I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 37

37

“…Just who the hell is he?”

The professor frowned slightly as he opened the door. Standing before him was a man he had never seen before, staring at him with a perfectly blank expression.

“W-what is it?”

Instinctively feeling a sense of pressure, the professor took a step back as he spoke. The man looked down at him with cold, dead eyes.

“Are you Professor Lee Ik-hyun?”

“Y-yes, but what business do you have? I must reiterate, I am currently in the middle of a tutoring session. And I’ll ask again, how did you find out about this place?”

“Is how I found out important? If you think for a moment about how I knew about this place and why I came here, wouldn’t the answer be obvious?”

The professor pondered the man’s words, and then he finally realized where the man had come from.

‘The Association, it’s the Association!’

Since the Association was the one who arranged the connection in the first place, no one but the Association would know the exact time and location.

“Ha, haha. I was so focused on the tutoring that I must have been a bit short-sighted. So, what brings you here…?”

“I’d like to have a word with you.”

“Excuse me? I’m in the middle of a tutoring session…”

“Just a moment. I’d like to have a word with you.”

“Yes, yes. I understand.”

At the man’s firm words, the professor looked at Hye-in with a helpless expression and said,

“Hye-in, would you mind waiting for a moment? I have a guest. I’ll be right back.”

“Yes…”

The man, along with the professor, moved to an empty room, and the man immediately got to the point, placing his phone on the table.

“Why the phone…?”

“Why don’t you judge for yourself?”

‘So, have you thought about it?’

‘Did you forget? Oh dear… Let me tell you again. You know very well that I’m famous in this industry, Hye-in. It won’t take long! Just spend a little time with me, and I’ll make sure you get good lessons from those people, okay?’

‘Ha, don’t act so expensive. It’s a common thing in this industry.’

All the conversations that followed were also recorded.

“What… is this?”

“That’s…!”

The professor could only open his mouth, his face a mix of emotions, unsure of what to do.

The professor had initially tried to figure out if the man was from the Association, but as soon as he heard the recorded content, that thought completely vanished from his mind.

He could only think about how to smooth things over, and the only person who could smooth things over in this situation was this man who claimed to be from the Association.

“Hoo… Fortunately, Hye-in’s brother, Hunter Kim, came to the Association first.”

“Is, is that so?”

“He must have sensed something was wrong.”

Distress and anger flickered in the professor’s eyes.

“A mere Hunter…!”

“Excuse me?”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing. So, what happens to me, and what do I need to do?”

“You are well aware of the position Hye-in’s brother holds in the Association, aren’t you?”

“…Yes, of course…”

He knew it in his head, but it was a hard fact to accept.

To think that someone who got lucky and awakened their ability at 20 was strutting around like that.

It seemed like those bugs who always did menial labor couldn’t grasp their place.

The man before him was the same.

The man, seeing the professor’s expression that clearly showed what he was thinking, scoffed as if it were absurd.

“Are you telling me that someone who knows so well committed such an act? Hunter Kim informed the Association, and when he tried to come here, we told him we would look into it properly and took care of it.”

“Th, thank you.”

“However, we have already passed on all the information that Hunter Kim requested.”

The professor’s face, which had brightened for a moment, darkened again at the man’s following words.

“Before Hunter Kim makes a move, it seems we need to act first.”

“What do you mean by ‘act’?”

The man took out paper and a pen, placing them in front of the professor.

“Please write down the names of the professors associated with Professor Lee here…”

“Now, hold on, even so, this is…”

“Professor Lee.”

“Yes?”

When the professor didn’t cooperate, the man looked at the professor with a slightly hardened expression.

“I think you’re… not grasping the situation very well.”

“No, even so, giving you the names of other professors…”

“The prestige of South Korea. It can be said that Hunter Kim alone has achieved all of it. In other words, if Hunter Kim finds out about what happened today and requests it from the Association, everyone will be eliminated without a chance to intervene.”

“E, eliminated…”

“Even if you beg to be killed… we can’t stop it. That’s what I mean. Do you understand?”

At the mention of losing his life, the professor’s face looked as if he had gone to the brink of death.

‘How did things turn out like this…!’

The professor clenched his chubby hands tightly.

He had been enjoying this for years without any problems, but now he was involved in something that could create a connection with the Association, and everything was falling apart.

“I’ll tell you everything, everything.”

The professor began to write everything on the paper the man had given him.

He began to write down who the leader of this group was and how many victims they had made so far.

Writing it down wasn’t difficult.

The professors he had met in the group would show off the photos of their students each time they met, boasting about their achievements.

The man silently watched the professor write down the list without any change in expression.

“It’s all done.”

“You’ve written everything down without missing anything, right? You know very well that if even one person is missing from the list, our efforts to protect you will be meaningless.”

“I, I’ll check one more time.”

The professor, having received the paper again, thought for a moment—no, hesitated—and eventually added a few more names before handing the paper back.

“You’ve thought it through well. Please end the lesson as soon as possible today. Hunter Kim knows the location of this place, so if Hunter Kim arrives here, you may face an unwanted situation.”

“Yes, I understand. I’ll end the lesson right away. Thank you so much.”

“…It’s nothing. Then.”

The man left the room with the list containing quite a few names, and the professor immediately returned to the classroom.

“Hoo, Hye-in? Something came up, so we have to end the lesson here. It’s really… unfortunate.”

“Yes, yes…”

“Ahem, if you have any questions, you can always come to me. You still have the address I gave you before, right?”

“…Yes…”

The professor, with a satisfied expression, put his arm around Hye-in’s shoulder again and escorted her to the door.

“Then, I’ll see you again at this time tomorrow.”

“Yes…”

After confirming that Hye-in had left, the professor sighed in relief and packed his things.

Hye-in sighed in relief that today’s lesson ended early.

There were people she could talk to about these worries, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

What if her brother, Seong-hyun, received unfair treatment from the Association?

Even though Seong-hyun had tremendous abilities, Seong-hyun was an individual, and the Association was one of the organizations representing the country.

Moreover, Hye-in knew very well what kind of treatment and reception Seong-hyun had received in the first semester.

That’s why she didn’t want to burden him even more.

“Just bear with it a little longer…”

Just a little, very little would be enough.

Still, since she had been experiencing slight changes in her body since starting the lessons, it seemed that her ability would definitely awaken when she turned 20.

If she could just get an early ability awakening test and get confirmation, there would be no reason to receive such dirty and filthy tutoring in the future.

After letting out a big sigh, Hye-in slapped her cheeks with both hands, making a sound, and went home as if she had made up her mind.

The Association’s secretary was showing a different side of himself than usual after Seong-hyun’s visit.

“Are you… alright?”

“Ah, yes. I’m fine.”

The Deputy Association Head, watching the secretary biting his nails, was worried that it might be a family matter.

“If something has happened… you can leave work now. If you, who strictly separate public and private matters, are this shaken, it must be something significant.”

“Ah, no. I’m really fine.”

The secretary was waiting for just one thing.

Since he had sent someone to the place where the tutoring was taking place after Seong-hyun’s visit, he would soon receive the detailed results of the matter.

“Excuse me for a moment…”

“Go ahead.”

The secretary went outside with his ringing phone and met the person he had sent in his office.

“What happened?”

The man opened his mouth with a hardened expression.

“When I arrived, the lesson had already ended, even though it was still the time when the lesson should have been in progress.”

“So, you’re saying you didn’t find out anything?”

The man shook his head and began to explain what he had learned so far.

“I investigated the professor’s background in more detail. The reason we entrusted the work to that professor was because of what he had achieved, wasn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

“I found out what was hidden behind that, and he was quite… a dirty bastard.”

“…What? What do you mean by ‘dirty bastard’?”

The man continued, as if he didn’t even want to say it.

“He seems to have been… extending his dirty hands to the female students he has been in charge of.”

“Wh, what…!”

“We were careless. We should have investigated in more detail. He had a good reputation and popularity among the faculty, but all those professors were the same kind of people, so they made such a judgment.”

The secretary held his dizzy head with his hand.

If all these words he had just heard were true, the Association had created an unforgettable wound for Seong-hyun and his younger sister, Hye-in.

“So, the professor is…”

“It seemed that Hye-in was still in the process. It’s still… a fortunate situation.”

“Fortunate… is it…”

He kept thinking about what solution would be best, but he couldn’t think of anything.

And then, a sound came from outside.

“Hunter Kim Seong-hyun has arrived. He said he wants to talk to the secretary…”

He hadn’t even come up with any countermeasures yet, but Seong-hyun had come right away.

“I’ll… be going.”

“Yes, thank you for your hard work.”

The man left the room, and soon after, Seong-hyun entered the room.

His expression was the same as when he had met the secretary earlier, but the secretary could tell.

That Seong-hyun was enduring quite a lot right now.

“…Welcome.”

“Yes. Can we talk for a moment…?”

“…Of course.”

Seong-hyun sat down and immediately took out his phone, placing it on the table.

“I hope the Association didn’t know the facts I found out.”

Seong-hyun picked up his phone and played the recordings he had made earlier.

The man who had claimed to be from the Association earlier was none other than Seong-hyun.

If he had his way, he would have beaten the professor to a pulp with his bare hands on the spot without even using the Stigmata [sacred wounds mirroring those of Christ, often a sign of divine favor in fiction], but if he did that, he wouldn’t be able to root out the source of this problem.

Seong-hyun didn’t want other victims to be created, not just his sister, but other victims as well.

“So, what about the Association? Did you know? Or… were you turning a blind eye?”

The secretary had trouble even breathing at the momentary surge of murderous intent.

It was such a terrible murderous intent that he wondered if a person called a healer could have such a thing.

“The Association…”

“What’s the point of asking? I’ll wait until tomorrow.”

“Yes, yes? What are you…”

Seong-hyun placed the list he had received from the professor on the table and said,

“For the Association’s stance.”