S-Rank Healer Gets Kidnapped First Chapter 53

The rules of the competition were nothing complicated.

Five people formed a team, and each team had to protect its own flag. The positions were also divided simply into offense and defense. Teams were free to decide how many members to assign to each position.

I was surprised by how simple the rules were. I wondered whether they could really produce enough spectacular moments for a broadcast.

Crack! Boom!

But that was the mistake of a newbie participating for the first time.

“Baekyang Guild and Cheoksal Guild have clashed in the C-1 area!”

The arena where the competition was being held was enormous.

It was practically the size of an entire neighborhood.

I knew the Association had a lot of money, but they actually built something like this just for a competition held once a year.

They should spend that money on their hunters’ welfare instead.

I clicked my tongue and looked around the arena.

There were huge steel towers in the center and scattered throughout the arena.

Large monitors and speakers had been installed on the towers, broadcasting the remaining match time and the live commentary in real time.

The two commentators and hosts began talking excitedly after seeing us clash.

“The C-1 area contains the Cheoksal Guild’s flag, and it’s the closest area to Baekyang Guild’s base. Do you think Baekyang Guild has decided to attack the areas nearby first?”

“It’s surprisingly quiet compared to what we’ve seen from them in previous years. Baekyang Guild is famous for taking reckless strategies to make their rookies stand out.”

“Exactly. Last year, they left only one person in their defensive camp and went to the opposite side to lure the enemies away. It was an incredibly bold play.”

They excitedly even brought up stories from last year.

“Is it really okay for them to tell everyone all that?”

I muttered in annoyance, and Han Seongwoo gave a short laugh.

“From the organizers’ perspective, having the team that always comes in first lose their ranking is also part of what makes the event entertaining. Imagine how much the ratings will go up.”

“Still…”

“They probably do it because if they didn’t reveal our location, the other teams would have too much difficulty finding us.”

Han Seongwoo brushed it off as though it wasn’t even worth being offended over.

Seeing him like that made me think perhaps things like this happened all the time.

He’s simply used to it.

The more they were targeted, the stronger they became.

“Cha Seohae already got himself a good highlight. We should step it up too.”

Han Seongwoo encouraged me, seemingly trying to calm me down.

His words reminded me of what happened when we first left our base.

Before the competition even began, several groups had gathered together as if they had made a secret alliance and came rushing toward Baekyang’s base.

The enemy of my enemy is my ally, huh?

It seemed they had decided to eliminate the strongest common enemy first.

Of course, we dealt with them quickly.

It had been a moment that clearly demonstrated the difference between an S-rank and an A-rank.

With a single area-of-effect attack from Cha Seohae, the A-rank hunters who had come after us were swept away all at once.

“Have they decided to give up on their desire to make a strong impression this time? Aside from Cha Seohae taking down multiple opponents with an area-of-effect attack at the beginning, we haven’t seen anything particularly impressive from them.”

“I can almost hear the disappointed voices of their fans from here.”

No, seriously. Isn’t that commentary incredibly biased?

Listening to them, they sounded like people who desperately wanted things to turn out that way.

“Perhaps that’s because their rookie is a healer?”

“I think so too. They came with a more impressive lineup than before, yet they’re being so passive. It’s quite disappointing. Still, their healer certainly deserves attention. Did you see it earlier? The range of the rookie’s healing and how quickly she recovers people?”

“Of course! And the buffs were applied incredibly quickly. Judging by the types of buffs, she seems capable of assessing the situation immediately and responding to every variable. To think they get such excellent buffs every time. Really, rather than letting Baekyang monopolize someone like that, for the sake of the public—”

Bang!

The noisy screen suddenly went silent.

I stared blankly at the monitor before turning toward where the attack had come from.

“Too noisy.”

The culprit who had destroyed the monitor on the nearby steel tower was Cha Seohae.

He had absolutely no trace of guilt on his face as he returned his attention to the battle.

He destroyed equipment just because it was noisy. I guess that really is something Cha Seohae would do.

Just as I was thinking that, I heard someone sigh beside me.

“Add the compensation for this to the list of damages we owe the Association.”

“Yes.”

“It was satisfying, but how much are we supposed to pay the Association? Why don’t we just deduct it from Cha Seohae’s personal funds?”

“Sounds good!”

It was Na Ye-ri  and Childeugi.

Judging from their expressions, this probably wasn’t the first time he had broken Association equipment.

He’s a repeat offender.

I decided to stop thinking about it and focus on the battle.

“Haha! He was only saying what everyone was thinking. Why did he get so upset that he had to break the equipment?”

Not every guild hated the Association. Just as people had different opinions, there were guilds that turned a blind eye to the Association’s misconduct as long as their interests aligned.

Not exactly lackeys. More like bystanders…?

It was usually newly established guilds that behaved that way. They would attach themselves to the Association to grow or make malicious remarks about powerful guilds.

The Cheoksal Guild we were currently facing was a perfect example.

“The more suspicious their actions look, the more people will believe the commentators. Why would someone who should know better act so carelessly?”

“Is he normally this talkative?”

Cha Seohae remained completely indifferent to whatever the master of Cheoksal Guild was saying.

“What? Haha! If you keep being so greedy, you won’t last long? This could affect the standing of our entire country, so why are you trying to act all serious? I know everything—”

“I’ll give you the first move.”

Perhaps he didn’t want to listen anymore, because Cha Seohae cut him off.

“Come at me.”

It was a short provocation, but the master of Cheoksal Guild took the bait immediately.

He stood silently for a moment before his body began trembling.

“How dare some brat act so high and mighty…!”

“Oh, he said it. That’s a guaranteed loss flag.”

Na Ye-ri  laughed from beside me.

There wasn’t a trace of tension in her playful expression.

Seeing her so relaxed made me lose my worries as well, and I scanned the enemy with the intention of giving Cha Seohae some buffs.

He’s carrying a spear. A spearman, then?

My gaze moved down his body.

He looks pretty strong.

I applied the Damage Taken Reduction and Quick Reflexes buffs.

Once the guild masters engaged each other, the members standing behind them joined the fight as well.

Of course, it didn’t last long.

A guild that wasn’t even considered a mid-sized guild never had a chance in the first place.

So they left the defense unattended because opponents are usually around this level.

If I were in their position and on any team other than Baekyang, I probably wouldn’t have dared enter Baekyang’s base either.

“Urgh…”

The Cheoksal Guild master, who had been boasting just moments ago, dropped to his knees.

“Now it’s my turn.”

I had been safely standing behind them with God’s Blessing activated. I stretched out one hand.

“God’s Grace.”

The moment I cast it, a golden light spread outward from my hand.

It was obvious to everyone who I was healing.

“Yeonhee! Make sure you check the drones’ positions before using it! If you get the angle wrong, they might not be able to capture you!”

“Someone broke the monitor, so I can’t tell how I’m appearing on the screen.”

“Be quiet.”

It was Na Ye-ri , Han Seongwoo, and Cha Seohae, respectively.

They quietly received my healing while deciding which route to take next.

“The drones are…”

I looked up at the sky and spotted a white object, then turned my body toward it.

I trained like crazy until the competition began. I should at least make sure I get some good broadcast footage.

Whenever I used a skill, its effects appeared exactly twice.

Once when the skill was cast, and once when it properly activated and made contact.

In battle, where everyone’s senses became heightened, visual elements couldn’t be ignored either.

The more dazzling and powerful an effect was, the more instinctively people tended to shrink back.

Especially when you needed to show something to an audience like now, effects were useful. People tend to remember things they look at for a long time.

That was why I had paid more attention to the presentation of my skills than anything else.

I couldn’t change the effects that were already determined.

But I could deliberately use more mana when casting them, or reduce the distance between people so that the explosive effect would be visible immediately.

I had done it according to current trends, making sure the image would stay memorable even in a short amount of time.

I even made sure this scene would look good without editing if a clip from the broadcast ended up circulating on social media.

Whenever the healing reached them, golden light once again lingered around their bodies.

Their complexions improved as the color returned to their faces, and their ragged breathing calmed down.

Those who had been injured watched their wounds rapidly heal.

I was even satisfied with how it looked.

“That’s enough. We’re not struggling that much, so you don’t need to overuse it.”

“Okay.”

The reason we needed to conserve energy was because the competition was conducted in a survival format.

If we wanted to, we could rest as much as we liked.

However, there was no officially designated “rest period.”

Knowing when to rest and maintaining an advantage efficiently was also considered part of a team’s ability and discretion.

Although the event was entertainment-based, it was ultimately a competition meant to select the strongest while also helping hunters improve their skills.

When a Gate broke out, monsters wouldn’t politely give hunters time to eat in the middle of a battle, so the rules were designed to reflect reality as much as possible.

Because of that, it was difficult for a team without a healer to achieve a good ranking.

That was why the competition had become an opportunity for rookies to promote themselves.

Of course, Baekyang had often taken first place even without a healer.

But that was the exception.

Their indirect way of saying we still had a long way to go before resting made me become defensive.

“We’ve taken down all those Cheoksal guys, so now we need to find their flag.”

Na Ye-ri  looked around.

“Look at how unfairly they hid their flag. They should’ve put it right in the middle of their base like we did.”

“Empty vessels make the most noise.”

Na Ye-ri  clicked her tongue and opened the door to the Cheoksal base.

Each guild was given a dome-shaped base roughly the size of a house.

A house-sized space was by no means small.

But they had deliberately hidden the flag somewhere inside, making me wonder how many rounds of treasure hunting we were going to have to play.

It was more troublesome than the actual fighting.

“Where should we start looking?”

“Don’t let your guard down just because there’s no one here. They might have planted some weird traps. Here, look.”

With the hand that wasn’t holding me back, Na Ye-ri  shoved Han Seongwoo into the base.

“Huh?”

Caught off guard, Han Seongwoo went straight inside.

And then—

Whooosh!

“Argh!”

Thick streams of water poured down from every direction.

Fortunately, the person who had entered was quick enough to avoid getting hit.

But apparently, that wasn’t the end.

Another attack was triggered where Han Seongwoo landed.

“Cough!”

A thick purple fog spread through the area.

It was obviously poisonous.

They probably designed it so that after getting soaked and becoming heavier, the victim would then be poisoned.

“See? There can be mechanisms like this, so you have to be careful.”

“……”

“Na Ye-ri !”

Na Ye-ri  casually pointed at Han Seongwoo as she spoke.

Apparently even more irritated, Han Seongwoo called her name, but Na Ye-ri  didn’t even pretend to listen.

I looked back and forth between the two.

Han Seongwoo looked at me with an expression that seemed to hope I would take his side.

I found his behavior fascinating.

Why doesn’t he realize that I have absolutely no intention of getting caught in the middle of a relationship this familiar?

“Yes, I’ll be careful.”

“Healer!”

Let’s hurry up and find the flag so we can move on and capture another base.