S-Rank Healer Gets Kidnapped First – Chapter 39

Author: isuzuuy

Clang!

―Kraaaah!

Cha Seohae, who had been in the middle of fighting, froze at the unfamiliar roar.

He immediately withdrew his skill and hurriedly looked down.

‘A monster?’

At the unexpected situation, Cha Seohae’s eyes instantly hardened.

The roar was coming from a monster that had escaped the battlefield.

‘Why is that…?’

Moon Yeonhee had clearly gone down to evacuate the civilian.

But the person who should have been with her was nowhere to be seen, and instead, she was facing a monster that had suddenly appeared from somewhere.

Fortunately, thanks to God’s Blessing, Moon Yeonhee didn’t appear to be injured.

‘Wait.’

Cha Seohae narrowed his eyes when he noticed something else.

The distance was considerable, but with a Hunter’s superior physical abilities, he could observe even the smallest details without much difficulty.

“Did she use a dagger?”

A dagger was unmistakably embedded in the exact center of the monster’s chest.

Cha Seohae wondered if someone else was with her, but that wasn’t the case either.

Which meant that the one who had used that dagger was Moon Yeonhee.

―What was that sound just now? It wasn’t the goblin in front of us.

―…Don’t tell me there’s another monster? Cha Seohae! Answer me! The sound came from down there, didn’t it?!

The roar had come from somewhere close to Cha Seohae.

Even though Han Seongwoo and Na Ye-ri were Hunters as well, they were farther away than Cha Seohae and had difficulty figuring out what was happening.

“…Han Seongwoo, did you tell her?”

―Me?

Han Seongwoo, whose name had suddenly been called, asked back in confusion.

―What? Did Han Seongwoo screw something up? I knew it! That bastard’s been getting cocky lately. But we can scold him later. If there’s another monster, we need to go kill it! Who was supposed to keep this giant pinned down?! It’s tilting!

―That’s Cha Seohae.

―Cha Seohae! Are you going to do your job or not?!

Na Ye-ri’s angry shout came through the radio, but Cha Seohae’s gaze remained fixed downward.

―Han Seongwoo! He looks like he’s slacking off right now, so try binding him with your shadow.

―What? You’re making me curious.

―I’ll deal with it later. Uh-huh, that’s it. Tell me when you’ve got its balance.

“Who taught Moon Yeonhee how to use throwing knives?”

Cha Seohae, who had been silent until now, finally got to the point.

―Throwing knives? Isn’t that Han Seongwoo’s specialty? I don’t even know how to use them.

―Oh, I taught the healer how to use throwing knives! Why? Did something happen?

In response to Han Seongwoo’s question, Cha Seohae simply described what he was seeing.

“Moon Yeonhee is fighting with a dagger.”

―What? Yeonhee is fighting? You mean Yeonhee is fighting a monster?! Hey! We’ll handle things here, so go to Yeonhee!

―Really? She must have gotten good enough to use it in actual combat. That’s a relief!

Only then did the two realize that Moon Yeonhee was fighting.

Na Ye-ri said she would come as soon as they dealt with the boss, then cut off the comMoonication.

―How does she look using the throwing knives? Is she good?

Han Seongwoo, however, still hadn’t ended the call.

His innocent voice made Cha Seohae inexplicably irritated.

Cha Seohae spoke in a somewhat heated tone.

“It doesn’t matter whether she’s good or bad. It’s dangerous. What’s with that dagger? Did you give it to her so she’d carry it around normally?”

―Yeah. The healer wanted to be able to protect herself.

Cha Seohae knew that very well.

Wasn’t that why he had given her his own gun?

―But is giving her the dagger really the problem? She still seemed to have trouble handling a gun, so I taught her how to use something else.

“……”

―That’s strange. Whatever technique she uses, shouldn’t it be fine as long as the healer can make good use of it? I didn’t know you’d get angry over something like this.

“I’m not angry…”

―You’re clearly displeased.

Cha Seohae couldn’t bring himself to argue and fell silent.

Then he focused even more intently on Moon Yeonhee’s movements, which he hadn’t taken his eyes off since the roar.

Since her attacks weren’t damage-oriented, there were no particularly noticeable skills accompanying the way Moon Yeonhee swung her dagger.

At most, the dagger returned to her hand on its own, and she had applied an attack-speed buff.

But the three movements—throwing, catching, and stabbing—were clean and free of unnecessary motion.

Because of her Healer class and the fact that she had only learned for a short time, her movements were easy to read. It was obvious that she moved while thinking about her next technique.

But that also made the dagger’s movements stable.

Considering that she was a beginner with little experience wielding a blade, it was an impressive result.

She seemed to have put in a great deal of effort in a short amount of time.

‘Then why is this bothering me so much?’

Throwing knives differed from conventional weapons and stances, but the principle was the same in that they were used to directly harm an enemy.

That made it even harder for him to understand.

Why was this bothering him so much…?

―Don’t tell me you’re upset because the healer is using the dagger I gave her instead of the gun you gave her?

“Do I look like I’d get upset over something like that?”

―If that’s not it, then what is? How else am I supposed to explain why you’re making that sour face even though you’re watching the healer grow?

Cha Seohae ran a hand down his face at Han Seongwoo’s words.

And then he was startled.

His stiffened eyebrows, narrowed brow, and tense lips.

Without realizing it, he had been making a serious expression while watching Moon Yeonhee.

Cha Seohae let out a hollow laugh.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Who would get upset over such a childish reason? I’m just concentrating.”

He spoke as if making an excuse to Han Seongwoo, wherever he was, but inside, his thoughts were anything but calm.

―Or are you angry because you’re thinking about how I spent so much time training with the healer under the pretext of teaching her throwing knives?

“……”

―Got it. I’ll stop.

Cha Seohae had been uncomfortable with the strange things Han Seongwoo had been saying for a while now.

In the end, if he wanted those words to stop, he had no choice but to admit it.

“…Fine. She’s fighting well. At least she doesn’t have to deal with the recoil that beginners struggle to adapt to, the loud gunshots, or the unpleasant smell of gunpowder.”

Cha Seohae trailed off as he spoke, falling into thought.

Then the space between his brows, which had relaxed moments ago, narrowed again.

“How did you manage to make her willing to kill a living creature?”

―I could tell at a glance that you wouldn’t have been able to do it. Na Ye-ri wouldn’t have been able to either.

Cha Seohae frowned.

Again.

Han Seongwoo was treating him as someone who couldn’t bring himself to criticize Moon Yeonhee even once.

And he was being incredibly blatant about it.

After thinking for a moment, Cha Seohae sensed a familiar presence and turned around.

“So I gave her a little push.”

“……”

“Ah, as expected. You notice things too quickly. It’s no fun.”

There had been no footsteps, not even the sound of breathing, but Cha Seohae easily detected Han Seongwoo’s movements.

“It’s also amusing how someone like you becomes so slow whenever the healer is involved.”

Han Seongwoo grinned as he spoke.

His tone was blatantly teasing.

Just as Cha Seohae instinctively opened his mouth to deny Han Seongwoo’s words—

“Where is she?! Where’s our Yeonhee?!”

“……”

“I was so worried about her that I couldn’t even concentrate on this battle I haven’t had in ages!”

With Na Ye-ri’s arrival, Cha Seohae lost the timing to offer any sort of rebuttal.

“Haa.”

“What’s with the sigh? Ah! Han Seongwoo, you were here? Hey! Did you take the loot?”

“The loot? No.”

“You didn’t take it? There’s nothing over there…”

“……”

A heavy silence fell between the three of them.

“Come to think of it, what did the system window say the monster’s name was earlier? Was it just a goblin?”

“I think so. …Am I remembering wrong? If it exceeds a certain height, shouldn’t the prefix ‘Giant’ appear in front of its name?”

Han Seongwoo answered Na Ye-ri’s question.

The tension hanging in the air immediately grew even tighter.

Cha Seohae spoke irritably.

“There’s our answer. That one is the real body.”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

“Haha. No wonder I thought it ended way too quickly for an S-rank.”

The moment Han Seongwoo finished speaking, the three of them simultaneously kicked off the ground and shot forward.

“Yeonhee!”

Their movements were so fast that they were almost invisible.

***

―Ugh… It hurts…

The monster said that despite not even bothering to wipe away its flowing blood.

‘…It can talk?’

Strange.

There were occasionally monsters capable of speech, but that was limited to bosses.

‘…So it isn’t some low-level monster.’

No wonder something had felt strange.

Normally, an injury this severe should have killed it.

Of course, my attacks weren’t imbued with the kind of skills that tanks or damage dealers possessed, but I had stacked every buff I had—damage amplification, additional strikes, attack speed, and the debuffs I had inflicted on the monster.

It certainly wasn’t a weak attack.

‘I thought my attacks weren’t working because I’m still using basic techniques. But it’s actually because this is an S-rank boss.’

Ranks only indicate the level of ability within the awakened class.

For example, a Healer is ranked based on healing and tanking, while their damage has no rank.

A Tanker is ranked according to tanking and damage, while healing has no rank.

Likewise, a Damage Dealer is focused entirely on dealing damage, so nothing other than their damage output is measured.

In the end, I was fighting an S-rank boss with nothing more than the abilities of an ordinary person who exercised a little.

A self-deprecating laugh escaped me before I knew it.

“I never intended to do something this reckless.”

I always looked where I was going to lie down before stretching out my legs.

And yet here I was, facing a situation like this.

“If you’re weak, you can’t save anyone.”

I had been a Healer for so long that perhaps I had unconsciously forgotten how difficult it was to save someone.

I never expected to be reminded of it like this.

―I won’t forgive you…

As time passed, the monster’s gaze grew increasingly vicious.

It seemed my repeated attacks had pushed its anger to the limit.

‘This is going to be troublesome.’

The S-rank boss had begun its awakening.

It wasn’t exactly a good sign, but that didn’t mean I had no way out.

‘I’ve built up quite a few stacks of debuffs by now. It’s not completely impossible.’

It wasn’t at a dangerous level yet.

My continuous attacks had inflicted wounds and strengthened the debuffs, so I could confidently say that the debuffs I had applied were working.

‘Then the only option I have left is Internal Injury Bleeding, a buff exclusive to close-range damage dealers.’

This buff activates all the debuffs accumulated so far and deals explosive damage with the next attack.

There was one condition, though.

I had to attack directly.

Tap!

There was no reason to hesitate when there was only one path ahead.

I quickly approached the monster.

―Raaaoooar!

At the same time, it accelerated its attack.

Closer.

Much closer.

Just as its fist had filled my entire field of vision earlier, the monster’s face now filled my sight.

Thankfully, it didn’t seem to have any ability to learn.

Without hesitation, I thrust out the hand holding the dagger.

Stab!

“Gasp!”

Because of the unfamiliar and chilling sensation, the strength naturally drained from my hand holding the dagger.

The feeling of the blade sinking into flesh wouldn’t leave me, and my hand trembled violently.

“Yeonhee!”

Then, from far away, I heard someone calling my name.

It was Na Ye-ri.

I turned my gaze away from my trembling hand and looked toward where the voice had come from.

The three of them were standing there, having come down from the wall.

“So that thing was deceiving us!”

“Are you okay?”

Na Ye-ri rushed toward the monster in anger, while Cha Seohae approached me.

When he saw my trembling hand, his expression instantly turned cold.

I couldn’t take my eyes off my hand, and before I knew it, Han Seongwoo had approached me and whispered.

“What I taught you was throwing knives. I gave you a weapon meant for throwing, so it was never a path that allowed for close combat.”

“…I know.”

“Then why did you recklessly go into close combat? What would you have done if there hadn’t been a shield?! No, even with a shield, it’s still a problem. There’s a limit to how much it can block. If it had shattered instead of merely cracking, you would’ve been knocked unconscious!”

I had already heard plenty about shields from Na Ye-ri, so I knew all of that.

I listened quietly before answering.

“Because I saw a chance to win.”

“……”

“I don’t want to die either. I’m scared and afraid, so I don’t do reckless things. I really… only did it because there was a chance.”

“Ha.”

“Everyone’s fighting style is bound to be different. From the bodies they have to the skills they possess, everything is different.”

Han Seongwoo narrowed one eye as he looked at me.

“Even if it looked reckless to you, I knew I wouldn’t die, so that’s why I did it. In actual combat, there are more situations where you can’t move according to the techniques you learned in training than situations where you can.”

He quietly observed me for a moment.

I watched his slowly moving eyes and waited patiently without saying anything else.

After checking my condition thoroughly, Han Seongwoo suddenly let out a small laugh.

“The person I trained isn’t a Healer at all. She’s a complete oddball.”

“An oddball?”

I frowned, unable to understand what he meant.

Cha Seohae, who had been holding my trembling hand to calm me down, spoke.

“He says you’re impressive.”

“An oddball?”

“Because unlike ordinary people, you didn’t wait to be taught. You figured things out on your own.”

He released my hand, which had stopped trembling by then, and continued.

“He must be so proud of you that he could die.”