S-Rank Healer Gets Kidnapped First Chapter 54

“Ugh….”

With a final groan of pain, the person collapsed.

I had already seen this scene countless times. I lightly poked the fallen hunter.

“Hmm, the wounds are pretty bad.”

Whenever I judged that someone had suffered excessively severe injuries from Baekyang, I healed them.

They would be allies once we were outside. There was no benefit in needlessly making enemies out of them.

Besides, that was simply how the rules of the competition worked.

The only thing strictly prohibited was killing someone.

It was because fights could become heated and hurt people’s feelings.

Every single hunter was considered a national asset, so self-defense did not apply.

Whoever killed another hunter would be held entirely responsible.

“This competition is pretty underwhelming.”

“That’s just how the Countermatch is. The Association sits out under the pretext of having to judge the matches, and I heard Sawol Guild isn’t participating this year either.”

“Sawol Guild too? No wonder. I thought it was strange that I hadn’t seen them even once today.”

While I healed the injured, Na Ye-ri and Han Seong-woo chatted behind me.

Sawol Guild… Aren’t they about as strong as Baekyang?

During the time I had spent as a member of the guild, I had learned various things.

Most of what I studied was information about guild alliances.

If we were in the same alliance, there was always a chance we might run into each other, and it would be rude not even to know their names.

The reason Sawol Guild was particularly important was because, like ours, its master was an S-rank hunter.

I was curious about how strong another guild with an S-rank master was.

It was disappointing, but perhaps this just wasn’t their year.

After checking everyone who had fallen, I stood up.

“Which area were we heading to next?”

“We were going to B-4 Street. Hmm, but before that, I think we should return to our base.”

“Hm? Is something wrong with the base?”

“An outsider has been caught nearby.”

Childeugi said this while staring into the air.

He was probably looking at the map of the arena provided by the Association.

“Are they trying to pull something to stop us?”

“If that were the case, they’d probably just be pestering us. But it looks like they’ve deliberately taken up a position there.”

Han Seong-woo asked, and Childeugi answered.

“Then we should go back. If we let them take our flag after doing all this, we’d just be doing someone else a favor.”

“Yeah. It’d piss me off if we did all the cleaning and someone else came along and took everything.”

Cha Seohae and Na Ye-ri agreed one after another.

“Change of plans. We’re returning to our main base.”

“Okay.”

“Yeah.”

We continued engaging in battles to show off my abilities.

From the outer edge of the circular arena, we gradually squeezed inward in a spiral.

This strategy meant constantly engaging in combat.

It consumed a great deal of stamina, but, in other words, it was a strategy that only we could demonstrate because we had an S-rank healer.

No matter how exhausted the tanks and damage dealers became, as long as the healer remained in good condition, we could restore them through healing and make them perform as they had at the beginning.

Of course, that depended on being able to properly manage the healer’s condition.

It was a way of showing off our healer while simultaneously demonstrating just how much healing I could provide.

And since simply healing me wouldn’t actually make me stand out much, I also used buffs to showcase the combat style people favored these days.

We increased attack speed and agility, striking quickly and in short bursts.

Every battle ended in the blink of an eye.

 

***

 

Who did you bet on to win this year’s Countermatch?

—————————————————————————————————————————–

I’m betting on Baekyang first and foremost.
Recommendations: 592 | Dislikes: 28

—————————————————————————————————————————–

[Comments]

Anonymous1: Do I even need to say it? Obviously Baekyang.

└ OP: Guess everyone went with the safe bet.

└ Anonymous1: Beyond a safe bet, isn’t their victory basically guaranteed? I heard all three of their executives are participating this time.

└ Anonymous1: And their healer is pretty damn good. If the healer can safely hold out, it’s game over.

Anonymous2: I’m going with Baekyang lol. Just watching the match, the difference in level is insane lol. And their healer is good too. Not just “pretty good,” they’re actually skilled ㅇㅇ.

└ OP: Really? Ah, I’m still at work, so I can’t watch the livestream. Now I’m curious.

Anonymous3: Ah, I wanted to see Park Ji-won return. Is she not participating?

Anonymous4: The healer is fucking awesome. Not only can they keep up with Baekyang’s tempo, they even know how to position themselves for SNS clips.

└ Anonymous5: For real lol. Are they telling us to become fans or what?

└ Anonymous6: Agreed. They seem to fit Baekyang really well??

Anonymous7: I heard Heukho sharpened their claws for this, so I bet on Heukho. Somehow I don’t think Baekyang’s people are going to engage in an all-out battle.

Anonymous8: I’m a Sawol fan, so I was going to skip it since Sawol isn’t participating, but then I heard an S-rank healer was coming out. I watched it and holy shit, Ji-won’s power is no joke;; There’s no time to get bored.

—————————————————————————————————————————–

[Next Post]
Holy shit, are we witnessing the birth of an S-rank healer in our country?

—————————————————————————————————————————–

[Previous Post]
The match begins, fucking huge start, the match starts with a massive fanfare…

—————————————————————————————————————————–

The effect of researching and showcasing our combat style was excellent.

The broadcast occasionally showed the audience’s reactions on the monitors.

People were wildly enthusiastic about me. Even the hunters who had lost their battles had plenty of praise for me, calling me impressive.

As this situation repeated itself, the pressure being directed toward me gradually intensified.

But that, too, was something I had anticipated.

Healers already faced a high risk of being targeted and killed. They were normally the first ones enemies tried to eliminate, and if a healer was competent on top of that, there was no need to say more.

Thanks to that, I had plenty of opportunities to show off Divine Protection.

I blocked the attacks directed at me with a shield every time.

Naturally, people became interested in a defensive skill they had never seen before.

The cheers around me were loud, but honestly, the person whose expression I most wanted to see was the Association President.

I wonder if he’s managing his expression properly every time I show how much I’ve changed?

Surely the Association President’s face would appear on the broadcast too.

It would be difficult for him to freely frown whenever he pleased.

“We’re here.”

While I was distracted by other thoughts, our return had been surprisingly quick.

“We don’t know what kind of devices they’ve set up, so we should probably dismantle them one by one as we go, right?”

Na Ye-ri placed a hand on the ground as if she were already annoyed.

“Strata Shift.”

As she spoke the name of her skill, the bracelet serving as her weapon glimmered.

Natural-type weapons often took the form of accessories because they used the essence of their respective attributes.

Na Ye-ri’s was one of them.

The dome-shaped base looked no different from the outside.

But surely it wasn’t as clean and harmless as it appeared.

Crack. Crackle.

When the ground surrounding the base shifted out of alignment because of Strata Shift, obstacles began revealing themselves one by one.

Flying weapons were the most basic trap.

This time, purple poisonous mist spread through the area, and in another spot, there was a rock seemingly prepared to be hurled through telekinesis.

“Isn’t this basically hoping we get caught by at least one of these? Why are there so many traps?”

I was horrified as one trap after another was exposed.

Getting caught by even one of them looked like an instant trip to the emergency room.

My throat bobbed as I swallowed at the traps that had clearly been deliberately installed.

“There’s a rule against killing hunters. Why go this far…?”

“It says you can’t kill them.”

Cha Seohae approached from the side and answered.

“Making them unconscious is fine.”

He raised one corner of his mouth into a smile.

It wasn’t a pleasant expression in the slightest.

It looked more like a warning that whoever had done this would be in serious trouble once he found them.

Even though he was on my side, that smile gave me goosebumps.

I subtly increased the distance between us.

“This should be enough. Trap dismantling is complete!”

Na Ye-ri dusted off her hands and restored the layers of earth to their original state.

“I put a shield around the inside, so they wouldn’t have been able to get in.”

Na Ye-ri confidently opened the base’s door.

Unlike the dusty exterior, where dirt was still flying around because of Strata Shift, the inside was quiet and peaceful.

“Oh, but that statement…”

Han Seong-woo, who had been quiet for a moment, suddenly stretched out one arm.

“Huh?”

When Na Ye-ri turned around at the voice calling her—

“AAAGH!”

Na Ye-ri swiftly caught something that flew right between Han Seong-woo and me.

“…What is this?”

“Looks like it’s a trap that activates when the door is opened. It flew from far away, so even your skill didn’t detect it.”

“Ah, that scared the hell out of me.”

Na Ye-ri exhaled as though she had narrowly escaped death.

Something had flown straight at her, yet the speed with which she caught it was extraordinary.

“But isn’t that a bomb?”

“What?”

Cha Seohae immediately came over and pointed toward the object with his chin.

We all looked at what Na Ye-ri was holding.

It was a pitch-black, heavy sphere with a short rope attached to it.

It looked unmistakably like a bomb.

And apparently it had been lit as well, because it was making a hissing sound and smelled of something burning.

“…Isn’t this about to explode?”

“What are you doing?! Put out the fuse!”

“You cut it with your dagger! How am I supposed to put it out?! Hurry up and cut it!”

“Ah.”

With a short exclamation, Han Seong-woo quickly cut the rope.

The rope was thick, so fortunately the flame didn’t go out immediately.

They had probably calculated the distance and thrown it with some time to spare.

“First, the flag is still intact…”

Na Ye-ri tossed away the bomb and checked inside.

“I didn’t think they could break through the shield. But isn’t this a little too boring? Did they really get marked on the boundary just to set up all these traps?”

“No way.”

Cha Seohae nudged the bomb Na Ye-ri had thrown with his foot.

“Someone who uses this thing wouldn’t come here just to set a few traps.”

I stared at the bomb at his words.

A hunter who uses bombs as weapons…?

Cha Seohae continued without stopping.

“Besides, there are too many different kinds of traps. Assuming they installed all of them manually, they couldn’t have gone far. They’d have to be hiding somewhere nearby.”

He stopped rolling the bomb around like a soccer ball.

Then he raised his gaze and swept his eyes across the surroundings.

“Isn’t that right, Sang-oh? Stop hiding like a coward and come out already.”

The moment I heard the name Sang-oh, I finally remembered who he was.

There’s a hunter named Park Sang-oh from Heukho Guild here?

I had heard plenty of rumors about Park Sang-oh.

Because of that, I instinctively became alert.

“What? You noticed right away? How boring.”

A cackling laugh sent a chill down the back of my neck.

“Guys, behind you!”

I shouted and immediately ducked down.

A sharp sound of something slicing through the air passed over my head.

I cautiously raised my head to see what it was.

A dagger had flown at us from behind.

“Wow, if it weren’t for Yeon-hee, our throats would’ve been cut, huh?”

Na Ye-ri giggled playfully.

“Don’t say things like that. You already knew, didn’t you?”

I frowned and retorted.

Na Ye-ri merely shrugged.

“What a dramatic entrance.”

Meanwhile, Han Seong-woo muttered as he caught the dagger that had flown toward us.

Maybe he was accustomed to it because a dagger was his primary weapon.

Or perhaps, as a master of concealed weapons, the attack had simply been too trivial for him to have trouble catching it.

Either way, it was impressive.

“Between us, this is just our way of saying hello. Isn’t it?”

The weapon had come from behind, but the unfamiliar voice came from the front.

“Long time no see, Cha Seohae.”

“What do you mean, ‘long time’?”

Cha Seohae sneered in response.

“When I personally went looking for you, why didn’t you even show your face?”

“Ah, I was out on an assignment then. Hunters don’t normally stay in one place to work, you know?”

“It’s not like you ran away because you had something to hide, is it?”

“Seohae, you’ve gotten even more arrogant since the last time I saw you.”

When I stood up, I finally saw the owner of the unfamiliar voice.

He had black hair with red highlights running through it.

His eyes were a muted red, matching the highlights, and the corners of his eyes were sharply raised.

Beneath them, a scar ran across his cheek as though it had been slashed by something.

His face was already intimidating, and the leather short jacket he wore made his overall image even more striking.

…If his abilities didn’t back up his appearance, I would’ve thought he was just some delinquent.

I’m lucky to have received the system’s blessing. Even reaching B-rank doesn’t make it easy to become well-known.

The delinquent of Heukho Guild, Park Sang-oh.
Class: Hand Cannon.

As I looked at the subject of all those rumors, I suddenly felt someone’s gaze on me.

I rubbed my cheek.

Following the direction of that gaze, I cautiously turned my eyes.

“…Huh?”

I rubbed my eyes, wondering if I had seen incorrectly.

Why is that person here…?