I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 139

139

“Is this the new list?”

Chief Cha reconfirmed the newly announced list as previously scheduled.

“Hmm? Nothing’s changed.”

There wasn’t anything particularly different, so he checked again in detail, only to find that the rankings had slightly changed.

“Why bother with this…”

What hidden intention could there be?

No people changed, just a slight variation in the rankings.

He strongly felt that they were trying to divert attention this way.

“If so, then why?”

He took this assumption as a certainty and considered their intention.

Why would they try to divert attention?

The United States would already know that Seonghyun had checked the list.

Moreover, he would have entered the Class 1 gate by now, so there wasn’t much that could be done from the outside.

It was a place where the eyes of the whole world were focused, and it was impossible to play other tricks, thanks to being composed of only the top hunters from 1st to 9th place, not just one country.

Basically, they mostly bowed to the United States, which was in 1st place, but there was always a check.

Everyone was reluctant to have excessive power.

“Could it be.”

The more he thought about it, the more all concerns led to one conclusion.

Everyone would be focused on Seonghyun.

Being in the United States, a gap was naturally created in Korea.

“Kim Hunter’s family.”

There were no records of hunters from other countries entering the country separately.

If hunters known to be strong had entered the country, that record would naturally be passed on to the association.

Chief Cha’s ominous premonition was correct.

A hurried voice began to flow from the device that had been tuned to the radio frequency of Seonghyun’s family’s bodyguards.

[Keuk…!]

[Intrusion…!]

After that, all that could be heard was the sound of something being cut and the static of a broken radio.

“Yo, you crazy bastards…!”

He had been a little worried since Seonghyun first told him to stay here, but he didn’t think it would happen.

To invade another country without being moderately crazy.

To even plan the kidnapping of a target with numerous security personnel stationed.

This was truly insane.

It meant turning the Republic of Korea itself into an enemy.

Of course, there was no way the United States wouldn’t know this, which meant they had been preparing for quite some time.

“There’s no time for this.”

Although they weren’t very outstanding, they were hunters specializing in security, so they were specialized in that field or had basic skills.

It was DNN [Defense Network News] and the association, as well as personnel sent from the academy, not somewhere else.

The fact that they judged they had the confidence to deal with or outwit all those personnel and kidnap them was not an easy problem to consider.

Even though he was near the building where Seonghyun’s family lived, he couldn’t even feel their presence.

The frequency he had tuned in now was the radio of the personnel guarding the inside of the building, not the outside.

There was someone with abilities similar to Chief Cha.

The only fortunate thing was that they had moved near the room.

Chief Cha immediately opened a rift to the room where Seonghyun’s mother was.

“Only I can protect them.”

Chief Cha, who could tell the level even though he hadn’t met the criminals yet, sighed deeply and threw himself into the rift.

“Oh? Aren’t you Chief Cha? What brings you here?”

Seonghyun’s mother, who had heard from Seonghyun about Chief Cha’s ability and that this could happen in an emergency, wasn’t too surprised.

“You…must move.”

“Yes? What suddenly…”

It was hard to accept, but Seonghyun had clearly said that Chief Cha would only come in an emergency.

“No, no way…”

“There’s no time for this. The opponent has thoroughly prepared to target this place, which has the Republic of Korea’s territory, DNN, the association, and academy security personnel stationed here.”

Their only variable now was Chief Cha alone.

“What about, what about our Hyein…”

“Don’t worry. You must first enter the rift.”

“Yes, yes!”

As Seonghyun’s mother threw herself into the rift and was about to open a rift to the school where Hyein was, the door slowly began to open.

The secrecy was such that the sound of dealing with the security personnel waiting in front of the door could not be heard.

“…?”

Eye contact for a very brief moment.

The time it took to realize that there was a variable in the situation was not long.

“Catch him! Don’t let him get away!”

He tried to quickly enter the rift, but suddenly a hand appeared in the air and grabbed Chief Cha’s ankle.

‘If I get caught here, it’s all over.’

The moment he was caught, not only Seonghyun but also the future of South Korea would vanish like smoke. The stakes were that high.

There was no time to hesitate, yet he saw no way to break free from the hand clamped around his ankle.

“Kuh-heuk!!”

“Heh… you crazy bastard.”

The hooded man picked up a bloodied object from the floor.

“He cut off his own foot without a second thought and ran?”

He had severed his own ankle with his own hand.

His career as a hunter could be considered over.

He’d made that decision without a moment’s hesitation.

“Ha… this is infuriating. Contact them immediately. We need to catch his younger sister.”

School would be letting out soon.

No matter how meticulously they had planned, they wouldn’t dare cause a scene in a school filled with hundreds of ordinary people.

“Understood.”

“Withdraw quickly. If we linger any longer, we’ll be in danger ourselves.”

Meanwhile, Chief Cha was barely holding on, clutching the bloody stump where his foot had been. Agony seared through him.

“E-Elixir…!”

The elixir Seonghyun had left behind.

Only one bottle remained, but he knew he had to use it now if he wanted to save his sister.

With trembling hands, Chief Cha retrieved the elixir from his pocket and, clinging to his fading consciousness, poured it down his throat.

“Heo-eok… Heo-eok…”

His consciousness, which had been on the verge of slipping away, stabilized. Although his severed foot didn’t regenerate, the bleeding and pain rapidly subsided.

“I have to go. I have to go now.”

The distance from Seonghyun’s house to the school his sister attended couldn’t be traversed with a single rift [a tear in space used for rapid travel].

It would be possible if he concentrated, but he didn’t have that luxury now.

He would have to open several rifts along the way.

“Please, don’t let me be too late…”

——————————————–

“Hyein-ah. The gym teacher is looking for you.”

“Huh? Why?”

“I don’t know.”

There wasn’t even a gym class scheduled for today, so why were they looking for her?

“N-No way…!”

Only one explanation came to mind.

It had been a while since she started going to the gym; could they have found out by accident?

“Where is he?”

“He said he’d be waiting in the auditorium.”

“Thank you!”

Hyein hurried towards the auditorium, unaware of the danger that awaited her.

“Teacher? You wanted to see me?”

“Ah, Hyein, you’re here? It’s not that… do you go to the gym?”

“Yes, I do!”

“I knew it. Shall we head over now? There’s no time to waste.”

“…Yes?”

His smile was as kind and warm as usual, but strangely, she felt a sense of déjà vu [the feeling of having experienced the present situation before].

“Yes, yes…”

But this was school.

She couldn’t imagine anything bad happening, so Hyein followed the gym teacher.

“But how did you know I go to the gym?”

“I can just tell.”

“Then, do you know any gyms better than Jinyoung Gym? It seems a bit small…”

“A better gym? Hmm… I don’t really know.”

“…”

Hyein stopped walking and stared at the gym teacher’s back.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“Teacher.”

“Yes?”

“I don’t go to Jinyoung Gym.”

“Oh… r-really? T-Teacher must have been mistaken.”

Normally, she might have dismissed it as a misunderstanding, but not this time.

Besides, he was trying to move her without a proper explanation, and her brother was in America.

Even though the possibility was slim, what if they were trying to target them while her brother was away?

“Where… are you taking me?”

“You’ll understand everything once we get there…”

“Now!”

“What?”

“I won’t go unless you explain right now.”

A moment of silence lingered.

And what broke that silence was none other than the changed expression and atmosphere of the gym teacher.

“If you’re like this, I can’t help it…”

He wasn’t the gym teacher she knew.

The changed atmosphere was filled with hostility, not just murderous intent.

“I can’t kill you and take you…”

That’s when it happened.

In an instant, she felt her body being pulled backward, and at the same time, she sensed a murderous intent she hadn’t felt before.

“Where do you think you’re going…!”

The gym teacher in front of her appeared before him in that fleeting moment that he didn’t even recognize, and soon swung a sword he hadn’t seen until just now.

“Kyaaaa!”

The sound of flesh tearing and being pierced, a sound she had never heard before in her life.

But the owner of that sound was not her.

“Kuh…!”

It was the owner of the hand that had pulled her body back.

It was Section Chief Cha.

“No…!”

The gym teacher’s last words were not heard.

Hyein opened her eyes, feeling as if the sound had not diminished but had been completely cut off.

“Section Chief Cha!”

“I’m… okay… Keheok!”

“What do I do… what do I do…”

Section Chief Cha, calming the tearful Hyein, checked the stabbed area.

‘They’re all high level [referring to the attackers].’

The moment he opened the crack [a portal or rift], Section Chief Cha extended only his upper body to pull Hyein’s body, sensing the magic power emanating from the man in front of him.

At the same time, the man’s sword strike flew in.

The first sword strike was expected, so he was able to block it by opening a crack, but the next one was too much.

The attack of grabbing the deflected sword and stabbing it in reverse could have hit Hyein if he had made a mistake.

He pulled Hyein into the crack, twisting his body to barely stop at the level where his shoulder was pierced.

“Hoo… listen carefully. You have to stay here for a while.”

“Mom, what about Mom?”

“I’ve brought her. I’ll move you to where your mother is right away.”

Another crack opened inside the crack.

When she went inside, her mother was restless with a worried expression.

“Mom!”

“Hyein!”

Section Chief Cha, in the meantime, tore his clothes to stop the bleeding and said, looking at the mother and daughter hugging each other.

“I have to go out.”

“Yes? Why do you have to…”

“I can’t stay here for long.”

It wasn’t difficult to put another person inside.

If it was outside the crack, he could maintain the crack with just the magic power that recovers naturally.

But there was no magic power inside the crack.

Even at this moment, Section Chief Cha’s magic power was heading towards the bottom.

“There’s not much time. Somehow… I’ll protect you, so don’t worry and please wait. And even if a crack opens here, you must never come out.”

“I… understand.”

Now he had to use all the remaining magic power to move.

He wanted to move to the association, but it was impossible with the remaining magic power.

The distance he could move was…

‘The entire school is all I can do.’

The worst situation.

Even in this moment of 고민 [Korean word for ‘worry’ or ‘deliberation’], the magic power in his body was gradually heading towards the bottom.

If he delayed even a little, he would have to go back to the auditorium where he brought Hyein.

‘There’s no way…’

Section Chief Cha eventually opened a crack leading to the school’s rooftop.

“Kuh…”

Fortunately, there was no one on the rooftop.

Besides, since there was a person inside the crack, it wouldn’t be easy to sense the location with the amount of magic power.

“That’s the only way…”

The last method, close to a gamble.

If it wasn’t for this method, he couldn’t see a way to overcome the situation by thinking 냉정하게 [Korean word for ‘calmly’ or ‘rationally’].

Section Chief Cha took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

The fastest way to recover magic power was to fall asleep.

If he received a strong attack in the meantime, everything would be over, but the opponent would never be able to kill him.

Because their goal was inside the crack.