S-Rank Healer Gets Kidnapped First Chapter 59

‘Is what he said really true? Even though it’s a nature-type ability, it’s still a physical attack. So Reflection doesn’t work on it?’

I didn’t let my guard down at his words.

The Reflection of Divine Protection nullified mental-type and nature-type attacks.

There was nothing to bounce back in the first place.

But just now, the plant had directly lunged at me.

It wasn’t something without form, like flames or a stream of water, so I couldn’t understand why Reflection didn’t work.

“You look curious about why it doesn’t work?”

“…….”

“Want me to tell you?”

The man smiled leisurely and held out his hand.

The plant that had been blocked by Divine Protection climbed onto his palm.

“Plants are living beings, so they have a will of their own.”

“…What?”

“When they have a will, they’re good at adapting to situations. Though they can be a pain sometimes because they occasionally refuse to listen to their owner.”

…What on earth was he talking about?

Wasn’t it obvious that, since he had the ability to control plants, they moved according to his will?

Faced with a logic I couldn’t understand, I just opened and closed my mouth.

‘Is he kind of like Ye-ri? Whenever she gets fixated on something, she only talks about that, and she has this firm philosophy of her own….’

For this man, that thing was plants.

Once I tried applying that logic to him, it seemed to fit, so I promptly gave up on understanding him.

Instead, I tried to figure out who this man was.

‘First of all, judging by appearances alone, he’s clearly a nature-type Hunter. And considering that relaxed posture and the attack just now, he must be S-class.’

If so, he must have gathered information about me and adjusted the type of attack accordingly.

Perhaps he controlled the inertia of the rebound, or detached the part that had come into contact with me before the Reflection could take effect.

This kind of adaptability was exactly why experienced people were frightening.

Sometimes, you could tell a person’s rank just by their behavior.

Low-ranking Hunters became rushed and anxious whenever a situation erupted.

High-ranking Hunters, on the other hand, showed arrogance and composure in everything from their speech to their gestures.

That was because every victory and defeat they had experienced in battle became an asset.

Of course, there were Hunters who acted cocky even at B-class.

But that attitude of his—completely unconcerned despite the possibility of numerous enemies lying in wait.

Just that alone convinced me that he had to be S-class.

‘Were there any other S-classes among the participants in the competition? As far as I know, it was only our people and the Black Tiger Guild Master….’

On top of that, this man had said exactly the same thing as Park Ji-won.

Which meant the two of them were on the same side.

‘But I’ve never seen that face at the Association. Is he a newcomer? But if an S-class newcomer had joined the Association, they would’ve immediately promoted the fact that he’d gone straight to the first team. Besides, there’s no way they’d use reinforcements like this.’

I checked the three men who were still dazed.

I remembered the sight of them being mercilessly strangled by vines.

‘This is somewhere where they could be caught on camera at any moment, even if it’s in a corner. There’s no way the Association President would have ordered them to be merciless.’

I looked back at the man.

“Are you really going to think that much with me standing right in front of you? That’s harsh. I even told you the secret of plants.”

“The secret of plants?”

“Ah, by the secret of plants, I mean something I discovered through firsthand experience.”

Whenever this guy talked about plants, he became strange.

I suppressed the urge to make a ridiculous expression.

“More importantly, is it my turn to attack you now? Sorry, but I have to rejoin the main group, so I can’t just stand here and take it.”

I stepped backward, stepping on the three fallen men as I retreated.

I planned to slowly withdraw and, once I reached a bend, use Divine Descent and run.

“No.”

But the man’s atmosphere changed in an instant.

Until just now, he had been busy smiling at the plants.

Now, however, he opened his eyes fully and looked straight at me.

“If you leave like that, you’ll be in danger from the Association.”

“What?”

“I’ll guarantee your safety, so follow me.”

I stared blankly at the man.

I was in a situation where every second counted, but I couldn’t simply ignore him.

I didn’t understand why he was so certain that I would follow him.

“…Why are you looking at me like that? Aren’t you friends with Ji-won?”

Perhaps noticing my suspicious gaze, the man asked.

I shook my head in disbelief at the question.

“She’s my enemy.”

“…That’s only true in the conventional sense.”

“She’s just my enemy, without any such distinctions.”

“Isn’t there some kind of misunderstanding?”

“She’s just my enemy.”

I was the one who had been betrayed. Why did he keep asking?

I took advantage of the man’s momentary confusion and dashed away.

I had a bad feeling that things would become troublesome if I didn’t hurry back to Baekyang.

‘If I just make it around this corner…!’

I was preparing to use Divine Descent when I abruptly stopped running.

“…What the hell?”

As soon as I turned the corner, there was a massive mass of plant vines blocking the way.

It looked like the gigantic beanstalk shooting into the sky from the fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk.

The plant was so enormous that it was intimidating, and its stalk was thick as well.

If this hadn’t been the entrance to a tunnel, it would have easily stretched all the way into the sky.

The passage was completely blocked by the stalk, leaving me nowhere to go.

“So… it seems there was some kind of misunderstanding between you and Ji-won.”

I turned around at the voice coming from behind me.

Perhaps his plans had gone awry, because unlike before, the man swept back his hair with a frown.

“I’ll explain everything as we go. So can’t you just trust me this once?”

“You must be pretty close to Park Ji-won. But I just got tricked after showing her kindness, so I don’t think I can do that.”

Technically, it wasn’t really that Park Ji-won had tricked me. I was the one who had trusted her on my own.

But there was no reason to mention that.

The man’s eyebrows twitched at my words. Then he sighed as if I were giving him a headache.

“Should I introduce myself first?”

He looked as though he believed his identity would be a sufficient guarantee.

Seeing that, I gradually began to figure out who the man was.

‘According to the information Cha Seohae gave me, wasn’t he supposed to have blond hair and a refined, handsome face? And unlike Park Sang-oh, he had bright red eyes with a high saturation.’

Someone who had boldly declared that his guild would not participate despite being the second-ranked guild.

An S-class damage dealer who could control nature-type plants and even use persistent installation-type skills.

“I’m Yoon Joo-ha of the Sawol Guild.”

He stood straight and held out his hand.

Unlike before, no plants came up onto it. It was simply extended so he could shake hands with me.

“We’re the guild that joined hands with Baekyang Guild to form the Guild Alliance.”

His large hand, which he had held out, clenched as if grasping something in the air.

Then it opened, revealing a single bright-red rose.

“Does this make you trust me a little more?”

I looked at the rose and thought.

‘It never said anything about him having such a cheesy personality….’

 

***

 

Whoosh—

Cha Seohae saw an attack flying toward them from afar and slid forward.

He quickly regained his balance and asked,

“Everyone okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t worry.”

“Yes, sir!”

He could tell who was who just from their answers.

Cha Seohae chuckled at the small amusement of identifying people by their reactions, then quickly furrowed his brow.

“Moon Yeonhee….”

Perhaps it was because there was one more answer he should have heard.

The absence of that response irritated him more than it should have.

Under normal circumstances, he would have charged at Do Joo-yeon regardless of his attitude.

But revenge wasn’t the priority right now, so he had to endure it.

The one fortunate thing was that Do Joo-yeon didn’t seem willing to fight recklessly.

If the man had been eager to fight, Cha Seohae wouldn’t have been able to avoid it.

In any situation, Do Joo-yeon was the one who should have been avoiding him.

“Your healer doesn’t look like she’s doing too well. Is it really okay to keep confronting each other?”

Cha Seohae spoke without hiding his hostility.

“Thanks to some idiot healing me, I can manage.”

“You bastard, you don’t even know how to be grateful for someone’s kindness…!”

Na Ye-ri was the one who reacted to Do Joo-yeon’s words.

She had always taken such good care of Moon Yeonhee, so apparently calling her good deed foolish had struck a nerve.

Of course, Cha Seohae wasn’t happy either.

But this wasn’t the time to lose his head and fight, so he endured it.

“Right. Now that things are wrapped up, why don’t you leave?”

As he spoke, Cha Seohae looked at Park Sang-oh, who had fallen.

“Seems like the referee wasn’t fair from the beginning.”

“Coming from someone who came to an official match and tried not to follow the rules, you sure have a lot to say.”

“Have I ever cared about things like that?”

While answering Do Joo-yeon, Cha Seohae suddenly felt something abruptly cut off.

“Huh…?”

Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who noticed it, because a short gasp came from behind him.

But Do Joo-yeon was right in front of them.

Unable to show any reaction in front of him, they stopped there.

All four of them, including Cha Seohae, had witnessed Moon Yeonhee leave.

They hadn’t shown any reaction then either because Do Joo-yeon was there.

Besides, they had assumed she was simply moving somewhere to come back to them.

‘She was definitely going to take the long way around. How far did she go? Outside the arena?’

What they had all sensed was the complete disappearance of the buffs and healing Moon Yeonhee had been providing.

Whenever a healer gave them buffs or healing, they could sense her presence.

Even without looking, it was easy to tell where she was and whether she was in danger.

But that sensation had abruptly disappeared, as though someone had forcibly severed it.

The moment that presence vanished, Cha Seohae’s mood began plummeting.

Anger at failing to fulfill the contract, along with anxiety that was gradually revealing itself.

All kinds of negative emotions surrounded him.

Cha Seohae began to grow restless.

He felt like he had to find Moon Yeonhee immediately.

‘Fuck, just hurry up and go. Your own teammate is in that condition, so why the hell are you wasting time?’

Before he knew it, Cha Seohae was muttering curses under his breath.

Do Joo-yeon stared at Cha Seohae for a moment before raising his voice.

“Ji-won.”

“…Yes?”

“When did she leave?”

There was no subject, but everyone knew who he was referring to.

At that question, everyone from Baekyang glared at Do Joo-yeon.

“…It’s been about ten minutes since she left.”

“Then she still has a long way to go. Send a signal to the reinforcements.”

“Okay.”

“Reinforcements?”

Han Seongwoo repeated Do Joo-yeon’s words before asking,

“You mean there are more reinforcements somewhere other than the ones who came here?”

“Of course. Do you think the competition arena is normally this small? They have to be stationed in various places to guide Hunters who get lost.”

“Since when were there reinforcements? There weren’t even any safety personnel stationed around normally!”

“The participants this time are extraordinary.”

Do Joo-yeon answered easily, as if he had anticipated exactly what Baekyang would ask.

“So many S-classes came. Did you expect us to treat them the same way as usual? We prepared enough so no one would feel slighted.”

“That bastard…!”

“Han Seongwoo.”

Cha Seohae stopped Han Seongwoo, who looked ready to spring forward at any moment.

“You’ve been unusually impatient lately.”

“…….”

“Hold it in. You think none of us want to kill him?”

Han Seongwoo gritted his teeth at Cha Seohae’s words.

Cha Seohae gave him a slight glance, then whispered so quietly that Do Joo-yeon couldn’t hear.

“You felt it too.”

“…Yeah.”

“Even though she’s an S-class with a long range limit, the connection was severed. That means she’s no longer in the same space as us.”

“Then you mean she went outside the arena?”

Han Seongwoo asked in a low voice despite his surprise.

Cha Seohae paused for a moment before answering.

“I think so.”

“If the Association did this, then she’s in danger!”

“Calm down. It might not have been them.”

Now that it had been revealed that she was S-class, they could no longer simply assume that the Association was responsible.

‘We need to hurry and find her.’

Cha Seohae’s gaze toward Do Joo-yeon gleamed dangerously.