Please Give Me A Kiss, Healer! Chapter 36

‘So a butler can do things like this, too.’

Originally, only Ji-woo—the owner of 〈Our Home〉—could move between dungeons and safe zones.

But judging by the description, this seemed to allow semi-permanent travel even without her.

‘Hmm, so this connects to the ant nest?’

Linking it with what Hee-seong had said, it was possible that the “special flower” the system mentioned was somewhere inside the ant nest.

The ant nest was unimaginably vast, and deep inside those tunnels, who knew what kinds of things might exist.

On top of that, the antmen were creatures that patrolled wide areas in groups, so they might know what the flower was.

Ji-woo explained to the group what the portal was, and added that they should probably go check out the ant nest.

But then, another problem came up.

“Hunter Do Ji-woo, you should go with me.”

“…Ji-woo, it’s dangerous to go alone.”

Their tones were different, but what they meant was the same.

Choose. Me, or him?

No, seriously—why are two grown adults having a power struggle over something like this?!

 

 

*****

 

 

Hee-seong was young and at risk, so he was excluded.

For the same reason, Dong-sik—who kept breathing out ice whenever he felt like it—was also excluded.

That left Shin Woo-hyuk and Kang-woo.

One of them had to stay in the safe zone to protect the kids, and the other had to go with Ji-woo to the ant nest……

But neither of them looked willing to back down.

“Hunter Seo Kang-woo, please step aside. I was the one who went through the ant nest with Hunter Do Ji-woo before. Naturally, I should be the one to go.”

“What does that matter? In the end, I was the one who finished things.”

Kang-woo tilted his head slightly and looked at Ji-woo.

“Right, Ji-woo?”

You’re going with me, right?

A faint smile curved on Kang-woo’s slanted lips.

After hesitating for a moment, Ji-woo made her decision.

“Guild Master, please stay here and watch over Hee-seong and Dong-sik.”

With that single sentence, Shin Woo-hyuk and Kang-woo’s fortunes instantly reversed.

Ji-woo hadn’t chosen Kang-woo because she’d been dazzled by his brilliant smile. Absolutely not.

‘There’s a lot we need to deal with if we go to the ant nest.’

Finding the flower Hee-seong needed, for one.

And she also needed to ask about the antenna headband the antmen had given her!

‘But the Guild Master really hates monsters.’

Even after she’d called Dong-sik a pet, Shin Woo-hyuk still clearly disliked him.

If he was like that with a short, chubby penguin, how much worse would he be with wild monsters like antmen?

If she wanted to freely talk to the antmen and ask them for help, she had to go with Kang-woo.

Ji-woo looked quietly at Kang-woo.

‘Kang-woo is kind of… someone who feels like he’d always be on my side, no matter what.’

A little imagination theater played out in Ji-woo’s head.

Scenario A.

If I’m walking down the street and accidentally bump into someone, what would Kang-woo do?

‘That person shouldn’t have been standing there. Ji-woo, look at me. Are you hurt?’

Scenario B.

This would never happen, but if I committed some kind of crime?

‘You did great, Ji-woo. You haven’t disposed of the body yet, right? I’ll go bury it in the mountains.’

Ji-woo shuddered.

What was scarier was that this didn’t feel like it would stay just imagination.

She honestly felt like he really would clap and praise her even if she committed a crime.

There was another reason Ji-woo chose Kang-woo as her companion to the ant nest.

‘If Hee-seong stays alone with Kang-woo at 〈Our Home〉 without me, who knows what kind of nonsense they’ll talk about.’

In fact, even right now—

“Brother-in-law—no, Kang-woo! Want to see this? It’s a photo from my sister’s kindergarten talent show when she was seven… I hate to admit it, but since she was a kid, she’s kind of cute.”

Hee-seong approached Kang-woo and showed him a photo on his phone.

“……!”

Kang-woo’s eyes sparkled as he leaned in, staring at the screen like he was about to bury his face in it.

Hey! You little—! Aaaah!

“Do Hee-seong! When did you even save something like that? This is a violation of my portrait rights! Delete it right now!”

Ji-woo dashed over, grabbed Kang-woo’s arm, and yanked him toward herself.

“Kang-woo, stop getting distracted and let’s go already! Okay?”

Even as he was dragged away, Kang-woo kept looking back at Hee-seong’s phone with clear regret.

With his superior eyesight, he perfectly read Hee-seong’s lips as he grew farther away.

‘I’ll secretly send you the photos later.’

“……!”

Deeply moved, Kang-woo was struck by Cupid Hee-seong’s arrows of love.

Shoo, shoo. Shoosh.

 

 

 

*****

 

 

Ji-woo and Kang-woo moved quickly.

After taking the portal to the ant nest,

Ji-woo was greeted with an overwhelmingly enthusiastic welcome as soon as she met the antmen again.

─ Welcome-gam! Welcome-gam!

“It’s been a while, Gam124! Have you been well?”

〈WEL★JI-WOO★COME〉

More than several dozen antmen appeared, holding picket signs whose origins were a mystery.

─ But who is that human next to Ji-woo-gam? He feels familiar… hic! hic!

One elderly antman locked eyes with Kang-woo and began trembling its antennae.

Ji-woo handed out candies one by one to the antmen who rushed over first.

‘Good thing I brought these, just in case!’

The system shop, which sold just about everything imaginable,

also sold candies that antmen absolutely went crazy for.

Each small lollipop cost a whopping 30,000 won, but this time, it was totally worth it.

“Guys, do you know what a ‘special flower’ is?”

When Ji-woo asked, the antmen started exchanging opinions among themselves.

─ It’s probably talking about that-gam.

─ But is it really okay to take a human there-gam?

─ But Ji-woo is different from normal humans-gam. She’s our savior-gam!

Gam124, who had received a lollipop from Ji-woo, defended her most passionately.

The antmen, who had been arguing loudly, soon reached a conclusion.

─ Ji-woo, follow me-gam! This way-gam!

Guided by Gam124, Ji-woo crossed through the ant nest.

The inside of the nest didn’t look much different from her last visit.

Except for one thing.

The antmen they passed along the way all looked unusually gloomy.

Maybe it was just her imagination, but their round faces with antennae seemed a little thinner.

‘Did something happen to the antmen?’

As Ji-woo kept glancing around at the surrounding antmen, Kang-woo reacted immediately.

“Ji-woo, what’s wrong?”

“It’s just… something feels off.”

“Where? Are you feeling unwell?”

Kang-woo, who had quietly laced their fingers together, suddenly grabbed Ji-woo’s face with a serious expression.

Ji-woo’s soft, mochi-like cheeks squished out between his calloused fingers.

“N-no! Not me—the other antmen! And we promised no skinship anymore!”

“More precisely, we said not in front of other people.”

In Kang-woo’s very limited understanding of social norms, antmen—being monsters—didn’t count.

“Antmen are half people, people! They’re monsters, sure, but ‘man’ is literally in the name!”

Gam124, who had been leading the way, turned around.

─ Gam? Were you talking about me-gam?

“Ah, no, nothing! Are we at the warehouse already?”

─ Gam-gam, I will show you the antmen’s treasure vault-gam.

In front of a massive warehouse,

the antmen guarding the entrance wiggled their antennae and greeted Ji-woo.

─ This isn’t a place we show to just anyone-gam, but we’ll show it to you especially-gam.

To enter the treasure vault, they had to pass through several heavy doors.

‘This isn’t real gold, is it?’

Ji-woo touched the gold-colored decorations attached to the doors.

When she slowed down, Gam124 turned back.

─ Is there a problem-gam?

“There is, Gam124. Where did you get decorations like this? Were things like this really in the dungeon?”

The antman’s answer was shocking.

─ What’s a dungeon-gam? Is it food-gam? A chocolate name-gam?

“What? You don’t know what a dungeon is? Then where did all of this come from? The spear you’re holding? The food you eat every day?”

Ji-woo’s eyes widened.

The more she thought about it, the stranger it all seemed.

That antmen—just monsters—liked candy and chocolate.

That they carried picket signs with English words on them.

─ There are lots of humans like you outside the ant nest-gam. We secretly take things from them, or trade with them for sweet stuff like candy-gam.

“…Humans like me?”

Ji-woo felt completely confused.

As far as anyone knew, monsters like antmen had never been found outside gates.

Maybe it could’ve happened thirty years ago, when dungeons first appeared and hunters awakened.

But now, with the gate response system stabilized, humanity was safely protected from monsters.

At least, as far as Ji-woo knew, antmen had never appeared in modern society…

‘Then who on earth are the humans the antmen are talking about?’