After organizing his thoughts, Seong-jun stepped out of the hospital room.
‘Now then! Shall I go expand my territory?’
With a faint smile, Seong-jun walked down the hall and called out to Jeong Seong-sik.
“Section Chief Jeong Seong-sik.”
Jeong Seong-sik hurriedly turned his head at the sound of his name.
When he realized it was Seong-jun, he looked startled.
“Ah! H-Healer. Haha, it was a bit noisy outside, wasn’t it? It’s nothing serious, so you don’t need to worry about it.”
As Jeong Seong-sik tried to brush it off as nothing.
“Healer! I am Kim Ju-seong, the Section Chief of Gastroenterology! Please, just a moment of your time is all I ask! Please listen to me!”
Kim Ju-seong spoke urgently while looking at Seong-jun.
Jeong Seong-sik looked troubled and tried to restrain Kim Ju-seong.
“Hey now! Section Chief Kim! I believe I’ve explained things clearly enough, so why are you acting like this? Everything has an order. You can’t just force your way through like this.”
Watching the two, Seong-jun spoke with a smiling face.
“It’s alright. I unintentionally overheard your conversation earlier. You mentioned that there are patients in serious condition in the Gastroenterology Department?”
At Seong-jun’s words, Kim Ju-seong spoke with a desperate voice.
“Yes! There are several critical patients whose lives are hanging by a thread right now! There are also patients who can no longer be treated and are looking for hospices or nursing hospitals! I know it’s rude to ask this, but I beg of you. If you could help them, I believe many of them would improve enough to undergo surgery!”
At Kim Ju-seong’s words, which were filled with desperation, Seong-jun nodded.
“Hmm, if there are patients in such critical condition, I can’t just stand by. Had I not known, it would be one thing, but how can I ignore them now that I know? By the way, Section Chief Jeong Seong-sik. From the looks of it, it seems this isn’t the first time this has come up. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
When Seong-jun asked why he hadn’t mentioned it before, Jeong Seong-sik spoke with a troubled expression.
“Ah, yes. Actually, this topic came up about two weeks ago, but I held my tongue for fear of placing a burden on you, Healer. I was planning to mention it cautiously and ask your opinion when the time was right, but then this happened.”
It had been nearly a month since Seong-jun started using Cure in the Respiratory Internal Medicine ward.
Naturally, other departments would have found out about it, and it was highly likely they had requested help from Jeong Seong-sik to see if their departments could also receive assistance.
Whether Jeong Seong-sik had cut them off at his own discretion or was truly waiting for the right time as he claimed, there was no way to know for sure.
“Let’s do this for now. It’s late today, so it will be difficult to see all the critical patients. Let’s just see a few who are in the most urgent condition.”
When Seong-jun said he would go to the Gastroenterology ward to see the patients, Kim Ju-seong’s face brightened with joy.
“Thank you! Thank you so much.”
“Just so you know, I come here in my spare time after my hunts, so it will be difficult to see all the patients from both departments at once. So, from now on, I will visit both wards, but I’ll focus primarily on critical patients. If I happen to have time left over, I’ll see the patients with severe but non-critical symptoms.”
Since he wasn’t setting aside an entire day for the hospital but rather dropping by in his spare time after hunting, there was a limit to how long he could stay.
Until now, he only had to make rounds in the Respiratory ward, but if he added the Gastroenterology ward, his time would inevitably become significantly strained.
That was why Seong-jun proposed seeing mainly critical patients while covering both Respiratory and Gastroenterology.
‘This worked out well. I wanted to increase the ratio of critical patients as much as possible, and now things have fallen into place. For now, I’ll focus on Respiratory and Gastroenterology, and if the number of critical patients in both combined isn’t much, I can expand my territory to other departments then.’
Milder cases could be fully cured through standard hospital treatment anyway, and more importantly, they didn’t provide much Title Experience.
Therefore, he wanted to increase the proportion of using Cure on critical patients, and this situation had solved that problem perfectly.
Jeong Seong-sik nodded at Seong-jun’s words.
“Indeed, in a way, that might be more efficient. Understood. We will proceed according to your opinion, Healer.”
As Seong-jun began using Cure in the Respiratory ward, even patients who were previously unfit for surgery became operable.
As this fact spread through word of mouth, patients with respiratory illnesses began flocking to this hospital.
Naturally, this led to an increase in revenue for the Respiratory Internal Medicine department.
In large general hospitals like this one, a department’s influence was often determined by its revenue.
From Jeong Seong-sik’s perspective, he couldn’t afford to lose Seong-jun.
In the end, he had no choice but to follow Seong-jun’s opinion.
“Then it’s settled. Section Chief Kim Ju-seong? Shall we go?”
When Seong-jun prompted him to move, Kim Ju-seong hurriedly led the way.
“Pardon? Ah! Yes! L-Let’s go!”
In this way, Seong-jun was accelerating his Title Level growth by expanding his territory from Respiratory to Gastroenterology.
***
The Glory Road Guild Headquarters.
Ranked 10th among the top 10 guilds in the country, they were expanding their territory by building branches in Wonju, Gangneung, Gwangju, Jeonju, Busan, Daegu, and even Jeju, in addition to their Seoul headquarters.
And now, Jang Seok-ho had been summoned to the Guild Master’s office for a private meeting.
“Are you injured anywhere?”
At Guild Master Yu Se-hyeon’s question, Jang Seok-ho spoke with a tense expression.
“No, uh, I am not.”
Looking at the stiff Jang Seok-ho, Yu Se-hyeon smiled.
“Haha, relax. By the way, you did a great job. Usually, when you encounter villains inside a dungeon, it’s common for there to be many casualties, but you subdued all the villains without a single death.”
Although there was a party member who had been rendered unable to fight, his life was not in danger thanks to Seong-jun’s swift response.
Though his bones were somewhat damaged, it was said he could return quickly with proper treatment.
Considering that most encounters with villains in dungeons resulted in total annihilation or a significant number of deaths, this could be called a remarkable achievement.
“To be honest, if the battle had proceeded as it was, we would not have escaped annihilation. We were able to subdue the villains because there was timely external support.”
At Jang Seok-ho’s words, Yu Se-hyeon’s eyes sparkled.
“I saw the report regarding that. It says the tide of the battle was turned in an instant even though only three people joined when you were on the verge of annihilation?”
The reason why Yu Se-hyeon, an A-Rank Awakened who was the Guild Master and boasted an average stat of A++, had summoned a mere E-Rank guild member to the Guild Master’s office.
It was because he had received a report that was impossible to understand.
“Yes. One was said to be a B-Rank Tanker who had recently re-awakened, and I haven’t been able to confirm the ranks of the other two yet. However, one thing is for certain: that healer was absolutely not an ordinary healer.”
At Jang Seok-ho’s words, Yu Se-hyeon checked the report again and spoke.
“That’s what I mean. According to the report, he’s a healer, but he uses healing magic, buffs, and even attack magic? Do you think this makes any sense?”
It wasn’t that buff magic or attack magic for healers didn’t exist, but the established theory was that they could only be learned through expensive skill books, and even then, their efficiency was significantly lower than that of Buffers or Mages.
Yet, a healer who boasted massive amounts of healing magic, buff magic with a tremendous stat increase range, and even attack skills more powerful than those of a decent Mage?
“That is… I was so flustered at the time that I just let it pass, but when I thought about it carefully later, it was indeed strange. However, there is not a single lie or exaggeration in what I wrote in the report.”
At the time, Jang Seok-ho was so overwhelmed that he didn’t have the luxury to feel the strangeness.
But thinking back slowly, it made no sense.
Why would Healers and Buffers be separate, and why would Mages exist as a separate class?
It was because each had clearly divided unique characteristics.
Yet, a being who possessed all those characteristics had appeared.
“If Team Leader Jang Seok-ho’s report is true… then he is literally an all-rounder healer. Furthermore, if the report is accurate, he must be at least B-Rank or higher, right?”
“Since I haven’t received heals or buffs from a B-Rank before, I can’t be certain, but looking at the ridiculous recovery amount and the increase range, I’d say he’s B-Rank at the minimum, and perhaps even A-Rank. Ah! Of course, this is just my personal opinion.”
Where would an E-Rank Hunter have the chance to receive heals or buffs from a B-Rank?
However, his guess was that the healer was at least at that level.
“Hmm. So you decided to hand over the entire reward money you received for turning in the villains to that team?”
At Yu Se-hyeon’s question, Jang Seok-ho nodded.
“Yes. First, I apologize for making that decision on my own without reporting to the guild. However, I believe even that amount is absurdly small compared to the value of our lives. Furthermore, since he even refused compensation from the guild level, I intend to compensate him separately even if I have to use my own money.”
When Jang Seok-ho said he planned to use his own personal funds to compensate him, Yu Se-hyeon spoke with a smiling face.
“There’s no need for Team Leader Jang Seok-ho to use his personal funds. Regardless, he saved the lives of our precious guild members, so compensation should be made at the guild level. By the way, how do you plan to deliver the villain reward money?”
“I received the phone number of the healer named Kim Seong-jun. I agreed to contact him separately to hand it over once the reward money is processed.”
Since they had exchanged contact information inside the dungeon, the plan was for Jang Seok-ho to receive the reward first and then transfer the full amount to Seong-jun.
Of course, they hadn’t decided whether to meet in person to hand it over or deposit it online.
“That’s good. Once the reward money comes out, tell him you want to hand it over in person. And I will go to that meeting as well.”
When Yu Se-hyeon said he would go there himself, Jang Seok-ho’s eyes widened.
“Pardon? Th-the Guild Master himself?”
The Guild Master rarely moved for things like this.
That was why he couldn’t help but be even more surprised.
“I need to see it with my own eyes. If the contents of the report are correct… then there’s a high probability he is an Irregular.”
Irregular.
A term used to refer to a being that breaks the framework of common sense.
And if he was truly a being who could use healing, buffs, and attack magic as Jang Seok-ho described, there was a high probability he was an Irregular.
Therefore, Yu Se-hyeon wanted to see and judge for himself.
***
In the hunts that continued for several days, Seong-jun’s party earned profits that didn’t quite match their first day in the E-Rank dungeon.
It seemed the fact that it wasn’t a dark-attribute dungeon played a major role.
Of course, even so, they earned an average profit of over 80 million won, which was far more than an average party.
And then the weekend arrived.
For the first time in a while, Seong-jun visited his uncle’s house.
Ding-dong!
When he rang the doorbell, the door opened immediately, and a woman who appeared to be in her mid-40s stepped out.
Click!
“Seong-jun, you’re here. Come on in.”
“Yes, Aunt. How have you been?”
“How else would I be? Since you said you were coming, your Aunt showed off her skills for the first time in a while. Come inside.”
Seong-jun followed his aunt into the house.
“Uncle! I’m here.”
At his call, a bedroom door opened, and a man in his early 50s wearing shorts came out to meet Seong-jun.
“Seong-jun, is that you? Haha, welcome. Why have you been so scarce lately? Visit more often. I’m going to forget what you look like, kid.”
“I’ve just had a few things going on lately. I’ll come by more often from now on.”
After Seong-jun’s parents passed away in a car accident, his uncle and aunt had acted as his guardians.
They didn’t have children of their own, which might be why they treated Seong-jun like their own son.
Thanks to their efforts, Seong-jun was able to recover quickly from the grief of losing his parents.
Now, his uncle and aunt were practically the same as parents to him.
As they moved to the dining table, a lavish feast was laid out.
“Wow! Why did you prepare so much?”
When Seong-jun spoke in admiration, his aunt gave a kind smile and said.
“I made a lot, so eat a lot. And I’ll pack up the leftovers for you when you leave, so you can eat them at home too.”
“Aww, it’s okay. Keep them here and eat them with Uncle.”
At Seong-jun’s words, his uncle waved his hand dismissively.
“Forget it. Even if we leave it here, do you think I’ll be able to swallow it properly under your aunt’s watchful gaze? We made a lot specifically to pack for you, so just take it and eat. You live alone and probably can’t eat properly, probably eating out every day. You should eat a home-cooked meal at least once in a while like this.”
His uncle’s words were filled with a heart that cared for Seong-jun.
Perhaps because of that, Seong-jun didn’t refuse any further.
“Haha, yes. Then I’ll take the leftovers and eat them over time.”
“How much do you think is there that you’ll eat it ‘over time’? It’ll be gone in a day or two at most. And if you ever get tired of store-bought food, come by anytime. Your aunt’s hobby is cooking, so she’ll be excited to cook if she knows you’re coming. Thanks to that, I’ll get to eat something delicious too once in a while.”
After saying that, his uncle picked up his spoon first, and Seong-jun slowly began his meal as well.
“By the way, how is business? I heard running a chicken shop isn’t easy these days.”
Seong-jun’s uncle, Lee Seon-jae, had quit his job not long ago and opened a chicken shop with his retirement pay.
Since he had just started the business, he usually went out early in the morning and didn’t return home until after midnight.
Since they had designated the second and fourth Sundays as rest days, Seong-jun had visited to match his day off.
As soon as Seong-jun finished speaking, Uncle Lee Seon-jae’s face momentarily darkened before brightening again.
“Of course it’s going well! Who do you think I am? I don’t know about other things, but I’m confident in my chicken. So don’t worry about useless things and just do well yourself. Every time I turn on the news, all I see is news about how many people died in some dungeon. That’s why I’m asking—do you really have to be a Hunter? I heard F-Ranks don’t even earn that much? Why don’t you just learn how to fry chicken under me?”
“Oh my. Anyone would think you’re a chicken master. What is there to learn from you? Still, Seong-jun. Your uncle isn’t wrong. Quit that dangerous Hunter job and look for something else instead.”
Seong-jun gave an awkward smile at his uncle and aunt’s worried advice.
“I may not look like it, but I’m quite a veteran when it comes to running away. I’ll bolt the moment things look bad, so please don’t worry.”
While telling them not to worry, Seong-jun subtly activated Deep Analysis.
‘He seems fine, but Uncle’s complexion definitely darkened for a moment. Is something going on? Let’s check. Deep Analysis.’
When he activated Deep Analysis, the analysis result for Uncle Lee Seon-jae was quickly produced.
[Analysis Result]
Lee Seon-jae: [Civilian]
Trust: 97
Psychological State: [Extremely worried because revenue has dropped significantly due to a new chicken shop opening across the street, making it difficult to repay
loans. Feeling deep betrayal and guilt over a friend who disappeared after borrowing money.]
After checking the analysis result, Seong-jun was inwardly shocked.
‘Don’t tell me he was scammed by a friend? To make matters worse, revenue dropped significantly due to a competitor? Sigh, to think he’s smiling as if nothing is wrong even in this situation. It seems he’s pretending everything is fine because he’s afraid I’ll worry.’
His uncle, and his aunt as well—they must be in a terrible state inside.
Yet, seeing them smile as if nothing was wrong, it was likely because they didn’t want to cause Seong-jun any unnecessary concern.
As Seong-jun stared intently, Lee Seon-jae asked curiously.
“What is it? Is there something on my face?”
At his uncle’s words, Seong-jun spoke with a smiling face.
“Pardon? No. I just thought Uncle has aged a lot too. You have so many wrinkles on your face. And no matter how well business is going, don’t overdo it. The dark circles under your eyes are insane.”
When Seong-jun spoke jokingly, Lee Seon-jae scowled.
“What did you say? Aged? You clearly don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ll have you know I’m called the ‘baby-face’ among my friends!”
“Haha, it’s true that Uncle is the baby-face among your friends. The problem is that you’re only a baby-face among your friends.”
Seong-jun cracked jokes on purpose to liven up the atmosphere.
His uncle and aunt were trying so hard to hide their gloomy mood, so there was no need to spoil the fun.
He judged that it was right to go along with the atmosphere for now.
***
A short while later, after finishing the meal and sharing some conversation, Seong-jun said he should start heading back.
“I really enjoyed the meal. Aunt’s cooking skills are truly the best. I’ll make sure to eat the things you packed too.”
“Tell me anytime you crave your aunt’s food. I’ll make a whole bunch of things you like.”
Seong-jun gave a bright smile at his aunt’s words.
“Yes, Aunt. I’ll be sure to do that.”
Just as he gave his farewells and approached the front door to put on his shoes.
“Ahem, and this.”
Uncle Lee Seon-jae forced an envelope into Seong-jun’s pocket.
“Huh? Uncle. What is this?”
“It’s not much. Buy something delicious with your friends.”
It was an envelope containing allowance money.
‘Sigh, Uncle…’
Knowing the difficult situation they were in, he wanted to refuse, but Seong-jun instead accepted the allowance readily with a smile.
“Thank you, Uncle. I’ll be sure to buy something delicious with my friends.”
‘I want to pay off all those loans right now, but knowing Uncle’s personality, it would only have the opposite effect. Let’s solve this one by one, slowly.’
He knew his uncle’s personality well—that rather than readily accepting it if Seong-jun reached out to help, it would only lead to a negative reaction.
Therefore, Seong-jun decided to pretend he didn’t know for now and resolve the situation bit by bit.
I Became an EX-Grade All-Rounder Priest Chapter 20
E-book Publication Date 2025.11.14
Author | Kim Hyun-jun
Publisher | Heo Heung-beom, Park Gun-won
Published by | Poten
Address | [04783] 10th Floor, 8 Yeonmujang 11-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul
Phone | 02-6320-8500
Fax | 02-6320-8585
ISBN 9791175302167
Price: Not for Sale
© Kim Hyun-jun 2025
This e-book is a work protected by copyright law.
Since this e-book was published by contract with the author, unauthorized reproduction, duplication, distribution, and sharing are prohibited without the written consent of both parties.
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