I Became the Academy’s Heroine Stalker – Chapter 42

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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‘Hmm, should I intervene?’

A massive creature with three heads, each radiating a menacing glare, with sharp fangs, a body engulfed in flames, deadly claws, and a long, mace-like tail.

Park Na-yeon thought to herself as the Cerberus was an E-rank mid-boss known for being the most difficult to conquer.

They might be showing promise but they were still just greenhorn cadets.

And the Cerberus was a mid-boss, not a named monster, making it dangerous to face, especially without proper preparation.

She had faced a Cerberus herself, more than a decade ago.

She hadn’t been seriously injured.

But she had been fully prepared, a seasoned Hunter who had completed her practical training in a guild, not a mere cadet.

She instinctively reached for her bow.

She was ready to take out one of its three heads if necessary.

But then…

“Multi-Shot!”

Han Tae-jin simultaneously fired three arrows, hitting each of the Cerberus’s three heads.

Han-na jumped behind the Cerberus, drawing its aggro skillfully, and thanks to that, Baek Mi-jin, now able to attack from behind, sliced off its troublesome tail.

“Heal!”

And Soo-ah cast a barrier on Han-na and then used heal, inflicting damage-over-time on the undead Cerberus.

The party moved like they had been fighting together for years, and Park Na-yeon had to scoff at her own unnecessary concern.

Was this what a party of promising students looked like?

“Oh, the aggro switched! Watch out, Tae-jin!”

Just then, Han-na shouted as one of the Cerberus’s heads turned towards Tae-jin.

Na-yeon immediately understood why.

Tae-jin’s damage output had temporarily overwhelmed Han-na’s aggro.

That was one of the reasons why parties were usually formed with members of similar combat abilities.

If one of the damage dealers was dealing too much damage, the tank would struggle to maintain aggro, creating chaos.

In a critical situation, that could be disastrous.

However,

Tae-jin dodged the Cerberus’s forepaw attack with a backstep, temporarily incapacited its right head with a dagger throw, and then cast Multi-Shot again, focusing all three arrows on a single head.

*Crack!*

*Kieeek!*

The Cerberus shrieked as its skull was pierced.

Two heads were still left, so the battle continued.

But with its tail severed and its balance already thrown off and now missing one head, the Cerberus’s combat power had drastically diminished..

“Sword Slash!”

Han-na’s one-handed sword attack.

“Rush Rise!”

And Mi-jin’s greatsword attack followed, severing another head.

And finally…

“Multi-Shot!”

Tae-jin fired three arrows that seemed to be imbued with all his mana, shattering the skull of the remaining head and the battle came to an end.

*Kieeeek!*

The Cerberus, an E-rank mid-boss, collapsed with a final, weak shriek.

Park Na-yeon slung her bow back over her shoulder and crossed her arms.

Although Han-na and Baek Mi-jin had sustained minor injuries, it was still remarkable that rookie cadets had managed to defeat the Cerberus.

‘These promising students are truly something else.’

Especially since they had faced a mid-boss unexpectedly.

Their battle was smooth and natural.

Each member had fulfilled their role perfectly.

‘They’re good enough to form a permanent party.’

Most large guilds operated with fixed raid parties.

A four-person party consisting of one tank, two damage dealers, and one healer was the standard, with support classes filling in as needed.

It was easier for guilds to manage parties that worked well together and were familiar with each other.

And the synergy between party members lowered the chances of accidents, and improved their rankings.

That was also one of the main reasons why she had become a “mercenary.”

According to the saying, “When five humans gather, one will be trash.”

She also didn’t like group living or training.

Anyway, Park Na-yeon, shaking off those thoughts, watched the excited cadets and thought…

Not just Han Tae-jin, but Han-na, Baek Mi-jin, and Yoo Soo-ah were all promising rookies.

Her eyes, those of an experienced Hunter, shone brightly as she watched the sprouts of potential before her.

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“Is everyone okay?”

We had managed to defeat the Cerberus despite the unexpected summon and the intense battle but thankfully no one was seriously injured.

“Yeah, no problem.”

“Me too!”

*Crawl…*

*Thwack!*

Mi-jin brought her greatsword down on one of the Cerberus’s heads, which was struggling to lift itself up.

With that, the fire that had been flickering around the Cerberus’s body finally died down.

And then…

The long-awaited resistance effect system had finally appeared.

This confirmed that all the system effects from the original story had been activated.

The resistance system was only available after defeating a mid-boss monster or higher.

And it was also available after defeating villains, which was why Choi Do-han was so eager to hunt them down.

That was what led him to offend Illusion, creating a full-blown conflict.

But that was only a perk for the protagonist; other characters couldn’t acquire resistance effects.

In other words, I didn’t need to fight villains unless I wanted to, at least not until I reached A-rank.

Resistance effects, as their name suggested, allowed you to build resistance against special attacks.

They were an essential trait for high-ranking Hunters.

As your rank increased, the number of villains and monsters with special attacks like poison, fire, darkness, bleeding, and electricity would also increase.

By the time you reached A-rank, basic dungeon monsters like [Fire-Attribute Ifrit], [Poison-Attribute Hydra], and [Dark-Attribute Dimension] would appear frequently. Without boosted resistances, you’d be stumbling and suffering right from the start, leading to an untimely death.

‘Good.’

I chose [Darkness Resistance], the priority choice when raiding an E-rank maze dungeon.

Even bad luck could be turned into a blessing.

Having successfully overcome the summoning trap, we decided to take a break before entering the event room.

We didn’t know what kind of named monster might be lurking inside. We needed to recover our mana with potions and regroup.

Even if it was a named monster and not a mid-boss, it could still be dangerous.

“Let’s rest here for 15 minutes and then enter the event room.”

“ Su-ah, I need some recovery. My arm feels like it got hit with fire. It’s throbbing.”

“Yes, sister.”

Han-na removed her shoulder guard and stretched, and Su-ah cast recovery, healing her internal injuries.

I hadn’t taken any significant hits, so I leaned against the wall behind Park Seung-yoon, who was busily harvesting the Cerberus’s corpse.

And I opened my status window for the first time in a while.

The newly acquired resistance effect tab was positioned above the Hidden Information.

The resistance effect system had just been activated.

Since everyone except the protagonist had to hunt mid-boss level monsters or higher to gain this effect, my resistance stats were still pathetic.

Well, B-rank dungeons occasionally had attribute monsters.

But that was a distant concern for now.

‘Tch, if only I could gain resistance effects by hunting villains too.’

Higher resistance meant a greater advantage in high-level battles.

Conversely, without resistance, it was like rushing into battle without armor.

Therefore, high resistance was essential for reaching higher ranks.

And besides providing resistance effects, mid-level villains dropped decent stats, skills, and gear, making them valuable targets.

But that was a privilege only available to the protagonist.

At this point, I couldn’t be certain if I was on the protagonist’s route.

There was no need to fight villains, at least not until the Illusion’s attack on the Academy.

Until then, I would keep hoarding Hidden Pieces and build up my resistance whenever I had the opportunity to participate in a real raid.

With that thought, I leaned against the wall, taking a break.

– *Click.*

Mi-jin set her greatsword against the wall and sat down next to me, hugging her knees.

Her arms were wrapped around her knees.

“Phew, that was intense, right?”

“You don’t need treatment?”

“This?”

Mi-jin pointed to the wound on her forearm.

It was bleeding lightly, forming a scab.

“Yeah.”

“Hehe, I’m fine. I don’t want to bother Su-ah over something like this. She needs to rest, too.”

“…”

Su-ah was using recovery magic to heal Han-na.

As healers usually supported the party from a safe location, it was often assumed that healers didn’t need to rest.

I didn’t want to extend our break, though.

I just admired Mi-jin’s consideration.

Mi-jin then spoke again, cautiously, “Um, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“Can you keep it a secret?”

“…Sure, I guess.”

What was this about?

Why was she suddenly talking about a secret?

Before speaking, Mi-jin glanced at Su-ah and Han-na.

That made me feel uneasy…

“Actually, Do-han came to my house the day we met…”

“…What?”

Her words were far more surprising than I anticipated. My pupils widened in the darkness.

Choi Do-han, who had been keeping a low profile… had visited Baek Mi-jin’s house?

They weren’t at that stage yet, were they?

At least in the published parts of the original story, Choi Do-han didn’t even know where Baek Mi-jin lived.

A sense of unease started to grow within me.

After a moment, Mi-jin cautiously opened her mouth again.

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