S-Rank Healer Gets Kidnapped First Chapter 16

―Kweeeek!

The monsters, realizing that their surroundings had changed, began letting out instinctive roars.

Even if they were nothing more than low-level monsters, there was no way they couldn’t realize that they were at a disadvantage after such a drastic change.

Han Seong-woo’s skill was so threatening that, with the dark shadows, it looked as though eyes had appeared all over the walls.

Those eyes then—

“Gasp….”

—burst out from the two-dimensional surface and swallowed the deep-sea fish whole.

“So it’s an area-of-effect skill….”

It was a horrifying sight, almost too grotesque to believe it was real.

But the splashing sound of water told me this wasn’t a dream.

As several of their allies disappeared in chunks right before them, the remaining monsters hurriedly prepared to fight.

The problem was that instead of attacking Seong-woo and me, they merely stabbed the walls pointlessly with their tridents.

Their futile struggle looked so pathetic that I even silently wished them good luck.

They were basically just swinging their weapons at empty air, and before long, they too were devoured by the shadows.

“Are they being digested…?”

The shadowy mass rippled like a violent tidal wave. Watching the pale and dark shades undulate like waves made me feel so nauseous that I thought I was going to throw up.

“Watching it will make you motion sick.”

Han Seong-woo stepped in front of me, blocking my view.

Apparently, he knew what kind of symptoms his skill caused.

A few minutes passed. When he finally moved aside, there wasn’t a single deep-sea monster left.

They sure got kicked out as soon as they arrived.

Naturally, I looked toward where the boss was.

Perhaps because its allies had disappeared without even putting up a proper fight, the boss stared wide-eyed as if it couldn’t believe what it was seeing.

“Don’t be scared. I’ll send you to join your comrades soon.”

Han Seong-woo grinned and launched his attack.

“Dance of Blades.”

Eight daggers floated around him. They spun in circles, moving so quickly that I couldn’t even follow them with my eyes.

Then, from somewhere, an eerie wind began to blow.

The wind gradually grew in size until it became like a typhoon. Since it had formed over water, it kicked up quite a bit of spray as well.

Is he turning the enemy’s advantageous environment against them?

Apparently, the water’s debuff didn’t have any effect that could weaken or reduce an enemy’s attacks. The wind continued to spin without a problem.

―Kyak! Kyaaaak…!

The boss trembled as it watched the gusts of wind. Because of that, it couldn’t even attack properly, and the ink it spat out merely fell limply through the air instead of flying toward us.

Once the typhoon had grown large enough, it moved toward the boss.

The moment it came into contact with the boss, it spun so rapidly that it looked as though it would bore straight through its body.

Eventually, the typhoon pierced through the octopus.

―Kuweeeek!

Splash. Splash.

Its body, shredded apart by the typhoon, toppled over.

As soon as the boss was defeated, water began draining away somewhere, and soon a chest appeared on the ground where the boss had fallen.

“Look at that. I guess that’s our dungeon-clear reward.”

“I want to wash up, so let’s grab it and leave quickly.”

Han Seong-woo shook off the water that had splashed all over him because of his skill and reached toward the eight daggers.

Despite being the weapons that had just created a gigantic whirlwind, the daggers flew gently back to him.

When Han Seong-woo clenched his fist tightly, the daggers disappeared all at once.

We approached the chest to check the rewards.

“I wonder what’s inside.”

The rewards were:

Various miscellaneous potions, three enhancement stones required for upgrading weapons, and a single sheet of paper with nothing written on it.

Since this wasn’t a particularly high-ranked dungeon, I hadn’t expected much from the rewards.

“Hmm?”

However, the moment I casually touched the unfamiliar paper-shaped reward, it briefly flashed before disappearing.

Worried that Seong-woo might think I’d taken the reward all for myself, I turned toward him.

“Ah, it’s fine. That’s normal.”

“Normal?”

At my question, Han Seong-woo continued explaining.

“It’s a reward from a consecutive dungeon. Check your system window. Doesn’t a lock symbol appear on the paper, saying it can’t be accessed? You’ll probably need a key.”

I checked my system window as he instructed.

[You have obtained a reward by defeating the main monster of a consecutive dungeon.]
[Document of the Consecutive Dungeon]
[The document is locked and cannot be viewed.]

“Huh?”

He was right. The reward from the consecutive dungeon had been stored in my system window.

There was even a visual lock symbol, as though it were preventing outsiders from accessing it.

The “consecutive dungeon” Han Seong-woo mentioned was short for “consecutive dungeons,” referring to a pair of linked dungeons.

“What a shame. Without the key, it’s basically useless.”

The rewards of consecutive dungeons were connected.

For example, just like now, Dungeon A might give you a locked document, while Dungeon A’ would give you the key.

You had to clear the paired dungeon to obtain the complete reward.

The problem was that there was no guarantee that I would ever clear the dungeon paired with this one.

It could appear in another region, or even another country. Someone else might have already cleared its paired dungeon.

That was why the rewards of consecutive dungeons remained shrouded in mystery.

Did they scale according to the dungeon’s rank? Or were they completely random regardless of difficulty?

I’d once heard about two dungeon clearers from different countries who happened to get in contact with each other after independently clearing a consecutive dungeon.

The world had turned its attention to them.

It could have been a historic moment—the first time the mysterious rewards of consecutive dungeons were revealed.

But, to cut to the chase, they never managed to discover what the reward actually was.

To obtain the complete reward from a consecutive dungeon, the two rewards ultimately had to be combined.

The problem was deciding which of the two hunters would become the rightful owner of that reward, which led to a dispute.

It was a golden opportunity to increase one’s fame and value.

No hunter who didn’t even know the other person would willingly give up that opportunity for the hollow honor of “advancing humanity.”

In the end, the attempt to uncover the reward of a consecutive dungeon fell apart after the two hunters couldn’t reach an agreement.

Afterward, the story became an example of how astronomically low the chances were of finding a paired consecutive dungeon—and how, even if you did find one, you could end up embroiled in countless disputes afterward.

It’s exactly the kind of topic that people who love stirring up drama on online communities would go crazy over.

For now, I decided to take it along with the other rewards and forget about it.

“Should we head out? I feel gross too, so I want to wash up quickly.”

“This way, I think. It’s the way we came.”

The way back was quick.

Soon, the exit appeared.

“Looks like they cleared the dungeon! The dungeon’s color has turned black!”

“Hey! Forget clearing the dungeon! Give me my car back, or compensate me for it!”

“Ugh, it stinks. Mom! It smells like fish here!”

The closer we got to the exit, the more clearly we could hear the commotion outside.

“Should I dry off a little before going out? There’ll probably be reporters outside, and I don’t want to walk out looking like this….”

“Moon Yeon-hee?”

I instinctively stopped walking when I heard someone call my name instead of the “hostage” nickname I’d been hearing almost every day lately.

“Oh. You’re finally here.”

“…….”

“Why did you take so long? The dungeon’s already been cleared. Is this how late the Association team is supposed to be?”

Unlike me, who was flustered by the familiar voice, Han Seong-woo calmly spoke up as though he’d expected this situation.

Thanks to Han Seong-woo stepping in front of me, I was able to raise my head.

His body could hide me from the Association team’s view, but even someone like Han Seong-woo couldn’t stop me from secretly looking at them.

From the edge of my vision, I checked the uniform’s chest.

Two yellow bars.

That meant they were a second-team unit.

Back when I was with the Association, I belonged to the first team, but depending on the situation, I sometimes went to support the second or third teams.

Apparently, someone from the second team whom I’d met back then had recognized me.

“…I’m Choo Hyun-ji, team leader of the Association’s second team. If you don’t mind, could you please step aside for a moment—”

“I don’t think I can.”

“Excuse me?”

Choo Hyun-ji was a hunter who served as the second team’s leader.

She was extremely proud of and devoted to her position in the second team.

So whenever she encountered a situation this disrespectful—

“Mr. Han Seong-woo.”

—she became quite sensitive.

“Yes?”

Han Seong-woo replied in a voice tinged with amusement.

I didn’t even need to look at him to know.

He found this situation amusing.

“Do you think this is a joke? The hunter behind you is currently a healer affiliated with the Association. We have a duty to protect her.”

“Really? Then protect her.”

“We can’t because you’re blocking us—”

“I also have a duty to protect her, so I’ll protect her.”

“…What?”

Choo Hyun-ji’s voice dropped.

She seemed to have mistaken Han Seong-woo’s words for a joke.

“You said she’s affiliated with the Association, so you have a duty to protect her. I’m simply saying that Moon Yeon-hee—well, hostage, actually—is now affiliated with Baekyang Guild, so we also have a duty to protect her.”

As the time we spent together increased, Han Seong-woo had learned the details of my kidnapping, as well as why I’d decided to sign a contract with Baekyang Guild.

He knew how I’d ended up getting caught by someone like Cha Seo-hae, and why I had no intention of returning to the Association.

“…Moon Yeon-hee!”

After hearing Han Seong-woo’s words, Choo Hyun-ji sharply called my name.

“Is what this guy saying true?!”

“…….”

“I’m asking if it’s true! You said you’d been kidnapped! Then why are you standing there with him even after seeing us?! Why aren’t you denying what he just said?!”

She looked like she might hit me if I didn’t give her the answer she wanted.

“Yeon-hee, you’re being threatened, right? Aren’t you?”

“Don’t you know the Association’s rules? Guilds that oppose the Association aren’t supposed to cooperate with them!”

“Everyone, calm down. If Yeon-hee has any loyalty, she’ll say it’s not true. Let’s wait for her answer.”

As Choo Hyun-ji began to rage, the people behind her tried to calm her down, each adding their own comments.

Loyalty, my ass.

I let out a hollow laugh.

I knew perfectly well that Association hunters underwent harsh training and indoctrination after joining.

So I had no reason to harbor resentment toward the second team, who didn’t know the full story.

But—

Was he not there when Park Ji-won returned? Do they really think they can talk about loyalty without knowing how I was treated? There’s only so much I can forgive just because someone didn’t know.

I deliberately didn’t answer.

Whether they were waiting for my response or not, I was the victim here. I had no obligation to answer them.

As my silence dragged on, they seemed to reach a single conclusion.

One by one, they took up combat stances.

“So you’re a traitor.”

Traitor.

So I really had to hear that word with my own ears.

“Oh. It’s been a while since I’ve fought other hunters, so I’m a little nervous. Since you’re outnumbering us, you’ll go easy on me, right?”

“Wait. You’re going to fight them? Why are you—”

“What? Isn’t it obvious? They’re our family now. We have to protect them.”

At his words, spoken without even the slightest hesitation, the hand I had been gripping him with slowly loosened.

“Ha! Family? What kind of family game is a guild that kidnaps traitors supposed to be playing?”

“Excuse me.”

Once again, Han Seong-woo cut her off.

“You talk too much.”

With those words, Han Seong-woo launched the first attack.

The moment the person who had been standing right in front of them disappeared, they instinctively recoiled.

“Stay calm! Don’t be scared!”

Choo Hyun-ji had already activated her skill and shouted confidently.

“It doesn’t matter! He’s somewhere in here—!”

She couldn’t finish her sentence.

Han Seong-woo appeared directly in front of her.

“Yes. I’m right here.”

Thud.

A heavy, dull sound rang out, like a large sack being dropped.

“Ghk!”

Choo Hyun-ji collapsed forward, apparently having been struck in the stomach.

The skill she’d activated beforehand was nullified as well.

Usually, the team leader was the strongest person on the team.

Which meant they didn’t need to fight everyone individually.

If they took down the leader and broke the enemy’s morale, the rest would be as easy as eating cold porridge.

“Team Leader Choo Hyun-ji!”

The team members, frozen in shock, hurriedly gathered around her.

“Anyone else want to go next?”

Han Seong-woo, who had revealed himself after the formation broke apart, asked.

The others glared at him, apparently thinking he was mocking them.

I expected him to overwhelm them, but at this rate, it looks like I won’t even get a turn.

I’d intended to step forward from the beginning.

I didn’t have any decent offensive skills, but since the strongest among them was only A-rank, there wasn’t a single hunter on that team who could break through my Blessing.

I wanted the Association president to naturally hear that I’m an S-rank.

I watched them while wondering what I should do.

“…Hmm?”

Something struck me as odd.

There’s one person missing.

The Association required a minimum of five team members.

But I could only see four people, including the fallen Choo Hyun-ji.

Then they’re planning a surprise attack…!

A chilling sensation crawled up the back of my neck.

“You noticed.”

A stranger’s voice came from directly behind my head, and my body froze.

Han Seong-woo had been watching the front, unaware of when the attack would come, but apparently he noticed the presence only after hearing the voice.

That’s so unfair!

They knew about my past.

And, more importantly, they knew that the memories of that day had left me with psychological trauma!

“Moon…!”

“Don’t move.”

Han Seong-woo stopped in his tracks as he tried to approach me.

A sharp machete appeared against my neck.

“If you come any closer, it’s all over.”

I squeezed my eyes shut.

Seriously! Is there no one here who doesn’t use a weapon?!