I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 231

231

As expected, the association’s training room was empty.

With the increasing number of Gates, the places and guilds to manage also increased, leaving the hunters affiliated with the association with no time to train.

“It’s my first time in the association’s training room.”

“What do you think?”

“Well… nothing special. Our guild is better.”

His affection for the guild, more heartfelt than blind loyalty, was quite admirable.

“But why did you suddenly ask me to teach you swordsmanship?”

“Does it change depending on the reason?”

“Huh? Of course not. It’s just pure curiosity as someone who wields a sword. Why someone as strong as you, Guild Leader, who doesn’t even need a sword, would want to learn swordsmanship.”

“I have a feeling that one day, a monster that can only be fought with a sword will appear… that’s why.”

Park Han-wook smiled faintly at Sung Hyun’s earnest answer.

“How is your daughter doing?”

“Haha, of course. I am always grateful to you, Guild Leader.”

Being saved was already an unpayable debt for life, but Sung Hyun even directly created a guild and hired him.

That wasn’t all.

He also went on subjugations together and introduced a new education system, improving the overall level. He was a benefactor.

Beyond simply receiving grace, if he hadn’t met Sung Hyun that day, he wouldn’t be where he was now. To Park Han-wook, Sung Hyun was someone he couldn’t repay enough, even over several lifetimes.

“Is there anyone sick in your family?”

“The flu has been going around recently, so my daughter caught it once.”

“You should have said something. It must be hard for a young child to get through the flu easily.”

“She needs to learn to overcome things on her own. If she relies on others for everything, from A to Z, she won’t be able to do anything on her own later on.”

“Does that mean I’m ‘others’?”

“Huh? N-no, that’s not what I meant…”

“Haha, I’m just kidding.”

These were different sides of Sung Hyun than he usually knew.

Although they hadn’t met privately often, many people wouldn’t think Sung Hyun had this kind of personality based on his interviews and achievements.

‘Maybe this is Guild Leader’s true self.’

But Park Han-wook knew.

The moment he first met Sung Hyun.

The Sung Hyun who was just a slightly special academy student, not yet a top hunter or anything else, probably looked the most like he does now.

It wasn’t a particularly interesting story, nor was it a time to recount great heroic deeds.

It was just a time to ask how he was doing and if there were any problems.

It was just a time for light jokes, but in Park Han-wook’s eyes, Sung Hyun looked the happiest now.

“To me, Guild Leader… you are a special person.”

“Isn’t that why I’m getting free education like this?”

“Haha… education? I’m just sharing what I know and have experienced.”

“That’s the hardest part. People with a lot tend to want to take from others rather than protect what they have.”

“…I will keep that in mind. I will not take from others, as you have done, Guild Leader.”

“Well, except for monsters.”

“Haha, that’s right.”

Looking at Sung Hyun’s subtle smile, he finally looked his age.

It might be a conservative thing to say, but looking one’s age means there are things you can only see and feel at that time.

Just as there is an order to everything, Park Han-wook thought there was an order to this as well.

“Now, let’s take a look at the sword.”

“Ah, yes. Please take care of me, Master.”

“Haha… Master… oh my…”

He just wanted to be called normally, but being treated like this by Sung Hyun was also a unique experience, and he knew very well that Sung Hyun wouldn’t listen even if he asked to be called differently, so Park Han-wook brushed it off with an awkward smile.

“You have a sword you’re currently using, right?”

“Yes.”

“Can I see it?”

Soon, Sung Hyun took out a sword from his chest and handed it to Park Han-wook, who began to examine it slowly.

Park Han-wook wasn’t someone who made equipment, nor did he have the ability to do so, but he at least had an eye for swords.

“Hmm… what should I say, this is quite an amazing sword.”

“Is that so? I don’t know much about swords.”

The black sword, with a black blade and a black chain attached to it, exuded an ominous aura on the outside.

Just touching it was enough to continuously absorb mana as if it were coveting something.

“Hoo, I don’t think I can hold it any longer. It’s a dangerous sword.”

“A dangerous sword?”

“Yes. It keeps absorbing my mana. Didn’t you feel it?”

“No, not really…”

Sung Hyun grabbed the sword again at Park Han-wook’s words, but he didn’t feel anything like that at all.

Even if it was a small amount, Sung Hyun’s sense of feeling mana had already reached an incredible level.

That meant only Park Han-wook felt that way.

“Maybe it recognizes its owner. Since someone who isn’t its owner is holding it, it’s absorbing mana. It’s like, ‘I’ll eat all your mana and make you let go of me.'”

“Is that so? It’s more loyal than I thought.”

“Where did you get this sword? It looks like it was made a really long time ago.”

“It’s a trophy I got from hunting a monster. It originally belonged to that monster.”

“It must have been an incredibly strong monster. I don’t have the right to judge, but there’s probably no one in this world who can make a sword like this.”

He had been carrying it around because it was a decent sword, but to think it was better than he imagined, Sung Hyun smiled as he looked at the sword.

“You wanted to learn swordsmanship from me because of the basic stances, right?”

“Yes. I use a sword, but since I don’t have any knowledge or experience, I’m just swinging it as I please.”

That might have reached its peak, allowing him to wield such a sword inside the Gate, but that was just luck.

Besides, all the strength in his body would drain out after swinging it once, so if he encountered a monster with the ability to seal mana, like the owner of the Rank 2 Gate, an unexpected emergency could occur.

“Alright. Then first, imagine you’re cutting down the opponent in front of you and swing lightly.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Sung Hyun moved according to Park Han-wook’s instructions.

Imagining the owner of the Rank 2 Gate in front of him and swinging the sword lightly, the sound of the sword cutting through the air began to be heard pleasantly.

‘…Why aren’t you saying anything?’

It was already all over, but Park Han-wook didn’t say anything.

Was Sung Hyun’s stance that bad?

“Um… Guild Leader.”

“Ah, yes. Was it too bad? Haha…”

He said, looking awkwardly at Park Han-wook, but Park Han-wook was shaking his head.

“It’s not that, but just a little slower…”

“Ah.”

Perhaps, from Park Han-wook’s level, it looked like Sung Hyun had disappeared for a moment and then reappeared.

“I can see the stance, but it’s too fast to see what’s wrong.”

“You saw the stance?”

“Yes. I saw it like afterimages in between, but it’s too fast…”

Still, it was an unexpected situation.

He had expected him not to be able to keep up at all, but he had roughly confirmed the form.

Subjectively and objectively, Sung Hyun was a top hunter with few comparable individuals in the world.

But Park Han-wook was only a fairly decent hunter when judged calmly.

However, the fact that he had directly confirmed Sung Hyun’s movements with his eyes meant that his potential was still high.

“Before you teach me, can you attack me once?”

It was a temporary reversal of roles.

He began to wonder how much Park Han-wook could grow, and how much he had grown now.

“Me?”

“Yes, use your ability at full power. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Haha, of course. How could I even graze you?”

“Please do it right away.”

“Yes.”

Park Han-wook’s ability was One Strike.

This ability, which could only be used once a minute, forced him to pour everything into the sword, and there was a fatal flaw that the one-minute time limit would not decrease no matter how much he grew.

But Park Han-wook didn’t give up.

He tried to exert the power he could initially exert with One Strike even in normal times.

Although the speed wasn’t as fast as famous hunters, he grew slowly but surely.

As he grew to the point where he could exert the power of One Strike even in normal times, the power of One Strike also increased along with that growth, and Park Han-wook tried to use that One Strike in normal times again.

It was a repetition of that.

“Hoo… here I go!”

Park Han-wook’s mana was weak.

He had slightly less mana compared to other hunters of the same level.

However, the sword strike unfolding before his eyes was a trajectory that he couldn’t show even with much more mana.

One breath, nothing rough but not violent either.

Park Han-wook’s sword was at a level that exceeded expectations to the point that it was beautiful.

‘…This is…’

Sung Hyun saw something.

Things that he probably wouldn’t have seen if it wasn’t for Sung Hyun.

The very subtle white part visible in the air along the tip of Park Han-wook’s sword was exuding a presence that was completely out of place in this training room.

And Sung Hyun had seen that white thing before.

Just recently, in the battle with the owner of the Rank 2 Gate.

‘He… split the dimension.’

He hadn’t seen it wrong.

Park Han-wook had clearly split the dimension.

But there would have been no one to recognize this.

They wouldn’t think that Park Han-wook had reached a realm they hadn’t reached.

Also, they wouldn’t be at a level to recognize a realm they hadn’t reached.

It was a sorry thing to say to Park Han-wook, but having one arm would also fall into this prejudice.

For someone who wields a sword, not having an arm to balance the other side meant that the limit was set.

‘A sword that splits dimensions.’

Sung Hyun knew this sword.

The memories from before his regression.

Before Sung Hyun regressed, there was a hunter who quietly made a name for himself.

That hunter’s name was Park Han-byul.

It was a name quite similar to Park Han-wook, but in Sung Hyun’s memory, that hunter hadn’t lost an arm.

That’s why he hadn’t suspected anything.

“…Park Han-wook.”

“Yes?”

“By any chance, is your daughter’s name…”

“Ah, my daughter? It’s Han-byul. Park Han-byul. Now that I think about it, I didn’t even mention my daughter’s name. Haha.”

Now all the situations matched.

The past where Sung Hyun didn’t appear.

After that incident, Park Han-wook lost his daughter, and he had been active under his daughter’s name to honor her.

“More than that, my sword is very lacking, right? It’s okay even now, so learning swordsmanship from someone else…”

“…It’s perfect.”

“Yes?”

“Park Han-wook’s sword is.”

An expression without any exaggeration.

Sung Hyun’s expression was more serious than ever, and his will and passion to learn had also sprung up even more.

Thanks to that, Park Han-wook was also able to realize that there was no lie in Sung Hyun’s words.

“Thank… you.”

“Now, shall we start again? You have to teach me that perfect sword.”

“Yes, I understand.”

In Park Han-wook’s eyes, the will to pass on everything he knew was also beginning to flicker.