I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 45

“One of you goes down the middle path, and the other two take the paths on either side.”

The guide was already there to greet them.

Seeing the paths split from here, it seemed they were designed to make it difficult to gauge the distance to each starting point.

“Remember what I said?”

“Of course.”

“Naturally.”

Following the guide, Inhwan and Sangyeon disappeared, and Seonghyun took a deep breath in front of the gate where he had always fought the inter-class matches.

“This is the most important one.”

While the first and second years fought their inter-class match, the third years would undoubtedly be watching and analyzing their combat abilities.

That was the privilege of the third years.

A chance to automatically advance while also watching and analyzing the battles.

The winning class from this inter-class match had to face the third years.

In reality, the third years becoming the academy representatives was practically a given, and the inter-class match between the class representatives was more of a custom or tradition.

“We will now begin the Academy Inter-Class Representative Match. I would like to remind you once again that joining other team members is not allowed until the battles in each path are over.”

The match to determine the team that would represent the academy, and ultimately the nation, had now begun.

Opening the door to the room where the battle would take place revealed a battlefield unlike any he had experienced before.

Like the cross-section their homeroom teacher had shown them, there was only one path for Seonghyun to take.

The sides, as well as the ceiling, were completely blocked off by walls.

“These are special walls.”

The material of the walls didn’t seem significantly different from other walls, but when he touched them, he felt strongly that he couldn’t do anything beyond these walls; they felt completely impenetrable.

“The opponent must be in front of me.”

He already knew all of his opponent’s abilities.

The same went for Inhwan and Sangyeon, but there was one unknown factor: the opponent’s sensory abilities.

Depending on how the battle itself unfolded, whether they dodged or blocked attacks, the situation could change completely, so if he could figure that out quickly, he could create an advantageous situation more easily.

“First, I need to see who my opponent is.”

Seonghyun roughly assessed his surroundings and headed forward along the only path available.

After turning left and right a few times, a fairly wide path appeared that was difficult to call a path.

It felt as if the battlefield had been prepared, as if they were meant to fight here.

“You must be Kim Seonghyun?”

A voice came from another path in front of him.

The path visible on the other side was probably the path to the center of this maze.

“…”

Seonghyun didn’t say anything and identified his opponent.

According to Seongwook, his opponent’s name was Kim Daehyun, and he mainly used a bow.

It was known that he had excellent archery skills and the ability to increase his speed for evasion, but according to Seongwook’s information, he also possessed a rather tricky ability.

That was the ability to guide his arrows.

“Hey, I’m asking you. Are you Kim Seonghyun?”

“Yeah.”

Seonghyun answered plainly in informal speech.

Daehyun frowned deeply, seemingly displeased with the informal speech, and said while gripping the bow on his back and staring at Seonghyun.

“These days, juniors have no respect for their seniors?”

“It’s better than having no respect for people.”

“…”

Because he had started the conversation informally, Daehyun couldn’t come up with another response.

“Alright, what’s the point of talking?”

Daehyun drew his bowstring without hesitation.

‘There’s no arrow?’

But something that should have been there on the bow was missing.

There was no arrow.

‘It’s not just simple guidance, but invisible?’

He could easily overcome it if he used his stigmata [a mark of divine grace or disgrace], but for some reason, he felt like he could manage without using it.

Daehyun looked closely at Seonghyun.

He had been underestimating him, thinking he was a healer, but his movements in the previous inter-class match were not those of a healer.

One might think that he had developed the ability to evade because he was the one who needed the most protection, but Seonghyun hadn’t just shown evasive maneuvers back then.

He had fought back as if he had the same close-combat abilities.

‘I won’t let my guard down.’

In reality, it would be difficult to win against the third years and go to the National Competition as the academy representative, but he couldn’t show the unsightly *moseup* [Korean: 모습, meaning ‘figure’ or ‘appearance’] of losing to a first-year.

Daehyun watched Seonghyun, who still hadn’t made a move.

‘He’s not planning to move first? How foolish.’

With a smile of confidence, Daehyun was about to fire an arrow into the sky.

‘Ah.’

But all he saw above him was a gray ceiling. Daehyun clicked his tongue in disappointment and aimed the bowstring, which had been pointed at the sky, at Seonghyun.

“Staying still will only make the situation worse.”

Fortunately, the interior was quite spacious, and Daehyun began firing arrows at Seonghyun.

Invisible arrows.

Seonghyun was staring at him without the slightest movement.

As if he knew from the start that he wouldn’t shoot arrows at him.

‘…It doesn’t matter, I guess.’

He had never revealed this ability within the academy until now.

Not only invisible arrows but also arrows that would always hit their target.

“Invisible arrows and guided arrows?”

“…You have a good sense. But will that change anything?”

Daehyun smiled.

Every single arrow scattered would fly toward Seonghyun’s heart without fail.

There was only one problem.

Seonghyun’s healing ability.

‘He could definitely use it on himself…’

If that were the case, he wouldn’t be able to meet the academy’s condition of rendering him unable to fight.

‘I have no choice but to follow the plan.’

It would have been easy to deal with Inhwan and Sangyeon if they had been his opponents, but Seonghyun’s inability to fight meant death, so he had to stall for time.

Until the other team members had dealt with all of Seonghyun’s teammates.

“Let’s take it slow, junior.”

Daehyun thought that dealing with Seonghyun or stalling for time wouldn’t be difficult.

But there was one thing he was mistaken about.

Seonghyun’s movements had become incomparably faster than before.

Seonghyun dodged all the invisible arrows flying toward him.

Deflecting them with his sword, slightly twisting his body, without missing a single one.

He wasn’t just dodging.

From Daehyun’s words, it was clear that Daehyun’s goal wasn’t to win this battle but to stall for time.

‘He must have judged that he can’t make me unable to fight.’

If that was the case, Seonghyun had to defeat Daehyun as quickly as possible and advance to the center of this maze.

And he had to lift the cup of victory in the center.

Because Seonghyun was the leader.

Having finished assessing the situation, Seonghyun didn’t just stop at dodging the arrows.

He solved the problem of dodging while simultaneously approaching Daehyun, and he was able to approach Daehyun faster than he had expected.

And the faster he moved, the more often the arrows failed to pinpoint Seonghyun’s location.

“It wasn’t…guidance?”

“Wh-what did you say?”

In that short time as he approached Daehyun, Seonghyun figured out the identity of the hidden arrows.

The arrows weren’t guided.

They were merely being controlled.

In some ways, control could be considered a superior ability, but unfortunately, control wasn’t working so well for Daehyun right now.

Seonghyun’s accelerated movements were deceiving Daehyun’s eyes, and as a result, the arrows were either hitting the walls or landing where Seonghyun had been before he moved.

“Can you stall for time with that?”

“You impudent bastard…!”

Daehyun, with veins bulging on his forehead, put a lot of strength into the bowstring.

‘If only the ceiling was open!’

He could have stopped that impudent mouth from running.

Daehyun began firing arrows at Seonghyun, who was approaching him.

Even if they didn’t hit, he could always control them to hit again, so it was important to fire a lot for now.

‘What’s going on…!’

Seonghyun was much more difficult than Daehyun had thought.

If it was just about being fast, there were many third-years who were fast, so it wouldn’t have mattered, but the problem was different.

It was that he wasn’t afraid.

He didn’t flinch even slightly.

There was no fear of the invisible arrows, of the unknown that could cause harm.

It wasn’t just that he wasn’t afraid.

He was sure that whatever it was, it wouldn’t cause him damage that could instantly kill him, and he didn’t seem to mind getting slightly grazed and bleeding.

It was as if he couldn’t feel pain.

Seonghyun was so fearless right now that it even crossed his mind that he might be a demon.

‘…What a broken ability.’

Daehyun continued to create distance and fire arrows at Seonghyun.

He deflected the ones that were flying directly at him, endured the arrows that weren’t aimed at vital spots to divert his attention, and dodged the arrows that were flying toward vital spots while approaching him.

He even suspected that an experienced hunter might be disguised as Seonghyun.

‘Just a little more distance…’

As he was moving backward to stall for time, he suddenly felt a tingling sensation and a surge of pain.

Daehyun, who had been leaping backward, couldn’t plant his feet due to the pain and collapsed to the ground.

Naturally, the controlled arrows crashed to the ground, and in the meantime, Seonghyun was right in front of him.

“H-Hik!”

Daehyun trembled as if he had encountered a demon.

His appearance, the abilities he used, the language he spoke.

Even if you considered everything, Seonghyun was a perfect human, but he didn’t seem that way at all right now.

“Still, you stalled for quite a bit. Senior.”

Seonghyun made Daehyun unable to fight, speaking with an expression and tone that seemed to treat him more like a senior than before.

“…I didn’t want to use my stigmata, but I’m still a bit lacking.”

If he hadn’t known that his opponent was trying to stall for time, he wouldn’t have used his stigmata.

But now that he knew, he couldn’t do that.

“This person doesn’t seem to be the leader. So, are Inhwan and Sangyeon fighting?”

Seonghyun didn’t doubt them.

They were strong enough even without him, even without healing, so he was sure that they would be waiting for him in the center. If not, he vowed to wait for them and headed toward the center.

The path to the center wasn’t far or difficult.

It was so easy that the word “maze” seemed out of place; he just had to walk along the path in front of him to get to the center.

As if to announce that it was the center, a door he hadn’t seen before blocked his path, and Seonghyun opened the massive door without betraying his expectations.

But perhaps his expectations were a bit too high, as the scene that unfolded was different from Seonghyun’s expectations and anticipation.