Was Happy Being a Despised F-Rank Healer, You Know? - Chapter 176

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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 Opened Their Eyes? (15)

While Class 8’s theatrical production was revving its engines to head up the mountain,
the direct bloodline members of the Yoo Clan had long since abandoned any thought of slipping away quietly, just as Hali had predicted.
Though the reason differed somewhat from what she’d anticipated.
‘Seo, Seop, those bastards have bombs too?’
‘What?’
Yu Rim was the direct bloodline member positioned behind the fake journalist who’d exchanged the Magic Device with Isang Hee.
‘I found Magic Guns in boxes too.’
When Yu Rim’s rough voice reverberated through his head again, Yu Seop crumpled his face and spat out a curse.
‘Why.’
Yu Bin, standing beside him, asked.
Both of them had been on edge anyway because Yu Rim’s return was taking longer than expected.
Yu Seop glanced at Yu Bin and relayed the information.
‘They look like terrorists.’
‘……What?’
‘Surely they didn’t bring bombs just to set off fireworks. Christ.’
‘……!’
It was a dizzying situation.
They’d been moving as if targeting Hali, but what kind of absurdly large-scale incident was this?
‘So Isang Hee ordered the terrorism?’
There was nothing to gain from it.
Yu Seop, catching the unspoken words, shook his head.
‘I don’t know about that. Whether Isang Hee ordered it or those bastards are acting independently—how would I know?’
‘Either way, Isang Hee is finished.’
At Narin, the most severe disciplinary measure for students was expulsion.
But if Isang Hee was involved in a terrorist attack, it might not even end with expulsion.
Though that wasn’t their concern.
‘……This is ridiculous. Has something like this ever happened at the Narin Festival before?’
At Yu Seop’s exasperated words, Yu Bin nodded with a pale face.
He’d never directly witnessed this festival before, but he knew the history well enough.
At no other Academy, and certainly not at Narin, could bold crimes exploiting the festival occur.
Since it took place inside the Academy’s Dungeon, the festival could be considered entirely under the control of Narin’s staff.
That’s why there had never been major incidents so far……
Yet these mysterious people were moving with coordination, bringing all sorts of unusual items inside.
Yes, truly extraordinary, bizarre things.
The Magic Device given to Isang Hee was mere child’s play compared to the other items they’d brought in.
‘I have no idea what they’re confident about.’
Even if they succeeded, the organization would never set foot in Korea again.
……It would be strange even if some foreign leader was backing them.
‘So, roughly how large is the operation?’
Yu Bin asked Yu Seop, trying hard to suppress his agitation.
‘Conventional weapons meant to harm civilians are meaningless in this Dungeon anyway.’
When Yu Seop sent a message to Yu Rim, the latter, who’d been silent for a moment, transmitted the detailed components.
After hearing that inventory, heavy silence fell between Yu Seop and Yu Bin.
“How incredibly powerful are our Young Master’s abilities……?”
“……And here Shimchung’s father is rewritten as a recluse.”
“Right? But why does it feel so awkward?”
A few audience members nearby could be heard murmuring.
Whether the lines were accurate or not, they had no mind to care.
‘……Only items carrying Curses and Debuffs that can target Awakeners.’
Ordinary weapons, no matter how lethal, would be useless in a place like this where Awakeners gathered.
They’d vanish somewhere the moment they were launched, or trajectories would bend without anyone touching them, guiding them into some other Dungeon where only an alternate dimension got devastated.
But items belonging to the Dungeon—more precisely, those utilizing artifacts or skills acquired through the System—were different.
They could deceive the senses of those capable of handling even top-tier threats, leave permanent damage upon them, and shred bodies clad like armor without effort.
And items that clearly couldn’t be controlled or would produce horrific results upon use were forbidden from being developed or manufactured.
From minor things to devastatingly lethal ones.
And the weapons secretly entering this Festival Dungeon now were……
‘At most a few boxes, but considering just the explosive force……’
‘It looks like they’re trying to kill everyone in this place.’
Most Awakeners would have had difficulty identifying it precisely. Especially since those bringing it in appeared to have received assassin training.
But they were direct bloodline members of the Assassin Clan, specialized in concealment.
Thus they recognized it immediately upon sight.
‘Yu Rim, come back.’
‘Yes, okay.’
It didn’t take long for Yu Rim to safely return.
Before coming back, Yu Rim had asked if they should spray a scent he could detect from a distance, but they’d declined.
Movement that appeared to be from assassin training. Given what they’d heard, Yu Rim’s safe return was the priority.
……If even one person died, Yu Hee might not care, but Hali would be genuinely furious.
They didn’t want to see that.
So after Yu Rim safely returned,
they shared the situation with the other direct bloodline members pretending to be strangers around them.
‘We should probably report this to the older sisters and brothers.’
The youngest, Yu Young, said it.
Everyone nodded.
They’d probably get scolded for breaking orders and doing something dangerous, but this wasn’t something they could handle themselves.
‘We probably won’t need to go looking for them.’
Yu Bin muttered coldly while looking at the stage.
On Class 8’s stage, Lee Si-hyeon was reciting praises of Shimchung as if reading from a textbook, and Isang Hee stood center stage, appealing to the efficacy and brilliance of the Light Attribute Barrier and the impressiveness of other skills.
Some in the audience, thinking it was a comedy bit, laughed, but something felt odd.
As if something had happened behind the stage.
So it was best to keep the bothersome business to a minimum.
‘I’ll handle it, so never mind that. It’s better if everyone stays gathered here, even if it feels unnatural.’
‘That sounds good. Oh, and I’ll tell Yu Hee myself.’
‘Okay.’
They needed to be in a state of readiness so they could all move together whenever the older members were found.
They nodded and, one by one, suppressed their presence and moved a few steps closer to each other.
And the moment Lee Si-hyeon and Isang Hee finished their awkward comedy scene and left the stage,
the voices of the direct bloodline members resonated in the minds of Yu Hee, who was guiding people outside rather than behind the stage, and Hali, who was greeting the two people entering from behind the stage.

***

It happened right after Hyun I-seo—or rather, not Hyun I-seo, but the one called Hyun I-seo—had finished transcribing Si-hyeon’s every line in her hands.
“……!”
I froze momentarily, then recovered my smile as naturally as possible so no irregularity showed in Isang Hee’s eyes.
“I-I was thinking about it and……got confused between the line I revised for coherence and the actual line……it was……”
“O-oh, I see.”
It was an absurd excuse, but no one could blame her for not memorizing lines that weren’t even hers, and since the next scene had to follow immediately, everyone was in a mood to move past it.
I also covered my shock at what I’d just heard and spoke words of encouragement with a laugh.
……She seemed to think she was being subtle in her observation, but I saw everything—the way she glanced at me and then dipped her eyes away the moment my words ended.
I couldn’t let that slide the way I used to.
In the past, I would’ve just thought that at that age, people can hate things for small reasons and show it, and let it go.
But some vague restraint that had kept me from being completely wary or rejecting her even when she’d tried to kill me—always keeping the original work in mind—had vanished.
“It’s fine. It’s not a big mistake. We can go with the original lines!”
I smiled as usual and offered encouraging words.
Then someone who’d appeared beside me without my noticing spoke quietly.
“Kids, huh?”
It was Seo Jeong-u.
He seemed to have caught my irregular reaction—I couldn’t fathom when he’d observed it—and his eyes had taken on a somewhat serious light.
Though the slight smile at the corner of his mouth was his usual expression.
I waved at Isang Hee as she headed to the stage with the boatmen.
After receiving her glance in the familiar way, I moved slightly closer to him while pretending to converse as I reviewed the script.
“……Outsiders are preparing for a terrorist attack.”
“……What?”
Like I had moments before, Seo Jeong-u couldn’t hide his agitation.
Han Seong, Lee Hae-sol, and Hyun I-seo, who’d been looking this way for some reason, stiffened slightly.
I gave them a faint shake of my head to keep them from approaching.
I’d been assuming Si-hyeon had taken the candy and Isang Hee had held onto it, but what if that wasn’t the case?
What if something besides the candy was in use, or could I be certain that wasn’t a surveillance device?
‘If these are people planning terrorism, they wouldn’t hesitate to use Magic Devices?’
If so, we needed to be careful with our actions even here.

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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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