S-Rank Healer Gets Kidnapped First Chapter 34

Clunk.

The lock on the control room door was released.

The not-so-spacious room was surrounded by monitors on all sides. The lights were off, but the glow from the monitors and machines was enough to illuminate the room.

“So there really isn’t anyone guarding the inside of the control room.”

The fact that it was connected to the training room, as well as the fact that no one was stationed outside to guard it—

Cha Seohae told me not to worry, but…

Even so, I couldn’t help worrying about the building’s security.

I checked the key he had given me. He said the key on the card key contained information.

Apparently, if a guild member who had no reason to enter the control room unlocked it, an alert would be sent to the guild members nearby.

If that was the case, even if Kang Sihyeon used his illusions to steal a guild member’s card, he would be discovered easily.

If the enemy were the type to aim for a perfect crime, it would have been a flawless countermeasure.

But considering Kang Sihyeon’s personality, he’d probably act even knowing he might get caught. As long as he achieved his objective and escaped quickly, that would be enough for him. Like destroying the machinery to deactivate the shield surrounding the building.

Therefore, if Association members had come, at least one of them should have been guarding the control room.

There’s no way Jang Jeong-in was the only one who came. It’s obvious, yet they still went through with it. They must be in quite a hurry.

When people around you keep pressuring you, even something that could have been resolved easily can become impossible to resolve.

I hadn’t expected to come into conflict with the First Team this quickly, but I felt like I would be more at ease if I took care of it myself.

Of course, I was scared.

I wish Jang Jeong-in had come instead. I never expected to face Kang Sihyeon, whose attacks my shield can’t even block.

I had trained hard. Thanks to that, I was now able to objectively assess my own abilities.

Even after practicing God’s Blessing, I still wasn’t strong enough to block mental attacks.

The anxiety stemming from my remaining weakness came rushing back.

My hand hovered near my waist.

“Get a grip. If all you’re going to do is be anxious, why did you say you’d stay behind? Come on, let’s see if we can reinforce the defenses with the equipment.”

If Kang Sihyeon came, I intended to be the first line of defense. There would naturally be a shield on the control panel, so I wanted to put another shield at the entrance to the control room as well.

“Ah, but operating this looks difficult. Should I ask a guild member for help even now?”

I merely twitched my fingers as I stared at the keyboard, which didn’t even have labels explaining what each key did.

“Let’s not mess it up by touching something I shouldn’t. I should ask for help.”

Having decided to compromise with reality, I stepped backward.

Just as I had gotten quite close to the door—

Tap.

I clearly heard someone’s footsteps.

Tap.

…Who is it?

I put my ear against the door.

The sound was getting closer and closer to the control room.

Judging by the fact that there was no hesitation in the footsteps, whoever it was seemed to be moving with a clear purpose.

Tap.

The footsteps stopped before reaching the control room.

Am I being too sensitive? It could just be a guild member who came here to train instead of Kang Sihyeon.

The moment I thought that, I swallowed nervously.

Both inside and outside were so quiet that I could hear the second hand ticking clearly.

Soon, I heard the door to the adjacent training room open and close.

It’s a guild member.

Only then did I finally breathe a sigh of relief. It had been suspicious that they hadn’t moved from the adjacent door for so long.

However, given what had just happened, I hesitated to leave the control room.

I couldn’t distinguish between the footsteps of a guild member and those of an enemy, so I couldn’t let my guard down.

“You don’t have the control room key? Don’t worry. I have one.”

Huh?

My eyes widened at the voice coming from outside.

“If it’s the Master’s orders, the alarm won’t go off even if I open it, so please wait a moment.”

I focused on the muffled sound coming through the steel door.

Judging from what the guild member said, it seemed like Cha Seohae had asked him to open the control room door.

But why? I have his key, so if he just knocked on the control room door, I would have opened it for him. Is he avoiding disturbing me because he thinks I’m concentrating? No. There’s no way he wouldn’t realize that coming in like this would only make me more nervous.

Then, an instinct flashed through my mind.

It’s Kang Sihyeon!

Beep.

Before I could do anything, I heard the sound of a card key being used to open the door from outside.

Clunk.

The door opened, and light streamed through the gap.

Whirr.

The alarm went off…!

“Huh? Why is this going off? Just a moment. Is it broken?”

The guild member looked puzzled as he fiddled with the device beside the door.

As luck would have it, he was apparently skilled at operating the equipment. The alarm sounded only once before he promptly shut it off.

I had no time to feel helpless. I immediately activated God’s Blessing.

“Huh? Healer!”

The first person to appear was the guild member, whose eyes were completely unfocused.

I frowned and looked behind him.

“Healer?”

As expected, Kang Sihyeon was standing there.

For a moment, he looked startled, but he quickly concealed his emotions.

He must have thought that having only me here wouldn’t be a problem for carrying out his plan.

“Hah!”

“……”

“Anyone gets treated like royalty as long as they can heal. Even though you’re only B-rank and your healing is nothing special.”

He had no hesitation in looking down on me.

I had expected him to act like this, and since I was used to this sort of thing, I wasn’t going to be shaken now.

The guild member seemed to recognize me, but he stared blankly into empty space.

Kang Sihyeon had layered an illusion over him.

His ability allowed him to make people dream, and he could even make it seem as though a play were unfolding right before their eyes.

By making things that had never happened appear real, he could mess with a person’s mind.

At this rate, it’ll be difficult to keep the guild member from getting caught up in this.

I gave up on kicking him out or hiding him behind me.

Instead, I chose another method.

“What? Are you trying to stop me from doing what I came here to do? You? How?”

I deliberately avoided answering him and provoking him.

My job was to protect the shield from being dismantled, not to fight that bastard.

Kang Sihyeon’s emotions could gradually rise, but I couldn’t let them explode.

“You did well predicting that I would come here. I’ll give you that much credit. Of course, considering how long you worked at the Association, it would have been strange if you couldn’t figure it out.”

“……”

“So move aside now. I don’t have time to fight you.”

Kang Sihyeon silently stared at me.

For the first time, a crack appeared in his expressionless face.

“I really don’t like you.”

As he said that, he crooked one corner of his mouth into a smirk.

“So what are you going to do? How are you going to stop me?”

“……”

“How can someone like you, a mere B-rank…”

Kang Sihyeon asked in a flat tone.

I continued to meet his gaze without wavering.

His threatening approach suddenly came to a stop.

Only then did he seem to notice my attitude.

There was no need to deliberately provoke him.

“What are you doing right now?”

Simply refusing to be intimidated would be enough to irritate Kang Sihyeon.

Someone who had looked down on me so much would easily lose his composure just because the situation wasn’t going according to his wishes.

“You’re really enjoying yourself after leaving the Association, huh?”

As expected, he began getting worked up on his own.

Good.

The foundation of his ability became unstable as he lost his composure.

The method I had chosen was to exploit that opening.

The moment the illusion placed on the guild member weakened, I would pull him out of it.

“Why are they making such a fuss about bringing someone like you here?”

He muttered loudly enough for me to hear and reached out to shove me.

Bang!

But bare-handed attacks still counted as physical attacks, so God’s Blessing easily knocked his hand away.

“W-What?”

Kang Sihyeon’s face was filled with surprise.

He stared at his tingling hand with a bewildered expression, looking almost stupid.

“Pfft.”

I had intended to laugh quietly, but I ended up laughing out loud.

I quickly covered my mouth, but in this quiet place, there was no way he hadn’t heard my laughter from such close range.

Kang Sihyeon slowly raised his head.

When his eyes widened, the whites glistened, making him terrifying just to look at.

“What did you just do?”

“I only blocked you. Healers have shields for self-protection, you know.”

“Don’t lie. That was your shield? That pathetic thing that breaks from a single attack from someone of the same rank blocked my hand?”

Unable to believe that I had stopped his attack, he began to lash out.

People tended to take an even greater blow when someone they had looked down on fought back.

Of course, what happened just now could hardly be called a counterattack.

“Don’t make me laugh!”

Kang Sihyeon’s purple eyes flashed.

It was the change that appeared when he cast an illusion.

“I didn’t expect I’d end up casting an illusion on you.”

“……”

“It’s useless even if you struggle. A shield can’t block attacks on the mind that have no physical form!”

I didn’t avert my gaze.

Not only was this an attack I couldn’t avoid simply by looking away, but I also needed to observe his movements.

Kang Sihyeon’s eyes glowed intensely.

If I stared blankly, I felt as though I might be sucked in.

Don’t waver. Just focus on strengthening the shield.

I repeatedly reminded myself so I wouldn’t lose consciousness.

“Move.”

Kang Sihyeon spoke.

His voice stretched out as though my ears were filled with water.

A strange sense of déjà vu crawled up the back of my neck.

“Move.”

“……”

“What? Ah!”

The bastard denied my refusal and finally tried to touch my body, only to be bounced back by God’s Blessing again.

The vibration produced when the Blessing blocked his attack snapped me fully awake.

“What? You’re really stopping me? No, more importantly, why aren’t you listening to me?”

His voice became clear again.

What was that? Was that just now an illusion?

I had never experienced Kang Sihyeon’s illusion before.

No, that was what I had thought.

But that nauseating sensation hadn’t felt unfamiliar.

I nervously rubbed the back of my neck, which had broken out in goosebumps.

Could I have been brainwashed by Kang Sihyeon’s illusion while I was still at the Association?

If he hadn’t simply oppressed me with words and atmosphere, but had actually used his skill as well—

“Hah.”

An indescribable surge of anger welled up inside me.

“Then at least remove the shield.”

“……”

“Damn it, since you’re not saying anything, I can’t tell whether you’re under an illusion or not. How am I supposed to take you back?”

Even though Kang Sihyeon suspected something was wrong with me, he continued saying whatever he wanted.

He seemed to believe that I had fallen under his illusion.

As he tried to walk past me, I grabbed him.

“Stop right there.”

I pulled out the handgun hidden at my waist.

Then I pressed the muzzle against the back of Kang Sihyeon’s head.

“You let your guard down. If you were suspicious, you should have checked until the very end.”

“What are you—”

“What? Think I’m lying? Is this gun also an illusion you created?”

I tightened my grip and pressed the gun against his head.

“If this is an illusion, it’s incredibly realistic. Even the grip of the gun and the feel of the cold metal…”

“What are you doing?”

“What do you think? I’m stopping you from doing what you came here to do. So, what are you going to do? Leave quietly like this, or…”

Click.

I deliberately let him hear the sound of me cocking the gun.

“Want to find out what Cha Seohae’s gun feels like?”

“Hah!”

He scoffed at my words.

“You can’t even shoot, yet you think you’ll accomplish something by bluffing like this…!”

Bang!

I turned the gun and fired at the window outside the control room.

The sound of the glass shattering into pieces rang out.

“Well, do you believe me now? I’ve seen this gun countless times. Surely you still don’t think I can’t shoot you?”

Kang Sihyeon bit down hard on his lip.

“This can’t be. My illusion didn’t work, and I actually fell for you?”

Yes, you arrogant bastard. You fell for it.

Good thing I accepted the gun from Cha Seohae.

Since I didn’t have a proper attack skill, I had accepted it just in case.

Of course, I had no intention of shooting him.

As a hunter who had lived without a single attack skill, I couldn’t even imagine killing someone.

I simply wanted him to realize that I had changed and give up on his plan.

“What’s going on?! Was that a gunshot just now?!”

“Did the Master fire it?! It sounded like it came from nearby!”

The hallway erupted into commotion at the gunshot that had just rung out.

“What are you going to do? Get caught like this?”

“The control room door is open! Why is it open?”

“Gasp! Healer! Who’s that in front of you?!”

Since the control room door, which was normally locked, was now open, it was only natural that everyone’s attention was drawn to it.

Kang Sihyeon’s body trembled violently.

Being outsmarted by me seemed to be humiliating him.

“Hah! Hahaha!”

Boom!

A loud explosion came from outside.

“What is it this time? Is it outside?”

“Look at that building! There must have been an explosion in the building across from us!”

“Shouldn’t we evacuate?”

It was Kang Sihyeon’s doing.

One of his S-rank special privileges allowed him to cast illusions on objects as well.

“Don’t get cocky just because you’ve been treated well.”

I stared at the bastard as he muttered those words.

His purple eyes had sunk deeply.

“Even so, someone like you can’t catch me.”

He struck the gun hard rather than my body.

I didn’t even have time to brace my wrist.

While I was startled and turned my gaze toward the gun that had fallen to the floor—

Crash!

Kang Sihyeon threw himself through the window without hesitation and fell.