S-Rank Healer Gets Kidnapped First Chapter 49

By the time I opened my eyes, everything had already settled down.

The monsters had been dealt with, and the evacuees and injured had been completely treated.

Even the collapse of the city, which had been considered the biggest problem, was resolved with ease.

That was because the Association had agreed to take responsibility for the fact that the disaster alert hadn’t been sent due to a problem with their equipment.

Not only would they restore the damaged areas, but they also decided to provide Association housing to evacuees who had nowhere to go during the restoration period.

The equipment problem. The reason and excuse were so obvious that it was almost laughable.

But apparently, other people didn’t see it that way.

Perhaps it was because the usually aloof Association Chairman had bowed deeply in front of everyone.

Even those who had demanded accountability in anger fell silent.

The Association Chairman’s public apology had been that shocking, and the aftermath became a clear example of just how good the Association’s public reputation was.

And there was one more thing.

“Still, Yeon-hee, it’s a relief that no one’s saying an S-Rank healer appeared because they saw your skill. Right?”

“Yeah. I think it’s incredibly lucky.”

I responded enthusiastically to Na Ye-ri’s words.

Although I’d been unconscious, I knew what had happened from what Na Ye-ri told me.

The skill had activated against my will.

When I asked what had happened, Na Ye-ri showed me a video.

It was amazing enough that the whole thing had been recorded, but after that, I couldn’t say anything.

Under the clear sky, the transparent golden water flowing down the building was beautiful even to me.

So beautiful that it hardly looked like an offensive skill at all.

‘It was an offensive skill, yet it even healed other people.’

Because the scene had been so chaotic at the time, it seemed people hadn’t realized that their bodies had recovered because of the skill.

But they had definitely felt that their condition had improved. The effect had been that extraordinary.

Apparently, people were now waiting for the owner of the skill to reveal themselves. If so, they would also be waiting for an explanation of what the skill did.

But since I still couldn’t come forward, I chose to remain silent.

I had been worried about what would happen if the attention didn’t die down like this, but whether by luck or misfortune, an even bigger issue appeared before long.

“Jang Jeong-in is dead?”

“Yeah. I wasn’t sure at first, but it came up as breaking news yesterday.”

Na Ye-ri handed me her phone with the article pulled up.

Perhaps because an S-Rank Hunter who represented the nation’s strength had died, articles were pouring out one after another.

The moment I saw the two words ‘dead,’ my head spun. But at the same time, my doubts grew.

A healer sees two states more than anything else: when someone is in their best condition and when they’re in the most critical condition. I’d also frequently treated Hunters with severe injuries.

But contrary to the expectation that I’d become accustomed to it by seeing it so often, the more I saw injuries, the more uncomfortable I became with them. Regardless of whether I had the stomach for it, I hated seeing someone hurt.

That had become a kind of occupational hazard. I hated seeing someone placed in terrible circumstances and reduced to a worn-down state. Naturally, the thing that could improve that condition was a healer’s healing, so it wasn’t strange that I’d developed an obsession with it.

‘Besides, I was the one who left because I hated the Association’s atrocities.’

I hadn’t betrayed the Association simply because my own life was at stake. In fact, as long as I remained a healer and didn’t betray them, my ‘life’ was guaranteed.

I’d simply grown sick of the way they treated other people’s lives as insignificant and used them like objects long ago. The Association secretly changing my team had merely been the trigger.

And so, one reasonable question came to mind. Had Jang Jeong-in really died because of my skill?

Or….

Was this another scheme by the Association, trying to exploit even the life of one of its own members?

It occurred to me that perhaps Jang Jeong-in hadn’t died at all.

If Jang Jeong-in hadn’t been an S-Rank, the Association would have dealt with him themselves and then used his death as an excuse to approach me.

But there was no way the Association Chairman would easily throw away one of the few S-Rank Hunters in Korea.

I calmly organized my thoughts.

‘This is all based on possibilities for now, so I shouldn’t make a hasty decision. It won’t be too late to speak once I have something more concrete.’

My heart pounded heavily with anxiety.

I took a deep breath to calm myself and looked through the article again.

A photo of the Association Chairman and Team One filled the screen.

Perhaps because the Association Chairman had been actively involved in relief efforts, public opinion toward the Association was favorable.

Seeing the friendly comments and headlines made me feel uneasy.

Na Ye-ri must have already seen enough, because she sighed and took the phone back.

“I know people are saying those things because they don’t know the truth, but… sigh. A memorial service for that guy? I really don’t want to go.”

“But if you don’t go, won’t they hold it against you? Looking at the situation, I feel like they’re going to make a list of Hunters who don’t attend.”

“Exactlyyy.”

Na Ye-ri tilted her head back as though she were frustrated.

“He was the instigator, and it’s a lie that he died fighting monsters!”

“…….”

“Being an S-Rank really means everything to them, huh? So many Hunters die fighting. What makes him so special that they’re even holding a memorial service for him?”

She must have hated him quite a lot, because Na Ye-ri stomped her foot.

“Stop making dust.”

At Cha Seohae’s short reprimand, I shifted my gaze away from Na Ye-ri and looked at him.

Cha Seohae was sitting at the desk reviewing documents.

Perhaps because the incident had occurred near Baekyang, he seemed to have plenty of work to deal with as well.

Na Ye-ri straightened her posture at his remark.

“Did you really fight Do Joo-yeon seriously? Looking at the article photos, why does she look so perfectly fine?”

“She had good synergy with Kang Si-hyeon.”

This time, the answer came from Han Seong-woo rather than Cha Seohae.

Na Ye-ri turned her gaze toward the source of the voice.

Right on cue, Han Seong-woo continued.

“I thought she’d never fight in a pair even if it killed her.”

Hearing that, I remembered what things had been like when I was still with the Association.

It was true that Do Joo-yeon often trained alone.

If she was with someone else, it wasn’t to coordinate with them, but to teach them.

‘Do Joo-yeon’s Commander class is definitely well-suited for team play. I do wonder why she never tried it until now.’

Naturally, a class that commanded others would shine far more when used alongside allies than through its own power alone.

No matter how impressive a solo scene Do Joo-yeon created by herself, considering her class, playing solo was practically a disadvantage.

“We should’ve considered the possibility that Do Joo-yeon might change her mind. We were careless. She’s no longer the person we used to know.”

At Cha Seohae’s words, silence descended upon the room.

Looking around, I smiled awkwardly and asked,

“So, who are you planning to send from Baekyang as mourners?”

“I think the three of us should go first.”

Han Seong-woo immediately picked up on my intention and answered.

“Even the healer?”

“I guess I should go too, right?”

A lot of people had seen me deployed from Baekyang this time.

Even if it wasn’t as much as Park Ji-won’s case, I’d been Team One’s healer for quite some time, so there were probably plenty of people who recognized my face.

There were already rumors circulating in online communities asking whether I’d changed affiliations.

“Honestly, I’d rather just hide you away like this.”

Na Ye-ri draped an arm around my shoulders with concern.

I smiled comfortably at her worried expression.

“Will anything really happen? It’s a place where everyone is supposed to be solemn. Nothing should happen.”

“Still, you never know. Let’s go when there are a lot of people around.”

Cha Seohae interrupted, despite my attempt to reassure Na Ye-ri.

“The Association Chairman is currently spending Association money against his will to improve his image. This is a situation where it wouldn’t be strange if he lost his head the moment he saw you.”

Cha Seohae had a point.

Remembering the Association Chairman’s obsession, I sighed.

“Okay. We’ll definitely be by your side this time, so don’t worry too much.”

Han Seong-woo seemed to know why Cha Seohae was being so sharp, and gently softened his words when repeating them to me.

‘Cha Seohae must have deliberately said it like that to make sure I stayed alert.’

The reason the two of them were so sensitive was because they hadn’t been beside me on the day of the incident.

When I returned, how many times had they apologized after hearing what happened from Na Ye-ri?

Cha Seohae, in particular, had been especially hard on himself since he was the one who had ordered Na Ye-ri to go to the scene.

Even though I was the one who hadn’t followed the order, he acted as though he should have held out longer.

‘He stopped bringing it up after I asked whether we would’ve been able to complete the raid without my buffs.’

His strange self-blame had left me with nothing to say.

“Should we go tomorrow? If we keep putting it off, I feel like it’ll just be miserable the whole time because I don’t want to go.”

“Yeah. Let’s go tomorrow.”

Han Seong-woo agreed with Na Ye-ri.

I felt the same way. Putting it off would only continue to bother me.

By then, Cha Seohae had finished reviewing the final page of the documents and spoke.

“Fine. Let’s go tomorrow.”

 

***

 

The memorial service was held at the Association building.

It normally had plenty of parking space, but today there wasn’t a single spot available because of the crowd.

“Good work, Childeugi.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

After Na Ye-ri finally managed to park, I looked back at the building for the last time as she patted Childeugi on the shoulder.

‘I never thought I’d come here of my own accord.’

I guess you really never know what life will bring.

Looking at the long, horizontally stretched building, not quite as large as Baekyang, I thought to myself.

“Is the main entrance over there?”

“Main entrance or back entrance, let’s just go in somewhere.”

Cha Seohae also seemed displeased about being here and was unusually irritable.

Han Seong-woo gave Cha Seohae a sidelong glare before taking the lead.

“What a terrible person.”

“I can hear you.”

“I said it so you’d hear.”

The conversation made all the tension I’d felt while looking at the Association building disappear.

‘What kind of conversation is that….’

Worried that Na Ye-ri might join in and draw even more attention, I quickly interrupted.

“Come on, the main entrance is over there, so let’s get this over with quickly.”

Only after I urged them forward did Cha Seohae and Han Seong-woo finally stop arguing.

When we entered, we deliberately walked past the reporters so we could be photographed.

It was to let everyone know that we had attended.

Since the memorial was being held on the first floor, the lobby was so crowded that there was barely room to stand.

‘I’ll just leave after placing the flowers.’

Coming to the Association, where I knew so many people, made me feel self-conscious and uncomfortable for no reason.

As we waited our turn, it finally came.

We went forward to place the flowers and observe a moment of silence when—

“Look over there. The person observing the moment of silence. Isn’t she the former Team One healer?”

“Right? And those beside her are Baekyang Hunters. I heard she’d changed affiliations. I guess it’s true?”

“How did she manage to transfer? Did they scout her? It must’ve been difficult to leave the Association.”

“Looking at the article about that B-Rank Dungeon last time… I think there were even rumors about betrayal.”

“Ah, I heard that too. No way, no way. Was it really true? She’s a healer. The Association must have taken such good care of her, and she just threw all of that away and left?”

“Something like this is usually about money. I guess Baekyang offered her a better salary?”

“Good grief. She’s so materialistic.”

Maybe because the place was quiet, I could hear every word clearly.

“No, that’s going too far…. Yeon-hee.”

“It’s okay. Let’s just stay quiet and leave.”

Knowing Na Ye-ri’s personality, I knew she wouldn’t simply stay quiet, so it was easy to stop her.

I shook my head slightly.

Na Ye-ri glared at them once before standing back in place.

Thanks to her, there were no more openly hostile remarks.

‘I knew Ye-ri would react like that.’

I looked down at the hand opposite the one holding Na Ye-ri.

I saw Cha Seohae’s hand, which I had grabbed in a hurry.

It was proof that I’d caught him when he tried to rush out at the very first remark.

‘I didn’t expect even him to get shaken.’

Even though I tried to pretend I hadn’t noticed, I couldn’t.

He was so large that even the slightest movement drew attention.

I considered letting go now that everyone had quieted down, but just in case, I kept holding on.

At last, we finished paying our respects and were able to leave.

Worried that something else might happen in that short span of time, I spoke to Han Seong-woo.

“Hold onto Ye-ri’s arm.”

“Yes.”

“I won’t do anything, so let go of me!”

“Shh. You need to be quiet.”

I entrusted Na Ye-ri to Han Seong-woo and took charge of Cha Seohae.

And so, while attracting everyone’s attention, we headed toward the main entrance.

“Moon Yeon-hee…?”

I heard someone carefully calling my name.

I pretended not to hear and tried to keep walking.

“What? Who’s calling our Yeon-hee again and making a fuss?”

Because Cha Seohae immediately went on guard and Na Ye-ri became wary, I had no choice but to stop.

“Sigh. Can’t we just leave quietly for once?”

Han Seong-woo muttered while rubbing his forehead.

I agreed with him.

“Ah, no. I’m not trying to pick a fight. I was just happy to see you….”

Somehow, the voice didn’t sound familiar.

If it were a Hunter I was close enough to be happy to see, there was no way I wouldn’t remember them.

Tilting my head, I turned toward the Hunter who had called my name.

“Uh…?”