Chapter 9: This account has been blocked for a week.

Chae Jiyeon, ranked 8th in overall combat power and a master of the greatsword,
was a core member of the Baekya Guild.
But right now, she was reeling from shock and confusion at the scene before her.

‘A nature spirit… acting cute?’

And toward a human, no less?

In that moment, a nightmarish memory she’d barely suppressed resurfaced.

The one time in her life she’d faced a nature spirit inside a gate.
Its ferocious temper had made her and her guildmates sweat bullets.

They’d only managed to clear it with help from the top-ranked guild, Manwol, and even now, the memory was downright horrific.

‘Is this one some kind of outlier among nature spirits?’

How could it be this docile?

With cautious curiosity, Chae Jiyeon took a step forward.

Instantly, the spirit’s eyes flashed, letting out a threatening hiss.

Hiss—!

Feeling a threat to her life, she instinctively stepped back.

“Hey, you can’t do that.”

But when Chorok scolded it with a stern face, the spirit blinked innocently and nuzzled her neck as if nothing had happened.

“…Ha.”

Jiyeon let out a bewildered laugh.

To clear a gate with a nature spirit, you need to capture it using a special cage made from rare materials.
But crafting the cage costs an astronomical amount,
and the spirit’s violent nature often leads to countless injuries and casualties—a major drawback.

That’s why rankers dreaded encountering nature spirits the most, especially one like the adorable creature currently fawning over someone in front of her.

‘What would she say if she saw this?’

Baekya Guild kept captured spirits locked deep in the basement of their building.
Their guild leader, obsessed with spirits, had abandoned all other tasks to try taming one, disappearing into the basement long ago.

‘I can’t even remember the last time I saw her face.’

A guild leader with such an unhealthy fixation on spirits…
What would she do if she saw this scene?

Well, Jiyeon could guess her reaction.

‘…Let’s just pretend I didn’t see this.’

Even if she didn’t report it, the guild leader would likely find out eventually.
But for now… as long as possible,
Jiyeon vowed to protect this girl from that eccentric.

With vacant eyes, she stared into the void, lost in thought.

“Are those ice flowers your doing?”

When I asked, the spirit nodded with a bright smile.

“They’re so beautiful… Creating flowers this pretty? You’re amazing.”

At my words, the spirit’s eyes widened, its cheeks flushing red as it began circling me excitedly.

It must be shy from the praise.

After twirling around for a while, the spirit suddenly flew off somewhere, returning with an ice flower in its hands.

“Is this a gift? Thank you.”

The moment I accepted the flower,
a window listing its details appeared.

—

[Glacie Bloom]
– A miraculous flower blooming in eternal winter
– Contains potent frost and purification properties

[Effects]
– Purifies foreign substances and toxic mana in the body
– Temporarily refines impure mana into high-purity elements: Stabilizes magic circuits and maximizes high-level magic casting efficiency

[Uses]
– Glacie Elixir: An ultra-rare recovery potion made by mixing a petal with a drop of Pristine’s Tear
– Snow Rune Drop: A rune fragment crystallized from the flower’s core. Grants cold resistance when carried

—

‘My goodness…’

The effects and uses of this ice flower were so extraordinary, comparing it to the Lumina Bell felt unfair.

‘To think such a flower existed.’

As a plant enthusiast, I was burning with desire to cultivate it myself.
But sadly, it didn’t seem possible, unlike the Lumina Bell.

Why?

– Blooms only under the touch of the ice spirit Pristine.

This flower could only be created by the spirit in front of me.

It was a shame, but learning that such a plant existed was meaningful enough.

Now, though…
It was probably time to stop playing with the spirit.

I quietly asked Chae Jiyeon, who was staring blankly into space,
“If awakeners’ attacks don’t work on the spirit, does that mean this gate will stay in outbreak mode forever?”
“No, there’s a way.”

Snapping back to reality, she answered.

“Forcibly capturing it and taking it outside the gate… but we’d need a capture tool.”

“But if either Yoorang-ssi or I leave to get one, the gate could outbreak again in the meantime.”

And that would cause another tragedy, she added.
Her words made my heart waver.

‘Capturing the spirit?’

No way. I’d hate that.

But if we left the spirit here, the gate would outbreak again, and more people outside would get hurt…

“There’s another method—calming an enraged spirit and returning it to nature—but that’s practically impossible,” Jiyeon continued.

Hearing the second option, an arrogant thought crossed my mind.

Since it’s so fond of me, maybe it’ll listen to me?

“I’ll give it a try.”

Even if I got attacked in the process, I wouldn’t regret it.
Forcing the spirit into captivity… I just couldn’t stomach that.

I set the spirit down where we first met and knelt before it.

“I’m sorry.”

The spirit tilted its head, looking at me curiously.

“It must be upsetting, with nature changing so much, right?”

At my words, it puffed out its cheeks, lowered its head, and started sprouting ice flowers all over the ground.

This must be its way of expressing emotions.

Mesmerized by the beautiful bouquet of ice flowers, I slapped my soft cheeks to focus.

“I’m truly sorry. But I want you to return to nature. I know it’s shameless, but please, just this once.”

The spirit slowly lifted its head, its eyes brimming with tears.

Flap— It flew to my shoulder, hugged my neck, and nuzzled my head.
It was like it was saying it didn’t want to part.

I don’t know why it likes me so much, but seeing it cry about not wanting to leave tugged at my heartstrings.

Maybe that’s why.

Before I knew it, the words lingering in my heart slipped out.

“Ugh, whatever! Wanna just come with me?”

The spirit’s teary face lit up with a radiant smile.

Twirling around me again, sprouting ice flowers, it suddenly dove into my hand.

Carefully opening my palm,
I saw a tiny seed scattering frost crystals.

As soon as I got home, I collapsed onto the floor.

‘I’m exhausted…’

After a brief rest with my eyes closed, I planted the seed in a pretty pot I’d bought on the way home.

But due to its special condition, sprouting it right away seemed tricky.

‘I need some dopamine…’

Flopping back onto the floor, I opened the community app.

Maybe because of what happened earlier, the board was flooded with posts praising me.

Some even had been live-streamed, with my face plastered prominently in several threads.

For a moment, my head spun, but I decided to think positively.

‘Alright, since it’s come to this…’

I’ll use my newfound fame to fulfill my dream of becoming a named figure.

A sly grin spread across my face.

—

[HealerHere: Thanks for all the praise, lol]

I didn’t do much, but I’m flustered by all this praise… lol

—

If I subtly hint that I’m the person from the news, people will recognize me, right?

Or so I thought.

As expected.
This time, too.

I got zero attention.

Before, I at least got hate comments, but now, not even those.

It was total indifference.

‘Do my posts smell or something?’

Pout, pout—
My lips protruded further from my face.

Then, a post with explosive views caught my eye.

—

[The person from the news!! They’re the protagonist of my post!!]

I told you, didn’t I? There are kind healers out there!
It wasn’t a fake story…
Ugh… I finally feel vindicated…

—

Here we go again.
Sprout Guild, at it again.

The person who started this whole thing in the awakener community, my number-one rival, had posted again!

‘The actual protagonist of that post—me—can’t even get a single hate comment…’

I was already in a bad mood, and seeing that post’s views skyrocket made my jealousy explode.

“…”

Finally, I shot up from my seat, cracking my neck with a pop-pop.

The ego I’d kept buried deep inside wriggled, yearning to see the light.

I changed my nickname from “HealerHere” to “PlantFan” and immediately commented on Choi Hanul’s post.

[?That’s it? Just got lucky with a heal spoon and making a fuss lol]

Ding-ding!
With a flurry of notifications, a ton of replies piled under my comment.

[Making a fuss? You think this is a fuss? If you genuinely think that, go see a doctor.]
[PlantFan’s that notorious troll from the plant gallery. Don’t engage.]
[Sure, trolling’s one thing, but didn’t they cross a line?]
[Yeah, they crossed it.]
.
.
.

“…Oh?”

The old “PlantFan” had spammed countless posts just to get a single hate comment.

I only dropped one comment, drawing on that experience, and didn’t expect this much attention!

And people even remembered the “PlantFan” nickname…

Could it be?
Am I halfway to my dream of becoming a plant gallery named figure…?

‘I get it now.’

How to get attention in the community.

From then on, like I’d awakened something, I started leaving snarky comments on every post praising me.

—

[What’s truly amazing about the Seongbuk-gu healer]

Using healing skills in public like that would get you on the news and expose your face in no time…
Having the courage to do it regardless deserves praise.

– PlantFan: Nah, lol, not amazing at all

—

[Seeing they healed so many injured people]

Did they luck out with great skills?
The healer I met before barely healed because of low mana.

– PlantFan: Anyone with a heal spoon can do it

—

Every comment I left drew intense attention.

Most were practically hate comments, but I didn’t care.
They got way more replies than Choi Hanul’s new post.

This feeling, like I’m a superstar.

It’s so thrilling.
Dopamine bursting in real-time…!

Riding the wave, I posted over 30 comments until—

[Account banned for one week]
[Reason: Trolling and disruption]