Was Happy Being a Despised F-Rank Healer, You Know? - Chapter 178

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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 Has Opened Their Eyes (17)

“Wow, our class really sharpened their blades.”
Hong So-yeong, the homeroom teacher of First Year Class 1, watched her students performing a synchronized blade dance for promotional purposes, shaking her head with trembling eyes.
They’d sharpened their blades, but now those were real weapons…
“Ji-hyeong. How’s your section?”
Thanks to the Principal’s ability to manipulate space, only Awakeners authorized as teachers within this Realm could communicate with one another across any distance without expending Mana.
This was also why the current Principal clung to his position at Narin and couldn’t retire.
In any case.
Only briefly did she flinch at the eagerness blazing in her students’ eyes.
Hong So-yeong meticulously conducted safety checks and gave encouragement to her class, then stepped outside briefly and summoned Choi Ji-hyeong.
“Anything unusual?”
Class 8 had been assigned a building somewhat on the periphery. Ordinarily, since freshmen weren’t the main event of the festival, the spacious, high-utility buildings went to the second and third years, but Class 8 had been given a relatively generous space for first-years.
Well, that was because crowds would gather there later. It was a safety measure.
Given the situation, Choi Ji-hyeong would have had even more to check.
“Want to come help?”
He’d probably tell her not to contact him needlessly.
Hong So-yeong was prepared to chat persistently with the prickly Choi Ji-hyeong for at least the next ten minutes.
In fact, that had been her real purpose all along.
“Teacher.”
“…?”
But the response was unexpected.
“Why are you calling me like that? You’re scaring me. Wait—are you outside right now? Class 8’s play should have started by now?”
She’d called precisely because he should be watching the performance and could only listen!
Something had gone wrong.
The moment Hong So-yeong’s face stiffened in instinctive alarm, Choi Ji-hyeong spoke in his usual cold tone.
“I was about to contact you anyway.”
“About what?”
“Deploy the faculty in emergency positions immediately, and—”
What followed was a string of things difficult to believe, contradicting his calm tone.
…So basically, terrorism?
Hong So-yeong decided to verify as she moved.
She knew Choi Ji-hyeong didn’t speak nonsense.
All the teachers across every year were both educators and Hunters.
Seasoned, high-ranked ones at that.
“We’ve secured the Magical Artifacts, but upon inspection, that’s not all. They’ve already planted bombs.”
Hong So-yeong let out a sharp curse.
She was a Hunter who’d grown up rolling through intensely violent battles since childhood, and she knew Awakener-grade explosives inside and out.
“Teachers, bombs come in many forms, but they all share one thing—heterogeneous Mana!”
With that, she immediately called out to the faculty.
Some might know this already, but information needed to be shared clearly.
And her guidance would be essential for disarming them.
“Don’t touch them with Mana from the start. Searching is fine. Touch only with bare hands. Once you touch the center of the differently colored section with your bare hand, then thread your Mana in as fine as thread.”
That information coming from the young Choi Ji-hyeong caused no resistance among the teachers.
Regardless of personal feelings, it was understood that a Narin teacher wouldn’t speak without foundation.
The moment they heard this, they’d detected at least seven bombs from their respective positions.
Seven found in one sector meant even more were buried across the whole area.
***
To be honest, the bombs that fell on us in that moment weren’t only outside.
In a way, the information that Leo and Erich had casually thrown our way was an even bigger bomb.
That Dungeon bosses—unlike Leo or the other bosses in the Baridegi Dungeon, meaning actual native bosses—could also come outside like them, from the Other World, was terrifying.
[Do not worry too greatly, Narin. For now, they cannot move about as freely as we can!]
“Mm.”
Once Shimchung falls into the Indan Waters and awakens in the Dragon Palace, that’s when Yeonbong comes out too.
Given the runtime, she should have appeared earlier, but Isang Hee’s solo act ran longer than expected.
‘I should thank her for that.’
Thanks to her, we had time to share information with the teachers.
If we just manage to stop what Isang Hee’s orchestrating here, we’ll have done all we need to do.
“Leave it to me.”
We felt deeply reassured by the Teacher’s words, relayed through Yu Hee.
Even Yuhan Seong.
Found ourselves newly aware
of how much the Teacher was trusted, relied upon by us.
“We’ll watch the play to the end next time.”
Or so he said.
Based on what Yu Hee reported afterward, it really did seem we wouldn’t need to worry about the outside.
The teachers had communicated with each other immediately. Moreover, the atmosphere among all faculty, regardless of year level, shifted at once.
It seemed they had a different way of communicating with each other than how we Awakeners exchange messages.
‘True, the teachers can use Magical Artifacts freely.’
There could be a teacher with relevant skills.
***
Not long after, Hong So-yeong spoke.
“Ji-hyeong, I think ten minutes should do it.”
The outside perpetrator handling the explosives had already been apprehended before Choi Ji-hyeong contacted Hong So-yeong.
“Then we arrest the rest of the gang in that time.”
“What about the rest?”
“Once we neutralize the bombs, we clear the first hurdle.”
“So there’s more.”
“The headache’s just beginning.”
Magical Artifacts.
There were no records of where, how many, or to whom they’d been distributed.
Just from what was in the boxes, the variety wasn’t as widespread as the bombs, but there were enough items to level an entire shop run by the kids.
“Let’s start with the mental-type ones.”
“…Brainwashing?”
“More like a drug that temporarily forces them to obey commands.”
“Is it in Potion form?”
I found myself thinking of Jin Hali as I asked, but Choi Ji-hyeong shook his head.
“Needle form.”
“Tsk.”
If it were a Potion, it’d be easier to find, but something needle-thin would require more time.
She decided to apprehend the suspicious individuals alongside Choi Ji-hyeong and several other teachers.
Just as Hong So-yeong predicted, all bombs were neutralized within ten minutes.
And as other teachers arrived, gnashing their teeth, the vast majority of the suspicious individuals were arrested on the spot.
However.
“So we still don’t know where those in hiding are?”
“W-we don’t know their identities either.”
“You were given bombs—weren’t you part of their group?”
“W-we were subcontracted, we…”
Those brought in were far more amateurish Awakener criminals than the teachers had assumed.
Though they might flourish outside, they were hardly the type to infiltrate here.
Only one of those Choi Ji-hyeong had captured seemed remotely promising.
As the teachers sensed this anomaly, one of the criminals confessed.
“Those who hired us are notorious even among our circles…”
“Their name?”
“…? I-I only know the signal…”
“Not the signal—their organization name.”
“I-if I speak, I’ll die.”
“There’s no need to speak. I just read it.”
One of the teachers specialized in interrogation muttered it aloud.
Nox.
Run by a small circle, with no one knowing its members—they were like shadows.
A few teachers who regularly monitored underworld intelligence furrowed their brows.
“We know of their existence. But why suddenly target the Narin festival…”
“We saw no signs.”
If there had been any hint at all, they wouldn’t have missed it.
In other words, this situation meant a high-ranking Awakener bold enough to evade the entire faculty’s sight.
“Have you contacted the Principal?”
“I contacted him just now.”
“Then it’s best we disperse and manage our own classes.”
A third-year teacher spoke gravely.
Protecting the students as the priority, maintaining vigilance around them. That was the most conservative approach.
At that moment, the one disguised as a journalist who’d provided the Magical Artifacts to Isang Hee curled his lips upward.
Already mangled and tortured by deadly poison in those brief seconds, he began to slip soundlessly into his own shadow.
“…!”
Choi Ji-hyeong grabbed him by the collar and pulled, but it was useless.
The moment Hong So-yeong shouted “Let go, Ji-hyeong!”, Choi Ji-hyeong, sensing danger instinctively, released his grip.
And in that instant.
Rrraaahhh—!
What appeared to be a Demon Beast’s mouth emerged near the criminal’s nape where Choi Ji-hyeong’s hand had been, snapping its teeth.
“…M-monster?”
“Why is a Monster outside? And in his body…”
While the teachers froze momentarily at this unprecedented development.
The criminal, with a sneer etched on his otherwise ordinary face, vanished completely.
Beyond the shadow.

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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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