I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 97

97

The Rank 3 Gate’s monsters couldn’t withstand even a single strike from 1.

Naturally, their resistance was merely stubborn, only forcing him to swing his sword one more time.

“…He seems even stronger?”

“Who, 1?”

Inhwan nodded, looking at 1.

He thought he had become quite strong after acquiring Demarche’s equipment, but facing 1 made his confidence waver slightly.

“Yeah. He seems a bit stronger than before.”

“It’s just that the opponents are too weak.”

Sung Hyun replied casually and approached the corpses to collect the demon cores.

“…No.”

Did he really need to do this himself?

But he didn’t intend to make 1 do it either.

Sung Hyun immediately gestured to the remaining demons.

The demons flinched for a moment, but they had no choice but to approach, fearing they would end up like the corpses lying nearby.

“Collect the cores.”

Sung Hyun took out a core from the nearest demon’s corpse and showed it, gesturing. Understanding his meaning, the demons began rummaging through the corpses.

The corpses of the demons who had ruled them until recently.

Soon, the demons brought all the cores and stood quietly before Sung Hyun, looking up at him.

Not expecting praise, but at least hoping to be spared.

“Let’s go.”

Sung Hyun took the cores, turned, and left.

Instructing 1 to handle the rest.

There was no need to recover cores from monsters of that level.

“It’s so easy, it feels almost anticlimactic.”

All Inhwan had done was burn a few low-level demons.

Wasn’t it Sung Hyun and Sangyeon who truly enjoyed the hunt?

“Don’t be complacent. That’s how you die.”

“Yes, I hear you loud and clear, from the guy who got hit once.”

“I, I didn’t need to dodge!”

“Sure, sure~”

As they exited the gate, the association hunters, who had been preparing for any possible mutations, looked at Sung Hyun with puzzled eyes and asked.

“W-Was there any trouble inside?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Well, you came out so quickly, we thought you might have given up halfway through.”

As if answering for them, the gate behind them began to distort and soon disappeared.

“Yeah, it turned out like this.”

“Ah, I see. Understood. Good work.”

Three people entering a Rank 3 Gate.

If they were hunters of the appropriate level, it would have taken at least an hour to clear.

Yet, Sung Hyun’s group reappeared just 10 minutes after entering.

It was an absurd speed.

It was enough to make one wonder if they could handle a Rank 2 Gate.

“Well, we’ll be going now.”

“Yes, understood.”

The association hunters alternated between looking at the spot where the gate had disappeared and the backs of Sung Hyun’s group before immediately making a phone call.

Sung Hyun’s group quickly left the area.

They wanted to clear more Rank 3 Gates nearby, but unfortunately, they couldn’t.

“There’s something I want to ask…”

At Sung Hyun’s words, Inhwan looked surprised and asked back.

“Someone who seems to have everything is asking for a favor? What is it?”

“It’s nothing much…”

They were talking as they walked, and people around them started to notice not only Sung Hyun but also Inhwan and Sangyeon.

“…Hey. Isn’t that him over there?”

“Who?”

“The healing ability! I think that’s him?”

“Is it?”

People were starting to recognize Sung Hyun’s group.

Of course, there were no requests for autographs like with celebrities, but everyone felt burdened by the sudden attention.

“Let’s go home and talk more there.”

“Yeah. That’s a good idea.”

As they were about to head to Inhwan’s house, a window appeared in front of Sung Hyun.

[Connected to an Unknown Power 1/20]

It appeared as soon as they finished clearing the Rank 3 Gate, and the 0 that should have been there had changed to 1.

‘It’s telling me to clear 20 Rank 3 Gates.’

That was definitely not a small number.

Currently, there were a total of 23 gates that had been generated.

Among them, they cleared one today, leaving 22.

Of course, more would be generated in the future, but the sooner this was dealt with, the better.

Sung Hyun headed straight to Inhwan’s house and brought up the request he hadn’t finished earlier.

“An identity. Can you make one for me?”

“…An identity? Are you talking about the kind of identity I think you are?”

Inhwan doubted his ears.

Sung Hyun was undeniably the strongest person in the academy right now, yet he was asking for an identity to be created.

It was quite shocking, to the point where he suspected Sung Hyun might have committed a crime.

“That’s right. I finished talking with the association this time, and I have qualifications similar to those of a regular hunter. I’ll keep my academy student status as is.”

“What? Does that mean you can join a guild too?”

“No, except for things related to guilds. I can do business and go abroad as much as I want. Although I won’t be going abroad.”

The more he heard, the harder it was to understand.

What was Sung Hyun lacking that he needed to create an identity?

“I might be able to find a clue about my ability…”

“Your ability, as in healing?”

“Yeah. So I need to clear Rank 3 Gates.”

“Isn’t that something we can handle among ourselves? Do we really need a different identity?”

It wasn’t that he wanted to refuse Sung Hyun’s request, but creating a new identity wasn’t a light matter.

It was even more difficult since he wasn’t an ordinary person.

“I wish I could, but there are already several Rank 3 Gates that have been assigned.”

“Ah…”

Basically, the guilds that were assigned first had priority for clearing, so there was no room for Sung Hyun to step in.

“So you’re going to be a mercenary with a new identity?”

“That’s right.”

“Well… if that’s the reason, you’ll need an identity. But what about your face? Many people already know you because of the video.”

“Well, I could wear a mask or pull my hat down low. It’s not a big deal if I get caught.”

“Not a big deal? Then why even go to the trouble of getting an identity…”

“The association and I are just playing pretend.”

“…Ah!”

Inhwan finally understood everything Sung Hyun meant.

From the association’s perspective, Sung Hyun was a student at the academy, regardless of the value of his ability.

In that situation, him working as a mercenary was out of the question.

But if they were to restrict all of Sung Hyun’s actions, the value of his ability was more than just outstanding.

If Sung Hyun moved under a new identity in this situation, the association could kill two birds with one stone by simply turning a blind eye.

“Now I get it. When do you need it by?”

“When can you get it done?”

“Hmm…”

After pondering for a moment, Inhwan made a phone call.

“Yeah. No, as soon as possible. Still, around the level of a mid-level hunter?”

After a short call, Inhwan said with a relaxed expression.

“They said it’ll take two days.”

“Two days? That’s incredibly fast.”

“I have to do at least this much. So, are you going to be a mercenary from now on?”

“For about three months?”

The three months the association had mentioned.

About two months for the academy’s vacation, plus the time it would take to clear the remaining 19 Rank 3 Gates, would take about three months.

Of course, he would have to move incredibly quickly.

“Ha… what about us? We can’t use the association’s equipment.”

“Can’t we just become mercenaries too?”

For a moment, Inhwan was very tempted by Sangyeon’s words, but if they did that, the chances of their identities being exposed would be very high.

Of course, Sung Hyun said he didn’t mind being exposed, but it would be better and easier if they didn’t get caught if possible.

“I’ll contact you when the new identity is ready.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

At the word of thanks, Inhwan nodded lightly and got up from his seat.

——————————————–

After a short two-day break, Sung Hyun, having heard from Inhwan that his new identity had been created, headed straight to Inhwan’s house.

Inhwan, seeing Sung Hyun arrive early in the morning, yawned repeatedly and said.

“Come back in an hour… it would have been perfect for a refreshing start.”

“You should have said so earlier.”

“Well, nothing can be done about it.”

Inhwan turned around and shouted.

“Are you all ready?”

“Yes. It’s finished.”

“Sung Hyun, I’m sorry, but…”

“Huh?”

“The explanation will be done by that person over there. I need to sleep a little more.”

“Okay.”

Inhwan yawned again and went into his room, while a secretary and all sorts of documents were spread out on the sofa.

“Good morning.”

“Yes. I’ve heard everything. Everything about that is finished as well.”

The secretary showed Sung Hyun the documents on the table one by one and explained.

“First, the name you’ll be using while active has been set as A.”

“A…?”

“Yes. Wouldn’t it be better to keep it simple? Haha.”

For some reason, it seemed like his own taste had been reflected, which was a bit absurd, but Sung Hyun waited silently for the next explanation since he had to hear the rest of the details.

“I heard that you plan to work as a mercenary. So, we have created an identity at an appropriate level.”

“An appropriate level…?”

“A is just a new identity created when a hunter changed their active name, and in reality, they have experience clearing many gates. Just to that extent.”

There was only one drawback to Sung Hyun’s plan to clear gates as a mercenary, and that was that there was competition among mercenaries.

“There probably won’t be any need for much competition. And I know you’re going to clear all Rank 3 Gates without exception. Is that correct?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

“I plan to have all gate clearing requests come to me first. To put it simply, it’s like a manager concept.”

“A manager?”

He was already grateful that they had created an identity for him, but they were even going to coordinate his schedule, so Sung Hyun had no reason to refuse.

“Yes. To clear a large number of Rank 3 Gates, it’s actually more important to understand the schedule than to have excellent stamina. You need to obtain information on when the guild assigned to the gate will set out to clear it and adjust your schedule accordingly.”

“Certainly, there will be fewer things for me to worry about.”

“That’s what I’m here for. The young master said, ‘Serve him as if you were serving me.’”

The secretary’s eyes, looking at the room Inhwan had entered, were filled with a kind of loyalty.

“Are there any points I should be aware of?”

“No, there aren’t. Even if you were a little careless, I can handle that much on my end.”

Sung Hyun smiled lightly at the rather confident words and reached out his hand, saying.

“Then, I look forward to working with you. Manager.”

“Yes! Mr. A.”

“…”

Having obtained a new identity so easily, Sung Hyun immediately instructed his manager to schedule the Rank 3 Gate clearing and left Inhwan’s house.

“There’s a lot I need to prepare for in the future.”

What would be needed for that preparation?

The ability to defeat monsters, the ability to fight hunters.

None of them were unimportant, but there was one thing that was lacking compared to those two abilities.

That was funds.

It wasn’t needed right away, but it would definitely be needed in the future.

As money isn’t everything in developing something, but it is most of it.