Chapter 16
Part 2. The Healer Who Gives Without Holding Back (6)
This was bad.
My future potion shop was in danger of ending up completely empty.
[Well, it’s not a problem, is it? There’s nothing wrong with it.
‘Are you sure? You’re certain it’s safe to drink?’
Just then, Lee Haesol asked,
“Is it okay to drink this?”
Erich answered leisurely.
If anything, it’s good. There’s nothing bad about it.]
‘If you say so…’
“Yeah, you can drink it. It’s just sparkling. The effect is the same.”
“I see.”
He probably came to ask because it was different from other lowest-grade potions and made him uneasy.
His expression was calm, and there was no sign of negative feelings toward me.
I liked that straightforwardness.
Despite being the class representative and having a strong presence in class, Lee Haesol himself was surprisingly quiet compared to the attention he received.
‘It can’t be helped, given his situation.’
He was under a curse.
Strictly speaking, it was something he’d placed on himself. In exchange for producing A-rank performance with B-rank mana, he accepted a penalty.
If I remember right, it was something his family, desperate for an S-rank, had recommended.
Either way, even considering that curse, it was important that he trusted my potion.
‘Maybe there’s nothing to worry about.’
Seeing how things went when I handed potions out earlier, it was clear that he’d been the one telling others about the effect in advance.
I smiled gently and said,
“You don’t need to worry about side effects. I don’t know if the effect is strong, though.”
The more I emphasized my own weakness, the stranger the silence from others became.
Even now, Lee Haesol’s expression twisted very slightly.
Like he’d heard something upsetting.
Honestly.
Moments like this kept reminding me that Hunter Academy students were generally a bit soft.
Of course, I knew that reactions like this only happened because I kept stressing that I knew my place.
“Do you want more, if you need it?”
I asked first.
After thinking briefly, he replied quietly,
“No.”
Then he tucked the potion away.
Thinking the conversation was over, I closed the box again—but Lee Haesol stepped closer.
As he did, a cold, silvery mana seemed to draw nearer with him.
The distinct chill of ice-attribute mana.
It was coming from Lee Haesol.
“But.”
His voice dropped.
“Were you in the workshop late last night?”
I paused.
How would he know that? He wasn’t Yoo Hanseong.
We weren’t close.
“How did you know I was there late last night?”
“…I saw you. By chance. And I’ve seen you a few times since then.”
“At that hour?”
“Yeah. I come out to practice late sometimes too.”
“At the old school building?”
“I was just passing by there. I practice in this building.”
“Oh!”
I remembered.
Lee Haesol was a training fanatic.
Before becoming S-rank, he’d trained desperately every day out of a sense of personal responsibility.
He was diligent with physical training too.
I must’ve caught the attention of another training addict.
“Hanseong would’ve been surprised if he’d seen it. Another person like him.”
I muttered with a laugh, but Lee Haesol tilted his head.
“Hanseong
“Yeah. He asked why I was training so hard.”
“So what did you say?”
We started walking together as the conversation continued.
I could feel the gazes in the hallway dispersing.
“I told him I had to work harder because I’m F-rank.”
Lee Haesol fell silent for a moment, then lowered his eyes slightly.
Then he said,
“Isn’t it more normal to practice healing rather than crafting?”
[I was wondering that too.]
Ignoring Erich’s comment, I replied,
“I’m not very good at using heal.”
Thinking of the unnecessary extra word attached to my healing skill.
“…You’re not good at healing?”
Lee Haesol asked, looking genuinely confused.
It made sense. F-rank healers could only cast their skill three times, but the issue was the number of uses. Activating it itself was usually simple.
“I just prefer this more.”
[You really have no intention of giving a proper answer. Tch.]
I let Erich’s complaining pass by one ear.
But my heal wasn’t just heal—it was Reverse Heal.
Something I’d never seen even in the original story. The description was vague, and the rank was low.
“So I’m trying to at least get crafting right.”
Lee Haesol bit his lip slightly.
“I see.”
After a brief silence, he spoke again.
“But still, staying up that late…”
He didn’t finish the sentence and lowered his gaze.
The line of his face softened slightly.
That expression felt… ambiguous.
‘Wait, we’re not that close, are we?’
Why did it look like concern from a friend?
‘Ugh. He’s probably just worried, regardless of closeness.’
I swallowed a sigh and smiled quietly.
“It’s fine! No one goes there anyway. You know the old school building has unstable mana.”
I carefully folded the box and tucked it under my arm.
“And if someone did come there, it’d probably only be to suggest forming a party. But as you know, no one would ever try to include me.”
Saying that, I felt a small sense of relief inside.
Right. No one should need me.
That’s the safest outcome.
But then Lee Haesol suddenly said,
“…I’m not so sure.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
My voice dropped without me realizing it.
Lee Haesol looked at my face for a long moment, then turned away.
Without a word, he gripped the potion more tightly.
Silver mana flared faintly with the movement of his hand.
Why had he been leaking mana this whole time?
I was curious, but as an F-rank who shouldn’t be able to sense mana this sharply without Erich, I didn’t ask.
Unnecessary attention wasn’t welcome.
“…No. You’ll find out soon enough.”
He muttered briefly and stepped backward.
“You said you were going down, right? Go ahead.”
I nodded.
“Okay.”
And slowly walked down the hallway.
The sensation of him retreating backward lingered strangely.
…What was that?
Erich laughed quietly.
[What do you think? He’s reacting to the potion’s effect.]
I waved it off internally.
‘No. Not yet.’
[Not yet? There are definitely people who’ll be shocked by your potion effects, even if they don’t say it out loud.
‘No, it’s not that dramatic, is it?’
I’d used it myself and given it out.
The sparkle was unexpected, but the effect itself matched what I’d anticipated.
But Erich seemed to think differently.
“What is it?”
I asked aloud in frustration.
Erich replied slyly,
[Looks like that human will tell you.]
‘That human?’
“Um.”
In front of an empty classroom stood the person unanimously voted as the most angelic-looking in Class 8.
I stared at her in confusion.
Yoo Hui.
We’d at least exchanged greetings before.
Still, why were so many people talking to me today?
Even if it was because of the potions, this felt excessive.
“Uh, hi. What’s up?”
Her gaze briefly flicked to the box in my hands.
I barely managed to keep my mouth from falling open.
Was it really about the potions?
“Hari.”
Hui smiled slightly.
“Could you walk with me for a moment?”
This wasn’t a good direction.
Yoo Hui was dangerous.
She was a character I only wanted to admire from afar—a favorite—because she was an assassin.
But running away would look strange too.
“Oh. Why?”
“I have something I want to say, just the two of us. Is that okay?”
She lightly tugged on my arm.
Her fingertips were warmer than I expected.
‘These hands hold the record for the highest kill count in her family.’
That Yoo Hui came from an assassin family was revealed midway through the original story.
Until then, she was portrayed as angelic but vaguely suspicious.
I couldn’t act like I knew that, but her gentle touch made it hard not to feel awkward.
So, for now—
“Um… have you eaten lunch?”
Hui tilted her head slightly without blinking, then smiled like an angel.
“Not yet.”
“Then let’s go together. We can talk while we eat, right?”
“Let’s eat first. If it’s okay with you, I’ll buy coffee.”
The campus café had private spaces.
As she slowly twirled her hair around her finger and gazed at me, I swallowed.
Then he nodded.
“Sure. Then let’s just get brunch there.”
“Thanks. That sounds like a good idea.”
After tossing the box into a classroom trash can, Hui immediately moved back to my side.
‘Erich
[What.]
‘Is her acting like this really because of my sparkling potion?’
[Why ask if you won’t believe it?]
‘I’ll believe it if it makes sense. It was just a potion.’
[You lack common knowledge because you’ve only been practicing short-term attributes. That ‘sparkling’ trait you mentioned is documented in books. There are precedents.
‘What?’
[You know dungeon-derived potions, right?]
Dungeon-derived potions…
