I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 44

“The summoned monster is a mutated Gate monster.”

“Mutated…Gate?”

Not only Seonghyun but also the other four stared at the Deputy Association President with surprised eyes.

Unlike watching Seonghyun’s group on the screen, this statement was quite problematic.

Despite Seonghyun’s abilities, they struggled quite a bit in the beginning.

Beyond the increased limits of healing abilities and the ability to heal quickly, if they had died, it would have been irreversible.

The mutated Rank 3 Gate monster had pushed Seongwook to the brink.

If Seonghyun’s healing had been even slightly delayed, Seongwook might have actually lost his life.

“I never thought this would happen. I am truly…sorry.”

The Deputy Association President bowed and apologized, explaining the incident to Seonghyun.

However, unlike before, Seonghyun’s expression remained hardened.

“You should apologize to Seongwook, not me. He almost died…”

“Are you Kang Seongwook? I sincerely apologize.”

“Huh? Ah, yes! I-It’s okay.”

Seongwook, startled, waved his hands and repeatedly said it was okay.

“But, Hunter Kim.”

“Yes?”

The Deputy Association President erased the apologetic expression he had just held and looked at Seonghyun, asking.

“That mutated Rank 3 Gate monster…how did you deal with it?”

Regardless of today’s mistake, the Deputy Association President needed to hear the answer to this question.

“Well…its stealth was a bit tricky, but I could still sense its presence the moment it attacked. And that presence always felt like it was coming from behind.”

“So, you’re saying you dodged and attacked at the same time the moment you felt its presence?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The Deputy Association President wore an incredulous expression.

The mutated monster summoned today was specialized in stealth and close combat.

‘…The memories from that time…’

The reason why the Deputy Association President came in such a hurry today was simple.

Because he had experienced it firsthand.

It was relatively old news, but it was when the Deputy Association President had not been a Hunter for long.

The cause of the scar visible through his sleeve.

That day, the Deputy Association President was part of the guild’s subjugation team, as always.

The Deputy Association President, recognized for his tremendous effort and outstanding talent, had only participated in Rank 4 Gate subjugations until that day when he participated in a Rank 3 Gate subjugation for the first time.

As is well known, the difference between Rank 4 and Rank 3 is enormous.

Still, the Deputy Association President’s guild was made up of experienced individuals, and most of them were originally conducting Rank 3 subjugations, so the subjugation was proceeding without any problems.

Until the Gate mutated.

The Deputy Association President faced a mutated Gate for the first time that day.

At the same time as the mutation, monsters of a completely different level began to pour out.

Of course, the veterans of the subjugation team did not panic and reorganized their ranks.

Until those monsters disappeared from sight in an instant.

There was nothing the subjugation team could do that day.

Although there were many members of the subjugation team, the opponents were not only stealthy monsters but also monsters that poured out quite tricky wide-area attacks, so they could not properly defend against the attacks coming from behind, and one by one, they fell apart.

The large number of people gradually decreased, and just as even the small number of people were losing hope, support came from the Association.

And it was from that day on.

That the Deputy Association President quit the guild and joined the Association.

It was one of the many unforgettable memories.

Of course, if he were to face that monster again now, it would be nothing more than a warm-up, but it was a different story for Seonghyun to handle it.

‘He’s only 20 years old, isn’t he.’

Not even the most outstanding third-year student at the Academy.

Just a first-year student with a lack of experience, a Hunter who had just turned 20.

Depending on what abilities he has, he might be able to handle the monster he dealt with today, but to deal with a monster of this level, one thing was certain.

That is, he must have abilities specialized in combat.

But what about Seonghyun?

The Hunter in front of him, taking care of his tired friends, was clearly a Healer.

‘It’s getting complicated.’

It was a feeling that the common sense that had been working so far, no, the basics, were being denied.

Of course, Seonghyun did not yet have the power to represent this country.

Even if his abilities were representative, considering his power and other things, he should not be able to handle this monster, let alone be a representative.

“Um…Deputy Association President?”

“Ah, yes.”

“I thought you were just standing there quietly…”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I was just thinking about the past for a moment. More than that, no one was hurt today…”

The Deputy Association President, who was about to say something fortunate as usual, paused for a moment when he saw the others’ torn clothes and tired expressions, and changed his words.

“I’m glad…we got through today safely. I would like to apologize to everyone once again. I’m sorry.”

The Deputy Association President bowed deeply.

Even if Seonghyun harbored resentment towards the Association because of today’s events, he would have nothing to say.

He had given his younger sibling an unforgettable wound, and now he had put Seonghyun and his friends in danger.

‘…Thinking about it like this, I’m no different from trash.’

“It’s okay. No one died.”

The Deputy Association President slowly raised his back.

It felt like Seonghyun’s words just now were not directed at himself, the Deputy Association President, but at Seonghyun himself.

“If you need anything in the future, please do not hesitate to tell the Association. This is a promise of apology not only to Hunter Kim but also to the others.”

The Deputy Association President left with his secretary after saying these words.

The secretary also bowed before leaving.

“Hoo…the Deputy Association President is amazing too. Apologizing like this.”

Inhwan seemed quite surprised by the Deputy Association President’s unexpected appearance.

“You have to hold onto a Healer, not just anyone.”

Sangyeon smirked and said, then got up from his seat.

“Shall we stop here for today? Everyone seems tired.”

Although Seonghyun’s ability also invigorated them, it did not resolve their mental fatigue, so they ended today’s hunt here.

Even after this incident, Seonghyun continued to summon Rank 3 Gate monsters.

After summoning only one at first, he summoned one more at a time if it was not a mutated Gate monster, increasing the number.

As time passed, everyone initially worked together to hunt Rank 3 monsters, but it became easier than expected, so the number increased to two, then three.

Fortunately, mutated Gate monsters did not appear after that day.

Until the next inter-class competition began, Seonghyun and the four of them hunted every day, living at the Association.

Just as they were getting used to hunting Rank 3 Gate monsters, the inter-class competition to select the Academy representatives was approaching.

“They still haven’t told you who the opponent is?”

“Yeah, so stop running around like crazy and sit down.”

Inhwan and Sangyeon were still bickering, and Seonghyun, as if used to it, waited for the professor who would be coming in soon.

“Ahem.”

With a small cough, the door opened, and this time, not another class’s professor, but their homeroom teacher came in himself.

“Ah, my students…! You’ve worked hard.”

Even at the homeroom teacher’s words, Inhwan and Sangyeon only glanced at him for a moment and did what they were originally doing, and only Seonghyun stared intently at the homeroom teacher.

“Ahem, yes. The rules have been decided.”

Still, at the words that the rules had been decided, Inhwan and Sangyeon also stopped what they were doing and stared at the homeroom teacher.

“What are the rules?”

At Seonghyun’s question, the homeroom teacher sat down and took out a piece of paper.

“It’s not that complicated this time either. But there’s something added.”

The paper that the homeroom teacher brought had a cross-sectional diagram drawn on it.

“As you can see, the cross-sectional diagram is quite difficult.”

The cross-sectional diagram looked more complicated than imagined.

Almost like a maze.

“The rules themselves are the same as last time. It’s a captain battle.”

“Captain battle…”

“But looking at this cross-sectional diagram, there are three places marked in blue and three places marked in red.”

As the homeroom teacher said, there were three places marked in each color at regular intervals on the cross-sectional diagram.

“Here, the blue places are where the three of you will start, and the red places are where the opponents will start.”

Seonghyun chose one of the blue places and continued the path straight ahead.

Then he was able to reach the center, and the same was true for the other blue places.

However, one thing to note was that the path would definitely lead them to face the opponent.

“What is this center?”

“And this is the newly added rule.”

The center boasted an even larger scale than other places.

And there was another mark in the middle of it.

“When you arrive at this center, there is an object called the Cup of Victory.”

“Cup of Victory?”

“This inter-class competition also selects a captain like last time, and similarly, you win by making the captain unable to fight. But besides that, there is also a way to win with this Cup of Victory.”

The homeroom teacher rummaged through his pockets for a moment, then took out a picture and showed it, saying.

“This is the Cup of Victory.”

It was a rather unimpressive shape for a name.

It looked like a really old-fashioned cup.

“You win if the captain holds this cup and enters one of the places where the opponent started.”

“Hmm…”

No matter how much he thought about it, it felt like there was a bit of a contradiction in the rules.

As if the rules were hastily made for something.

He began to suspect even the fact that the area was deliberately divided.

“Well…I believe you’ll do well on your own, but the problem is that you can only arrive in the middle after each of you has fought 1:1, looking at the structure.”

Seonghyun trusted Inhwan and Sangyeon, but the situation where he could not use his healing ability was something that could not be helped with just trust.

“I think everyone has noticed, but you can’t receive Seonghyun’s healing in the battle before gathering in the center. I don’t know what Seonghyun’s ability range is, but it’s probably impossible because all the walls block magic power coming from the outside.”

At the homeroom teacher’s words, all three of them’s expressions hardened.

“We have to face a second-year or third-year student 1:1 without Seonghyun’s healing?”

“This is not welcome news.”

The two seemed a little nervous.

You could even say they were a little scared.

“And the last news is that our opponents have been decided as second-year students.”

That was fortunate.

If it had been third-year students, Seonghyun might have been okay, but Inhwan and Sangyeon would not have been close to victory.

The homeroom teacher, who was about to explain something more, got up from his seat at the sound of the start of the inter-class competition and said.

“I wish you good luck.”

The homeroom teacher finished speaking plainly and left the room.

After the homeroom teacher left the room, Seonghyun, Inhwan, and Sangyeon also finished preparing to start the inter-class competition.

“As you already know, you can’t receive healing from me in the first battle of this inter-class competition.”

“…”

Both Inhwan and Sangyeon had uneasy expressions.

“I’ll just say one thing.”

“One thing?”

“What is it?”

“Crawl to the center, even if you have to.”

The two, who had been wearing blank expressions at Seonghyun’s words, burst into laughter.

“That’s the answer.”