Please Give Me A Kiss, Healer! Chapter 71

The phone wasn’t locked.

The wallpaper showed a young girl smiling at the camera, making a V-sign with her fingers.

“Hmm… what? I’ve definitely seen this kid somewhere. She looks really familiar.”

Jiwoo tilted her head.

And then, a few seconds later—

“This is me!!”

Why is a photo from my elementary school sports day on Kangwoo’s phone?!

There was only one possible culprit.

‘Do Heeseong, that little punk—he must’ve sold my photo album off in the middle of things!’

Jiwoo clenched her fist tightly.

She had no intention of interrogating the phone’s owner, Kangwoo.

‘He probably just put it there because he thought it was cute.’

Like a doting uncle using his niece’s photo as his profile picture.

Besides, Kangwoo had only recently adjusted to society, and he’d handed her his phone without even trying to hide anything.

In other words, there were extenuating circumstances.

But her younger brother, Do Heeseong, was a different story.

Puberty or not, she’d have to teach that fearless little brat a harsh lesson about image rights.

“There’s no way he handed over just one photo. Are there other files saved too?”

Jiwoo opened the photo gallery. Since she’d gotten permission from the owner, she felt no hesitation at all.

And just as the world was about to be introduced to Do Heeseong’s 101 unidentified photos—

“Hey.”

A shadow fell in front of Jiwoo, who was absorbed in the phone.

When she looked up, a man she’d never seen before was glaring at her.

“It’s you, right?”

“…What?”

“Yeah, judging by your face, it’s you. You’re Do Jiwoo, right? That bastard’s—this thing.”

A red-eyed man wagged his finger.

Jiwoo asked blankly,

“This thing… what thing?”

“You really don’t know? You’re that bastard’s kka-ri, aren’t you?”

“…Kka-ri? What’s that?”

Kka-llagi? Funnel? Calamansi?

Words starting with kka ran uselessly through her mind.

It was slang far too old for someone of Jiwoo’s generation to recognize.

“Ha, figures. Just like Seo Kangwoo—tastes totally gone.”

“…You know Kangwoo?”

“Don’t know him? Fuck, you don’t know him? Ha—hahaha!”

The man let out a hollow laugh like he couldn’t believe it.

The way his eyes rolled back as he laughed made it obvious he wasn’t normal.

In situations like this, the best move was to pretend you didn’t know anything and leave.

Jiwoo slowly edged backward.

“Um, I don’t know who you are, but I think you’ve got the wrong person. So I’ll be going now—”

“Like hell you are! Do you know how much hell I went through to find you?!”

The man raised his voice aggressively and grabbed Jiwoo.

Her wrist caught, Jiwoo screamed shrilly.

“What are you doing?! Let go! Let go right now while I’m asking nicely!”

“And what if I don’t? That bastard Seo Kangwoo who always hovered over you isn’t here, is he?”

The man sneered.

Jiwoo shrieked,

“I warned you! Let go! I’m counting to three—one, two!”

“This isn’t even kids’ play, what the hell—”

The price of ignoring her warning was steep.

“Hiiyaaah! Ten-Ton Punch!”

Jiwoo’s tightly clenched fist smashed into the man’s jaw.

Crack. A sickening sound came from his jawbone. Jiwoo flicked her hand.

“I told you to let go! Who do you think you’re grabbing?!”

If the man had been an ordinary civilian, she wouldn’t have hit him.

If a hunter assaulted a civilian, they’d be detained immediately and sent to a hunter detention facility.

But judging by his red eyes, he wasn’t a normal person—he was an awakened individual with something wrong in the head.

And Jiwoo had turned on the recorder in her pocket the moment he first appeared.

“This is self-defense, you bastard!”

Jiwoo slammed her fist down onto the top of his head.

It wasn’t a Ten-Ton Punch, but it still carried plenty of force—it would hurt badly.

Before the time limit on [Antman’s Super Strength (C-rank)] ran out, Jiwoo bolted away from the bench.

“There really are all kinds of crazy people in this world, seriously!”

Her shoulders trembled.

Thank goodness she had the antenna headband—if she’d been an ordinary healer, she would’ve been dragged off for sure.

The bigger problem was that the man knew both her and Kangwoo.

Was this why Kangwoo had warned her not to walk alone, and that alleys were dangerous?

Jiwoo anxiously tapped at the phone.

She needed to contact Kangwoo—but his phone was right here, so she couldn’t even call.

“What if Kangwoo runs into that man when he comes back to the park… No!”

What if he picked a fight?

Kangwoo didn’t carry a body cam or a recorder like she did!

That unstable man wouldn’t leave Kangwoo alone.

Of course, Jiwoo didn’t think Kangwoo—an out-of-spec awakened—would get hurt.

But she was still worried.

Pacing near the alley Kangwoo had disappeared into, Jiwoo suddenly had an idea.

‘What about using the hourglass necklace?’

The necklace Kangwoo had given her was always around her neck.

The last time she reunited with Kangwoo, it had reacted first.

Jiwoo grasped the hourglass.

“Find Kangwoo.”

There was no response.

…Was that not it?

“Take me to Kangwoo!”

This time, golden dust burst from the necklace, just like before.

Following the light drifting on the wind, Jiwoo ran into the alley.

 

 

 

****

 

 

‘Where am I?’

At some point, she’d lost her way.

The area wasn’t that complex, yet she kept circling the same place.

After a long while, the golden dust flying ahead of her stopped in front of a wall.

A black wall.

Sometimes called a barrier.

Jiwoo had seen spatial-type ability users demonstrate barriers on TV.

Their primary purpose was to isolate space and prevent monsters or people from entering.

“But why is there a barrier in an alley all of a sudden? Did something happen to Kangwoo?”

A frown formed between Jiwoo’s brows.

That was when—

The dust shimmering in front of the barrier shot upward, flying high into the sky.

It clung to the top of the towering barrier.

“…You want me to go up there?”

As if answering her question, the gathered light shone like a portal.

“Hiiyaaa……”

How am I supposed to get up there?

Jiwoo’s face crumpled.

There was a way.

She could use the item she’d gotten recently—the Whitebird Feather Wings—which allowed flight.

The problem was that she couldn’t control it properly and might plummet at any moment.

But she’d come this far. She couldn’t turn back now.

If a hunter draws their blade, they have to cut something!

Taking a deep breath, Jiwoo activated the item.

“[Whitebird’s Flight], activate!”

Her body floated up into the air.

Unlike last time, she braced herself against the wall and found her balance.

Thanks to tightening her core muscles with all her strength, she managed to reach the portal safely.

Suspended in midair, Jiwoo peered beyond the barrier.

“But… will this be okay?”

Fear surged the moment she tried to cross.

Beyond the barrier, a black vortex churned.

Going into a place like that just for Kangwoo—

Hesitating, Jiwoo took a deep breath.

‘This must be how Kangwoo felt when he came to save me in that dungeon.’

He must’ve pushed through the same overwhelming fear to reach me.

That thought hardened her wavering resolve.

“Alright then—let’s go save Kangwoo!”

Clenching her eyes shut, Jiwoo leapt into the portal.

She arrived in a fog-filled clearing.

With limited visibility, Jiwoo gripped her staff tightly and moved cautiously.

Before long, she spotted Kangwoo’s back.

‘Thank goodness—he’s safe!’

But Kangwoo wasn’t alone.

‘What? That guy—how did he get here?’

The man who’d threatened Jiwoo at the park bench was with Kangwoo.

Suppressing her presence, Jiwoo moved quietly. As she drew closer, voices reached her ears.

“…please……”

The man was desperately saying something.

Kangwoo looked at him with an expressionless face, then grabbed his shoulder.

And then—

Stab.

He drove a knife straight into the man’s heart.

Jiwoo clapped a hand over her mouth at the sight.

Even so, a sound leaked through her fingers.

“Mm—!”

Kangwoo’s sharp gaze snapped toward her.

“Jiwoo?”

When he finally noticed her, shock filled his eyes.

His grip loosened, and the corpse collapsed to the ground.

Jiwoo staggered backward.

“Just now… that… Kangwoo…”

“……”

Kangwoo said nothing.

The fact that he didn’t even try to explain only deepened Jiwoo’s confusion.

As the two stood frozen, the body on the ground crumbled into ash and scattered away.

Staring at the bare earth where nothing remained, Jiwoo murmured,

“He wasn’t… human?”