UHNA 02

Chapter 02

 Surviving as an F-Rank Healer

Honestly, even if those kids did something worse than badmouthing me behind my back toward someone who was nothing but dead weight, I wouldn’t have minded. It was true that I was a burden, and besides, it actually benefited me more that way. But still.

For some reason, they didn’t do anything beyond whispering among themselves like that.

Ignoring me and hurling insults?

That much, well.

“Considering that they could die because of me, that’s only natural.”

Thinking about it, the kids in this class were a bit unusual even in the original story.

This class had an especially large number of students who had lived rough lives, even by Narin Academy standards.

People who didn’t have criminal records, but who had experienced the dark sides of society in all kinds of ways.

And yet, because they never lost their kindness, more than half of them died in the original work precisely because of that kindness.

And that became the trigger for the original protagonist’s descent into darkness after graduating from the academy.

“That was their role, too.”

Even now, they were probably just angry at the thought of having to take the exam while protecting me, and hadn’t even considered the easy option of simply letting me die.

“Not even realizing how screwed they were from the class assignment.”

An F-rank being mixed in?

By their own words, if things went by the book, I would never enter a dungeon unless S-ranks personally stepped in to take me.

So instead of worrying about an F-rank, those kids should be worrying about something else.

If they wanted to survive until the final exam.

“Haah.”

While carefully reading the <Dungeon Monsters> textbook, I let out a sigh without realizing it.

“Of all things, why did I have to end up inside a novel like this?”

As everyone lost interest in me, I relaxed a little and recalled my first day here, when I had arrived with a tense and troubled expression.

“So… was that about a week ago?”

<The Only SSS-Rank Party Is Mine Alone>.

It was once a hugely popular work, ranked in the top three on a certain serialization site.

Until it went completely downhill toward the ending.

I was one of the handful of readers who stuck with it until the end.

“I really believed the author would pull off a twist in the finale.”

A world where the threat of annihilation descended every fifty years after the first dungeon appeared.

In that world, Yoo Hanseong was the protagonist who repeatedly regressed through time to stop the current annihilation, which had begun in Korea fifty years after the previous extinction dungeon.

Through dozens of regressions, he identified the true nature of this “annihilation” and came to a conclusion.

That no matter how extraordinary a hunter he became, it was a massive current that could not be stopped alone.

And so he made a decision.

“I’ll gather S-ranks!”

The higher a hunter’s rank, the more violent and aggressive their temperament tended to be, so S-ranks never formed fixed parties with one another.

Even the temporary parties formed right before extinction dungeons were dissolved as common sense once the disaster was averted.

But the scale and number of extinction dungeons had been increasing every fifty years.

And this time, unlike the previous three, there were expected to be ten extinction dungeons erupting in Korea, each one on a scale comparable to the final dungeon.

As if all the extinction dungeons up to now had been nothing more than advance scouts.

“And that really was the case.”

According to Yoo Hanseong in the story, only by clearing nine of them without any sacrifices and preserving their strength could they even attempt to clear half of the tenth extinction dungeon.

In other words, up to 9.5 dungeons, Yoo Hanseong had a secret method for bloodless clears.

“And he was confident that if he succeeded in forming a fixed S-rank party as planned, even clearing the final dungeon would be possible.”

But in the original story, he never fully achieved that goal.

“Because all the academy graduates he nurtured early on died before reaching the final dungeon.”

Yoo Hanseong succeeded in forming a tightly bonded, well-coordinated S-rank party through Narin Academy and the Eden Guild.

And by clearing seven dungeons, he gave hope to a world that had been despairing that this time annihilation was inevitable.

But up through the ninth dungeon, unforeseen sacrifices continued.

“Still, it would have been nice if they’d won in the tenth, final dungeon with the remaining S-rank party members.”

That’s where the author started flinging crap.

Right after clearing the ninth extinction dungeon, a traitor emerged from among the team members.

On top of that, unexpected problems erupted outside, and even after barely managing things and entering the final dungeon, everyone except Yoo Hanseong and the heroine died!

Victory?

What victory— the protagonist gave his own life to the final boss to save the heroine.

Even now, thinking back on it made me laugh hollowly.

And that whole process dragged on for over a hundred chapters. Why did I even keep reading it? Was I (briefly?) out of my mind?!

“If I could go back, I’d read it more carefully.”

That day, as I recalled the situation that had made me curse nonstop back then, I muttered something completely out of context.

While looking into a mirror.

The skinny, gloomy-looking high school student reflected there was wearing a school uniform.

The uniform, based on hanbok designs but modified for hunters’ mobility, was pretty to look at and extremely comfortable to move in. The durumagi-style outer garment had a white mugunghwa emblem embroidered on it.

It felt like wearing clouds.

But I didn’t have the presence of mind to gush, “I’m a true fan!” and get drunk on school uniform merchandise.

Because that was Jin Hari.

I stared at the name on the name tag and sighed.

At least Jin Hari’s name had appeared in the original work, and some of the body’s memories remained, so I knew some basic information.

Like when she was destined to die— damn it.

“Seventeen years old, scheduled to enter the Awakener Academy this year. An F-rank healer who would only get ostracized if she went anyway, so why enroll in an awakener-only school instead of a regular one?”

To escape her ghost-like family.

This unfortunate teenager was a pariah who belonged nowhere in this world.

Being F-rank alone invited scorn, but an F-rank healer with absolutely no ability to fight monsters?

By all logic, living as a normal person would have been more advantageous.

According to the original story, an F-rank healer couldn’t even properly make low-grade potions, and their defining skill— healing— was F-rank as well, usable only three times a day.

With open contempt for F-rank healers widespread, it would be difficult for Jin Hari to even live normally at the academy.

But Jin Hari couldn’t live as a normal person either.

Her family had racked up an overwhelming amount of debt in her name.

There was a system where becoming a hunter erased debts incurred as a civilian, so for Jin Hari, entering Narin Academy was the only way to survive.

“Die, or spend your entire life crushed by debt. What a hellish set of choices.”

Either way, even for me, who knew the original story, there was no other option. I had already registered for the academy, and there was no going back.

To cancel it, I’d have to repay the administrative costs incurred, and there was no reason to increase my debt.

“Looks like I’m stuck watching the original plot firsthand.”

Which would be a disaster if it followed the original course.

“I need to avoid entering dungeons as much as possible.”

Do you know what role Jin Hari played in the original story?

“Bait.”

Jin Hari dies early on.

After providing Yoo Hanseong with the crucial information that F-rank healers possess a kind of mana that monsters from other worlds go berserk over— making them perfect bait.

“Was that during the first-year final dungeon exam?”

This information also served as a device to show the protagonist’s character change from early to mid story.

Early on, even after learning this, he doesn’t reveal it. No matter how crazy he was, he couldn’t use a person as bait— a decision born of kindness.

But by the middle of the story, things change. He had already failed his goal of bloodless clears.

Even so, he maintained an attitude of using bait while prioritizing its protection above all else.

“And in the late stages.”

He hires bait by paying with their lives to protect his own team members.

That bait didn’t even get a name and died with a squawk, and Yoo Hanseong didn’t care at all.

He only thought it was a shame there were so few.

“Ugh.”

I clicked my tongue and got ready to head out.

“Whatever happens, I have to survive first.”

For now, I’d be extremely careful from every angle to avoid entering dungeons.

At the same time, since the world must not end, I still needed to help the protagonist clear the final dungeon.

“Well, that just means delivering a few special potions and some information at the right times.”

Special potions.

Not exactly a highly valued field in this world.

Still, it would be more than enough as a way to make a living after graduation.

By the time I graduated, the value of special potions would be reassessed anyway.

“The problem is skill. If I were skilled enough, I’d directly supply the potions essential for the攻略. But with my level, even rolling around on the ground might not be enough.”

Material costs were an issue too.

There were so many problems.

I shook my head.

For now, I’d aim to graduate safely, and just play the role of passing on information that would be useful later.

As for potions, I’d deliver them only if things worked out.

Hopefully, both the world and I would remain safe.

That was what I thought on my first day.