Chapter 9
“…This is supposed to be my room?”
“Yes.”
Once Cha Seo-hae wakes, the contract will proceed. But the only person who knew this right now was Chil-deuk.
Chil-deuk must have stayed outside the door because Cha Seo-hae told him not to leave.
Then… was this room prepared from the start?
Even if it had been arranged on the way from the guild to the association, it would still be odd. At that time, I was nothing more than a hostage.
Would anyone give a hostage a room like this? Especially Cha Seo-hae?
Even if they had handed over any room, the condition of this one was extraordinarily good.
It was cleaner than some five-star hotels, and on the table wasn’t just welcome food—there were desserts too.
And then there was a balcony, a bathroom with a bathtub, a coffee machine, a kettle… the works.
Of course, I wasn’t completely free to move, but this was luxury enough.
Oh, there’s an internal phone.
I checked it and, as expected, it didn’t connect to the outside world. That much I had anticipated.
Not that I need it anyway.
I glanced around the room with satisfaction, then moved toward the large window by the balcony.
“Seems like they intended to recruit me as a healer from the start.”
Currently, Baekyang didn’t have a healer.
Whether it was a vacation or a long absence, Cha Seo-hae had confirmed it.
Putting that together, it was fair to assume that the plan from the beginning had impure intentions.
I glanced at Chil-deuk to see if I was right, and he shrugged.
“Master Yeon-hee, that’s not within my jurisdiction, so I don’t know.”
“Then who’s in charge of me?”
“Probably the master.”
“Just the one person?”
“Yes, sir.”
They must be desperate for a healer if the superior personally intervenes.
“The door can only be opened from the outside. What should we do?”
“What do you mean?”
“Should we lock it, or leave it open?”
What kind of question was this?
Are they actually giving me the choice? If I lock it and try to escape, they could just catch me again.
Surprised, I answered honestly just in case.
“Leave it open…”
“So you want it left open?”
I clicked my tongue internally at his redundant question.
Of course.
My answer would probably only reach Cha Seo-hae. I assumed the door would be locked from the outside, so I just nodded.
“Then, thank you.”
“Yes, I’ll leave it open.”
“If possible… yes?”
I had wanted to ask him to relay the message properly to Cha Seo-hae.
But my voice didn’t carry, so I looked at Chil-deuk. He seemed puzzled by my silence, tilting his head.
“Do you have anything else to say?”
“You mean… leave the door open?”
“Yes, that’s what you said to do.”
“Did I really have the right to decide?”
“Of course. This is your room, Master Yeon-hee.”
“I’m still a hostage.”
I never thought those words would come out of my mouth.
But Chil-deuk remained unflinching.
“No matter if you’re a hostage, your rights must be respected.”
What was he saying?
Such generosity from a major guild?
His words felt oddly off-key, just like in front of the hospital room. Was this just his personality?
Could there have been a mistake in the room assignment? I hope it doesn’t backfire on me.
My trust in Chil-deuk began to waver, and unease followed.
“…Please tell Cha Seo-hae that when he wakes, I need him to come here. Also, mention that I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Understood. Dinner will be served soon, so please wait.”
“…Okay.”
Even with this, a good room wouldn’t cause trouble, right?
Chil-deuk left, closing the door behind him.
There was no sound of a lock. Seems he really intended to leave it open.
The guild remained an enigma.
Finally, I’m alone.
I hadn’t had a chance to think clearly while being transported from the association to here.
I perched on the bed in front of me.
Kidnapped in a single day, car accident, awakened as an S-Rank… is this real?
It had been a day packed with events that felt like a month.
Come to think of it, there’s no healer here, so how did my body recover?
Until now, I had assumed the Baekyang guild healer had treated me.
I’ve never self-healed before.
Puzzled, I reached behind to massage my back.
Should I ask Cha Seo-hae later?
I didn’t want to, but it concerned my body, so I couldn’t ignore it.
For now, I decided I would. Then I tried to casually read through other descriptions in the system window.
…What if my rank drops when I reopen it?
A sudden surge of tension hit me.
My rank had gone up and down twice already.
At first, I had been mercilessly demoted from S to B, then climbed steeply back from B to S.
There’s no guarantee it won’t drop again.
I had seen the error resolved, but after witnessing rank changes twice, I couldn’t help but be nervous.
I think I was S-Rank when I healed Cha Seo-hae…
Squinting one eye, I opened the system window.
[Name: Moon Yeon-hee]
Awakening: Pope
Category: Healer
Rank: S
Skills: Divine Grace / Divine Protection / Divine Blessing
Feature: S-Rank Privilege Activated (Additional Buffs Applied to Each Skill)
For now, everything looked fine.
Seeing the golden S shining before me, I exhaled in relief.
I wanted to search to see if this happened often, but I didn’t have my phone.
Just a few minutes ago I was comforting myself with the fact I couldn’t contact anyone…
No news from the association or the knights. Everything would have to wait.
Better read the skill descriptions I planned to look at.
Even just Divine Grace removed unavoidable dungeon and monster restrictions. With more usable skills, I needed to familiarize myself in advance.
I pressed Divine Protection.
Still limited to the caster only?
Protection was a shield skill.
Unlike a tank’s shield, which covered all allies, a healer could only protect themselves.
It was the only self-protection skill for a healer without offensive abilities.
The important thing is the privilege.
If S-Rank privileges applied to a shield, it would normally just increase the area. Still, I didn’t expect it to be enough to rival a tank. No way a healer would threaten a tank’s position.
No skip button either.
There was no option to skip.
I decided to scroll to the bottom where the main description began.
[‘Divine Protection’ S-Rank Privilege: Reflects 100% of enemy attacks]
“Huh? Reflect attacks?”
Beyond “not bad,” this was incredible.
S-Ranks get these amazing effects as a bonus.
Even B-Rank healers were targeted by opportunists.
The reason I knew this was because I had once almost suffered for leaving the association.
It had been when an A+ dungeon appeared in the provinces.
Because of my rank, not only were nearby hunters needed, but support from hunters in Seoul was required as well.
In such cases, the healer was drafted to the dungeon, constantly healing and maintaining the team’s condition.
That day, the association urgently issued orders, despite the tight timing.
Displeasure aside, the tank and damage dealers seemed experienced, so I had no reason to complain.
On my first deployment:
“Captured the healer!”
“Ugh! Who’s that?”
A provincial guild dealer hit me.
I had been taught never to trust anyone, but even with Protection, it wasn’t enough.
Since I had only B-Rank protection, it couldn’t block an A-Rank attack.
At the time, the boss monster and hunters were in standoff, and no one could hear me groan.
The dealer grabbed me and ran. Later, Do Choo-yeon came and rescued me.
How did he know? He said it was obvious since the heal and buffs weren’t applied in time…
After returning to the association, Kang Si-hyun of the first squad said:
“Can’t even block that with your heal?”
Why had I just stood there listening?
Now I think it was just hazing. How could they speak to a B-Rank healer like that?
At the time, S-Rank hunters were only seen in media. I had been intimidated.
He must have blamed me first, fearing orders would fall on me for failing as a healer.
From that day on, Do Choo-yeon stayed by my side. That’s why I distrust the Protection skill.
I thought it would never be used if I wasn’t S-Rank… now I’m one.
A shield that doesn’t just block but reflects attacks perfectly—this was amazing.
I want to try it properly… but nothing worth using it on has appeared yet.
Healers could test healing easily, but protection required an attack first.
No choice…
Tap, tap.
Someone was knocking.
No one should come at this hour, not even in Baekyang, who didn’t know I existed.
Chil-deuk, maybe.
But if it was him, he would have identified himself.
Not Cha Seo-hae. When I healed him, his fatigue was still severe. He wouldn’t be awake yet.
The knocking continued quietly for some time.
The lights being on bothered me—it revealed my presence.
Reluctantly, I remained silent.
“Meal…”
A faint reply came through, barely audible.
