Even Today, the Ranker Dreams of Retirement

Habin, who had been answering dejectedly, turned around. She caught sight of Seoyun, who had turned pale as if she might cry at any moment.

‘The actual diligent taxpayer is keeping quiet, so why are these kids acting like they know everything and trying to make an innocent person cry?’

Of course, even if they were taxpayers, such harsh words couldn’t be allowed.

Hyun Habin simply,

“I can’t tolerate bullying through impersonating taxpayers when you haven’t even paid taxes!”

“…What kind of crazy b***h is this!”

“L-let’s just go to the bathroom.”

Seoyun, who had been watching nervously, whispered secretly in a panicked voice. She advised Habin with a genuinely worried expression.

“Those kids are famous for picking fights. It’s really better not to get involved. We might end up getting demerits for no reason…”

Unfortunately, the other side with good hearing heard all of this.

“Hey, are you done talking?”

“What? We pick fights? Look who’s talking, you’ve got some nerve!”

“Ugh…!”

Seoyun, taken aback, shrank like a snail. Seizing the momentum, the students aggressively pressed them.

“That’s about the level F-class kids can get riled up to, I guess. Since they lack ability, they cling to character.”

“It’s funny how they make excuses about being afraid of demerits.”

“I’m not afraid of demerits.”

“Yeah, sure you’re not afra… What did you say?”

The student who had been naturally sneering stopped short. The one who said she wasn’t afraid of demerits was none other than Hyun Habin.

Habin continued in a cheerful voice.

“I said I’m not afraid of demerits. I’m considering dropping out anyway!”

“Wh-what?!”

“Dr-drop out?”

“Don’t try to bluff!”

They bristled at the unexpected statement.

“Hey, you need to say something that makes sense!”

“What kind of crazy person considers dropping out on the first day of enrollment? And at Ullim International High, no less!”

[Surprisingly, that person is right in front of you…]

This human is for real.

Only Ahezar, who knew the whole situation, muttered in resignation.

“Haha, drop out.”

Unclear how he interpreted the talk of dropping out, the B-class student sneered and glared at Habin.

“Right, come to think of it, dropping out might be the answer for you. Why don’t you drop out and go to a regular high school instead of attending F-class embarrassingly?”

“Why?”

“If you’re in F-class, you must be F-rank, close to being powerless, so is there any need for you to attend here? It’s overambitious.”

Overambitious.

“……”

At those words, Seoyun lowered her head. Seeing this, Habin shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, maybe they just want to study more about hunters here? Like training more?”

“Training? No matter how much you train, you’ll never surpass me. You won’t even be able to catch up to my toes this year, no, until you graduate from this school.”

The B-class student shrugged. The name on his badge was Song Jehui. At seventeen, having received a B-rank, Jehui’s attitude was unrestrained.

The gap between B-rank and F-rank.

Achieving B-rank stats at this age was truly an incredible accomplishment.

‘There are quite a few A-ranks and B-ranks among this year’s freshmen, but if I had just scored one more question right on the placement test, I would have been assigned to A-class.’

The classes at Ullim International High are not assigned exactly the same as hunter ranks.

They line up by scores and assign from A-class to D-class.

This means both S-ranks and A-ranks can be in A-class. If there’s space left, even B-ranks can enter A-class, and if there’s no space, even A-ranks might be pushed to B-class.

‘Anyway, someone like me is in the top class of this school.’

Compared to that, the other side is F-class.

Unlike other classes, F-class was somewhat of an exception. Only F-rank students are assigned there. So being in F-class means you’re definitely F-rank.

The gap from F-rank to B-rank is not one that can be closed within just three years of high school.

‘If that were possible, wouldn’t everyone become B-rank?’

“Do you understand? You’ll never surpass us even if it kills you.”

“What if I do surpass you?”

Habin asked.

“Hmm, you’re saying you’ll surpass me within 3 years? You? Me? I’m B-rank, you know?”

“What if I do?”

Faced with the carelessly repeated question, Jehui answered as if annoyed.

“Hey, there’s a limit to chuunibyou delusions. Say that stuff after you actually do it. If that really happens, I’ll do anything for you. What, should I lick your feet?”

At those sarcastic words, Habin made a genuinely disgusted expression.

“Eww! Sorry, but that’s too dirty! Wouldn’t it be better to just treat me to something from the school store normally? And crawl around the playground on all fours? Of course, you’d have to apologize to this side first, naturally.”

‘What is this kid so confident about to be this nonchalant?’

Song Jehui suddenly felt a sense of crisis at Hyun Habin’s bizarrely calm response.

‘Surely she’s not secretly a different rank but deliberately staying in F-class? There’s no such twist, right?’

But no matter how he thought about it, that couldn’t be the case. Jehui had memorized all the students with ranks higher than his own since the placement test.

Above all, he had seen this girl standing in F-class since the entrance ceremony.

‘Moreover, if she were strong, she should inevitably emit that much magical power…’

He couldn’t sense anything from her.

‘It means she’s F-rank, no different from a regular person.’

No matter how he looked at it, she was definitely F-rank. Just as Jehui was catching his breath,

“Hey, you guys! What are you doing?”

Tap tap tap.

Hurried footsteps approaching them.

“I told you to wait for a bit, don’t tell me you’re fighting?”

It was one of the teachers who had attended the entrance ceremony earlier. The B-class and C-class students immediately played dumb.

“Ah, we were just on our way to the bathroom.”

“Yes, we just greeted each other because we’re from the same middle school.”

They made excuses as if they had been waiting for this moment. Their teamwork was surprisingly smooth. The teacher scrutinized them with suspicious eyes, but stopped short when he saw Hyun Habin.

“Oh my! Could you be student Hyun Habin?”

“…Yes, that’s right?”

“Where have you been all this time?”

“Over there.”

Habin pointed to the F-class classroom. The teacher’s expression wavered with bewilderment.

“Why are you there… I was looking for you, Hyun Habin-ssi… I mean, student Hyun Habin, thinking you might not have come! Did you just arrive?”

“I’ve been here since the entrance ceremony.”

“Oh, dear! There must have been some confusion because your class assignment wasn’t properly done.”

The teacher, quickly flipping through the attendance book in her arms, added:

“It seems there was an oversight in the class assignment process, probably because of your recent special admission.”

“Special admission…?”

Song Jehui and his group, who were listening, mumbled blankly.

It seemed like a very ominous word.

Both ‘special admission’ and ‘oversight in the class assignment process’.

“……”

As they looked at each other with an ominous feeling and gulped,

The teacher drove in the final nail.

“You’re Hyun Habin, who entered through special admission as an A-rank hunter, right?”

“…!”

‘A-rank?!’

‘Hunter?’

‘Special admission?’

The students’ faces turned pale one by one. Hyun Habin, wearing an expression as if she had stepped in something unpleasant, reluctantly answered slowly.

“Yes…”

“Habin, if you don’t mind, would you come with me to the staff room for a moment?”

“Yes…”

Hyun Habin followed the teacher with a bothered expression, trudging along. As she was about to turn her back, she glanced back at the students and whispered quietly.

‘If you guys talk about this anywhere, you’re dead, okay?’

“……”

‘Me being A-rank, a hunter, special admission. If you spread unnecessary information, it’s over, over!’

And Habin gave Song Jehui a bright smile.

‘You have to keep your promise, right?’

She added with her lips:

As promised.

On all fours.

Crawl.

“…!”

‘Four-legged Jehui! I’ll be looking forward to it!’

Leaving behind the shocked students, Habin belatedly followed the teacher, dragging her three-striped slippers.

“Ah, teacher! Can I stop by the bathroom on the way?”

“Huh? Suddenly?”

“Yes, actually I’ve been holding it in since earlier!”

“Then you should go, of course.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

◆◇◆◇◆

And so, they arrived at the staff room.

Just then, a teacup was placed in front of Habin with a thud.

“…So, Habin, I hear you’re an official hunter?”

“Yes.”

“It must not have been an easy decision to come back to high school. What impressive academic enthusiasm.”

“Haha…”

[What academic enthusiasm! You’re just here to avoid the law!]

“Ahem, well, I’ve always had a bit of academic enthusiasm.”

Habin answered nonchalantly as she picked up the elaborate teacup placed in front of her.

The staff room was in a location with good natural lighting. Cozy vintage tables and chairs. Even the teacups were quite luxurious, creating an atmosphere fitting for a magic school.

‘And the tea inside is…’

Slurp.

‘Job’s tears tea!’

The instant Job’s tears tea that the math teacher used to offer students when they occasionally visited the staff room in the past.

She didn’t expect to find it here too.

‘Hmm, I still don’t know what taste this is supposed to have.’

The corners of Habin’s mouth drooped. Somehow, she found herself desperately missing the Häagen-Dazs ice cream and freshly squeezed orange juice served in the Solaris office.

Of course, even without the refreshments, this seat was like sitting on pins and needles.

“Your profile is quite impressive! I heard you’ve even visited Kill Screen.”

“Ah, that was just by chance…”

Hyun Habin laughed awkwardly. She sighed with a guilty expression.

‘But teacher… why have you been using honorifics since earlier…’

It’s burdensome!

That’s right. The teacher’s gaze towards Hyun Habin from earlier was already less like looking at a student and more like seeing a ‘fellow hunter with the courage and passion to choose high school again to complete her studies despite having been to Kill Screen’.

“You probably have more experience and skill than the students here, so I’d be delighted if you could set a good example for the students! Ah, of course, I’m not forcing you.”

“Yes…”

She didn’t dare say ‘I’m just going to use the student status and skip classes!’ in response to that.

The teacher smiled contentedly at Habin’s response. She opened the attendance book she had brought.

“Now then, let’s get back to the main point… First of all, Habin, because you came in as an additional admission after the placement test was over, your class assignment wasn’t properly done.”

“It wasn’t properly done?”

“You’re currently without a class.”

The teacher nodded and continued.

“But since Hyun Habin is originally an A-rank hunter, you’re qualified to enter any class. Even without taking the placement test, you have an officially verified rank, so there won’t be any objections.”

The teacher’s eyes sparkled.

“Of course, we could just silently put you in A-class, but since it’s a special case, after a faculty meeting, we decided to let Habin choose which class she wants to enter.”

Being able to enter any class. Although she was qualified, it was quite a good privilege.

In fact, Hyun Siwoo’s influence was slightly behind this background. It was a decision made thinking that Hyun Habin would be less likely to drop out if she could enter the class she wanted. Of course, Hyun Habin at this point had no way of knowing this.

“A class… The class I want is…”

Habin finally opened her mouth. The teacher added advice as if she had been waiting.

“I recommend A-class. Although we advertise that we provide maximum support from A-class to F-class on the surface, there’s inevitably a difference in the actual curriculum benefits. More benefits and support inevitably go to A-class, which takes advanced courses.”

“Then…”

“A-class would be best, right?”

“Huh? No?”

Habin shook her head. She added in a clear voice.

“I want F-class!”

“What?”

“F!”

“But why?!”

[Why?!]

‘Isn’t it obvious?’

[Are you trying to hide your power again? To tease those disrespectful kids like earlier?]

‘What? It’s not like that. Why would I bother doing something like that? There’s a much more important reason for F-class!’

Then Ahezar spoke in a seemingly impressed, trembling voice.

[Ah, I see. It’s because of that student Yeo Seoyun from earlier, you’re concerned about her. This kid, actually has a warm heart…!]

‘Huh? It’s not that either?’

[What?! Then what is it for!]

Habin tilted her head. Actually, from what the kids were saying in the hallway earlier. She got a very important hint from there.

‘They said F-class kids can’t even have sparring classes because they might get hurt?’

F-class doesn’t have sparring classes.

‘Wow, I didn’t know there was such a sweet deal!’

What if she accidentally did something like sparring and couldn’t control her strength properly, hurting someone’s precious son or daughter? That was her biggest worry, but now that possibility is completely blocked!

Habin nodded with a satisfied face. There’s no need to refuse such an obvious honeypot.

[Sigh… Of course it would be that.]

Ahezar let out a deep sigh.