Was Happy Being a Despised F-Rank Healer, You Know? - Chapter 152

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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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17. Stepping Through Shadows (14)

A dozen thoughts flickered through my mind.
Had Yuhan Seong, Gong Seo-yun, and Lee Hae-sol warned them without their knowledge? Or perhaps Yu Hee had.
If so, that meant Jin Hali had known of their existence all along and simply feigned ignorance.
Why?
If they were merely F-rank—not even S-rank—there was no conceivable reason for her to deceive them unless there was another move she could execute instead.
And if she’d known, she wouldn’t have engineered this situation so perfectly, leaving herself utterly alone.
A strange tension hung in the air as the direct descendants pretended to remain composed.
From a distance, one of the two observers—Yu Seob—raised his eyebrow and gave a hand signal to Yu Han, the leader of the ten direct descendants.
Yu Han, masked in black cloth, stepped forward and spoke.
“Did Yu Hee divulge the clan’s secrets to you?”
Jin Hali answered without apparent tension.
“That’s hardly likely. I simply studied hard, that’s all.”
“Studied?”
“I frequent the Ancient Books Library.”
Not just any library—one that housed ancient texts. It was a special place.
Such places required careful handling; the preserved texts themselves sometimes carried mana, or lay under curses, making them among the most dangerous locations within the Academy.
‘Though honestly, it’s barely manageable even with the Academy’s resources.’
She had courage.
As an F-rank, a curse would have been fatal.
But yes—if she’d been frequenting such a place, she could have gleaned something of the Yoo Clan’s atmosphere.
Yet the words that followed exceeded their expectations.
“It seems the heir hasn’t been completely decided on Yu Hee yet.”
She knew it was a succession trial?
That was more than what could be explained by simply sensing the clan’s mood through ancient texts.
“So it was Yu Hee after all…!”
That bastard Yu Han kept calling her by name in front of Jin Hali.
I understood it was a choice to hide the direct descendants’ reverence for Yu Hee, but it still grated.
“No, that’s not it. Like I said—I studied hard.”
Jin Hali stood before ten assassins—or rather, more than ten if you counted her teammates—yet she carried herself with absolute ease.
“If you don’t give a proper explanation, you’ll die in agony.”
Yu Rim threatened in his rough voice, but it changed nothing.
“Well, I’m not the sort of person worth abducting for assassins to target. Ordinary kidnapping might be another matter.”
If anything, it was the assassins’ momentum that faltered.
Yu Seob and Yu Bin internally cursed.
“And assassins who move with such perfect silence and coordination, at that. The fact that they’ve infiltrated Narin Academy itself is impressive—but to hunt students inside without detection? How many assassins of that caliber could possibly exist in the world?”
If Yu Hee had carelessly leaked the clan’s secrets, the situation would have become far more serious.
Fortunately, the direct descendants’ mood eased slightly upon confirming that wasn’t the case.
“Even so, ten seems excessive, doesn’t it? If there’s a reason someone would target me, it’s more likely something around me than myself. And conveniently, one of my friends is Yu Hee.”
“Hmph.”
“Why kill someone close to Yu Hee? Once I thought about it—I’ve never wronged the Yoo Clan. So it’s not a grudge. That leaves one possibility.”
Yu Bin and Yu Seob unconsciously nodded their heads, thinking.
Her voice was captivating, they thought.
Then a chill ran down their spines, and they froze.
……Wait. What was I just thinking about?
“You studied the old texts, so you’d know our methods. But how did you learn that the Yoo Clan still selects its heir the traditional way?”
“I didn’t.”
……What?
All the direct descendants fell silent in shock.
Brazenly, an F-rank who could die with a mere flick of their fingers smiled and said it plain.
“I was fishing just now.”
The ten direct descendants surrounding Jin Hali exchanged sharp glances at Yu Seob and Yu Bin.
The unspoken question: What do we do about this?
The two let out hollow laughs.
“You all seem quite young. Reacting so obviously when I hit the mark.”
“——!”
A taunt, no less.
What confidence drove her?
Did death hold no fear for her?
Only then did Yu Bin realize they’d been observing Jin Hali’s surroundings far more than Jin Hali herself.
Underestimating their target, fixating on her periphery—it was a grave mistake.
‘Why Sister remained silent…….’
Because she trusted Jin Hali?
……No. No, premature assumptions were dangerous.
Even if Jin Hali’s presence before them now felt far from ordinary, throwing a Potion was meaningless to a high-rank Hunter—they could simply block it before it landed.
After all, prevention was elementary.
Humans were different from monsters.
And Hunters—beings as strong as monsters—if they deemed her special Potions a threat, they could simply prevent her from acting at all.
Jin Hali had no other abilities.
‘She seems to have borrowed the Magpie Monster, but…… we’re twelve.’
They might think they were facing ten, but it made no difference.
Yet how could she?
Jin Hali’s deep violet eyes shone like stars. With such unwavering focus, with no regard for anything else, her expression was striking—her soft, tranquil gaze, the faint smile playing at her lips, and an appearance so beautiful it commanded attention even beside Yuhan Seong. Every detail stood out.
It was strange how they’d only glimpsed her from the corner of their eyes before—her presence now was luminous.
‘……No, it’s not just presence.’
Yu Bin conveyed his assessment to Yu Seob via hand signal. Yu Seob hesitated, then nodded in agreement.
He’d come to an understanding belatedly.
From Jin Hali, though utterly inexplicable, there emanated an intangible aura identical to what Hunters felt from S-ranks when they released their mana.
Such an aura typically arose from mana itself. Yet how could an F-rank Healer possibly…?
Even as she calmly swept her eyes across the direct descendants, her posture remained composed and unwavering—offering no opening to exploit.
More precisely, her presence sent an unmistakable signal: attacking her would result in their certain defeat.
Was this even possible?
Yu Seob sent a signal.
‘Hidden.’
Yu Bin finally understood.
Granted—granted a hundred times over—if she possessed a skill, and if an F-rank could somehow wield an S-rank or higher skill…
‘That would be impossible, wouldn’t it? Yet if that were somehow the case, it would explain this situation.’
“See? Quite an interesting girl, isn’t she?”
As Yu Bin spiraled into confusion, Yu Seob stepped forward.
There was no point in merely observing any longer.
“Worth toying with, even. Sister’s toys really are something else, aren’t they? Can’t we just take her?”
From the way he spoke nonsense, it was clear he was rattled too.
“If you do, I won’t stop you. I’ll simply kill you along with her.”
Yu Bin, responding to that persistent sense of danger, unsheathed his Greatsword from the outset—a rare move—and spoke.
Yu Seob studied Yu Bin’s Greatsword with narrowed eyes, then spoke to Jin Hali with feigned composure.
“Look here. Rabbit. We each formed our own teams. The heir is decided by who achieves the greatest results. We’ve invested considerable effort.”
“And?”
“My team was missing one thing, and I think you’d fit perfectly. It’s a shame.”
From his rambling, it seemed his private curiosity about Jin Hali was genuine.
But once Yu Bin drew his Greatsword, Yu Seob and the other direct descendants had only one choice left.
“My friends are truly excellent.”
“Friends? You believe something so naïve? Well, since you’re a toy, it doesn’t matter either way.”
Logic was irrelevant to assassins.
They prioritized their instinct, the instinct of their team leader.
In the Yoo Clan, that principle was basic survival doctrine.
Therefore, by Yu Bin’s instinct alone:
‘This is a trap.’
‘Right, as expected?’
From this moment on, their sole priority was to escape from Jin Hali and return to the clan intact.
‘Whatever she’s hidden, she didn’t intend to kill us all, it seems. But she does have something she needs to accomplish.’
How he wished it was something Sister had approved—something involving her.
If it wasn’t, then this thing masquerading as an F-rank might be plotting something to destroy the clan itself.
The Magpie appeared in mid-air. With graceful wingbeats, it circled Jin Hali once before perching on her shoulder.
In that moment, Jin Hali regarded them with an inexplicable gaze, and her murmur reached their ears faintly.
Stay still, will you?
Not to the Magpie.
‘A Summoned creature.’
Finally, understanding dawned.
How she’d contracted with a high-rank Summoned creature despite her F-rank mana remained a mystery, but it was far more plausible than possessing an S-rank skill.
‘So Sister was….’
A being whom Sister cherished could never be insignificant.
The sting of their prejudiced mistake cut deep.
Yet on the other hand, because they’d dismissed Jin Hali as worthless, the jealousy they’d been suppressing was now stirring.
Sister always looked bored when regarding them, but not when facing the Class 8 students. And especially not when looking at that F-rank.
If that affection stemmed from Jin Hali being stronger than them, they desperately wanted to see it with their own eyes.
They needed to know what Summoned creature she possessed. And if she truly was strong, they would acknowledge it.
They were even prepared to yield their position as Sister’s closest circle!
The young direct descendants suddenly grew resolute.
It was a decision wholly at odds with the survival instinct that had screamed warnings moments before, yet Yu Bin didn’t waver.
And none of the other eleven opposed his judgment.
“I’m curious whether Sister would grieve in earnest if I killed you.”
Ten minutes before they lost consciousness as prisoners after being struck senseless by what might have been a Summoned creature or a Dungeon Boss—an enormous, shadowy being—they shared that thought.

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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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