S-Rank Healer Gets Kidnapped First Chapter 51

“Make sure the banner is centered! Ah! Not that way—move it to the right!”

“Have you extracted the tankers’ abilities? We’ll need to extract plenty if we want to maintain the outer shield throughout the competition.”

“More importantly, make absolutely sure we have enough participants! Prepare plenty of supplies so no one can say the Association doesn’t have enough money!”

Park Jiwon stopped on her way to work when she saw everyone preparing for the competition.

People were excited about the festival that would bring energy to the streets, neighborhoods, and city.

And with so many famous Hunters participating, the competition was practically the equivalent of a major sporting event featuring well-known athletes.

Once tickets for the spectator stands went on sale and the countdown began through the live broadcast, the excitement would only grow stronger.

Seeing her uncle deliberately trying to liven up the atmosphere left Park Jiwon with a lot on her mind.

Hadn’t they only just commemorated Jang Jeongin last week? Yet they had suddenly rushed into preparing for a festival. It was enough to make people suspect something was going on.

Her uncle always calculated every possible move, so there was no way he hadn’t anticipated the rumors such a decision would cause.

‘Is he planning to silence them with money? Or does he have some kind of plan big enough to offset the controversy?’

Park Jiwon continued turning things over in her head as she slowly walked forward.

Her steps toward the team felt heavy.

Even if their relationship was only professional, she still wasn’t used to the absence of someone beside her.

It was even worse because she had thought she would never have to experience something like this on the First Team.

It had sharpened her vigilance to the point where she had developed an acute sense of reality. As a result, the current atmosphere in the First Team was rather bleak.

Do Juyeon practically lived in the training room, while Kang Sihyeon blamed himself.

And in between them, she remained suspended in the air, maintaining her silence.

‘They say that if you want to deceive the enemy, you have to hide things from your allies first. If that plan actually comes to fruition, things will be even worse than this. We can’t let the center collapse from this point on.’

Lost in thought, Park Jiwon suddenly flinched and looked around.

She seemed almost afraid that someone might have read her thoughts.

There were no mind-type Hunters around. Just as she was relieved by that fact—

“Jiwon.”

“Huh? Uh? Ah, Woori.”

Go Woori, another member of the First Team, grabbed Park Jiwon.

The fact that he had approached without making a sound made her heart jump.

Then, not wanting to arouse suspicion, she composed her expression.

“What startled you so much? Is someone here? You looked like you were scanning the area, too.”

“No. I just got dizzy for a moment watching them put that banner up so high.”

Park Jiwon pointed toward the banner hanging high above them as an excuse.

Go Woori looked up for a moment before simply saying, “I see,” and letting it go.

“More importantly, did you hear? The Association President said the scheduled addition of new team members will happen sooner than expected.”

“Really? Why? Is there any need to rush?”

Park Jiwon asked sincerely, curious about the reason.

Was he planning to completely erase Jang Jeongin’s presence? Filling the empty position so quickly could easily cause backlash.

Instead of answering, Go Woori quietly stared at her.

It was a look that seemed to say, Wouldn’t you know better if you really knew?

“I haven’t heard anything. I’ve been staying in the residence the whole time, so I haven’t even been able to meet the Association President as much as you guys have.”

At Park Jiwon’s answer, Go Woori nodded.

“True. If you knew, there’s no way someone like you, who’s terrible at lying, would have been acting so calmly.”

Go Woori continued speaking without even looking at Park Jiwon’s expression.

“I’m not certain, but I think he’s conscious of Moon Yeonhee. Otherwise, there’d be no reason to make this decision so quickly.”

Moon Yeonhee.

Park Jiwon suppressed her emotions so she wouldn’t react to the name.

Whatever the reason, showing curiosity about her now would only arouse suspicion.

“You know about that unidentified skill that appeared recently, right?”

“Yeah. You mean the one where golden water flowed down? How could I not? A lot of people are saying that skill might have killed Jeongin.”

Park Jiwon lowered her gaze as she spoke.

“The Association President considers it Moon Yeonhee’s skill.”

“What? Does that make any sense? A healer having an offensive skill capable of killing someone? I’ve never heard of anything like that.”

The words carried more disbelief than surprise.

The unexpected direction left Park Jiwon’s mind in turmoil.

As if he understood her reaction, Go Woori added what he had heard.

“I’ve never seen anything like that either, but the circumstances… More importantly, Juyeon-hyung and Kang Sihyeon, who were at the scene, apparently said something along those lines. Moon Yeonhee’s rank is unusual enough that we should also take a possible change in her rank into consideration.”

“……”

“What exactly is going on?”

Go Woori rubbed his chin as he said the last words.

Park Jiwon’s expression darkened as she fell into thought.

Seeing her expression, Go Woori playfully patted her on the shoulder.

“This is why I can’t bring myself to hate you.”

“What?”

“I knew the Association President was always preparing to replace us whenever the opportunity arose, but this scheduled replacement is much earlier than I expected.”

“Yeah…”

“I thought you and Juyeon-hyung, the two people who weren’t going to be replaced, would have known about the behind-the-scenes preparations. I would’ve been disappointed if you’d really fooled us completely.”

“…Juyeon doesn’t know either?”

“Actually, I think he probably does. He has more contact with the Association President than you do.”

At those words, Park Jiwon secretly clenched her hand.

‘Is it difficult for him to confront Juyeon, so he’s testing me because I’m comparatively easier to deal with?’

She wanted to press him on it, but held herself back.

With things already so bleak, she didn’t want to cause trouble herself.

And being watched by others because she had caused trouble was something that absolutely couldn’t happen.

She had a purpose for coming back here, after all.

She had to be careful about every single thing she did within the Association.

After patiently calming herself, Park Jiwon spoke in a subdued voice.

“Even if he knew, he wouldn’t have been able to do anything. In the end, if the Association President wants it, there’s no choice but to go along with it.”

“Exactly.”

Go Woori clicked his tongue, unable to hide his displeasure.

He seemed to want her to take his side more actively, but Park Jiwon wasn’t in the mood for that.
Instead, she asked about what she actually wanted to know.

“Did they say when the new recruits are scheduled to arrive? Or what type or class of Hunters they are?”

“Not that specifically yet. I think the new members will probably join after this upcoming competition. They’ll likely pick Hunters who perform well there.”

“I see…”

Park Jiwon answered and turned away.

Now that she had new information, there was something she needed to do.

When she suddenly turned around, Go Woori blinked and asked,

“Where are you going? Aren’t you going to the First Team room?”

“You go ahead. I have somewhere I need to stop by.”

“Want me to come with you? There are only Juyeon-hyung and Kang Sihyeon up there anyway, so it’ll probably be awkward.”

“No. I’ll be up there soon, so go ahead. Seeing how they’re preparing for the competition, I think it’d be better to get my medical checkup done in the morning rather than the afternoon.”

Park Jiwon used the medical examinations she had continued receiving since her return as an excuse.

“Okay. Get your checkup and come back safely.”

Once she gave him a clear reason, Go Woori easily turned away.

As he walked off, he kept running his hands through his hair, suggesting that going to the First Team room was quite uncomfortable for him.

Park Jiwon waited until Go Woori had completely disappeared.

Once he was out of sight, Park Jiwon quickly moved toward a secluded corner of the building.

 

***

 

My worries didn’t last long.

“What?”

If you couldn’t come up with a solution yourself, it was better to borrow several minds than rely on just one.

“You’re saying Park Jiwon said that before leaving the memorial service?”

I told them about the two things that had been troubling me.

Very thoroughly.

“Yeah. But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure out what she meant.”

“Huh.”

He let out a low hum, knowing there was no reason to lie with the competition approaching.

“Hmm, exactly. She didn’t seem like the kind of person who would mock the people attending the memorial service… What could she have meant?”

Han Seongwoo tilted his head.

“And you’re saying Jang Jeongin’s death is suspicious, too?”

Cha Seohae  repeated the other matter I had brought up.

I nodded.

“How certain are you?”

“Certain…”

This was an official matter.

Making a judgment based on personal feelings could cause confusion and, worse, severely restrict our ability to predict the enemy’s actions.

But none of the people from Baekyang had properly seen his corpse.

So this was the most neutral conclusion I could reach.

Some people would naturally assume that I had done it.

But from my perspective, there was also a possibility that someone else had intervened and manipulated the situation.

“Has anyone among us seen the corpse?”

“No.”

“The Association was the one that collected Jang Jeongin. We can’t make a decision about something uncertain based solely on what the enemy says.”

I caught my breath before continuing.

“There’s another reason, too. It’s because of the nature of the skill. Divine Judgment is, literally, a skill that passes judgment. Depending on the weight of what I feel in my heart, it can either heal someone or inflict pain.”

“Are you saying you’ve never thought about wanting to kill Jang Jeongin?”

“Yeah.”

This time, I answered with certainty.

“…I can prove that.”

Na Ye-ri looked at me before speaking carefully.

Our eyes turned toward her.

“I’ve experienced Yeonhee’s new skill myself, too.”

“Ah, you were on the rooftop together, right?”

“That’s right. Jang Jeongin was in terrible pain at the time. It was no different from a swimming pool with a little water in it, but he couldn’t move at all, as if he were sinking into a swamp. Even when someone pulled him, he wouldn’t budge. But I received a heal instead.”

Na Ye-ri calmly explained before continuing as though she had remembered something that could serve as proof.

“There was someone else who saw the scene, too. Well, they’re also a Baekyang Hunter, just like me, so there are limits to using them as an impartial witness.”

An ally’s testimony had its limitations.

But it would also make our internal unity that much stronger.

“I don’t know what Park Jiwon meant, but when it comes to whether Jang Jeongin is alive or dead, don’t we at least have to leave open the possibility that he isn’t dead?”

“You mean we should make our plans while keeping that possibility open?”

“Yeah.”

As Na Ye-ri and Han Seongwoo stood united, I felt relieved.

At the same time, I bit my lip as I suddenly became emotional for no reason.

I was always grateful for the trust they had shown me time and time again.

“Okay.”

Cha Seohae  reached a clean conclusion.

“Let’s make other plans as well, and keep thinking about what Park Jiwon is up to. We don’t have any information about her, so given the current situation, we don’t even know how much she knows.”

Na Ye-ri and Han Seongwoo nodded at his words.

Then Cha Seohae  looked at me.

His clear, sky-blue eyes still seemed to firmly support me.

“And don’t worry about your debut at the competition, either.”

He had seen right through me.

Cha Seohae  had realized what I was afraid of, and why I had told them all of this.

“It’ll go well.”