S-Rank Healer Gets Kidnapped First Chapter 22

I couldn’t back out now. The training had already begun, and if I didn’t block the attack, I would get hurt.

Earthquakes destroy a person’s concentration. My vision shook violently, and it was difficult to keep my balance, so naturally, all my senses were focused downward.

“You have to look at me!”

Na Ye-ri’s booming voice from the front cut through the noise and reached me.

Her shout snapped me back to my senses. I put strength into my lower body and focused on Na Ye-ri.

‘Is she really attacking while keeping in mind what kind of special benefit is attached to my Divine Protection? It’s not even an on-and-off skill….’

The special benefit attached to Divine Protection was that it reflected 100% of an enemy’s attacks. If I endured the attack like this, it would immediately be directed back at Na Ye-ri.

The terrifying rumble of the earthquake drew closer.

I slightly turned my body and braced myself.

BOOM!

I took the Earthquake head-on with nothing but the determination to block it.

As I turned my body to take in the Earthquake, Na Ye-ri’s attack was also deflected at an angle.

But then a problem arose.

Crack!

The shield began to shake unstably.

“What…?”

I was startled and unconsciously spoke as if I had no idea what was happening, but it wasn’t as though I had absolutely no idea why the shield was reacting so unstably.

‘It can’t withstand the attack.’

My mind became complicated as I experienced something like this for the first time.

Kra-kra-kra-kang!

The shield failed to reflect the Earthquake completely and only deflected part of it. It was as though the Earthquake itself had the will to make it through this exact spot no matter what.

As the impacts accumulated, I could see the shield gradually twisting out of shape.

Crack.

Not long after, the sound of a crack forming in the shield rang out.

For a moment, my blood ran cold.

From that instant on, it felt as though every other sound around me had disappeared. All my nerves were focused on that sound, and I couldn’t think of anything else. It was as if an emergency alarm were blaring inside my head.

I knew I had to calm down somehow. I knew that, but… my mind wouldn’t settle.

Panicking, I reached toward the cracked area, but I knew very well that touching it wouldn’t solve anything.

With no way to fix the problem, an instinctive fear washed over me that I might actually get seriously hurt.

It only took an instant for my shock to turn into anger toward Na Ye-ri.

“Did you really have to go this far?!”

Crack.

The moment I shouted, the shield split even further.

Only then did I come to my senses and barely manage to steady myself.

‘No. This isn’t the time to act so weak.’

Na Ye-ri was right. Real combat was brutal.

It wouldn’t give me time to prepare myself mentally, nor would my opponent go easy on me out of consideration for my circumstances.

I had complained about whether it really needed to go this far, but this was exactly what it took for the training to work.

“A shield is like the caster’s resolve. You have to steel your heart for the barrier to become denser and stronger.”

“You said I had to steel my heart….”

I calmly exhaled.

Then I pushed away my anxiety, one piece at a time.

Crack.

‘Just a little… Hold on a little longer.’

From this point on, it was entirely up to my own will.

I had to believe in myself.

Instead of panicking, I decided to hold on to the certainty that I could block it.

And following Na Ye-ri’s advice, I faced the Earthquake head-on.

Bang!

The violently trembling shield suddenly stopped, and the incoming attack was reflected straight back.

“Oh….”

Na Ye-ri let out a small gasp as she watched the entire process.

Now that I had finally gotten through it, my own tension naturally eased.

“So it can withstand attacks up to this point?”

“Hah.”

Na Ye-ri was ridiculously excited.

Like someone desperate to attack again, she immediately shattered that brief moment of peace and hurried to prepare her next attack.

“Then let’s increase the intensity.”

“What?!”

At her words, I sucked in a sharp breath.

‘That attack just now wasn’t even her full power?’

KRA-KA-KANG!

Sharp rocks shot up from the floor. They looked like they could cut me deeply with even the slightest graze.

“Wait, does the special benefit attached to your attack skill increase your attack speed? Why is a tank skill so fast?”

As tanks were responsible for protecting their allies, their defensive abilities were generally quick, while their offensive skills tended to be rather heavy and slow.

A typical tank’s offensive strategy was to use attacks with massive impact to draw a monster’s attention toward themselves.

The advantage was that each hit packed a huge punch, but naturally, their attack speed tended to be slower as well.

But Na Ye-ri was not only fast, she was also incredibly flexible when it came to remote control.

“No wonder she’s the right-hand man….”

The force of the approaching attack was threatening, but I didn’t dodge.

I had to endure it for the training to work.

BOOM!

This time, however, I couldn’t casually change the angle of reflection like before. Na Ye-ri was coming at me seriously, so maintaining the shield alone was already pushing me to my limit.

“Guh!”

If there was one thing I could be grateful for, it was that this attack was a single strike.

The rocks collided with the shield once before immediately disappearing.

“Cough! Ugh….”

The impact left the area around my neck aching.

It went without saying, but facing an S-rank hunter was on an entirely different level from fighting a B-rank monster.

The strength of the skill was one thing, but having to flexibly operate it according to the situation rapidly drained my mental strength.

The thick cloud of dust gradually settled.

Na Ye-ri appeared through it.

“What…?”

She looked confused.

At first, I thought she was surprised because she had expected me to take no damage at all inside the shield, but that wasn’t it.

“The previous reflections… You were changing the angle?”

Na Ye-ri was looking at the path that had been carved right beside me.

It was the trace left by the shield reflecting the attack.

The trail had torn through the ground and even cracked the wall behind it.

‘Wait. Didn’t she say she would go easy on me…?’

How could that possibly be considered going easy on me?

If the shield hadn’t blocked it, that meant I would have taken that attack head-on with my bare body.

“Wow. Amazing. The reflection is really doing its job.”

She clapped her hands in admiration.

“I thought it was just an untrained special benefit, so I underestimated it a little. If it weren’t for you, Yeon-hee, I might’ve ended up dead.”

“…Dead?”

“Huh?”

“You mean you attacked me like you were trying to kill me?”

“…Ahem.”

Na Ye-ri awkwardly cleared her throat.

“…Haha! I didn’t mean it literally! I haven’t gotten hurt in a long time, so I misspoke. Anyway! You’ve got some serious skill!”

She hurriedly changed the subject as well.

I let out a hollow laugh.

It wasn’t because she disliked me. If that were the case, she wouldn’t be genuinely delighted that my skills were better than she had expected.

‘She really just wanted to know how powerful an S-rank healer’s shield was.’

Well, it has helped me understand my own shield better, too.

So I decided not to press the matter any further.

“Hmm. Then how should we train? Wait. If you can reflect on all the attacks of an S-rank tank, is there even any point in training with me?”

“Not all of them.”

I explained in detail what I had experienced during the training just now while she listened with a serious expression.

“Hmm. So you’re still inexperienced at controlling the special benefit.”

“Yeah.”

When I redirected the shield so that the attack wouldn’t hit me directly, the power of the reflection also weakened.

However, when I was too busy blocking the attack to do anything else and simply endured it, the reflection was actually perfect.

“I thought changing the direction wouldn’t cause much of a problem. But if the shield’s power weakens even when you change the angle slightly, I guess it’s still difficult for you to operate both at once.”

Na Ye-ri answered my concern seriously.

“Then we should figure that out first. So, when the caster changes the shield’s direction away from the direction of the incoming attack, the shield’s power decreases. Still, since reflection is already attached as a special benefit, it cuts down on the amount of training you need by a lot. This is normally the difficult part.”

“Hm? Reflection training?”

“Yeah. It’s the most important training for an A-rank healer. A shield fight is basically about who can endure longer. If you just mindlessly take the enemy’s attacks, the shield is bound to break quickly.”

“Oh.”

“But it takes an incredibly long time to learn how to reflect attacks. You only need mental training and reflection control. Then I think we can make plenty of progress within a week.”

“…You were serious when you said a week would be enough?”

“Of course. Later, when you train with Cha Seohae, you might actually pass out. You’re going to train under him, right? His schedule is even more brutal than this.”

The thought of a healer actually passing out from training left me speechless.

I simply listened quietly to everything Na Ye-ri said.

Perhaps she didn’t notice the gloom settling over my face, because she continued speaking rapidly as though venting her frustrations.

“Begging doesn’t work, and he never goes easy on me. I seriously don’t know whether that bastard sees me as a teammate or just a rock that needs to be polished.”

“……”

“Han Seong-woo and I train under him. I’m not exaggerating when I say we come back from the dead once every six months.”

“……”

“And now that guy is going to train you exclusively. You’d better build up your endurance quickly. Oh, and you should do more physical training, too.”

Her final words weren’t merely a complaint. They seemed to come from genuine concern, because Na Ye-ri looked straight into my eyes with a completely serious expression.

“You’ll be able to endure it.”

Na Ye-ri patted me on the shoulder encouragingly.

Her reassurance eased the overwhelming feeling in my heart a little.

We had only trained together once, yet she had personally witnessed my abilities and said that to me. It felt good, as though she believed in me.

The tiny suspicion that she had been so excited about experimenting with a healer’s shield for the first time that she had forgotten about me completely also disappeared.

‘Right. She was the one who was most worried about me during the meeting. She wouldn’t do that.’

Just as my unsettled heart was beginning to calm down—

“All right, we’ve rested enough, right?”

“Huh?”

Her eyes sparkled.

The worried expression she had worn just moments ago had vanished without a trace.

Was that all an act…?

“Come on, come on. If we want to figure out how to change the training method, the fastest way is to test it out ourselves. So let’s get started.”

“Wait. You’re planning to design the curriculum like that?”

“Just trust me.”

“No. It hasn’t even been three minutes since you said a week would be more than enough….”

“This absolutely isn’t because I’m fascinated by a special benefit I’ve never seen before, okay? It’s all for your sake….”

She must have had at least a little guilt because she suddenly began rattling off a long list of excuses.

…I think I’ve just been caught by a complete lunatic.

 

***

 

It was already the fourth day of training.

“Good work!”

I closed the door behind me, leaving that horrifying farewell on the other side.

“…A lunatic obsessed with shields. I really got stuck with the worst possible person. How can she keep focusing solely on my shield until the very end?”

I almost wished the records documenting my training progress would get soaked in water and become unreadable.

“Wait. Would that mean we’d have to start all over again?”

I shook my head vigorously, trying to dispel the horrifying thought that had suddenly occurred to me.

Whatever the case, I could finally go back and rest.

Just thinking about that made me feel a little better.

“Is she studying how to attack me after training ends? Making me panic with a new method every single day is a talent in itself….”

I muttered while massaging my aching body.

I was thinking that it would be a shame to go straight back to my room and wondering whether I should get some sugar in me when—

“…Huh?”

A shadow suddenly blocked my path.

“I knew this would happen.”

His voice carried a hint of amusement.

Come to think of it, I had completely forgotten about his existence during the several days I’d been training.

Without realizing it, I called his name in a tone that made it sound as though I couldn’t believe he was standing in front of me.

“Cha Seohae?”

“Yeah.”

He answered while slowly looking me up and down.

“You really got put through the wringer.”

Only after hearing that did I realize that I was covered in dirt and dust from head to toe.

But this kind of appearance was common among hunters. I simply nodded, thinking there was no need to explain something so obvious.

“Na Ye-ri wasn’t my training partner. The floor was.”

Cha Seohae let out a small laugh at how drained my voice sounded.

“You were already pitiful enough, and she made you look even worse.”

I glared at Cha Seohae without holding back.

He seemed to be enjoying teasing me, judging by the playful expression on his face.

He laughed a little longer before holding out his hand.

“What?”

“Weren’t you going to get ice cream?”

“How did you….”

“You go often enough that asking how I knew would be ridiculous. I know you went every day for the past three days.”

“……”

“And you even went again with Na Ye-ri one evening. At this point, weren’t you practically staging a protest to make sure I noticed?”

I cleared my throat awkwardly.

“So, are you going or not?”

“I’m going.”

I slapped away the hand Cha Seohae had extended and motioned for him to start walking.

“But it’s kind of late. Let’s have dinner too.”

“Are you hungry?”

“Yeah. I ran a ton because they told me I needed to build up my stamina before training with you.”

I rambled on about this and that as if I were telling my mother about my day after coming home from school.

“I’m going to eat as many strawberries as I want.”

“I’ll buy you one.”

“That’s cheap.”

“I’ll be a cheap person, then.”

His constant comebacks annoyed me, so I glared at Cha Seohae with all the strength I could muster.

Cha Seohae simply chuckled and turned his head away.

 

***

 

“You said you were only going to buy me one?”

I teased Cha Seohae while taking a spoonful of ice cream.

Strictly speaking, he was right. He had only bought me one.

It was just a much bigger size than usual.

I looked down at the huge cylindrical cup sitting in front of me and secretly marveled at it.

I never thought Cha Seohae would actually be embarrassed by me teasing him over something like this.

I was just grateful and surprised, and I had said it because I felt a little shy about it.

“If you can’t finish it, we can still get a refund.”

I couldn’t believe he would play along like this.

Because Cha Seohae sounded as though he might take the cup away at any moment, I hurriedly stretched out my arms and shielded the container.

“No.”

Cha Seohae let out a low laugh, apparently amused by my reaction.

Resting his chin on one arm, he said,

“If you don’t want me to take it away, just eat it. You’re teasing the person who bought it and making him embarrassed.”

“Embarrassed? You don’t look embarrassed at all….”

After saying that, I diligently moved my spoon.

He had to wait for me to finish eating, after all.

As he silently watched me eat, he muttered,

“…You really like it. Is it that good?”

“Want to try some?”

“I don’t like sweet things.”

When I held out the container, he turned his head away and refused.

“How can you not eat something this good?”

I lowered my gaze to the ice cream, then looked around because something about the atmosphere felt strange.

“Ah.”

“What’s wrong?”

Cha Seohae tilted his head when I frowned after looking around the room.

“Haah. I shouldn’t have brought you out.”

“What?”

“You must be having a hard time because you’re so popular.”

How had I not noticed all those gazes until now?

People were watching us from every direction. Several people had even stopped outside the glass window to take pictures.

‘Come to think of it, the cashier was acting strangely today too. I wondered why they kept sneaking glances at me.’

So this was the Cha Seohae effect.

I frantically shoveled ice cream into my mouth until my head began to ache, then finally grabbed my head.

“…Is it uncomfortable?”

Cha Seohae asked meaningfully.

“If it’s uncomfortable, we can go back to headquarters and eat there right now.”

Only then did I notice the genuinely apologetic expression on his face.

‘Huh.’

I pressed my lips together in surprise.

‘It was just a joke.’

Contrary to what I had expected, Cha Seohae was taking me seriously, and I couldn’t even swallow the ice cream.

‘This happened because I said something unnecessary.’

Perhaps because I seemed unaffected, he had stayed at the shop himself so that I could change my mood.

I wondered what I should do, then deliberately pretended to be calm.

“It’s fine. Let’s just eat.”

“It’s bothering you.”

“I’m fine. Unless someone has completely lost their mind, who would risk their life approaching a hunter just to ask for a picture?”

“……”

“I may not look at it, but I have an iron stomach. Don’t worry about me.”

I patted my chest repeatedly.

He looked at me skeptically before saying,

“Tell me immediately if it becomes uncomfortable.”

“Okay. If it looks like people are going to come over, go take some pictures with them. How long has it been since you’ve even gone outside for people to react like this?”

For a moment, I wondered if I had gone too far, but since I had caused the situation in the first place, I decided to shamelessly commit to the joke.

“…Are you serious?”

Thankfully, my strategy seemed to work, because Cha Seohae’s expression finally relaxed.

Seeing his face, I realized my strategy had worked and confidently took the joke one step further.

“Yeah. I like popular people, you know.”

“……”

Oh.

Maybe that joke had definitely crossed the line a little too much.