Was Happy Being a Despised F-Rank Healer, You Know? - Chapter 177

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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 (16)

The phrase “Awakened Terrorism” was potent enough to summon genuine dread.
Fortunately, the direct line had taught me a Communication Skill.
Since it didn’t consume Mana, even if another Magical Artifact lay hidden somewhere in this room, it wouldn’t matter.
I raised my voice to its normal pitch when speaking to Seo Jeong-u, then shifted the subject.
“Don’t you think adjusting this part a little would work better?”
‘Let’s use this to communicate.’
‘……!’
Seo Jeong-u, who’d been listening intently, quickly composed himself and answered.
“……Yeah, yeah! Then that part should go like this…….”
……Yu Hee was outside, so she’d already heard it.
Sure enough, while pretending to adjust the script with Seo Jeong-u, I received a discreet message from Yu Hee with the same content.
I needed to tell the others.
‘Han Seong. Lee Hae-sol. Hyun I-seo.’
They answered in the same way.
Realizing what we were trying to do, they naturally shifted their focus toward the stage in unison.
“……But Seo Jeong-u. Wouldn’t this make it look like Yeonbeon has some kind of secret origin story? Is that okay?”
“You’re saying we already half-ruined it by padding out the show with Isang Hee’s talent segment, right?”
“Oh, haha.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine!”
“It hasn’t completely fallen apart yet. ……Probably.”
Even though I was being deceptive, I put half my heart into it, and Seo Jeong-u laughed quietly.
‘So what is it?’
Han Seong asked.
‘The direct line traced the person Isang Hee made a deal with, and they discovered a large cache of Awakener Weapons and bombs.’
Yuhan Seong’s face, angled toward the stage, showed only his profile.
That profile went rigid and cold.
Only then did I recall a piece of information about him from before his regression somewhere in the original story.
In a cycle where he tried to solve everything alone, he died to a Magical Artifact that the opposing force had smuggled in.
Since it had been disguised as a decorative item and passed off as his mother’s keepsake, he never abandoned the artifact even though strange Mana circled through it.
But the moment he entered the Annihilation Dungeon, the artifact exploded.
Yuhan Seong had reminisced that he wouldn’t have even left a body behind in that cycle.
So when had that recollection been mentioned?
‘Ah, back then…….’
‘……What?’
It was when Jin Hali died at the beginning.
The moment I learned that the blood of an F-rank Healer—Jin Hali’s blood—was like catnip to Other-world Beings.
A recollection triggered by witnessing Jin Hali’s corpse, left without a trace in the most pitiful way.
Without meaning to, I froze, and Seo Jeong-u’s touch brought me back.
“Hali?”
Seo Jeong-u, his smile fading, studied me with a slightly more serious gaze.
“Oh, yeah. That’s……”
Lee Hae-sol and Hyun I-seo both glanced at me once.
Yuhan Seong, though for different reasons than me, kept his eyes fixed on the stage, lost in thought.
Or perhaps he was simply startled.
The fact that he reacted more strongly to the memory of that explosion than to other deaths he’d suffered—likely because it reminded him of his family.
The family that had driven his obsession with clearing the Annihilation Dungeon and saving the world.
But since he had never spoken of any of it, I couldn’t pretend to know.
Sorry as I was, even if his trauma was triggered, we needed to understand the situation.
Before the scene of Isang Hee falling into the Indangsu ended.
I swallowed hard and opened my mouth again.
“Then let’s just make the secret origin real.”
“……Oh, how so?”
“We’ll figure that out when Eden comes back. The script was centered on him anyway.”
“Sounds good.”
At the same time, I relayed through our shared consciousness method roughly how much Magical Artifact the criminals had brought in.
After a brief silence, Hyun I-seo spoke slowly.
‘Should we target before the outsiders arrive, or after?’
That was clearly the crucial question.
If we aimed for now, it would mean the Academy itself was the target.
But if they were targeting after the outsiders arrived……
‘Are important figures coming from outside?’
It would mean they were aiming to assassinate one or several of those figures.
And I thought this scenario was more likely.
What’s drawing social attention right now is Class 8—though I haven’t confirmed exactly how much—but the Narin Festival isn’t an event represented solely by us.
If we died in that attack, it would only serve as a smokescreen.
To hide, for a time, the death of numerous important people……
That was far more natural.
When I said as much, Lee Hae-sol nodded.
‘I think the same way. If outsiders target Class 8, they’d choose kidnapping over killing.’
‘I thought they were trying to kidnap kids from other classes too, but it turns out the goal was terrorism, not kidnapping. Ha!’
Everyone agreed with Seo Jeong-u’s remark.
Then Han Seong, who’d been holding his mouth firmly shut, parted his lips to say something but then hesitated, as if suddenly remembering our method of communication.
And he spoke to us.
‘It might not be.’
‘Why?’
‘Humans from our world have no reason to kill Class 8, but if they’re Other-world Beings, that’s different.’
[A fair point.]
‘Lion?’
The existence I’d nearly forgotten slipped in, and I widened my eyes in surprise. Lion chuckled briefly before continuing in a manner similar to ours, without revealing his form.
[Beings from the Other World certainly wish for this world to perish, after all, Protagonist.]
‘You mean Dungeon Bosses?’
[That’s…… ambiguous.]
‘Ambiguous?’
You’re saying Dungeon Bosses have escaped? That doesn’t make sense.
I paused mid-thought and looked at Lion.
There was a Dungeon Boss walking around freely right in front of me.
Lion, hiding in my arms, poked his head up, glanced at the stage, then turned back to me with wide eyes.
[Well, if I’ve made a contract with someone as I have, it’s not entirely impossible.]
[Nonsense.]
That’s when Erich spoke.
[My ability to contract with my contractor was possible precisely because I was sealed. That seal created an insurmountable distance between me and the Other World. In other words, I was an exile.]
Everyone seemed to be hearing Erich’s words together.
‘Others like you could be exiles too, couldn’t they?’
[There is none like me.]
‘But there are quite a few who’ve made contracts with Other-world entities.’
When Hyun I-seo frowned and asked, Erich let out a scoff.
[Do you really think that terrorism you’re worried about is something one or two people could pull off?]
He was right.
Then Lion spoke.
[I was referring to cases other than yours.]
In a tone more lifeless and chill than ever.
That speech, seeming to burn beneath its calm surface, was directed at Erich.
‘Is there another case, Lion?’
I asked gently, soothingly, and Lion answered.
[Among the beings of the Other World, the wise ones can influence this realm without resorting to the form of a contract.]
[What does that…… Surely not.]
I felt the earring containing Erich hesitate.
[I don’t know their names, but they undoubtedly exist. Protagonist, though few in number, there are certainly Other-world Beings dangerous enough to form an organization.]
Lion added that while they don’t wield tremendous influence, attempting something of this scale once is feasible.
[Of course, the probability is low. ……As things stand now, they wouldn’t be something to worry about yet.]
‘……The Annihilation Dungeon alone can kill us. There’s no reason to take this kind of risk.’
[Exactly. So I’m only mentioning the possibility, Protagonist!]
‘I see. Thank you.’
I nodded and turned to look at the stage.
Shim Chung stood at the ship’s railing, about to throw herself into the Indangsu—I caught a glimpse of it.
‘So to summarize.’
Time was running out, yet we’d decided nothing. Perhaps for that reason, Seo Jeong-u spoke with a slightly urgent tone.
‘We have to assume a terrorist attack could happen at any moment.’
Though we should weight the probability more heavily toward after the outsiders arrive.
‘I reported it to Teacher.’
Yu Hee said.
We couldn’t leave this place while the play continued anyway. Or rather, it was better that we didn’t.
Whether we could help was uncertain.
Shim Chung leaps into the Indangsu.
Surrounded by dazzling light as she fell, the expression that should have shown filial devotion toward her father was nowhere to be seen.
The original story’s accuracy had been abandoned on this stage, and most of the audience wore blank expressions.
Unaware of any danger whatsoever.

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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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