I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 59

59

“The reason we scheduled Kim Hunter’s group’s visit to the academy, out of all the possible places, is simple.”

The woman pointed to a massive device in the center of the room.

The device she indicated had several capsule-like compartments at the bottom, each large enough for a person to enter.

“This hasn’t been revealed to the press yet, or even to political figures.”

“Is it okay to show us something like this first?”

At Seonghyun’s question, the woman looked surprised and said,

“I don’t know if you’re joking, but if you’re serious, Kim Hunter, you might want to think a bit more highly of yourself.”

After speaking, the woman immediately approached the device and continued her explanation.

Her expression and tone as she explained showed more pride and patriotism than ever before.

“According to our research, Kim Hunter, you have a considerable desire to become stronger.”

Seonghyun didn’t respond and just stared at the woman.

His expression neither denied nor confirmed.

“So, our conclusion after analyzing Kim Hunter is that you’re not someone who’s satisfied with just healing others.”

The woman was right.

From the start, Seonghyun’s ability wasn’t just about recommending healing.

Thanks to his spirit of sacrifice, his physical abilities improved even if he did nothing but heal.

“Isn’t the method Kim Hunter’s group is currently using to train something in the basement of the Korean Association? Something half-baked and problematic.”

“Half-baked…?”

He couldn’t deny it entirely.

It couldn’t be seen as a perfect method since others couldn’t use it.

“The research on that equipment isn’t just being done in Korea. We’ve been researching it for a long time too, and not just us, but other places as well.”

Seonghyun already knew this.

Thinking back to before his regression, quite a few powerful hunters used training methods involving such equipment.

However, Korea wasn’t using this method even back then, and among other countries, only the United States and China were using it.

That meant the device he was seeing now was a failure.

“So, what is this device?”

At Seonghyun’s question, the woman opened one of the capsules and answered.

“The basic structure itself isn’t different from what you use in Korea. But… there are differences.”

“Differences?”

“Environment, time, and efficiency. While using this device, 10 hours in the virtual world become 1 hour in reality.”

It was definitely an incredible concept.

Being able to achieve what would take 10 hours of hunting in just 1 hour.

‘…I remember this being a completely flawed device.’

It had failed spectacularly.

A device that had been reported on not only in Japan but worldwide.

“The vice-chairman’s request for a deal… is because of this. An exclusive contract for what you call potions, and exclusive use of this device.”

If Seonghyun hadn’t regressed, it would have been a very tempting offer.

“Of course, there’s much more we can offer besides this. If you agree to this deal, you won’t just be signing a contract with the Japanese Association.”

“Is that so?”

“The place where potions will be supplied the most is obviously the large guilds in Japan. That means, in effect, Kim Hunter, you’ll be forming relationships with all the major guilds in Japan.”

The offer itself was quite attractive.

But knowing that it was a failure, it wasn’t even worth considering.

“I’ll think about it.”

“…Thank you. I hope you’ll consider it favorably.”

“Can we see other places now?”

“Yes, of course.”

Seonghyun moved away, avoiding eye contact, as he felt like she was looking at him with a strange gaze.

“The next place I’ll show you is where the students take classes.”

The explanations about the other places were just enough to cover the basics.

As if the only reason they were brought to the academy was to see the device in the basement.

“Japan is definitely larger in scale.”

“That’s inevitable. Although it was recently overturned, Japan’s ranking has never fallen below 10th place [in the Hunter Association rankings].”

Certainly, the Japanese academy was different from the Korean one in terms of scale and other aspects.

And as much as the difference in scale, the academy students’ sense of superiority also seemed different.

The gazes of the other students towards Seonghyun, Inhwan, and Sangyeon were like looking at monkeys in a zoo.

Of course, there was also a sense of disgust mixed in.

Students often asked the woman who they were.

Each time, the woman replied that they were representatives from the Korean academy’s first year, and upon hearing that answer, the emotions they had shown before began to include anger.

“Is there anywhere else you’d like to see?”

“…No. It’s okay.”

Besides showing the device, there was nothing else to see at the academy.

As Seonghyun had expected, the reason for including the academy in the schedule seemed to be to introduce that device.

“Thank you for fulfilling all the requested schedules.”

“It’s nothing. If there’s anything you need during the remaining time, please let us know.”

“Then I won’t refuse. I hope you have a pleasant time for the rest of your stay.”

The schedule ended faster than Seonghyun had expected.

Almost disappointingly so.

The woman dropped Seonghyun’s group off in front of the hotel and returned to the association.

“So, what was his reaction?”

“…I think he’s going to refuse.”

“Huh, a refusal.”

He still couldn’t forget Seonghyun’s expression from earlier.

How many hunters could react so calmly to the idea of shortening their training time by at least tenfold?

His expression was as if he didn’t care about getting stronger at all.

“Then what should we do…?”

“Well, what can we do? If we mess with him, we’ll fall straight into the abyss.”

As the vice-chairman said, if they touched Seonghyun now, everything would be over.

They had even invited him personally, so what if they did something here?

Even if they didn’t do anything, even a minor problem would be a problem in itself.

“Just make sure he’s comfortable for the rest of his stay. Kim Hunter’s arrival in Japan has already been noticed.”

“Understood.”

In all honesty, the vice-chairman wanted to recommend naturalization [offering Seonghyun Japanese citizenship].

But bringing it up right now would only create animosity; getting closer slowly was the priority.

“…Sir!, …Vice-Chairman!”

A hurried voice coming from quite a distance didn’t suit the usually static atmosphere of the association, and both of them realized that something was wrong as much as the sense of incongruity.

“What is it? Come in.”

As soon as the vice-chairman gave permission, the door was opened hastily.

“There’s… a problem.”

“…A problem?”

He hadn’t heard the details yet, but he had a feeling that something related to Seonghyun had happened again.

“Report immediately.”

Arriving in front of the hotel, Seonghyun’s group was about to enter their room when they turned around.

“We should still do some sightseeing, right?”

Inhwan nodded in response to Seonghyun’s words, seemingly pleased.

“Let’s go! I’ve found some great restaurants!”

“But aren’t you well-off? Why haven’t you ever been to Japan?”

Come to think of it, Inhwan had never been to Japan despite his good family background.

“I need someone to go with. I don’t think traveling alone is fun.”

“Great, let’s enjoy it now.”

With Inhwan having found some good restaurants, the three of them immediately headed to the streets of Japan.

The streets of Japan had a different feel from Korea.

It could simply be because it was overseas, but it seemed that there were far more spaces prepared for hunters compared to Korea.

Since there were benefits to be received according to the ranking, they would have been able to pay more attention to the welfare of hunters.

‘Well, not anymore.’

Seonghyun, who felt strangely relieved, followed behind Inhwan, who was excitedly leading the way.

And there were those who were following Seonghyun.

The students of the Japanese Academy.

It was clearly early, but the Japanese curriculum was slightly different from Korea’s.

The time for classes was set every day, and classes were conducted in a way that only those who wanted to take the classes would take them.

“Those are the guys, right?”

“Yeah. I saw them at the academy earlier.”

After checking, they were told that they were students from the Korean academy.

They seemed to have come to visit the Japanese academy, but the problem was that they didn’t like their attitude.

‘What’s with that unimpressed expression?’

Even just looking at the scale, there was a huge difference, but they were showing an expression that didn’t have any emotion, let alone looking up to them.

Moreover, Korea, which they already didn’t like, was turning the rankings upside down with just that healing ability or whatever it was, making them feel more than just dislike, but even anger.

“They just got lucky and climbed up…”

As they slowly followed behind, they kept going into alleys.

They didn’t know why, but anyway, it was a good situation; the more deserted it was, the more comfortable it became.

Seonghyun’s group turned into the last alley leading to the restaurant that Inhwan had found.

But what greeted them first wasn’t the restaurant, but strangers.

“Who are they?”

“…It looks like they were waiting for us.”

Their ages seemed similar.

However, for some reason, they were clearly harboring hostility.

“Hey, are you the idiots from Korea?”

He couldn’t understand the other words, but he could understand the word ‘idiot.’

“Ignore them, this is Japan. It’s not good to cause trouble for no reason.”

Since the destination was right in front of them, Seonghyun tried to pass by.

If a hand hadn’t landed on his shoulder.

“Are you ignoring us?”

Seonghyun lightly brushed off the hand on his shoulder and tried to pass by again.

But this time, a hand landed on his shoulder again.

Unlike before, it was full of force, as if to inflict pain.

Of course, it wasn’t painful.

Compared to the pain he felt while healing, this level of pain felt like a tickle.

But he didn’t intend to just stand by.

Seonghyun grabbed the hand on his shoulder with one hand and twisted it in the opposite direction.

“Agh!”

“Takami!”

When the others next to him tried to rush at Seonghyun, Inhwan and Sangyeon blocked them.

“This lowly bastard…!”

Seonghyun’s gaze looking down at him had a talent for making the opponent feel humiliated just by meeting it.

He didn’t originally intend to use his ability.

But looking at the attitude they were showing now, simple mental education seemed far from enough.

Seonghyun hadn’t let go of the twisted hand yet.

Thanks to that, Takami’s posture was quite comical, and in that state, light began to emanate from the twisted hand.

‘An ability?’

Instinctively, Seonghyun roughly threw away the hand he was holding and took a step back, unable to close his mouth at the sight unfolding before his eyes.