I'm Living as a Healer in Nord World - Chapter 9

“Gilma¹!”

Hern shouted in alarm, his voice echoing through the chaos. Lydian glanced at the sacred barrier spell, which lasted a mere minute.

The spell, known as Consecration, blocked all attacks for its duration, a valuable asset. But the downside was that they couldn’t do anything while it was active.

“Head to the waiting room first! I’ll return with Uraegwi in the village!”

Lydian’s voice was steady, but fear gripped him.

Once the barrier fades, it’s going to hurt, isn’t it? I know I’m supposed to revive if I die… but will I really? What if something goes wrong, and I die for real?

These thoughts swarmed her mind in those brief seconds.

“How can you even suggest that?!”

Hern protested, gritting his teeth, and began shooting arrows. The giant toad, too focused on the invincible barrier, ignored Hern. Even Kenny tried attacking, sensing that they couldn’t simply stand by.

Lydian realized she had made a mistake. There was no way Hern, with his soft heart, would just leave them here.

‘Is everyone going to die because of me?’

“L-Lydian….”

At that moment, Uraegwi whimpered, guilt-ridden. He wiped his tears, blaming himself for causing all this just by falling. Lydian looked at him with a bittersweet smile.

“Well, if we die together, it’s at least a little less lonely, right? We’ll see each other in the village, yeah?”

As the barrier’s time dwindled, Lydian frowned and looked back at Hern and Kenny.

That’s enough. She was about to scream for them to get back.

A white flash shot past them from behind. With a swift, whistling sound, the light sliced through the air, striking the crowd of golems and the giant toad.

The monsters’ cries filled the air, and the attacks on the barrier abruptly ceased. Lydian and Uraegwi, frozen in shock, watched the golems disintegrate before them.

In an instant, the horde surrounding the barrier was cleared.

“W-what was that?”

In the midst of their bewilderment, Hern shouted again.

“Gilma! As soon as the barrier drops, come this way!”

The first to snap out of it was Uraegwi. As soon as the barrier dissipated, he grabbed Lydian’s wrist and bolted, Lydian letting out a small scream as she stumbled along after him.

Amid the confusion, another white flash struck, taking out the advancing mob. Soon, a man came sprinting from the direction of the waiting room entrance.

Lydian stared blankly at the figure dashing past them.

A young man who looked striking in black.

“Hey, Yoonjae, hold on! Let me grab my wand, at least!”

Player Information:

Name: NoName / Guild: Legion

Level: 54 / Class: Dark Templar / Subclass: Chef

HP: 1470 / MP: 2250

The Dark Templar, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, stopped nearby, panting as he fiddled with his system menu, pulling out various items.

As he caught his breath some distance away, Hern and Kenny came over, asking if Lydian was alright. Lydian nodded, her gaze still shaking.

Meanwhile, Kenny inspected the man who had run ahead. His eyes widened.

“Whoa. No way. He’s a high-ranked player! That knight, he’s a high-ranking Legion Guild player!”

Lydian froze, stunned by Kenny’s sudden outburst. A high-ranking player? Following Kenny’s gaze, she glanced over at the man and saw his information.

Player Information:

Name: Craig / Guild: Legion

Level: 79 / Class: Knight / Subclass: None

HP: 3750 / MP: 1100

Kenny was right. The man before them was a famous player, ranked sixth overall and second among the knight class.

Aside from running into rankers in Midgard City, it was Lydian’s first time seeing one in the field.

‘What would a ranker be doing in a place like this?’ The thought briefly crossed his mind, but his legs gave way, and he sank to the ground.

“Gilma, are you alright?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Lydian… I’m so sorry. Because of me….”

With Hern supporting her, Lydian smiled awkwardly. Uraegwi was still kneeling, overwhelmed with guilt.

As they helped him up, the group found themselves transfixed by Craig’s solo battle with Kenny fully entranced. Each swing of his sword carved massive dents in the monsters’ HP.

His fluid and powerful movements were impressive, but the force of his attack skills, unleashed without pause, was astounding. They could barely keep track of the skills he was using.

In true ranker fashion, the golems dissolved en masse, and the named toad fell after only a few powerful skills. Uraegwi, watching in awe, muttered curiously.

“Aren’t knights usually Strength characters? How is this one getting so many critical hits? And the attack power is off the charts…”

In Nord World, when a critical hit landed, an exclamation mark would appear above the target’s head. It seemed this effect had carried over into this place as well.

It made it easier to identify debuffs and damage amounts, much like in the game.

As Uraegwi pointed out, each of Craig’s sword swings produced a flurry of exclamation marks above the monsters’ heads.

“Oh, he’s famous for being an agility knight. He maxes out agility stats and compensates for strength and attack power with items. Because of him, agility knights were really popular for a while.”

Being a knight himself, Kenny knew all about it. At his explanation, Uraegwi clapped in recognition.

“Oh! So that’s him?”

Lydian and Hern both nodded, admiringly. He really was an incredible fighter.

It was like watching an action movie unfold right before their eyes. His moves were entirely different from Kenny’s, despite sharing the same class.

‘How does he move like that? Is it really just about reflexes?’ Lydian marveled, mouth slightly open.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

Craig’s movements suddenly slowed, his steps faltering. Kenny and Hern tilted their heads in confusion. Lydian, who had been watching him, quickly rose and extended a hand towards him.

“Divine Blessing, Blessing of the Spirit.”

This was a debuff cleanser and movement speed boost. Craig had been afflicted by a slow status effect from one of the stone golems’ attacks.

Lydian considered using the stat-boosting buff Baptism of the Goddess, but seeing that the monsters were nearly all cleared, she decided against it and stepped back.

“Phew, finally found it. I’d forgotten to organize my inventory.”

Nearby, the Dark Templar NoName, who had been rummaging through his items, hurried over to Craig’s side.

Dark Templars were a class that specialized in applying debuffs to weaken and hinder their opponents.

Holding his wand, NoName’s lips moved swiftly as he chanted a series of spells, colorful magic circles forming around him. The monsters in his range slowed down, and various debuff icons appeared above their heads.

Craig sighed quietly as the delayed debuffs took effect. Thanks to Lydian’s buff, he was already back in action.

Clearing the monsters took less than two minutes. In a regular game, Kenny commented, it would’ve been a one-hit kill, an instant deletion. They all nodded in agreement, startled by the experience bar that had stretched across their screens.

Technically, Craig had defeated the monsters, so there was no official message, but the initial aggro had allowed some experience points to trickle down to them.

Once everything had settled, Craig and NoName approached Lydian and her group.

“Hm. Are you all alright? I thought you might need some help, so I stepped in. If it bothered you in any way….”

Despite his polite tone, his expression seemed rather indifferent, almost detached. It might have come across as insincere, but it seemed to be his natural demeanor.

Lydian’s party quickly shook their heads. Their lives had been spared thanks to his intervention; offense was out of the question. They all expressed their thanks in unison.

“Thank you. Our Gilma and tank nearly died—my heart almost stopped.”

“Gilma?” Craig raised a brow at Hern’s muttering. He glanced at the information of the Saint, Lydian and nodded in understanding.

Lydian, catching his gaze, felt momentarily embarrassed but gave a slight bow to Craig and NoName.

“Thank you so much for your help.”

“You’re very welcome.”

“Was it those guys in the waiting room? That trio of Shadow Hunters?”

NoName suddenly asked. The party nodded, confirming in unison. NoName clicked his tongue, evidently unsurprised.

“Those jerks… they have no manners. Doesn’t seem like they’re part of any guild either. They just waltz into areas with groups, lure in mobs, and disappear.”

“Yeah. They showed up out of nowhere, dragging a bunch of monsters our way, then vanished…”

“Those guys are total repeat offenders. I nearly got caught by them last time, too. They’re especially bad around Jotunheim. I actually came with a high-ranking player this time, thinking I’d catch them while doing a quest, but when they noticed us laughing in the lobby, they slipped away… Missed them again.”

With a scowl on his face, NoName flashed a grin.

“At least you’re all safe. None of you have died in-game yet, right? It’s not exactly a pleasant experience.”

He made a gagging sound, shuddering at the thought, which prompted Lydian to ask, “Have you… experienced death?”

With fearful eyes, he gave a bitter smile.

“Yes. If you were to truly die in real life, it would feel exactly like that—the pain, the sensation.”

Although he didn’t elaborate further, his words alone were enough to instill fear. Everyone’s faces turned pale, and Uraegwi, who was already timid, started sobbing, feeling guiltier than ever.

“I’m so sorry, Lydian. Because of my foolishness, I put you in danger… sniff.”

For such a large man, he was surprisingly gentle. Sweating nervously, Lydian tried to comfort Uraegwi, though ultimately, the decision had been her own.

Strictly speaking, Uraegwi had nothing to be sorry for. In fact, because of her, he had ended up in an uncomfortable situation, so she was the one who owed him an apology.

“Well, anyway, it’s a relief we’re all safe.”

Standing quietly nearby, Craig took a look at Lydian’s group’s information, glancing at their levels and classes. After a moment of thought, he spoke.

“It doesn’t look like you’re here to level up. If you’re just here to practice, I wouldn’t recommend this area. It’s hard to balance levels here, and the map itself is rough. The mobs respawn quickly, so if the paths overlap, it’s easy for mobs to swarm, like earlier. Since you only have two damage dealers… overpowering them with raw power wouldn’t work well here. You’d be better off going to the Gladiator or Castor regions.”

His clear and direct advice caused everyone to reconsider. “Should we move somewhere else?” Hern asked hesitantly, but in truth, everyone’s enthusiasm had waned after the earlier incident.

Sensing the mood, Kenny clapped his hands and said, “Those guys ruined the fun earlier, so let’s give up for now and rest in town.”

No one objected. Their spirits dampened, Lydia and her group gave one last round of thanks to Craig and NoName before heading to the lobby.

***

With a purpose still lingering, Craig and NoName delved deeper into the withering swamp map. Walking alongside Craig, NoName tapped the air with a sly grin.

“Oh, look at that—three quest items already! How’s that for a sweet score?”

“Seriously, Hyung, watch your mouth.”

“Aw, come on, it’s all give and take. Speaking of which, that Saint we saw earlier is level 70, right? That’s high-level, isn’t it? Saints are pretty rare, too.”

“Yeah, they are.”

“Immortal-hyung keeps whining about how the guild’s short on healers. Yoonjae, why don’t you try to recruit them? Times like this, a ranked player like you should step up and do the sweet-talking. They looked like they could handle hunting pretty well. With everyone else avoiding the field, it makes them even more valuable, doesn’t it?”

Craig clicked his tongue as NoName nudged his arm repeatedly.

“If they’re going as far as creating a separate guild just to roam around, it’s a sign they’re not really suited for a combat guild.”

“Is that so? Shame.”

“Oh, that reminds me…”

Craig suddenly halted, gazing blankly into space. When NoName asked what was up, Craig scratched his head, brushing it off as nothing.

“It just struck me. They might be the person Theseus mentioned before.”

“What was that about?”

“Nothing much. Just… thought they were a guy, but turns out they’re a girl?”

“What’s that supposed to mean? There’s loads of players like that nowadays. Oh, wait, I think some mobs have respawned over there. I can hear them.”

“Jinsu-hyung, let’s just clear this and get going. I’ve got a one-on-one with Gilma later.”

“Crazy guy. Again? Didn’t you lose to Joo-ho last time, too?”

NoName burst into laughter, playfully taunting him. Craig frowned but let it slide.

Well, it was all part of the usual banter between neighborhood friends. They exchanged a few more idle jokes, making their way further into the depths of the swamp.