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Chapter 9. The Healer We Need (1)
Jaehyuk came back to Doyoon once again, covered in little cuts and scratches. He was slowly starting to get bored.
I should finish this and get out of here.
The moment he made up his mind, Jaehyuk’s eyes were drawn to the green blood from a ‘Big Bear Punch’ that had splattered onto Doyoon’s white hair.
I should’ve finished this sooner.
It felt as though grime had gotten onto a precious jewel. Jaehyuk roughly swept his bangs back, trying to shake off the irritation rising inside him.
“Something dirty got on you.”
Jaehyuk wiped the monster’s blood off Doyoon with his sleeve. Even so, a faint trace of blood remained on his snow-white hair.
Ah, what a waste.
While Jaehyuk was upset about it, he suddenly felt his body filling with vitality and wondered about something. This time, he hadn’t said anything, so how had Doyoon known to heal him?
Jaehyuk looked down at Doyoon, who was using his skill. Doyoon was holding out his palm toward him, and he sparkled so brightly that he looked like an angel boy inside a snow globe.
“Your Majesty, how did you know I was hurt?”
Doyoon’s pale eyes, which had been looking downward, moved upward and gazed toward where Jaehyuk’s face was. It was fascinating that those blurry eyes, so unfocused that it was difficult to tell whether they could see properly, were looking directly into his own.
“Here. I can see them here.”
Doyoon pointed right beside Jaehyuk’s face.
“For the people on my team, it shows whether they’re injured or not, like an HP gauge in a game.”
“Hah…!”
Feeling Jaehyuk’s incredulous scoff, Doyoon lowered his head. It must look strange.
Doyoon knew that he could see things differently from other people. Still, he had held onto the hope that there might be other Hunters with the same occupation as him who could see similar things. I can’t be the only one like this. Even if everyone finds it strange and doesn’t say anything, there must be someone who sees the same world I do.
Jaehyuk ruffled Doyoon’s hair, which had drooped with discouragement, then ran his hand down along his hair and toyed with the tip of his twitching ear.
“You were destined to awaken as a healer.”
“…What?”
Doyoon’s face reddened as Jaehyuk kept playing with his ear. It was so distracting that it was becoming embarrassing, and he looked back at Jaehyuk.
The contrast is so vivid.
His white skin became incredibly striking when it flushed red. The colors were so vivid that he looked like a plum blossom painted in ink wash on a snowy field.
“You probably couldn’t lie even if you tried.”
“Huh?”
Doyoon stared blankly at Jaehyuk, who kept saying things that made little sense. Is he teasing me?
Just as he was beginning to feel a little annoyed, Jaehyuk pulled Doyoon by the nape and placed him beside him.
“Does it bother you that you’re different from everyone else?”
“…Well, yes.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“How am I supposed not to worry about it?”
“Ever since the Day of the Cataclysm, we’ve all been walking different paths from ordinary people. Being a little more different doesn’t make you special. We’re simply Hunters, each using our own unique traits.”
The Day of the Cataclysm was the day rifts appeared throughout the world and Gates began emerging, leading to the creation of the occupation known as ‘Hunters.’ As Jaehyuk said, awakening as a Hunter meant becoming different from ordinary people.
“Healers…”
Jaehyuk’s breath brushed close to Doyoon’s ear.
“As long as you heal well, that’s enough. It’s a profession that deserves respect all on its own.”
“Is that really enough?”
“With that healing you think is nothing special, you’ll save a lot of people’s lives. Of course it is.”
“Ah…”
“If some crazy bastard starts picking a fight with you, tell me. Then you just stay in the back and pretend you don’t know anything while healing. I’ll keep beating the bastard until he’s dead.”
A chilling scene flashed through Doyoon’s mind, but he was grateful that Jaehyuk would go this far for him. He felt a little braver, yet his worries still hadn’t completely disappeared.
“What if I do everything I can and still can’t save someone? Then people will curse me, won’t they?”
“Who would say something like that? Hah, was that garbage something that bastard said?”
“…Who?”
Realizing that his guess had been right, Jaehyuk’s eyebrow twitched. He wrapped an arm around Doyoon’s shoulders, pulling him into his embrace, and moved one step to the side.
A ‘Big Bear Punch’ attacked the spot where they had been standing, but Jaehyuk cut the monster down in a single swing of his sword.
Doyoon was astonished by Jaehyuk’s skill. He had killed the monster without even looking at it.
“If your healing isn’t enough to treat an injury, they can take a potion. And if they still die, then there’s nothing you can do. That’s what being a Hunter is.”
Once again, Doyoon’s body spun around. He had merely moved his feet along with Jaehyuk, yet monster corpses were piling up around them one by one.
“Protecting you is my responsibility. Whether it’s a monster or a person.”
Doyoon blankly stared at the face directly in front of him, filled with shades of yellow and red. Even though he couldn’t see Jaehyuk’s eyes, it felt as though he were facing an intense laser.
Doyoon couldn’t say anything to Jaehyuk, who had looked straight at him and spoken those words.
“I really am skilled enough to protect you, too. So don’t worry.”
The surroundings had grown quiet.
When did he clear everything around us?
Doyoon placed his hand over Jaehyuk’s arm, which was tightly holding him. The firm grip and the warmth of the body pressed against his own gave him a sense of security.
Even though Doyoon was holding onto his arm, Jaehyuk didn’t pull away or let him go. Instead, he held Doyoon even tighter and continued moving through the forest without stopping.
Any ‘Big Bear Punch’ that entered the range of Jaehyuk’s sword instantly became a corpse and disappeared from their path. Doyoon could only move forward, seeing the blue temperature of the cold monster blood splashing wherever Jaehyuk’s sword passed.
Strangely, even though Jaehyuk was cutting down ‘Big Bear Punches’ while running, not a single drop of monster blood splashed onto Doyoon.
Jaehyuk quickly passed through the Gate and arrived at their final destination, where the boss monster, ‘Big Bear Punch Father,’ awaited them.
Only then was Doyoon able to leave Jaehyuk’s arms. His mind became hazy, unable to tell whether what he had just seen was reality or a dream.
They were clearly inside a Gate where life and death hung in the balance. And this was even a B-rank Gate.
Yet it felt as though they had merely gone out for a walk.
As Doyoon stood there blankly staring at Jaehyuk, Jaehyuk slightly bent his arm and held it out toward him. Doyoon didn’t understand what he meant and simply stared at it.
Jaehyuk grinned, grabbed Doyoon’s hand, and pressed his fingers firmly against a wound on his own arm.
“Ooh, I think I got hurt here~.”
All Doyoon could see was that the area was unusually warm, but at his fingertips, he could feel the split skin and something wet and sticky.
So this is where the wound is.
Doyoon pulled his hand away in surprise and scolded Jaehyuk.
“What if the wound gets infected because of bacteria? Why would you put my hand on it?”
“It’ll be healed before that happens, so why worry about it?”
At Jaehyuk’s words, Doyoon came to his senses.
Right. Healing the wound comes first.
Just as he had done before, Doyoon used Heal and treated the wound until not even a trace remained.
“Oh, still as neat as ever. Fast and very thorough.”
Doyoon had meant to tell him not to do that again, but Jaehyuk’s praise made him feel so good that he missed his chance to speak. Then Jaehyuk continued talking.
“Doesn’t it wear you out using your skill so continuously?”
“I can treat wounds this shallow all day.”
Doyoon could answer that confidently. He had already treated wounds much worse than Kim Changshik’s, and thanks to his companions, who always came back with little injuries, he was used to constantly healing them while carrying their luggage and following behind them. Compared to those injuries, this was nothing.
Jaehyuk felt that bringing Doyoon here had been worthwhile when he saw how proudly he said it. He smiled because Doyoon looked so cute.
“Oh, so wounds like these are nothing to you.”
“Unless it’s poisoning, a severed body part, or an existing illness, I can treat them all.”
“Oh, that’s impressive.”
Jaehyuk was genuinely impressed by Doyoon’s words.
B-rank healers were rare, but healers who could treat every kind of wound while also healing them that quickly were even rarer. Most Hunters possessed basic healing skills capable of treating minor wounds, but many had restrictions, such as only being able to heal deep cuts or only being able to detoxify poison.
Even then, the speed at which wounds healed varied greatly from person to person.
A healer like Doyoon, whose patients’ wounds closed without a trace in the blink of an eye, was exceedingly rare.
Jaehyuk realized anew that he had brought along a much more incredible healer than he had initially thought.
And the fact that a healer this precious—someone who could rightfully boast about his abilities while receiving special treatment—had been intimidated after meeting that bastard pissed him off.
Doyoon cautiously asked Jaehyuk, who was looking at him.
“Am I really that good?”
“Absolutely. Looks like I brought home a treasure.”
At Doyoon’s excited voice, Jaehyuk grinned, stroked his head, then lowered his hand to fiddle with his ear.
“I’m pretty good too, aren’t I? Good enough to protect our Your Majesty, right? What do you think?”
Whoosh.
Jaehyuk’s hand against his ear suddenly felt so hot that Doyoon thought his ear might burn, and he startled backward.
Why does it suddenly feel so hot?
After being flustered for a moment, Doyoon noticed Jaehyuk quietly looking at him and hurriedly opened his mouth.
“You’re incredibly strong. The strongest Hunter I’ve ever seen!”
“Oh? I didn’t expect that. You’re giving me the highest praise?”
“I-I was just flustered because I was being praised…! I didn’t mean you’re weak, hyung. You’re actually so strong that it surprised me!”
Doyoon put everything he had into explaining himself to clear up the misunderstanding, and Jaehyuk whispered to him.
“Since I’ve gotten a compliment, and I have such a dependable healer with me, let’s finish this in no time.”
Before Doyoon could say anything, Jaehyuk strode forward and swung his sword, cutting through the thick vines blocking their path.
Clang.
Crack-crack-crack.
Cracks spread in every direction across the door behind the vines, and black energy flowed through the widening gaps.
Doyoon frowned at the sour, damp smell that was strong enough to numb his sense of smell.
“Your Majesty, don’t come any farther. Stay at the entrance.”
Jaehyuk walked alone into the darkness.
For the first time, Doyoon felt nervous.
But he wasn’t afraid.
Instead, Doyoon watched Jaehyuk, almost reluctant to let the warmth lingering in his ears fade. He was even prepared to use Heal immediately if Jaehyuk suffered even the slightest injury.
Jaehyuk hummed as he boldly stood face-to-face with ‘Big Bear Punch Father.’
It was a boss monster five times larger than the ‘Big Bear Punches’ they had encountered so far. Its main weapons were its sharp claws and tremendous strength.
This time, Jaehyuk intended to properly show off his abilities.
If he could defeat a huge boss monster in an instant, he would be able to leave a truly impressive image of himself in Doyoon’s mind.
“This guy is strong, but he’s slow, so he’s easy to deal with. Watch closely!”
He imagined Doyoon’s pale eyes sparkling as he watched him and grinned.
This time, he wore such an attractive smile that it could probably charm even the monster. He raised his sword and kicked off the ground.
I’ll get rid of it in an instant so its attack can’t affect Doyoon.
Clang!
Jaehyuk charged forward, confidently leaped into the air, and swung his sword.
But ‘Big Bear Punch Father’ caught Jaehyuk’s sword.
The sword wouldn’t budge, as though it had been wedged into a rock, and Jaehyuk was momentarily flustered.
Wait, why has this bastard gotten so fast? I was supposed to look cool here!
