Heroine Hunter

Monday morning.

After a good night’s sleep, I woke up to find that a lot had happened at the academy.  

Choi Ji-yoon had contacted the Hunter Association first and reached out to the team responsible for the dungeon exploration.  

The exploration team claimed that the professor had distorted their findings to justify forcing an entry into the dungeon.  

Unable to ignore the influence of S-rank hunter Choi Ji-yoon, the association sent an investigation team to the dungeon on Sunday evening.  

The professor, who had connections within the association, tried to reach out to Choi Ji-yoon once he realized the gravity of the situation, but by then it was too late.  

Late Sunday night, the bodies of S-rank cadets Kim Seong-hyeok and Jang Soo-hyun were found in the dungeon.  

On Monday morning, the professor was immediately arrested.  

“I never imagined they would die in a B-rank dungeon after sending four S-rankers. No, no, I’ve never even heard of an abnormal dungeon. I deeply apologize for worrying the public.”  

This was all over the news.  

‘The protagonist is dead?’  

I had assumed he would survive somehow because, well, he was the protagonist. 

However, I was wrong.  

In the original story, the protagonist Kim Seong-hyeok awakened after being trapped under a collapsing dungeon wall.  

This time, however, he wasn’t crushed, didn’t awaken, and the party’s strength was weakened when they split into smaller groups of two and three.  

What was especially fatal was that Kim Seong-hyeok, who was a regressor and an expert in the academy, had no information about the dungeon since this was the first time he had faced this specific incident in his second life.  

It was unfortunate.  

I prayed for the souls of the two deceased and left my dormitory.  

There was an F-rank class, but I didn’t attend.  

Following the instructions from Seol-ha and Ji-yoon in our group chat, I began the process of applying for a class promotion.  

I headed to the Student Affairs Office, filled out the application to join the S-rank class, and submitted it.

“Kim Ian, your application has been received. Please go to the measurement room to have your awakening rank assessed and get your confirmation.”  

I went to the measurement room.  

“Kim Ian?”  

“Yes.”  

“Come on in.”  

A woman with horn-rimmed glasses let me into the room, which was about the size of a small gymnasium with high ceilings.  

“So, you’ve awakened with the Holy Explosion?”  

“Yes, that’s right—”  

“How did you know it’s an S-rank Holy Explosion?”  

I couldn’t exactly say that I saw it on my status window.  

“It’s just a feeling… I kind of sensed it.”  

[Ryu Ji-young]  

[Occupation: Hunter Academy Staff]  

[Status: Disdainful]  

Sigh.

‘They all think they’re S-rank the moment they awaken.’

“If your rank turns out to be B-rank or C-rank after the measurement, you’ll need to resubmit your application. Understand?”  

“Oh, I see. So it’s not automatic, and I’ll have to apply again?”  

She sighed heavily.  

“There’s the simulation mana.”  

She pointed to a spray bottle on a nearby table.  

“Oh. Right.”

I held the simulation mana spray up to my nose and pressed the button, inhaling the mana like oxygen. 

After that, the staff member entered a glass-enclosed room and spoke to me through a microphone.  

“Student.”  

“Yes?”  

“I’ll summon monsters with evil, undead, and ghost attributes in sequence. Use Holy Explosion with the simulation mana to defeat them.”  

“Got it.”  

“First, the evil attribute.”  

The first to appear as a hologram was a Cerberus, the size of a truck, with five heads.  

I snapped my fingers.  

[Holy Explosion]  

Yelp.  

The Cerberus collapsed.  

The staff member stared at me and blinked in disbelief.  

[What the…? He took down a Cerberus in one hit? Is he really S-rank?]  

I gazed at her intently.  

She wasn’t on the same level as Ji-yoon or Seol-ha, but she looked cute. She was probably around 25 years old.  

[Eyes of Lust]  

“Hngh!”  

She suddenly shifted her hips.  

[W-What’s happening? Why do I feel like this?]  

“Uh. Are you summoning the next one?”  

“Oh, uh… Next, undead attribute.”  

She fumbled with the panel controls.  

This time, a giant zombie with tentacles appeared.  

[Holy Explosion]  

Crack.  

The zombie let out a groan and fell with a thud.  

I silently stared at the staff member again.  

[Eyes of Lust]  

“Nngh.”  

The staff member’s face was flushed as she slumped into her chair.  

“I-I’ll try the ghost attribute next…”  

Shwooo—

With a gust of black wind, a Grim Reaper holding a massive scythe appeared in the air. 

It felt eerily ominous.  

[Holy Explosion]  

Screech.

The Grim Reaper disintegrated into smoke.  

I approached the staff member in the glass room and locked eyes with her.  

[Eyes of Lust]  

[Eyes of Lust]  

[Eyes of Lust]  

“Mmm♥”

The microphone was still on.  

The staff member had accidentally let out a moan, and her face turned bright red in embarrassment.

As I approached, she started to panic. 

“Ah, um… You can’t come in here.”  

“Are we done?”  

“Yes, you can go now.”  

“Huh?”  

The staff member hurriedly replied from behind the glass.  

“You’re confirmed as S-rank, so you can leave now.”  

It seemed like she couldn’t stand up from her chair.  

“Wait. I thought I needed to get a confirmation slip…”  

“Oh, it’s a mobile confirmation. I’ll process it on the system and send it to you via text.”  

“Is that so? Alright then. Thank you.”  

I left the measurement room.  

‘Hmm, it seems like the skill is working, but to fully understand how to use it, I’ll need to try it out on Ji-yoon and Seol-ha.’  

A moment later, I received a text message.  

[Your S-rank promotion has been processed.]  

[Click below for more details.]  

[Academic Schedule] 

[Timetable] 

[Dormitory]  

[How to Issue a Mobile Awakening Rank Certificate]  

‘Ugh! What a hassle.’

I need to move to the S-rank students’ dorm too.  

‘I can’t keep this up. I’ll have to skip a few days without interacting with Ji-yoon and Seol-ha.’  

All three of us needed a break, physically and mentally.  

Even though my body had the [Addictive Physique] trait, I figured,  

‘I should be able to hold out for a few days.’  

Thud.  

Just then, someone bumped into me.  

To be precise, the person was short, so it was more like they bumped into my arm rather than my shoulder.  

It was clearly intentional.  

I turned my head to see who it was.  

The person had also stopped and turned to look back at me.  

It was a cute, slightly aloof-looking girl with twin-tails.  

We stared at each other for a moment.  

“Hmph!”  

She snorted as if she were upset, then walked away.  

‘No way.’  

There was only one character described as a cute girl with twin-tails in Soaka.

[Seo Yu-jin (Virgin)]  

[Occupation: Hunter Academy Student]  

[Status: Annoyed]  

[Two S-rankers died, but some F-rank like him…]  

The third heroine of Soaka.

A bratty, rude, and utterly self-centered girl hated by the readers the most.  

But she was the heroine I had personally supported in the comments, pushing for her to be the main love interest.  

Why?  

Because a girl like that only revealing her soft side to the protagonist was endearing in its own way.  

Plus, there was nothing more satisfying than a crazy girl being on your side.  

‘At this point, she shouldn’t have started anything with Kim Seong-hyeok yet. With two S-rankers dead and me, an F-rank, having survived, it makes sense she’d be upset.’  

At Hunter Academy, there was a saying that S-rankers were like nobles, while F-rankers were like peasants.  

It was something that a handful of elitist S-rankers believed, and Seo Yu-jin was one of the most extreme in her belief in meritocracy.  

‘I’ll have to fix her attitude later with my training-grade equipment(dick).’  

I continued walking.  

“Lea, is ‘The Black Knight’s Oath to the Blind Saintess’ ready?”  

[Yes.]  

She’s speaking so little for the sake of narrative consistency. 

Cute.  

“Send me in.”  

Whoosh!

My vision turned black.  

———-

I opened my eyes.  

I saw the ocean.  

Right in the middle of it.  

I looked around.  

Screech! Screech!

Seagulls.  

I was on a ship—a massive sailing vessel.

I looked over the clothes I was wearing. 

Fortunately, they seemed quite luxurious. 

It was definitely not the attire of a sailor.  

“Sir.”  

Someone approached and spoke to me. 

With their hands politely clasped together, they looked like a servant.  

“… Yes?”  

I awkwardly responded.  

“I’ve found the person you were looking for. They’re at the front of the deck.”  

I ran my hand over my face and asked.

“Um. Who was it again? Who did I ask you to find?”  

“You asked me to find the priest. You mentioned that one of the most devout and respected priests in the empire was aboard the ship.” 

“Ah! Right. Where are they?”  

The servant began guiding me. 

I glanced around the deck.  

In addition to sailors, there were also nobles, merchants, mercenaries, and even some mages.  

This was ‘The Black Knight’s Oath to the Blind Saintess.’

A story about a black knight, who was abandoned by humans and raised by demons. He meets a blind saintess and learns about true, human love.  

It was a beautiful love story, but in the end, the saintess sacrificed herself to protect the black knight, leading to her death.  

The heartbroken black knight then fought against the demon faction to save humanity from evil.  

The blind saintess and the black knight undoubtedly loved each other sincerely.  

Though there was no physical contact between them until the end, and I thought it made for a good story.  

However, Lea, as the goddess of heroines, clearly didn’t like the saintess dying in the ending.  

‘But something feels off.’  

No matter how much I tried to recall the events of the novel, there was never a point where the ocean was the setting.  

The servant led me to the priest.  

People around us were watching the priest from a distance, stealing glances at her as if she were some kind of celebrity.  

The priest bowed her head slightly toward me.  

The priest was a woman.  

There was nothing strange about that. 

After all, in this world, women could become priests.  

The main heroine was a priest too.  

Wait a second.  

“What’s your name?”  

She asked me my name.  

Lea had already filled me in on my identity in this world.  

[Ian Castoloni. A merchant who runs a toy shop in the capital.]  

I smiled like a savvy businessman.  

“My name is Ian Castoloni. I run a small toy shop in the capital.”  

“Mr. Castoloni, nice to meet you.  

“I’m Emilia Rosebloom. I’ve heard from this gentleman that you wish to make a donation to the capital’s cathedral. Is that true?”  

Emilia Rosebloom.  

The heroine of this novel.  

She looked at me with her signature purr eyes and smiled brightly.  

She was stunning. 

‘Keep it together, Kim Ian. You’re in trouble here.’

I recalled the lines from the novel.  

[Emilia Rosebloom was the sole survivor of the shipwreck of the Lorraine. 

She lost her sight in the explosion that caused the ship to sink.  

Emilia gathered thirty-five corpses that had washed ashore on the deserted island and performed a funeral mass for them.  

A month after the accident, the navy found Emilia on the island, kneeling in prayer before the bodies.  

It was said that she hadn’t eaten or slept for the entire month and prayed continuously.  

As if to prove this, none of the corpses had decomposed.]  

At that moment…

I caught a whiff of oil.  

And gunpowder.  

We were standing in front of a storage room.  

Everything in front of me seemed to move in slow motion.  

‘Oh, shi…!’  

My body moved instinctively.  

I pulled Emilia into my arms and leaped into the ocean.  

Boom!

As we plunged into the water, I witnessed a massive explosion rip through the ship, triggering a chain of blasts.  

If we had stayed on board, we’d have likely died instantly.  

It was amazing that Emilia only lost her sight in that explosion.  

“You fools! The end of the world is coming!”  

Someone shouted from the sinking ship.  

It looked like the dark sorcerers responsible for the terror attack.  

Splash!

Gurgle. Gurgle.

Emilia and I sank beneath the waves.  

———

“Puhah!”  

I spat out water.  

The sun was blazing, and I could hear the sound of crashing waves.  

“Mr. Castoloni. Mr. Castoloni, are you awake?”  

Someone was shaking me.  

I blinked, and my blurry vision slowly cleared.  

The platinum-haired saintess, Emilia Rosebloom, was looking down at me with worried eyes.