I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 211

211

Not long after Seonghyun put on his hood, he felt a massive energy at the door.

“Come in.”

“…Thank you.”

The man, who was about to knock just before Seonghyun told him to come in, lowered his hand and opened the door.

“Welcome, Pilgrim.”

“Yes.”

As if trying to gauge who he was, Seonghyun stared intently at the man, even though he was hidden by the hood, and the man finally revealed his identity.

“Ah, you can call me Envy.”

“…Envy?”

“Do you know me?”

“Ah, no. I think I’ve heard a similar name before.”

A name echoed in Seonghyun’s memory.

When he visited China for the Academy’s inter-school competition, someone had attempted a terrorist attack.

The memory of discovering a large number of bombs underground, and facing Envy amidst those bombs flashed through his mind.

“Haha. I guess my name is a common one.”

“I see.”

Seonghyun was about to move on, thinking that Envy hadn’t noticed his slight unease, but Envy wasn’t an easy person to deal with.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen you so flustered, though. It’s almost like you’ve met me before.”

“What if we met, and what if we didn’t? It seems like something you wouldn’t even remember anyway.”

Seonghyun’s response was equally formidable.

Even if their past encounter was true, Envy simply nodded at Seonghyun’s dismissive reaction.

“Haha. That’s true. The present is what’s important.”

“So. Why did you come here so suddenly?”

Envy had only been monitoring Seonghyun’s movements for a month, and then suddenly made his move.

That meant a decision had been made.

“Before we talk about that, there’s something I need to tell you first.”

“Yes. Go ahead.”

“I’m sorry to say this to you, Pilgrim, but that incident… I was responsible.”

“…”

Seonghyun had expected it to some extent from the moment Envy started monitoring him, but he was still taken aback by Envy’s confident declaration.

“You don’t seem that surprised? Did you already know?”

“I’m just surprised by your confidence. You’re not saying this expecting a pat on the back, are you?”

Envy smiled faintly under his hood, as if he found the Pilgrim’s reaction amusing, and said.

“Aren’t those things all fleeting events anyway? Pilgrims or me… well, beings of a different level should pursue goals that suit them.”

“That’s an interesting perspective. Tell me more.”

“The reason I came to you in person is simple.”

Seonghyun waited for Envy’s next words, but for some reason, Envy paused.

“Before I get to the point… should we take care of the rat first?”

“…?”

For a moment, Seonghyun wondered what Envy was talking about, but the only person Envy could be referring to as a rat was Chief Cha.

“I don’t know who it is, but he’s hiding in the rift and eavesdropping on our conversation.”

After finishing speaking, Envy raised his hand to his side.

At the same time, he concentrated his magic power and began to tear something out of the air.

A scene similar to when Chief Cha opened the rift began to unfold, and Envy began to pour his magic power into it.

“I’ve severed the connection with this place, so you don’t have to worry. Ah, he’s not your colleague, is he, Pilgrim?”

“…”

Fortunately, Envy didn’t know that Chief Cha was by Seonghyun’s side, and thanks to that, the fact that the Pilgrim was Seonghyun was not revealed.

However, he seemed to know that the person he called a rat was on the same team as the Pilgrim.

“Anyway, our main point is simple: to share a common purpose. That’s all.”

“I’m already part of Russia.”

“Haha, surely the Pilgrim’s ultimate goal isn’t just to live as Russia’s top hunter, is it?”

From the beginning, Seonghyun knew there was no easy answer to be found here.

The Envy in front of him was completely unhinged.

‘Even if I and the Pilgrim were different people, this is a proposal that no one in their right mind would accept.’

“Does it sound like I won’t be able to achieve my goals if I don’t accept your offer?”

“That’s not what I mean, but…”

Envy’s expression was hidden by his hood, but it was easy enough to guess: a confident smirk.

“It won’t be easy.”

It wasn’t unfounded confidence.

Seonghyun was curious about the source of Envy’s conviction, but he didn’t betray his thoughts.

“If this is the extent of the conversation, I don’t think we needed to meet.”

“…You mean…”

“I can answer right away without any hesitation. It’s a proposal that’s not even worth considering.”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

Envy’s reaction was exactly what Seonghyun had anticipated.

“I didn’t want to resort to this method, but I have no choice.”

“What…”

Envy raised his hand as he had done when he blocked Chief Cha’s rift.

This time, the gesture was directed towards Seonghyun, not his side.

At that moment, Seonghyun felt a sense of restraint, as if his body was being constricted.

A feeling similar to the seal used by the boss of the 1st class gate [gates are ranked based on the threat level of monsters that emerge from them].

And at the same time, a voice began to echo in his head.

‘From now on, you will obey our orders.’

This voice wasn’t perceived through the ears.

Perhaps it was similar to the effect of one of Seonghyun’s abilities, Conversion?

‘Answer me.’

“…Yes.”

“Tsk, I didn’t want to use this method on you.”

Envy’s ability was unique among hunters; he possessed only one.

That ability was mind control.

Seonghyun instinctively tried to use Purification, but he stopped himself.

If he followed Envy’s orders, he might gain deeper insight into the organization.

“From now on, you will only use your healing abilities when I order you to do so. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“For the time being, continue to act as Russia’s top hunter. The time will soon come when you will use your abilities for our purposes. You can use your healing abilities when you are working as a Russian hunter.”

“I understand.”

Envy got up from his seat with a satisfied expression and took off his hood.

As Seonghyun expected, it was the same person from his memory.

“Welcome to our side, Pilgrim.”

Envy smiled at the obedient Pilgrim and left the room.

Not long after Envy left the room, Seonghyun muttered.

“Mr. Envy.”

But the voice in his head did not respond.

“Mr. Envy?”

Again, the voice was silent.

In other words, Envy had dominated his mind, but he couldn’t monitor his thoughts.

“Ha, mind control.”

It was an unimaginable ability.

The amount of magic power required to sustain it was, of course, enormous, but the ability itself was so valuable that it was comparable to Seonghyun’s own power.

“It seems impossible to use it on magical beasts…”

If that were the case, Envy would have mind-controlled all the magical beasts and achieved the group’s goals effortlessly.

And looking at the amount of magic power he used when using mind control, the expenditure was quite considerable.

However, that considerable amount did not exceed Seonghyun’s magic power reserves, which were appropriately adjusted for the character of the Pilgrim.

“It can only be used on people, and it seems like it consumes a certain amount of magic power each time it’s used.”

Seonghyun wasn’t surprised by the opponent’s rare ability; instead, he began to analyze its advantages and disadvantages.

“The fact that Lich and Padron [powerful monsters] were not mind-controlled suggests that it’s impossible if the target’s magic power exceeds a certain level?”

The more he speculated, the more complicated the conditions of the ability became, so Seonghyun stopped making any further predictions.

“First, let’s act as Envy instructs and figure out the inner workings of the group.”

He didn’t know when it would happen, but someday this group would have to be eliminated.

Dealing with them without any knowledge, like the Red Eyes incident, could lead to another dangerous situation, so Seonghyun decided to proceed more cautiously.

“I just need to adjust to the mind control appropriately.”

The moment they let their guard down against Seonghyun, against the Pilgrim, would be the day they would be destroyed.

The hunter supremacist group that had been the biggest obstacle for Seonghyun.

He had found and caught the most accurate clue to get closer to it, so he had to prepare for that day that would inevitably come.

——————————

Envy, who had successfully recruited the Pilgrim, left the hotel and looked back at the building where he had met him.

“…I feel a sense of unease.”

Clearly, the mind control had worked.

But rather than feeling confident that the ability had taken hold, he had a strong feeling that Seonghyun had simply accepted it.

“I think we need to monitor him more closely.”

The unidentified hunter in that rift, and the Pilgrim himself, seemed to be hiding more than he initially thought.

To make him completely subservient, he would have had to pour almost all of his magic power into mind control, and even then, success was not guaranteed if the target had a significant amount of magic power.

That’s why he had only applied mind control to the extent that Seonghyun would follow orders, but he never imagined that he would regret it so soon after leaving the hotel, not even a day later.

The recruitment of the Pilgrim had drastically increased their power, but there was still a lack of trust in him.

“Envy! Are you done? How did it go?”

The man who had been monitoring Seonghyun saw Envy come out and approached him.

“It’s not the best outcome, but it’s a satisfactory second best.”

“Did you end up using mind control?”

“I had no choice. If we want to utilize him properly in the future, it was necessary.”

“That’s true, but… what are you going to do about the tamed magical beast?!”

The man’s eyes shone brightly as he looked at Envy.

Using mind control was the same as saying that there was no longer any need to monitor the magical beast.

“I don’t think it’ll be easy to acquire.”

The man’s face hardened at those words.

“…What?”

“Instead, let’s focus on healing the remaining magical beasts now.”

“Tsk… well, that’s something, I suppose. I can’t help it. Those aren’t creatures you can simply buy with money.”

“But I think you’ll have to continue monitoring him in the future.”

“Why? Didn’t the mind control work properly?”

“That’s true, but something feels strange.”

“Well… if you say it’s strange, I guess we have to keep monitoring him. So, when are you going to heal the magical beasts?”

He could heal the magical beasts right away, but the problem was that he had to take the Pilgrim to the man’s hideout to do so.

“Can you move those magical beasts out of there?”

“That’s impossible. They’ll disintegrate as soon as they’re removed from the capsule.”

“Then I need a little more time…”

“Ah, no! It’s urgent. I’m barely managing to keep their bodies from collapsing as it is.”

“The Pilgrim is still someone who needs to be monitored. If we rashly take him to your lab, we don’t know what might happen.”

Envy strongly opposed the idea, but the man couldn’t delay any longer.

“I’ll take responsibility. If I can’t get the magical beasts now, everything I’ve experimented with so far will be for nothing.”

“Ha…”

“Huh? I’ve been experimenting for a whole 5 years! I’ll be done if I just do it a little more!”

Envy didn’t trust the word “completion” at all, but there had been quite a few instances where the failed results of this experiment had proven beneficial.

For example, forcing the gate to overflow, or controlling the location and timing of the gate’s appearance.

“Okay. Instead, move the magical beasts to the entrance.”

“Of course! I can do that much.”

The inescapable anxiety kept nagging at Envy, but he couldn’t resist any longer.

“You said it was urgent, so get ready right now. I’ll take the Pilgrim there by tomorrow!”

“Great! That’s Envy! You’re the only one I can count on.”

He didn’t know that the time to give orders to the Pilgrim would come so soon, but it could be an opportunity.

‘Let’s give you a chance to earn our trust quickly, Pilgrim.’

With that thought, Envy immediately gave the order to the Pilgrim.

He told him to wait at the hotel because he would be using his abilities tomorrow.