Please Give Me A Kiss, Healer! Chapter 95

Jiwoo, who was already in a state of panic, sank even deeper into it.

Cheolsu? Kim Cheolsu?

“K-Kangwoo, how do you know Cheolsu oppa?”

“Cheolsu oppa…”

The corners of Kangwoo’s lips stiffened ever so slightly.

Lifting a lock of Jiwoo’s wavy hair, he spoke again.

“Dongsik told me. He said a man named Kim Cheolsu was glued to your side.”

Dongsik, you little brat!

Why would you tell him something so unnecessary and make things awkward?!

Forcing a laugh, Jiwoo hurriedly began explaining.

She wasn’t even sure why she felt the need to explain, but it somehow felt absolutely necessary.

“Hahaha, Cheolsu oppa? Well, you know… he’s that oppa I told you about before. The one who lived next door to us until I was in high school! Turns out he became a hunter with the Osan Guild.”

In the span of a few seconds, the word oppa came out of her mouth five separate times.

Each time, Kangwoo’s eyebrow twitched ever so slightly.

“…So that’s how I ran into Cheolsu oppa. Isn’t it an unbelievable coincidence?”

“Yeah… it really is an unbelievable coincidence.”

Jiwoo cautiously studied Kangwoo’s expression.

He was wearing his usual gentle smile.

There wasn’t much difference from normal.

‘Strange… He looked upset earlier. Was I imagining it?’

Just then—

“Hunter Seo Kangwoo!”

Yoo Jaekyung and Cha Taepyeong came running down from the cliff.

Despite sprinting such a long distance, Yoo Jaekyung wasn’t even out of breath before immediately asking,

“How did you get here, Hunter Seo Kangwoo? There shouldn’t have been any way to contact the outside, so how did you… ah.”

She glanced at Jiwoo and stopped mid-sentence in understanding.

Since Jiwoo possessed a rare skill like the Safe Zone, it wasn’t surprising that she also had a way to communicate with the outside.

Instead, Yoo Jaekyung asked another question.

“Did you come alone, Hunter Seo Kangwoo? What about reinforcements?”

“I was the only available personnel nearby, so I departed first. The Emergency Response Team will follow shortly. There’s no need to worry.”

“The Emergency Response Team is coming?”

Jiwoo asked in surprise.

She had heard countless stories about the famous Emergency Response Team, but this would be her first time actually meeting them.

‘I’m… kind of scared.’

According to everyone she’d spoken to, the Emergency Response Team was made up entirely of dungeon-obsessed weirdos.

Every single person who had learned Jiwoo’s secret—her Second Awakening—had warned her to stay away from them.

‘They said they don’t hesitate to do illegal things. Kidnapping… imprisonment… threats… aaah!’

Jiwoo instinctively shrank back.

Kangwoo blinked and tilted his head.

“Jiwoo, are you cold?”

“N-No. I’m fine.”

She waved her hands dismissively, but Kangwoo removed his jacket anyway and draped it over her shoulders.

He even buttoned it up carefully.

Watching him do that somehow made all of Jiwoo’s anxiety melt away.

‘Right… nothing’s going to happen. No matter how terrifying that team is… Kangwoo is still their leader.’

Besides, now that Kangwoo was here, Krakens weren’t a problem anymore.

He was the one and only SSS-rank Returnee in the entire country—

No, in the entire world.

Once the hunters who were still capable of fighting finished receiving treatment and rejoined them, they might even clear the dungeon before the Emergency Response Team arrived.

Just then, the communicator crackled.

[This is the Osan Team. One Kraken eliminated. Three injured. One combat casualty.]

Cha Taepyeong immediately replied.

“This is Special Team 7. We’ve also completed our engagement. All personnel survived. Four combat-capable. One non-combatant.”

The one excluded was O Nara.

Thinking of the woman still hiding alone at the base camp, Jiwoo let out a long sigh.

“…”

Kangwoo stared at her for a moment.

Then he calmly took the communicator attached to the strap on his thigh.

“This is Seo Kangwoo, leader of the Emergency Response Team. Effective immediately, command of this expedition is transferred from the Main Team to the Emergency Response Team. All hunters who receive this message are to regroup at base camp immediately.”

[Donghae Team acknowledges.]

[Osan Team acknowledges.]

No one objected.

If anything, everyone secretly welcomed the Emergency Response Team’s arrival.

They would be terrifying as enemies.

But as allies, there was no more reassuring presence.

“Shall we head back as well?”

Kangwoo suggested after gauging the distance to the newly appeared Krakens.

As they followed him back toward base camp…

Jiwoo quietly watched his back.

He was just as breathtakingly handsome as the day they’d first met.

And yet…

‘He feels… unfamiliar. It’s like he’s become a completely different person.’

The composed, confident way he led everyone forward was worlds apart from the Kangwoo she used to know.

The man who had once been foolishly single-minded…

Who had charged recklessly toward everything with eyes only for her.

There had even been a time when she’d tried negotiating with him, begging him to please act like a normal person.

But now that he’d actually changed…

‘Wait… am I… disappointed? With Kangwoo?’

Jiwoo bit her lip.

As if that wasn’t enough, she slapped both cheeks with her hands.

‘Get a grip, Do Jiwoo. Disappointed? About what? You should be applauding this!’

I must be exhausted from the fighting.

Or maybe that emergency ration I ate earlier had gone bad!

She clenched her fists and pounded lightly at the strange ache that had settled in her chest.

* * *

The Donghae Team, the Osan Team, and Special Team 7 all gathered at the base camp.

The waiting healers quickly treated everyone’s injuries, allowing the hunters to recover.

“God damn it! Why did the dungeon have to mutate all of a sudden… Why us?! Why did it have to be us?!”

Team Leader Go Jaepil vented his frustration, kicking a boulder over and over.

Of the Donghae Team’s seven hunters:

Three were seriously injured.

Two were missing.

The Osan Team had:

One seriously injured.

One missing.

The losses were devastating.

Nearly half the expedition had become incapable of fighting.

Just as despair settled over everyone’s faces—

Their saviors arrived.

[Emergency Response Team. Three members have entered through the Gate.]

Walking toward them with the sun at their backs, they looked as relaxed as if they were on a picnic.

The tank in front wore a jet-black helmet that completely concealed his face.

The pale-skinned man beside him carried an enormous longbow across his back.

And the third member…

“Team Leader Seo Kangwoo, we’ve arrived.”

A beautiful woman with an elegant smile walked up to Kangwoo’s side.

“Hunter Lee Yeonwoo. Has the Ulsan dungeon been cleared?”

“Yes. I was just thinking I’d finally get some rest when I got called straight to the East Sea.”

“Thank you for your hard work. Once this dungeon is over, rotate out with the next standby team.”

“I will. But, Team Leader… this person is…?”

Lee Yeonwoo gestured toward Jiwoo standing beside Kangwoo.

Afraid Kangwoo might say something ridiculous, Jiwoo hurriedly introduced herself first.

“I’m Do Jiwoo from Guild Gongbaek. I’m part of this dungeon expedition.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Hunter Do Jiwoo. I’m Lee Yeonwoo from the Emergency Response Team.”

Her deep teal eyes alone made it obvious that she possessed extraordinary abilities, befitting a member of the Emergency Response Team.

“Team Leader Seo, how many monsters are left?”

The damage dealer who had been quietly listening finally spoke.

Dark circles hung beneath his eyes, and he looked eager to finish the raid and leave the dungeon as soon as possible.

“Team Leader Go Jaepil will brief you on the details.”

“Understood.”

The damage dealer staggered off in the direction Kangwoo indicated.

The man in the black helmet followed after him.

Only three people remained in the clearing.

“You said you’re with Guild Gongbaek, right? Is Guild Master Shin Woohyuk doing well?”

“Huh? You know our Guild Master?”

Jiwoo’s eyes widened.

Lee Yeonwoo smiled gently.

“Yes. Before joining the Emergency Response Team, I belonged to Guild Gongbaek as well.”

“I was on the Guild Master’s personal team.”

“Wow! The Guild Master’s personal team? I can’t believe it! What an incredible coincidence!”

Learning they’d once belonged to the same guild instantly made Jiwoo feel closer to her.

On top of that, both of them happened to be healers—a rare sight in dungeons.

“Then do you happen to know Team Leader Yoo Jaekyung too? She said she used to be on the Guild Master’s personal team as well.”

“Oh, of course! Is Jaekyung here too?”

“Yes! She’s over at that tent, so maybe we can go togeth—”

Just as Jiwoo smiled brightly—

“That’s enough.”

Kangwoo cut her off.

His icy voice slipped cleanly between Jiwoo and Lee Yeonwoo.

“The other team members have already gone to the briefing.”

“How long are you two planning to stand here chatting about pointless things?”