S-Rank Healer Gets Kidnapped First Chapter 47

A cracking sound came from the floor beneath me.

Flustered, I shifted my gaze not toward the part of the floor that had caved in, but directly to the ground beneath my feet.

I hadn’t heard it wrong. There was a large crack in the place where I was standing.

“I have to get out of here…!”

I raised my upper body, which I had bent down to escape.

Crack.

However, perhaps reacting to my slightest movement, the floor made the sound once again.

“Aaaah!”

Thud.

“Ow….”

In the end, just as I fully straightened my body, the floor collapsed, and I fell along with it.

Fortunately, I didn’t fall very far.

I survived because I landed on top of the rubble that had previously collapsed and formed a mountain.

Only my tailbone throbbed a little, and I wasn’t injured anywhere else.

“Is this the floor directly below…?”

I hurriedly used self-healing and looked around.

With signs of destruction scattered everywhere, it looked no different from an abandoned building.

Carefully climbing the mountain of rubble, I found that the rooftop was directly above me.

“Then where is Jang Jeong-in? Is he buried here?”

Worried that he might wake up, I cast God’s Protection before moving.

There were large rocks wedged in between, so clearing them away took longer than I expected.

After removing them one by one, the person I had been looking for finally appeared.

“Even an S-Rank Hunter as impressive as you still passes out when buried under rubble.”

I waved my hand in front of his closed eyes.

After confirming that his eyelids remained still, I canceled God’s Protection.

Honestly, it was taking a toll on me.

I had been using area heals and buffs on multiple people since earlier, not to mention continuously maintaining the protection, so this was only natural.

After catching my breath for a moment, I reached for my radio.

I was going to call for backup.

—This is Na Ye-ri. I’ve received your transmission.

A voice identifying who had answered came through.

Hearing Na Ye-ri’s voice, I finally relaxed a little.

“Ye-ri, it’s me, Moon Yeonhee.”

—Yeonhee?

The moment she heard my voice, her previously indifferent tone changed.

Na Ye-ri became excited and started asking me all sorts of questions.

—Are you okay? There was just an explosion where you are! I was so worried because I couldn’t get in touch with you, Cha Seohae, or Han Seong-woo! Is everyone safe?

I briefly explained the situation, that we were currently confronting our respective opponents.

—Is it because Kang Si-hyeon is distracted somewhere else? The monsters weakened toward the latter half, so we managed to suppress the ones below to some extent. I’ll go there too.

“Yeah, it’ll be reassuring if you come. Jang Jeong-in is here too, so you could bring one more person….”

In the middle of my report, someone snatched my radio away.

Crack!

And before I could even properly understand what was happening, I heard the device being crushed.

When I turned my head, Jang Jeong-in was gasping for breath.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

I hurriedly tried to activate God’s Protection, but Jang Jeong-in was faster.

Because we were so close, he managed to grab my wrist.

I stared at him in surprise without saying a word.

‘He was definitely unconscious, wasn’t he?’

Since becoming a healer, I’ve seen many injured people. I can assess a person’s condition to a certain extent.

When I checked his condition, I had made absolutely sure he wasn’t pretending to be unconscious.

Unless he had used some other trick, there was no way he could suddenly get up like this.

‘I thought I’d bought at least around ten minutes.’

I tried to remain calm so I wouldn’t make things worse.

Still puzzled, I examined him.

‘Huh?’

But something was strange about his condition.

His eyes were bloodshot, almost completely red…. He looked just like someone who had consumed way too many energy drinks.

“You were making such an annoying buzzing noise that I couldn’t just lie still.”

“What?”

“Who did you call for backup? Na Ye-ri down there?”

“…….”

“Whoever it is doesn’t matter. All I have to do is take you away from here before she gets here.”

While listening to Jang Jeong-in, I twisted my wrist.

I’d spent quite a bit of time training my stamina and strength.

Even so, strangely enough, his strength felt overwhelmingly powerful.

‘He doesn’t even seem like someone who trains much normally, so why is he this strong?’

I was flustered, but I didn’t show it and continued twisting my wrist.

It was useless. I couldn’t pull free.

The friction only made it increasingly sore.

Meanwhile, he had already gotten completely to his feet.

The rubble that had been piled on Jang Jeong-in’s body fell away, making a series of small noises.

“You have a really interesting shield.”

“…….”

“Does it deflect attacks? It formed so suddenly that I couldn’t get a proper look at it. But judging by how my attack came straight back at me, there’s a high chance it’s a reflection, right?”

“…….”

“Say something, at least. You didn’t activate that skill just to show off, did you?”

Jang Jeong-in quickly closed the distance between us.

“If your shield works like that, I’ll have no choice but to stop you before you can cast it and take you away like this.”

Jang Jeong-in’s eyes flashed.

“All right, let’s go back now. If you listen obediently even now, you won’t get hurt. Okay? Yeonhee.”

“Who would believe that?”

“Haha! You still haven’t figured out the situation! Even if Na Ye-ri comes with backup, she’ll be too late!”

Perhaps he was getting excited as he spoke, because he tightened his grip.

My arm was gradually becoming numb as the blood stopped circulating properly.

“Let’s go. We’re going back to the Association! You can go back and become a healer for the second team! We’ve been getting along just fine all this time, so what were you dissatisfied with that made you betray us?”

“As the Association Chairman’s puppet, do you really think you’d understand anything I’d say?”

“Oh, are you upset because you weren’t treated well? Then instead of protesting like this, you should’ve just told me honestly. If you had, at least I would’ve listened to you!”

Seeing him dismiss my actions as nothing more than me being ‘sulky,’ I knew he wasn’t someone I could reason with.

I shouted as a warning.

“Let me go!”

“You’re resisting here? I’m talking to you nicely right now. You don’t even like this? How many days have I wasted because of you! None of this would’ve happened if you hadn’t run away!”

Jang Jeong-in’s furious shouting right in front of my face made my ears ring.

‘It’s my fault again.’

Whenever I was with these people, no matter what happened, I was always the one at fault. Always me.

Under the team name of Team One, I had never once been their equal.

They say people who receive preferential treatment don’t realize how happy their position makes them.

They’re making such a fuss just because they had to struggle for a few days to bring me back.

I’ve endured far more time than that.

Suppressing the emotions surging inside me, I glared at Jang Jeong-in.

“I’m not going back.”

“Oh, really? So that’s how you’re going to play it?”

Jang Jeong-in raised his other hand and wrapped it around my neck. In that position, he slowly began tightening his grip.

“I can’t kill you. So let’s just make you pass out for a while.”

“Khk! Cough!”

“You should’ve just come along quietly. It would’ve been so much easier. I didn’t want to do this either.”

That was the hand that had supported the bow and pulled back its string.

There was no way a hand like that would feel weak even if he was only lightly squeezing.

I was gradually running out of breath.

I’d already been breathing heavily from using so much strength just moments ago.

“Cough! Haa—! Hh!”

No matter how hard I tried to breathe, my throat felt completely blocked.

I clawed at the hand around my neck, but it was useless.

“You don’t have to resist, you know? We didn’t come here to hurt you.”

Jang Jeong-in’s words echoed dully inside my head, slowly circling around.

It was because my consciousness was fading from the lack of oxygen.

The moment I passed out, Jang Jeong-in would immediately retreat, leaving Do Ju-yeon and Kang Si-hyeon here.

‘I can’t lose consciousness here…!’

Then I remembered the gun I’d hidden.

I hurriedly reached toward the gun.

“Ah, right. Kang Si-hyeon said that too.”

“…….”

“He said you carry around some strange gun.”

My eyes snapped wide open at those words.

“You’re a healer. Is it really appropriate for you to use such a dangerous weapon that can hurt others?”

Jang Jeong-in sneered as he quickly found and picked up the gun.

He must have been watching the place where my hand had been moving.

Clang!

Perhaps he had thrown it, because I heard the sound of something hitting the floor from quite a distance away.

‘What… what am I supposed to do…?!’

I couldn’t activate my protection, and even my weapon had been taken away.

Even when I tried to use a buff that increased my reflexes, the symbol’s shape became distorted because I couldn’t breathe properly.

Self-healing probably wouldn’t work either. It had no ability to block external pressure.

‘I don’t know what to do anymore….’

With every escape route blocked, frustration slowly began to eat away at my mind.

‘What on earth am I supposed to do in this situation?’

The lack of oxygen made my chest feel tight.

Tears welled up from the suffocating sensation.

Was I really supposed to simply accept this suffocating feeling?

Was there truly no way out?

If I listened to Jang Jeong-in.

Then, could I escape from this situation?

When I reached that final thought, my mind suddenly snapped awake.

‘What am I thinking…!’

Didn’t I come all the way here because I didn’t want to return to the Association, because I wanted revenge?

And yet, just because I couldn’t endure something this insignificant, was I really going to simply submit?

I forced myself to keep my heavy eyelids open, even though they felt like they could close at any moment.

“Kh, t-this….”

Stammering, I spoke with difficulty.

“I… decided… not to live….”

“Looks like you’re still doing well enou—”

“I said I did!”

Remembering all the days I’d endured until now, I slammed down on Jang Jeong-in’s wrist.

It was then.

[The System Window detects that the caster’s condition is critical.]

[‘Divine Grace’ is automatically activated.]

A message I’d never seen before appeared.

With my blurred vision, I could barely read the message.

[The caster has insufficient stamina remaining to use the skill.]

[‘Divine Grace’ has been canceled due to the caster’s overloaded state.]

“Yeonhee, what are you doing right now?”

“Khk…!”

“Do you really want to die?”

Jang Jeong-in’s hand didn’t budge.

Instead, because he tightened his grip even further, I involuntarily let out a dry cough.

He was annoyed because I continued resisting until the very end.

But I didn’t give up.

‘The fact that an event like this exists must mean there might be a way to break through this situation…!’

Instead of giving in to weakness, I continued moving without giving myself a moment to rest.

Whether I succeeded or failed.

For now, I decided to do everything I could to push Jang Jeong-in away.

It was a struggle to escape from the weak person I had been in the past.

“Grrrrgh!”

At the moment I exerted every bit of strength in my body and my head began spinning—

[The System Window has confirmed the caster’s potential.]

[Congratulations! You have fulfilled the conditions to unlock a locked skill.]

[Skill Unlock Condition
▶ An Unyielding Heart]

A brilliant light burst forth like fireworks exploding.

I scanned the System Window through my narrowed eyes.

‘It confirmed my potential…?’

As if some kind of spell had been cast, energy began returning to my limp, exhausted body.

As though I had never been under pressure in the first place.

[The locked skill is being unlocked.]

[Skill ‘Divine Judgment’ activated.]

[The System Window detects that the caster’s condition is critical.]

I had no idea what was happening.

But one thing was certain: something no one could have predicted was happening to me right now.

[‘Divine Judgment’ is automatically activated.]

“Divine… Judgment…?”

As I read the words before my eyes, the light surrounding the System Window spread outward.

And that light swallowed the entire space I was in.