I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 83

83

China seemed to have put a lot of thought into their arrangements; the hotel where they were staying was almost identical to the one where Seonghyun had recently spent his vacation with his family.

“Oh, they put some effort into this?”

Inhwan looked quite satisfied with the scenery that was no different from his own home. Sangyeon, having already experienced a similar setup at Inhwan’s house, wasn’t too surprised.

“Did they tell you about our opponent for the competition?”

The most important thing was, of course, their opponent.

Nothing had been decided yet, and naturally, they hadn’t been told anything.

“No, I think they’ll announce it on the day of the competition.”

Only a week remained until the competition.

Until then, there wasn’t much they could do.

They came to China solely for the competition, so going out and raiding Gates was out of the question.

“Then, shall we look around the area until then?”

Just like in Japan, Inhwan already seemed a little excited about sightseeing.

“It’s better to stay in the hotel.”

“Only in the hotel? Why?”

According to Seonghyun’s memories from before his regression, Chinese Hunters, especially those who reached a certain level, had more leeway to operate outside the law than those of other countries.

Of course, that kind of treatment was reserved for those who reached a certain level, but once they did, they were often able to evade the law.

“According to the regulations, we must not use our abilities for any reason.”

“…That’s right.”

“In that state, if we go outside, we’re just ordinary people with slightly tougher bodies.”

“That would be a problem.”

If they were attacked, the moment they chose to resist using their abilities, the competition would be ruined.

“Even if it’s a little boring, we have to endure until the competition because there’s a lot to do in the hotel anyway.”

“Sigh, I guess we have no choice.”

The best way to solve a problem was not to create one in the first place, so Seonghyun and his group chose not to leave the hotel at all.

All the other amenities were available inside the hotel, and even if they became ill, Seonghyun had healing abilities, so there was nothing to worry about.

“Then, until then…”

Seonghyun pushed the huge table next to the room to one side.

He had already confirmed that there were no cameras in the room, so it was important to find a way to train, even a little.

“What are you suddenly trying to do? Even if the room is big, it’s a little cramped to train here, isn’t it?”

Seonghyun and Sangyeon might be fine, but Inhwan himself had the ability to control fire, so it was difficult to use his abilities in such a confined space.

“You guys asked me last time, right? What did I do after going to Japan?”

“Ah, that’s right! I did. I completely forgot because we were talking about other things.”

“You’re not going to say something ridiculous like you got stronger again, are you?”

Seonghyun answered Sangyeon’s words with silence, and the two let out a hollow laugh as if they were dumbfounded.

“No, Seonghyun.”

“What.”

“You’re a Healer.”

“That’s…right?”

“Sigh…”

The gap between Seonghyun and them was already quite large in Japan, but if he had gotten even stronger there, the difference would have widened considerably.

“So, what happened?”

“It’s nothing much…”

‘Summon.’

As soon as he used Summon, ‘1’ appeared in an instant.

“Wh, what is this…?”

“Could it be a Summoned creature?”

“To put it simply, you could say that.”

It wasn’t that there were no Hunters with Summoning abilities at all.

However, it was quite a rare ability compared to others.

Even compared to those Hunters, the Summoned creature that Seonghyun summoned looked different.

Generally, Summoned creatures often took the form of animals.

But Seonghyun’s Summoned creature had a truly human-like appearance.

“Wait a minute, don’t tell me you gained this ability during those two days after returning from Japan?”

“…That’s right.”

“…Huh.”

Inhwan was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t even speak properly and just kept laughing hollowly.

“Is, is that even possible? You gained the Summoning ability, which is rare even if you only have one, in just two days?”

“…It’s hard to believe. It’s no different from reawakening.”

Until now, they could be seen as developments in his existing abilities.

But what relationship could Summoning and Healing have?

“There has never been a Hunter who has reawakened their abilities multiple times in the history of Korea, or even the entire world.”

“Maybe…there never will be.”

Inhwan and Sangyeon didn’t congratulate Seonghyun.

They were just worried.

Until now, they had congratulated Seonghyun on his rapid development of abilities and his vertical growth, but now it was different.

A growth rate that felt so foreign that they wondered if there was something wrong.

“Even if there’s a problem, we can’t turn back.”

“That’s true too.”

“Since you made all the choices, I won’t say anything more.”

Seonghyun was stronger, wiser, and more cautious than they thought, so they respected Seonghyun’s choice.

“Let’s put that aside. How about sparring with ‘1’ for the remaining time?”

“‘1’?”

“I didn’t have a name to give him, so I named him ‘1’.”

The two looked closely at ‘1’.

The appearance, as if made of light, gave a completely opposite feeling to its exterior.

“If this…if the color was black, it would look completely like a Demonic creature, wouldn’t it?”

“That’s right. It *was* a Demonic creature.”

“Wh, what?”

“It was a Demonic creature. Now it’s my Summoned creature.”

When Seonghyun’s gaze reached ‘1’, ‘1’ knelt on one knee and paid respect to Seonghyun.

“‘1’s level is similar to mine, but only when looking at physical abilities.”

“Then sparring with ‘1’ would be similar to sparring with you?”

“Well… the combat style is a bit different, but it’ll be roughly similar.”

“Welcome. I’ve been wanting to spar with you sometime.”

Unlike Inhwan, who wore a shocked expression, Sangyeon was burning with competitive spirit.

“Let’s keep sparring until the actual matches start.”

“Alright. I’ll win at least once.”

“Let’s start with 1-on-1 first.”

He didn’t mention that the Summoned creature wouldn’t tire, but he planned to dismiss it midway if it showed its skills appropriately.

‘By the way, when will I be able to unleash 100% of its power?’

Currently, ‘1’s power is only half of its original state.

Seonghyun hadn’t even properly grasped how strong ‘1’ was inside the gate, so if ‘1’ could use all its power, it would be stronger than he imagined.

And that key might be related to the number of people who worship it, or it might be that ‘1’ itself is gradually getting stronger, so he had to check in as many ways as possible.

“Shall we start then?”

“Come at me.”

“Good.”

Sangyeon stepped forward and stood opposite ‘1’.

Like everyone else, he tried to gauge how strong it was before starting the sparring match, but even that wasn’t easy.

‘A Summoned creature…’

Feeling quite offended that he was feeling this way about a Summoned creature, Sangyeon immediately rushed at ‘1’.

As expected, Sangyeon’s attacks didn’t land at all in the beginning.

He started to allow ‘1’s attacks little by little, but it didn’t matter right now anyway.

After allowing a few attacks, Sangyeon used Berserk [a skill that temporarily boosts attack power at the cost of control].

“Now it begins.”

Sangyeon spoke with a rather spirited voice, but unfortunately, nothing much had changed.

“Hah, hah…”

‘1’ was definitely stronger than him.

He wondered if there was any area where Sangyeon was even slightly ahead, but there was no such thing.

‘1’ was much faster, and the difference in blocking attacks and dodging was greater than he thought.

“This damn…”

If it had been Seonghyun he was sparring with, he wouldn’t have felt this humiliated.

But his sparring partner was Seonghyun’s Summoned creature.

Inhwan, who was watching their sparring match, looked at Seonghyun with a bewildered expression and said.

“…Seonghyun.”

“Yeah?”

“I… I think I’d lose as soon as it started?”

“You have to hold back appropriately. But right now, Sangyeon is bringing out the best in ‘1’. ‘1’ doesn’t get tired, so you’ll inevitably lose.”

In the meantime, Sangyeon, who was exhausted, gave up, and then Inhwan stepped up.

Thanks to ‘1’ controlling its power, Inhwan was able to continue sparring for quite a while.

Of course, he didn’t land a single proper attack.

“Ugh…”

Inhwan, who couldn’t even last half the time Sangyeon did, fell to the floor.

“You’ve all worked hard. Since ‘1’ doesn’t have the concept of stamina, it’s actually impossible to win.”

Leaving the two who were lying exhausted, Seonghyun then stepped up to spar with ‘1’.

“Wow…”

“Crazy.”

‘Crazy’ was the only word that came out.

Inhwan and Sangyeon roughly knew how strong Seonghyun was and how excellent his senses were, but they had never seen him go all out like this.

‘He wasn’t even going all out when he fought that third-year…’

He didn’t know if he wasn’t going all out, or if his full power had grown, but what was certain was that Seonghyun’s current power had exceeded common sense.

Just watching Seonghyun and ‘1’ spar was a great help to both of them.

It was like a new door was opening, where they could see things they had never thought of before.

He used to not understand how one could improve just by watching masters spar in old martial arts novels, but now he could understand.

“Hoo, I’m done too.”

Seonghyun, who finished sparring appropriately and dismissed ‘1’, looked at the two as it was time for dinner and said.

“I’m hungry. Let’s go.”

The dishes with decorations unique to China were also quite fancy in taste.

One slightly strange thing was that he thought there would be other academy representatives, but he didn’t see anyone.

‘…Are they eating outside?’

Since everyone had different tastes, Seonghyun thought they would probably eat at a pre-arranged place, so he finished his meal and returned to his room.

“Demar’s schedule says we have to make a request three days in advance, so let’s keep sparring with ‘1’ until then.”

“Yeah. It definitely seems to be helping.”

“I welcome it too. It’s humiliating to lose to a Summoned creature, but opponents like this are rare.”

Perhaps because they were quite tired from sparring with ‘1’, Seonghyun and his group fell asleep early on the first day.

——————————————–

“…”

Waking up from a late-night sleep, Seonghyun got out of bed, feeling strangely restless.

“Is it just my imagination?”

Maybe it was just because he was sleeping in a different place.

This didn’t happen in Japan, though.

He lightly drank a glass of cold water and was about to go back to sleep when the alarm started ringing.

“Fire… alarm?”

Without panicking, Seonghyun first checked outside the window and saw that the first floor of the hotel was engulfed in huge flames.

“It’s not an ordinary fire.”

No matter how big the fire was, if there was a hunter with water-related abilities, they could put it out quickly.

And there was no way this hotel wouldn’t have such a hunter, so it was clear that this fire was not a simple fire but intentional.

Moreover, the fire was spreading rapidly.

“Guys! Fire…!”

Inhwan also came out immediately after hearing the alarm, and Sangyeon came out soon after.

“There’s a fire on the first floor. We should evacuate to the roof.”

Inhwan shook his head and replied to Sangyeon’s words.

“I saw it for a moment, but that fire is not ordinary. A hunter’s ability… arson [the ability to create and control fire].”

“What kind of…”

“Let’s go to the roof first. They should be able to put it out soon anyway.”

He wondered if the restlessness he felt earlier was the cause of this fire, but strangely, on the way to the roof, that restlessness turned into a sense of foreboding, following behind him.