Please Give Me A Kiss, Healer! Chapter 61

“There’s something up ahead.”

The tension in the air was completely different from before.

Cha Taepyeong and Yoo Jaekyung moved as a pair, and Shin Ilguk stepped forward.

“Hunter Do Jiwoo, it’s dangerous, so stay next to me—no, please protect my side.”

“Don’t worry. You trust me, right?”

Jiwoo winked.

Standing beside her was Oh Nara.

Maybe her determination to change was sincere—Nara didn’t hide or run away.

Still, fear couldn’t be helped. Her shoulders trembled as she let out small sobs.

Jiwoo gently took Nara’s hand.

“It’s okay. Our whole team is together right now. There’s nothing dangerous at all.”

“J-Jiwoo……”

“If something happens, we can just grab hands and run again. Don’t be too tense!”

Jiwoo warmly comforted her. Seeing Nara struggling just to breathe properly made her heart ache.

‘Even if you really want to change, it’s not something that happens overnight.’

Just the fact that Nara was standing here on her own two feet was already amazing.

It was too dark to see clearly, but through their joined hands, Jiwoo could feel the trembling slowly fade.

Yoo Jaekyung, who was watching the front, called out.

“Hunter Do Jiwoo.”

“Yes. [Light!].”

The light Jiwoo summoned illuminated the cave wall.

And what appeared before them was—

“What? It’s just a lake.”

Cha Taepyeong lowered his shield.

What Special Team 7 had encountered was a cave lake with no visible bottom.

The dim surface reflected the cave walls and ceiling like a mirror, forming silhouettes.

The water was so clear it looked like emerald, letting them see straight through.

“[Holy Eyes!].”

System

Due to the awakening effect of 〈Everyone’s Supporter〉, the skill’s effectiveness is greatly enhanced.

System

Water Quality: Grade 1 (Pure)

A naturally formed lake created by pooled groundwater. Various aquatic life forms live in the deep water.

There is a passage connected to the outside of the cave.

‘A passage connected to the outside?’

Jiwoo frowned as she read the system window.

“So, Jiwoo—can we drink this water?”

“Umm, for now it says there are no monsters inside. It should be okay to drink—”

“Khaha, nice! I was just thinking I wanted to soak my feet somewhere!”

“What? What do you mean by—”

Before she could finish speaking, Cha Taepyeong took off his shoes.

Then he even tossed aside his smelly socks and tried to dip his feet into the lake—

Flick!

A sharp flick from an A-rank dealer landed squarely on his forehead.

“Argh! Honey! Why’d you do that all of a sudden?”

“Get a grip. You’re about to contaminate our precious drinking water with your feet.”

“What’s wrong with my feet?”

“I don’t want to eat food made with water brewed from your toes.”

‘Team Leader, nice shot!’

The team members, who hadn’t dared to stop him, clapped silently in their hearts.

“Honey, you know I don’t have athlete’s foot. My feet are just a bit dark, but they’re clean—”

Only Cha Taepyeong, pouting, wiggled his bare feet.

There were no monsters around the lake.

With the water problem solved, the team sat down nearby and relaxed their guard.

As the tension eased, the cold of the cave made their bodies shiver.

Yoo Jaekyung muttered,

“It’d be nice if we could start a fire. Is there anything we could use as fuel?”

They looked around, but all they saw were black rocks and damp moss.

Cha Taepyeong fluttered his T-shirt.

“Should I take off my clothes and burn them?”

“No thanks. No one wants to see you half-naked.”

She said that, but there really was no other option. Just as Yoo Jaekyung was seriously wondering if she should strip her husband—

“Um, Team Leader. Would you like to use these? I’ve been carrying them around……”

Five pink notebooks suddenly appeared.

On the worn covers, written honestly in big letters, was:

[Nara’s Diary]

“Diaries? Are you really okay with using these as fuel?”

They looked thick—at least three years’ worth.

When Yoo Jaekyung hesitated, Oh Nara added,

“Hehe, it’s okay. We have to survive today to write a diary tomorrow, right?”

“That’s true, but……”

“I’m really cold too.”

“…Alright. Thank you, Hunter Oh Nara.”

And just like that, five diaries went into the fire.

Once the campfire was lit, the cold eased a little.

While the others took time to rest and maintain their gear, Jiwoo and Nara sat side by side.

“Nara, weren’t you writing in those diaries for a long time? It must hurt to burn them.”

Jiwoo had seen Nara’s pink diary a few times before.

She’d even seen her writing in it every day at the guild.

Nara fiddled with the ribbon in her hair.

“Hehe, I was going to throw them away once we got out anyway.”

“The diaries? Why?”

“There’s nothing good written in them. Burning them all like this feels nice.”

…Those diaries, and my memories too.

Nara’s voice grew smaller and smaller, like a mosquito.

The diaries were filled with the pain Nara had endured over the years.

Her trauma had begun long ago, after an accident in a dungeon.

An incident where all three raid teams that entered an A-rank dungeon were wiped out.

At the time, the only survivor was the A-rank healer, Oh Nara.

‘Everyone said it was a miracle that I survived.’

But they were wrong. Nara hadn’t survived because she was lucky.

A cowardly weakling. A disgusting traitor who lived by offering other hunters as sacrifices.

That was how Nara saw herself.

The other hunters died fighting endless waves of monsters.

While they bought time, Nara ran away and crawled into a pile of dead comrades and monster corpses, hiding there.

‘Help me…….’

A hunter with a hole in his stomach crawled right up to her, while nearby monsters tore flesh from human bodies.

If Nara had stepped out and healed them, some of them might have lived.

But she didn’t.

‘I’m… I’m sorry.’

She was scared. Terrified. Nara wasn’t brave enough to leave her safe hiding place and reach out to them.

She clenched her teeth and ignored the dying groans of her comrades. She abandoned everyone and survived alone.

‘They all died because of me.’

If I hadn’t run away and had fought together with them, maybe we would’ve won.

At least a few of us might have made it out alive……

Every night, Nara dreamed of returning to that day.

The reason she hadn’t quit being a hunter was a form of atonement. She swore that if the same situation ever came again, she would never hide.

But—

‘This time was even worse.’

It was the worst. Someone almost died trying to save her when she froze in fear.

Nara glanced sideways at Jiwoo.

‘Would Jiwoo have been different?’

She wouldn’t have hidden or run like me. She would’ve fought, right?

She’s only E-rank, far below me, so how can she be so calm? Isn’t she afraid of monsters?

Sparks crackled from the campfire.

Looking gloomy, Nara hugged her knees tightly.

 

 

****

 

 

Late at night, when everyone was asleep.

Snore, snore.

The cave was filled only with the sound of Cha Taepyeong’s snoring.

“…….”

Jiwoo, who was standing watch, quietly got up from her spot.

A little later, inside the safe zone.

Peep! Cheep!

“Heeseong.”

“H-Huh? S-Sis? You’re already back?”

A flustered Heeseong greeted Jiwoo.

The basket holding the baby birds was still sitting right where it had been.

“I was just about to put them back where they belong!”

“No, wait. There’s something I need to check first.”

Jiwoo peered into the basket.

Peep! Cheep!

Baby birds covered in fluffy white down.

A round horn growing from the top of their heads.

Bluish-green scales sprouting around the horn.

“[…Holy Eyes!].”

Status

Name: ???
Alignment: Good
Species: Whitebird
A chick of the Whitebird, the kindest and most gentle monster in the world.
Normally known as angels of the sky, Whitebirds are good-natured creatures—but their maternal instinct is extremely strong.
If you dare lay a hand on their chicks, you will experience an endless hell.
Unless you wish to taste brutal retribution, do not even make eye contact with their young.

“Ahahahaha. Aha—ahahahahaha!”

“S-Sis… what’s wrong…?”

“Hahaha, what about me?”

“Why are you laughing like a crazy person?”

“In a situation this insane, wouldn’t not going crazy make me the crazy one? Why is my life always this spectacular? What kind of sins did I commit in a past life to deserve this… hic, sniff.”