I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 101

Though the sky had turned purple, there were still no significant changes in the environment.

At this point, one would expect the monsters to be desperate and rush out, but there wasn’t even a hint of that. It was eerily quiet.

It felt as if they were being beckoned to go deeper, drawn by an unseen force.

As if something significant was waiting for them at the end of their path.

“Everyone, don’t let your guard down. We’re venturing further in,” the raid leader announced, his voice firm despite the unsettling atmosphere.

Since the mutation had already occurred, there was no turning back. The guild members and mercenaries pressed on, their steps measured and cautious.

“…”

After walking for a few more minutes, an incongruous door stood alone before them, an anomaly in the twisted landscape.

“We have to go in, right…” a mercenary muttered, his voice laced with apprehension.

The purple door, which didn’t match the surrounding scenery at all and shared the same ominous color as the mutated area and the sky, felt like a gateway to something terrible. It pulsed with an unnatural energy.

The raid leader steeled himself, stepped forward, and opened the door.

An impenetrable darkness greeted him, a void so complete that even fire couldn’t illuminate it. It was as if the darkness itself was a tangible entity.

The raid leader really didn’t want to go in, every instinct screaming at him to turn back, but duty and the mission left him no choice, so he had to enter.

One by one, all the guild members and mercenaries began to seep into the darkness inside the door. Once everyone was inside, the surroundings suddenly shifted, bathing them in an intense purple light, and a voice echoed through the chamber.

“…Who dares disturb my slumber? Are you descendants of the fallen ones?”

“Fallen ones?” Kim Cheon-jung questioned, glancing around at his companions.

Just like the feeling he had when he first saw the mutated scenery, it felt like this place was a glimpse into a future where humanity had fallen, a potential timeline of ruin.

“Oh…upon closer inspection, you’re not descendants. You’re ancestors,” the voice mused, a hint of surprise in its tone.

The monster, speaking in incomprehensible words that somehow translated in their minds, revealed its form as the purple light grew brighter, coalescing into a distinct shape.

“…Human?” Chief Cha murmured, his eyes narrowed in disbelief.

Its appearance was almost identical to a human, possessing a familiar humanoid form.

Except for its skin, which was a sickly, unnatural purple.

The unidentified monster sat on what appeared to be a throne crafted from twisted metal and bone, looking down at those who had disturbed its sleep with an air of supreme arrogance.

With an expression more arrogant than anyone else, it surveyed the intruders with disdain.

“…I was going to enjoy some entertainment, but to think you would equate me with such a trivial race. How unpleasant,” the monster drawled, its voice dripping with condescension.

The monster slowly rose from its seat, its movements languid and deliberate.

Its size wasn’t large, and aside from its purple skin, it didn’t seem particularly physically imposing.

“It’s strong,” Seong-hyeon stated, breaking the tense silence. He could sense the immense power radiating from the creature.

“Yeah, it’s at a level that can’t be considered a mutated 3rd-grade gate monster,” Kim Cheon-jung agreed, his usual jovial demeanor replaced with a serious expression.

Normally, Kim Cheon-jung would have teased him, asking if he was scared, but as Seong-hyeon said, the monster in front of them was quite strong, radiating an aura of immense power.

“This is…” Chief Cha began, his mind racing as he tried to categorize the threat before them.

Chief Cha recalled the hypotheses he had briefly considered in the past regarding the relationship between monster grade, gate mana, and individual monster strength.

The grade of a monster is determined, and the gate possesses a certain amount of mana [magical energy].

Even within the same grade, there are slight variations, and just like the monsters that emerge differ, so does their number.

Decisively, gates with fewer monsters had stronger individual entities than gates of the same grade with more monsters, and gates with more monsters had relatively weaker individual entities.

In other words, the amount of mana emitted from a single gate meant that if each entity was strong, the number would be small, and if there were many entities, the number would be large. It was a matter of distribution.

It was a hypothesis that had briefly surfaced in the past, but ultimately, there was no way to prove it definitively, so it was buried in the archives of the Association.

‘So, the monster in front of us is…’ Chief Cha thought, his eyes widening with realization.

A mutated 3rd-grade gate. That meant the mana it was emitting was all concentrated in that one monster, making it far more powerful than a typical 3rd-grade threat.

While the three of them could easily handle a mutated 3rd-grade gate monster, the combined power of those 3rd-grade monsters was fundamentally different. This was a single entity with all the gate’s power channeled into it.

“Stay alert. And Association! What ability do you have?” Kim Cheon-jung barked, his hand resting on the hilt of his massive sword.

“Spatial Rift,” Chief Cha replied, his voice calm and steady.

“Oh…so you’re not just some random nobody,” Kim Cheon-jung said, a hint of respect entering his voice.

Seong-hyeon also showed an interested look at Chief Cha upon hearing the words “spatial rift.”

“And…Mask, what about you?” Kim Cheon-jung asked, turning his attention to Seong-hyeon. This was what he was most curious about.

Until now, he had been dealing with 3rd-grade gate monsters purely with strength, without any special abilities. He was an enigma.

“Um…” Seong-hyeon hesitated for a moment, weighing his options. He couldn’t hide all his abilities here, not with the danger they faced.

After a moment of contemplation, Seong-hyeon realized that he couldn’t hide all his abilities here.

And instead of answering Kim Cheon-jung’s question directly, he used Summon.

‘Summon,’ he thought, focusing his will.

Soon, 1 appeared, kneeling on one knee before Seong-hyeon, its metallic body gleaming in the purple light.

“S-Summoner? You’re a summoner?” Kim Cheon-jung stammered, his eyes wide with disbelief. He had clearly expected an ability related to close combat, but his expectations were completely off.

“Well, it’s absurd, but it’s still a welcome sound. A summoner with a similar power to a hunter specialized in close combat,” Kim Cheon-jung said, shaking his head in disbelief.

Barely managing to suppress the laughter that kept bursting out due to disbelief, Kim Cheon-jung looked at the monster emitting purple light and said.

“Well, I have strength. Overwhelming strength,” Kim Cheon-jung declared, flexing his massive arms.

It wasn’t just Kim Cheon-jung who was surprised by Seong-hyeon’s words. The revelation of a new ability was always significant.

Abilities related to summoning hadn’t been reported to the Association, and of course, Chief Cha was also staring at Seong-hyeon with a similar expression to Kim Cheon-jung.

‘Healing ability, and summoning? Moreover, his combat ability surpasses a close-combat hunter…’ Chief Cha mused, his mind working overtime.

There were many things he wanted to ask, but there was no time for that now. Survival took precedence.

“I will assist,” Chief Cha stated, readying himself to use his spatial abilities.

“We haven’t coordinated yet, but the Association should know what to do. Let’s go, Mask,” Kim Cheon-jung said, his eyes fixed on the monster.

“Let’s,” Seong-hyeon replied, his gaze equally intense.

The monster had been patiently waiting for this entire conversation to conclude, a sinister amusement in its eyes.

“Is the conversation all over?” it asked, its voice laced with boredom.

Its voice was filled with the feeling that it was a king, causing Kim Cheon-jung to furrow his brow deeply as he replied.

“Who do you think you are, you monster bastard… Just die quietly,” Kim Cheon-jung snarled, his patience wearing thin.

Even with these words, the monster wasn’t provoked at all and continued its words, seemingly unfazed by Kim Cheon-jung’s aggression.

“Humans. Do you know what purple signifies?” the monster asked, its voice taking on a theatrical tone.

The monster, raising both hands and looking at the sky, spoke with an unknown conviction.

“Death,” it declared, its voice echoing through the chamber.

Soon, purple energy began to surge from its raised hands, coalescing into swirling orbs of power.

“Ah…annihilating inferior races is always exhilarating,” the monster said, a cruel smile spreading across its face.

As soon as the monster finished speaking, countless purple orbs were created behind it, a swirling vortex of deadly energy.

As it lowered its raised hands, the countless purple orbs that had appeared behind the monster began to pour down on everyone in the area, a deadly barrage of magical projectiles.

“Kuaaak!” a mercenary screamed as an orb struck him, the purple energy searing his flesh.

“Dodge…Keheok!” another cried out, collapsing to the ground as the poison took hold.

The orbs poured down at an incredible speed, leaving little room for escape.

They weren’t targeting each individual specifically, but rather pouring down like a barrage, blanketing the area in a storm of purple death, and there weren’t many who could avoid the orbs.

Only three people managed to evade the onslaught: Seong-hyeon, Kim Cheon-jung, and Chief Cha.

The others managed to dodge one or two of the first ones that came flying, but couldn’t dodge the rest, succumbing to the relentless barrage.

“Slowly embrace death,” the monster crooned, its eyes gleaming with malicious glee.

Seong-hyeon, who had dodged all of the monster’s attacks with practiced ease, immediately looked around, assessing the damage.

The places where the orbs had first hit were already stained with a murky purple, and the purple was gradually consuming their skin, spreading like a rapidly advancing infection.

‘Poison,’ Seong-hyeon realized, his expression grim.

It was a level of poison that couldn’t be compared to the poison he had detoxified while clearing the previous quest. This was far more potent and insidious.

He was certain that even in the modern era, or perhaps even in the future, they wouldn’t be able to create an antidote. It was a poison beyond their comprehension.

“You were lucky enough to dodge it, but soon you too will be bathed in my beautiful purple…” the monster taunted, its voice dripping with arrogance.

The monster, wearing a relaxed smile, stiffened its expression as it confirmed a different light that overwhelmed its purple, a pure, radiant energy that pushed back against the encroaching darkness.

“…What is that?” it hissed, its eyes narrowing with suspicion.

Just confirming the light made him feel so unpleasant. It was anathema to its very being.

The light, as if denying its very existence, showed no signs of fading and was gradually pushing back the purple, creating a stark contrast between purity and corruption.

“What trickery…” the monster muttered, its composure beginning to crack.

The monster, confirming the source of the light, realized that it was a person wearing a strange mask, the source of the disruptive energy.

‘That guy. That guy is the most dangerous!’ it realized, its eyes focusing on Seong-hyeon with newfound intensity.

He couldn’t give him any more time. He had to eliminate the threat before it could unravel its plans.

The monster immediately summoned a purple sword from its body, the blade shimmering with dark energy, and began to rush towards Seong-hyeon.

“Where do you think you’re going…!” Kim Cheon-jung roared, intercepting the monster’s advance.

Kim Cheon-jung’s heavy fist accurately struck the monster’s face, but the area that the fist touched instantly disappeared like smoke, then reassembled, leaving Kim Cheon-jung dumbfounded.

“W-What?!” he exclaimed, his eyes wide with disbelief.

The monster’s speed was so fast that even Seong-hyeon had difficulty reacting. It moved with an unnatural swiftness, as if it existed on a different plane of reality.

As if it had no weight, it danced through the battlefield with terrifying grace.

“Keuek!” Seong-hyeon grunted, barely dodging the purple blade as it sliced through the air where he had been standing a moment before.

Barely dodging the purple blade, Seong-hyeon immediately leaped backward, and the monster took the opportunity to launch a purple orb at Seong-hyeon, who was still floating in the air, vulnerable and exposed.

“Die!” the monster shrieked, its eyes burning with hatred.

Just before the rapidly approaching orb touched Seong-hyeon’s body, Seong-hyeon, who had been floating in the air, completely disappeared without a trace, vanishing into thin air.

“Hoo, that was close,” Seong-hyeon said, reappearing a safe distance away.

“I was prepared for it,” Chief Cha replied, a hint of satisfaction in his voice.

The monster’s speed far exceeded expectations, so he was a little flustered, but it wasn’t enough to cause problems with his response. He had anticipated the attack and prepared accordingly.

Chief Cha’s ability, Spatial Rift. He was a master of manipulating space.

Chief Cha, who had created a rift behind Seong-hyeon as he leaped backward, created the exit of the rift next to him, allowing Seong-hyeon to teleport away from the deadly orb.

“Hey! That guy. His body is strange! He definitely took my attack head-on, but he turned into smoke!” Kim Cheon-jung exclaimed, still trying to process what he had witnessed.

No wonder it had emitted the mana of this gate all by itself, yet its speed didn’t match the level of a 3rd grade. It was an anomaly, a creature that defied categorization.

“His body is smoke?” Chief Cha’s expression wasn’t good. He understood the implications of such a form.

The common trait of such monsters was that they were almost immune to physical attacks. They were beings of pure energy, resistant to conventional weaponry.

Everyone here had no means of attack other than physical attacks. They were ill-equipped to deal with such an enemy.

Moreover, it was spewing poison, so there couldn’t be a worse match. It was a perfect storm of disadvantage.

That’s what Chief Cha and Kim Cheon-jung thought, their hopes dwindling.

‘This time was really lucky,’ Seong-hyeon thought, a hint of relief in his eyes.

As their expressions showed, this monster was quite tricky. It was a dangerous foe, even for experienced hunters.

In fact, Kim Cheon-jung’s fist, which had pierced the monster’s head, was very faintly glowing with purple, indicating the insidious nature of the monster’s power.

Against such monsters, pinpointing weaknesses could be very effective. Exploiting vulnerabilities was key to victory.

After identifying the monster’s weakness, the answer was very simple.

Detoxifying the poison. Neutralizing the source of its power.

The monster’s body was indeed made of poison. It was a being of pure, concentrated toxicity.

‘If it were other hunters…’ Seong-hyeon mused, imagining the potential outcome if they hadn’t been present.

Just imagining it made him think of the enormous casualties that would occur. The thought sent a shiver down his spine.

Even if there was a hunter who could use magic, it seemed that the monster had the intelligence to deal with that hunter first. It was a cunning and strategic opponent.

That’s why it had ignored Kim Cheon-jung, who was blocking it, and rushed towards Seong-hyeon. It recognized him as the greatest threat.

‘Can I use Conversion?’ Seong-hyeon wondered, considering his options.

The monsters he had faced so far were more like acts of survival instinct than hostility, so the use of Conversion itself was impossible. The ability required a specific set of conditions.

The most important first condition, hostility, applied to those with at least minimal intelligence. It needed to recognize him as an enemy.

‘Conversion,’ Seong-hyeon thought, focusing his will on the monster.

[You cannot use the ability yet.]

Seong-hyeon clicked his tongue at the lack of kindness in not even telling him how much time was left, and looked at the monster in front of him, saying.

“Too bad,” he muttered, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

“You insignificant…” the monster began, its voice filled with rage.

Seong-hyeon didn’t wait for the monster to rush at him, nor did he wait for the monster to finish speaking. He knew what he had to do.

‘Purification,’ he thought, channeling his energy.

As soon as Seong-hyeon used Purification, the monster, realizing the abnormality in its body, glared at Seong-hyeon as if to kill him and shouted.

“H-How! How! This can’t be!” it shrieked, its voice filled with disbelief and terror.

“W-Why is he suddenly like that?” Kim Cheon-jung stammered, confused by the monster’s sudden change in demeanor.

The monster tried to use even the last resort, but it failed because there had been no direct impact on its body. Its defenses were useless against Seong-hyeon’s power.

“Kuaaaak! Why, why!!!” the monster wailed, its body beginning to disintegrate.

If there had been even a wound caused by magic attacks, or even if it hadn’t just brushed off Kim Cheon-jung’s attack earlier, it might have been able to resist the effects of Purification.

The monster’s body, which had begun to fade, instantly shrank and completely disappeared into the air, leaving no trace of its existence.

And in its place, a purple crystal fell to the ground, shimmering with residual energy.