Chapter 1. Surviving as an F-Rank Healer (1)
“Number 18, Jin Hari.”
“Yes!”
“…You’re here again.”
The teacher, calling roll as usual, deliberately added that last comment.
“When does this class start dungeon practice?”
“Today at seven p.m.!”
“Hm.”
He did not say, “You’ll die soon,” but it was close enough.
One week since the entrance ceremony.
For that entire week, Jin Hari had been the center of attention, and not in a good way.
Yet now, she stood there smiling brightly, as if she understood everything and nothing at the same time.
She must know everyone wants her to hurry up and die. So why did she even come here? I don’t get it.
People at Narin Academy took pride in the school.
The minimum graduation standard was B-rank.
And not just any B-rank, but hunters with plenty of real combat experience.
Fifty years ago, during the Third Catastrophe, Narin graduates had played a key role in stopping the world’s destruction. Because of that, the academy had worldwide fame.
Naturally, there were strict entrance requirements.
Before turning seventeen, you had to be at least D-rank, have no criminal record, and most importantly, possess a skill usable in dungeons.
The problem was that healers were exempt from those rules.
Still…
An F-rank, though?
Healers were rare and treated as a special class, but even so, this was the first time an F-rank had ever been admitted.
Healers were protected in dungeons because they could save lives in emergencies. But if someone could only heal three times a day, was it even worth protecting them?
Yet Jin Hari had enrolled anyway, and for a whole week she had enjoyed academy life with a bright smile, never once letting her expression crack.
As if the idea that other students could die because of her didn’t matter at all.
Well, not my problem.
What was unfortunate was this class.
Their team performance score was basically doomed.
Looks like my first-semester bonus is gone too.
The teacher clicked his tongue and shut the attendance book.
Getting stuck as the homeroom teacher of a bottom-tier class was just bad luck.
Class 8 already had plenty of problem students even without Jin Hari. From the academy’s point of view, it might actually be better if a few of them got weeded out.
“Alright. Let’s see who survives. Dismissed.”
Without bothering to hide his lack of motivation, the teacher dragged himself out.
“…We’re screwed.”
“What if he doesn’t recommend anyone for promotion next semester?”
“…Maybe not everyone, but there’s definitely one person he won’t recommend.”
As soon as the teacher left, the students of Class 8 started whispering while glancing in one direction.
“An F-rank can barely heal a few times. Why would someone like that come here?”
“No idea. I just feel bad for whoever ends up on her team.”
She looked like some enchanting beauty straight out of a fantasy novel, but she smiled so innocently that she seemed completely harmless.
That’s why the students felt free to gossip about her openly.
“She can study all she wants, but it’s pointless anyway.”
The irritated students raised their voices on purpose, making sure she could hear.
“And team worries don’t even matter. F-ranks can’t legally enter C-rank or higher dungeons.”
“Oh, right. But aren’t all our practice dungeons at least C-rank?”
“Yeah. So she won’t even be able to do performance evaluations. She’ll probably just run festival dungeons, unless some top students scout her.”
“Scout? Please. She probably just came here hoping to catch a guild rep’s eye during the festival.”
“That only works if you’re at least C-rank. Do they think guild reps are blind? No one’s picking an F-rank.”
“True.”
At that moment, Jin Hari glanced over, making a small circle beside her head like she was calling them crazy.
The whispering students flinched.
Did we get caught?
No, this kind of thing had happened plenty of times over the past week.
What made them pause was something ridiculous.
She was pretty.
Was she always this pretty? Or did we not notice because she looked shabby at the entrance ceremony?
Her pale skin, like someone who had never seen sunlight, was clean and clear. Her long black hair made it stand out even more.
Her deep violet eyes looked as if stars were embedded inside them.
Even among hunters, who were often unusually attractive thanks to appearance adjustments, she stood out as exceptionally beautiful.
Especially when she smiled like that.
“……”
“……”
…Did she just smile cutely at us?
Even families didn’t look at powerful awakeners like that. From the moment hunters awakened, they lived half-controlled by instinct.
Skills, mana, and stats—those were basically measurements of how strongly instinct ruled them.
So in their world, acting like that without trying to dominate or gain something felt unfamiliar.
Even after Jin Hari turned back to her materials, the two students remained frozen for a while.
Slowly, they straightened up and thought the same thing.
Shouldn’t she have gone to an entertainment agency instead?
More than her looks, her eyes were strange.
What, does she think she’s some kind of saint?
An F-rank, yet she carried this relaxed, gentle warmth. No matter how rough people spoke to her, she always responded with kind eyes, a soft smile, and a clear voice like birdsong.
That calm, warm gaze unsettled people in a way they couldn’t explain.
They had no idea that Jin Hari’s soul was that of an adult, looking at teenagers with gentle affection.
The two students frowned.
Hunters were aggressive by nature.
Their world was closer to that of beasts.
Korea was relatively safe thanks to strong systems, but that was only a matter of degree.
Seeing something harmless, something gentle, was rare.
A fragile, cute creature.
Kind words and actions.
That was why the two students didn’t realize when the anger in their chests suddenly faded away.
After standing awkwardly for a moment, they forced themselves to continue.
“A-anyway.”
“Yeah. She’s a burden.”
…Right. An F-rank was a burden.
Class 8 had thirteen students, an odd number. One person being left out wouldn’t affect dungeon teams much.
The real problem was the final exam.
“The finals are class vs. class.”
“Yeah.”
If even one student died, the score dropped. That meant they’d have to fight while protecting a very pretty piece of baggage.
But keeping her out of the dungeon would cost even more points.
Once they thought of her as baggage, their hearts settled again.
Maybe when they saw her screaming uselessly and hiding in the final dungeon, their anger would come back.
“I wish she’d just drop out this semester.”
At someone’s mutter, the rest silently agreed.
None of them imagined that, in just one year, they’d be suffering from separation anxiety over Jin Hari leaving.
***
I looked at my classmates with a gentle gaze.
Everyone treated going into dungeons as something completely natural.
How do they do that?
From my point of view, it was strange.
No matter how careful the academy was, unless you were S-rank, death was always a possibility.
That was why guilds competed so fiercely to recruit Narin Academy graduates.
Every year, about a third of each class disappears by finals.
Some died. Many retired early due to injuries.
In the original story, the numbers would rise sharply starting this year.
But unlike me, even knowing that, these kids probably wouldn’t leave.
They had all come here with their own sense of justice burning in their young hearts.
Modern-day heroes, huh.
Or rather—
Heroes of a modern fantasy world.
