Chapter 2: A world where healers are uncommon

As usual, I started my daily routine by logging into the plant community first thing in the morning.

But what’s this?

The normally quiet plant gallery was buzzing with fiery discussions about “a newly discovered plant from a gate”!

There was no way I could just scroll past this topic.
After all, my life’s greatest goal is to become a named figure in the plant gallery…

I dove into gathering every scrap of information about the plant heating up the community.

In doing so, I naturally stumbled upon the very first post about it.

[Found a rare baby in a gate. Anyone raised this one?]

I found this guy in a nearby gate, but even with top-grade soil and a full course of nutrients, it dies the next day…

The moment I saw the plant’s elegant form in the photo, I clamped my mouth shut to stifle a scream.

A flower glowing with blue light between long leaves.
At a glance, it resembled a bell or a giant lily of the valley.

“Wow…”

It was the most beautiful and mystical plant I’d ever seen in my life.
Staring at it, I felt almost entranced.

Based on the info I’d gathered, growing it at home was supposedly impossible…
But if I spam Heal or Purify skills, couldn’t I make it work somehow?

I have to grow this plant with my own hands.

If I post about its name, effects, and growth process in the community,
maybe, just maybe, my post could make it to the trending section for the first time…!

With an excited heart, I started drafting a question post.

[Question] [Where can I gather that plant from a gate?]

But ten minutes passed, and not a single comment appeared.

…

Meanwhile, unlike my post,

[Where does that flower come from? Anyone know?]

The moment the community’s most popular figure, QueenFlower, posted the same question, comments flooded in as if they’d been waiting.

– Seems to pop up in any low-tier gate!
[QueenFlower: Thanks.]
– Wow, it’s QueenFlower-nim… cries
– Is QueenFlower-nim going to try growing it?!
[QueenFlower: Yup.]
– If it’s you, you might pull it off! Please post a review if you succeed!! Loyalty!

It’s a familiar situation, but…
Every time this happens, I can’t help but feel a bit hurt by the community’s response.

Anyway!

Thanks to QueenFlower’s post, I learned where that mysterious plant grows, which was a relief.

A strange sense of competitiveness sparked within me.

I’ll succeed in growing that flower and get at least five comments on my post!

“But to do that, I’ll need to head out with this body…”

I looked up at the TV, where my reflection stared back.
A small girl with an anxious expression gazed at me.

A body I’m still not used to.
The helplessness of awakening as a healer.
The fear of facing unknown monsters for real.

There were countless reasons I hadn’t ventured outside until now.

But none of them mattered in the face of my curiosity for that mysterious plant.

“Alright, screw it. Let’s do this!”

I threw on some clothes and stepped out the door.

It was my first time going out as a girl in this changed world.

Thump-thump.

With a mix of excitement and fear, I calmed my trembling heart and arrived at a low-tier gate near my place, recently opened.

I didn’t have the confidence to form a party alone, so I worried there’d be no one around. Luckily, three people were at the gate, looking for party members.

I approached them and expressed my desire to join.

“…What? You look super weak.”
“But she’s kinda cute, right, hyung? Just bring her along.”

A man, eyeing me up and down with a displeased look, spoke in a curt tone.

“What’s your class?”
“Um… Healer.”

Intimidated by his vibe, I answered in a timid voice.

“Healer? I heard low-tier gates can be cleared with just DPS…”
“Yeah, having a healer might drag out the clear time.”

From the mood, it seemed they wanted someone a bit stronger to wrap things up quickly. My arrival as a weak healer clearly annoyed them.

Then, the only woman in the party, a short-haired girl, spoke up with an exasperated tone.

“We’re not finding anyone else, so let’s just go.”

The two men exchanged glances, reluctantly agreeing, and gestured for me to follow.

The gate I entered for the first time was far scarier than I’d imagined from the safety of my home.

A narrow, damp, dark cave.

Screech—
Skitter-skitter—

Eerie noises echoed from all directions.
Large and small spiders scuttled underfoot…

‘It’s scary and gross…’

I only came to gather a plant, but…

No matter what, I’m never, ever, coming back to a gate after this.

With trembling legs, I followed the party members, sticking close behind them. Then—

‘…That’s it!’

In the dark cave, a plant glowing with blue light caught my eye.

It looked exactly like the one in the community post, but seeing it in person felt even more mystical.

Grinning ear to ear, I reached to gather it into my bag.

“Hey! What are you doing over there?!”

A sudden shout from behind startled me, making me jump.

“S-Sorry…”
“Hurry up and get over here!”

Urged by the man’s harsh tone, I hastily stuffed the plant into my bag without even grabbing the surrounding soil.

I was just gathering resources like everyone else,
but I felt like a criminal.

The gate run went smoothly after that.

The numerous but weak spider monsters were taken out in one hit by the fire mage guy. Armored spiders were handled by the warrior.

The short-haired woman, who seemed high-level, swiftly struck only the stronger monsters with her sword.

With no attack skills, I could only watch the party’s performance from behind.

Feeling like dead weight, I stood there until—

SCREEECH—!!

A massive spider appeared, its movements shaking the cave.

Its back and waist were covered in menacing armor, with dozens of red eyes and green liquid dripping from its mouth.

One look told me this wasn’t an ordinary monster.

The short-haired woman, staring down the spider, spoke in a firm voice.

“Let’s turn back.”

The two men jumped, protesting, “We came to clear this, didn’t we?” and “Why leave already?”
But she didn’t budge.

“That’s the boss. With our party’s strength, we’d die before we could take it down. Let’s go.”

It was as if she could see right through our opponent’s power.

“Boss? Looks like a pushover. Let me take a swing!”

The self-proclaimed party leader stepped forward confidently.

“You guys stay back and watch! The boss loot is mine…”

As he boasted toward us,
the spider reacted to his voice, spitting green liquid at him.

“Argh… AAAH…!”

Covered in green goo, the man clutched his face, trembling in agony.

A party member was injured.
I knew this was my moment to shine, but…

‘How… do I use my skills again?’

It was my first time using skills in real combat, and my hands shook with nerves.

‘Just do it like I practiced. Like I practiced…’

I’d used Heal on a cut from a knife before. I just needed to recall that feeling.

Closing my eyes, I focused.
A warm energy began to flow through my body.

‘I want to free him from his pain.’

With that wish, a warm light glowed from my fingertips, shooting straight toward the suffering man.

His pained screams stopped, and he collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.

“Hah… I’m alive…”

His complexion had returned to normal.

‘Did I… finally help the party?’

A strange sense of pride welled up.

But there was no time to bask in it.

Thud—Thud—Thud—

The boss spider was charging toward us at high speed.

‘I think I’ve got the hang of using skills.’

I shouted urgently to the party.

“I’ll cast Shield right before the spider attacks and Heal you immediately, so trust me and fight!”

While the man hesitated, the short-haired woman sighed deeply and launched herself at the spider with lightning speed.

I focused intently on the battle, casting skills as needed.

I put up Shield before the spider’s attacks landed, Healed wounds as they appeared, and used Purify whenever I had a chance.

As my skills landed perfectly, the woman’s attacks grew stronger.

“Well, the healer’s not completely useless.”
“Yeah, hyung…”

Finally, the boss spider collapsed with a thud!
A large chest appeared where it fell.

The leader quickly opened it, inspecting the contents.

His eyes widened, and he swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

Turning to us slowly, he spoke in a low voice.

“Let’s be real. We split the boss loot, but the healer’s out.”

I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly.

Honestly, I didn’t care if they split the loot among themselves.

But the short-haired woman’s face darkened in real-time.

“I pulled the boss’s aggro, my brother tanked, and Yurang dealt damage. Why should we share equally with a healer who just leeched?”

She snapped sharply, unable to hold back.

“Split it evenly. Stop talking nonsense.”

The leader went silent, cowed by her aggressive stance.

“Forget that we almost died because of you? The healer saved your life, and you’re still this shameless?”

Was it her strength? The two men couldn’t argue back, only grimacing.

The woman clicked her tongue and walked over to me, bowing politely.

“Thank you. Because of you, we cleared it safely without injuries.”
“N-No, thank you…”

Thanks to her standing up for me, I got a share of the boss loot.

‘At least… with this share, I won’t go hungry for a while.’

I swore to myself again.

Never, ever, would I step foot in a gate again.

And after that day,

I holed up at home, eating the bare minimum…
Ignoring my beloved plant gallery and focusing solely on raising that mysterious plant.

A lot of time passed since the first gate appeared in central Seoul.

As people grew accustomed to the changed world, they moved from beginner and intermediate gates to challenging high-tier ones…

Around then, similar posts started popping up in the awakener community.

[Story of 20 people entering a high-tier gate, only 10 coming out.]

We geared up with top-tier equipment, matched ice and fire mages, synced skills, and went into an undead gate…
Half died, half came out crippled.

Mental curses, binds, paralysis—shit kept hitting us nonstop. Thought I’d lose my mind.

Seeing undead monsters, don’t healers or saintesses exist? Feels like I’ve never seen one…

No way to clear this without a healer.
If any healer sees this, please contact me.
I’ll give you all the clear rewards and byproducts, just leave a comment…

They realized dealing damage alone wasn’t enough to clear high-tier gates.

Casualties kept piling up.

[It’s not just high-tier gates you can’t clear without a healer.]

Low-tier gates are the same.
Skill-spooners with good skills can just DPS through, but balanced parties can’t even clear low-tier ones.

[Anyone seen a healer while forming a party here?]

I haven’t.
Why are healers so rare?

[If there’s a healer, leave a comment. I know you’re watching.]
[At this point, don’t healers, priests, or saintesses just not exist?]
[I saw a healer once… never again since.]
[Wow, so they do exist? Thank f*ck.]
[The key is “never again since.”]

Soon, people realized a grim truth.

This wasn’t an online RPG.

Unlike games, where healers were at least somewhat common…
Here, healers were ultra-rare.