Was Happy Being a Despised F-Rank Healer, You Know? - Chapter 105

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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14. I Liked Being a Despised F-Rank Healer Though? (14)

The treatment of spiritual realm awakeners is more miserable than people imagine.

This treatment varied slightly between East and West – while the West felt uncomfortable but still granted some authority, the East had formed an atmosphere where everyone generally ostracized them.

The reason it solidified in such a negative direction is simple.

100 years ago, the scale of the accident caused by a spiritual realm S-rank awakener in China was too massive.

The so-called Daydream Incident.

An incident where a spiritual realm S-rank awakener went berserk while experimentally expanding their collective consciousness synchronization ability.

About 120,000 people, including foreign tourists, were caught up in that rampage.

‘And they all died.’

It was an enormous casualty rate.

Moreover, there was virtually no way to counter it.

According to the few survivors, people within a radius of several dozen kilometers all had the same dream simultaneously.

They couldn’t remember the dream’s content, but one thing they all said in common was that the world in the dream resembled the scenery inside dungeons.

In other words, it was a fantasy world.

People at that time had such a strong belief that this place was the real world and they would surely die if they woke up.

So no one in the dream world thought to wake up.

Only those who decided they would rather die in their own world, and among them, only high-rank awakeners who possessed some degree of mana, could survive.

It means only A-rank and above ability users who were prepared to die survived.

That incident where about 120,000 people died in a week, drained of all vitality, still remains a worldwide terror.

That awakener was immediately killed afterward, but part of the corpse went missing during transport, so even 100 years later, there are still ghost stories related to them.

Still, the reason Western ostracism is less severe is simply because the spiritual realm skills that emerge there are more intuitive and manageable compared to the East.

‘They don’t stray far from the abilities of psychics that existed in the pre-apocalypse world, right?’

Mind-reading skills could be blocked with mental barriers, and prophecy skills had virtually no offensive power, so they were actually easier to get along with.

The East was different.

Like the dream ability user I mentioned earlier, when it came to peculiar or troublesome spiritual realm awakeners, they were all Easterners.

Anyway, that was still 100 years ago.

Now, even in the East, only the consciousness of ostracism remained, and there was no actual open confinement or treating them as criminals outright.

‘Except China.’

There, just awakening to the spiritual realm gets you treated half like a criminal or a weapon.

Since they were the victim country at that time, it might be natural.

Meanwhile, Korea was subtly positioned in a good way.

While there was an atmosphere of ostracism, they didn’t openly treat them badly.

It was like, they’re human so we must respect their human rights and shouldn’t treat them unfairly, but it’s true that they’re uncomfortable to deal with.

Since this country was full of dangerous awakeners anyway, spiritual realm types were nothing special.

‘Even that alone made life tough though.’

Seo Jeong-u recalled his father who had treated him like a monster and sold him to the underground.

Though he was dramatically rescued by Eden Guild and could even enroll at Narin, the world young Seo Jeong-u experienced until this point was hell.

Still, this place was the best.

This place that saw spiritual realm awakeners as they were, respected them as awakeners, and even praised them based on rank and achievements – where safety insensitivity seemed to flow in the people’s blood.

Just by enrolling at Narin Academy, Seo Jeong-u’s life became one without major worries ahead.

Since social trust in Narin was high, the atmosphere of avoiding spiritual realm types would quickly disappear.

Then wouldn’t a place that treats you as human be the best?

Korean awakener society was excessively bound by rank, so if you reached about B-rank or showed decent results before graduating from Narin, there would be even less to worry about.

…The situation was different in many ways from F-rank healers who were treated as failures from birth.

Surely, Jin Hali’s situation was worse than Seo Jeong-u’s, if anything, not better.

“…What is this.”

“Huh, why? Does something feel strange? I-I’m trying it for the first time though.”

With a quiet healing sound, silver mana with purple pearls flowed from Jin Hali’s fingertips.

Seo Jeong-u, who had no injuries and was just thinking of it as wasting heal counts or being a practice partner, opened his eyes wide.

“Ugh, I should have tried it on myself first!”

Should have, what?

It seemed like something that would have made Jin Hali’s friends grind their teeth if they had heard it, but Seo Jeong-u just accepted it.

More important was the result achieved by the silver-purple light cluster that had just entered his body.

“So this is what mana circuits feel like.”

“Huh?”

“…No, they say there are separate circuits through which mana flows.”

“Yeah.”

“When I became A-rank, I could sense them slightly? But just now, those pathways got completely cleaned out.”

There really was no other way to express it than ‘cleaned out.’

“Then what gets better?”

“What gets better, you ask?”

At the innocent and harmless F-rank’s question, Seo Jeong-u felt a bit dazed.

F-ranks treated as failures by society have such poor treatment that it would be better to live as non-awakeners.

So it was inevitable that they would lack common knowledge like this.

“Everything changes.”

Feeling a bit down, Seo Jeong-u let his guard down momentarily and spoke.

“Everything? Exactly what changes and by how much?”

“Ugh. I can’t even test my ability for this.”

“Try it. It’s okay.”

“Idiot, what are you saying to a brainwashing ability user.”

“Hmm. I don’t mind though. We’re just trying it briefly anyway. Ah, or not. Would it harm you?”

The friend who had lived receiving only contempt finally showed a troubled expression when saying the latter part.

Seo Jeong-u became a little shy.

Even though he had gossiped behind her back hoping she would just drop out since she was F-rank, Jin Hali had never shown any sign of discomfort.

Not only that.

He had lived thanks to Jin Hali, and his rank had also risen thanks to Jin Hali.

Yet why was he most grateful now, more than ever?

While her mana was still F-rank.

Despite having no ability to defend against attacks other than crafting skills.

Jin Hali wasn’t afraid of spiritual realm skills.

She trusted him because she considered him a friend.

It was amazing.

“N-no harm will come to me. I’ll make sure we don’t get caught.”

Hiding the slight choking in his throat, Seo Jeong-u spoke.

Then Jin Hali urged him on with a bright face as if her worries were resolved.

“Then that’s fine. Hurry, hurry.”

…This kid would probably be happier becoming a celebrity in non-awakener society…

“Ah, got it. Then, um. Right now you’re sleepy.”

“Oh my…”

Seo Jeong-u’s skill level had also risen when he became A-rank.

‘Even so, being able to apply brainwashing without straying far from normal conversation like this.’

It must be because his mana circuits were cleaned.

My goodness. What exactly is this kid?

“Skill cancel.”

“Ah… Ah? Oh. Wow.”

When Seo Jeong-u canceled the brainwashing, Jin Hali, who had been nodding her head, opened her eyes and lifted her head with a start.

“Mana efficiency seems about 1.5 times better.”

When Seo Jeong-u spoke, Jin Hali also opened her mouth slightly.

“I’ll have to see how long it lasts though. Oh, the effect is gradually wearing off. Right now it seems to be about 15 seconds?”

“15 seconds. That’s subtle.”

“What are you talking about? 15 seconds is enough to change the tide of battle. And you’re going to do this for all the Class 8 kids?”

“Yeah.”

At the answer that came out as if it were obvious, Seo Jeong-u unconsciously closed his mouth.

Then he organized his thoughts and asked.

“Jin Hali, why do you go that far?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve been curious since you started distributing potions to people, but do you perhaps…?”

“Perhaps?”

“Like, do you have some manga-like goal of making sure no one dies or something? Ahaha, that’s not it, right?”

The lack of response made him a bit anxious.

Seo Jeong-u rolled his eyes and asked again.

“Besides, it seems like you take especially good care of Class 8. You treat even Isang Hee, who you dislike, no differently. Why do you go that far?”

He was fully prepared to counter if answers like “because I’m F-rank” or “because I’m a burden” came out.

That alone couldn’t explain moving without considering one’s own safety.

No hunter moves as desperately as you do.

‘Unless they’re a hunter obsessed with revenge or crazy about something.’

But Jin Hali didn’t seem to belong to either category, which was strange.

It also made him anxious.

He wanted to tell her to hide this healing power if possible since it was a power that absolutely couldn’t be discovered by Isang Hee, but she was saying she’d do it for everyone.

“Hmm, you seem to see me as some remarkably good person, but I’m not.”

“You’re not?”

…Is she serious?

“It’s not some distant place—I can’t just stand still watching people die right in front of my eyes.”

“Huh? Is that… so?”

Without a doubt, it was the first time he’d ever heard such words.

“Of course! Besides, everyone here are students. Not adults, but students—that makes it even more so. Who could comfortably watch kids dying? I’m very ordinary. It’s just that I could do more than I expected.”

Her eyes were sincere as she spoke with a frown.

Seo Jeong-u looked at her bewildered, then realized.

‘I had forgotten, overshadowed by her being F-rank and her potion ability.’

Jin Hali would sometimes… look at them with that affectionate gaze, like an adult watching children!

He always dismissed it as his imagination, but perhaps Jin Hali really saw them as ‘kids who needed protection.’

And that was from the very beginning, before showing any of these achievements!

‘She might actually be crazy?’

Seo Jeong-u thought as he looked at Jin Hali in dismay.

And the moment Jin Hali tilted her head, Yuhan Seong, who had been leaning against the door, spoke up.

“Anyway, time’s up, so you should both come back.”

With an unreadable expression.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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