The camera shook wildly as it captured the inside of the cave. The vast chamber on the screen looked as though the ceiling and floor had been flipped upside down.
The walls, the ground, even the ceiling were riddled with jagged rocks jutting out at impossible angles, creating an eerie atmosphere. It looked as if someone had forcibly twisted the very fabric of space.
The culprit behind this chaos was a spider the size of a person clinging flat against the ground.
More precisely, it was the boss monster of this dungeon—a creature shaped like a giant spider.
"I-I don't think this is only B-rank..."
The cameraman's trembling voice came through the audio.
Corpses of lower-ranked monsters littered the area, while the Hunters of Eclipse Guild stood scattered among them, all looking dangerously close to defeat.
Boom! Crash!
Just then, the guild's main dealer unleashed a blade of sword aura at the boss.
But before the attack could even reach the monster, it vanished.
No.
It was more accurate to say that the constantly rippling space swallowed the incoming sword aura.
Then—
Whoosh—! BOOM! Rumble—!
The sword aura split into several copies before hurtling back toward its owner.
The dealer knocked aside the first one with his sword before desperately dodging the rest.
"...Tch."
His attacks simply weren't working.
The matchup couldn't have been worse.
The main dealer was a close-combat swordsman who specialized in charging straight at his target, while the boss monster distorted the orientation and coordinates of the dungeon's interior itself.
"W-What... what do we do now..."
The cameraman's voice wavered with tears.
Are we going to die here?
The despair was so overwhelming it reached the audience through the screen.
Anxiety spread across the faces of the other guild members as well.
"Tsk. Just look at this raid team. What a pathetic mess."
Someone who had spent the entire battle standing in the rear with folded arms finally shoved the cameraman aside and walked forward.
His left leg dragged with an odd limp, but despite that, he carried himself with overwhelming confidence.
"Uh... uh..."
Still filming his back out of reflex, the cameraman reached out in panic, apparently trying to grab his shoulder and stop him.
Which made perfect sense.
The one stepping forward was none other than the team's main healer.
A healer was one of the most important members of any raid.
There was a reason every raid team treated their healers like pampered princesses or princes.
Yet now the healer, the one who should have been safest at the very back, was calmly walking straight onto the battlefield.
"Please don't come any closer."
Even the main dealer extended a hand to stop him before quickly running over.
He clearly intended to scold the recklessly fearless healer.
"Your leg is already in bad shape. What if you fall?"
Just as expected.
With a stern expression, he reprimanded him.
The healer merely frowned and casually brushed back his hair.
"Bastard. Enough nagging."
"...Have you figured out how to beat it?"
"Yeah. More or less."
The healer pointed at the boss with a fingertip.
"It looks like it's controlling space, but if you look closely, there's a trick hidden inside it. If you can read mana, you can see it to some extent..."
"...?"
"...Eh, forget it. I never expected you to be able to see it anyway. Those things can't be dealt with by knights. Physical attacks get caught by the distorted space before they can even land."
"Then shouldn't we just destroy that space?"
"This is why you brainless knight types..."
The healer clicked his tongue in exasperation.
"You'd get caught long before that."
He grimaced as though speaking to an idiot.
The dealer answered with an equally frustrated expression, one eyebrow twitching upward.
"Then...?"
"You don't break the space."
"You untie the knots holding it together and expose them."
Space?
Knots?
What was he talking about?
The dealer still looked completely lost.
But he didn't bother trying to understand.
"I have no idea what you mean, but... alright. Let's go."
The dealer extended his hand.
Go?
Go where?
As if reflecting the cameraman's bewilderment, the footage shook slightly.
"Try saying, 'Please help me.'"
"...Please help me."
"That's better."
The healer chuckled, clearly pleased, and took his hand.
The very next instant—
The dealer effortlessly pulled him into his arms.
"Uh...?"
The cameraman let out a dumbfounded noise.
A moment later, both men soared into the air.
Then the combo attack began.
Boom! BOOM!
A rain of ice arrows crashed down toward the monster from directly above.
The monster clacked its fangs mockingly before screeching.
Kiiiiiik!
Right on cue, space folded over itself and swallowed the incoming arrows.
Or rather—
It tried to.
Fwoosh—!
The instant space split open, every rapidly flying ice arrow transformed into water and splattered harmlessly onto the ground.
At the same time, countless flames burst outward from the direction of the two Hunters.
"Gasp!"
The cameraman hurriedly followed the flames with his lens.
As the fire touched something invisible suspended in midair, it spread across it.
The hidden texture of space, concealed until now, was finally revealed.
"...Threads?"
Countless threads woven through empty air glowed as they burned.
The camera darted around before zooming back in on the dealer and healer, who were still floating overhead.
The healer smiled with obvious satisfaction before extending a hand.
Brilliant blue mana surged from his fingertips and shot toward an almost invisible knot hanging above the boss monster's head.
Kiiiiiiik—! Kyaaaah!
Space itself ripped apart as the boss screamed.
From that point onward...
It was the mysterious healer's showtime.
* * *
(Hot) Did anyone watch yesterday's Eclipse raid video?
A healer beat the crap out of the boss monster.
Is this even real?
(Video Clip)
(Original Video Link)
Comments
-?????? Wasn't that offensive magic?? Did the healer seriously cast that?
└ If you zoom in, it definitely came from the healer's hand.
-Reawakened S-rank healer LMAOOOO. Are S-rank healers just out here killing monsters themselves now?
-Do all reawakened healers become like this? Starting today my dream job is reawakened healer.
-I checked it frame by frame. It isn't even a single element. Ice → Fire → Spatial Severance(?) → Debuff combo. Even mages can't chain spells like that.
└ Here comes the know-it-all again lol;;
-A true healer removes the cause before allies can get hurt lol.
└ Facts LOL.
└└ LMAO Healer (Physical).
└└└ Korean healers tear monsters apart.
The entire country was in an uproar.
The one who had defeated a boss monster so difficult no one could believe it had appeared in a mere B-rank dungeon...
...was a healer.
The footage spread across the internet at astonishing speed, reaching every corner of the world.
And the healer who had become an overnight celebrity—
Pyo Haram—
was thoroughly enjoying his newfound fame.
"Hey, look at this. They're calling me a 'crazy prodigy.' What's with the 'crazy' part? Is that supposed to be a compliment? Oh, this guy even analyzed all the spells I used. Well, at least someone knows what they're talking about."
"..."
"Those idiots. I've been telling them forever that I'm a mage, but they kept insisting on calling me a healer. Now they finally understand this great one's magnificent abilities. Huh? Isn't it hilarious?"
"..."
"Come on, look. They're all worshipping me."
"...Ha..."
As Haram continued bragging at full volume, the man sitting across from him let out a long sigh.
Haram cackled before generously offering what he apparently considered comfort.
"Upset because everyone's paying attention to me instead? Don't worry too much. People mention you every now and then too. Let's see..."
"'Looks like the S-rank main dealer has completely fallen off.'"
"Tsk, tsk. Imagine walking around hearing things like that. Don't go telling people you're my slave."
"..."
His ears felt like they were bleeding.
The S-rank Hunter whose "skills had completely fallen off"—
the dealer from the video, Seo Munhyeok—
rubbed his ear with a conflicted expression.
To think someone could inflict this much damage on an S-rank body...
Could this healer—
No.
Could this great Archmage possess some terrifying skill he had never heard of?
"...Are you really that happy?"
"Hm? About what?"
"You've been staring at the internet this whole time. Are you really that pleased because people are praising you?"
Seo Munhyeok had long since grown numb to other people's opinions.
After a lifetime of overwhelming attention, he had become thoroughly sick of it.
But Haram was different.
No matter how much praise he received, it was never enough.
He always wanted more recognition.
"Of course I am. Back when I was the great Archmage, I received praise far greater than this. Whenever I so much as lifted a finger, my slaves would—"
Seo Munhyeok quietly prepared himself for another lecture about "back in my day."
Unexpectedly, Haram stopped talking almost immediately.
"...Why did you stop?"
"...Never mind."
"My mood suddenly went to hell."
"I'm taking a nap now. Don't bother me."
The excitement vanished from his face in an instant.
His expression darkened, and before Seo Munhyeok could stop him, Haram hurried into his room.
Click.
After closing the door, Haram glanced down at the phone still in his hand.
The humans filling the screen with comments praising him, admiring him, and exalting him gradually overlapped with the devoted followers he had once possessed in his original world.
"...Ha."
How the hell did my life end up like this?
He tossed the phone onto the desk before collapsing face-first onto the bed.
The moment he closed his eyes, memories he could never forget slowly crawled back to consume his consciousness.
Overwhelmed by the unpleasant sensation, Haram drifted back into the past he thought had long since ended.
* * *
"Emperor's assassin! Here's today's meal."
Clang!
A tray slid beneath the gap under the iron door.
Haran's gaze swept over it.
On the tray sat black bread and spoiled stew—
food he hadn't seen since childhood.
"...You expect me to eat this?"
"What? Hah. You should be grateful you're getting anything at all. Do you still think you're the great Archmage or something?"
"You're just the man who tried to assassinate the Emperor."
The prison guard sneered with a twisted grin.
Grinding his teeth, Haran glared at the shackles fastened around his wrists.
They were no ordinary restraints.
They were mana-control shackles specifically designed to suppress the mana of Haran—
the great Archmage himself.
Three days had already passed since he'd been falsely accused of attempting to assassinate the Emperor.
Fed nothing but garbage, Haran had spent all three days practically starving as he lay sprawled across the hard stone bed.
Just wait until I get out of here.
Even then, Haran never doubted he would leave this prison.
Because he hadn't attacked the Emperor.
He had heard the Emperor was recovering.
Surely it wouldn't be long before the false accusation was cleared.
He'll come for me.
Once I'm out, I'll beat every bastard who framed me half to death. And I'll give that useless Emperor an earful for failing to keep his own house in order.
The Emperor cherished him.
More accurately, he cherished Haran's talent.
But to Haran, those were one and the same.
After all...
He himself was magic.
As long as he never lost that power, the Emperor could never abandon him.
Haran believed that without the slightest doubt.
"In five days..."
"...What?"
"...your execution will take place."
Up until the moment those words—
"execution"—
left the Emperor's own mouth.