Chapter 56

SMH 56

Swordmaster Healer – Episode 56

TL: Boko

Editor: Ren

Chapter 19 – Eroding Dungeon (2)

“Didn’t you say there were people who went in before us? Why are there monsters at the entrance!?” someone complained, and Hyun Sung opened his mouth.

“As I said during the briefing, it’s a special dungeon! Throw away everything you think you know!”

The Cold Mages swung their long ice staffs and a storm of ice shards struck the party.

“Protect!”

A Mage Hunter raised his staff and covered the party in a defensive barrier. However, because there were so many Cold Mages, they were able to overwhelm the defensive barrier, penetrating it in one or two places.

Since almost everyone was an A-rank Hunter, they weren’t hit so easily, but it was such a narrow space inside the barrier, so they couldn’t dodge well. Ultimately, one of the Hunters received a leg injury and toppled to the floor.

“We’ve got an injury!”

“Heal!”

Sung Joon heard their cries and reacted immediately. He stretched his hand out and chanted, emitting a white light. The collapsed Hunter’s wound was instantly healed.

“H-His healing power is…?”

“His healing is really fast!”

The two Hunters beside the once injured Hunter were still in the midst of battle, yet were in awe of Sung Joon’s incredible healing power.

“I thought it would take ten minutes before he made a full recovery, but…”

Sung Joon had instantly healed the Hunter. Although the Hunter had thought that it would take around ten minutes to treat his wound, Sung Joon had managed to fully treat his injury within a minute. He just stood there with a surprised face.

However, their astonishment ended there. As he was a veteran hunter, he returned to his position immediately after his healing.

“Young Mi, cast your Blessing. As soon the defensive barrier’s gone, we’re going to rush in,” Eun Joo said, addressing the A-rank Supporter Hunter, who was the only one within the team who spoke familiarly*. (*Korean people use honorifics as a sign of respect. Not using them implies she’s really outgoing/friendly and/or is really close to the team, hence not needing the honorifics.)

Young Mi raised her hand.

“Blessing!” she chanted, increasing the physical abilities of the Hunters.

“Mr. Chul Soo, please release the defensive barrier,” Eun Joo ordered.

There would be no end at this rate. At some point, the Mage Hunter, Kim Chul Soo, would run out of mana. Wasn’t the best defense a great offense?

This was their time to attack.

“I’m releasing it,” Chul Soo said.

Chul Soo released the defensive barrier and Eun Joo rushed at the Cold Mages, brandishing her greatsword clad in white aura.

Four Combat Hunters followed behind her, while the rest stayed in position.

“AH!”

“Heal!”

One Hunter fell from a Cold Mage’s offensive spell. Sung Joon supported him by immediately casting his ‘Heal’.

As the attackers approached, the Gale Knights intercepted them, preventing them from getting to the Cold Mages and the Ice Crossbowmen.

“I’ll take care of it!” Eun Joo let out a short cry and disappeared. She had used her high-speed movement technique.

The only one who could track her movements in that state was Sung Joon.

Whenever she stopped, albeit momentarily, a Gale Knight would fall.

“She seems to have more mana than you, my lord, but her combat abilities are quite lacking,” Rishubalt judged after observing her high-speed movement.

While he couldn’t completely track her movements, he could estimate her skill level.

If Sung Joon had a similar amount of mana, he’d be able to move even faster than her.

“If you transcend your limitations, my lord, you would be able to win against her easily,” Rishubalt explained, even though it was something Sung Joon wasn’t curious about.

“Forward!” someone screamed.

Eun Joo destroyed the Gale Knights’ blockade, so the Hunters following behind her could close in on the Cold Mages and Ice Crossbowmen and initiate close quarters combat.

Cold Mages were A-rank monsters that, in exchange for their powerful spells, had poor close quarters combat abilities.

The Hunters had turned the tide of the battle. Eventually, they mopped up the Gale Knights, and with Eun Joo grouping up with them, they were able to annihilate the rest of the monsters.

“Was anyone injured?” Eun Joo said.

“There were two injured, but the Healer already treated them,” someone said.

“Already?” Eun Joo asked, astonished. Then, she examined the once injured Hunters.

Their armor was ripped, but there were no traces of their injuries.

“You realize that I was talking about injuries that would limit their abilities in the battlefield, right?” Eun Joo said.

The once injured Hunter showed her the ripped section of his armor and replied, “You can tell based on how much the armor was damaged, but my wounds were quite severe. The Healer’s healing power is extremely high.”

“I don’t know where they got him from, but at this level, he’s better than a high-tier A-rank. He seems like he’d be at the top-tier level.”

“It seems like our clear time will be much faster because of him.”

The members of the regular assault team praised Sung Joon one after another, and Eun Joo glanced at Sung Joon. Sung Joon had been conversing with Hyun Sung, but when he felt her eyes on him, he turned his head.

“Thank you,” Eun Joo said. Sung Joon smiled.

“I just did my best as a Healer,” he replied.

Eun Joo smiled and turned around, returning to the front lines.

“Let’s keep going,” Eun Joo began.

“As Team Leader Kim said, it seems like it’d be best to throw away everything we think we may know about dungeons since this is a special dungeon,” Chul Soo added, as soon as she finished.

The party advanced for quite a while and encountered two more groups of spirit monsters. After that, they decided to take a quick break, so they placed a lamp in the corner of the vast clearing, and grouped together.

The Light Drones patrolled the area, illuminating the darkness, and a single Combat Hunter guarded the area in shifts.

“Did you say your name was Mr. Kang Sung Joon? Your healing power seemed considerable. Do you perhaps belong to an organization? I’m talking about a guild or a regular assault team,” Eun Joo approached Sung Joon and asked.

Sung Joon had sat beside Hyun Sung and was currently resting. She was definitely trying to recruit him into her regular assault team.

Sung Joon smiled, before saying, “I don’t belong to any organization, nor am I in a regular assault team.”

“If it’s alright with you, would you like to join ‘Dike’?”

“I don’t really want to join anyone yet,” Sung Joon shook his head and answered.

A regular assault team was different from a guild, and they didn’t take any of a Hunter’s earnings. However, regular assault teams had strict schedules.

He didn’t want to be tied down by anyone yet.

“Regular assault teams are really important starting from the A-rank dungeons, so it could be difficult to get a match…”

The difficulty level ramped up starting from the B-rank dungeons, so there were less parties formed through the matching process. Yet, it was said that it was almost a necessity to have a regular assault team for A-rank dungeons. That was just how important regular assault teams were.

“I’ll just take it slow and clear the dungeons,” replied Sung Joon.

“Please take your time to think about my offer until we’ve cleared the dungeon.”

“I understand.”

Eun Joo smiled cutely with her eyes and stood up. Hyun Sung, who was right beside Sung Joon, got close.

“‘Dike’ is one of the regular assault teams that Hunters want to join… You’ve already gotten an offer from them. That’s really amazing,” Hyun Sung said.

Hunters considered joining a regular assault team as ’employment’. As they went through more and more difficult dungeons, it would become difficult to find a match, so if a Hunter joined a regular assault team, they’d obtain a fixed income. That’s why Hunters called joining regular assault teams, ’employment’.

Also, regular assault teams or guilds with an S-rank Hunter tended to be popular. As they were so popular, they had a extensive interview process, and picked Hunters based primarily on their skills.

“Did you learn anything about the dungeon?” Sung Joon asked.

Hyun Sung shook his head with a dark expression.

“No. We haven’t figured out anything. The Bureau doesn’t understand why the dungeon appeared, and it seems highly likely that we also won’t be able to figure out the cause of the dungeon’s appearance,” Hyun Sung replied.

When dungeons had first appeared, several countries first sent the newly awakened Hunters into the dungeons as a surveying party.

However, no country was able to figure out why the dungeons and Raids had emerged.

“I see,” Sung Joon responded, nodding his head.

The only one who knew the true reason for the appearance of the dungeons and Raids was Sung Joon, who had lived in a different world in his past life.

“Now, let’s go.”

It had felt like a short break and now it was already over. The Hunters stood from their spots and got into their positions.

They hadn’t even rested for thirty minutes before they walked. At the end of the road, they discovered something in the darkness.

“Please give me some light,” Eun Joo requested.

One of the Hunters lit up his flashlight, and the light revealed something covered with a white cloth.

“Isn’t that a body?” Hyun Sung asked.

“It’s probably a body,” Sung Joon responded.

Since it wasn’t easy to clean up the body whilst on a dungeon run, Hunters would often leave the corpses in a corner following the battle.

If they left them in a corner, the Dungeon Bureau would collect them after the dungeon was cleared.

“We’ll check them!” Hyun Sung said.

Eun Joo nodded her head, and Hyun Sung and the two investigators went forward. The A-rank Hunters prepared for an ambush and accompanied them.

They cautiously pulled away a portion of the white cloth, examining the faces of the two corpses.

“We’ve confirmed their identities. They’re two B-rank Hunters from the first assault team,” Hyun Sung reported, while the other two investigators returned to their positions.

Unlike the second assault team, there had been two B-rank Hunters mixed into the first assault team.

They must’ve not suspected that the dungeon would be this difficult. It seemed like the two B-rank Hunters had died first, since they were lacking in skill compared to the rest of their party.

“Let’s continue on,” Eun Joo ordered, and the party moved along.

‘There’s something here.’

They walked busily in the order of their formation when Sung Joon felt an ominous presence. He felt the presence at the front, but he also felt it from the back. They were surrounded.

‘It’s an ambush.’

Sung Joon was absolutely sure.

‘I should warn them.’

He doubted that Eun Joo would listen to him, but he still had to try and warn his party. Sung Joon dashed to the front, where Eun Joo was leading.

“Mr. Kang Sung Joon! It’s dangerous to break the ranks!” Young Mi said.

“I have to tell Ms. Choi Eun Joo something,” Sung Joon replied shortly, and ran to Eun Joo.

Eun Joo stopped walking and the Hunters simultaneously followed suit.

“What’s wrong?” Eun Joo asked.

Sung Joon opened his mouth with a calm expression.

“There are monsters in front of us.”

“I already know that.”

Eun Joo had already detected the monsters before her with her Presence Detection.

“Did you know about the ambush, as well?” Sung Joon asked.

Eun Joo shook her head, and replied, “Are you saying that there’s an ambush waiting for us?”

It didn’t seem as if she knew about the ambush. The Mage Hunter, Chul Soo, who had been on standby at the rear, came forward.

“You’re a Healer, but you can detect presences? Team Leader, you shouldn’t take heed of what he says. Shouldn’t we move quickly?”

Chul Soo was obviously disregarding his warning, but Eun Joo shook her head.

“No. If he can detect the monsters in front of us, we can safely assume that he’s able to sense presences. Let’s move with caution.”

Eun Joo accepted Sung Joon’s suggestion. Since he had felt like he had been ignored, Chul Soo’s face crinkled in displeasure.

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The party advanced carefully and they arrived at their destination in thirty minutes, when it would have otherwise taken ten. Also, there was a group of monsters which consisted of Flame Berserkers and Gale Knights in front of them.

The monsters discovered the party and acted first.

“See, there’s no ambush! We just wasted some time…”

Chul Soo couldn’t finish speaking. He had gotten out of position, and started walking towards Eun Joo, but lifelessly fell to the floor.