I Learned a New Skill?
"Whoa...!!"
Yoo Sumi, who had been carving up the Mountain Bear's corpse, let out a gasp of awe.
"Hey girls, come look at this! The mana stone is freaking massive!"
At her shout, Kim Seohwa and I rushed over.
"Wow..."
"I've never seen one this big before."
A mana stone the size of an entire roll of toilet paper was radiating light.
The ones we'd seen until now were at most finger-sized or tiny nail-shard fragments.
"Selling just this one should easily get us four hundred. This is a total jackpot."
"That much?"
"Yeah. Boss-class monsters usually give you at least eight times the mana stone value of regular ones. That's why catching even a single boss makes the day's profit way sweeter."
Yoo Sumi stuffed the harvested mana stone into the backpack she was carrying.
It was apparently a magic-expanded bag. Thanks to that, the small crossbody-sized pouch had the capacity of a full military rucksack.
Bags like that started at several thousand dollars minimum.
I made a mental note to buy one once I started earning real money.
"Jiyun's really spoiling her big sisters. Just the three of us took down a boss in a C-grade gate."
"Right? When I first received that buff earlier, it felt like I reached a realm I couldn't have touched in ten years of grinding in a single second. Like, I can actually get this strong?"
"Ehehehe~"
Our party's current combat strength was honestly ridiculous.
Normally, a C-grade gate required at least a six-person party with two B-grade hunters to clear safely.
But ours was just two B-graders and one unranked.
On top of that, we had no tank to hold aggro, so the close-range dealers were forced to stand on the front line in an insanely risky formation.
If the low-defense melee fighters couldn't handle the incoming attacks, the backline could get wiped out instantly.
Yet there was one existence that made this formation possible.
Me—the unique-class EX-grade Heal Dragon, watashi.
Healing of the Spring Breeze didn't just mend wounds; it also removed physical and mental fatigue. That meant we could maintain stamina and focus even in prolonged fights.
And above all else, Overflowing Vitality was granting our party members absurdly broken combat power.
Bad synergy didn't matter. Numbers didn't matter.
As long as each individual's weight class was overwhelmingly superior, that was enough.
Thanks to that, we'd achieved the feat of three people without a tank comfortably beating a boss.
Who was the maestro of the battlefield, shattering old paradigms and generating maximum profit with minimum manpower?
Me, of course.
"Jiyun, you worked so hard. I was impressed again watching you this time. How do you even manage to heal while shooting arrows at the same time?"
"If I focus on shooting and forget to heal, the whole point of the party falls apart... hehe."
"Exactly. There are tons of people who don't think about priorities and just do whatever they want. But you pick everything up from one to ten without anyone having to explain it. I only ever want to party with Jiyun from now on."
Whoa.
Yoo Sumi pulled me into a gentle hug from behind.
I froze up for a second, startled, but...
She was warm... and it felt nice... so a dumb smile just spilled out of me...
"Ehe... hehe."
"Your archery's gotten really accurate too. Your hit rate keeps skyrocketing every fight."
"That eye shot on the bear earlier was seriously cool. Hitting the eye accurately in the middle of that chaos isn't something just anyone can do."
"It's only your second gate and your movements are already so sharp."
Praise. So much praise.
It felt like my brain was going numb from all the endorphins.
My archery skills were improving rapidly, and all that running practice was paying off.
This was happiness. This was joy.
After that we discussed profit distribution, and both Kim Seohwa and Yoo Sumi agreed to give me fifty percent.
I'd been planning to take less, but they said I'd contributed enough to deserve it.
Since the total earnings were much higher than the previous D-grade gate, Sumi and Seohwa were still getting a decent share.
We continued clearing the gate.
We were smoothly taking down small fry monsters when we ran into another party of about ten people.
Seeing Yoo Sumi and Kim Seohwa exchange greetings, it looked like they knew each other.
"Whoa. Who's this? Where did you pick up such a cute kid?"
The woman who seemed to be their leader—an archer—spoke to Yoo Sumi.
"She's our party's healer. Thanks to her, the three of us are clearing C-grade gates. Her supporting is seriously insane."
"Aww, you're so young and already running gates? Isn't it hard dragging around close-range dealers instead of a tank?"
"You wanna die?"
"Ahaha... I'm fine. My sisters are taking me along and teaching me as we go."
"Pretty face and pretty words. Alright, I'm feeling generous. Want to barnacle with your sisters?"
Barnacle Play was hunter slang.
It referred to a small party sticking to a larger, stronger one like a barnacle, letting the big group handle dangerous situations while they safely farmed the leftovers.
Of course, doing it without permission was bad manners and could lead to fights, but if everyone agreed, there was no problem.
"For real? You'll let us barnacle?"
"It's not because of you. I'm doing it because there's a cute baby here."
"Okay. Thanks."
And so our party tagged along behind the ten-person group as we headed up the rocky mountain.
This gate was divided into relatively easy plains and high-difficulty rocky mountains.
No matter how OP a healer I was, tackling the mountain with just three people carried too much risk. Barnacling solved that problem nicely.
When a swarm of strong monsters came, the other party would take the hits while we cleaned up the scraps.
"This kind of thing happens too, huh. They let us barnacle just because your face is cute."
Kim Seohwa said from beside me.
"Jiyun, do you have any SNS accounts? If you just posted a few selfies, I bet you'd gain a ton of followers. Want to do it with me?"
"Ooh... I don't right now, but I'll think about it."
SNS, huh. It was worth seriously considering.
With this destructively powerful face, becoming an SNS star was definitely possible.
Most famous hunters had at least one SNS account.
They used it to share news, communicate with fans, post photos, and manage their public image.
Once I became a famous hunter, I'd have millions of fans, so thinking about it ahead of time wasn't a bad idea.
Anyway, our barnacle play with the other party had begun.
The leading party carved a wide path forward, and we just had to clean up the remaining monsters they left behind.
Even though they were leftovers, the monsters here on the mountain path were higher grade than the ones on the plains, so the profits were good.
The first thing to block our way was a troll wielding a massive wooden club.
It was a bit faster and more threatening than a golem, but its low intelligence and weak defense meant a skilled party could handle it easily.
I, making my debut as a damage porter in this gate raid, fired an arrow first.
One advantage archers had over mages was their fast attack speed.
Every spell required casting time, but arrows could be loosed instantly.
The arrows I fired in quick succession struck the troll in the chest and throat.
It let out a loud roar and staggered backward.
I wasn't landing perfect shots every time yet, but I could land effective hits consistently now.
Kim Seohwa's magic poured into the staggered troll, and Yoo Sumi didn't miss the opening, slicing through its neck in one clean motion.
We quickly harvested the mana stone and followed after the leading party.
The hunt continued in the same way.
It was pure barnacle play with zero danger and all the sweet rewards.
Then, at one point—
"Slow down a bit. Looks like they're fighting a monster pack up ahead."
The party in front had engaged a group of monsters and come to a stop.
You might think we should go help, but since this was closer to money-making than life-or-death combat, jumping in to steal kills could get us labeled as rude stealers trying to snatch mana stones.
Since they were doing us the favor of letting us barnacle, we just had to patiently take what was given.
So we simply paused for a short break.
While Yoo Sumi and Kim Seohwa sat on the ground, I kept shooting arrows at trees for practice.
When I focused while shooting, there were moments when time seemed to slow down.
In that instant, I'd been able to hit the Mountain Bear boss right in the eye.
Right now I was practicing to maintain and master that sensation.
"Rest while you practice, Jiyun. It's good to work hard, but don't overdo it."
Yoo Sumi called from behind me.
"Just a second. If I do this a little more, I feel like I'll get it..."
"If you come now, I'll give you jelly."
"Hup."
I instantly resummoned the Bow of the Great Tree and ran straight to Yoo Sumi.
She was right. Studying until your head explodes doesn't work.
Sometimes you needed something sweet and a refresh so your brain could rest.
"Here. Say 'ah~'."
But instead of handing me the jelly bag, Yoo Sumi pushed a single jelly toward my mouth.
"Um... can't you just give me the whole bag...?"
"Then there's no point in me giving it to you. I brought it for this exact reason."
When she said it so honestly, it was hard to refuse...
I hesitated for a moment, then opened my mouth a little.
Yoo Sumi placed the jelly on my tongue with her fingers and I closed my mouth, but—
Swoosh.
Right before my lips shut, the jelly was pulled back out.
"......"
Yoo Sumi wore an expression of pure bliss.
Is this really that fun? I just tasted extreme disappointment and despair from having my jelly stolen?
"Okay. This time for real."
Yoo Sumi reached out again.
After that betrayal, my trust in her had already dropped below fifty percent, but what could I do?
She was the one holding the jelly.
I leaned forward and opened my mouth again.
But...
Once again, right before I could close my lips, Yoo Sumi snatched the jelly away.
Anger surged up inside me.
"Puhahahaahahahahahaha!"
Yoo Sumi burst into roaring laughter as she watched me.
"Hahahaahaha!!"
At the same time Kim Seohwa exploded with laughter too, leaving me as the only one getting mad.
"Is it fun? I know something really fun too."
"What? What is it?"
"I'm about to go on healing strike starting now."
I flopped onto my back, and Yoo Sumi immediately apologized, saying she'd buy me tons of jelly and begging for forgiveness.
In the end, three whole bags of jelly ended up in my hands.
"Ahem."
Chewing on the chewy, sweet jelly made happiness well up naturally.
Could something this simple really trigger happiness? I wasn't a kid anymore.
I was busy munching on the jelly Yoo Sumi gave me when—
"...??"
I stopped chewing and stared toward the forest where the other party was.
I'd felt some kind of inexplicable unease coming from that direction.
What was this feeling?
An unexplainable, groundless anxiety suddenly surged up.
This was something I'd seen a lot in movies and comics.
Usually when this happened, it meant a massive crisis was—
"Hey, hey! What the hell is that!"
An urgent voice rang out from the other party right after.
Kim Seohwa and Yoo Sumi both turned serious and looked over as well.
Crack. Crunch. Crash.
With loud noises, massive trees swayed and toppled over.
The members of the other party were almost in a panic, screaming.
"Get ready, Jiyun."
Yoo Sumi spoke, but I was already on my feet, gripping the Bow of the Great Tree.
"Scatter! Spread out wide!"
"Don't clump together!"
Along with those shouts, a tremendous boom echoed.
And then the house-sized monster revealed itself.
"It's a Thunderhorn Rhino!!"
A rhino with a horn crackling with bright yellow lightning had appeared.
This was the most obvious difference between D-grade and C-grade gates.
Whether the monsters had special abilities.
No matter how strong D-grade monsters were, they could only bite with teeth, scratch with claws, or swing clubs.
But starting at C-grade, even similarly shaped monsters could breathe fire, shoot lightning, or cast magic.
The difference in danger was like heaven and earth.
"Kuuwooooo!!"
The Thunderhorn Rhino let out a huge roar and stomped its front leg hard.
Lightning bolts shot out in all directions.
The other party's members who couldn't react in time were struck by the lightning and screamed.
"We have to help. If we leave them like this, someone might die."
Yoo Sumi and Kim Seohwa each drew their weapons.
"I'll give you the buff!"
I cast Overflowing Vitality without hesitation.
The buffed Yoo Sumi shot forward like a bullet while Kim Seohwa created dozens of flaming arrows.
Meanwhile, the rhino had already charged and sent two of the other party's members flying.
It was spine-chilling.
Getting hit and sent flying like that obviously wouldn't leave them unharmed.
But right after, Yoo Sumi and Kim Seohwa joined the fight.
Yoo Sumi had coated her sword in ice to extend it like a greatsword and sliced deep into the rhino's side.
Kim Seohwa's flaming arrows struck the rhino's head accurately.
Kwaaaaang—
It looked like a fatal wound at first glance. But the Thunderhorn Rhino clearly had no intention of dying quietly.
It began thrashing wildly in a final desperate struggle.
"No!!"
Someone shouted.
The direction the Thunderhorn Rhino was charging had the other party's leader staggering unsteadily.
It was the archer lady I'd briefly spoken with earlier.
The other party had two healers. One had been knocked out by the lightning, and the remaining one was desperately throwing heals at the injured.
There was no one to pay attention to the leader who was about to be trampled.
I immediately reached out toward her.
Should I heal?
No.
Healing only treated injuries.
If she got stomped in one hit, it was over.
I couldn't shoot arrows either.
A few toothpick-like arrows weren't going to stop that charge.
Then what?
I only had healing.
Did I have to just watch her die?
I forcibly gathered my mana.
I planned to condense it and create some kind of protective wall.
I didn't actually know the principles of handling mana. I'd only ever used the skills I was given.
But right now, I had to do something.
Right before the leader was hit by the rhino's charge, mana burst from my hand.
The mana spread out and wrapped around her in a spherical shape, and...
Kwaaaang—!!!
A massive boom rang out.
The charging rhino bounced sideways as if it had slammed into a metal block and rolled across the ground.
The leader sat on the spot, completely unharmed.
Ding—
You have learned the skill Barrier.