Chapter 27
Once you've netoried a heroine and your mutual Affection reaches 100, the 100-Affection barrier breaks.
And when that happens, you can obtain the heroine's skill.
That was the conclusion I'd reached.
Then, will there be bonuses like this every time I break through 200, 300, and so on?
I had one more reason to keep an eye on Sophia.
After finishing my thoughts, I opened the status window to check and found that the stats I'd raised in ‘Heroine Netori’ had remained unchanged.
The skill list also included the skills I'd received upon becoming a holy warrior, as well as the skill I'd just obtained from Sophia.
These are completely broken skills... This is insane.
The skills Goddess Aria gave me consumed divine power instead of mana. And becoming a holy warrior had given me a sufficient amount of divine power—not as much as Sophia, of course.
So even though my mana was only 1, I could use my skills freely; now, it meant I could use Heal and Purification almost infinitely.
At this point... should I just register as an Awakened healer? It didn't seem like a bad idea. No, it wasn't just a good idea—it was a great one.
I'd never heard of an Awakened with holy-warrior abilities, but there were plenty of healers.
Rather than becoming famous for some unusual ability and causing trouble for myself, maybe it would be better to become a healer and climb the ranks comfortably.
For reference, Sexual Stimulation was level 8, Affection Grinding was level 4, and Cooking was level 4.
I'd used Sexual Stimulation almost every day, but it still hadn't reached level 10, which was a little disappointing.
Also, thanks to the ‘Goddess Aria's Power’ passive, my stats had risen by 10 each, but perhaps because Sophia wasn't in the real world, the buff hadn't activated. That was a little disappointing too.
====
After eating and washing up, I headed for the Awakened Registration Center.
I never imagined I'd end up coming here. It was a strange feeling.
Was I really about to become an Awakened and a Hunter...?
“Yes, here's your Awakened registration card. Take care.”
…?
Why was this over so quickly?
====
More people than I'd expected were looking to register at the Awakened Registration Center. Most of them were people who mistakenly believed they had awakened,
and most of them ended up becoming F-Rank Awakened like me.
‘What, only F-Rank?’
The standard for dividing ranks was mana.
Once you received an initial rank, you could be promoted based on improved stats and achievements, but mana was important for the initial assignment because Awakened consumed mana every time they used a skill.
The higher the quality of the skill—and, naturally, the more often it was used—the more mana it required, which was why ranks were divided by mana.
...And thanks to the ‘Goddess Aria's Power’ passive, my mana was a mere 11.
The cutoff for F-Rank was 15 mana or less...
After learning from the test that I was F-Rank, the employee processed everything at lightning speed, as if to say, Figures.
When the employee heard that I had awakened a healer ability, they envied me, but then thought that an F-Rank would barely be able to use Heal a few times anyway, so they rushed through the ability test.
After I healed a small scratch, the employee ended the test, saying that I wasn't lying.
After that, I waited for about thirty minutes and received my Awakened registration card.
Still, they sent the 1,000,000-won Awakened support payment right away. Well, at least I got that.
Now that I was an Awakened, I could start working as a Hunter.
Not every Awakened became a Hunter, but anyone who had awakened could become one at any time.
I was an F-Rank Hunter, the lowest rank, but I could grow stronger little by little from here on.
Fortunately, pausing also stopped time in ‘Heroine Netori,’ so there was no need to rush.
So all I had to do was steadily grow strong enough to protect Sophia.
But... judging by how things looked, parties would probably ignore me because I was an F-Rank healer.
The perception that an F-Rank healer could only use Heal a few times seemed to be the problem. I needed to solve that first.
As expected, gear was the answer.
====
I'd intended to spend the Awakened support payment on gacha, but equipment was more urgent for now.
There were several buildings for newly Awakened people in front of the Awakened Registration Center, and I entered an equipment shop.
Like in ‘The Classic Hero Story,’ a sword and shield should do. It would be too dangerous to carry only a staff.
I wasn't guaranteed to have party members who would protect me, so I had to protect myself.
I found a decent iron sword, but it cost 600,000 won.
I wondered if that could really be right... but looking around, everything cost about that much.
No way the association's official equipment shop would be ripping people off, right?
When I looked at the shields, the prices were just as steep. In fact, usable shields were more expensive than one-handed swords.
Still, what I was looking for wasn't this sort of thing...
Yes, this was it.
I found a wooden shield that practically radiated cheapness. It cost 190,000 won. Perfect.
The iron sword and wooden shield came to 790,000 won, and I paid another 10,000 won to buy a pair of gloves at a discount.
I'd just blown 800,000 won in one go. Still, it was an initial investment, so it couldn't be helped.
I decided to hold on to the remaining 200,000 won for now and left the equipment shop.
It would have been nice to buy armor and a helmet too, but honestly, I didn't think I'd get seriously hurt while clearing dungeons up through D-Rank.
My mana was lacking, but my stats were well above F-Rank.
====
When I returned home, I joined the Awakened community.
Awakened could share information or form parties there, and the Association also posted public requests and announcements.
And...
[The Truth About S-Rank Hunter Choi Yuri.jpg]
(Photo 1 emphasizing Choi Yuri's butt)
(Photo 2 emphasizing Choi Yuri's butt)
God Yuri, am I right?
[Fucking top-tier]
[Agreed]
[Crazy Korean men, stop sexually harassing her]
[ㄴ Inferiority complex: ON]
[ㄴ -Inferiority complex-]
[Damn, I really want to pound her.]
[ㄴ For real lol]
People also talked anonymously like this.
Ah, Choi Yuri really was fucking beautiful.
I'd wondered if a community usable only by Awakened would be any different, but it wasn't any different from ordinary communities.
If anything, the anonymity seemed to be more secure, because even more provocative material was being uploaded like this.
But she might see this herself. Did they just leave it up like this?
When I looked into it, the risqué photos of Choi Yuri posted on the anonymous board didn't end there.
[Choi Yuri, I Want to Fuck Her Again Today.jpg]
[Collection of Choi Yuri's Risqué Photos 1.jpg]
[Isn't Choi Yuri Actually a Freaking Slut?]
[S-Rank Hunter Who Pretends to Be Innocent While Showing Everything.jpg]
After clicking through and checking them all one by one, I found that what had been uploaded today was actually on the tame side.
According to the comments, other Hunters had guilds or agencies that strictly blocked this sort of thing, so posts like these were deleted immediately. Choi Yuri, however, didn't care about the community and left them alone.
She really was an S-Rank healer. Her heart was as big as her breasts.
After looking around a little longer, I saved the photos I found especially arousing,
then took a picture of the green dagger I'd obtained from the goblin and uploaded it to the anonymous board.
[I found this dagger in a dungeon today. How's it look?]
(Photo of the green dagger)
It's a poisoned dagger. If it stabs you, you're poisoned 100% of the time.
And the poison on the blade remains no matter how many times it's used to stab someone.
It isn't an instant-death poison, but it hurts like hell.
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ What kind of idiot is this?]
[No way, this crazy bastard spray-painted a dagger and is calling it a poisoned blade]
[Infinite poison, my ass]
[ㄴ For real, is it an artifact or something? LOL]
[At least preserve the details and paint only the blade, geez]
Judging by the reaction, it must be good. Did I really have to consider it an artifact-level item?
I'd been planning to sell it, but I should put that on hold.
====
I stopped messing around on the anonymous board and decided to look for a party.
Regulations prohibited F-Rank Hunters from entering dungeons alone. So finding a party wasn't optional; it was essential.
...But even after combing through the party-matching board, I couldn't find any worthwhile damage dealers.
Come to think of it, the people looking for parties here either had no connections or were so lacking in ability that they couldn't even make those connections...
‘Oh.’
But when I refreshed the page, the exact kind of damage dealer I wanted had posted.
[D-Rank Melee DPS) Looking for a healer to support me.]
The reason I wanted D-Rank was that if I formed a party with a D-Rank Hunter, even an F-Rank could enter a D-Rank dungeon.
Even though I was above F-Rank in ability, it would be a waste of time to rot in an F-Rank dungeon. I needed to get stronger quickly so I could return to ‘The Classic Hero Story.’
I'd thought I would have to wait several days to find a D-Rank Hunter, but I was lucky.
Looking over her information, her stats weren't bad either. Her ability was Swordsman, and although her skills were private, they were said to be related to swordsmanship.
Her name was Lee Hyun-ah. Oh, a woman. She was twenty-one...
Did she have a photo too?
When I clicked to view more information, Lee Hyun-ah's ID photo appeared.
I immediately clicked Apply to Party.
Here's the illustration of Lee Hyun-ah I drew yesterday.