Sword Master Healer - Episode 3
TL: Boko
Editor: Ren
Chapter 1 - In my Previous Life, I was a Sword Master (2)
"Ugh!"
The worn out blade pushed out tremendous amounts of Mana. Sung Joon screamed as his brain overloaded and blood continuously spilled from his nostrils.
The Mana and fragments of memories invaded his mind. In those memories, an unfamiliar man was fighting a giant Longma.
'Didn't I see this in my dream?'
The man he had seen in his dream had a similar appearance from behind. Everything seemed to stop, except for that strange passage of time and Sung Joon focused on the overflowing memories.
The memories weren't complete and the background changed frequently. The opponents the man fought changed as well. Despite that, there was one thing that didn't change.
'They all died.'
The gigantic Longma had slaughtered tens of thousands of soldiers and swallowed swordsmasters but with a slash of his sword, the man cut off a wing.
Even an arrogant vampire noble couldn't withstand a single attack and his head flew off. Then finally, the last man standing turned his head and looked behind him.
'Find your true self.' the man said. Then the frozen time began to flow once more and he came back to reality.
"Ugh!"
Sung Joon was engulfed by a brilliant white light.
The sword that once felt heavy now felt as light as a feather. He felt his whole body being filled with Mana.
Creak.
Sung Joon wasn't able to adapt to the change and woke up to Living Armors moving around.
In no time, the closest Living Armor challenged Sung Joon with its sharp halberd.
"S-Stop…"
His whole body was seized with fear.
Though he begged, the Living Armor had no feelings and there was no way it would stop. When the halberd pierced through the air, something happened.
Sung Joon, unbeknownst to himself, lifted the sword. No, the moment he raised the sword, he had already softly deflected the halberd.
Was this just luck? The answer was 'no'.
"I'm sure now."
Sung Joon spoke to himself. It felt like he had lost control of his body.
He knocked the halberd away. The slow Living Armor couldn't immediately withdraw its weapon. With that opening, Sung Joon penetrated the thick armor and shred it to pieces, and went inside to destroy the nucleus.
It only took 3 seconds to topple one Living Armor.
'Aura?'
Sung Joon was astonished. If it wasn't for the Aura, he wouldn't have been able to cut through the thick armor. Also, Aura was an extremely rare ability that only a small part of Combat Hunters could use.
'I've changed.'
Everything's changed. What was worse, his voice seemed colder.
"I couldn't see it.'
Jin Ah's eyes couldn't even follow the afterimages because she had a combat ability that wasn't even E-Rank.
'A C-rank Healer who isn't a Combat Hunter, broke a living armor into pieces? I can't believe it!'
A Living Armor appeared in over B-rank dungeons and was a high level monster. But that wasn't important right now.
'Will I survive?'
She now had hope that she could live. She felt relieved and her tears obscured her sight in front of her. She looked in Sung Joon's direction and opened her mouth.
"Please, please save me!"
Sung Joon's eyes were directed at Jin Ah. She obviously thought he would save her and a smile spread on her face.
Although Sung Joon was weak and lived whilst hiding his fangs, it didn't mean he would abandon someone in danger.
"D- Damn it!"
Sung Joon had forgotten about Jin Ah. Although he tried to move quickly, his wounds hampered him. In the meantime, the Living Armors raised their weapons.
"S- save me."
Jin Ah let out thick tears and humbly begged. However, her plea didn't reach him.
The living armor was a monster without mercy.
"Gah!"
She let out a sharp scream.
The living armors used their swords and spears to stab her repeatedly like a ragdoll.
"It, it hurts! IT HURTS! Save, save… me."
After a series of terrible pains, she breathed her last. However, the Living Armors didn't stop until her body was in pieces.
Without anything else to stab, the living armors surrounded Sung Joon.
'Can I do it again?'
As the Living Armors approached, Sung Joon held his breath. Earlier, he had been wondering if it had been a fluke and now he quickly found himself in a predicament.
He didn't know how to wield the sword. It was similar to instinct.
'Live or die!'
At any rate, if he didn't do anything, he would die. If that was the case, he thought he would at least put up some resistance.
Sung Joon threw himself at the closest Living Armor. At the same time, the living armor stabbed at him with its sword and he naturally evaded it and attacked from behind.
Also, the moment his sword moved, a weak Aura covered it and the Living Armor was cut in half.
"Ha!"
He let out a battle cry, and the moment he put strength into his body, his body moved naturally. The flooding Living Armors' swords looked like they were in slow motion. However, Sung Joon's sword moved so quickly that his own eyes had difficulty tracking it.
"Ha, ha…"
When he regained consciousness, the Living Armors had become scraps of armor that rolled around on the stone floor.
-Attack confirmation, measurement complete. Rank Dungeon, clear.
The measuring tool told him that he had cleared the dungeon. The portable measuring tool that hunters carried had a lot of functions, but the typical use was for items, checking the grade of magic stones, or at the time a dungeon was cleared, it sensed any changes/alterations in Mana and gave a final grade to the dungeon.
"As I thought, it was a hidden dungeon…"
The measuring tool shouldn't have been wrong. Despite the Dungeon Bureau's evaluation of the dungeon, the rank of the dungeon was a lot higher, so it was definitely a hidden dungeon.
So long as the measuring tool announced his dungeon clear, there would be nothing to worry about. Sung Joon felt relieved, and sheathed his sword. However, when he walked, his whole body ached.
Even if it was a test, because he had awakened when his body wasn't in good condition and used his swordsmanship, his body was at its limit.
"Ugh!" Sung Joon groaned and crumpled. It didn't seem as if the pain from his torn muscles would go away easily. He couldn't resist the pain and rolled on the stone floor.
"Ugh!"
It wasn't just physical pain, but also an extreme migraine and dizziness due to the tens of thousands of memory pieces that swirled in his head
The man in pain realized something.
'I was a Healer, right?'
His Healing Power was really low, but he was still a Healer.
"H-Heal!"
White light wrapped around his whole body. The pain quickly subsided and after a few minutes, he could move again.
"My Heal already healed me? Were my wounds not that deep?"
His whole body was bloody, due to his torn muscles. He thought it had been a fatal injury. Guess not.
Perhaps he had thought that way due to his fatigue.
'I wanna rest.'
However, his mental fatigue remained, so he really wanted to rest. He hurriedly moved his feet but he stopped in front of someone's corpse.
"Mr. Sang Min."
It was Sang Min's corpse. Although he had died, he couldn't close his eyes peacefully. Without saying a word, Sung Joon closed Sang Min's eyes. He also took a white cloth out of his bag and draped it over Sang Min's body.
When everyone else turned their backs on Sung Joon, Sang Min was the only hunter who helped him. Therefore, he gave him the minimal amount of respect.
"The other corpses should be collected by the Dungeon Bureau…"
They hadn't been close. He didn't feel the need to put in the effort to take care of the bodies.
In no time, the stone gate opened. That was his cue to leave.
A sparkling object caught Sung Joon's eye.
'A magic stone? Was it left behind by a Living Armor?'
Magic stones could be sold for an expensive price. The Dungeon Bureau purchased most of them and it became the primary source of income for Hunters.
'I can't let this magic stone go to waste, can I?'
He hesitated for a moment, but then Sung Joon gathered the scattered magic stones.
"Dead men tell no tales."
He took all the magic stones that his party had gathered. Maybe it was because Deok Soo kept the magic stones that he had no qualms taking the stones.
'It's mine now, anyway.'
The dead had no rights to a share of the profits.
When Sung Joon's bag was filled with magic stones, he left the dungeon. A worker from the Dungeon Bureau was waiting outside on standby.
"What about the others?"
Sung Joon merely shook his head instead of answering.
"So there's only one survivor…"
The employee spoke to himself, and recorded something on a chart. Usually they spoke with soft voices such that they could barely be heard, but this time, it was as if they were speaking right next to his ear and they were quite clear.
Sung Joon remained still, looking surprised and the employee clicked his tongue and shook his head.
"It looks like you were really surprised, but you must undergo an investigation."
Sung Joon nodded. In situations where they were suspicious of murder inside the dungeon, the Dungeon Bureau investigated.
"Once the investigation results are out, you must attend to make a final statement. We will contact you separately."
"Thank you."
After he replied roughly, he went back home. Because of the extreme mental fatigue, he immediately fell asleep. It wasn't until the late afternoon the next day that he woke up, due to the continuous bell sound from his phone.
He had just slept but he felt strength overflowing from his body. His surprise was short-lived as he heard the continuous bell sound and he checked the phone's display.
[Dungeon Bureau]