S-Rank Healer Gets Kidnapped First – Chapter 2

Author: isuzuuy

When I joined the Association, news of Park Jiwon had already been cut off.

The fact that she had gone missing in a dungeon wasn’t exactly pleasant news, so it wasn’t discussed for long.

The Association was too busy trying to fill the vacancy in the First Team.

And I was the one who took that position.

When I first joined the First Team, the distrustful looks directed at me were more painful than anything.

The biggest reason was that my rank was lower than hers.

On top of that, I had taken over a First Team position immediately after joining the Association.

There wasn’t much reason for them to welcome me.

Park Jiwon was practically the Association’s mascot, thanks to both the fact that she was the Association President’s niece and the symbolic value of being an A-rank healer.

People at the Association said she had an exceptionally kind personality.

One of the problems with Hunter Awakenings was discrimination based on rank, but she didn’t care about differences in rank and would heal anyone.

Not only that, but she was kindhearted as well, so it would have been strange not to like her.

It had an even greater impact because there were fewer healers than members of the other classes.

When dungeons and monsters appeared and humanity was rendered helpless, Awakened individuals appeared a beat later and began clearing and defeating them.

The System Window, which could only be seen by the Awakened.

That translucent window contained information unlike anything on an identification card.

Everything from Awakening abilities and ranks to skills.

Awakened individuals honed their abilities through the System Window and competed against one another. They then made money by clearing dungeons appropriate for their rank.

The amount of money they earned was substantial, and eventually the state gave them a new title.

Hunters.

That was the new name given to those who cultivated their strength based on the System Window.

It was only natural for the state to take an interest in Hunters.

Their relationship was a continuous, precarious balancing act. The supernatural power of Hunters was incomparable to that of ordinary humans, and the government was constantly anxious that it might lose its authority at any moment.

The state had to win them over.

And so, the Association was established to prevent Hunters from being oppressed.

The Association emphasized welfare and safety in Hunter activities, preventing them from banding together among themselves.

If the government wanted to manage Hunters and maintain superiority over them, it needed to demonstrate sufficient legitimacy. Thus, it researched supernatural abilities and proved its administrative value by classifying the early Hunters.

Hunters were broadly divided into three categories.

Tanks, who drew the enemies’ aggro and protected their allies.

Damage Dealers, who inflicted damage on enemies.

And Healers, who supported those two classes with healing and buffs.

Among them, healers received particularly close attention.

Healers had never been balanced with tanks and damage dealers from the beginning.

S-rank tanks and damage dealers were fairly common, and there were more than enough A-ranks.

But healers were different.

There were currently no S-rank healers in South Korea.

There were only three A-rank healers, including the returning Park Jiwon. That alone said everything.

And then there was me.

[Congratulations, Moon Yeonhee.]

[You have awakened as an S-rank Pope (Healer).]

Bzzzt. Bzzzzt.

[An error has been detected.]

[You have awakened as a B-rank Pope (Healer).]

I was a B-rank healer who had been turned into a deflated balloon by a malfunctioning System Window.

Of course, with three A-ranks in South Korea, there couldn’t exactly be many B-ranks either.

There were only around twenty of us in total.

If you complained about being a B-rank anywhere, you were practically guaranteed to get cursed out.

I knew logically that I should be grateful.

But after seeing that fleeting S, how could I not feel some lingering regret?

‘Still, I said I was grateful in my head, so it shouldn’t drop any further, right?’

No, it had better not.

Even for a healer, being F-rank would be a little… troublesome.

The first thing I did after awakening as a healer was posted on an online community.

When I was young and dreamed of becoming a hero, I desperately wished for the System Window to appear.

But there had been no sign that I would ever awaken.

So I thought I simply wasn’t destined to become a Hunter.

Because of that, I didn’t know much about the field.

Guys, I awakened as a B-rank healer. Should I go to the Association? Or should I join a guild?

Title: Same as above

Upvotes: 64 | Downvotes: 11

[Comments]

Anonymous1: Holy shit. Isn’t awakening as a healer insanely lucky? Your life just got way easier.

Anonymous2: Hold on.

Anonymous2: Guild.

Anonymous3: If you’re a healer, safety comes first. Go to the Association.

Anonymous4: Newbie? I’ll make it simple. If you want honor, go to the Association. If you want money, go to a guild.

Anonymous5: You’re gonna have a short lifespan as a Hunter anyway. Make money and get out.

Anonymous6: Huh? What’s with that comment? Are you taking a shot at Park Jiwon?

Anonymous7: I knew there were a lot of newbies lately, but people are saying stuff like this now?

Anonymous8: Don’t talk recklessly just because this is an anonymous board. They can trace you from the top.

Anonymous9: It’s been a while since we had a hot thread, but this one looks like it’ll get deleted soon.

[This post has been deleted.]

And then I discovered a saying.

‘If you want honor, go to the Association. If you want money, go to a guild.’

I didn’t care about honor. I wanted a stable job, so I chose the Association.

Then why did I even ask for advice?

Because obviously, being a civil servant was the best option.

After joining the Association, I immediately became part of its best team—the First Team.

People considered it a successful career even to make it into the Second or Third Team, so getting into the First Team was a result I could never have imagined.

My compatibility with the team was good, and I had an unusually large amount of healing for a B-rank.

On top of that—

“You’re lucky.”

Most of all, my timing was perfect.

“Hello.”

My first impression of them could be summed up in one sentence.

‘What a bunch of assholes.’

The First Team barely spoke and was always cold toward me.

Whenever I asked them something, they either ignored me or gave me one-word answers.

Thankfully, Do Juyeon remained neutral toward me. If he hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t have been able to endure it and would have transferred.

‘I waited, thinking they would eventually open up to me…’

But after seeing how they treated Park Jiwon today, all my hope disappeared.

Foolishly, only now.

Even if I hadn’t been the substitute healer for the First Team, they probably would have acted the same way.

I just happened to be the person who took that position.

To them, anyone other than Park Jiwon—someone who meant more to them than a mere colleague—was probably all the same.

Now I understood.

I hadn’t been lucky.

I’d been spectacularly unlucky.

“Are you calm now?”

“……”

“Guess not.”

At this point, I was literally being kidnapped.

Maybe it was shameless of me to expect good luck.

I looked down at my hands bound by chains and asked,

“Where are we going?”

“The guild.”

“Which guild?”

“Who knows.”

He didn’t give me a proper answer after that, either.

‘Well, I guess a kidnapper doesn’t exactly have to answer every question his hostage asks.’

There was no point screaming and making a scene.

‘Let’s just look out the window.’

Strangely, these guys hadn’t even blindfolded me.

Don’t kidnappers usually blindfold you and gag you?

Since I had the freedom to do so, I figured I might as well memorize the route.

“You’re not exactly being subtle about staring, are you?”

He then casually started talking to me.

I kept my eyes on the outside as I answered.

“If it bothers you, then blindfold me.”

A moment later, I felt awkward, realizing I was taking my frustration out on the wrong person.

‘Well, they kidnapped me, so I guess it doesn’t matter.’

Just as I was reassuring myself with that thought—

“Ah.”

My head was forcibly turned toward him. He grabbed both my cheeks, and my eyes widened in surprise at the sudden strength with which he turned my face.

“I wasn’t planning to. Do you want me to cover your eyes?”

His eyes, clear and blue like a lake, met mine head-on. Despite their soft, delicate color, his gaze was completely unwavering.

Looking at him reminded me of a ridiculous rumor that used to float around the community.

Whether a hunter’s rank was directly proportional to their appearance.

I had been too busy stalking the community back then to take it seriously and simply laughed it off.

‘But after working with the First Team, I started to think… maybe.’

If that rumor were true, could the guy in front of me be something like an SSS-rank?

It wasn’t exactly the sort of thing a hostage should be thinking about, but I couldn’t help it.

After becoming accustomed to the faces of the First Team, most people’s looks barely impressed me anymore. My standards had risen far too high.

Yet this guy managed to surpass even those standards.

Jet-black hair like the night sky, slightly sharp eyes beneath it, irises filled with a clear, watery blue, and an impressively defined nose and jawline.

No matter where I looked, I couldn’t help but marvel.

He was an extraordinarily handsome man.

“I’ll do it if you want.”

His voice finally pulled me out of my pointless thoughts.

The crooked grin on one side of his mouth was irritating.

Apparently, he liked the fact that I wasn’t being obedient, but I wasn’t causing a scene either.

That wasn’t the attitude I had chosen to entertain him.

There was no reason for me to be happy about being seen that way.

“Let me go.”

“Answer me and I will.”

“Who would want to be blindfolded? So let me go.”

I put as much force as I could into my words.

I tensed, expecting him to attack me, but he merely blinked once before obediently releasing my cheeks.

The man in the driver’s seat kept glancing at me through the rearview mirror.

He looked like he wanted to say something, but perhaps the guy beside me wasn’t someone of low rank, because he held his tongue.

“You can look outside.”

“……”

“It’s just funny because you’re so damn confident.”

At the same time, I heard him let out a breathy laugh.

“If you can escape from Baekyang, then go ahead and try. That would be pretty entertaining too. Though I’ve never seen anyone succeed.”

“…Which guild?”

“Didn’t you hear me?”

He answered as if he knew exactly what I was thinking, clearly enjoying teasing me.

I opened and closed my mouth while staring into those eyes that seemed capable of seeing right through me.

There were so many things I wanted to ask, but I was too flustered to get my voice out.

‘Baekyang Guild?’

Even I knew about them, despite having spent all this time keeping to myself because of the Association’s closed-off treatment of healers.

I usually heard about Baekyang either through the community or while healing the First Team.

Whenever Baekyang showed up at a scene, the number of simultaneous community users would skyrocket.

It was as if everyone was desperate to talk about that guild.

The same went for First Team members Jang Jeong-in, Go Woori, and Kang Si-hyeon.

They normally barely said a word, as if they had taken a vow of silence.

But whenever Baekyang Guild came up, they suddenly had plenty to say.

‘And the guild master’s name was Cha Seo-hae, the guy everyone called crazy, right?’

Cha Seo-hae, the guild master of Baekyang Guild.

A man who had risen to become the master of one of the largest guilds at a young age, possessing skills so monstrous that he was practically considered a monster himself.

‘He was definitely supposed to have black hair and blue eyes.’

Whenever Baekyang appeared, everyone was desperate to get a picture of him.

Since he rarely appeared in Korea due to being the guild master, seeing him in person was supposedly as difficult as plucking a star from the sky.

But I had once seen a photo of him before it was deleted almost immediately.

‘I’m pretty sure he had a small head and a slim build, just like this guy. And his physique was about the same… Huh?’

I stopped thinking for a moment as I examined his appearance piece by piece.

‘This guy has black hair and blue eyes too. And he’s so tall that even this spacious back seat looks cramped.’

I blatantly looked him up and down as he sat with his legs crossed and arms folded, his head resting against the window.

Even with his eyes closed, he must have been aware of my gaze.

Yet he quietly remained still, as if telling me I could look all I wanted.

After getting my fill of staring, I muttered,

“No way.”