S-Rank Healer Gets Kidnapped First Chapter 4

So it wasn’t just a bluff. He knew.

“I’m planning to make a deal with the Association. Since you’re the healer the Association Master has been hiding so carefully, I thought you might be useful, so I brought you here.”

No wonder. He had kept referring to me as a healer affiliated with the Association, rather than as the first team’s healer.

“So tell me. Are you going to go back like this?”

There was no point in hiding it anymore, not when I had intended to keep it hidden only as long as I could.

“…There’s no way Do Juyeon would come. It’s a pointless assumption.”

As much as I hated to admit it, I had to face reality.

Do Juyeon must have lost track of us, and even the stronghold had been breached.

There was nothing to gain from provoking Cha Seohae now.

Earlier, he had told me to choose between being a hostage and joining the guild. But just now, I had gotten far too excited upon seeing Do Juyeon.

‘If I were Cha Seohae, I’d think I looked like I wanted to go back to the Association.’

What hope? Things had only gotten worse.

“I thought so too.”

Just as I decided I should stay quiet for a while, Cha Seohae spoke in a meaningful tone.

“Looks like Do Juyeon is chasing us.”

“What?”

“Check for yourself.”

Cha Seohae gestured toward the back with his eyes. I turned around and looked behind us.

‘He really is.’

The white car I had seen earlier was chasing us at a fierce speed.

“How strange. He acted so high and mighty all this time.”

I secretly glanced at Cha Seohae.

I had been thinking about this for a while now.

‘He really seems to know Do Juyeon well.’

It was strange to evaluate someone based merely on having crossed paths with him a few times during dungeon raids. Somehow, it felt like he had known Do Juyeon well even before that.

It was a question I couldn’t bring myself to ask, so I kept quiet. I didn’t think knowing the answer would help me anyway.

‘But is he really driving like that to rescue me?’

Seeing Do Juyeon’s car speeding toward us just as fiercely as ours left me feeling unsettled.

It wasn’t the same hope I had felt earlier.

I couldn’t deny that he had been the better-natured one among the first team members. But that didn’t mean he had ever clearly taken my side.

‘Something’s strange.’

It was ridiculous to be wary of someone coming to rescue me, but honestly, there was no trust between us.

“Crazy bastard.”

Then Cha Seohae muttered a low curse. He looked slightly flustered.

‘…Could it not be Do Juyeon?’

For once, I completely agreed with him.

Do Juyeon was now following us so recklessly that it was as if the road had turned into a lawless wasteland.

Cars that had been coming out of alleys onto the quiet road had to slam on their brakes, while others were forced to swerve their steering wheels desperately when he cut them off aggressively.

“Master.”

“Step on it harder. He doesn’t seem to be in his right mind.”

“Yes.”

Vroooom.

The engine roared with increased power.

The speed was fast enough to make my entire body tense up. I hurriedly grabbed the handle above me.

“Wait, are we planning to join in on this madness too?”

“Join in? We’re just avoiding him. It looks like he’s planning to ram us from behind, and if a car coming at that speed crashes into us, you’ll die.”

Cha Seohae sighed as if he were exhausted.

“Who the hell rescues someone like that?”

The driver asked while watching the pursuing car through the rearview mirror.

“Master, where should we go? There are too many people to go to headquarters like this….”

Cha Seohae thought for a moment before shaking his head.

“No, go to headquarters. Somewhere with as few people as possible would be ideal, but if there’s nowhere like that, a place with more hunters than civilians is better. They can at least protect themselves.”

“Understood.”

I blinked as I looked at him, surprised by this unexpected side of him.

‘The team members said he was a vicious mad dog.’

He could actually think about things like that?

Sensing my gaze, Cha Seohae stopped rubbing his eyes and looked at me.

“Must be nice.”

“Huh?”

“He’s chasing us like that because he wants to take you back. You must be happy.”

Oh, was that what he meant?

I couldn’t give him a straightforward answer.

I wasn’t sure whether there would really be anything good waiting for me at the end of this.

“Your expression is different from before.”

“…….”

“If you don’t want to talk about it, then forget it.”

Cha Seohae’s head, which had been turned toward me, faced forward again.

“Turn right.”

“Yes.”

The road had been crowded just moments ago, but somehow, we had already reached a quiet area.

Screeeeech!

The sound came from the car chasing us. It seemed the vehicle couldn’t handle its speed, causing its tires to scrape loudly against the road.

Vroooom.

“Switch seats with me.”

“Huh?”

“Quickly!”

Cha Seohae suddenly shouted the unexpected demand urgently. I frowned as I switched seats with him.

It didn’t matter where I sat anyway. With my hands and feet tied, escaping was impossible.

Even if Do Juyeon caught up to me, I couldn’t open the door or climb over.

Before I knew it, Do Juyeon was driving right alongside our car.

Perhaps he was targeting the driver’s seat, because he pressed his car tightly against the side where I had been sitting just moments ago.

Screeeeeeech!

The sides of the two cars scraped against each other. Sparks flew intermittently.

‘Is this why he made me switch seats?’

Soon, the window of the white car rolled down. Seeing that, I anticipated what kind of attack Do Juyeon was about to launch.

“Slow down!”

“What?”

“Quickly!”

The driver looked at me through the rearview mirror.

Perhaps my desperate plea had gotten through to him.

I couldn’t see his eyes clearly because of his sunglasses, but for a moment, I felt like our eyes met.

He nodded and slowed down.

Screech! Crack.

Unable to overcome the difference in acceleration, our car’s side mirror was smashed.

Bang!

A bullet flew out of Do Juyeon’s car by a hair’s breadth.

If we hadn’t moved the car, the driver would have been in danger.

Whoosh!

The sound of the bullet grazing the windshield sent a chill down my spine.

‘I knew he could copy abilities, but where did he get a shooter from…?’

Since he had been aiming for the driver, I had expected chains to shoot out.

I had once seen Do Juyeon training while I was out for a walk. Since he was S-rank, his copying speed was fast, but there was still a gap of a few seconds.

‘Though I know he’s shortened even that gap through grueling training.’

It was difficult to eliminate his weaknesses when his overwhelming advantage was that he wasn’t restricted to any particular ability type.

Crack.

Cha Seohae’s jaw tightened with force.

Following the sound, I shifted my gaze and let out a stupid sigh.

‘He’s the shooter.’

How could I have forgotten that? It was practically Cha Seohae’s signature ability.

‘As I thought, there’s something going on between those two….’

That was when it happened.

Boom!

When we slowed down, Do Juyeon stopped attacking and slammed into our front bumper.

“Ugh!”

The sudden impact made the car jolt violently, and I hit my head hard against the window.

“Are you okay?”

Cha Seohae, who had been watching Do Juyeon, briefly turned his gaze toward me.

He moved my hand away from where I was clutching my head and checked my condition.

After confirming that I hadn’t developed a bump, he spoke quietly.

“Undo the chains.”

“Yes.”

My hands and feet were soon freed.

“Hold on to the handle tightly.”

It was easier to grip the handle than before.

Before he even heard my answer, he turned his head.

I didn’t know when he had taken out the gun, but he lowered the window and aimed at the white car.

Bang! Bang!

Two clean gunshots rang out. The white car’s movement immediately became dangerously erratic.

‘He shot the tires.’

But if he did that, the car might crash into one of the nearby houses.

As if he had anticipated that, Cha Seohae spoke to the driver.

“You can use your chains to tie it down, right? Do it.”

“But the car was traveling so fast that even if I can slow it down, it’ll inevitably crash into something….”

The driver was right.

“Tie it to me.”

“What?”

“What?”

The answer came without hesitation, and both the driver and I widened our eyes in surprise.

“It happened because of me, so hurry!”

“Yes, yes!”

The driver looked reluctant, but followed the order.

Creak. Creak.

As he tightly bound the white car with chains, unpleasant noises echoed all around us.

Even while using his ability, I could see the driver glancing over Cha Seohae.

‘What should I do?’

At this rate, it was only a matter of time before Cha Seohae got hurt.

It wasn’t as though I had grown attached to him in such a short time, but I wasn’t accustomed to watching someone get hurt right in front of me outside of a dungeon.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The white car collided with ours several times.

The driver gripped the steering wheel tightly to keep the car from spinning out.

The repeated impacts shook the entire interior, and the violent movement made my head throb like crazy.

But what worried me more was Cha Seohae.

Even with the chains, a collision was still a collision. He would inevitably take the impact, yet he kept a certain distance from me.

I decided to trust the driver. Using my now-free hands, I grabbed Cha Seohae’s wrist.

“Move inside.”

The moment I pulled him toward me with force—

“Let go!”

Boom!

The white car slammed into ours with even greater force than before.

“Ugh!”

This time, the driver couldn’t withstand the impact either and lost his grip on the steering wheel.

Crash!

We slammed straight into a wall.

“Gasp!”

The force of the collision crushed the back of the car behind me, and I heard the metal crumpling.

A sharp wave of pain surged through me, and I sucked in a hurried breath.

My back hurt unbearably.

Unable to endure the pain, my upper body bent forward.

“Hey! Stay with me! Hey!”

While I was still conscious, I quickly tried to use self-healing.

But it seemed the chronic illnesses I had been carrying had finally erupted along with my accumulated exhaustion. My healing wasn’t working properly.

“Cough!”

“Damn it, don’t lose consciousness! Open your eyes! You’re a healer! Heal yourself!”

I felt him shaking me forcefully.

I knew I had to listen to him, but my eyelids felt unbearably heavy.

It was a miracle the car hadn’t exploded. It felt as though a storm had just passed through.

I watched the smoke pouring out from various places and confirmed that Cha Seohae was unharmed.

‘I didn’t want him to get hurt….’

But I hadn’t wanted to end up like this either….

A small, hollow laugh escaped me.

Just as I wondered whether I should be relieved that I wouldn’t have to watch someone get hurt right in front of me—

Ding.

[The error has been resolved.]