I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 276

276

About a day after the hunters who entered the Level 4 Gate stopped returning.

Until then, they had thought it was just taking a long time to subdue the monsters inside the Gate, but now things were different.

The hunters who were eager to conquer the Level 4 Gate went in first, and then other hunters went in after them when they didn’t return.

These were people who had the power to easily conquer even Level 3 Gates.

Even they weren’t coming back, so it began to feel like something was wrong.

That was true for Korea as well.

It wasn’t just anyone; Sung Hyun’s guild members had gone out to conquer and hadn’t returned.

“What’s going on?”

Inhwan was the first to try to figure out the situation, but since no one had returned, he couldn’t figure out the details inside the Gate.

“We don’t know either. They’re not coming back…”

Hunters who were at least raid leaders hadn’t planned to conquer the Level 4 Gate, so fortunately, there were no casualties among them, but about half of the lower-level hunters who maintained the guild’s foundation hadn’t returned.

“It’s not good to say this, but not being able to return means…”

“No. They’ll be fine. I’ll contact Sung Hyun.”

“…Okay. We’ll prepare in case we need to be deployed.”

One of the raid leaders gave a bitter smile, patted Inhwan on the shoulder a few times, and left.

“Inhwan. What on earth is going on?”

Sangyeon hadn’t been inside the Level 4 Gate either, so he didn’t know the situation well.

“Guild members aren’t coming back. So I’m going to contact Sung Hyun.”

“Don’t call him too urgently. It’s a loss for Sung Hyun to move himself for a Level 4 Gate conquest.”

Inhwan felt the same way.

However, for some reason, he had a feeling that the situation couldn’t be resolved without a top-tier hunter.

“Then let’s go together.”

“You need to stay here. How can you leave your post when there’s no one to manage things?”

“But who knows what might happen inside…”

“Have you forgotten my strength? Even if something happens, you should at least not die.”

“…That’s true, but…”

Sangyeon was right.

The time between the Level 5 Gate and the Level 4 Gate overflowing was quite short, and the inside of the Level 4 Gate had completely changed, so someone had to stay behind to deal with the variables.

“Instead, contact the high-level hunters in other guilds. Ask them to come with us.”

“Are you sure? They might just get in the way.”

“If the hunters who went into the Level 4 Gate are still alive, they need someone to protect them. I can survive alone, but I can’t survive with everyone.”

“Okay. I’ll contact them right away.”

As Sangyeon said, Inhwan immediately contacted other large guilds.

Those who could respond to the Level 4 Gate’s irrational changes were already prepared in other guilds, and among them, those who would work with Sangyeon.

“Then, thank you.”

There was no need for separate agreements.

If Sung Hyun’s guild had about half of its members not return, other large guilds had about 2/3 of their members not return.

Moreover, other large guilds didn’t accept low-level hunters.

That meant that at least mid-level or upper-mid-level hunters had gone into the Level 4 Gate and hadn’t returned.

Looking at the number of hunters alone was painful, but looking at the level of each one, it was a significant loss.

“Sangyeon. It’s all done. Two high-level hunters each have been selected from other large guilds.”

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. I told them to come to the Level 4 Gate right away, so if you leave right away, you should arrive around the same time.”

“Okay. Then I’ll be back.”

The Level 4 Gate was about 30 minutes away from here.

It might be a bit cowardly, but Inhwan decided to go to the place where the most guild members hadn’t returned, rather than the closest Level 4 Gate.

Sangyeon headed straight for the Level 4 Gate without any delay.

Taking a few of the elixirs that Sung Hyun had left behind.

Fortunately, the outside of the Gate wasn’t too chaotic.

The overflow had been blocked very thoroughly.

‘When will this street become chaotic?’

Normally, he would have been comforted by the peaceful appearance of this street, but now he couldn’t think of anything but worry.

He hadn’t seen anything with his own eyes yet, but for some reason, he kept having this ominous feeling, and most of the ominous feelings tended to come true.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Gu Sangyeon.”

“Oh, you’re that famous person.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Whether they knew about Sangyeon’s ominous feeling or not, they weren’t in a very serious mood.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand.

The Gate they were entering now was only, just a Level 4 Gate.

“Let’s conquer it quickly and go back. It’s just a Level 4 Gate.”

“Yes. With this many people, we could even challenge a Level 2 Gate.”

There wasn’t even a little bit of tension.

It was as casual as going to the convenience store in front of their house.

‘…Not good.’

Sangyeon wasn’t without余裕 [leeway/composure] either.

However, the biggest difference between him and them was that Sangyeon at least checked the opponent with his own eyes before relaxing.

“Let’s go. It could be a really urgent situation.”

“That’s true.”

“Let’s go.”

Nine hunters who were among the top-ranked high-level hunters.

Maybe Sangyeon was worrying too much, or maybe he was making a fuss.

‘I hope it’s a fuss.’

The inside of the Level 4 Gate, which led to the inside of the cave, was really quiet.

It felt like there was nothing there.

But that’s why he was more anxious.

What about the other hunters who went in first?

They hadn’t returned, so that meant they were here, but it was quiet.

“It’s a bit strange.”

“Should we go further in?”

Formally, Sangyeon was the raid leader of this party, but no one in this place seemed to want to follow Sangyeon’s instructions.

Younger than them.

A guild that was created much later than their own guild.

A Gate that was so weak that no separate instructions were needed.

Thanks to these reasons, the hunters were heading deeper into the Gate.

“Is there anything here? I can’t see or feel anything?”

“Should we go deeper?”

As they went deeper and deeper, they felt the floor was wet.

It felt like it was more than just a little wet, but like it had created a huge puddle.

It wasn’t strange to have such a puddle inside the cave, but the problem was the smell that was rising from this puddle.

“A fishy…blood smell?”

This familiar, pungent smell.

He didn’t know whose blood it was, but it was certain that this blood wasn’t the blood of a monster.

At the same time, a sticky air began to wrap around his body.

He tried to ignore it because it was just an unpleasant stickiness, but the magic power that was injected in an instant caused several people who were going ahead to be caught and float in the air.

“Ugh! W, what is this!!”

“P, please release me!!”

No one stepped forward in response to these urgent cries.

Sangyeon frowned at the fact that they had come in to save other hunters, but there was no movement.

‘I have to tear the magic power [magical energy].’

It would have been impossible before, but it was possible now.

Sangyeon used a lot of magic power in both hands and tore the magic power that wrapped around his body.

“T, thank you.”

The hunter who fell to the floor crawled over the blood puddle and moved behind Sangyeon, gasping for breath.

He probably knew best.

That if Sangyeon hadn’t helped him, his body would have exploded.

“What? You tore it?”

The voice coming from the front.

The magic power contained in the voice alone was enough to overwhelm everyone in this place.

Except for Sangyeon.

“I was getting tired of only boring humans coming in, but a really good toy came in.”

The atmosphere that the monster was giving off wasn’t the atmosphere of facing an enemy.

It was a voice as if he had found a really fun toy.

“What? A toy? How dare a monster…!!”

“I’ll tear your mouth first.”

The things that had just happened were all just things that happened because they were attacked in a careless state.

That’s what they were thinking, but Sangyeon was different.

‘I can’t win.’

He couldn’t win with his current self.

He felt like he could win if Sung Hyun was by his side, but he didn’t think about it because Sung Hyun wasn’t here right now.

Sangyeon knew very well that he couldn’t win, but he wasn’t very shaken.

Because he didn’t feel like he was going to die.

And if he didn’t die, he could win.

Inhwan would have contacted Sung Hyun, and if he held on and held on, Sung Hyun would come.

Moreover, he had a decent amount of Sung Hyun’s elixirs in his possession.

However, he couldn’t use these elixirs for the hunters who came with him.

He didn’t have the power to protect them all.

“Everyone take your positions…”

Sangyeon tried to coordinate their movements somehow, but the hunter who had already experienced humiliation was in a state of losing his mind.

Was he swept away by that atmosphere?

Other hunters also forgot what they had just seen and charged towards the monster without any countermeasures.

At most, it was just the boss of a Level 4 Gate.

At most, it would be the boss of a Level 3 Gate.

“Ah, no…”

He didn’t expect much from them, but he didn’t want them to die either.

If possible, he wanted everyone to return alive.

“Your pride, intelligence, is meaningless in the face of overwhelming power.”

Eight high-level hunters except for Sangyeon.

All of them exploded in an instant, widening the blood puddle they had stepped on a little while ago.

———————–

The agent who finished placing the Level 4 Gate arrived here at the same time.

Exactly one day before Sangyeon entered the Gate.

“This is the place.”

Moreover, this was a place where humans had rarely visited.

The closest place, yet the most difficult place to know.

It was the perfect place to suppress the vessel.

“Then…shall we begin?”

The agent used a knife to cut his wrist and began to draw something on the floor.

It was so large that it seemed like he was pouring out almost all the blood in his body, but it felt so beautiful that it couldn’t be more delicate.

“Ugh…”

His body staggered, but there was no time for this.

He didn’t know when the strong humans would notice the change in the Level 4 Gate and move.

The agent, who was in the center of the unidentified thing drawn on the floor, drew out the limit of magic power that he could use from the beginning.

“At this speed…it will take about two days.”

The standard when he didn’t stop using magic power for a single moment for 24 hours.

Moreover, there was another condition.

He had to bring the vessel here.

Bringing it itself wasn’t difficult, so he just had to not stop using magic power for exactly 48 hours from now on.

“Act similarly to the children here, to the extent that you don’t get injured.”

“Yes.”

The most important plan to create cracks in the vessel began.