Chapter 1. Surviving as an F-Rank Healer (2)
Honestly, I wouldn’t have minded even if they’d done worse things than gossiping behind my back.
It’s true that I’m just dead weight, and for me, being treated that way actually has more benefits.
But still—
For some reason, all they did was whisper among themselves.
Ignoring me? Insulting me?
That much was nothing.
Considering that they could die because of me, it’s only natural.
Thinking back, the kids in this class were a bit unusual even in the original novel.
This class had many students who’d lived especially rough lives, even by Narin Academy standards.
No criminal records, but they’d all experienced the darker sides of society in one way or another.
And despite that, they hadn’t lost their kindness.
That kindness was the reason more than half of them died in the original story.
And that, in turn, became the trigger for the protagonist’s descent into darkness after graduating.
That was their role in the story.
Even now, they were probably just angry at the idea of having to protect me during exams.
They wouldn’t even consider the easy option of letting me die.
Not realizing the class was doomed from the moment assignments were made.
An F-rank mixed in?
By the rules, unless S-ranks personally stepped in and took me along, I wouldn’t be entering any dungeons.
So they shouldn’t be worried about an F-rank.
They should be worrying about surviving until finals.
“Haah…”
I sighed without realizing it as I carefully read the Dungeon Monsters textbook.
Of all things, why did I have to end up in a novel like this?
As the others lost interest in me, I relaxed a little and recalled my first day here, when I’d arrived full of tension and worry.
That was a week ago, wasn’t it?
***
〈I’m the Only One with an SSS-Rank Party 〉
That was the title.
Once, it had been a top-three hit on a major web novel site.
Until it collapsed at the ending.
I was one of the few readers who stuck around to the end.
I really believed the author would pull off a twist in the finale.
A world where catastrophe dungeons appear every fifty years after the first dungeon’s emergence.
In that world, Yoo Hanseong was a protagonist who repeatedly regressed to stop the latest catastrophe, which began in Korea fifty years after the previous one.
After dozens of regressions, he finally reached a conclusion.
No matter how powerful he became, this catastrophe was something he couldn’t stop alone.
So he made a decision.
Gather the S-ranks.
The higher a hunter’s rank, the more violent and aggressive their nature tended to be.
That was why S-ranks never formed permanent parties.
Even temporary parties made just before a catastrophe dungeon would disband as soon as the disaster was over.
That was common sense.
But every fifty years, the catastrophe dungeons were increasing in both number and scale.
This time, instead of three catastrophe dungeons like before, Korea was facing ten.
And each one was nearly on the level of a final dungeon.
As if all previous catastrophes had only been a warm-up.
And that turned out to be true.
In the story, Yoo Hanseong said that they needed to clear nine dungeons without casualties just to have a chance—only half a chance—at the tenth.
In other words, he had a no-casualty strategy for up to nine and a half dungeons.
And if he succeeded in forming a permanent S-rank party, he believed even the final dungeon could be cleared.
But in the original story, he never fully achieved that goal.
Because the academy-trained members he raised early on all died before reaching the final dungeon.
Through Narin Academy and the Eden Guild, Yoo Hanseong did succeed in forming a tightly bonded S-rank party.
They cleared seven dungeons, giving hope to a world convinced it was doomed.
But from the ninth dungeon onward, unexpected sacrifices piled up.
If only they’d managed to win the tenth, final dungeon with the remaining S-ranks…
That’s where the author completely derailed everything.
Right after clearing the ninth catastrophe dungeon, a traitor appeared among the party.
On top of that, an unexpected outside crisis occurred.
And in the final dungeon—despite barely making it in—everyone died except Yoo Hanseong and the heroine.
Victory?
What victory?
To save the heroine, the protagonist literally gave his life to the final boss.
Even now, thinking about it made me laugh bitterly.
And that mess stretched on for over a hundred chapters.
Why did I keep reading it? Was I out of my mind?
“If I could go back, I’d read it more carefully.”
That day, while recalling how angry I’d been, I muttered something that made no sense at all.
In front of a mirror.
The skinny, gloomy high school student reflected that they were wearing a uniform.
Based on traditional Korean clothing but modified for hunters’ mobility, it was both beautiful and comfortable.
The outer robe, styled like a durumagi, was embroidered with a white hibiscus emblem.
It felt like wearing clouds.
But I didn’t have the luxury to gush about school uniforms like a devoted fan.
Because—
I was Jin Hari.
I stared at the name on my name tag and sighed.
At least Jin Hari had been named in the original story, and some of her body’s memories remained, so I knew a bit.
Like when she was destined to die.
Damn it.
Seventeen years old. Enrolling in an Awakener Academy this year. An F-rank healer who’ll only be bullied—so why enroll here instead of a regular school?
To escape her family.
A family that bled her dry.
This unfortunate teenager belonged nowhere.
Being F-rank alone was enough to be looked down on—add being a healer with zero combat ability, and it was even worse.
By common sense, living as a normal civilian would’ve been better.
According to the novel, an F-rank healer couldn’t even properly make low-grade potions.
Her healing skill was F-rank too, and she could only use it three times a day.
Open discrimination against Frank healers was common, so just surviving daily life at the academy would be hard.
But Jin Hari couldn’t live as a civilian.
Her family had piled massive debt under her name.
There was a system that erased civilian debt if you became a hunter.
That was the only reason she enrolled at Narin Academy.
Die, or spend your entire life drowning in debt. What a hellish choice.
Even knowing the original story, I had no other option.
I’d already enrolled. There was no turning back.
Canceling it meant paying administrative fees, and I had no reason to increase my debt.
Looks like I’m stuck watching the original plot firsthand.
If things followed the original story, I was doomed.
I need to avoid entering dungeons as much as possible.
Do you know what Jin Hari’s role was in the original story?
A bait.
She died early.
She revealed crucial information to Yoo Hanseong—that an F-rank healer’s mana drove monsters insane, making her perfect bait.
That happened during the first-year final dungeon, right?
That information was used to show the protagonist’s moral state.
Early on, even knowing the truth, he didn’t reveal it.
Because he was too kind to use a person as bait.
But later, things changed.
After failing his goal of no-casualty clears, he still used bait—while claiming to protect it as a top priority.
And in the late story…
He paid with lives to hire bait to protect his party.
That bait didn’t even get a name.
They just died.
And Yoo Hanseong barely cared—only lamenting that bait was in short supply.
“Ugh…”
I clicked my tongue and started getting ready to leave.
“No matter what, I have to survive first.”
I’d avoid dungeons in every way possible.
But at the same time, the world mustn’t be destroyed, so I still had to help the protagonist clear the final dungeon.
That just means delivering some special potions and key information at the right time.
Special potions.
Not exactly a popular field in this world.
Still, it would be enough to make a living after graduation.
By then, the value of special potions would be reassessed anyway.
The problem is skill. If I’m good enough, I could supply crucial potions directly—but I’d have to struggle just to manage that.
Material costs were another issue.
So many problems.
I shook my head.
For now, my goal was simply to graduate safely and pass on useful information when needed.
Potions would come later, if I succeeded.
I just hoped both the world—and I—would survive.
That was what I thought on my very first day.
