I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 40

40

“This is… beyond imagination?”

“Right. Gear definitely matters.”

Inhwan and Sangyeon were acutely aware of the power of their equipment.

Low-grade equipment might be just okay, but the gear crafted directly by artisans at the Academy was on a different level.

It not only enhanced what the artisan had explained but also boosted other basic abilities across the board.

For Inhwan, it increased his base mana; for Sangyeon, his basic physical abilities; and for Seonghyun, his mana as well.

Of course, they wouldn’t be able to use the gear in the upcoming inter-class competition, so it wouldn’t be of much help there, but adapting to the equipment came first.

“Now that we’ve roughly checked the performance, let’s officially apply for a subjugation [monster hunt].”

At Seonghyun’s words, Inhwan and Sangyeon asked with slightly worried expressions.

“But where do we find two more people?”

“Yeah, finding two people is the biggest problem…”

“I think we can find two people right away.”

Seonghyun spoke as if he had already decided on the two, and the others looked at him with puzzled expressions.

“Tomorrow, let’s focus on persuading those two, and if they join immediately, we’ll submit the subjugation request. There are probably many unassigned gates [portals to monster zones], so we should be able to head out for subjugation soon.”

“I’m curious who it is, but I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.”

The three of them finished today’s simple subjugation and returned to their respective homes.

The next day, Seonghyun met one of the two he planned to recruit for the subjugation team.

“Hayeon, can I talk to you for a moment?”

The first target Seonghyun had decided to recruit for the subjugation team was none other than Hayeon.

He could have tried to persuade others, but Seonghyun judged that there wasn’t enough time for such a process.

So, he suggested joining the subjugation team to Hayeon, one of the people he had previously helped.

“Yes? Oh, yes!”

Hayeon seemed surprised and hurriedly tidied up her things and followed Seonghyun.

“Hayeon, would you be interested in joining our subjugation team?”

“Subjugation… team?”

The subjugation teams Hayeon knew were usually run by guilds [organized groups of hunters].

“Yes, we’re planning to apply for subjugation in preparation for the inter-class competition, and as you know, the minimum requirement is five people…”

Hayeon nodded as if it were obvious before Seonghyun could even finish speaking.

“Of course! I’m always welcome. So, when do we start the subjugation?”

“We just need one more person. If we’re really fast, today, but probably around tomorrow. The number of subjugation teams for 4th-grade gates has decreased a lot these days.”

As Seonghyun had expected, Hayeon accepted Seonghyun’s offer.

“You can consider what I did for you before settled with this.”

“Yes? But just with this…”

“No, I prefer it this way.”

He hadn’t intended to receive anything in return in the first place, but knowing Hayeon, she would probably feel indebted, so he made it clear in advance.

“I’ll contact you when the results are out.”

“Yes!”

Hayeon went straight back to her class, and Seonghyun headed to the class next door.

It was still before the start of class, so there was a slightly noisy atmosphere.

“Excuse me…”

As he cautiously opened the door, the noisy classroom instantly fell silent.

“Hiek!”

The one who broke the silence was none other than Hwang Euihyun.

‘Why, why is he here?’

The words came out without him realizing it, but thankfully, he was sitting in the back, so the other students didn’t see him.

‘I, I haven’t done anything, anything at all…!’

His hands began to tremble as if warned by instinct.

Not only that.

Cold sweat continued to break out, and his mouth began to dry up.

‘Ugh…!’

The violently beating heart was completely out of place with the current silence.

It felt like if he made even the slightest mistake, this violently beating heart would stop beating.

‘Please just go…!’

Except for when he slightly peeked out when he first opened the door, Hwang Euihyun couldn’t meet Seonghyun’s eyes.

No, he couldn’t even look in the direction of Seonghyun and was only thinking about why Seonghyun had come.

“Is Kang Seongwook here…?”

‘As expected, he came because of me! He’s going to ask Kang Seongwook!’

“Se, Seonghyun? Why are you here…”

“Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Huh? Of course!”

Soon, Seongwook got up from his seat and followed Seonghyun out, while Hwang Euihyun kept his head down, waiting for Seonghyun to leave.

‘Di, did he leave?’

He seemed to have left, so he slightly raised his head to look at where Seonghyun had been, but Seonghyun was staring directly at him.

With a blank expression that showed no emotion.

“Ugh…”

The trembling hands stopped, and the violently beating heart became calm again.

However, he couldn’t breathe properly.

It felt like if he just avoided this gaze, the unforgettable pain would come again.

After about 3 seconds, neither long nor short, Seonghyun turned around and left the classroom.

“What’s wrong, Seonghyun?”

“It’s nothing much, but would you be interested in joining the subjugation team?”

“Su, suddenly? Me?”

Seongwook looked at Seonghyun with a rather dumbfounded expression.

His only ability was to identify the abilities of others, a completely useless ability.

Moreover, judging from what Seonghyun was saying, it seemed like they were going to subjugate a low-grade gate, but the abilities of the monsters in that gate were already well known.

“I, I’ll be useless…”

“Useless? Your ability is the most important.”

“The most important?”

Seongwook couldn’t believe that Seonghyun, who had healing abilities, was saying this.

“Yes, what if the gate we entered mutated, or if hostile hunters appeared? Then your ability would be essential.”

“Ah…”

Seongwook was grateful for Seonghyun’s words.

He was most grateful for the fact that he pinpointed exactly where and how his ability would be needed, rather than just vaguely saying that he would be helpful.

“If there’s anything I can do.”

“Thank you. We’ll probably head out for subjugation today or tomorrow. I’ll contact you.”

“Okay. Thanks for recommending me.”

Seonghyun, Inhwan, and Sangyeon were free from classes thanks to the Academy competition, but Hayeon and Seongwook were not, so Seonghyun headed to the association with Inhwan and Sangyeon.

“Wow. The association is huge.”

“What, is this your first time at the association?”

“So, what? Is that not allowed?”

The two were still bickering as they entered the building, and the secretary, who happened to be at the door, approached Seonghyun with a surprised expression.

“Hunter Kim…? What brings you to the association…”

“Ah, I have something to tell you.”

For a moment, the secretary thought something had gone wrong again, but she realized that wasn’t the case due to the presence of Inhwan and Sangyeon behind him.

“The vice-chairman is not in his office right now. Would it be okay if I listened instead?”

“Of course. Actually, it’s an issue that doesn’t require coming to the association, but I thought it would be better to tell you anyway.”

Originally, subjugation requests could be easily processed with a few clicks on a computer or phone, but that was only possible for official guilds.

Seonghyun and the two followed the secretary to a room and briefly explained the reason for their visit today.

Throughout Seonghyun’s explanation, the secretary’s expression remained the same as usual.

An expression that made it impossible to know what she was thinking.

“A subjugation team… you said it’s a 4th-grade gate?”

“Yes, it seems that in order to be officially assigned to a gate as a subjugation team and go out for subjugation, we need to register the group in some small way.”

“Haa… I’m sorry, but could the other two of you leave for a moment?”

“Yes? Ah, yes!”

“Okay.”

Inhwan blushed at the secretary’s words and left, while Sangyeon looked at Inhwan with a disapproving expression and left the room with him.

“Hunter Kim. We didn’t say anything else because of what we did before…”

“Yes, yes.”

Seonghyun was slightly flustered by the secretary’s expression and tone, which seemed a bit angry, and waited for her next words.

“You should at least be aware of your position!”

“My, my position?”

The secretary headed to the bookshelf as if it was a good thing.

Then, she started taking out various things and stacking them in front of Seonghyun.

“Se, Secretary…?”

The secretary, who had placed several stacks of documents in front of him, took a slight breath and sat down on the sofa, saying,

“Hunter Kim. Do you know what all of these are?”

“I, I don’t really…”

The secretary opened the leftmost one of the documents arranged on the table and said,

“This is what Hunter Kim saw last time, right? The list of people from each country who want treatment.”

“Ah, I remember.”

There was even an incident where the American association came directly to deliver the potion.

After that, there was nothing special, so he had forgotten about it.

“And this is an invitation from each country to Hunter Kim.”

“In, invitation?”

In the first place, these were issues that the association handled on its own without informing Seonghyun.

“I’m sorry for handling it on our own without informing Hunter Kim. However, the association judged that you are currently focused on your academy life and the competition.”

“Ah, it’s okay. I wasn’t planning on going anyway.”

“That’s a relief then.”

The secretary pointed to the top part of the document and said,

“It’s not a place to have meetings with top-tier hunters or powerful figures right now, but it’s still a place where the heads of guilds in decent positions from each country gather.”

“Why would they gather the heads of guilds and then call me…”

“The ulterior motive is obvious. If the heads of guilds gather, there will definitely be talk about gates, and they will try to go on a subjugation with Hunter Kim while he is there.”

“…It would definitely be tiring.”

“That’s right. The moment they directly feel Hunter Kim’s abilities, they might skip the association and directly request Hunter Kim.”

Seonghyun suddenly felt a pang of conscience when the incident that happened at the American association came to mind.

“…Don’t tell me something happened?”

“Haha, of course not.”

The secretary, who was looking at Seonghyun with a rather suspicious expression, tried to explain the remaining documents but soon put them back down and said,

“Everything behind this is also related to Hunter Kim. There are also personal requests to treat the families of powerful figures from each country.”

“Even personal requests…”

“And not only this…”

“Yes?”

“Ah, never mind.”

The secretary was about to say something but then closed her mouth.

“Anyway, I can say that this kind of behavior is too dangerous…”

The secretary’s attitude had changed a bit since the tutoring incident a few days ago.

Before, she treated him in a business-like manner, but now, at least, she seemed to be worried.

“So, you can’t give me permission?”

“No.”

“…That’s a shame.”

It was an unexpected and firm answer, but Seonghyun showed an expression as if he couldn’t help it because the secretary’s words made sense.

“But I can’t just deny it outright.”

“Yes?”

“I’ll talk to the vice-chairman and have him prepare a separate space. Is that okay?”

“I would appreciate that.”

“I’ll tell him when the vice-chairman returns.”

“Thank you.”

Seonghyun bowed slightly and left the room, feeling like he had found another way.