Was Happy Being a Despised F-Rank Healer, You Know? - Chapter 129

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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16. Strange Omens (6)

“It depends on the situation, but if things get dangerous, send me a signal. Then I’ll invite you into my Dungeon.”
“……!”
Yu Hee’s playfulness vanished, replaced by a look of genuine surprise.
“An invitation, and……, into a Dungeon?”
I watched her mutter the words “my Dungeon” with a wry smile.
“Does the idea of a Dungeon make you nervous? But it seemed genuinely useful in a real crisis. I promise there won’t be any danger.”
Becoming a Dungeon’s master was dangerous for the one bearing that burden, but when used this way, there was no harm at all to the invited guest.
It should’ve been fine, even if it weren’t the Baridegi Dungeon!
“Oh, no, that’s not it. I’m not nervous—I’m just surprised. I’d never thought of using it that way.”
“I know. I was surprised too when I thought of it.”
But before I could respond, someone cut in.
I snapped my head around to look at who’d interrupted.
No—at the people.
“Huh?”
I sprang to my feet, releasing Yu Hee’s hand.
“Sorry, Hali. We were looking for you two and couldn’t help but overhear.”
“It’s fine with me, but Yu Hee—”
“I don’t mind. I already knew anyway.”
Gong Seo-yun apologized as he approached—though why was he apologizing only to me?—and Yu Hee answered him with a gentle laugh.
“At first I thought they might be owls, but there’s no way owls would sit so still in broad daylight. So I figured it was you lot.”
When I laughed awkwardly at her unusually rough tone, Yu Hee grinned and pulled me back down, reclaiming my hand.
Then, still holding hands, she turned to address the four approaching figures.
“I thought you’d all be perceptive enough to listen and leave quietly. Where did you leave your senses?”
Her expression and tone were angelic as always, but her words were anything but.
In fact—
If I’d sensed their presence, I would’ve known it was these four from the start, owls or not.
“I didn’t sense them at all.”
“The fault lies with the ones who eavesdropped, not with you for not knowing.”
That was true enough, but I’d been feeling dejected about my poor Mana Detection skill for not picking them up.
Hearing her put it that way, though, I couldn’t help but laugh.
The four seemed to decide we’d accepted them well enough and settled down around us.
The six of us now sat in a circle.
Lee Hae-sol looked between me and Yu Hee alternately, then gazed at Yu Hee with an oddly pensive expression. Though Yu Hee just smiled lightly.
Perhaps that reaction helped him organize his thoughts.
While Yuhan Seong asked me, “How did you even find this place?”, Lee Hae-sol composed himself and jumped in.
“The Mana here is abundant, though not entirely stable.”
“Right? I noticed it on one of my trips to the Library.”
Yuhan Seong nodded slowly. Hyun I-seo clicked his tongue disapprovingly.
“You went to the Library too?”
“Of course! Potion Crafting requires study as the foundation. You need to know your herbs well. I was already interested, but the Academy’s taught me so much.”
Though truth be told, having Erich as a mentor meant I was essentially running real-time research on Dungeon-related plants.
‘Like carrying around a search function.’
But even Erich didn’t know everything.
Especially when local herbs had been transformed into new forms under the Dungeon’s influence.
Fortunately, Erich was skilled at understanding the nature of Mana in such cases and could guess their uses, which helped tremendously.
“Come to think of it, I’ve been quite obsessed with potions. I just thought I was working hard, but……”
At my offhanded muttering, all five of them gave me the exact same baffled look.
Even Yuhan Seong.
He studied my face with an odd expression for a moment, then gazed at me with eyes so tender they almost hurt to meet.
His gaze was so soft it embarrassed me despite myself. The moment I looked away, I caught him smiling faintly in my peripheral vision.
When he smiles like that, he actually looks his age.
His physical age, not his soul age.
With sunlight catching his face and nature itself applying a natural filter, his familiar features seemed almost startlingly radiant.
“Hali.”
Gong Seo-yun called my name then, his expression looking oddly displeased.
“Mm?”
I turned and found myself meeting crimson eyes—eyes like a ruby formed from captured sunlight.
The moment they met mine, they curved upward in a smile that felt subtly different from usual.
“Tell me next time too.”
“Tell you what?”
“Things that only Yu Hee knows.”
The others stared at Gong Seo-yun with collective skepticism, but he merely shrugged, unconcerned.
“You know quite a bit about me. But I know very little about you. So tell me.”
“……Uh, o……kay.”
A chill ran down all our spines in that moment.
“What the……”
Yuhan Seong made a rare face of distaste.
“……Did he eat something bad?”
“Is he out of his mind?”
“Ha.”
Lee Hae-sol and Hyun I-seo both grimaced, while Yu Hee let out a chilling sigh.
Gong Seo-yun wasn’t the type to say embarrassing things like that.
As I stared at him with a confused expression, barely moving my lips, Gong Seo-yun pressed further with a mischievous grin.
For the record, he was sitting on my opposite side.
From right beside me, he threw me an eye-smile and spoke in a tone that was almost——
“That cold, no, that gloomy…… anyway, it’s just you and Yu Hee. But we’re friends too. I feel left out. Take care of me too.”
“Seo—Seo-yun!”
“Hmm?”
That wasn’t just a normal hum. It was something between a groan and a hum!
“Okay, okay. Let’s do that. We’re friends too, so I guess I’ve been thoughtless? Yeah, I’ve been thoughtless…”
I stumbled through the words with a confused expression, and Seo-yun quickly nodded in agreement.
“You promised?”
“……Yeah.”
……What? What did I just promise to?
So he was saying it feels lonely that I only spend time alone with Yu Hee, and he wants me to spend time alone with him too, right?
Do I really need to spell that out……?
But watching Gong Seo-yun’s playful smile and seeing him giggle, I suddenly understood.
“Ugh, why would you play tricks like that! What is this!”
“Bahahaha!”
“What kind of— ugh!”
Before I knew it, I was jabbing him with my elbow, openly showing my displeasure. Only his laughter grew louder.
“No way, you still promised! You promised, right?”
“I said yes, now stop!”
I listen comfortably to sincere words, even if others might think they’re cringey.
‘But I can’t handle aegyo.’
Not dislike so much as I can’t bear it.
My face is probably flushed right now.
As I playfully bickered with Seo-yun, I caught a tiny mutter from Yu Hee’s direction.
“Fox.”
When I glanced over, Yuhan Seong was watching Gong Seo-yun with an unfamiliar, suspicious gaze, while Hyun I-seo observed him with a subtle, penetrating stare.
What was that pitying, flabbergasted look in his eyes……?
Then Lee Hae-sol spoke up.
“Me too.”
“What?”
“Me too, Hali.”
Lee Hae-sol had a gentle manner, but his expression remained perpetually cool, at odds with his tone and voice.
But seeing his ears flush slightly pink, I quickly nodded.
“Oh, yeah! Okay. Let’s do that.”
Could time alone together really feel that excluding?
Such is the heart of a teenager.
Though now that I think about it, I remember having a taste of that feeling myself—that petty discomfort when your friend seems closer to someone else.
It’s kind of cute.
With that thought, I gazed at Lee Hae-sol warmly, and he responded with a shy, trembling smile.
He’s really adorable.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
After a strange silence stretched out, Yuhan Seong released a long sigh.
He looked at me as if to say something, faltered, shook his head a few times, and then changed the subject.
“About what you two were saying earlier. Hali, would it be alright if I asked how you can use the Dungeon?”
“Of course. But why?”
His face grew more serious.
The others dropped their playfulness and focused on his words.
“I don’t know how many more Annihilation Dungeons will open……”
I knew it would be ten, but Yuhan Seong chose his words carefully.
“But in an emergency, I wanted to know if you could temporarily shelter people from the affected area. Of course, only if it causes you absolutely no burden—if there’s even the slightest harm, disregard what I’m asking.”
What he had in mind, no one in this room probably understood better than I did.
I carefully chose my words in response.
“If it’s people from the area……, it definitely won’t be just one or two. Lion, could you come out for a moment?”
[Yes, Master! Did you call for me?]
Hyun I-seo, the only one who didn’t know about Lion, sputtered in confusion.
“What—what is that? What is—…… wait, am I the only one shocked right now?”
It seems like the one who might genuinely get sulky today is actually Hyun I-seo.

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