I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 62

There were many people around the gate, and the same was true inside.

“With the magic beast level of a Rank 4 gate, there shouldn’t be anything to worry about, right?”

“Don’t let your guard down. Think about who suffers if you get hurt.”

“Yeah, yeah. I don’t suppose you remember who’s been hurt the most so far?”

“…”

Inhwan and Sangyeon didn’t seem tense even after entering the gate, but in reality, their current level was high enough that they could afford to relax a little.

“Should we split up?”

“Sounds good.”

“Understood.”

Seonghyun immediately headed deeper into the gate.

To secure the special gate that had appeared in Japan first.

“Um… Hunter Kim?”

“Yes.”

“If you go deeper, the number of magic beasts will multiply…”

A voice filled with worry, or perhaps fear.

It seemed that the deeper one went into this gate, the more magic beasts appeared, rather than stronger ones.

“It’s alright.”

Seonghyun’s expression as he said it made it seem like he had no intention of fighting those magic beasts at all, which only deepened the mystery.

As he said, the deeper they went into the gate, the more the cries of magic beasts could be heard from all directions.

Whether the woman accompanying him knew it or not, Seonghyun was already using the Stigma [a unique ability or mark] on the magic beasts ahead.

‘Just need to quickly deal with that magic beast…’

He had to deal with at least one magic beast to meet the conditions for that special gate.

The woman watched Seonghyun intently.

The way he walked without hesitation gave her a strange feeling, as if he had already been to this gate before.

“…A magic beast?”

Since it was an area where magic beasts frequently appeared, it wasn’t strange to see one.

Except for the fact that the magic beast was lying on the ground as if it had already been attacked by someone.

“Why is the magic beast like that…”

If someone else had attacked the magic beast, they wouldn’t have left it like that.

It was possible that they had been attacked by the magic beast, but the surroundings were too clean for that to be the case.

Seonghyun immediately approached the writhing magic beast.

“Lucky you. I don’t know why you’re like this, but…”

He quickly drew his sword and cleanly cut down the magic beast, then began to smear the overflowing blood on his body.

“H, Hunter Kim? What are you doing…”

Magic beasts react to blood.

There wasn’t a hunter in the world who didn’t know that.

In other words, Seonghyun’s actions were summoning all the magic beasts in the area.

“Hunter Kim! I know you’re confident, but…!”

This wasn’t a problem to be taken lightly.

Seonghyun’s movements when he had a small conflict with Takami were not to be underestimated, but if surrounded by Rank 4 gate-level magic beasts, his limits were clear.

Without the ability to launch a wide-range attack, the hunters were more likely to become the hunted.

“You need to wipe off the blood now!”

But Seonghyun didn’t move.

“Hunter Kim!”

If they wasted any more time here, it would be irreversible, so she moved to wipe off the blood herself, but Seonghyun raised his hand to stop her.

The woman bit her lower lip and gave up wiping off the blood, instead scanning their surroundings.

‘Well, he must have a plan.’

Honestly, she didn’t have high expectations, but she hoped he would at least provide some treatment if she got hurt.

At least she might be able to save her life.

“…”

But something was strange.

The sounds of magic beasts they had heard on the way here were definitely not just one or two.

Some time had passed since Seonghyun smeared blood on his body, but the magic beasts had all disappeared, as if they had vanished.

“What on earth…”

Just as she was about to relax her tense body, a voice came from somewhere.

[Offer a sacrifice.]

“W, who…!”

The voice seemed to be coming from right behind her, yet also from right in front of her, from above, or even whispering in her ear from right beside her.

“Hunter Kim! You heard that voice, right?”

“Ah, yes. I heard it.”

It was hard to see this as the reaction of someone who had just experienced something extraordinary.

His voice was so calm that it seemed like he had come here to hear that voice.

[Offer a sacrifice.]

The voice came again, sounding almost impatient compared to before.

As if urging them to offer a sacrifice quickly.

“S, sacrifice? What sacrifice…”

Seonghyun pointed at the woman as he responded to the voice.

“I offer this sacrifice.”

“H, Hunter Kim? A, are you kidding? A sacrifice?”

There was not a hint of falsehood in Seonghyun’s expression as he looked at her.

It was as if he had decided this from the moment he entered this gate, or perhaps even from the moment they first met at the airport.

“I’m serious.”

“H, how could you…!”

The woman, trembling with betrayal, was bewildered by Seonghyun’s wink.

‘…Is he telling me to play along?’

[Is that woman the sacrifice?]

“Yes.”

At the same time as Seonghyun’s answer, he looked at her and winked again, just like before.

“Y, yes. I, I am the sacrifice.”

[…I cannot accept it.]

“Why can’t you accept it?”

[I do not sense the sublimity of a sacrifice.]

“Then what should I do?”

[Offer another sacrifice.]

At that, Seonghyun answered without hesitation.

“I will become the sacrifice.”

[You…will become the sacrifice?]

“That is correct.”

[The one who summoned me is offering himself as a sacrifice.]

“Am I not eligible to be a sacrifice?”

[I am merely surprised by your spirit of sacrifice and sublimity.]

“Thank you.”

“H, Hunter Kim? Are you alright? Offering yourself as a sacrifice…”

Nothing else had happened yet, but the things that typically came to mind when one heard the word ‘sacrifice’ were likely the same for most people.

“I’ll be fine.”

The woman’s expression as she looked at Seonghyun was one of utter chaos.

His actions and expression were those of someone who knew something, but now she was also showing a bit of anxiety about the unknown.

Like someone who had returned to the past to experience something that someone else would go through.

Like someone who was acting on what they had heard, with certainty, but not without fear.

Seonghyun gazed silently at the sky, as if he would not resist in any way.

[I shall infuse your soul with blessings.]

As the voice finished speaking, a faint light appeared in the sky that Seonghyun was gazing at.

The light soon began to descend towards Seonghyun.

Very slowly.

“…”

Seonghyun quietly watched the light.

It was a light that gave off a warm feeling, but in reality, it was a light descending to receive a sacrifice.

The light that had descended towards Seonghyun soon began to envelop his body.

The light that enveloped Seonghyun’s body slowly circled around him before suddenly stopping.

Then, as if something was wrong, it fell away from Seonghyun’s body and suddenly began to approach the corpse of the magic beast.

‘Phew…success.’

To clear this special gate, a sacrifice was needed, as the voice had said earlier.

A sacrifice that was alive and possessed a spirit of sacrifice and sublimity [nobility; high spiritual value].

Meeting those conditions was virtually impossible, but there was one loophole.

Smearing one’s body with the blood of another person or a magic beast.

[I shall accept this instead.]

Of course, the owner of the voice was not unaware of this.

There was no way that an entity capable of bestowing blessings upon a soul would be fooled by such a trivial trick.

It was merely overlooking it once, out of respect for the spirit of sacrifice and sublimity that had led him to offer himself as a sacrifice.

In the first place, there was no sane person who would smear blood on their body in a place swarming with magic beasts.

At most, hunters engaged in close combat would occasionally get a lot of blood on their bodies, but they would quickly wipe it off.

Even when summoning magic beasts, they would scatter blood on the ground, not smear it on their bodies.

The owner of the voice knew this and did not think that he had done such a thing to deceive them.

‘Is this the end?’

He didn’t remember hearing anything else after this.

If anything else happened, he would have to face it solely with his own abilities.

“Um…Hunter Kim?”

“Yes?”

“Is it all over?”

“I’m not sure either.”

With a hopeful heart, they waited a little longer, but the voice did not return.

“It seems to be over. Shouldn’t we go back now? For some reason, the magic beasts haven’t appeared, but we don’t know when they might show up again…”

As the woman said, Seonghyun’s body was still covered in blood, and he had achieved his purpose for coming to the gate today, so he turned around without hesitation.

As Seonghyun turned around, the window appeared before him after a long time.

[Open: Conversion]

[Once a month, forcibly instills faith in the target.]

‘Forcibly instills faith…?’

Seonghyun’s biggest goal right now was to increase the number of people with faith.

The ability to quickly approach that goal had been unlocked.

“Conversion…”

“Yes?”

“Ah, it’s nothing. Shall we go now?”

[Conversion Target: This ability can only be used on individuals who harbor hostility. It cannot be reused for a certain period of time after use.]

As expected, there were conditions attached.

‘Well, it’s so difficult to create people with faith, so it wouldn’t be easy to create them.’

No matter what conditions were attached, it didn’t matter.

The fact that a new way to create them had emerged was a satisfactory result in itself.

‘More importantly, how long is that certain period of time?’

It was clear that it wouldn’t be a short time.

Since there was no separate mention of it, it seemed that the unfriendly window had no intention of telling him the time.

‘It must mean I shouldn’t use it easily.’

“Hunter Kim. You seem quite happy about something…”

Seonghyun answered the woman’s question with a sly smile.

“Ah, is that so? I’m happy that I didn’t become a sacrifice.”

“But I hope you don’t forget that today’s events are thanks to Japan.”

“Of course.”

In the midst of their conversation, they had almost reached the entrance of the gate, and Inhwan and Sangyeon were still hunting magic beasts and were nowhere to be seen.

“Shall we hunt a few more quickly before we leave?”

“You can do as you wish, Hunter Kim. I’m just here to accompany you for minimal communication in case of unexpected situations.”

Since he had been using the Stigma to deal with the magic beasts, Seonghyun felt a bit sluggish, so he started hunting magic beasts without using the Stigma.

After easily finishing off about 10 magic beasts, Inhwan and Sangyeon arrived.

“Hunting magic beasts is the best.”

“I agree with that.”

They were carrying handfuls of cores, as if they had been waiting for this opportunity after not being able to go to the gate for the past few days.

‘…I didn’t realize it because I was focused on Kim Hunter, but the other two aren’t ordinary first-years either.’

Inhwan and Sangyeon each had a translator with them, so they would be able to hear the report on the battle later.

He had deliberately invited them before the Academy National Competition representative selection, but it seemed like he didn’t need to do that.

‘Maybe…a first-year could really become an Academy representative.’

Takami, who had been the first-year representative, suddenly came to mind.

The only thing they had in common was their age.

“Thank you for granting us permission today.”

“It’s nothing. It’s only natural.”