I Became The Only Healer In The Academy [EN]: Chapter 46

46

Inhwan briefly checked the wall again before continuing down the only available path.

Just like with Seonghyun, a space prepared for battle appeared, and there stood a man as if he had been waiting for Inhwan.

“Tch, you finally came? Taking your sweet time.”

‘…Is that Lee Jungseok?’

According to the information Seongwook gave him, Jungseok was one of the strongest figures among the second-year students.

Well, that’s probably why he became a class representative.

“What are you staring at like that?”

Jungseok’s ability was also an incredible one.

It was gravity amplification.

He had the power to manipulate the gravity of a desired area.

Unfortunately, the range wasn’t wide, and there was a limit to how much he could increase the gravity, but even so, there was no denying it was an amazing ability.

It was among the best abilities when dealing with magical beasts, as well as when dealing with people.

‘The opponent is too unfavorable.’

Inhwan frowned.

He had already heard from Seongwook about the level to which gravity could be amplified, so he could prepare for that, but there was no way to prepare if the gravity was weakened instead.

“Shall I start first, then?”

Just as Jungseok was about to make a move, Inhwan moved first.

‘Ignition.’

The ability to burn the opponent’s inner self and dissipate their magic power.

‘No matter how great gravity manipulation is, magic power isn’t infinite.’

Inhwan’s Ignition was also close to an unavoidable ability, so Jungseok wouldn’t be able to leave this place in a normal state.

‘…Huh?’

But the ability wouldn’t activate.

It wasn’t just that it wouldn’t activate; as soon as he tried to use Ignition, Inhwan felt a strange pain in his chest and collapsed on the spot.

“Hmm? What are you doing? What were you trying to do alone, and now you’re collapsing alone?”

“Th, this…!”

With the pain in his chest intensifying, Inhwan glared at Jungseok with slightly bloodshot eyes.

The obvious mockery seemed to indicate that he knew the cause of this pain.

“Oh dear, looks like you’re not feeling well. What a shame.”

“This is…”

Jungseok approached Inhwan to ensure a definite finish.

Knowing Inhwan’s abilities all too well, he knew that if he gave him even a little leeway, he would immediately recover and join the battle.

“Hmm… just lie down for about 10 minutes.”

“Ugh!!”

“Junior, don’t struggle too much. The more you use it, the more severe the pain will be.”

Jungseok, who had reached out his hand to manipulate gravity, felt his body burning with pain and his magic power evaporating.

“Heh heh…”

“You son of a bitch…!”

Inhwan returned the mockery he had received and lost consciousness.

Jungseok clenched his fist, his forehead veins bulging as he stared at the unconscious Inhwan for a moment before leaving.

Sangyeon was in a similar situation.

He lasted a little longer than Inhwan, but the chest pain that he felt from entering berserk mode intensified as time passed.

“Wow, you’re quite resilient for a first-year.”

Junghwan genuinely admired Sangyeon.

If he were asked if he had this much skill as a first-year, the answer would definitely be no.

“…Spare me the flattery.”

“I’m serious. If you hadn’t been overshadowed by that person… you might have soared.”

“…”

Sangyeon could sense that Junghwan’s words were sincere.

But now was the time to fight.

He had to somehow defeat the opponent in front of him and move forward.

‘Damn it… the pain…!’

Sangyeon bit his lip.

He tried to endure it somehow, but with the intensifying pain, his hands were now starting to tremble.

It wasn’t just the pain that was the problem.

Junghwan’s ability was body part enhancement.

Looking at the ability alone, one might wonder how he even got into the academy, but body part enhancement was an unexpectedly good ability.

“…You’ve endured well enough. Just give up now.”

“Giving up… is not an option!”

He squeezed out his last bit of strength and charged at Junghwan, but Sangyeon lost consciousness mid-charge.

“…”

Junghwan gently laid Sangyeon down next to him, looked down at him for a moment, and then moved towards the center.

“…What? Did Kim Daehyun lose?”

Jungseok, who was approaching the chalice of victory in the center, frowned at Seonghyun’s appearance and stopped in his tracks.

“This is going to be troublesome. It seems Kim Seonghyun is the leader; should we take care of him quickly?”

“Yeah.”

“…You’re so blunt.”

Junghwan, a friend of Jungseok who had faith in Seonghyun, gave Seonghyun a slight nod.

“It’s amazing… how did our junior beat Daehyun?”

There was a sense of unease in Jungseok’s expression.

‘What is it?’

It wasn’t an expression of not expecting it, but an expression as if it shouldn’t have happened.

And an expression as if there was a reason why it had to be that way.

Seonghyun knew their abilities well.

Jungseok had gravity manipulation. Junghwan had body part enhancement.

‘2:1 is a bit…’

He wasn’t going to be careless, but they weren’t soft seniors.

Still, the strategy itself was simple.

Bind the most troublesome gravity manipulation with the stigma and face Junghwan directly with his body.

In fact, there was no other choice.

“It’s a bit embarrassing to go 2:1 against a first-year, but please understand. It’s a competition…”

Jungseok couldn’t finish his sentence and clutched his heart in response to the overwhelming pain.

“Wh, what’s wrong?”

Junghwan looked at Jungseok with a bewildered expression.

“It’s, it’s nothing, so hurry up and deal with him!”

Jungseok also didn’t know the cause.

The pain was really just at a level that hindered his ability to use his powers, so it was quite annoying.

Junghwan realized that Jungseok couldn’t participate in the battle and no longer paid attention to him.

‘He’s the most difficult opponent.’

Junghwan’s approach to Seonghyun without any worries gave off the feeling of a knight from the Middle Ages.

‘It’s true that I’m concerned about using the stigma [a mark of supernatural power].’

Since he was constantly paying attention to it, it seemed better to increase the intensity of the stigma and quickly incapacitate Jungseok.

‘First, quick…’

Just as he was about to strengthen the stigma a little, pain surged from his heart, just like it had for Inhwan and Sangyeon.

Seonghyun was used to enduring pain due to the backlash of his healing ability, but the sudden pain that came without any preparation was something that Seonghyun couldn’t just ignore.

“Cough!”

“Wh, what…”

With both Jungseok and Seonghyun clutching their hearts and collapsing to the ground, Junghwan looked back and forth between them in a daze.

And with Seonghyun collapsing like that, Junghwan, who had been clutching his heart and collapsing just a moment ago, stood up sweating profusely.

“Phew, that was a surprise. I thought I ate something wrong.”

“What? What do you mean by eating something wrong?”

Junghwan looked at Jungseok with a puzzled expression and asked.

“Ah, it’s nothing. Just hurry up and finish it. I’m a little too weak to move right now.”

“No, I need to hear this properly. What do you mean you thought you ate something wrong?”

“…I was just joking.”

“A joke?”

Seonghyun was still frowning in pain and sitting on the ground, while Junghwan and Jungseok were talking.

‘What are they talking about? Thought he ate something wrong?’

“Tell me properly. A joke?”

“…I just messed with the cafeteria food a bit.”

“You, you mean…”

Jungseok avoided Junghwan’s gaze.

He was usually a rigid guy and didn’t feel like he could communicate well with him, so he didn’t know how he would react if he found out that he had used this method.

‘Could it be that cafeteria food back then?’

He vaguely felt a slightly sour taste for a moment; it seemed like he had put poison in the cafeteria food.

‘But if it’s the cafeteria food, then it applies to everyone else, not just us…’

“Then, then what happens to the other students?”

“Why are you worried about them?”

“What?”

“…Don’t worry about them. Only the people designated in advance will be affected.”

“…”

Jungseok took a deep breath and stood up.

“What are you doing? Let’s finish up quickly and go.”

Jungseok slightly pushed past Junghwan, who was blocking his way, and headed towards Seonghyun.

“No. I can’t accept such a dirty victory.”

“What nonsense are you spouting!”

“You used poison? Is that something a person should do?”

“…Wouldn’t it be good for you too if you went up? Why don’t you get rid of that dirty pretense?”

Junghwan sighed.

The fact that he had used poison was shameful in itself, but in addition to that, the more he thought about the favor that Seonghyun had shown to his friend Jinseok, the more his guilt grew.

“No, I can’t allow it.”

“You idiot…!”

Junghwan turned around and headed towards the center.

Then he picked up the chalice of victory and looked at Jungseok.

“…Put that down. No, bring it here.”

But Junghwan held the chalice of victory and headed straight for Seonghyun.

“…”

“Are you okay?”

“Why…”

As Seonghyun looked at him with confused eyes, Junghwan realized that his choice was even more correct.

“Take it.”

Seonghyun didn’t refuse Junghwan’s kindness.

In fact, the current pain wasn’t a big problem for Seonghyun.

However, judging from the atmosphere, he just didn’t show any movement because it seemed like he could watch the situation a little more.

‘Purification.’

He felt a little more pain the moment he used Purification, but after using Purification, he didn’t feel any pain at all.

“Thank you.”

“Ar, are you okay?”

“Of course. I’m a healer, after all.”

“…”

Seonghyun accepted the chalice of victory and started walking towards the opponent’s camp, ignoring Jungseok.

“You crazy bastard! Stop h…”

Jungseok couldn’t finish his sentence.

The pain that had disappeared when Seonghyun collapsed in pain began to return as soon as Seonghyun returned.

‘Wh, what on earth is…’

He hit his chest a few times and even tried taking the antidote he had prepared for any possible situation, but the pain only intensified and showed no signs of improving.

“Why, why doesn’t the poison…!”

It wasn’t time to be detoxified yet, but Seonghyun seemed to have no problems.

“Senior. I’m a healer.”

“Th…!”

Seonghyun tried to head to the opponent’s starting point while maintaining the stigma.

“Ugh…!”

“Hah, hah…”

But at the same time, doors opened from the other two entrances, and groans were heard simultaneously.

“…”

“…”

Inhwan and Sangyeon, who faced each other at the same time, burst into laughter.

“Pathetic bastard.”

“Weakling.”

The two who were laughing looked around at Seonghyun and the surroundings.

“I don’t know what happened, but it looks like Seonghyun won?”

“Kim Seonghyun, ca… can you heal us…”

Seonghyun smiled when he heard Sangyeon directly asking for treatment, feeling something new, and headed towards them.

‘Purification.’

As he used healing at the same time as Purification, the two, who had been crawling into the room just a moment ago, regained their energy as if nothing had happened.

“Phew, I suddenly felt pain in my heart.”

“What? You too?”

Seonghyun explained what happened simply, and the two frowned at the same time and looked at Jungseok, who was collapsed.

“Ha, you’re so scared of a first-year that you do something like that?”

“There was a truly pathetic bastard.”

“…I apologize on behalf of the second-years.”

Junghwan bowed deeply and apologized, and Inhwan answered as if it was nothing.

“Still, isn’t it because they were scared of us that they did something like that?”

“That’s true. It’s proof that we’re strong.”

The three of them had satisfied expressions as they held the chalice of victory together and headed towards the opponent’s starting point.