I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 177

177

As a Saint who could solve things with purification without needing sleep, I stayed awake to watch over Yae-in from beginning to end.

“There’s nothing wrong yet.”

Yae-in, deeply asleep after taking such a long nap, seemed perfectly normal.

Her even breathing and peaceful expression made it hard to believe she had been crying earlier. She was the picture of serenity.

Unlike before, Yae-in didn’t show any changes for quite a while.

But I didn’t give up.

After more than two hours, Yae-in began to stir.

She was emitting even more mana than I had felt during her nap.

As if sensing something different, Yae-in didn’t move right away.

‘The only difference from before is that I released mana into the air.’

Was that assumption correct? Yae-in began to act differently than before.

Unlike before, when she approached me in tears, this time she just stared at me.

“…”

After staring at me like that, Yae-in got up and came over to me.

“Oppa. It’s dangerous.”

Not ‘save me,’ but ‘it’s dangerous.’

I didn’t know what was dangerous yet, but it was clear that something had changed.

“What…is dangerous?”

“…”

After hearing my question, Yae-in fell asleep again.

Falling asleep like that meant that my question was the answer she wanted.

“Hmm…”

I had been trying to clear up my doubts, but it felt like I had created even bigger ones.

Why did Yae-in want to hear the question?

“I should sleep too.”

Yae-in needed to wake up for me to find any clues.

Until then, I would just have to keep making guesses without any leads.

I lay down next to Yae-in again, tucked her in, and fell asleep with her.

The next morning.

Even after waking up, I stayed in bed, holding my position.

Until Yae-in woke up.

“Yawn…”

“Did you wake up?”

“Yeah. Did you sleep well, Oppa?”

“Of course. How about you, Yae-in?”

“I slept well too! I feel so refreshed today. Maybe it’s because I slept with Oppa.”

Judging from Yae-in’s reaction, she didn’t seem to remember the dream or sleepwalking.

“You’re not tired or anything?”

“Nope! I feel even better!”

“That’s good. I have to leave after breakfast today. Is that okay?”

“Ugh…it can’t be helped.”

At her mature answer, I smiled and stroked her hair.

“Okay, let’s go wash up and have breakfast together.”

“Okay!”

Today’s breakfast was prepared in advance by the chef.

“Wow…you eat this every day?”

“Why are you so surprised? You could eat breakfast in Japan, lunch in France, and dinner in America if you wanted to.”

“I wanted to eat the food Oppa made again.”

“Me? The food I made?”

“No, not you, but Sung-hyun Oppa.”

“…”

In-hwan couldn’t hide his disappointed expression, as he had spent much more time with Yae-in.

“I’ll make it for you again next time. Right?”

“Yeah!”

Yae-in nodded happily at the promise of another meal and began to devour her breakfast.

The meal continued without much conversation, and Yae-in quickly took her empty plate to the kitchen and said,

“I’m going to watch cartoons. Do I need to stop by before Oppa leaves?”

“Haha, I understand.”

Yae-in was quite perceptive.

She seemed to know that I needed to talk to In-hwan and Ha-yeon.

Yae-in tilted her head towards me as if asking, ‘Did I do well?’

Wanting to be petted.

After receiving all the attention, Yae-in left, and I explained to the two of them what had happened yesterday.

How Yae-in used her ability a little later than during the day.

And how the content of Yae-in’s words changed when she adjusted the mana in the air.

“Dangerous…”

“Yae-in’s words are concerning, but it’s even more puzzling that she fell asleep again when Sung-hyun asked what was dangerous. That means the answer Yae-in wanted was Sung-hyun’s question.”

“That’s right. I’m also wondering about that. Why did Yae-in want a question as the answer?”

As my worries, as well as In-hwan and Ha-yeon’s, grew, In-hwan’s eyes sparkled as if he had figured something out.

“Could it be this?”

“What is it?”

“Why do people ask questions in the first place?”

“Questions…isn’t it because they’re curious?”

In-hwan focused on that point.

“Asking a question about something means you have doubts about it. Having doubts means you’re starting to recognize the problem.”

“Recognizing the problem…”

That definitely made sense.

Looking back at my attitude before, I had accepted Yae-in’s words to save her as a fact, but I hadn’t accepted it as a problem.

“Maybe what Yae-in wanted was for you, Sung-hyun, to give more weight to that threat.”

That was a plausible assumption.

“Keep checking to see if anything changes in the future.”

“Okay. Don’t worry.”

One question had disappeared, but an even bigger question had arisen.

What kind of future did Yae-in see in her dream?

“Are you leaving right away to heal people?”

“I think we can take it slow. In a way, healing people like this is also for him, and if the system in Korea is better established, it will be much easier.”

“The beginning is always the hardest, and the beginning is half the battle. Everyone is doing well in their respective positions.”

In fact, articles about what I was trying to create were slowly being published.

There were also indicators that the subjugation speed and stability of A Guild were steadily increasing under that system.

“No additional contact separately?”

“Other large guilds are showing similar movements.”

“That’s a natural phenomenon. If the guild leaders have their heads on straight, they can’t ignore the recent changes in the gates. Of course, A Guild doesn’t need to worry about it. From the teaching staff to the scale, the difference is enormous.”

As Ha-yeon said.

Not only in Korea but also in various parts of the world, guilds and even national levels were starting similar things to me, but not all of them were working together with corporations, academies, and associations like in Korea.

The ultimate goal of this plan.

Raising the level of all hunters was a common goal for those with the same plan, but the process was not the same.

A stronger hunter is someone’s power and strength.

Naturally, they were keeping each other in check and adjusting their speed.

Except for Korea.

“The basic system is in place, and practical results are appearing, so now it’s just a matter of time.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

“Everyone has worked hard. Of course, I did a little more.”

“How’s Sang-yeon?”

“Sang-yeon participated in that schedule together. He’s probably still getting training now.”

Sang-yeon could have been a little lazy, believing in my infinite mana, but he didn’t at all.

Even if the amount of mana is the same, if he uses less mana or shows higher efficiency when using the same ability, he could become much stronger.

“Ha…I might lose to Sang-yeon at this rate.”

“You’re strong enough, so don’t be too impatient. Ha-yeon, you still have to go to school, right?”

“Yes. I wish I could join you, but the academy has also been showing different policies recently. I think Sung-hyun’s influence is probably significant.”

“That’s good news.”

At the same time as I finished speaking, I got up from my seat.

It was time to move again.

“Hang in there a little longer. As you said, once the system is in place, the rest will be smooth.”

“Okay.”

I headed to Yae-in’s room, where she was engrossed in cartoons.

“…”

She must have felt me coming in, but she seemed to be ignoring me, focusing on the screen.

“Yae-in.”

“…Are you leaving now?”

“Yeah. It’s okay. I’ll come again.”

I hugged Yae-in lightly, as if everything would be alright.

“Do you have to come?”

“Of course.”

“Do you have to come often?”

“…I understand.”

Perhaps because I was the first person she opened her heart to, even with In-hwan and Ha-yeon, it wasn’t enough to fill my absence.

“Will you cook for me again when you come next time?”

“I’ll cook for you until you get tired of it.”

“Hehe. I won’t get tired of it.”

Yae-in hugged me a little tighter.

As if it was okay for me to leave now.

“I’ll come again. Take care.”

“Yeah!”

I left In-hwan’s house without seeing the look in Yae-in’s eyes as she watched me leave.

——————————————–

The world continued to burn with the existence of another healing ability user.

The same articles were coming out every day, but no one seemed to be tired of it.

This was the environment in what was being shown, and the things below the surface that were not known to people were also fierce.

Russia, which had moved first, listened to Tulua and moved to the place where they had directly met the Pilgrim.

“Check it out. There may be a clue, even a small one.”

According to Tulua, the Pilgrim had disappeared as if he had evaporated after finishing the conversation.

‘He has an ability related to movement.’

It was almost certain.

Although he was a low-level hunter, deceiving the eyes of such a hunter with just physical movements would have to exceed the level of at least a high-ranking hunter.

But according to what he heard from Tulua, he had almost no combat ability.

Of course, he would have used his ability to move, and all movement-related abilities leave traces.

He brought a hunter who was good at tracking those traces, so he would definitely be able to find a clue.

“…”

But as time passed, no news came.

“Is there a problem?”

“That is…there are no traces of any kind.”

“…Nothing at all?”

“Yes. Just in case, I checked not only for movement by mana but also for the possibility of movement by physical ability, but there were no traces of either.”

The fact that traces of movement by physical ability could not be found meant that they could not be erased without directly erasing them.

“It is not that he directly erased the traces. That means he definitely used his ability, but the traces are not visible.”

Movement by ability could not erase the traces.

Unless he perfectly controlled the mana in the atmosphere.

Even the world’s number one Lich could not control the mana in the atmosphere this precisely, so of course, he did not erase the traces.

“What is the most likely hypothesis?”

“A new type of movement-related ability has appeared. The best movement ability at this point is to directly open a rift. This ability connects the distance to the destination with mana to move, so traces are bound to remain.”

“Ha…a new type of movement-related ability…does that mean we can’t meet him on our own?”

“That’s…right.”

Nothing was known about the Pilgrim.

Except that he was a man.

And that he was not from this outback.

As such frustrating situations continued, Kabursky’s phone began to ring.

“…Tulua?”

There was only one reason for the call, so Kabursky answered the phone with an expectant expression.