noveltune Chapter 7
Chapter 7
A silence filled with astonishment enveloped the banquet hall. Everyone seemed at a loss for words at the shocking sight.
“A healer?!”
Only after someone’s exclamation shot up like a signal flare,
“He was a healing type?”
“Wow.”
“An S-class healer...!”
Murmuring voices began to pop up here and there. Ryu Seo-ha turned around silently. Turning his back on the psychiatrist who was looking up with trembling eyes and mouth agape.
“If it’s alright, could everyone gather for a moment? I think we need a strategy meeting.”
Did the shock therapy work? People hesitantly gathered, glancing at others. The eyes that were full of distrust until just moments ago had already changed to admiration, envy, and jealousy.
Choi Gang-hu, who approached first with his long legs, looked down at him with shining eyes like a child who had gotten a fascinating new toy. His expression was as if he had belatedly realized that a gift he liked from the start was also a limited edition.@@@@
“Why didn’t you say you were a healer?”
“That’s right. If you had said so earlier, the treatment would have been completely different.”
“Did you deliberately hide it to make everyone look like fools?”
Among those standing in a semicircle around Ryu Seo-ha, there were still people showing sharp attitudes. They seemed displeased that such a young man was taking on a leading role in the group.
“You didn’t ask.”
As he spoke gently with a slight smile, intentionally creasing his eyes, the mouths of those who had been criticizing closed like clams. It was they who had been caught up in prejudice and focused on his past as a Chinatown survivor.
Of course, they must have thought that figuring out his tendencies was the priority, since a person registered as high-risk turned out to be an S-class awakened. They even asked about the contents of his status window after a brief Q&A. But right after hearing that, the popup dungeon burst.
“I just cooperated with the state agencies as much as possible.”
There was no way those who had shown a coercive attitude based solely on his background would have anything to say.
“Congratulations. You’ve become one of only two S-class healers in the world.”
“Wow, I’m so happy for you. I’m envious.”
Meanwhile, some people were quickly trying to change their stance. The ninth healer in Korea, and the second S-class healer worldwide. Thinking that only success awaits him from now on, they were trying to establish connections in advance.
Healers were beings who could sit on a pile of money just by getting an ordinary job at a hospital. It’s an incredibly popular profession where people have to pay huge medical fees and still wait a long time for their turn. In a situation other than this special one, it would be unimaginable to experience a healing skill for free like the doctor just now.
“I think it would be better to receive congratulations after we get out of here.”
Ryu Seo-ha firmly cut off the flattery that was about to continue from people. He had been thinking this for a while, but it seemed that everyone wasn’t recognizing the seriousness of the situation. Or they were trying to avoid it as much as possible psychologically.
“Is there a way to get out?”
A woman with a neat C-curl bob that suited her well pointed out the practical issue in a careful tone. She stood out among the majority wearing white gowns as one of the few in formal attire.
“I heard that no one has ever survived being caught in a popup dungeon.”
He hesitated for a moment after seeing the name written on the neatly attached nameplate. Kwon Se-jeong. She was a major supporting character in the original work and one of the heroine candidates.
In the original, she meets Choi Gang-hu a bit later. It seemed she got caught up in this incident while working near the precision measurement room. He remembered thinking that Se-jeong was a waste, even while secretly cheering for her because she was such a great character.
“The world’s first popup dungeon that occurred in the United States was conquered about 6 years ago.”
As he calmly explained, thinking that people who are meant to be entangled somehow end up entangled, Kwon Se-jeong’s eyes briefly turned to the upper left. As if recalling something.
“Wasn’t that when an external raid team entered?”
❖ ❖ ❖
While the people except for the first team among the 4 teams that were to take turns standing guard for 3 hours each were resting, Ryu Seo-ha, who had drawn the last turn in the lottery, had come down to the first floor lobby.
It was to find food before it got dark. Even he couldn’t look favorably on people who had treated him badly due to prejudice. But he couldn’t just leave them all to die either.
Since it had come to this, he was thinking of properly establishing merit and getting a hefty reward. Although he was experiencing considerable mental fatigue as he wasn’t the type to usually step forward, it wasn’t a bad situation for him either.
‘It’s also an opportunity to level up.’
In principle, the opportunity to proceed with dungeon conquest is only given after passing the hunter exam. He was planning to join the S-class dungeon conquest that Choi Gang-hu’s From Hell Guild would enter within a month, but honestly, even that short term felt like a waste.
Of course, going outside the building to hunt monsters without teammates was an extremely dangerous act. He wasn’t trying to do something recklessly without having something to rely on. Firstly, there was the characteristic of [Sanctification], and secondly...
“Where are you going?”
He was able to come out boldly because he believed that a man who was no less reliable than an S-class shield would follow. Even though he had anticipated it, Ryu Seo-ha was startled by Choi Gang-hu’s ghost-like appearance.
“When you’re not feeling well.”
It was also because the thick arm that extended silently gently wrapped around his waist. It was a very natural skinship as if he had always done it. Choi Gang-hu’s unique cool scent wafted over.
“I’m fine.”
As he slightly twisted his shoulder to escape from his embrace, the handsome eyebrows twitched. Ryu Seo-ha fiddled with the sleeve cuff discreetly and slightly lowered the corners of his eyes. Then he could see the expression that had instantly become cold softening considerably.
As expected, he seemed to be the type to be somewhat lenient towards small and weak opponents, as long as he didn’t get fixated on something and go crazy. Of course, even so, his tendency to act as he pleased was strong, so it wasn’t very noticeable.
“It doesn’t seem like it.”
Choi Gang-hu’s pitch-black eyes persistently scanned Ryu Seo-ha from head to toe. His dazzlingly handsome face, slender physique, and graceful body lines, everything.
It was a gaze that caused inexplicable chills. Unlike the guys who ruled the Chinatown lockdown zone, it clearly wasn’t a lewd and unpleasant gaze, but still.
“Since when have you been like this?”
“...?”
“Anemia, hemoptysis, and even fainting.”
Ryu Seo-ha’s eyes widened. While fainting could be explained by his collapse a few hours ago, how did he know about the anemia and hemoptysis? Suddenly, he recalled Choi Gang-hu waiting in front of the bathroom on the day they first met.
At that distance, he could have smelled blood sufficiently even without seeing it. That means he had roughly noticed that his health wasn’t good but still made the scouting offer. So why?
“Can’t you heal yourself?”
He couldn’t fathom what Choi Gang-hu was thinking as he stared at him silently.
“It will get better when my magic stat increases more.”
He smiled pretending to be nonchalant while hiding his confused feelings. Choi Gang-hu doesn’t pay attention to useless opponents. While he might tolerate wasting time, he couldn’t stand wasting energy.
By that standard, Ryu Seo-ha was an opponent with a very high probability of becoming useless soon. But it’s still okay for now. Because he hadn’t been found out about having only a month left to live. His fingertips felt tingly.
“How much?”
If the lifespan issue was discovered, he would likely be abandoned with high probability. Neither the state, companies, nor individuals would carefully invest time and effort in a being that would soon turn to dust. Especially not Choi Gang-hu.
“It rises quickly when I touch you, doesn’t it?”
As he looked at him quizzically, wondering what he meant by that, Choi Gang-hu curled up one corner of his mouth obliquely.
“I can hold you as much as you want.”
Although his voice was infinitely affectionate, it was a smile that somehow felt eerie.