S-Rank Healer Gets Kidnapped First Chapter 41

Tanks, damage dealers, and healers. Among the three classes, everyone except healers—tanks and damage dealers—uses weapons.

That was because of the characteristics of their classes. As a result, when a healer designated a target, the heal activated immediately.

A Hunter’s movements were difficult to follow with ordinary eyesight. Especially for classes specialized in agility, such as assassins and shooters, even other Hunters had trouble keeping up with them, so it was only natural.

The same went for healing and buffs. But then I suddenly wondered why healers were the only ones whose skill mechanics were different.

Perhaps it was because the loss of healing was so critical.

A loss in damage only dragged out a battle and increased the danger, but if a heal missed even once, the only thing left could be death.

So healers had no particular need to excel in dynamic vision or aiming.

On the other hand, the difference in skill between tanks and damage dealers was revealed by how accurately they could hit their targets.

What was commonly called ‘aim.’

And the weapon was what assisted that aim.

Apparently, as long as they had enhancement stones, they could enhance those weapons.

No wonder Hunters who were obsessed with strength went crazy over enhancement stones.

But surprisingly, there weren’t as many ways to become stronger as I had expected.

Training, which could be called the result of hard work, finding collaborators, and so on.

Aside from those, there was another way to have fun.

The one legitimate way to become stronger was remarkably fair and square, and that was…

Randomness.

Yes, the way Hunters enhanced their weapons was basically gacha.

They bet everything on luck. A system that Hunters, who had become addicted to dopamine through frequent battles, couldn’t help but fall into.

And there was one universal truth that came with most gacha games.

That was—

‘If you spend until you get it, you’re guaranteed to get it.’

In other words, keep pulling until it comes out.

At first glance, it might make the person look generous or like a big spender, but in reality, it was a world where only the person doing the pulling got screwed over.

Since it was a world of as long as it’s not me, it was impossible for a healer not to find this amusing.

You spent time and money, only for some garbage option to come out?

Nothing made tears well up in a Hunter’s eyes like this perfectly legal form of gambling.

And one of the best examples was standing right in front of me.

“……”

“W-Well. Some days are just like this. Hang in there.”

“Yeah. Yours was at +7 this time, wasn’t it? It went way too smoothly up to +6.”

Han Seongwoo and Na Yeri spoke one after another.

I stared blankly at the gun placed in the enhancement machine before looking up at Cha Seohae.

“……”

Then I lowered my gaze again.

‘That expression is terrifying.’

This was the power of random gacha.

Even Cha Seohae, one of the very best Hunters currently dominating the Hunter world, could be made to wear an expression like that.

But that wasn’t the only problem.

Normally, if everyone failed, they would comfort one another, and if everyone succeeded, the happiness would multiply.

But—

What if only one person failed?

I glanced at Han Seongwoo and Na Yeri, who had stepped backward.

They seemed to be enjoying the situation quite a lot, as they were silently laughing.

The two of them had hit the jackpot with this enhancement.

Normally, if one out of three people failed, you would feel bad about it.

The polite thing to do was to secretly celebrate in the back.

But seeing how happily they were enjoying themselves, I could roughly guess what had happened before.

‘Earlier, they said that Cha Seohae had gotten exactly the options he needed all the way to +6… I guess they were pretty jealous of how well things had gone for him until now.’

This was a situation where I couldn’t stop the two of them, nor could I really comfort Cha Seohae.

In short—

‘I shouldn’t have come.’

I should have resisted the temptation to watch people cry and laugh over gambling today.

Without saying anything, I stared at the screen of the enhancement machine.

[M1917 Revolver]
+1: Damage Increase +2%
+2: Damage Increase +5%
+3: Damage Increase +8%
+4: Damage Increase +12%
+5: Damage Increase +15%
+6: Damage Increase +18%
+7: Mental Resistance +21% NEW!

Look at those perfectly clean options.

‘That flashy NEW next to it makes it even more infuriating.’

Even though it wasn’t my weapon, I felt like this. How angry must the owner be?

“Haa.”

Cha Seohae stared intently at his weapon before letting out a sigh.

Perhaps he had sorted out his thoughts, because his expression had relaxed considerably.

“…What are you going to do?”

“What else?”

Cha Seohae continued as if there was nothing to think about.

“I’m going to buy up every enhancement stone currently being sold on the market.”

“……”

What did I just hear?

Enhancement stones only came from Gates.

Furthermore, farming enhancement stones was only practical when the Gate was a high rank.

But S-Rank Gates didn’t appear very often. And since so many Hunters gathered at them, if things went wrong, they might end up having to divide the mere handful of enhancement stones they obtained among themselves.

That was why the market price of enhancement stones continued to soar higher and higher with no ceiling in sight.

And he had come to a conclusion that would cost an enormous fortune in less than five minutes.

‘Is this how rich people think?’

I blinked, speechless.

“Oh, boy. He’s got it bad again. That damn money-burning disease.”

Na Yeri clicked her tongue from behind us.

Han Seongwoo raised one corner of his mouth and smiled at Na Yeri’s comment.

“You’re exactly the same.”

“Of course. What else are Hunters supposed to spend the money they earn on? I have to spend it on taking care of my child.”

“That’s true.”

For once, the two of them were in perfect agreement.

That was what a weapon could do.

It brought together the opinions of three people who seemed incapable of ever reaching an agreement.

Wasn’t that impressive?

“All right, shall we get going?”

“Where are you going?”

I asked Na Yeri, who had suddenly gotten up.

She raised an eyebrow as if the answer were obvious.

“Obviously, we’re going to empty Cha Seohae’s wallet.”

“Huh?”

“Enhancement stones aren’t sold to just anyone. Usually, the people who sell them have already enhanced their own weapons to a certain degree and only sell their surplus, so they’re extremely full of themselves.”

Na Yeri brought her thumb and index finger up to her nose, making a gesture to indicate a high nose bridge.

“Now that you mention it, that makes sense. Enhancement stones probably don’t drop much in low-level dungeons. It would take forever to fully enhance a weapon by selling junk drops and using the money to buy stones.”

“Exactly. That’s why we have to show our faces. If you order someone around when you already know them personally, they’ll complain that it’s rude.”

“Sounds difficult.”

Was this what social life was like in the Hunter world?

Even so, wasn’t Baekyang overwhelmingly powerful? The Hunter world was a place where strength was everything.

Perhaps my question showed on my face, because Han Seongwoo looked at me and added an explanation.

“We value solidarity among Hunters. Unless it’s an unreasonable demand that crosses the line, we generally try to look out for one another.”

“Ahh.”

Right.

Things worked well below when those at the top were flexible.

I nodded as if I understood.

“So are the three of you going together?”

“Yeah. There are a lot of places we need to visit.”

“Have a good time.”

They told me they would be back soon and that I should wait for them, then left.

Still exhausted from the battle with the boss, I obediently waved them goodbye before collapsing onto the table.

“Will an hour be enough?”

I had relied on being S-Rank and continuously used Blessing, Grace, and Protection throughout the battle, so I was incredibly tired.

“Let’s sleep for a little while…”

By then, they should be back.

 

***

 

“Just, pfft. Use it as, snort, a temporary measure.”

“Yeah. What else can we do if there’s none on the market?”

How long had I been asleep?

My eyes gradually opened at the sound of voices near my ears.

“Oh? Healer, you’re awake.”

“Yeonhee, you’re up?”

Han Seongwoo and Na Yeri approached me one after another.

I rubbed my eyes, let out a big yawn, and spoke.

“When did you get back? You should’ve woken me…”

“Why would we wake you? How important do you think Cha Seohae’s weapon enhancement is? Taking care of the stamina of the person who kept using skills throughout the entire battle is more important. You must have been exhausted, right?”

Na Yeri comforted me while coldly ranking the priorities.

“Was that much sleep really enough?”

“Ah, Cha Seohae.”

Cha Seohae, who had come forward past the other two, spoke.

“I feel a little more refreshed, but… huh?”

When I raised my upper body from where I had been lying down, the jacket slipped from my shoulders.

I caught a familiar scent, and then noticed that a holster was attached to the jacket’s shoulder.

I stared blankly at it before raising my head and meeting Cha Seohae’s eyes.

“Ahem.”

Feeling awkward, I cleared my throat and continued as if I hadn’t noticed anything.

“Did I sleep for an hour?”

“Much longer than an hour. Three hours, maybe?”

“…Huh?”

Three hours?

‘No wonder my neck feels a little stiff…?’

I raised a hand and rubbed the side of my neck, which had been bent at an awkward angle.

Sure enough, it felt sore.

I immediately used Grace to heal it, and Cha Seohae continued speaking.

“Considering how hard you worked, three hours isn’t much. Let’s have dinner and go home so you can sleep again.”

“Huh? Ah, okay.”

With the three of them worrying over me as if I were a child, I found it difficult to raise my head properly.

I awkwardly stood up and hugged the jacket to my chest.

Then I remembered why I had been waiting for them and asked,

“By the way. How did the enhancement go? Did you enhance it again while I was asleep for three hours?”

I had expected to sleep for only an hour, so when I heard that three hours had passed, I assumed they must have finished the enhancement and then some.

But for some reason, the three of them had strange expressions.

More precisely, Na Yeri and Han Seongwoo were trying to suppress their laughter like before, while only Cha Seohae was frowning.

“What’s wrong?”

“Of all days, there just happened to be no enhancement stones available on the market today.”

“Huh? Can that even happen?”

My gaze naturally turned toward Cha Seohae.

“We don’t normally sell many enhancement stones. So it takes a long time to go around looking for them. Look at us. We’ve been running around for three hours and only just got back.”

“Only just…”

I realized that enhancing weapons was much harder than I had thought.

‘I thought it was easy because the top-ranked Hunters piled up mountains of enhancement stones before going to enhance their weapons. I guess even they have to pick a day and enhance everything at once.’

Well, if it were that easy, why would +8 weapons be called legendary weapons?

Seeing even Cha Seohae only now attempting +7 made me realize just how difficult it was.

‘But how high was the Association President’s weapon again?’

I felt like I had heard it in passing before. Since it had nothing to do with me, I didn’t remember clearly.

‘I just hope it wasn’t +8.’

I asked them absentmindedly,

“Then what about the dismantling? Did you do it?”

“No. We decided not to dismantle it.”

Han Seongwoo answered instead.

Judging from his expression, he had stepped forward to answer specifically so he could tease him.

Na Yeri’s expression beside him was no different.

“Even if the +7 option isn’t great, the weapon’s base stats increase as the enhancement level gets higher, so what else can we do? We’ll just have to use the useless option for now.”

“……”

“Cha Seohae using a useless option. There goes all his dignity.”

Watching the two of them, I thought,

‘Once they start teasing someone, they really don’t stop.’

I already knew they were both playful by nature.

‘But this looks a little dangerous right now…’

The two of them apparently hadn’t noticed Cha Seohae’s expression, his lips tightly pressed together.

I cautiously put some distance between myself and him.

His atmosphere was so different that I could hardly believe he was the same person who had been urging me to sleep more earlier.

I looked at Cha Seohae for a moment before closing my eyes.

‘I pray those two make it through today safely.’