Even Today, the Ranker Dreams of Retirement

The Hapjeong Station Disaster.

It was one of the many incidents they experienced in the first iteration.

-Breaking news. A gate suddenly appeared today, enveloping the area near Hapjeong Station in Mapo-gu, Seoul in a dungeon. The danger level is classified as B-rank. Fortunately, most nearby citizens have evacuated, but the students of Ullim International Magic High School, which was at the center of the gate, couldn’t escape… Parents are still anxiously waiting…

-Today’s news. It’s the second day since the Hapjeong Station gate appeared, but there’s still no progress in conquering the dungeon…

-Out of 35 hunters deployed, only 1 survived. However, the survivor appears to be in extreme psychological shock and is refusing to give any testimony or statement.

-Breaking news. The dungeon danger level, originally thought to be B-rank, has been revealed to actually be SSS-rank.

-It’s the third day. There’s still no progress in conquering the gate. International aid has been requested, but due to the gate’s extremely high rank, it won’t be easy to find volunteers…

-Breaking news! Hunter Hyun Habin, who just returned from Kill Screen, is reportedly rushing to Hapjeong Station! She plans to enter the gate alone…!

-Dungeon conquered two hours after entry.

-It has been confirmed that there were no survivors other than Hyun Habin as a result of the dungeon conquest.

Not only the hunters who were part of the rescue team but also the young students lost their lives by a hair’s breadth.

‘…It was absolute chaos.’

It was an incident that enraged many high-ranking hunters, including the Hyun siblings.

There was a reason why domestic S-rank and above hunters couldn’t immediately respond at the time.

At that time, Hyun Habin, the Chae siblings, Kang Taeseo, and other renowned Korean hunters were participating in the Kill Screen conquest.

Hyun Habin was leading that effort.

All the hunters at the time regretted how it was handled. Hyun Habin, in particular, expressed stronger anger and self-blame.

‘If I had returned just two days, no, even one day earlier! Everyone would have lived! Why didn’t they contact me?’

As soon as she returned, she demanded to know why the SPES management bureau hadn’t contacted her.

‘Why did I insist on developing technology to enable communication inside dungeons? It was for moments like this!’

Technology to enable communication inside dungeons.

That was the reason.

It was a special technology being developed in collaboration with Chae Jise, but at the time it was still in beta testing, so only Hyun Habin carried the communication device. And no one at the SPES management bureau informed Hyun Habin, who was in Kill Screen, about the Hapjeong Station disaster.

‘We thought the Kill Screen conquest would be more important to you.’

‘Then why on earth-!’

‘Because it was a B-rank gate.’

‘…Ha!’

The initial measured rank of the Hapjeong Station gate was B-rank. In the judgment of South Korea and SPES, Hyun Habin, the world’s (de facto) number one ranker, was too big a figure. They probably thought there was no need to call her for a mere B-rank gate.

B-rank is a level that A-rank hunters can sufficiently conquer.

Moreover, if Hyun Habin had known that students were trapped in that dungeon, she would have dropped everything, Kill Screen and all, and rushed over.

The backers and higher-ups of various countries, who considered the Kill Screen conquest far more important to humanity than an accidentally opened mid-level dungeon, weren’t too pleased with this idea. To them, a few hundred human lives weren’t a big deal, and due to the initial low measurement, they complacently thought it would be suppressed easily anyway.

It was an obvious choice no matter how many times they reconsidered. Later, it was revealed that the political sphere had planted spies and bribed SPES to exert pressure at every turn, but this came to light much later.

In any case, the result was already irreversible. Despite it being all in the past, Hyun Habin couldn’t accept it and continued to agonize over it for a long time afterward.

‘…It’s my fault. If I had connected to the internet even for a moment while in Kill Screen, I would have known about the situation.’

‘If I could turn back time, I would never have gone to Kill Screen during that period. Even if I had gone, I would have checked the outside situation frequently, and if something like that happened, I would have rushed over immediately… No, what’s the use of such hypotheticals now!’

After that day, Hyun Habin always made sure to bring her phone into dungeons. It was a habit that remained like a trauma, to be able to rush over anytime in case such an accident occurred again.

◆◇◆◇◆

[…So such a thing happened?]

‘Yes.’

Throughout the first iteration, there were countless incidents, and there were events that even their power couldn’t prevent. And occasionally, many rankers, including the Hyun siblings, felt traumatized for not being able to prevent all incidents.

This incident too—how must she have felt facing the students she couldn’t save while conquering the gate alone, and how must she have felt being the only survivor after the conquest.

It’s unimaginable.

‘Afterwards, Hyun Habin put a lot of effort into perfectly establishing a communication network system inside dungeons. Thanks to that, even after entering Kill Screen, if a serious situation arose outside or Minor Patch made a move, she could immediately rush out to handle it.’

It was an incident that left a painful lesson. In response, Hyun Habin, filled with determination, built a more thorough internet network and information system to enable real-time sharing of dungeon information and incidents from countries around the world.

[But that was then, would she want that now?]

“……”

Rustle.

“What are you doing? Move aside. You’re blocking the TV right now, you know?”

“……”

Hyun Habin, who had finished cleaning, flopped down on the sofa. She was munching on potato chips with a crunch. Neaiba asked in a gloomy voice, watching her.

[Do you think she’d want to prevent the Hapjeong Station disaster in this iteration too?]

‘Yes. Of course.’

Hyun Siwoo answered firmly.

No matter how recklessly she’s acting, the Hyun Habin from the first iteration and the current Hyun Habin are the same person. He believes her true feelings haven’t changed. Even if she’s resting now, if such an incident occurs, she’d surely jump up and rush over.

‘Besides, look at her recent actions. She conquered up to the 50th floor of Kill Screen, right? If she’s been secretly active as a hunter without telling us!’

[If that’s the case?]

‘She might even get angry at us later for not calling her earlier during the Hapjeong Station disaster.’

Originally, Hyun Siwoo had planned to handle it somehow on his own.

At first, he had planned to prevent the school from being established at Hapjeong Station.

However, the school’s establishment was a national project of Korea. The influence of Fides, a stateless person, was limited in preventing the school’s establishment. It was also difficult to approach too conspicuously.

So in the end, the hunter school was established there.

But what if Hyun Habin enters as a student there?

Even in the previous iteration, Hyun Habin had conquered the Hapjeong Station dungeon in just two hours.

‘She seems even stronger now, so if the gate opens while Hyun Habin is there, initial suppression should be possible.’

[Then the chances of students surviving would increase too, right?]

‘That’s right.’

Anyway, the conclusion was made.

‘While fulfilling the wish of my sister from the first iteration, we can also test the true feelings of the currently idle Hyun Habin. And prevent the disaster.’

Above all, even Hyun Siwoo, as a regressor, doesn’t know the method for conquering the Hapjeong Station dungeon. Because Hyun Habin went in alone and conquered it in two hours.

A whole SSS-rank.

‘If by chance it doesn’t match well with me, or if it was a dungeon that only Hyun Habin could conquer.’

It could be a dangerous dungeon where Hyun Siwoo might die a dog’s death.

‘Still, I want to try to prevent it. Apart from the previous Habin’s conviction, I too found it extremely painful that we couldn’t prevent it then. I’ve prepared a lot this time… Surely I won’t die from this?’

Even if there’s such a risk, it’s something that must be done.

‘I was planning to enter the school as a visiting faculty member as ‘Fides’ anyway.’

[Do you remember exactly when it opens?]

‘Of course. But these days, so many things have changed from the first iteration that, perhaps due to the butterfly effect, even the dates when important gates open are slightly different. I was planning to enter early to prepare for any possible situations.’

Having finished his calculations, Hyun Siwoo spoke.

“So, how about entering Ullim International High? With an A-rank, you can get in with a free pass.”

“Regardless of age?”

Habin asked, taking a bite of her potato chip with a crunch.

“Special purpose high schools for hunter training don’t care about age. Ah, of course, this only applies to those who haven’t completed their high school education yet.”

Hunter special high schools are different from other high schools. You don’t enter because you’re good at studying, nor because you’re good at arts or sports.

They’re places to manage students who have awakened as hunters.

If awakened students attended regular elementary, middle, and high schools with non-awakened students, who knows what disasters might occur among adolescent students who haven’t fully learned moral concepts yet.

If an awakened student and a non-awakened student got into a physical fight in a moment of emotion, someone could easily end up dead.

That’s why awakened students were initially gathered to receive education separately.

“Hunter special high schools have many faculty members who can monitor and control abilities, so they can prevent such accidents. They also have well-established systems for emergency treatment, and they also serve the role of early education for awakened individuals. It’s killing multiple birds with one stone.”

They also provided appropriate curricula for precious talents who awakened at a young age.

The growth route for awakened individuals included methods of becoming stronger through combat and leveling up, but depending on the class, there were also methods of becoming stronger through training or skill books.

Schools focused on supporting these aspects, investing efforts in nurturing young awakened individuals from early on.

“Hmm, school life at this age?”

“I hear the school meals there are delicious. Top-notch.”

“Hmm……”

“Since you’re entering to avoid the law anyway, you don’t need to prepare for the college entrance exam, you can attend loosely, and you can take tests half-heartedly!”

“Hmm? What’s this, oppa? Do you have some connection with that school? Why are you so enthusiastic?”

“……”

[Sharp, isn’t she?]

“And what do you take me for? Did I seem shameless enough to pretend to be a high school student just because I don’t want to be forcibly mobilized?”

“……”

‘Was it too much of a stretch?’

Hyun Siwoo shook his head.

Come to think of it, Hyun Habin, who even dislikes the training institute, wouldn’t willingly go to school. Plus, it would be tough to have school life with high school students much younger than her.

“Alright, I was just throwing it out there…”

As Hyun Siwoo was about to answer with a sigh—

“If that’s how you saw it, you saw right!”

“Huh?”

“I have no conscience! A school where I don’t have to take tests, get good meals, and can be absent? Welcome! From today, I can pretend to be a high schooler. Ah, I’m a baby!”

“……”

“After all, school enrollment is just something to be used, just used! Student treatment is the best wherever you go. There are student discounts, and even if you’re an awakened, you can wiggle out of things if you’re a student! I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before?”

Seemingly excited, Hyun Habin spun a potato chip on her finger and added one last comment.

“And if I don’t like it, I’ll just drop out right away!”

“……”

“It’s perfect. After all, it’s best when you can easily return anything. So, I need to finish watching this home shopping channel, so oppa, move aside a bit more. They say you can get a refund anytime within 7 days for that! I should buy it first!”

“……”

Hyun Siwoo reluctantly shuffled sideways, crab-walking.

It seems to have worked out well… it did work out, right?

[I bet 500 won that Hyun Habin drops out of school on the first day.]

‘Please stop laying unnecessary flags!’

◆◇◆◇◆

The next day.

Hyun Siwoo, seizing the moment, insisted on buying school admission supplies first.

‘Let’s push forward immediately before she changes her mind!’

“I’ll take care of the admission procedures right away. Your training institute graduation will be soon, followed by the entrance ceremony, so let’s get your uniform fitted and buy supplies.”

“…But isn’t school admission in March? We’ve missed the admission date, haven’t we?”

“It’s an international high school, so their semester system is a bit different from Korea’s. They have April admissions.”

Ullim International Magic High School.

More commonly abbreviated as ‘Ullim International High’.

“Since it’s classified as a magic school, we should probably buy some magic book items first, right?”

As the two browsed the item shop, Hyun Siwoo smoothly picked out items and tossed them into the cart.

[Item—Path of Magic (Intermediate)

A magic book mass-produced by the International Curriculum Committee after research for the hunter high school curriculum!

It’s often used as a basic textbook in hunter high schools.]

“This is the first-year textbook there.”

‘I checked it out when I was planning to enter as a visiting professor.’

Of course, such a beginner’s textbook would be as useful as a speck of dust compared to the magic skills Hyun Habin demonstrated yesterday.

“Anyway, what else do we need to buy besides this? Ah, since it’s a school, we’ll need indoor shoes. Did you put in three-striped slippers?”

“Why are you looking for three-striped slippers in an item shop?”

“We’ll have to stop by HomePlus on the way home then. They should sell three-striped slippers there, right?”

As the two were frowning, a nearby middle-aged woman added a comment with a warm face as she passed by.

“Looks like the big brother is helping his little sister prepare for school admission. How nice to see.”

“……”

“……”

The middle-aged woman passed by with a gentle laugh. This led to a moment of awkward silence between them. Habin glanced at the contents of the cart and asked.

“But why is it a ‘magic’ school? Is this Harry Potter or something?”

“It’s because they only accept classes specialized in magic among awakened individuals.”

“Oh, then can’t I not enter?”

“Hyun Habin, your class is magic swordsman, right?”

“Ah, that’s right.”

“Use some common sense and at least know your own job!”