Was Happy Being a Despised F-Rank Healer, You Know? - Chapter 170

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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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18. Who Opens Their Eyes (9)

It mattered to keep Isang Hee in the dark.
It mattered to let her feel that her plan was progressing well.
Of course, I’d told Class 8 it was because that raised the success rate, but the truth was more complicated than that.
[So you’re determined to save her after all.]
About fifteen minutes before the curtain rose, Erich spoke.
I was a little startled.
‘How did he know? I never said anything.’
He was right.
I didn’t want Isang Hee to die.
Honestly, this was proof that I hadn’t fully integrated into the Hunter world.
‘It’s a world that takes Hunters’ mental issues seriously.’
Taking it seriously didn’t just mean close monitoring of mentally troubled Hunters or harsh punishment of those who’d committed crimes.
The more socially stable a society was—that is, the better Hunters and civilians coexisted—the more incomprehensible the hostility toward Hunters with psychopathic tendencies became.
They weren’t treated as human beings.
Of course, only when it was proven without any room for refutation.
In any case, even if Isang Hee wasn’t quite at that level, considering her scheming now and what had happened in the Azure Dragon Dungeon, she could easily be branded as a Hunter with high criminal potential.
As a direct victim, it was possible to take such measures.
Even without revenge in mind, it was right to report such things for the public good.
The problem was the Annihilation Dungeon.
As someone who knew the original work, I couldn’t ignore that Isang Hee played an important role in it.
‘To be honest, even if she’s rotten to the core, there’s a limit to how angry I can be at the kid.’
Not yet, at least—I wasn’t angry enough to kill her or ruin her future prospects.
And there was one more thing.
‘The original Isang Hee is different from this one.’
Though she did play the role of a terrifying obsessive heroine, this version was bolder and more extreme than in the source.
That nagged at me, so I’d been observing her. I wasn’t sure if the change was purely due to my influence.
But perhaps this incident would let me reach some judgment about Isang Hee after all?
In any case, this was a personal reason I couldn’t voice.
The external justification about raising the success rate hadn’t fully convinced the class.
As we’d prepared for the festival, nearly all of Class 8 had moved as one team, and in that process, everyone in the class had come to know Isang Hee in detail.
I didn’t show it much, so the kids didn’t speak openly often, but each of them had said something.
For the sake of their own sense of justice, many thought we should at least stigmatize Isang Hee socially before graduation.
Regardless of me, once she entered society, there were signs she’d cross the line with lower-ranked Hunters without restraint.
We should leave some public record of what kind of tendencies Isang Hee had so that when something bigger happened later, we could stop her.
I agreed with that.
But as I’d said before, I had my own reasons, so I’d held off on cornering Isang Hee before the festival.
The compromise had been to handle it at the festival itself.
‘In other words, Isang Hee had a chance until the festival.’
A chance to stop her attempt to kill someone.
But Isang Hee didn’t stop.
However, at the same time, it wasn’t directed at making me die the way it had been at the Azure Dragon incident, so after the festival, I’d probably decide whether to push for her expulsion based on the results.
I wasn’t sure what result would come.
What I hadn’t anticipated in all this was the Teacher.
“By the way, you’re really competent, aren’t you? I’d say support-type at the highest level.”
“And from what I know, your combat abilities too…….”
As information about Isang Hee’s surroundings trickled in, we murmured among ourselves.
‘In the original work, Teacher Choi Ji-hyeong hadn’t gone all out at this point yet.’
A Hunter only revealed their full power when their life hung in the balance.
That was why he’d introduced himself as B-rank on our first day, but by now the kids were already catching on that he wasn’t just B-rank.
They’d noticed naturally as their own ranks rose.
But at some point he stopped even bothering to hide that he was A-rank, close to S-rank.
Especially what he was doing now…….
“Honestly, the Plant Information Source? Isn’t that cheating?”
Of course, there would be preconditions—it likely required plants in specific locations, and there’d probably be additional conditions needed to use it.
He hadn’t disclosed that condition yet, but he was revealing his ability earlier than in the original work.
‘The timing isn’t drastically different, but still.’
In the source, he’d only revealed this ability after multiple students, including those from his own class, had died.
And now he was using it more boldly than that.
Thanks to this, we could hear in real time about what was happening around Isang Hee without her knowing.
‘We hadn’t asked him to do this beforehand.’
Asking him in advance would have required clearly explaining why he needed to monitor Isang Hee separately, and I didn’t have time for that, so I’d pushed forward without asking.
“If you have anything to say, it’d be good to say it quickly. There’s not much time left until we start.”
Just before everyone gathered backstage in the space assigned to Class 8, Lee Hae-sol and I went to tell him.
Lee Hae-sol glanced at me at the Teacher’s words, then spoke.
“We’d like to ask you to keep close surveillance on Isang Hee. I thought you might be able to help since you’re support-type.”
“……Isang Hee? Why?”
I first mentioned that when the Azure Dragon Dungeon had opened, Isang Hee had pushed me to go to the Ongdalsam Dungeon for the purpose of killing me.
Since this was just our suspicion up to that point, I then showed him a compiled report of her subsequent actions.
The incident of inciting upperclassmen to orchestrate harassment, various other minor incidents, and critically, what she was scheming toward the festival.
As a minor preliminary Hunter, there were things she could do that were relatively free from legal consequences. Things that became easier to understand because of that.
What we told him and what was in the report seemed to genuinely shock the Teacher.
He fell silent for a few moments, then pushed his glasses up and spoke in his usual manner.
“We’ll talk about why you’re telling me this now later. For now, I understand.”
“Yes.”
“Yes…….”
Remembering how his eyes had gleamed sharply for that moment sent a chill down my spine.
‘After the festival, I’ll have a lot to tell him. Will he be able to handle it all?’
He might be too busy scolding us to process it.
Still, he helped us very actively.
Of course, only after confirming that Isang Hee wasn’t trying to kill anyone or do something irreversible.
Our primary objective was to protect me, the biggest victim.
We hadn’t deliberately planned for Isang Hee to receive an irreversible evaluation from outsiders unless she revealed it herself. So he probably helped for that reason.
‘We ended up learning about the movements of the Yoo Clan’s direct line by accident.’
Yu Hee had reacted as if she’d expected it, but I—who’d warned her repeatedly before sending her out safely—and our party members, who’d created safety protocols and drilled them into everyone almost to memorization the night before—were all a bit deflated, if I’m honest.
‘Unlike me, Lee Hae-sol and Han Seong seemed to have anticipated it.’
Well, it was true that the direct descendants had a somewhat obsessive streak.
Probably because we hadn’t shown them something during theater practice.
‘They’re just kids, after all.’
Well, there shouldn’t be any real danger for them.
‘The Teacher probably didn’t recognize their identities.’
He’d only mentioned assassin-like presences following, or a few people gathering around Isang Hee without clear reason—that’s all we’d noticed.
Sneaking out of the Academy shouldn’t be a problem.
With the Teacher’s help added to the mix, I could see the tension the festival had sharpened in our class gradually easing.
I let out a sigh of relief and checked the ribbon ties on my off-white ivory Hanbok.
My role had a small part, but still—stepping on stage made me a little nervous.
Click. The lights cut out, leaving only the stage lights on.
Just before the curtain rose, I joined the gathered students.
Isang Hee glanced at me, then sent me the mocking smile I’d seen often lately, subtly and deliberately.
Then she drifted closer to Yuhan Seong, who played the king, and stood beside him a little nearer than before.
A look of deep satisfaction on her face.

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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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