Chapter 8: Are you afraid of spirits? why?

The flood of gratitude directed at me showed no signs of stopping.
Just when I thought it was about time for it to end,
the person sitting across from me froze, their gaze fixed on something in the air.

Their face turned deathly pale.

“H-Healer-nim… b-behind you…!”

I slowly turned my head toward where their trembling finger pointed.

My eyes locked with those of a wolf, its fur covered in snow-white frost, less than 10 centimeters away.

A cold sweat trickled down my spine.
I couldn’t tell if this was a dream or reality.

‘Why… is there a wolf here?’

And it’s spring—why is it covered in snow?

Growl, growl—
The wolf’s rough breath grazed my skin.

Crack—
The sound of its jaws opening pierced my ears.

Just as I was about to close my eyes in fear—

Thud!

With a dull sound, the wolf collapsed limply to the side.

“Sorry I’m late!!”

A woman in full armor, wielding a greatsword, appeared.
Her arrival instantly shifted the frozen atmosphere.

“Isn’t she from Baekya Guild?”
“Wow… seeing a ranker in person…”

Amid the murmurs, I caught the word “ranker.”

‘That woman’s a ranker?’

In the awakener community, posts about rankers were common.
Reading them, one thing became clear:
Rankers were treated like idols performing on stage.

Seeing her in person, it seemed true.
Everyone around stared at her with awe, unable to look away.

The woman at the center of attention muttered softly,
“Hmm…? I heard there were injured people, but everyone looks fine?”

Then she raised her voice.
“Ahem! Alright! Who’s coming with me to stop this gate outbreak? First come, first served, two spots! You know chances like this don’t come often, right?”

Her tone and demeanor radiated confidence in her skills.

But despite her bold call, people only exchanged glances, too hesitant to step forward.

It made sense.
They’d just seen terrifying monsters emerge from the gate, some had been injured by them, and others had witnessed the wounded firsthand.

“I’ll go.”

A calm, composed voice came from behind.

Turning around, I saw a familiar face—the short-haired woman who’d been my only ally during my first gate run.

“…Oh!?”

I gasped in recognition, and she gave me a faint smile in return.
Meeting her again here doubled my joy.

“Alright, one spot left. Anyone else?”

I could feel people’s gazes slowly shifting toward me.
They didn’t say it outright, but it was clear they hoped I, the healer, would volunteer.

Ugh… I really don’t want to.

A mid-tier gate, not a low-tier one?
What kind of horrors are inside? I really don’t want to go…

Truly…
With every fiber of my being, I didn’t want to go, but…

“I’ll go too…”

The thought of the short-haired woman, my only ally from that first gate, entering that terrifying gate without a healer was even worse.

“What’s our lovely lady’s class?”
“I-I’m a healer.”

At my answer, the ranker’s ever-present grin vanished.
Her intense gaze locked onto me.

“For real…? Really?”

As if she couldn’t believe it, she asked again, then started rapid-fire talking.

“I’m finally partying with a healer? Oh my gosh, no way… I’m so excited…”

Her expression didn’t change, but there was a strange fervor in her voice.

“But my mana’s drained right now, so I’ll need time to recover.”
“Huh? Running out of mana outside a gate…? Wait a sec.”

Her brow furrowed.

“No injured people outside an outbreak gate… Could it be…?”

Her piercing gaze fixed on my face again.
I averted my eyes, rolling them to avoid her stare.

“I can’t hold back.”

Snap!
With a flick of her fingers, a square orb floated before her.

She began pulling out mana potions from it without hesitation.
Egg-sized mana potions, apple-sized ones, potions with seals, elongated ones…

All sorts of mana potions were swiftly stuffed into my bag.

“Why do I only have this much…? Why didn’t I bring more today…?”

Muttering self-reproach, she led us into the dark gate.

Before starting the run, we did quick introductions.

“Baekya Guild, Chae Jiyeon.”
“Firebloom Guild, Song Yoorang.”

The short-haired woman promptly shared her name, but the ranker, uninterested, kept staring at me.

“L-Lee Chorok. No guild yet.”

…Again.
The ranker’s grin vanished.

Was I unknowingly getting on her nerves?
Her constant mood swings made me nervous, and I swallowed hard.

A heavy silence fell inside the gate.

Perhaps sensing my discomfort, Song Yoorang spoke up.

“We’re short on time, so let’s start the run.”

The ranker’s gaze toward her carried a subtle edge.

“Shall we?”

The two exchanged looks, engaging in a brief standoff.
It seemed Firebloom and Baekya Guilds didn’t get along.

‘Why am I caught in the middle…?’

Sandwiched between them, I felt like dying.

The gates I’d entered so far were like tutorials.

This mid-tier gate was on a completely different level.

The monsters were incomparably larger than those in low-tier gates, and their appearances were so grotesque I could barely look at them.

But my party members, as if used to it, casually drew their weapons and charged.

“Woo! Seven!”
“…Eight.”
“Huh? Nine!”
“Ten.”

They even kept count of their kills, turning it into a competition.

Fine, I get it.
The two guilds don’t get along, so they’re having a rivalry.

‘But why do I have to suffer for it…?!’

Maybe because they had a healer,
or maybe it was just their fighting style,
they threw themselves at the monsters without caring about injuries, driving me insane.

‘Shield… Heal, Cleanse… Heal… Shield, Cleanse…’

I could feel my mana draining rapidly.

I grabbed a mana potion from my bag and chugged it.
Then I spammed skills again, grabbing another potion.

An endless cycle.

If they weren’t so busy one-upping each other, we could’ve cleared this more calmly…

To keep them safe, I had to run around too, slipping and falling on the snowy ground at least seven times.

‘By the way…’

Song Yoorang has grown so much.

She was a completely different person from when we first met.

‘Firebloom Guild? That surprised me.’

Did she get stronger and join a guild, or did the guild make her stronger?

I wasn’t sure which, but she was undeniably much stronger than before.

As their competitive kill counts passed 20,
both suddenly fell silent.

The ranker’s playful expression hardened.
Even the usually calm Song Yoorang showed fear for the first time.

Following their gazes, I saw a small creature.

A spirit.

A small, beautiful spirit standing in the middle of a snowy field,
surrounded by blooming ice flowers.

Saaa—

Its gentle wingbeats made it look like a delicately carved doll come to life, breathtakingly beautiful.

“Of all things… a nature spirit…”

The ranker muttered in despair.
Song Yoorang swallowed hard, her face full of fear.

Their sudden change in demeanor felt so unfamiliar.

“What’s wrong?”

Cautiously asking, the ranker hesitated before answering.

“Nature spirits are terrifying monsters.”

Her voice trembled slightly.

“They’re extremely ferocious, hate humans, and worst of all… awakeners’ attacks don’t work on them.”

Attacks don’t work?

So, this gate didn’t outbreak because it wasn’t cleared—it’s because it couldn’t be?

“Rankers prioritize stopping gate outbreaks. But against nature spirits, our attacks are useless…”

“Healer-nim, you need to be really careful from now on,” Song Yoorang added, her face serious.

But I couldn’t believe them.

A spirit that creates such beautiful ice flowers couldn’t possibly be a monster.

I turned to look at the ice flowers again.

At that moment, my eyes met the spirit’s.

Tilt—
It tilted its head oddly, then suddenly flew toward me.

Sparkling leaves bloomed along its path.

Reaching my feet, the spirit tilted its head again, looking up at me,
then fluttered onto my shoulder.

Instantly, Chae Jiyeon, the ranker, reached for her weapon with a nervous look.
Song Yoorang, trembling with fear, took a fighting stance.

But I, seeing the spirit up close, was overwhelmed with awe.

‘It’s so beautiful…’

How could they call something this lovely a monster?
It was so pretty, I couldn’t help but smile.

“Hi?”

Smiling and greeting the spirit on my shoulder, it made an incomprehensible sound, hugged my neck, and nuzzled my head.

“Haha! That’s cold…”

My party members exchanged shocked glances, as if they’d seen something unbelievable.

But their reactions felt stranger to me.

It’s so kind and cute.
What’s so scary about it?