Was Happy Being a Despised F-Rank Healer, You Know? - Chapter 156

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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 on Shadows (18)

Hali used herself as bait and, worried about the others, summoned all of Class 8 except Isang Hee into her domain for training.
Originally, she’d meant to call those who might be targets of the Yu Clan Assassins, but among such people, only they were safe to tell about the Baridegi Dungeon.
‘I haven’t told the teacher yet, though.’
And time, though not long, had passed.
Yu Hee underwent training brutal in its own way, different from what she’d received from her clan.
Unlike the family’s focus on body techniques, training here centered on Mana Manipulation—exploiting the unique nature of the dungeon itself.
Training for extended periods in an environment saturated with dungeon mana is no small feat.
Especially without a family backing to fall back on.
And thanks to this rare form of training, every student who trained here showed remarkable growth in just days.
Mere days.
If Eerie Shadow had been alone, that would be one thing—but with Yuhan Seong rolling up his sleeves and seriously training them all, there was nothing more to say.
‘What is his real identity? That man.’
Seeing how Yuhan Seong stepped up whenever Eerie Shadow was absent, all the Class 8 students realized he was concealing far more than they’d known.
Not just skill, but experience as well.
‘No question—he’s got more dungeon experience than most Hunters.’
Yesterday, as Yuhan Seong watched Class 8 training, he’d muttered aloud.
“We won’t need to worry about a few Yu Clan Assassins anymore.”
Yu Hee entirely agreed.
The training Class 8 was receiving from Eerie Shadow had begun to evolve beyond simply countering assassins into something closer to a study group preparing in earnest for the Annihilation Dungeon.
The proportion of anti-monster training had begun to increase. The most effective techniques among them were:
First, combat while sensory deprivation was imposed.
Second, overcoming or destroying obstacles within a time limit using only skills, or using only Mana Manipulation or physical ability without skills.
And finally, choosing who to save and who to leave behind in varied scenarios—making judgments in extreme situations.
Yu Hee demonstrated excellence across all training, and for students like her who excelled even in group sessions, Eerie Shadow had prepared advanced training in a separate venue—the Virtual Dungeon where Yu Hee now stood.
About an hour before Hali encountered the assassins.
Yu Hee had entered the Virtual Dungeon within the Eerie Shadow Dungeon.
“A universe.”
Stars large and small hung suspended on all sides, and by undulating her body through the space, she could behold entire nebulae—an infinite expanse.
Since the environment was randomized, there was no guarantee she’d see this universe again if she returned to the Virtual Dungeon.
So Yu Hee paused to consider, then decided to spend just a moment exploring the dungeon.
Since it was constructed based on what Eerie Shadow knew, this universe was likely a phantom formed from her memory or something she’d seen—so it was hardly strange that it resembled a storybook illustration rather than the true cosmos.
After drifting through corners of this small universe with bated breath, Yu Hee reached one conclusion.
“It’s like… Hali’s memories.”
Seeing the scribble in a corner of the universe, it seemed to be influenced by someone’s memory. Since the only person Eerie Shadow could be influenced by was Hali.
The scribble was writing in crayon next to the sun.
“A face?”
She didn’t know whose it was meant to be, but the expression was smiling.
Yu Hee smiled and gazed at it intently, then felt it growing larger and her face hardened.
“What is—”
Whoooosh.
With the sound of a tremendous spray, the inflated scribble had transformed into a crying face.
The moment the scribble began to swell, Yu Hee kicked backward to dodge, and once it had expanded to a certain size and the expansion ceased, she cautiously approached.
Then she realized it was a mirror.
Tap.
When she touched it, the surface rippled.
But she heard no sound of rippling.
And her finger didn’t come free.
“…….”
Frowning, she observed it calmly for a moment, then Yu Hee severed her own finger.
Because this dungeon was virtual, the body too became a virtual existence. So when she left, it would be restored cleanly.
Eerie Shadow said that relying too heavily on this fact would defeat the purpose of creating a Virtual Dungeon, but this seemed like a special circumstance.
It was then.
The mirror that had consumed Yu Hee’s virtual finger suddenly shrank to the size of a hand mirror.
It happened in an instant.
Then it flew over and hovered in front of her.
“……?”
Yu Hee hesitated, then grasped it.
In a normal dungeon, she would have been cautious. But this was Hali’s dungeon.
Even if cursed, there was little risk, and if it happened anyway, it would all be restored once she left.
The moment she grasped the mirror, something neither light nor dark took root in her chest.
It was a sensation that could only be described that way.
‘Will this disappear when I leave?’
Yu Hee decided to test it immediately.
Since she hadn’t obtained it by defeating a dungeon boss, she’d assumed it was nothing special, and strictly speaking, even if it was, she’d thought it would belong to Hali.
“Hey! Can you reach Hali right now?”
“Huh? Why?”
It didn’t disappear, at least.
Setting aside the strange sensation near her heart, Yu Hee put the mirror in her pocket first. Then, at Goi-deun’s urging, she tried to contact Hali.
But.
“She’s not answering.”
Looking automatically toward where her friends were, she found the entire Yuhan Seong Party gone.
“They all went to the exit.”
“The exit? Don’t tell me—”
“It’s blocked.”
Goi-deun spoke with a furrowed brow.
When they reached that location together, they found everyone gathered before an antiquated front gate.
Students who’d been training elsewhere were gradually gathering as well.
“Why is the exit blocked?”
“It won’t open? Suddenly?”
“This means Hali blocked it.”
Calling for Eerie Shadow yielded no response.
Yuhan Seong pressed his hand against the door.
Black mana surged visibly before their eyes, undulating across the entire door in a volume that left them speechless.
Everyone who’d been murmuring fell silent and stood gaping, but Yuhan Seong tilted his head with the calm composure of someone who’d simply knocked a few times.
“This isn’t according to plan.”
Lee Hae-sol spoke with a darkened expression.
“Wasn’t the agreement that we’d leave once Hali gave the signal?”
As he approached and asked, Hyun I-seo answered.
“The lion isn’t responding.”
Without Magpie to relay messages in the middle, they couldn’t send or receive signals at all.
Yu Hee’s face hardened.
“And now the exit is blocked too.”
They needed to confirm if she was safe.
But how.
Just as Yu Hee was grinding her teeth, Gong Seo-yun spoke with a vicious smile.
“That’s not even the whole problem.”
“What is it?”
“Look around.”
Yuhan Seong, who apparently already knew, deepened his scowl.
Yu Hee, arriving late, surveyed her surroundings.
And then she understood.
“All of Class 8 is here.”
Of course, save for Isang Hee.
Every Class 8 student connected to the Annihilation Dungeon was present here. It meant there was no one outside to help Hali if things went wrong.
“Sihyun, isn’t this when you’re supposed to be in a dungeon?”
“……The schedule got all tangled because of festival prep, so Class 7 went instead of us?”
“Same for me.”
“Me too!”
Deun and Hayan chimed in in rapid succession.
This had to be coincidence.
But it was a remarkably convenient one.
“What if we destroyed the dungeon?”
I-seo offered an opinion while looking at Yuhan Seong, but Han Seong shook his head.
“Then Hali would be hurt.”
He too looked anxious.
But relatively less so.
“Magpie is with her, right?”
“Yes. ……If she were badly wounded, he would’ve come straight to me. And since she wasn’t reverse-summoned either, that situation never happened.”
“But he’s not responding to your call?”
“…….”
Yuhan Seong nodded.
“Seems like it’s because of this door.”
In the end, unable to do either one thing or another, another thirty seconds or so passed.
This couldn’t go on.
Yu Hee opened her mouth to suggest breaking the door.
She thought they could try calling out to the other bosses she knew existed in this dungeon. At the very least, to learn about Hali’s situation, they’d need to summon something.
But the moment she was about to speak, the mirror in her pocket began to vibrate.
“……?”
“What’s that?”
Everyone reacted at once, sensing something was amiss.
Yu Hee pulled the mirror from her pocket.
Was it just her imagination, or was it begging for mana?
Given that she’d obtained it from Hali’s dungeon, it was possible the bosses’ reach had touched it—unable to directly aid in Hali’s current situation.
‘The danger’s low enough too.’
If so, then.
Yu Hee, having made her decision, poured her own earth-attribute mana into the mirror.
And shortly after.
“……!”
“H-Hali?”
“What are those things?”
An image from somewhere else began to show in the mirror, now enlarged to be visible to everyone.
The moment the assassin’s blade met Hali’s neck.

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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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