Please Give Me A Kiss, Healer! Chapter 26

Heeseong and Dongsik—shortened together as “Hee-dongies”—got along perfectly.

No matter how many times they were dragged out of the hut, the Hee-dongies kept squeezing their way back inside.

“Why are these tiny things so strong!?”

“Sis, let go! When else am I ever going to see them this close!?”

─ Jiwoo! Drive that intruder out right this instant-aaak!

In the end, completely worn out, Jiwoo collapsed onto the dirt floor.

“They say this is my house… so why is the ‘homeowner’ so weak? Isn’t there some kind of home-management function?”

If this was all being a homeowner meant, what was the point of the title?

As if responding to her complaints, the system opened a new window.

[Loading <My Home> Management System.]

System

<My Home>

Owner: Do Jiwoo
Comfort Level: F-Rank (Shack)

A shack so run-down it can barely be called a house.
A miserable space even cockroaches would shake their heads at and flee. A single gust of wind could erase it completely.

Experience needed for next rank: 0/300
Buff effects: —

(*No buffs are applied to F-Rank.)

The description was just as miserable as the exterior.

She expected F-rank to be bad, but a house even cockroaches wouldn’t stay in?

“…This is not the kind of management function I had in mind.”

Jiwoo let out a long sigh.

Still, one hopeful detail stood out—the explanation attached to the system window.

The phrase “Experience needed for the next rank” lit a fire in Jiwoo’s heart.

If she filled that experience, even this pathetic house could be upgraded!

Jiwoo clasped her hands eagerly.

“Um, System—no, System sir. How do we upgrade our house?”

System

Tip: For smooth management of <My Home>, you may register a <Butler>.
Butler Candidate: Do Heeseong

“Butler candidate… Do Heeseong?”

Jiwoo’s eyes widened at the familiar name.

Come to think of it, she’d been so hung up on the word “awakening” earlier that she didn’t really listen to what Heeseong’s class actually was.

“Heeseong! Come here for a sec!”

Jiwoo called out, and Heeseong, who had been fussing around near the shack, slowly approached.

“Heeseong, earlier you said an awakening mission popped up, right? What’s the class?”

“Um… something like butler, I think.”

“Check it carefully. What exactly is the mission?”

“Let’s see… Ultimate Butler Awakening?”

The mission window Heeseong described looked like this:

System

Mission: Ultimate <Butler> Awakening! (1)

A clean home keeps everything running smoothly. Tending and managing the home is one of the most important duties in the world.

Become the world’s one and only specialist: a Butler.

Pull weeds / Progress: 0%

Remove stones / Progress: 0%

Create a special flowerbed / Progress: 0%

*Reward 1: <Butler> Awakening
*Reward 2: Temporary Skill — Sturdy Body (C)

Hearing the explanation, Jiwoo made a strange expression.

‘What is this flashy mission? When I awakened, they just rushed me through it.’

And the “world’s one and only specialist”? What kind of absurdly grand title was that?

Even though she still had no intention of supporting her little brother’s awakening, Jiwoo couldn’t help feeling proud and happy.

Well, of course. He’s my brother. Our Heeseong is a bit extraordinary, after all.

The hopelessly doting sister Jiwoo puffed up her shoulders.

She had never even heard of awakenings involving missions before, and the temporary skill listed beneath it grabbed her interest even more.

“‘Sturdy Body’? Is there more info?”

“It says, ‘Your whole body becomes invigorated and you won’t tire easily.’ Honestly, I kind of felt lighter since earlier.”

Because of dungeon sickness, even a little running used to strain Heeseong’s heart.

But now he was running around playing tag with Dongsik without the slightest issue.

Hearing his explanation, Jiwoo tried using a skill just in case.

“[Holy Eyes!].”

Status

Name: Do Heeseong
Race: Human
Awakening Class: Butler Candidate
Condition: Very Healthy

“Ah…”

Jiwoo stared blankly into space for a long moment.

Healthy.

Just those three letters stirred up a flood of memories.

‘N-Nuna, my heart—my heart hurts so much. Please… save me…’

When they had neither a proper treatment method nor money for hospital bills.

Young Heeseong would cling to her every day, crying that his heart hurt.

Jiwoo worked day and night for him.

She endured every kind of scolding and mistreatment, took on the dangerous hunter jobs no one wanted, and scraped together money to pay for his treatments.

Thankfully, after long-term treatment, His condition had greatly improved—but even then, she always lived with fear that things could suddenly worsen again.

If he awakens… could he be fully cured?

Jiwoo glanced over at her brother, who was now rummaging through bushes again.

Under the sunlight, his flushed cheeks made him look like any ordinary boy his age.

For her brother’s body to become healthy— That alone would be enough. She needed nothing else.

And besides, a butler was a non-combat class. It wouldn’t be dangerous.

Trying it once might not be a bad idea…!

After a very long inner struggle, Jiwoo approached Heeseong and grabbed his shoulders.

“Do Heeseong, let’s give it a try. That awakening mission—you and I will do it together.”

And thus began Heeseong’s <Butler Awakening Project>.

The first task was pulling out weeds.

Jiwoo, Heeseong, and Dongsik all crouched down together and got to work.

Though it wasn’t even summer, the harsh scorching sunlight made sweat stream down their faces.

Weeds covered the entire field, and no matter how much they pulled, it felt endless.

By the time the progress bar hit 60%, they had been at it for three hours.

While pulling weeds near the hut, Dongsik poked out his beak.

─ Jiwoo, in the end, doesn’t this leave me the only pitiful one-aaak?

“Huh? What do you mean?”

─ Nyanak. Think about it—Jiwoo gets a cleaner land, Heeseong gets his awakening. Then what about me, the great Dongsik-aaak? I’m just a lonely Nakdong River penguin egg-aaak!

“…So what exactly are you trying to say?”

─ Give me fair compensation-aaak! Labor without fish must be abolished-aaak!!

And then Dongsik pulled out a headband from who-knows-where and tied it around his head.

On the white cloth, bold letters were written:

〈Unity! Fight!〉
〈No Fish, No Work!〉

Jiwoo snorted and reached to snatch the headband from him.

“Stop slacking off! Since when does a penguin get to demand fish?”

─ Nyananyak! Let gooo! Guarantee labor rights for pets-aaak! Stop treating pets like nothing but workhorses! You don’t even feed me properly and make me work all day! You tyrant boss-aaak!

“…What? Tyrant boss?”

Jiwoo froze instantly. All color drained from her face.

─ J-Jiwoo…? Why are you suddenly like that-aaak?

Sensing the shift, Dongsik nervously prodded her side with his black wing.

But once Jiwoo stiffened, she didn’t move an inch.

Suddenly, guilt washed over her— shame, remorse, and a deep, overwhelming embarrassment.

Tyrant boss… Yeah. How is this any different from a tyrant boss? I… I’ve been doing something terrible.

Her. Of all people.

Someone who personally experienced how cruel the world could be.

Being compensated fairly for one’s work— That should have been obvious, but in Jiwoo’s world, it had never been guaranteed.

She had begun her hunter life at twenty.

She worked dungeon loading jobs, took every menial task a low-rank healer could do.

And not just that. She worked construction labor, laundromats, pest control, chicken restaurants—there was hardly a job she hadn’t done.

Yet even after working her body to the bone, half the time she wasn’t paid properly.

“Ah… business hasn’t been good lately…”
“You must be too young to know this, but trainees don’t get full pay. We deduct 30%!”