I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 148

148

Even though his encounter with the Lich was over, Seonghyun continued to clear 3-star Gates.

Seonghyun now possessed the strength and experience to clear 2-star Gates alone, but the reason he only cleared 3-star Gates was simple.

“This should be enough to not offend them.”

If he took full advantage of the other party’s goodwill, he would lose any leverage to use against them later.

The moment Seonghyun started focusing on clearing 2-star Gates, especially with his already strained relationship with Padron, it could cause issues.

Of course, Seonghyun wasn’t one to be constrained by such things, but he needed to create a situation where he could clear the Gates that would appear later with less scrutiny.

“But I don’t quite remember when that time is…”

What was certain was that a 2-star Gate would appear soon, and that seemingly ordinary 2-star Gate was quite special.

He needed to clear 3-star Gates for now, creating a suitable prejudice in their minds, and then start clearing 2-star Gates in time for the upcoming 2-star Gate.

“Kieeeek!!”

Seonghyun grabbed the head of a charging monster with one hand and crushed it.

“Now, 3-star Gates take about 2 minutes.”

In any case, how quickly he cleared 3-star Gates wasn’t something they cared about.

Depending on the type of ability, even a much stronger Hunter could take longer than 3 minutes.

Seonghyun crushed the boss’s head and exited the 3-star Gate, and as if waiting for it, a call came in.

“Vice-Chairman?”

“Ah, I can finally reach you, Hunter. Did you check what we sent you?”

“Sent me?”

“Ah… please check first.”

The Vice-Chairman’s voice was as subdued as if he had committed a mortal sin.

Soon, he confirmed what they had sent: his mother and sister had been kidnapped, and they had identified the United States as the mastermind behind the incident and were investigating.

“Yes, I have confirmed.”

“I sincerely apologize. We did not anticipate that they would carry out such an act, bypassing so many guards.”

Although it was a voice heard through the receiver, it was a voice so sincere that he thought he might die if asked to.

“Is there any progress?”

“We have confirmed some evidence, but as expected, it seems the evidence has been fabricated to implicate Russia, China, and European countries. The fabrication is certain. However, there is some progress, so we should be able to find results soon.”

“Hmm… just a moment.”

At the word ‘just a moment,’ a small sound of swallowing could be heard over the receiver.

“Manager Cha.”

“Yes, you called?”

“How is the Red Eye inside?”

“He’s thrashing around like a beast, but what can he do without his hands? He’s just a wriggling earthworm.”

“Can you visit the Vice-Chairman for a moment?”

“No problem. Opening rifts was a matter of magic, but now there’s no need to worry about that.”

“Then please.”

“Yes.”

Soon, Manager Cha’s magic began to fluctuate.

Creating a rift from the United States to Korea required an enormous amount of magic.

“It’s done.”

“Ah, yes. To continue the explanation, the person who directly carried out the act is Red Eye, and as you may know, he used to be… Huh? Manager Cha? Why suddenly…”

Manager Cha and the Vice-Chairman’s conversation could be heard over the receiver.

“Hunter Kim instructed me.”

“What instructions… Oh? This, this guy is…”

Someone who emerged from the rift with both arms cut off.

“It’s Red Eye. I’ve cut off his arms, so he won’t be able to resist much.”

“W-wait a minute, then what about Hunter Kim’s family…”

“They are all safe and sound.”

“Huh… really, really…”

The Vice-Chairman couldn’t even speak properly and continued to let out sighs of relief.

“Did you confirm?”

“Yes, I don’t know whether to apologize or thank you…”

“No. That guy is one of the top Hunters and an expert in this kind of thing, so the large number of guards we had wouldn’t have been enough.”

“Ah…”

“More importantly, the media doesn’t know about this yet, right?”

This was the most important thing.

It was something that both the Association and Seonghyun were concerned about.

For the Association, it would be seen as incompetent for failing to protect them properly, and for Seonghyun, it was a problem that someone else might target them again since they had already been breached once.

“Yes, we are managing it thoroughly. Security personnel are also stationed at the residence, so they probably haven’t noticed.”

The process of carrying out the operation was conducted so secretly that probably not many people in the United States knew about this incident.

They wouldn’t have done anything crazy like directly exposing it to the media or giving them a pretext.

In fact, even in Korea, they had only detected some slight disturbances, and there were no separate articles or anything like that.

“Please maintain it like that. I still need to be in the United States.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

After hanging up, Seonghyun rechecked the content sent by the Vice-Chairman.

Looking at the time it was sent, it seemed like it was sent almost immediately after the incident occurred.

“Are they trying to hold onto trust?”

A light laugh came out at the very obvious intention.

However, he didn’t feel bad because the intention was so obvious that it seemed cute.

“Well, this is the limit of Korea.”

Since this kind of thing wouldn’t happen again in the future, there was no need to worry much now.

——————————————–

“That bastard Red Eye, finally…”

“Hunter Kim instructed us to keep him alive.”

The man lying unconscious on the floor was clearly not visible because his eyes were closed, but the Vice-Chairman could tell at once.

“Keep him alive… so you only cut off his arms.”

“Yes.”

“Will that be enough?”

“Yes?”

At that moment, magic began to surge in the Vice-Chairman’s hand.

The Vice-Chairman’s fist, imbued with ominous magic that was ruining his own body, soon struck Red Eye’s abdomen.

“We have to completely eliminate any future problems.”

Through the fist that touched Red Eye’s abdomen, the Vice-Chairman injected his magic into Red Eye’s body.

The Vice-Chairman’s hand was becoming more and more grotesque, but in proportion to that, Red Eye’s magic was gradually disappearing.

“Hoo, that’s done.”

“Vice-Chairman, this is…”

“Now, Red Eye is at best a high-ranking Hunter. It has to be this level to prevent any future problems.”

“But Vice-Chairman’s hand…”

“Isn’t it the same as before anyway?”

“…”

“More than that, did he say anything about how to use this Red Eye?”

“No, he didn’t say anything specifically, but I think he might use it to catch the Vice-Chairman of the United States.”

As the Vice-Chairman predicted, the Vice-Chairman of the United States and Red Eye would have a fairly deep relationship.

And that relationship was naturally a business relationship.

The side with more weaknesses was naturally in a more advantageous relationship.

“I see, the day the United States is turned upside down is not far off.”

Of course, the United States would not be shaken by the incident of one Vice-Chairman, but who was creating the cracks was important.

“Do you remember the Hunter who had the taming ability before?”

“Of course. He was the person who received as much expectation as the Lich.”

“The bereaved family has a close relationship with the Italian Hunter Association.”

“…Aha.”

The Vice-Chairman was not a fool, and he was a person who used all the cards he could use.

Of course, he wouldn’t use the card if it would harm Seonghyun at this time.

“I have to go to Italy once.”

“I will accompany you.”

“…You? If you go to Italy, what about Hunter Kim…”

Since Manager Cha was a member of the Association, the Vice-Chairman knew Manager Cha’s abilities and limitations very well.

He had never thought that he could open a rift from Korea to Italy.

He didn’t even realize that what had appeared now had come from the United States.

“I received very great luck.”

“That means… by any chance…”

“I’m on my way from the United States now.”

“What on earth, what happened to your magic? The amount of magic I feel is definitely similar to before…”

“I don’t know either, but one thing is certain: magic is now restored even inside the rift. The speed of recovery exceeds the speed of use.”

“Huh…”

“Now I can move to Italy in 1 minute, so I think it would be best to move there when Hunter Kim is done using this Red Eye.”

“1 minute… I understand. Then are you going back to the United States now?”

“Yes, Hunter Kim’s family is also inside the rift now.”

“It’s hard to believe… I understand. Come back when you’re done.”

“I understand.”

Soon, the rift opened, and Manager Cha disappeared into it.

“When Hunter Kim comes back, a lot will change…”

The Vice-Chairman immediately ordered everyone who was out investigating to return.

He contacted the Academy Headmaster and Hakeno, the CEO of DNN [a fictional company], directly.

All of them were not curious about how Seonghyun had captured Red Eye even though he was in the United States, or how he had predicted that this would happen.

They were just grateful to hear the news that they were safe at a time when they were blaming themselves for the security they had sent being breached.

“I have to prepare what I have to do.”

He had hinted to Manager Cha about what he would do in the future, so it would definitely be known to Seonghyun.

And Seonghyun would also understand what purpose there was in this.

——————————————–

For the past few days, Seonghyun had been gradually reducing the frequency of clearing 3-star Gates.

This number did not reach the level where the surrounding guilds were short of numbers to clear the Gates.

Thanks to that, even if they were dissatisfied with giving the authority to clear the Gates to Hunters from other countries, they did not complain about Seonghyun’s actions.

During that time, Seonghyun had only cleared 3-star Gates, except for talking to the Lich separately while staying in the United States.

Naturally, the surveillance had decreased slightly compared to the beginning.

“Shall we start clearing 2-star Gates now?”

In fact, this Gate was not newly appearing.

A deformed phenomenon in which 2-star Gates appeared inside existing 2-star Gates.

In the meantime, he had grasped all the locations of the 2-star Gates while receiving priority for clearing them, so all that was left was to go around one by one.

However, this deformed phenomenon only appeared when all the monsters inside the 2-star Gate were killed, so he had to clear the Gate first, whether he liked it or not.

“First, register for 2-star clearing…”

The difference between Korea and the United States.

Before starting to clear a 2-star Gate, he had to register it on the Association’s computer system.

Seonghyun completed the computer registration with the equipment he had received from the Vice-Chairman of the United States and immediately moved to the 2-star Gate.

Seonghyun’s schedule for clearing 2-star Gates was uploaded to the computer system.

And the number of people who could check this schedule was quite large.

Because guild leaders could check it.

“He’s embarking on clearing a 2-star Gate…?”

This fact began to spread less than a minute after Seonghyun registered on the computer system.