S-Rank Healer Gets Kidnapped First Chapter 15

‘This is good.’

It was high enough to have a clear view of the entire battlefield. That made it easier to heal and buff allies while also keeping an eye on the enemy’s movements and behavior.

‘He must have sent me up here after calculating all of that, right?’

There was a reason they were the number one guild. Their ability to remain calm in any situation, their determination to gain even the slightest advantage no matter how high their rank was—things like these must have added up to increase their overall win rate.

“This should keep you out of the enemy’s line of sight.”

“Don’t worry. Even if they come, I have a shield.”

Just like on the day we first met, I activated Divine Protection. Only then did Han Seongwoo’s expression relax, as if he was finally reassured.

“I’m the one who wants to put a shield on you, but a healer’s shield can only cover one person….”

“It’s okay. I already knew. Besides, it would hurt an S-rank hunter’s pride to receive a shield in a B-rank dungeon.”

He had the luxury of worrying about his pride during a battle.

He patted my shoulder before dropping to the ground. Perhaps he was worried that staying up here too long would increase the chance of us being discovered, because he left without even saying goodbye.

“…It feels like he got even faster now that I’m not there.”

Even though the number of enemies had increased, Han Seongwoo dodged every attack. It was almost as if he were playing with all eight legs.

Whoosh, whoosh.

In the meantime, daggers appeared out of nowhere and flew through the air. Even though he threw them while moving, his attacks never wavered.

The two daggers accurately severed the legs.

As if they could still feel pain even after being cut off, the two legs writhed violently. As if that weren’t enough, they eventually began digging into the ground as though trying to burrow underground.

“Wait, why is it putting so much force into that?”

Something felt strange, so I looked around.

Meanwhile, Han Seongwoo steadily dealt with the remaining six legs.

Thump. Thump.

A strange, muffled sound could be heard. It sounded like something hitting against something solid, almost as though it were coming from behind a wall….

Thump. Thump.

“…No way.”

BOOM!

By the time I realized what was happening, it was already too late. The wall directly in front of us was completely cracked.

―Kyaaaaaaak!

A translucent, fluorescent octopus appeared.

Its pale green fluorescence glittered so brightly that it hurt my eyes. The somewhat dim dungeon was illuminated by its glow.

[Neon Octopus (B)]

Now that it had revealed its true form, the system window finally displayed its information.

“It’s the boss! These legs weren’t individual monsters—they were parts of the boss!”

Seeing the enormous body, Han Seongwoo immediately moved again. Rather than wasting time fighting the legs, he seemed intent on attacking the main body directly.

The remaining six legs chased after him.

“I can’t let that happen.”

The time had finally come to use it.

I opened the system window.

[Name: Moon Yeonhee

Awakening: Pope

Class: Healer

Rank: S

Skills: Divine Grace / Divine Protection / Divine Blessing

Trait: S-Rank Privilege Activated (Additional buffs applied to each skill)]

[‘Divine Blessing’ S-Rank Privilege: Buffs can be stacked]

This was the privilege that had shocked me so much the first time I saw it that I had read it several times.

Buffs can be stacked.

It might not sound like a big deal, but from a healer’s perspective, it was a privilege far more useful than something like attack reflection. It was the kind of benefit that made me truly realize that S-ranks were on a different level.

Most people, and even most hunters, didn’t know much about what healers could actually do or what abilities they possessed.

There were so few healers to begin with, and buffs weren’t as visually obvious as a damage dealer’s attack or a tank’s shield.

They simply judged a healer’s ability by things like how long they managed to last that day or how much more damage they seemed to deal.

But from a healer’s perspective, buffs were skills with a much broader range than simple healing.

Attack skills, evasion rate, temporary increases to health, increased attack power when using a specific weapon, and so on. They covered a wide spectrum, from physical enhancement to trait enhancement, and the skills were further divided within those categories, making it difficult to memorize every single buff.

If there was one thing all buffs had in common, it was that they provided an ‘unconditionally positive effect.’

And the important part here was the premise of ‘unconditionally.’

Since buffs made hunters stronger whether or not the recipient wanted it, there was one condition that placed a limitation on them.

An incredible privilege that only healers could enjoy.

That one limitation was that only one buff could be placed on a single person.

It might sound like ‘That’s it?’ when put that way, but unconditional effects were far more powerful than they sounded, so there was no doubt that healer buffs significantly reduced the strain of battle.

“Let’s try it right away.”

Every time Han Seongwoo tried to approach the main body, the legs immediately blocked his path, making it difficult for him to advance.

“Divine Blessing.”

Countless glowing golden symbols floated into the air and surrounded me in a circle, as if enclosing me at the center.

“Let’s start with the basics: increased attack speed and attack power.”

The symbols approached me the moment I spoke, without me even needing to touch them.

Wondering what else might be necessary, I looked down.

“The water has risen quite a bit.”

Just moments ago, it had only reached my ankles, but while I was reading the description, it had risen to my shins.

There was no pointless element among the environments created by dungeons. That water was definitely applying some kind of debuff to Han Seongwoo.

“Debuff Cancel.”

And then.

“Eyes of Weakness.”

Two more symbols floated upward.

Eyes of Weakness was a buff that revealed an opponent’s weaknesses. Since this was an S-rank Eyes of Weakness, it would probably find a B-rank monster’s weakness in no time.

The four symbols gathered together and flew toward Han Seongwoo.

Buffs were only visible to the caster and the allies recognized by the caster. So I didn’t pay much attention to the monster and simply watched the symbols I had sent fly across the long distance as though admiring them.

But for some reason, the monster’s gaze gradually turned toward me.

Sure enough.

Whoosh.

“Ah!”

One of the legs fighting Han Seongwoo flew toward me.

“I didn’t think about aggro.”

Since they were S-ranks far above B-rank, the monster could easily sense their presence. This had happened because there was no tank deliberately drawing its aggro.

“Divine Protection!”

As the leg drew close, I hurriedly activated the skill.

Clang!

The sound of sharp pieces of metal colliding rang throughout the dungeon.

Despite the loud noise, there was no pain.

I cautiously raised my hunched head.

“I’m… fine?”

The shield was perfectly intact too. It had completely deflected the impact, without even a hairline crack.

“Hostage!”

Even in an emergency, he still calls me that.

I gave him a reluctant signal that I was fine.

―Kieeeeeeek!

Unlike me, however, the octopus let out a piercing scream that made it easy to guess just how much pain it was in.

I turned my head toward where the attack had come from to assess the situation.

“Wait, it drove itself that deep?”

The leg that had tried to strike me was embedded in the wall.

“It put so much force into trying to hit me that its own leg got buried that far into the wall…?”

If I hadn’t been S-rank….

A chilling thought made my shoulders tremble.

“What a radioactive octopus that nobody would eat even if it were served as an octopus skewer.”

Trusting in Divine Protection, I jumped down.

Since my position had already been discovered, being below where there was nowhere to dodge was better than staying up above.

“Are you okay?”

Han Seongwoo approached with the sound of splashing water.

I was about to answer that I was fine when the octopus, which had been swaying from side to side, launched a new attack.

―Fwoooooosh!

A water cannon. A powerful-looking stream of water shot toward us at high speed.

Taking advantage of our momentary lapse in attention, I hurriedly stepped in front of Han Seongwoo.

“Wait…!”

Clang!

Han Seongwoo’s words were cut off.

I opened my tightly shut eyes at the same sound I had heard earlier. The water cannon had been deflected toward the ceiling.

‘It… it can block this too…!’

To be honest, even I hadn’t fully trusted Divine Protection yet.

I had only moved on instinct after remembering how it had repelled the leg.

The boss seemed startled by the direction in which the water had been deflected and froze for a moment.

“Han Seongwoo! Now!”

This was our chance. The boss was stunned by the unexpected turn of events, and its legs had momentarily stiffened. I shouted toward Han Seongwoo behind me.

“…Yes!”

At the same time as his belated answer, Han Seongwoo kicked off the ground and dashed past me.

He looked like he had a lot of questions he wanted to ask.

‘He thinks I’m a B-rank healer, but he just watched me resist the boss’s attack with my bare body right in front of him….’

I still hadn’t been able to tell him I was S-rank. Now he had found out in the most unexpected way.

Slice, slice.

―Kiaaaak!

Once all its legs had been cut off, the octopus stopped firing its water cannon and roared.

Could an octopus roar? …Well, it’s a monster.

“…What is this?”

I didn’t know what the purpose of this particular cry was, but the dungeon shook violently.

I hurriedly grabbed onto a pillar stretching up toward the ceiling.

Splash. Splash.

The water that had collected on the ground shook violently from the vibrations.

Splash. Splash.

But the more I concentrated, the more I felt that there was another sound mixed in besides the sound of water.

Separate from the sound of water hitting the walls, something was….

“Here they come.”

Han Seongwoo, who had returned to my side at some point, spoke.

Right. The source of the sound was footsteps.

Normally, dungeons of this type had four paths leading toward the center where the boss was located.

The problem was that we could hear the sound coming from the path we had entered through as well.

‘How? I didn’t sense anything unusual on the way here…!’

No, it was possible that I hadn’t noticed their presence. But Han Seongwoo was right beside me now. It would make no sense for him to fail to sense the presence of a B-rank monster, even if I could.

Whatever had happened, there was nowhere for us to run.

“…Fish?”

Their figures came into view.

Two legs extending from beneath their bodies, two arms stretching out to the sides, and even a trident held in one hand.

“Ah, no… Is this an army of fish?”

They marched in formation like soldiers standing at attention.

“Wow, they look like deep-sea fish….”

“Not ‘like’ them. They are.”

Even Han Seongwoo added a comment at the bizarre sight that could hardly be called pleasant.

Looking at such horrifying hybrids, I wondered if this was why practical combat experience was so important. To get used to seeing monsters with such bizarre appearances after the shock of falling from heights.

―Kiaaaak!

The boss wriggled its mouth, apparently pleased that its reliable army had arrived.

“So that cry was a signal to call its allies.”

The deep-sea fish quickly surrounded Han Seongwoo and me.

We were completely surrounded.

It was horrifying, but I wasn’t afraid.

After all, our opponents were B-rank at best. There was no way they could break through my Divine Protection.

“Are they trying to overwhelm us with numbers?”

Han Seongwoo was equally relaxed, judging by the carefree smile on his face.

Perhaps irritated by the fact that we weren’t frightened, the boss twisted its body.

Gush, gush, gush.

“It’s releasing water to make sure the debuff is applied.”

“At this rate, our clothes are going to be completely soaked.”

I spoke as the stream transformed into something resembling a massive dam of water.

―Kueeeeeek!

Since the water was applying a debuff to us, it was obviously also buffing its allies.

As if to prove it, the moment the water touched the deep-sea fish, their scales became glossy and their eyes glowed red.

I frowned at the unpleasant sight and asked Han Seongwoo.

“You can finish them all at once, right?”

“Of course. It’s time to earn my buff.”

A deep purple energy began to billow around us like smoke.

It quickly spread out and bound the deep-sea fish.

The low-intelligence monsters approached despite seeing that their allies’ movements had been restrained.

“Shadow Silhouette.”

After finishing his preparations, he called out the name of his skill.

The energy that had spread as far as it could suddenly swallowed the entire space.

I blinked once, and suddenly the entire area from the floor to the walls had become his domain.

This was the first time I had properly seen Han Seongwoo’s skill. I simply stared at the magnificent sight, unable even to think about closing my mouth.

Of course, the deep-sea fish around us were no different.

As I clicked my tongue at their pathetic appearance, something wavering along the wall caught the corner of my eye.

“…A shadow?”

Shadows filled the wall from top to bottom, and eventually—

‘…Crazy. Can they open their eyes too?’

They all opened their eyes simultaneously.

After the octopus’s legs, I never thought I would have to witness another sight this creepy. I made sure not to let the curse escape my mouth.

Perhaps noticing that my body had stiffened, Han Seongwoo chuckled and said,

“Hostage, if you look that scared, they’ll think you’re one of the enemies.”

“…Really?”

“I’m kidding, ugh…!”

I pinched Han Seongwoo’s side just as hard as I had been startled.

Did he really feel like teasing me at a time like this?!