storage chambers, trash chambers, nurseries, even a queen’s chamber…”

Shin Woo-hyuk stared blankly at Ji-woo.

Apparently, he hadn’t expected her to know so much about ants.

“Hunter Do Ji-woo, how do you know all that?”

“Oh, I used to work for a pest control company. Not for long, but I picked up some useful knowledge there.”

“Didn’t you say you also worked dungeon loading and unloading? And at a dry cleaners, too?”

“Yes. I worked both jobs until recently. In a tough world like this, having two or three side jobs is just basic survival.”