Chapter 38 - Chapter 38

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 38

Chapter Title: Special Heal

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The moment the battle erupted, Im Hyeji sprang forward.

Even after becoming an SS-rank healer, nothing had really changed.

She was still a healer, and the hunters fighting up front were the ones she'd shared battles with before.

Injure themselves, and she heals them. Injure again, and she heals again.

Her S-rank mana heal, now stably and perfectly her own, poured into the hunters wounded while clashing with A-rank monsters.

Wounds sealed shut, bleeding stopped.

Pain-twisted faces eased into calm, granting them the strength to grip their weapons once more.

That was a healer's role in the dungeon.

Unlike in games, she couldn't max out HP to let them fight endlessly, but she could stitch broken battle rhythms back together, apply salve to mend them, and use that momentum to turn the tide.

About ten A-rank monsters, backed by forty more regular ones, pressed the hunters ferociously, but the newly added D Team kept them from being overwhelmed.

S-rank hunters took point against the A-ranks, while the rest bought time until those elites could finish them off.

They'd win in the end, but dungeon victories weren't just about slaying monsters.

How minimal were the casualties?

How unscathed were they?

To that end, she poured out her mana without restraint.

Even S-rank mana wasn't infinite.

Especially S-rank heal skills—they guzzled mana like crazy, making it impossible to spam them all day.

This was reality, not a game, after all.

If she could spam heals with their insane power to flip battles and restore fighters endlessly, she'd be a goddess, not a healer.

"Hoo. Hoo."

Recovering depleted mana took time.

At best, maybe one or two more before the fight wrapped up?

Her job was done.

She'd treated over twenty hunters and preserved the S-rankers' stamina to some degree.

The other healers could handle the rest.

But battles always threw curveballs.

"Left flank's breached!"

"Two more A-rank monsters incoming!"

"Can someone cover the left?"

"No! Hold the line!"

"Ho-seung's tanking it! It's rough!"

Fresh A-rank monsters appeared out of nowhere, shattering the formation.

The tank was blocking with his life on the line, but he wouldn't last long.

She needed to heal.

To block the A-rank's shield-bashing strikes.

To hold that chokepoint longer.

Im Hyeji hesitated for a moment.

She could heal more.

Mana was tapped out, but her mana pouch brimmed with B-rank magic stones and the equivalent of three A-rank ones.

Plenty to spare.

Dense, overflowing mana that could refill her pool several times over.

But she'd saved it for Hwaseong.

Hwaseong wasn't some B-rank dungeon with a few surprise twists.

S-rank dungeon.

Swarming with S-rank monsters.

Anything could happen, danger lurking everywhere.

Shouldn't she save mana for that?

Sure, a curveball had hit now, but they seemed like they could hold and win.

"Heal!"

A brief moment of doubt.

In the end, Im Hyeji tapped her heart's mana.

Not too much—just enough to keep the line from breaking.

Even if she overdid it, she had the funds; she could just recharge with another B-rank stone before Hwaseong.

Im Hyeji was too frugal with her mana.

She couldn't bear her guildmates falling to unforeseen dangers.

Beyond just being a good person, letting that happen would tarnish her honor as an SS-rank healer.

Paaat!

And so, the moment her skill activated not with her pure mana, but with mana from magic stones laced with SSS-rank sperm...

The 'special effect' triggered.

The bursting light seeped into the tank blocking the two A-rank monsters, then rippled outward like waves in all directions.

The hunters struck by that pure white glow all froze in shock.

"What the...?"

"It's a heal."

"Group heal?"

"What is this..?"

But the most stunned was Im Hyeji herself.

"...Huh?"

With a flicker of hope, she tried it once more.

Paaat!

"Whoa!"

The heal wave blanketed the battlefield, skyrocketing the hunters' morale.

Right on cue, word came that the S-rankers had triumphed, and the fight wrapped up swiftly.

@

"..."

After the battle ended.

A hearing commenced.

"I have no idea... why this happened."

To be precise, it wasn't a formal hearing—just a barrage of curiosity from the hunters—but Im Hyeji had nothing else to say.

She truly didn't know.

She'd only used the mana I'd given her, and I hadn't warned her this would happen when she did.

Why?

I didn't know either.

I vaguely recalled mentioning a 'special effect' might trigger, but judging by her reaction, even if I had, she didn't remember.

Either way, the effect was undeniable.

"If it's a group heal, that's insanely busted."

"Another skill awakening?"

"Nah, Hyeji's heal was always that one."

I had no clue.

That Im Hyeji's skill could change like this.

I'd never even bothered checking an S-rank skill that wasn't mine to begin with.

Im Hyeji had just checked it herself and couldn't close her gaping mouth amid the onslaught of questions, dodging as best she could.

She must be dying to brag and celebrate this evolution, but that special effect was truly special—usable only under specific conditions.

It only triggered via mana from magic stones mixed with my sperm.

More precisely, only mana from stones that passed through my mana pouch.

So, she had to play dumb.

Using it openly would mean buying magic stones with paid credits every time to refill mana.

And magic stones weren't cheap.

For now, with three A-rank and one B-rank equivalents stocked, she was set, but it could run dry anytime.

"I really don't know either, so I think I need to check with the Hunter Association."

That was how Im Hyeji deftly escaped the situation.

The other hunters didn't press further.

"Alright, alright, no big deal. Thanks to Hyeji, we finished without injuries—don't make a fuss."

Of course, lingering gazes full of curiosity, awe, and envy followed.

She couldn't block those either.

But the most burdensome stare came from Lee Soo-ah, who'd watched the whole spectacle.

"Hyeji, that was so cool. You were totally badass."

"Heehee, really?"

"Yeah. You're like the perfect hunter role model I dreamed of. Though I prefer mage over healer..."

Honestly, watching Lee Soo-ah, it was kinda baffling.

A woman with everything—why chase this?

I got that having it all might make her crave what she lacked even more fiercely, but did she really need to risk her life for the hunter path that badly?

Early to mid-twenties.

If she were some immature kid chasing instincts for attention or uniqueness, maybe.

But Lee Soo-ah was late twenties.

She'd entered society sooner than most, met tons of people.

Whatever. I wasn't gonna bother understanding.

That's exactly why—because she showed this side—that I saw even a sliver of hope in bedding her.

Instead of dwelling, I used the chaos to loot a few more magic stones from A-rank corpses.

Pretty big ones too—they'd pay off nicely at settlement.

And so the dungeon's final day passed.

No suspicious smoke from the tent tonight.

"Was it my fifth year debuting...? I got swept up in a dungeon break during a world tour concert in the States."

No need for it—the tent brimmed with a candid vibe as Lee Soo-ah opened up about why she wanted to become a hunter.

"I couldn't do a thing. It was an empty road, mid-travel, so no quick help. The car was already flipped. I watched my manager oppa and coordi unnie shield me and get devoured by monsters. The guards died protecting me too... I don't even know how I survived. I thought I was dead. Then American hunters showed up and killed the monsters. So effortlessly it was absurd. My manager oppa and coordi unnie, who'd worked with me for years, died without resisting. The guards' bullets couldn't pierce their hides."

Gulping beer, her flat tone evoked a movie actress suppressing waves of emotion.

Emotion seeped through precisely because of the flatness.

The more matter-of-fact, the deeper the sorrow weighed.

"That's when I decided... I had to become a hunter somehow."

And those large eyes, brimming with profound grief, turned toward me.

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