S-Rank Healer Gets Kidnapped First Chapter 43

“The enemy’s location has been detected near headquarters! It has entered within a 20-meter radius!”

“Sound the alarm and quickly gather the Baekyang hunters nearby!”

“Yes!”

WEEEE-OOO.

When I went down to the first floor, the lobby was in an uproar because of the emergency mobilization order.

From the sound of the sirens to the footsteps of people running around in a hurry, all the noise only added to the chaotic atmosphere.

Judging by the number of hunters, there were far more of them than there should have been for this time of evening.

Apparently, even hunters who had been on their way home had been stopped and called back.

I watched the situation for a moment before calling out to someone who happened to be passing by.

“Excuse me. Sorry for stopping you, but did the Association issue a Gate alert?”

“We haven’t received any notification from the Association, but judging from the unidentified monster, we’re assuming it’s a raid!”

His answer made me frown beyond mere confusion.

There’s no notification even though it’s a raid?

There were three types of Gates.

Dungeon-like caves where monsters lived.

Rifts in the air that required hunters to enter with an entire unit.

And raids, where a monster was summoned and a field was formed around it.

All of them were dangerous, but in raids, there was usually only a small number of monsters—or possibly a single boss—to defeat.

Even so, the reason Baekyang was in such an uproar was because—

“They said a field is forming?”

“We haven’t detected any debuffs harmful to humans yet, but everything along the monster’s path is being destroyed!”

It was because of the field formation.

Field formation referred to the surrounding environment changing into an environment optimized for the summoned monster to move around in.

Depending on the situation, civilians could be exposed to danger before there was even time to do anything.

That was why an extremely rapid response was necessary.

“Thank you.”

But there had been no notification from the Association.

Sensing that something was wrong, I thanked him and turned around, looking for the three of them first.

Since this was an emergency, I thought I would find them quickly.

“Ye-ri!”

“You guys go assist—oh, Yeonhee!”

But the only person I could see was Na Ye-ri.

I finally found her giving orders at the entrance.

“Where are the other two?”

“They went out first. I’m staying here and waiting for updates from the field.”

“Can’t you put a shield around the monster?”

“One person has to stay behind and command. So I put my shield around headquarters and sent the other tanks out. There are A-Ranks among them too, so they won’t be easily overwhelmed.”

While Na Ye-ri was explaining, another report came through the radio.

—Na Ye-ri, are you listening?

“Yeah, I’m listening.”

The voice belonged to Cha Seohae.

—I sent Childeugi over there. Let him handle command at headquarters, and you come to the field.

“What? All of a sudden? How long has it even been since you gave the order? You’ve only been gone for eight minutes.”

Na Ye-ri sounded dumbfounded, but she was already gathering her equipment.

It was understandable that she was flustered.

Considering a hunter’s movement speed, eight minutes meant they had probably gone out, observed the situation for about four minutes, and then changed their orders.

Once you arrived at the scene and changed your attack strategy several times, it normally took at least ten to twenty minutes.

And yet they had changed plans after only four minutes.

They must have contacted headquarters immediately after their first attack.

I listened to the radio and cautiously asked,

“It’s really bad over there, isn’t it…?”

—None of our team’s attacks are having any effect except mine.

“What?”

Na Ye-ri exclaimed in surprise.

The hunters around us began murmuring because of her reaction.

There was no benefit to creating anxiety among the hunters right before they were deployed.

Besides, Cha Seohae and Han Seong-woo are already there. If we show this much panic, it’ll only lower everyone’s morale.

I quickly calmed them down.

Fortunately, Na Ye-ri’s reactions were normally quite dramatic, so things settled down quickly.

“Ye-ri, lower your voice a little.”

“Ah, okay.”

Na Ye-ri also calmed herself and asked seriously,

“What do you mean the attacks aren’t working?”

—Exactly what I said. Not only can we not damage the monster, but even our shields are being pierced.

“Even though there are A-Ranks there, the shields aren’t working? What kind of monster is that boss…? Wait, then what about Han Seong-woo? His attacks are working, right?”

—…No.

“Hah.”

Another voice came through a moment later.

It was Han Seong-woo, sounding completely powerless.

Na Ye-ri sighed as though she had lost all words.

An S-Rank’s attacks aren’t working?

I couldn’t understand it.

No matter how powerful an S-Rank boss is, attacks from a hunter of the same rank should still have some effect. What on earth…?

The situation was much worse than I’d thought.

And the fact that there was still no disaster alert despite how serious things were…

Could the Association have orchestrated this?

But no matter how powerful the Association was, they couldn’t manipulate the system window.

I recalled the monster I’d seen through the window.

I couldn’t tell for sure because I saw it from far away, but its appearance looked exactly like…

I bit my lip, and Na Ye-ri immediately handed me the radio.

Sensing that I had something to say, I quickly put it on.

“I’ve got the radio. This is Moon Yeonhee.”

Screams from the scene could be heard through the radio.

There must be a lot of injured people. Could there even be casualties? If I go there right now and heal them, will they survive? But what if they’re civilians? My healing doesn’t work on civilians. Should I bring a doctor with me? But if the scene is out of control, bringing civilians there would be too dangerous.

My mind raced with countless worries.

I was tense, not knowing what instructions I would receive.

—Moon Yeonhee?

“Yes.”

—You probably have a rough idea of who caused this, don’t you?

It seemed Cha Seohae had been suspicious of the same thing I was.

Even though he wasn’t standing in front of me, I nodded.

As if my silence were an answer, Cha Seohae continued.

—I think the same. It’s dangerous for you to be exposed to such a complicated situation, so can you stay in the rear with Childeugi and give instructions from there?

Even while giving orders, he seemed to be moving around frantically, because I could hear things breaking in the background.

If this really was the Association’s doing, then staying out of harm’s way was the right thing to do, just as Cha Seohae said.

Kang Si-hyun had probably begun to suspect me by now.

But was it really right for me to hide away just to save myself while people were in danger?

Even as I hesitated, the number of injured people continued to increase.

I was also worried about the hunters.

If their attacks weren’t working, I couldn’t even imagine how long the fight would last.

That meant they were at a definite disadvantage in a battle of endurance.

I stared outside the building.

The buildings outside were still intact, but people were evacuating.

I couldn’t stay here while watching that.

And going there wasn’t an unreasonable decision.

Because it’s not like we have no way of dealing with this.

—Aaaaargh!

Someone’s scream rang loudly through the radio.

I gripped the microphone and clearly stated my intention.

“Sorry, but I’m going to disobey your orders this time.”

—…What?

Cha Seohae seemed genuinely surprised that I would say that.

Even through the radio, I could tell he was flustered, but I didn’t back down.

“I’m going out with Ye-ri.”

—……

“Oh, and Han Seong-woo.”

—Yes?

I smiled brightly.

“One of your skills…”

 

***

 

Thud.

“The building is collapsing! Watch out!”

“Forget the stupid bear and protect your head! Your head!”

“Hey! Where are you?!”

The scene I witnessed the moment I got out of the car was an absolute disaster.

There wasn’t a single intact building in sight, as if a massive earthquake had just passed through.

The ground was cracked all over, too.

It was as though—

“How did the asphalt crack like an eggshell?”

Na Ye-ri said while stomping on the ground.

I smiled when I saw that she had the same thought as me, but quickly composed my expression.

There are reporters.

Several helicopters were flying around the enormous monster.

There were definitely one or two reporters here to broadcast breaking news.

I couldn’t afford to get photographed smiling in a situation like this and end up looking like some kind of villain.

“Vice Master! You came! We’ve been waiting for you!”

“We followed the training exactly, but the shields kept getting blown through! We couldn’t figure out what was happening!”

“I’ve heard about the situation. Are any of the tanks injured?”

“Strangely enough, there aren’t any injuries.”

“Huh?”

Na Ye-ri spoke as if that made no sense.

“If the shields were destroyed in one hit, they would’ve suffered internal injuries. You’re saying no one’s injured?”

“Yes, yes… The shields didn’t break because they ran out of durability. Some kind of attack just passed through them like a spiritual body.”

“Passed through them? What does that mean? That—”

Na Ye-ri pointed at the monster.

“Are you saying the stupid bear’s attacks have no physical form?”

“We don’t know exactly why, but that’s what seems to be happening…”

“Hah.”

Na Ye-ri ran a hand through her hair.

“Then I suppose it’s understandable that you guys can’t handle it yet. Is it an elemental-type monster? Something that condenses poison or water and shoots it? No. This isn’t the time to worry about that. You guys fall back and brief me on Cha Seohae and Han Seong-woo’s locations.”

“Yes!”

As soon as Na Ye-ri appeared, the tank unit quickly regrouped.

I guess that means they normally have a good relationship.

After listening to the tanks’ reports, she pointed toward a building.

“There they are. Yeonhee, let’s go.”

“Okay.”

I tightly grabbed Na Ye-ri’s hand.

In an instant, she reached the rooftop of the building where Cha Seohae was.

Cha Seohae didn’t look surprised to see Na Ye-ri suddenly appear.

But when he saw me, he cautiously asked,

“Are you really going to be okay?”

“Yes. For now, I won’t leave Ye-ri’s side.”

Cha Seohae opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something, but soon closed it again.

After all, sending someone who had already arrived at the scene back would be a waste, and I was also necessary here.

There were quite a few injured people at the scene.

Naturally, a large proportion of them were hunters.

The tanks reporting to Na Ye-ri weren’t suffering from internal injuries, but their stamina had been depleted.

So the dealers flying around the battlefield were even worse off.

I turned on the radio I’d put on during the trip here.

“Where is Han Seong-woo?”

—I’ll come to you. Which direction?

“Toward where Cha Seohae is.”

—Yes.

He must have been nearby, because Han Seong-woo appeared almost immediately.

I looked at him and asked solemnly,

“What I asked you about earlier…”

“It’s possible.”

Han Seong-woo held out his hand to me.

I released Na Ye-ri’s hand and grabbed his instead.

“Divine Grace.”

As I used my healing skill, a golden light spread out from my body in every direction.

Watching the light flow toward the hunters, Han Seong-woo murmured,

“Stealth.”

Then Han Seong-woo—and even I, who was holding his hand—disappeared as if we had never been there in the first place.

As I thought. I knew there’d be a reason for an assassin to have a skill like this.

The method I’d come up with was essentially a game of hide-and-seek.

I’d enter the battlefield, but use Han Seong-woo’s skill to conceal our presence.

As long as I wasn’t directly examining the situation from right in front of everyone, it would be difficult for anyone to notice the presence of a healer.

Unless the Association had the latest information on the usual abilities of every single dealer and tank in Baekyang, I was confident I wouldn’t stand out.

I comfortably continued healing while staring at the monster standing in the middle of the battlefield.

“So that’s how you’re going to show yourself…”

When I’d seen it from far away, I hadn’t been sure.

But now, I could be certain.

That monster was the teddy bear Do Joo-yeon had given me.