Was Happy Being a Despised F-Rank Healer, You Know? - Chapter 25

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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4. The Value of Potions (2)

I’m still not treated as someone who should enter dungeons.

There’s no room for disagreement on that part. So people who might suffer because of me in the final dungeon have complaints, and among students from other grades who don’t know which dungeons they might go to with me in the future, quite a few express such anxiety as complaints.

There are no longer people who openly pick fights about potions, but the looks and whispers behind my back remain almost the same.

Isang Hee from our class was the prime example of this.

‘Lately, she even looks at me like she wants to kill me.’

But the fact that even Isang Hee is keeping quiet now means something, doesn’t it?

‘Could it be that someone threatened them?’

Erich’s laughter briefly rang in my ears.

What’s this? This is the laugh that comes out when he hears thoughts he likes.

“You don’t seem to believe it.”

“Of course.”

As if understanding what I wanted to say without me saying it, Yuhan Seong chuckled.

Then he said.

“Everyone will keep quiet for a while. Even if their reasons are somewhat different.”

“Hmm. Well, are they worried I’ll get taken by the research institute?”

“That’s part of it.”

As if he had finished what he wanted to say, Yuhan Seong straightened his posture from leaning against the window.

Then our eyes briefly met, and his gaze seemed to shine as if trying to pierce through the center of my hidden heart.

“I hear you’re making intermediate potions well now?”

Yuhan Seong approached and walked alongside me as he asked.

“You shouldn’t need to practice so desperately anymore.”

“…No. It’s not enough. Far, far from enough!”

Footsteps that were barely audible.

Yuhan Seong sometimes walked like a cat burglar.

Like when he was being cautious of his surroundings.

But his face showed no such signs and looked perfectly composed.

“Enough to stay up all night, enough to make your hands tremble? …If you can make intermediate potions comfortably, you wouldn’t be looked down upon anywhere, so why are you so desperate?”

Though there was a faint smile, his mood didn’t seem light despite his appearance.

He glanced briefly at my wrist.

There were faint red marks left from when an excited Yu Hee had momentarily grabbed it tightly.

Jin Hali’s skin was particularly soft and bruised easily from small impacts. Yu Hee would probably notice soon, and when she did, she would definitely look upset.

‘Everyone maintains their distance clearly, but they’re fundamentally kind about things like this.’

That’s why I like them.

I’m growing to like them more.

And right now, there was no problem answering with those feelings as they were, so I decided to do so.

“I like it here. That’s why.”

“What do you like about it?”

“I like that it’s a place where good people do good things. I like that even though I can’t do it directly, I can help. I’m happy that there are many people I want to see for a long, long time.”

“You sure say naive things well.”

“I like simple things. And Han Seong.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m still in a position where I’m a burden. How could I practice leisurely and comfortably?”

“Is that a reason?”

“Yes.”

Since being weak means I won’t get dragged into dungeons, even being looked down upon makes me happy. That basic stance hadn’t changed.

‘I’m prone to situations where I bleed a lot when entering dungeons.’

If I got hurt badly, not just a little, I’d end up revealing that I have the power to become bait, just like in the original story.

However, if you asked whether I was happy about others dying while I lived, that wasn’t it.

I was simply glad that I could naturally avoid things I couldn’t handle.

If others would suffer because of that, it would be right to do my best to minimize it.

“If I can’t prevent being a burden, I should at least increase the ways I can help. That’s what I want to do.”

His gaze very slowly settled toward my forehead.

“Hali, your potions are…”

He stopped speaking and let out a very small sigh.

“To be honest, they’re hard to consider practice-level.”

I shrugged my shoulders and smiled.

“I guess I was lucky.”

“Lucky?”

He smiled strangely.

“It’s not a level of completion that can be achieved through luck.”

Yuhan Seong’s eyes moved from my face to my fingertips, then slowly back up to my face.

His expression wasn’t cold, but he seemed to want to figure something out.

Sometimes he acted as if I were someone who knew more information.

“The old school building is quite unique. Maybe it’s because of that environment.”

“Hmm. You really have no confidence in yourself.”

My heart trembled coldly.

Because that was the truth.

Still, without losing my smile, I immediately shook my head and said.

“No. I’m just facing facts.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Of course.”

“…That might be helping your growth right now, but it could be harmful later.”

I took a small breath.

I was a bit nervous about having my inner thoughts discovered by an unexpected person, but since I didn’t feel particularly bad about it, I spoke with the softest and gentlest expression possible.

“It’s okay. Besides, I just need work anyway.”

“What kind of work?”

“Work where I’m needed.”

Yuhan Seong lowered his eyes.

Shadows fell heavily beneath his eyelashes.

His fingertips slowly swept through the air, then clenched into a tight fist.

A quiet voice fell.

“…It could become dangerous.”

“It’s okay.”

Well, it’s not like you guys who enter dungeons are the only ones at risk!

If push comes to shove, I’ll reveal our Erich to the public and blame everything on him!

[…Not a bad idea.]

‘Surprisingly cooperative.’

[I’m a very rational being.]

For someone so rational, you seemed to dislike all the kids in our class who did nothing wrong.

But Erich just snorted again.

Let’s settle the danger of being taken by the research institute at this level.

“It’s not okay.”

He immediately refuted my words.

“Hali.”

His voice calling my name was unusually low.

“The fact that you don’t have aftereffects even when drinking a lot is also a problem.”

“Aftereffects?”

“If you drink potions beyond a certain amount, addiction symptoms might appear, but yours don’t have that either.”

This was unexpected.

“It’s almost like magic. It’s a good thing, though. But that makes it more dangerous.”

“Ah.”

“Even though you’re weak… you have several precious things. You have plenty of utility value.”

Yuhan Seong fell silent for a moment, then spoke quietly.

“So.”

He lowered his gaze to my hands.

“The potions… if anything special happens, tell me first. I’ll make sure you don’t get hurt, at the very least.”

“…”

His genuine concern was sincere. However, there was one thing he seemed unconscious of. The tone of a superior looking after a subordinate was also a form of contempt.

‘As expected, providing good quality potions doesn’t make the contemptuous attitude disappear.’

While grateful, I felt reassured by his approach that openly acknowledged the gap between us. As long as Yuhan Seong was conscious of this gap, I would be safe.

I gladly accepted it with a smile.

His eyes met mine precisely.

“I promise. Should I prepare a contract too?”

I hugged my bag tightly and spoke slowly.

“No.”

Yuhan Seong slowly smiled with great satisfaction.

It wasn’t a big smile, but it was the most fulfilled expression I’d seen from him.

He spoke without withdrawing his observing gaze.

“Good.”

It was after that day’s practice ended, when it became midnight.

As he accompanied me to the front of the dormitory, he suddenly spoke as if remembering something.

“Next time, tell me about that too.”

I blinked for a moment.

“What?”

“Dreams. About memories.”

Dreams aside, but memories?

When I looked at him bewildered, he chuckled.

An expression filled with strange kinship.

He seemed a bit sorry, and also pitying.

‘What kind of misunderstanding is he having?’

Why is he being so wistful?

[How would I know?]

***

That day, I couldn’t concentrate throughout class.

Even while looking at the blackboard, the letters trembled blurrily.

Based on the original story, tonight.

The Crescent Dungeon, a dungeon whose grade rapidly changes due to the influence of destruction, would open.

‘I’ve been continuously giving Lee Hae-sol mental barrier potions. I wonder if he’s been taking them consistently?’

The episode where Lee Hae-sol awakens, and simultaneously his mind gets horribly destroyed.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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