I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 161

161

“I didn’t expect the schedule to be this long.”

Arriving at the airport and looking around, it even felt unfamiliar.

“Section Chief Cha. How are your mother and sister?”

“They’re fine.”

“That’s a relief.”

It would have been nice if my mother and sister had faith, but I couldn’t force an environment where they could have faith.

‘That side seems to be settled…’

Sung-hyun immediately called In-hwan.

I thought he would handle it well, but with all the Level 3 and 4 Gates becoming stronger than before, casualties were inevitable.

“Hello? Sung-hyun? Are you here now?”

“Yeah. The schedule got longer than I thought.”

In-hwan already knew that Sung-hyun was active in the United States, but he didn’t seem to know what had happened to Sung-hyun.

“Is everything alright? For example, have the casualties increased?”

“I was going to contact you about that, but I didn’t because of what happened in the United States. But what happened that suddenly made the mana from Level 4 and 3 Gates stronger?”

“How much stronger?”

“I’ve organized the information about that. I’ll show you when you come to the Guild.”

“Okay. How’s Sang-yeon?”

“Thanks to Sang-yeon, our Guild has fewer casualties. Sang-yeon is coming to the Guild today, so if you have time today, stop by.”

“I will.”

The situation didn’t seem too bad.

I was a little worried because Level 3 and 4 Gates were strengthened at the same time, but after hearing In-hwan’s story, it seemed that Sang-yeon had participated in the subjugation and reduced the number of casualties.

“Hunter Kim.”

Just as I was about to move to Gangrim, I heard a familiar voice from the front.

“Vice-Chairman?”

“…I have no excuse.”

Everything was over, and the crisis had turned into an opportunity, but the mistake didn’t disappear.

The Vice-Chairman recalled when he first met Sung-hyun.

Sung-hyun’s request to prioritize his family above all else.

With DNN [Defense Network Node, a security system] and the Academy’s security personnel already in place, he might have been a little careless.

“It’s alright.”

“I sincerely apologize. The Association failed to do its job properly.”

The Vice-Chairman apologized as if he were apologizing for something that had happened yesterday, or just a moment ago.

Until now, there hadn’t been time to apologize properly, and he thought it was a priority to fix the situation first.

Besides, if something else happened to Sung-hyun and more time passed, the opportunity to apologize like this would fade away.

“It became an opportunity, so it’s really okay. But instead…”

At Sung-hyun’s words, the Vice-Chairman stared at Sung-hyun with a very nervous look.

“From now on, something similar should not happen. Not only to my family but also to the people around me.”

Originally, the Hunter Association shouldn’t show signs of being swayed by just one Hunter, no matter how top-ranked they were.

But that was only for moderately top-ranked Hunters.

He saved the lives of 130,000 people in the United States and revealed the identity of the Vice-Chairman, whom no one had suspected for a long time.

And although he didn’t intend to, he caught the Red Eye and solved a long-standing case.

At the same time, he brought enormous benefits to Korea and the Hunter Association.

‘Hunter Kim Sung-hyun is different.’

Personality, character, disposition.

It wasn’t a matter of these things.

The power that one person possessed already far exceeded the influence of the Hunter Association.

That was true not only for the Korean Hunter Association but also for any other country’s Hunter Association.

“I will keep that in mind. And the Chairman was going to come with me, but he couldn’t because of the National Hunter Association meeting schedule.”

“Is a meeting being held?”

“Yes. Level 4 and 3 Gates have suddenly been strengthened, and casualties are occurring little by little all over the world, not just in Korea. Of course, the number of casualties is much lower now than in the beginning, but Hunters who used to subjugate only Level 4 Gates have suddenly lost their jobs…”

The damage seemed more serious than when Level 5 Gates disappeared.

Considering the income of a typical Hunter who regularly takes on Level 4 Gate subjugation, it was much more than a regular job.

While many Hunters who subjugated Level 5 Gates had separate main jobs, the majority of Level 4 Gate Hunters relied solely on subjugation for their livelihood.

“I see…”

“The situation…is not good. The number of casualties has decreased compared to the early days, but a fundamental problem has arisen.”

“If it’s a fundamental problem…”

“The number of Hunters is decreasing.”

It was a more serious problem than any other.

When Level 5 Gates disappeared, the damage mainly affected the lowest-ranked Hunters.

Since the Gates themselves disappeared, the number of Gates decreased significantly, regardless of how strong they were.

At that time, we worried about their damage and came up with countermeasures.

Of course, there was no damage that could be called a crisis.

A slight increase in unemployment or deaths occurring when people entered Level 4 Gates without knowing anything was within a manageable range.

“You mean that it’s not because of the casualties, but because there are not enough Hunters to subjugate the strengthened Level 3 and 4 Gates.”

“Exactly. As Hunter Kim knows well, most Gates, excluding the disappeared Level 5 Gates, are Level 3 and 4 Gates. Most Hunters make a living by subjugating these two Gates. However, as these two Gates have been strengthened, the limit of Gates that existing Hunters can subjugate has been reached.”

The structure of Hunters, as well as the structure of Gates, was also a pyramid structure.

Strong Hunters and high-level Gates naturally had fewer numbers as the level increased.

“Is the meeting being held to find a solution to that?”

“To be honest, this problem cannot be solved. Unless the number of Hunters increases.”

“Then why is there a meeting…”

“When this meeting is over, Korea’s status ranking will increase. Of course, there will be talk about solving this situation, but it will all be temporary measures. Do you know what the reason for the existence of the Hunter Association is?”

“…”

Sung-hyun replaced his answer with silence, and the Vice-Chairman continued his explanation.

“It’s also about controlling the Hunter world, which cannot be bound by law alone, but fundamentally, it’s about making that power beneficial to the country.”

“I understand.”

“Originally, I didn’t pay much attention to the status ranking. But, watching what’s happening now, I think the status ranking is necessary.”

“May I ask why?”

“The country’s status ranking is essentially national power. And the higher the status ranking, the more privileges are given to that ranking.”

“Privileges?”

“Yes, the right to command in emergencies.”

“That emergency…”

“It’s only when a problem arises that threatens the survival of all mankind, not just the fate of one country. Only then is it considered an emergency.”

And one of the Association’s obligations that can be understood without explanation.

Protecting its own Hunters.

It is a natural fact that the higher the status ranking, the more power there is to protect its own Hunters.

“Vice-Chairman. You’re mistaken about one thing.”

“…Yes?”

The Vice-Chairman looked at Sung-hyun with a blank look for a moment.

Was he worried that he might have offended Sung-hyun?

“There’s no need to explain this to me. You’re just doing what’s appropriate for your position as Vice-Chairman.”

“Is that…so.”

The gaze that had been blankly staring at Sung-hyun changed to a look of relief.

“But that’s only when you fulfill the obligations of the Hunter Association.”

Clearly, the crisis had become an opportunity, and Sung-hyun had even said directly that it was okay.

Of course, there was no reversal of this.

It actually became an opportunity, and it was really okay.

However, he had no intention of forgetting the fact that a crisis had come to Sung-hyun’s family.

“I will keep that in mind…”

“I hope there will be good results after the meeting. Then I’ll be on my way.”

“Yes. I’ll let you know the details separately after the meeting.”

After speaking, Sung-hyun disappeared from sight in an instant.

“If this had not been resolved…”

Perhaps he had vaguely thought that Sung-hyun would forgive him even then?

Even because of their past relationship?

Of course, he wouldn’t have made the extreme choice of killing him.

“No matter what the reason…”

Failure to fulfill one’s duty is still a failure.

That’s what Sung-hyun was saying to the Vice-Chairman now.

That he didn’t care what he did.

Even if it was using his power.

However, if the result was harm to himself and the people around him, there would be no second chance.

The Vice-Chairman, who vowed never to be careless again, left the airport as it was and returned to the Association building.

——————————————–

In-hwan, who was processing work, dropped the pen he was holding and was startled by Sung-hyun’s sudden appearance in front of him.

“Ah! You scared me!”

“You’re surprised. Where’s Sang-yeon?”

“He’s coming now. More than that, are you okay? If you treated that many people, the pain must have been considerable…”

“I’m used to it now.”

“…You’ve been through a lot. More than that, would you like to check this first?”

The documents that In-hwan handed over contained detailed information about how much the monsters had changed while subjugating Level 4 and 3 Gates.

“It’s not as…relaxed as I thought.”

“We have relatively little damage. Other Guilds only prepared for mutations, not for strengthening. After you told us, we told other Guilds about it, but it seems that the monsters have become stronger than expected.”

“Has Sang-yeon been participating in subjugation all this time?”

“Yeah. He participated in subjugation almost every day. Thanks to him, we had almost no deaths.”

Almost none means there were some.

It wasn’t possible to completely prevent it, so this was probably the best option.

“Level 4 Gates are almost at the same level as the monsters from Level 3 Gates in the past. Level 3 Gates are not quite the same as Level 2 Gates in the past, but they are definitely stronger compared to the existing Level 3 Gates.”

“Is there a subjugation schedule today too?”

“Yeah. As Level 3 and 4 Gates have become stronger, the value of the crystals from those monsters has increased. It’s probably hard to give up. There’s a Level 4 Gate and a Level 3 Gate scheduled for subjugation.”

At that time, footsteps were heard from outside.

“I’m here…Sung-hyun?”

“You’re here? In-hwan said you were coming too, so I was waiting.”

“It’s been a while. Are you okay?”

“Always the same.”

Sang-yeon shook hands with Sung-hyun briefly and sat down in his usual seat.

“Where are we going today?”

“Level 4 Gate and Level 3 Gate. But the subjugation schedule is at the same time.”

“Same time? Hmm…”

“I’ll go to Level 3. Sang-yeon, you can go to Level 4.”

“You’re going yourself? Then there’s nothing to worry about.”

“More than that, Sung-hyun. How was America? Tell me about it.”

“Well…nothing much happened…”

The photo of Richie and Sung-hyun getting into the car together was visibly in In-hwan’s hand as he asked the question.

“Quickly.”

“…”

A look as if the answer he wanted to hear was already determined.

“Where should I start explaining?”

After thinking for a moment, Sung-hyun began with the kidnapping of his mother and sister, which was the starting point of everything.