Please Give Me A Kiss, Healer! Chapter 21

In the end, the Antmen allowed Jiwoo and Shin Woo-hyuk to pass through.

Along with the warning that they would let it slide just this once, but next time they wanted candy.

Of course, Jiwoo had absolutely no intention of keeping that promise.

Once the Antmen backed away, Shin Woo-hyuk called Jiwoo again.

“Hunter Do Jiwoo, we need to move quickly now.”

Even if the Antmen were friendly toward the two of them, there was no guarantee they would treat the missing child the same way.

Jiwoo, who’d been completely spaced out under the system’s influence, quickly snapped back to her senses.

“Sorry. I got a little too excited. I’m still not used to my awakened abilities…”

“It’s fine. Second-awakening hunters often show reactions like that.”

“Oh? Guildmaster, have you met second-awakened hunters before?”

“There are three in our guild as well. All second-awakened, just like you.”

Then, casually—no, blatantly—he began trying to lure her into joining the Void Guild, saying he could introduce her to all of them if she came over.

“Anyway, second awakenings seem closely tied to one’s usual hobbies or special skills. They’re all so passionate about their awakened fields that sometimes you can’t even talk to them. Just like how you acted a minute ago.”

“Haha… I said I was sorry. Guildmaster, you really hold grudges.”

Jiwoo scratched her cheek awkwardly and activated her detection skill.

But at the same time, she replayed Shin Woo-hyuk’s words in her mind.

‘Linked to one’s usual hobbies… Is that why I awakened as an <All-Purpose Supporter>?’

A supporter.

Someone who looks after the team and assists them—common in sports and games.

‘I did often play games back then… and those games had supporter roles too.’

She always thought the tank/damage/healer system resembled games, but this was the first time it resonated so clearly.

‘But okay, supporter makes sense. Then what does the “All-Purpose” part mean?’

Jiwoo’s abilities were deeply linked to monsters. As if encouraging her to befriend them, raising affection levels like some creature-collecting game.

Normally, the Awakener System maximizes hunters’ ability to fight monsters—as if raising them to protect the world from monsters.

But Jiwoo’s skill leaned the opposite way—allowing her to communicate with monsters and even support them.

‘〈All-Purpose Supporter〉… Maybe that “all” includes monsters too.’

Help monsters?
How?
And more importantly… why?

Jiwoo walked through the tunnel, lost in deep thought.

The path was long and complicated, but the Antmen had shown them a shortcut.

They had even shared information about the kidnapped girl.

— That kid was definitely taken by the Antqueen, gam!
— Five of our kin were eaten by the Antqueen today, too. Sob… gam gam.
— Human, don’t get caught! The Antqueen is evil and cruel, gam!

Following the Antmen’s directions, they arrived quickly at their destination.

A giant chamber with a ceiling that opened up into darkness.

And at the high platform at the top, the silhouette of a small child was visible.

“There! She’s right there! Oh gosh—she’s alive!”

Jiwoo gasped and covered her mouth, whispering excitedly.

Despite her urge to rush forward, she didn’t blindly charge toward the cage.

“Places like this usually have a boss monster. If you run in careless, you’ll get stun-locked and game over.”

“…Hunter Do Jiwoo, you must really like games.”

“I was pretty good back in school, hehe.”

Jiwoo laughed it off, but Shin Woo-hyuk’s expression had already changed.

“Hunter Do Jiwoo… I’ve been wanting to ask. By any chance, was that game—”

He didn’t even get to finish.

A massive movement rumbled in the distance.

“Guildmaster! Look over there!”

Jiwoo pointed at the pit beneath the cage.

There, on the floor, was a large mass of wriggling protrusions—and a gigantic red ant the size of a house.

Jiwoo quickly lifted her goggles again.

“The gam-gams were right—there is a huge monster.”

“Gam-gams?”

“Oh—that’s what I called the ants earlier. Uh, anyway… [Holy Eyes!].”

System

〈Due to the All-Purpose Supporter awakening effect, your skill’s effect is expanded.〉
Loading monster information.

Status

Name: Ant Queen Corrupted by Evil
Species: Antqueen / Demon
The tyrant of the ant nest, the Antqueen.
The Antqueen has an extreme obsession with its nest. Once prey is brought inside, it will never escape again.
If you defeat this ferocious Antqueen and free the poor Antmen, you will earn their endless support.
Your Relationship: Hostile

Unlike the friendly gam-gam Antmen earlier, the Antqueen’s description included the word “demon.”

“This won’t be easy. I don’t think my abilities will work on her like they did with the others.”

If only she had high affection, maybe she could talk to even the Antqueen?

Jiwoo’s current affection: 140. Even with skill bonuses, it wasn’t anywhere near 200.

‘If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve treated Dongsik better… then maybe my affection would’ve risen more.’

She suddenly thought of Dongsik, currently trapped in her backpack—probably asleep, unaware, in penguin-doll form.

As soon as Jiwoo thought of Dongsik, another person naturally came to mind.

Kangwoo… If I’d just kissed him a few more times back then, his affection score would’ve skyrocketed, right?

She felt as if Kangwoo’s plump, red lips were wavering right before her eyes.

His big, well-shaped fingers cupping her face… the long ends of his eyes softly curving down… their breaths mixing right in front of each other…

And then— Kangwoo’s lips.

Warm, soft, and even slightly moist…

“Oh my god, what am I even thinking?!”

Did she—seriously—miss Kangwoo right now?

Even though she was the one who pushed him away and left?

Jiwoo slapped her cheeks over and over.

But the more she tried, the more her mind filled itself with increasingly indecent imaginings.

“Ugh, stop it! Get out! Get out of my head!”

“…Hunter Do Jiwoo?”

Startled by Jiwoo’s sudden outburst, Shin Woohyuk hurried to calm her down.

Only after her cheeks were completely flushed red did Jiwoo finally snap out of the Kangwoo-induced delirium.

Then, the two moved to a safer spot and began discussing their plan.

“How can we get close to the kid? That Queen Ant looked insanely strong.”

Unfortunately, the Ant Queen was positioned right on the path leading to the prison. To reach the child, they would somehow have to deal with that monster first.

“Our goal is civilian rescue, so we don’t have to kill the Queen Ant. If we can approach from the ceiling, grab the kid, and run far away… Hmm. Still seems like something’s missing.”

Jiwoo checked her status window.

[Mana: 3000/3000]

Her skill Welcome to My Home required 1,500 mana per person.

If all three of them were to escape together, she would need 4,500 mana—but Jiwoo’s max was only 3,000.

Even if I leave the kid in the Safe Zone first, it’ll take too long. And while I’m gone, Guildmaster might get hurt fighting the Queen Ant alone. That’d make everything worse. Maybe I should protect the kid while fighting… or lure the Queen Ant into the corridor and take her down first…

Jiwoo was deep into forming complex combat strategies—her specialty—when:

“Hunter Do Jiwoo, take this.”

Shin Woohyuk pulled something out from his coat—a brilliantly glowing stone.

“Huh? Guildmaster… Is that…?”

“Yes. It is. An Escape Stone.”

Escape Stone.

An S-rank treasure that instantly ejects the user from the dungeon.

Jiwoo had once seen it on TV, so she recognized it immediately.

But—

Why… give such a precious thing to me?

Jiwoo’s eyes widened in shock.

While she sat there frozen, mouth half open, Shin Woohyuk answered her with his usual upright sincerity.

“Hunter Do Jiwoo, I will act as bait and draw that monster’s attention. During that time, you must get to Mina and hand this to her.”

“Huh? That would definitely make things easier, but… you’re really planning to use the Escape Stone? A treasure like that?”

Escape Stones were so rare that the entire country had fewer than five.

For hunters, who constantly lived with death at their heels, it was practically an extra life.

Even for a guildmaster, giving one up was a tremendous sacrifice.

But he placed it into Jiwoo’s hand without a trace of hesitation.

“I planned this from the start. Because I made a promise. To that child’s mother. That I would bring Mina back safely.”