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Summary: How to Train Your Healer features Sung Chahyun, a college student who plays MMORPGs; he is what you'd call a hardcore gamer. As someone who puts his all into everything, including the game Asta Chronicles, Chahyun expects nothing less from his guild members and to their guild Haste.

But one day, when the game is due a new patch featuring a new raid coming in a few months, Chahyun's partner healer is unable to participate because of his military draft. Enraged (as usual) and pissed (also as usual), he attempts to find a new partner healer with little to no luck – until he sets his eyes on the new guild member Healteaser, who might just be the healer Chayun needs as long as he trains him to fit his ridiculously high standards.

1.) The main characters

SO! The main protagonist is a riot to read; he is by all means dedicated to gaming and stops at nothing to remain at the top. He's quick to anger when people piss him off, but also indifferent to anything he doesn't find worth his time. Chahyun is a one-track minded person and prioritizes anything he deems important to be the focus of his attention. It's actually surprising to know that he's diligent in his schoolwork despite its setbacks to him playing Asta Chronicles.

But where his nasty attitude turns a lot of people off, once someone gets to know him, he isn't at all that bad to hang out with. He lets people enjoy their fun and doesn't think to ruin it, genuinely enjoys having fun playing with his guild members and even hangs out with them irl when they can, and even started Haste because of his original friend group that grew in size as Haste started getting traction as the top guild. Plus, the guild members acknowledges Chahyun to be a skilled player that they can't fault him for his skills and him pushing them to get better. The banter he shares with his guild is also endearing to read.

He's also a very introspective person, as expected of someone who strives for perfection. When he starts to realize his feelings for Healteaser, he tackles it head on just how he usually does. Reading him ask himself questions that probe into his feelings toward our male lead is such a blast to see, and him just FUMING at the raid rules saying 'no dating allowed'? As the guild master, fine, but as someone who genuinely does want to date Healteaser despite him saying otherwise? I cackled at him nearly crashing out, he literally crashes out the most and it's so funny to read.

(the only thing I can't forgive Chahyun for is him being a lore skipper /j)

But since this is a bl, this obviously has our other lead character! Also known as Healteaser.

Healteaser, or rather Choi Soobin, is a pretty mysterious character so far. It's undeniable that he's a kind and sort of innocent player in Asta Chronicles compared to the rest of Haste, but he's already endeared himself to them. You'd think that he might have a sinister agenda; turns out he just wanted to endear himself specifically to JJA (Chahyun's ID). Considering that he is no newbie despite his level, gear, and stats, it makes sense that he's played MMORPGs before but damn did it shock me that he played Asta Chronicles specifically in the past and more importantly has met JJA multiple times before. (More on this later!)

I'm actually surprised that the other main lead isn't the type you'd call dashingly handsome like most bls, so it was such a breath of fresh air to see a doe-eyed, innocent-like male lead alongside the prickly Chahyun. Speaking of, it's undeniable that he likes Chahyun to a great extent (which makes sense if you've caught up in the manhwa and novel) that he cares greatly about his opinion and likes being in his company. Despite early readers thinking he's up to no good, it's clear as you continue to read that he doesn't have any ulterior motives at all and simply wants to be with Chahyun.

He, like Chahyun is very perceptive, but on top of that is able to clock in someone's personality since he's able to deduce the type of person Chahyun is. It's almost scarily accurate despite him never meeting Chahyun irl until later on. This makes Soobin a great judge of character and observant, very fitting for someone like him who's the right amount of polite and still being able to get what he wants.

2.) Story

If you're here purely for the romance, your luck just got shitty cuz this manhwa teeters toward the MMORPG aspects than the romance. It makes sense in a timeline sense since they'd want you to get to know the other guild members first (honestly good choice cuz gods I love them to bits), but for the romance it's a slow burn. YEP you heard that right; this manhwa is a slow burn romance in favor of elevating the main characters individual personalities and story roles. For me, I'm all for it cuz it feels like these two have a life outside of each other. For others, it might not be your cup of tea.

Once the romance does happen, it's SO CUTE. The moments between the two of them aren't what you'd say seamless but it's clear that they do enjoy each other's presence and company as they continue to hang out and get to know each other better. Seeing as Chahyun's usual walls are down because of him wanting to train Healteaser/Soobin to be the best partner healer, he's more inclined to be more friendly or agree to do things he doesn't usually do like tackling old raids or hanging out with Soobin irl more. And it becomes less about endearing Soobin to him and more of them genuinely hanging out for the sake of the other and themselves.

BUT! THE PLOT, OMG THE PLOT! I must say, how the story handles certain plot points is impressive, at least for me, cuz it doesn't treat the reader's reading comprehension as subpar and is actively making sure you know what's up. One key example is Soobin's 'true identity'. Early in the story we're introduced to the Boss guild, the rival guild to Haste and is infamous for issues within the game like monopolizing hunting grounds and spreading false information, making them a guild to avoid and generally disliked. As a result of one player's efforts in exposing them for those deeds, the majority of the guild members were suspended from the game for two months, but in the process the player who exposed them got themselves banned.

If you've read the source material, this player is Soobin, once known as the assassin named 'Hope' who's one of, if not the rank #1 assassin in Asta Chronicles. And Chahyun is very much familiar with Hope to the point that he could even sus out an impostor from the real deal. Hope's ban is one of the reaons Chahyun went through that phase of 'Human Thresher'. Anyone who speaks ill of Hope meets his wrath. This was how Chahyun and Soobin originally met in the game. Before Hope's ban, him and JJA/Chahyun would often fight with or against each other during PvP matches or raids. Skilled players as they are, they both acknowledge each other's skills and constantly try to one up the other, something that brings them both great delight considering they made up a routine thing of whispering 'hehe' to each other during PvP matches.

This is what cemented to me as to why they are such a good bl couple. The fact that Chahyun would kill players who diss Hope, Soobin loving being around Chahyun both in-game and irl regardless of what they're doing and vice versa, and their dynamic within the game. It's a slow burn and it burns well with the entertaining gameplay and their fellow guild members serving as a great cast of characters.

3.) Personal thoughts

I've been on the hunt for bl MMORPGs for a while now after reading The Guild Member Next Door and when I found this one, I knew I shouldn't be expecting for the romance to take center stage. More likely than not, MMORPG-based storylines like to focus a lot on the game, the players within in, and if possible, the guild the main character is in. I don't mind this at all compared to other readers because I find this aspect so fun to read since I get to see more interactions with other characters besides the main leads.

What I love the most from these types of bl is the gameplay! It's the most fun thing to read for me, it's like watching commentary let's plays on YT but with an actual story, AND IT'S BL SO SIGN ME UP! So far I love comedy in these types of bl because it adds a sense of whimsy to the story and to the characters, especially the main male leads.

Chahyun is an entertaining main protagonist because he's such a hardcore gamer. He's not afraid to tell you exactly what he thinks about you, worked hard to get where is in Asta Chronicles through sheer need to achieve, and became one of the best players in the game. He'd cuss out anyone who gets on his nerves, even his own guildmates that it becomes one of the comedic aspects within the story lmao. That unrestrained and unfiltered attitude of his makes me smile every time he rages or crashes out, bro does not wanna deal with bullshit ppl keep getting themselves in.

Right now I've only read the manhwa and caught up to it (unfortunately I'm still looking for a link to the novel itself) so I'm excited to keep reading this!

4.) Negative thoughts

Don't have any major negative thoughts or criticism tbh, I just love the story so much lol. Again, I'm not here mainly for the bl, I'm also here because of the MMORPG gameplay. If I have to give one, it's that I really want to find a website where I could read the novel 😭😭 PLS WHATEVER GOD OUT THERE PLS LET ME FIND ONE

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