The Healer Frontline
Time rewound to the Dragon-Phoenix Era, when Fantasia and the soul-wager clash raged, and the Lee Do Group and Kirin Group traded blows over their new car models.
In Mir Guild, the man in question lifted the seal.
“Gentlemen.”
Cold. Merciless. Cruel.
Yet this professor, warm only to his own guild, tapped the blackboard with a sparkle in his taped glasses.
Five characters written across it.
Competitive Gate Conquest.
“Your professor has already imparted a great deal of information regarding the Competitive Gate Conquest.”
The core point was this:
That “competition” came first in Competitive Gate Conquest.
“Breakthrough matters more than speed. Remember this is a marathon, not a sprint. The harder it is for you, the harder it is for them. This race is decided by how mercilessly you can drive yourselves.”
It was easy to overthink the chaotic nature of the matches. Easy to chase shortcuts when an obvious path appeared, just like someone else might.
But Professor Lee had always emphasized one thing.
That Competitive Gate Conquest was the truest, sweatiest contest of raw power against raw power, weight class against weight class, endurance over clever tricks.
And the positioning that embodied every ounce of that teaching was the 3-Point Positioning.
“There is no rear in 3-Point Positioning. The entire raid must share the risk. Every member, from tank to supporter, must run until they vomit. If even one fails to pull their weight, it collapses. It is the most beautiful positioning teamwork can create.”
“So you may feel proud. Being able to embody your professor’s ideal means you are already hunters of considerable caliber.”
Yet there was one warning Professor Lee always repeated.
Stagnant water rots. The familiar reveals its weaknesses.
“I’ll be fine alone, right? Today will be fine, right? The moment that complacent thought crosses your mind, you are already falling behind. You must always evolve. The league you stand in is that kind of battlefield.”
“This match is exactly such a case. We need change this round. Because the 55th round Competitive Gate Conquest will be completely different from any before it.”
With that, Professor Lee’s sleeve scraped roughly across the blackboard.
The word “competition” in Competitive Gate Conquest faded away.
“You’ve heard it. One versus three. The three Kirin-affiliated guilds will target us.”
No. That was incorrect.
“One hundred percent. They will target only our guild.”
Gasps rose from below the stage.
“Strategically, it’s convenient to dump the herding on us. Emotionally, even their pride demands they target us……”
“Good heavens. In your professor’s eyes, that is a naïve notion. Why would they target only us?”
Tap-tap. Chalk flew. New words appeared.
Kirin.
“Because those kids lobbied. They’re satisfied as long as Mir Guild is eliminated first.”
“!!”
Shock! Dismay!!
Jaws dropped.
Professor Lee smiled thinly and taught them the cruel reality.
“Let’s look at the facts. The Core Guild desperately needs points; they’re in the relegation zone. Royal Sword is the same—they’re aiming for playoffs.”
“But does Kirin Guild even care that much about points? The answer is no.”
Matches are uncertain until played, yet everyone already knew the outcome. An egg striking a rock shatters the egg.
Unless some natural-disaster-level misfortune struck, Kirin Guild’s playoff qualification was guaranteed. Their squad’s destructive power was that overwhelming.
“Then what matters to them? Obviously, our points—Mir Guild’s points. From Kirin’s perspective, their own points are irrelevant. What matters is Mir’s points.”
Questions flew up from below.
Cowardly. Underhanded. Some even cried match-fixing.
Professor Lee scolded them mercilessly.
“Shut it! Gentlemen! Has your professor raised you all to be this soft? I’ve said it before—when it’s 1:1:1:1 instead of 1:1, the situation itself is ambiguous. If they say ‘I’ll let you win’ or ‘I’ll give up,’ that’s one thing. But if they say ‘I’m satisfied’ or ‘this is enough’ with that vague nuance, can we even catch them in a technicality?”
“Stop whining. Once Competitive Gate Conquest exists, this is the price we pay.”
The conclusion: this was no longer a Competitive Gate Conquest. It was a Gate Conquest featuring monsters and forty-five humans.
“Now, this exposes one weakness in our guild. What is it? Anyone figured it out? Elder? Kim Yu-shin? Lee Hye-jung? Oh…? Bokchi figured it out too? Excellent.”
The answer was tanks.
“Why? What’s wrong with tanks? Simply put, our tank line is too solid. And too heavy. The higher the defense, the higher the cost it consumes.”
Here, cost was not merely material.
Setting aside potions and consumables, it included stamina, mana, forced formation integrity, teammate coordination, and accumulated fatigue. Drawing out the full power of such a strong tank line required high coercion and the sacrifice of those around them.
“By the way, you tanks should research ways to reduce this cost. A tank who can minimize it will become world-class—like Hwarang Kim Yu-shin over there.”
Kang Malsuk and Hwarang Kim Yu-shin’s defensive power were nearly identical. In raw defense alone, Kang Malsuk might even hold the edge.
Yet the mental fortitude to operate solo and world-class activity level made Kim Yu-shin a zero-cost, flawless tank.
Returning to the point, Mir’s current squad, built with blood and sweat, was clearly specialized for breakthrough.
But with three guilds obviously planning to target them for twenty-four hours straight, breakthrough was no longer the priority.
“What we need is—”
Two powerful characters were written on the board.
Maintenance.
“The endurance to last twenty-four hours, forty-eight hours—stretching combat time as long as possible while withstanding their herding!”
“The zombie-like endurance to devour every monster they drive our way and exhaust the herders instead!”
Tanks demanded high maintenance costs.
Breakthroughs consumed stamina.
They would keep harassing us with herding and interference.
Therefore, we abandon breakthrough this time and focus entirely on maintenance.
“We keep the existing 3-Point Positioning. However, we will not deploy a separate strike force this round. Hwarang joins the main force. Bokchi joins the main force as well. Who fills Bokchi’s spot? Rira……”
The briefing continued without pause.
Formations and tactics were drawn one after another in dizzying succession.
Most guild members fell behind trying to follow the geometric patterns, but those who kept up found their expressions growing harder to control as time passed.
‘We can actually move like that……?’
‘Impossible. How is that even feasible? What the hell is inside that head?’
‘High risk, high return. The basic concept is the same, but the execution is completely different. It looks like a standard gate conquest on the surface…… yet a path is visible. Incredible.’
Park Su-bin, freshly awakened as leader(?), 2nd Team’s Mamang Lee Hye-jung, and Hwarang Kim Yu-shin wore expressions of awe. The others felt differently.
Kim Jong-phil was purely horrified by Lee Shin’s professor act.
‘The more I watch, the more astonishing it becomes. It’s downright chilling.’
Individual abilities, patterns, even minor habits……
A strategy that extracted 120% of every person’s potential.
Only Kim Jong-phil, who alone could fully grasp the scope of Lee Shin’s vision in this world, could feel that sense of awe.
Countless diagrams extended outward, each carrying its own meaning, gradually forming the familiar shape of 3-Point Positioning.
And finally, Professor Lee’s chalk reached the very front of the main force—the heart of the formation.
“The star of the modified 3-Point Positioning is—”
Professor Lee wrote in bold cursive, then snapped the chalk.
Through the flying dust, one word appeared.
Healer.
“Princess, you’re ready, right?”
Princess and the rest.
All seven members of the healer team would sortie.
Princess and the entire healer team stood at the very front of Mir Guild’s formation.
Other guilds lined up at the starting line stared in utter shock.
Especially Manwang’s expression was priceless. What the hell kind of stunt was this?!
Tank, dealer, supporter.
The fundamental composition of gate conquests since ancient times, long before the league existed.
Yet Mir Guild had filled the tank positions entirely with healers, openly defying that foundation.
While the broadcast team struggled to hide their shock and horror, how must the fans—who had been waiting only for this day—feel?
‘Toegail-jwa’ (Park Seong-cheol, male) had to stop mid-cheer. Beside him, ‘Rirauonni’ (Bae Ji-ae, female), who had been eating popcorn, watched it spill from her hand. The newest member, ‘LeeShinsGrandpa’ (Lee Sang-byuk, male), who had been arguing with his secretary over sound equipment, froze in place.
The missing tank, supporter, and melee dealer positions had been filled with a flood of healers.
One interesting detail: every healer was equipped with a shield as large as a tank’s and heavy armor.
That didn’t mean they had become tanks.
Tanks had their own role. Defense was basic, but they also pulled aggro with taunts and various abilities, adjusted formations, and secured the battlefield.
There was a reason they were called the flower of gate conquests.
Yet those tanks had been removed. An action no sane person would take.
The shift from LeeGod to LeeBastard happened in an instant.
Media outlets that had been watching the match closely rushed out articles.
The once-hopeful atmosphere turned ice-cold.
Even the usually neutral broadcast team could no longer hide their disapproval.
When controversy erupted, there was only one solution.
Shock, horror, criticism, and controversy.
Carrying every negative emotion imaginable, the time finally arrived.
A wave of monsters filled the horizon.
Long arms gripping double axes. Hunched backs. Foul-smelling skin glowing with dull light, covered in shamanic runes.
Saliva dripped between their fangs. These were Dark Trolls, the highest species of troll.
And.
Three people stood against the black tide with their bodies.
“Raise the wall!”
The shining Hwarang’s Pridwen and the raining arrows of justice.
It became a massive fortress wall.
“Here I go!”
Park Su-bin’s fluttering mink coat and the roaring giant.
It became a colossal warhammer.
“Hoo, life……”
A woman with a powerful, elastic physique stood at the very front.
The eternal princess of the healer team, the gym goddess.
Seo Ye-na spread her pure white wings.
“Get lost, you stinking things!!”
A white veil spread from her, enveloping the surroundings.
Everything was healed.
Stamina, fatigue, even mana.
Human battery. Infinite power source.
Heavenly blessing descends upon this land. ‘Grace’ is a protective barrier that shields allies. ‘Hope’ is healing that embraces wounded comrades. ‘Courage’ is an awakening that stirs their spirits. ‘Justice’ is the miracle that transforms the surroundings into holy attribute.
Thirty minutes.
The time Lee Shin needed to prove himself.