I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 104

104

Dae-cheol, Seong-hyeon’s opponent, stared at Seong-hyeon as he awkwardly stepped forward.

“…”

He seemed a bit taken aback by the unfamiliar situation, but he didn’t appear frightened or intimidated.

“Dae-cheol, they say he’s skilled.”

“Is that so?”

“But aren’t you the best in our gym? Take the lead and show him what you’ve got.”

“Yes!”

Since he was said to be skilled, there was no need to hold back.

However, the fact that he brought who seemed to be his younger sibling suggested he wasn’t taking it too seriously.

Otherwise, he would have come alone.

The gym director, having boosted Dae-cheol’s morale, headed back to where Seong-hyeon was.

“This guy is the best in our gym. He’s quite skilled, so feel free to show him everything you’ve got.”

“Ah… okay.”

He was hesitant to use his full strength against an ordinary person, but backing down now would disappoint his younger sibling, who was looking at him with such anticipation.

“Would you like to skip the headgear?”

“Yes. I don’t need it. It obstructs my vision.”

“I see… understood. Alright, both of you to the center of the ring!”

The ring he had only seen on TV.

In the center of it, Dae-cheol was lightly bouncing around, throwing jabs into the air.

As he stepped into the ring, a light began to shine from the ceiling.

“What’s that?”

“Ah, that’s a device that seals a Hunter’s abilities. The Martial Arts Association requires it to prevent any unforeseen accidents, so you don’t need to worry about it.”

It seemed they hadn’t asked Seong-hyeon if he was a Hunter because of this.

“Ability sealing? There’s such a device?”

This was the first time he had heard of such a thing.

Even before his regression, he had never heard of this equipment.

But the history of martial arts was quite long, and they had been using this device all along, so why hadn’t it been reported in the media?

“It’s not that impressive. It only works if the opponent agrees to it.”

Come to think of it, all the matches he had seen on TV had a very thick barrier around the ring.

It was probably to prevent accidents like the assassination of a Hunter whose abilities were sealed.

“You don’t need to do anything special; just standing here means you agree.”

After standing in the spot the director guided him to, he felt a rather strange sensation.

A foreign but not unpleasant feeling.

“Since you both have experience, I’ll skip the rules explanation. We’ll have a 2-minute, 2-round sparring match.”

Seong-hyeon wasn’t familiar with the rules, but he assumed he just shouldn’t do anything cowardly or cause any serious injuries.

‘Still, he’s supposed to be the best in the gym…’

Of course, he had no intention of losing.

He would win, but the question was how.

He would just take and give some hits for 2 minutes and 2 rounds.

“Start!”

Dae-cheol cautiously swayed his body left and right, observing Seong-hyeon’s movements as if trying to gauge him.

‘…What is this?’

His stance alone showed so many openings that it was hard to believe he was skilled.

‘Then lightly…’

He threw a jab towards the clearly visible opening, but Seong-hyeon didn’t move an inch from his stance.

‘Is he doing this level of range-finding?’

If so, then all those openings he was seeing must be traps.

His skill was extraordinary.

“Then I’ll go first.”

Seong-hyeon’s punch was fast.

That was all he could think; it didn’t feel like it had much weight.

However, it was faster than he had imagined, making it difficult to find a counter timing.

“Oh… amazing speed.”

The director watched Seong-hyeon’s incredible speed with a surprised expression, and so did his younger sibling, who was seeing Seong-hyeon use his strength for the first time.

Seong-hyeon slowed down a bit, seeing that Dae-cheol was only dodging.

Thanks to that, the sparring match turned into an exchange of blows, and the other gym members watched with rapt attention, their hands sweating.

Except for the director, whose expression had hardened.

‘He’s holding back.’

Dae-cheol’s attacks seemed to hit but were deflected, minimizing the damage, and his own attacks reduced the power at the moment of impact, delivering only moderate shock.

And it seemed that not only the director but also Dae-cheol had noticed.

‘…Because of the other members?’

But he couldn’t help but feel insulted.

“Ha!”

He put all his strength into a punch, but Seong-hyeon dodged to the side and lightly punched his exposed abdomen.

‘Got him!’

Dae-cheol bent down and blocked the punch with his opposite hand, then straightened up, using the momentum to throw a punch.

——————————————–

“…Huh?”

Dae-cheol opened his eyes and looked around with a dazed expression.

A familiar space, a familiar smell.

And one unfamiliar face.

“Are you alright?”

“Ah, yes. I’m fine.”

As he answered, he remembered everything that had happened.

He had successfully lured his opponent into the deliberately opened gap, but the result of the subsequent attack was a perfect counter.

“I learned a lot. Thank you!”

Dae-cheol quickly regained his composure, got up, and bowed to Seong-hyeon.

“No problem. It was just light sparring…”

“It’s alright! I was also serious in the middle!”

“I’m glad it went well.”

The director looked at Dae-cheol, who had received new stimulation, with a pleased expression, and Seong-hyeon, the source of that stimulation, also looked at him with a very satisfied expression.

“So, when will you be coming to the gym?”

“Actually, I’m not the one who’s registering for the gym.”

“Come as soon as possi… Huh? What did you say?”

“My younger sibling will be registering here.”

The director looked at Seong-hyeon and Hye-in alternately with a rather dumbfounded expression.

“But what you said earlier is still valid, right?”

“Ah, yes… it’s still valid, but…”

He seemed to have a hard time letting go of his disappointment.

“Then please take good care of my younger sibling.”

He left the director with a smile and was about to leave when the director followed him and said,

“If you become even slightly interested, please let me know.”

“I will.”

Seong-hyeon waved goodbye to his younger sibling and left the gym.

After handing over a year’s worth of gym fees to the front desk.

——————————————–

Until the academy’s opening day, Seong-hyeon spent a week at home without going on any subjugations [monster hunts].

He didn’t go anywhere with his mother and younger sibling, and nothing particularly special happened, but just spending the whole day together felt like he had gone on a trip to a scenic spot.

The academy’s opening ceremony.

It was no different from any other opening ceremony, except for one thing: they would be electing the student council president on the first day.

“Are you going to run for student council president?”

Seong-hyeon shook his head, showing no interest in In-hwan’s question.

“Absolutely not. It’s a waste of time.”

If things were going as Seong-hyeon knew them, according to his memories, then being the student council president wouldn’t be a bad choice.

But the situation had changed too much, leaving no room for other options.

“Seong-hyeon! Seong-hyeon!”

Turning around at the urgent voice, he saw his homeroom teacher calling him, panting.

“What’s wrong?”

Seong-hyeon, who was sitting down, only turned his head to answer, was a little taken aback by what his homeroom teacher said next.

“Well, I didn’t get a chance to tell you… you have to say a few words as the academy’s representative for the national competition later.”

“Ha…”

The homeroom teacher flinched at Seong-hyeon’s sigh of stress.

“I refuse.”

“Well, don’t be like that…”

“I said I refuse. I told you.”

The homeroom teacher couldn’t say anything more and hurriedly ran off somewhere again.

“Why is it only our homeroom teacher who’s like that?”

“Tsk… the homeroom teacher will be changing soon, so this will be the end of it today.”

In-hwan and Sang-yeon sighed as they watched their homeroom teacher disappear.

Just before the opening ceremony began, the academy’s principal came to visit in person this time.

“Principal?”

“It’s been a while. More than that, it seems you had some trouble with the incompetent one.”

Seong-hyeon chuckled as the principal blatantly called his professor incompetent in front of another student.

“I thought you would have conveyed the information that I had told you in advance before the vacation started, but you’re only conveying it today…”

“So, is that why the principal came in person?”

“That’s right. Aren’t you officially the strongest student in the academy? Unofficially as well, but still.”

Since the principal was directly asking in front of other students, Seong-hyeon couldn’t just refuse.

The way he lowered his head and came in first seemed like he had been aiming for this from the start.

“Then I have no choice, but I don’t have any prepared remarks since I only heard about it today.”

“It’s simple. Just say what you’re thinking. That’s all.”

While he was wondering what to say, the principal naturally took a seat next to Seong-hyeon.

“And now that incompetent one will be expelled from the academy.”

“…Is that so?”

“We can’t help but address frequent confessions of incompetence. This incident is the same.”

The principal, knowing that Seong-hyeon and his homeroom teacher didn’t get along, gave off the nuance that the academy had sacrificed itself for Seong-hyeon.

Seong-hyeon could let that much slide, so he nodded as if he couldn’t help it.

“I understand.”

The principal smiled as if it was a good choice and left.

As soon as the principal left, the first-year freshmen began to enter.

“Hmm… why don’t I see any decent kids?”

“I agree.”

As In-hwan and Sang-yeon said, this year’s first-year freshmen were terrible.

To the point where it was embarrassing to even call them academy students.

‘Except for one person.’

Looking around the first-year students, he saw someone who was most similar to Seong-hyeon’s memories.

In the corner, looking the most pathetic.

The first-year students, feeling nervous for no reason at Seong-hyeon’s gaze, stiffened their bodies and looked straight ahead.

Not only did he have the title of the only healing ability user, but he was also the only one who had defeated a 3rd grader as a 1st grader.

Even though there was quite a distance, the power felt in his gaze made them swallow hard.

The gaze that had been looking at them for a while turned forward again, and only then did the 1st graders release the breath they had been holding in.

“Now, everyone, please take your seats.”

A guidance voice came out, and soon the academy’s principal appeared on the platform.

“The Republic of Korea’s… academy is… as a part of history…”

During the 30-minute speech, not only the freshmen but also the 2nd and 3rd graders were nodding off little by little.

“Next, we will have a few words from Kim Seong-hyeon, representing the academy’s representatives, Kang In-hwan and Gu Sang-yeon.”

At Seong-hyeon’s appearance, those who had been dozing off until just now all perked up and looked at the platform.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kim Seong-hyeon.”

The loudest applause he had heard today rang out, and Seong-hyeon canceled everything he had been thinking about for a moment because the principal had given too long of a speech and said.