Heroine Netori

After successfully capturing the affection of the heroine and breaking through the 100-point barrier, I concluded that every time you achieve affection levels like 200, 300, and so forth, you unlock special bonuses. This revelation made it increasingly important to pay attention to Sophia.@@novelbin@@

Upon checking my status after wrapping up my thoughts, I found that the stats boosted during "Heroine NTR" were still intact. The skill list now included not only the skills I received as a holy warrior but also Sophia's newly unlocked skills.

These skills are seriously overpowered. The skills granted by the Goddess Aria consume divine power instead of magic, and since becoming a holy warrior, I’ve acquired a substantial amount of divine power—not as much as Sophia, but enough. So even though my magic power is a mere 1, I can freely use these skills, and now it seems I can use healing and purification almost infinitely.

Maybe I should register as a healer? It's not a bad idea at all—in fact, it's a great one. I haven’t heard of any awakened healers with holy warrior abilities, though there are plenty of healers around. It might be better to quietly rise through the ranks as a healer rather than becoming famous for some flashy power and getting bothered all the time.

By the way, my sexual stimulation skill was at level 8, affection at level 4, and cooking at level 4. It's a bit disappointing that despite using sexual stimulation almost daily, it hasn’t reached level 10 yet.

Also, thanks to "Aria Goddess's Power" passive, my stats have increased by 10 each, but since Sophia isn't present in reality, the buffs haven't activated. That's a bit disappointing too.

====

After eating and showering, I headed to the Awakener Registration Center. I never imagined I’d end up here—it’s quite a momentous occasion.

"Here’s your Awakener registration card. Thank you."

"...?"

Why did it end so quickly?

====

The Awakener Registration Center was busier than expected. Most of the people there were like me, mistakenly believing they had awakened, and many of them turned out to be F-rank like myself.

"F-rank, really?"

The ranking system is based on magic power. Although you can be promoted based on enhanced stats and achievements after your initial ranking, the first classification is heavily dependent on magic power, since awakeners use it to cast their skills. The more powerful and frequently used the skills, the more magic power they require, hence the ranking by magic power. And my magic power, thanks to the Goddess's Power, is barely 11. The threshold for F-rank is 15 or lower.

The staff, upon learning I was F-rank, sped through the paperwork with a look that seemed to say, "I thought so." They seemed envious when they heard I had awakened healer abilities, but since I was F-rank, they assumed I wouldn’t be able to use my healing skills much and hurried through the ability test. They ended the test quickly after I healed a small cut, remarking, "Wow, it’s not a lie."

About 30 minutes later, I received my Awakener registration card. They also immediately transferred a support fund of 1 million won. Well, that's something.

Now that I’m an awakener, I can start working as a hunter. Not all awakeners become hunters, but once awakened, anyone has the potential to do so.

I might be a bottom-tier F-rank hunter for now, but I can get stronger bit by bit. Fortunately, using the pause right stops time in "Heroine NTR," so there’s no rush. I just need to become strong enough to protect Sophia diligently.

But looking at it, being an F-rank healer likely won’t get me far in finding a party—they tend to be underestimated because they can’t use many healing spells. I need to fix that perception first.

Gear is key in these situations.

====

I was planning to use the awakener support fund for gacha, but now it seems more urgent to get equipped. There are several buildings in front of the Awakener Registration Center catering to novice awakeners, so I went into an equipment shop. A sword and staff would be typical choices for "Heroic Saga," but holding just a staff would be too dangerous. I need to protect myself without relying on party members.

I found a reasonably priced iron sword for 600,000 won. I wondered if that was the right price, but it seemed consistent with others around. Surely the official association equipment shop wouldn’t scam me?

I also looked at shields, and the decent ones were even pricier than one-handed swords. Still, that wasn't quite what I was looking for. Ah, this is it—a somewhat shabby wooden shield for 190,000 won. Perfect.

I purchased the iron sword and wooden shield for a total of 790,000 won, and threw in another 10,000 won for a pair of gloves on the cheap. That was an 800,000 won flex right there. But it's a necessary initial investment. I decided to keep the remaining 200,000 won and left the shop.

It would have been nice to buy armor or a helmet, but frankly, I don’t anticipate getting seriously hurt in D-rank dungeons. My stats are good enough to escape the F-rank, even if my magic power isn’t.

    ====
 

Upon returning home, I joined the Awakener community.
Here, awakeners can share information, form parties, and receive public quests and announcements from the association. And then…

[S-Rank Hunter Choi Yuri's Reality.jpg]
(Photo 1 emphasizing Choi Yuri's buttocks)
(Photo 2 emphasizing Choi Yuri's buttocks)
God Yuri, agree?

[Top tier]
[Agree]
[Damn men, stop the sexual harassment]
[On inferiority complex]
[-inferior-]
[Damn, really want to bang her.]
[ㅋㅋ for real]

This is how they chat anonymously.
Ah, Choi Yuri is really pretty.

I thought a community exclusive to awakeners might be different, but it was no different from any other community. Perhaps because anonymity is guaranteed, even more provocative content is posted. But doesn't she see this herself, leaving it just like that? Turns out, the anonymous board's risqué photos of Choi Yuri were not the end.

[Choi Yuri I Want to F*** Today.jpg]
[Choi Yuri Risqué Collection 1.jpg]
[Isn't Choi Yuri really a sexy b****?]
[S-Rank Hunter who acts innocent but shows everything.jpg]

Clicking through, I found that today's uploads were actually tame compared to others. Comments mentioned that other hunters have their guilds or agencies promptly delete such posts, but Choi Yuri doesn't care about the community, so she leaves them up. Truly an S-rank healer. As generous as her heart.

After browsing and saving particularly sexy photos, I took a picture of a green dagger I got from a goblin and posted it on the anonymous board.

[Is this dagger I found in the dungeon MTCH?]
(Green dagger photo)
It’s a poison dagger. If you get stabbed, you get poisoned 100%.
And no matter how many times you stab, the poison on the dagger remains.
It’s not lethal but it hurts like hell.

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ What kind of idiot is this?]
[Someone sprayed the dagger and says it’s a poison dagger, crazy]
[Infinite poison, my ass]
[ㅋㅋ is this some kind of artifact?]
[At least paint only the blade part, geez]

Seeing the reactions, I guess it's something good. Should it be considered artifact-level?
I was thinking of selling it, but now I might hold off.

====

Tired of messing around on the anonymous board, I decided to look for a party. As an F-rank, I'm not allowed to enter dungeons alone. Finding a party isn't a choice; it's a necessity.

…But even after scouring the party-matching board, I couldn’t find any decent dealers.
Thinking about it, those who look for parties here probably either lack connections or the skills to make such connections…

Oh.

But then, upon refreshing, just the dealer I wanted had posted.

[D-Rank Melee Dealer) Looking for a healer supporter.]

The reason I wanted D-rank is that if I party with a D-rank, even an F-rank like me can enter D-rank dungeons.
It would be a waste of time to rot in F-rank dungeons. I need to get stronger quickly to return to the 'Royal Hero Saga'.
I thought I would have to wait days to find a D-rank, but I was lucky.

Checking the details, the stats weren’t bad. The abilities are under inspection, skills are private but said to be swordsmanship.
And the name is Lee Hyun-ah. Oh, a woman? Age 21…
Is there a photo?
Clicking for more information, Lee Hyun-ah’s ID photo appeared.

I immediately clicked to apply to the party.