Chapter 11: Turns Out It Wasn’t Impossible?

“Everyone, calm down!”

The mage’s voice, the only professional Hunter left with the students, echoed in the dimly lit space.

“We need to stay calm in situations like this!”

Perhaps slightly reassured by the presence of a professional, the students gradually regained their composure and focused on her words.

“First, is anyone injured?”

“I-I twisted my ankle a bit when I fell on the stairs.”

A student raised their hand. The mage looked at Ruah.

“Nurse, if you could….”

“Y-yes!”

Ruah responded awkwardly and approached the student.

“Show me your… ankle.”

“Here.”

The student sat down and extended their swollen ankle.

As Ruah’s eyes focused on the injury, she heard a ding sound in her head.

—————————

[Diagnosis (Lv.1)] has been activated.]

[Target’s current status: Minor sprain]

————————–

‘Oh…!’

A message appeared before her eyes. An unexpected effect. It seemed the [Diagnosis] skill, which she had equipped because she had a free slot, was a passive skill that allowed her to assess a patient’s condition.

“[Healing].”

Ruah activated her skill, and the student’s ankle quickly returned to normal.

‘Could this be useful later?’

She racked her brain but could only think of using it to identify students feigning illness.

After the treatment, the mage clapped her hands, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Alright. Let’s assess the situation. Did everyone see the system message about the first and second floors being separated?”

“Yes….”

“Can’t we go back up?”

The mage nodded gravely.

“No. While we can easily defeat the monsters inside the Gate, we can’t do anything about the Gate’s mechanics. I didn’t expect a trap like this.”

“Um—”

A student raised their hand.

“Are we… going to be okay? Since we have a professional Hunter with us, we can easily defeat the boss and get out, right?”

“……”

The mage hesitated, then sighed.

“…I’ll be honest. I didn’t bring any attack skills.”

“What?”

“Our tank said they could handle some damage dealing, so we agreed that I would focus on buffs and exploration.”

The students’ expressions hardened.

“So… defeating the boss will be… your responsibility.”

“……!”

Shock.

These students had entered a Gate for the first time today. No, they hadn’t even been Felix Academy students until a month ago. And now, they suddenly had to hunt a C-rank Gate boss.

“N-no way! How can we…?”

“We haven’t even finished half the swordsmanship textbook!”

“I only brought basic skills because I thought this was just an observation!”

Objections arose from everywhere.

Ruah stood beside the mage, listening quietly.

‘It’s understandable that the students are reacting this way.’

Putting herself in their shoes, they were essentially being asked to risk their lives in combat after coming for a casual observation. While it followed the game system, this wasn’t a game. If they died in the Gate, that was it.

However,

Waiting to be rescued was pathetic.

Ruah hadn’t been good at combat in Hunter Hunting Academy from the start either. She had become skilled through repeated attempts, failures, and employing various strategies and tactics, whether cheesy or head-on.

Whether in combat or relationships, avoiding challenges from the start yielded nothing.

So, Ruah decided to take the first step.

As a teacher, and as a gamer who had experienced this situation before.

“…You are… aspiring Hunters… right?”

“?”

The students turned their attention to Ruah’s quiet voice. Being the center of attention made her heart pound and her face flush, but she continued, looking at the floor. It was much easier than the entrance ceremony, with only ten students present.

“Th-then isn’t this… the time to show your courage…?”

“…Teacher?”

Ruah stood awkwardly, nervously rubbing her sweaty palms against her clothes.

“Y-you were all so confident when hitting the punching bags… a-are you… scared of some s-skeletons…?”

“Teacher…”

Just because she was a socially anxious shut-in didn’t mean her thoughts were timid. On the contrary, her words were sharpened in her mind, unable to be expressed verbally.

“I-if you’re going to whine about something like this… you m-might as well just quit…”

Harsh words, delivered with a trembling voice.

The students’ expressions hardened.

“Then j-just wait for the overflow… and r-run away pathetically. You w-won’t die… at least…”

“……”

“If you’re scared of combat… j-just sell the equipment you brought on Carrot Market… and b-buy something tasty… and g-give your spots in the special class to students braver than you…!”

“……”

The students fell silent, exchanging glances, unsure how to respond to this pathetic attempt at a pep talk. The mage was equally speechless.

“…Ugh…”

Having finished her speech, Ruah simply stood there, crumpling her clothes in her hands.

About 30 seconds of uncomfortable silence passed—

“—Alright!”

A powerful voice rang out from the back of the group.

“You’ve inspired me.”

It was Yoo Juju. Juju stepped forward, equipping gauntlets on both arms.

—Clang!

—Clang!

“If you’re going to say that, teacher, I can’t just stand around!”

Thick gauntlets covered their entire arms, equipped with menacing spikes on the back of the hands. These were Juju’s weapons.

Seeing this, a girl at the front asked worriedly.

“Juju, are you… sure?”

“Sure? No!”

“Then why?”

“I’m touched by your words, teacher!”

Juju grinned and lightly punched Ruah on the back with their gauntleted hand, looking down at her with a refreshing smile.

“Well, there’s no guarantee I can beat the boss, but like you said, teacher, I feel like I won’t get anywhere just standing around here.”

“……”

“Huh? Am I the only one?”

At Juju’s provocative words, another person stepped forward.

“Do not be disrespectful… to the teacher.”

It was Hoshikawa Himari. She stepped between Ruah and Juju, separating them.

“Teacher, I also want to fight.”

“Oh… um, thank you!”

Himari gave a faint smile at Ruah’s words.

“Now, anyone else?”

The mage seized the opportunity—

“M-me!”

“I’ll try too!”

“Me too!”

More and more volunteers stepped forward. Ruah secretly sighed in relief. It seemed her embarrassment had been worth it.

The students formed a forward-facing formation centered around Ruah and the mage.

At the front were two students in the tank position, including Yoo Juju.

Behind them were four damage dealers, including Himari.

In the middle were Ruah, the professional mage, the healer, and the remaining students who were also mages.

Since they had one professional-level healer and mage, their help wasn’t crucial.

“Teacher, focus your healing on the tanks. I’ll buff the damage dealers.”

“O-okay!”

The group advanced slowly and cautiously. Unlike the first floor, which still had traces of human activity, the second basement level resembled a natural cave. Occasionally, bats would fly by, obscuring the ceiling lights, and ominous clattering sounds echoed from afar.

After some time—

—Rumble!

Skeletons emerged from around a corner as a wall crumbled.

“They’re here!”

The students tensed up. Ruah also gulped.

At that moment—

—Ding!

————————————-

[Diagnosis (Lv.1)] has leveled up to [Diagnosis (Lv.2)]].

[Diagnosis (Lv.2)] has been activated.]

[Target’s current status: Confused after waking up]

————————————–

‘Oh?’

Ruah raised an eyebrow. She hadn’t expected [Diagnosis] to work on enemies.

“Briefing, please!”

“Eek! Yes!”

The mage’s loud voice startled Ruah. In combat situations, the healer usually handled the briefings.

‘Why doesn’t she do it herself….’

“S-six enemies! The two in front are carrying shields, so they’re D-rank Skeleton Shielders! Tanks, forward!”

“Forward!”

The tank students chanted and stepped forward.

“Split the two Shielders to the sides, and the damage dealers will take out the Skeleton Archers and Warriors behind them! Mage, buff us….”

“Yes!”

The mage swung her staff, activating a skill. A blue light enveloped Himari and the other damage dealers.

“Alright, boneheads! Come at me!”

Yoo Juju lightly tapped the Skeleton Shielders with their gauntlets, drawing them towards the wall.

As an offensive tank, Juju’s strategy was to initiate attacks and disrupt the enemy’s offense rather than passively defending.

The other tank also successfully drew the Shielder’s aggro, exposing the Warriors and Archers behind them.

—————————————

[Diagnosis (Lv.2) has been activated.]

[Target’s current status: Non-displaced fracture in right arm]

————————————–

‘Non-displaced… what does that even mean?’

But it mentioned a fracture, so it was clearly a weak point.

“Warrior, right arm is its weak point!”

“Yes!”

The student wielding a greatsword swung their weapon. The Skeleton Warrior tried to dodge with nimble footwork, but the tip of the greatsword grazed its right arm.

Crack!

As if confirming the [Diagnosis], the Warrior’s right arm shattered from that single graze. The student with the greatsword pressed their advantage and completely destroyed the Warrior.

“Tsk…”

Himari, who had been in her [Hoshikawa] stance, seemed frustrated at having lost her target.

“Yes!”

—Crack!

Yoo Juju, not content with just drawing aggro, completely shattered the Shielder. The remaining skeletons were quickly dispatched by the students.

“What, that was nothing.”

“Yeah, we were worried for nothing.”

They had been scared at first, but they were top students for a reason. With the support of the professional mage, Ruah’s healing and briefings, D-rank mobs weren’t a big problem.

“Keeek…”

—Thwack!

A zombie that suddenly appeared,

“Groar!”

—Slash!

A Zombie Captain leading a group of zombies,

—Clatter, clatter….

“Hya!”

Even the mid-boss, a Skeleton Chimera, fell to the group’s relentless assault. The students, now relaxed, moved smoothly, and the number of times Ruah had to cast [Healing] gradually decreased.

“Tsk…!”

However, there was one problem—Himari.

She hadn’t defeated a single monster yet. Her [Hoshikawa] required considerable time to activate.

While its power was undeniable against a stationary target like the punching bag during the placement test, the monsters were too mobile and easily evaded her attacks.

‘It can’t be helped. It was the same in the main story….’

Even Ruah couldn’t do anything about this.

In the end, Himari remained scoreless until the group reached the stairs leading down to the third basement level.

“Let’s stop here for a moment.”

The mage said. They didn’t need to state the reason.

A large door with ominous carvings stood before them, blocking the stairs to the third basement level.

“…The boss room.”