Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Rescue Runs Are Originally Impulsive
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Cheon I-ryeong, the master of Heavenly Flame Guild, brushed the ash from the shoulders of her soot-covered robe and sank into an ornate sofa.
"You've worked hard, Guild Master. You've now climbed even higher than Hunter Scarlett."
"Hasn't Scarlett challenged the 42nd floor yet?"
The American hunter Scarlett was a necromancer with supernatural powers and had long been Cheon I-ryeong's rival.
"Yes, it seems she's focused on establishing the new association right now."
"She's wasting her time on something pointless."
An association? What a useless idea.
Hunter power grew stronger by the day, while public authority crumbled in tandem. Now, protecting this land was solely the hunters' responsibility.
Cheon I-ryeong couldn't fathom how they planned to manage hunters wielding such immense power.
"...And the government made another offer..."
"Turn it down."
"Yes, ma'am."
The South Korean government was scrambling to build its own association, just like America, but it had been utterly untrustworthy even before the gate incident.
There was no place for them in the new order rebuilt around hunters and guilds.
They were trying to recruit hunters now, tacking on all sorts of belated conditions, but good luck with that.
'Hunters' standards have gotten way too high for that.'
Cheon I-ryeong recognized the need for an association.
Guilds popping up haphazardly, territorial disputes, hunter conflicts.
The police had no means to restrain hunters, and even if they did, no court to judge them.
If hunters went on strike, who would handle the monsters pouring from the gates?
In any case, Cheon I--ryeong's current focus wasn't the association or her longtime rival Scarlett.
'...That newbie.'
Tower Gallery.
A newbie who had recently appeared there while she was casually browsing kept nagging at her mind.
'What the hell was that power.'
The image of the 1st floor hallway the newbie had posted.
It was unmistakably a trace of fire-element magic or fire-related ability, just like hers.
'That level of firepower...'
It was mild firepower to Cheon I-ryeong, of course.
The problem was that the newbie had shown it off on the 1st floor.
She'd gained that kind of power around the 10th floor, right after hitting level 5 and becoming B-rank.
Yet a newbie fresh on the 1st floor had wielded it.
Unbelievable. AI and editing tech must be advanced these days—had to be some fake image posted to the gallery.
Unless...
'I have to recruit them no matter what.'
An awakener with that level of fire affinity was bound to grow enormously.
She had to bring them into the guild. The other hunters in the gallery at the time must be thinking the same, so she needed to act fast.
The number and quality of hunters defined a guild's strength.
To crush the proliferating guilds with overwhelming power, she couldn't settle for the status quo.
"And there's something you need to see."
"...What now?"
Lee Jae-hoon, her secretary who usually gave a brief report after a tower clear and vanished, interrupted her thoughts.
He bowed impassively to the frowning, fatigued Cheon I-ryeong and held out a tablet.
"...The gallery?"
Not the Tower one, but the regular gallery.
Hunter Gallery, which Cheon I-ryeong had browsed a few times herself.
She'd dismissed it quickly—mostly useless jokes.
"Please take a look at this post."
Anyway, I ran out today after hearing an alarm about a nearby gate being cleared, just to check out the hunters.
But one hunter was badly hurt, bleeding all over the ground.
Everyone's just standing around going "Oh no, what now?" watching, and then this tiny girl—kid-sized—rushes over.
Hunters are already on edge, so I thought trouble, went to call her back, but suddenly light bursts from her hand!
(Video of the girl healing with light from her hand, taken from afar)
That nasty wound heals right up!
Man, healers are the real deal. It closed up in seconds.
Funny as hell seeing all the hunters dumbfounded, and then chaos as they chase the healer who's bolting away at top speed, bumping into people everywhere.
Don't you have to be an adult to awaken?
A post with countless comments piling up after that.
Cheon I-ryeong's eyes were fixed on the girl in the video.
Her thoughts of the newbie had vanished completely.
"Who's she? Any ID on her yet?"
"Not among known hunters. Other guilds are searching their channels too, but no luck."
"We have to find and recruit her first. Offer S-rank level terms and bring her to me, whatever it takes."
"Understood. But Abyss and Naraka Guilds are moving too, so it won't be easy."
"Those bastards too... Focus on finding her as top priority for now."
Abyss and Naraka each had one healer.
That was why Heavenly Flame Guild—with S-rank Cheon I-ryeong herself and multiple A-ranks—lagged slightly behind them in competition.
'Tower newbie and this healer... I need to snag both no matter what. The newbie I can talk to directly next time they enter the tower, so focus on the healer now.'
Tower Gallery couldn't be accessed outside the tower.
She wanted to rush in and wait for the newbie, but with her mana drained empty, Cheon I-ryeong could only swallow her regret.
When I came to, I was already weaving through the crowd of hunters.
"What's this kid doing here?!"
"No autographs right now, so beat it."
"W-wait a sec. Just hold on a moment."
The hunters' sharp glares poured down, leaving me flustered, but I first calmed their anger and checked on the female hunter.
Focusing my mind, the female hunter appeared with a painterly texture.
She looked like a painting made of light.
Warm white light glowed from her entire body, slowly flowing toward the wound.
Was that light... vitality?
As the light drained out, her face grew paler by the second, losing all color.
"Can't you see the situation? Get out now!"
"Yeah, kiddo. We're kinda busy, so go back to mommy. It's dangerous here."
The hunters wouldn't settle down, even starting to treat me like a child.
It wasn't just the quest—instinct drew me here too.
I had a hunch I could help, though I wasn't sure if it would work.
It might do nothing, unlike the feeling.
Who knows.
But the quest wouldn't appear for no reason.
The female hunter's faint white light was dimming by the moment.
If I didn't act now, she was definitely going to die—that was what rooted my feet in place.
"I think I can save her."
"What? Kid, jokes have their time and—"
"H-hold up. Don't tell me she's a healer?"
"Huh? No way. She's not even an adult—"
Drawing.
I dipped an invisible brush into the blue paint hovering in the air—probably mana.
As the blue light gathered in my hand, the hunters surrounding and yelling at me went wide-eyed.
'If this doesn't work, I'm screwed.'
I'd pulled way too much aggro, and using a skill on top of that—might not end with just "weird kid" treatment.
'Still, gotta try what I can.'
I trusted the quest and went for it.
'Remember that moment—like drawing the flame magic.'
I focused on the sensation of transmuting my blue paint into flame with my power.
This light that looked like vitality should be no different.
There had to be a reason her body appeared as a painting to me.
The gaping abdominal wound was a chaotic marbling of red blood and white light.
'First, transmute mana into vitality.'
Following instinct, I brought the brush tip to her vitality. Like mixing white light into blue paint—the brush lingered, and purer white light bloomed on the tip.
'Got it.'
For a moment, I marveled at the almost holy pure white glow.
Then I hurriedly swept the brush from intact skin over the wound, covering it.
Yes, it was just like—
Overpainting—perfect name from my perspective.
Not your typical healer skill, but I felt like an art restorer, frantically wielding the brush.
Wherever the pure white light passed, blood staunched, light lingered, and flesh began filling in.
Cheers and gasps erupted around me, but with my focus maxed, they faded into the background.
The final touch complete, I gazed at the female hunter's now pristine abdomen—save for the bloodstains—and my strength gave out.
Immense fatigue.
Worse than drawing that massive flame.
This wasn't something I could spam.
"Whoa... She saved her! She really did!"
"It's a healer! A healer helped us!"
"Ahh, it's the Saintess...!"
Saintess? What the heck?
Snapping back, I looked around to see hunters staring with eyes half joy, half mania.
"Eek."
My frail little body trembled under their gaze.
And now, how the hell was I supposed to explain this?
I couldn't even say who I was.
So I bolted through the throng of gathered people.
"Ah! Healer! Don't go!"
"Wait just a moment!"
"G-get out of the way! Argh!"
Chaos erupted behind me as people and hunters tangled up, but I slipped through using my small frame and vanished into the maze of alleyways.