I Became the Only Healer in the Academy - Chapter 14.1
Seonghyun, stepping outside, guided the man to a nearby bench and settled down beside him.
“We survived.”
As all tension dissipated while seated, fatigue overwhelmed him once again.
“Why do I feel mentally drained every day…?”
Of course, the physical pain was an added bonus.
“Ugh…”
While lamenting his situation, Seonghyun turned his head at the faint groan coming from beside him.
“Are you feeling a bit better now?”
“Where… am I?”
“As you can see, it’s a park near the gate.”
“I, I’m sure I was…”
The man recalled the despairing situation of an enormous demon appearing in front of him, quite different from what he was accustomed with.
The man ran both of his hands over his face.
No, he attempted to.
“Ah…?”
But the sensation against his face barely covered an area with the other hand.
Realizing the fact that one of his arms was missing, memories he had momentarily forgotten began to resurface.
Being attacked by the enormous monster, surrendering one arm, and handling the situation solely with his singular ability.
In the intense and excruciatingly painful situation, exerting all his strength to retrieve the monster essence and collapsing after losing consciousness.
And his last sight was Seonghyun, sitting next to him now.
As every situation gradually became understood and accepted as reality, only one thing he stubbornly resisted to acknowledge.
‘Why can’t I feel pain in my missing arm?’
It was the most perplexing fact of all.
Even though his arm had been completely torn off, the expected pain was absent and he seemed to be in a state as if he had just woken up from a nap.
“The bleeding has stopped, and there won’t be any more harm to your life.”
“Ye-Yes?”
For a moment, the man didn’t comprehend what Seonghyun was saying. The words seemed as if he had been the one treated.
“O-Oh, are you a doctor, by any chance?”
“…Well, something like that.”
Then, a fleeting memory passed through his mind.
It was about the news mentioning a hunter with healing abilities.
At that time, before his abilities manifested, he hadn’t paid much attention. However, considering the situation, if the man sitting beside him now wasn’t that hunter, nothing more in the entire process could be explained.
The definite proof was the sight of his own arm healing right before his eyes.
“I-It can’t be you…”
“Please assume you didn’t see anything.”
Even though he wore a mask and his face couldn’t be fully seen, from the man’s perspective, just by the mask alone, he couldn’t have failed to recognize the person who saved his life.
“Ah, but still, how…”
“Even if I wasn’t there, you would’ve survived either way. Another hunter would’ve saved you there.”
“…”
In reality, if the monsters didn’t arrive at the man’s side, the hunter wouldn’t have encountered them.
A very fortunate timing indeed.
“Then, at least your name…”
“…It’s Kim Seonghyun.”
“Kim… Mr. Seonghyun… I’m Hanwook Park. I won’t disclose today’s events as I’ll keep it a secret.”
“Wouldn’t you rather go home?”
In response to Seonghyun’s words, Hanwook looked at the now empty space that used to hold one of his arms, displaying a bittersweet smile and said.
“It won’t impair my ability to walk, right?”
“That was… the best I could do.”
At Seonghyun’s words, Hanwook was momentarily speechless. His voice seemed laden with a sense of guilt, as if it implied that the situation had turned out this way because of him.
“I’ll go home too, please take care.”
“Once again… Thank you.”
Hanwook rose and bowed at a 90-degree right angle towards Seonghyun.
“It’s really fine. I… had my own reasons for doing what I did.”
“Regardless of those reasons, the fact that you saved me remains unchanged.”
“Haha, you’re quite resolute. Well then…”
Seonghyun nodded to the still bowing man and turned to leave.
“Kim Seonghyun…”
Hanwook watched Seonghyun’s departing figure endlessly.
“Wait, just a moment…”
There was one fact he had overlooked.
The news didn’t just highlight Seonghyun’s abilities; it also revealed the side effects.
“H-How…?”
Hanwook checked his severed right arm once again.
Fresh skin had grown, completely covering the surface.
“This… can’t be…”
It was unbelievable.
The side effects of Seonghyun, as seen in the news, clearly involved feeling pain in exchange.
‘He didn’t just save my life.’
He had been given not only the gift of healing but, at the same time, the probable lifelong suffering he might have to endure.
“Is it a choice an ordinary person could make?”
Merely saving someone was, honestly speaking, something almost anyone could do with a simple resolve.
Of course, it would require corresponding abilities.
But to endure the pain?
And if one could already anticipate the magnitude of that pain?
How many would still be willing to use the ability even with such conditions attached?
Even if someone thought that way, how many would actually act upon it?
“…Thank you.”
