The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 111

111. Greetings (2)

The bobbing head made his speech seem bizarre. I had seen Undead in dungeons, but never one that talked.

“Is that the famous zombie? The kind that infects you if you get bitten?”

“Stay back, Hyung [older brother or male friend], we don’t know what it is.”

Yoohyun stepped forward. Just then, the zombie, or whatever it was, moved its lips again.

“You all look terrible. Just a moment.”

Then, Yoon Kyungsoo’s appearance changed.

“Oh, a limited-edition Bunny Bunny Bear!”

“…Hyung?”

Yerim shouted happily, and Yoohyun muttered in confusion. I couldn’t say a word between them.

Far away, among the rubble of a collapsed building, stood Yoohyun. A slightly older, more defined, and taller version of my brother. Without realizing it, I reached out and grabbed Yoohyun’s arm in front of me. My twenty-five-year-old brother smiled.

Someone has a twisted sense of humor. Or is it me? It seems everyone sees something different.

“Hyung, are you okay?”

Yoohyun asked worriedly, but I couldn’t look away. Yoohyun slowly approached, getting about ten steps closer.

That’s a fake. I know it better than anyone. I can’t help but know.

“…Should I take care of it?”

Yoohyun said, averting his eyes as much as possible from Yoohyun… no, that thing.

“…No.”

Even though it’s not real, how could I let that happen, damn it. I don’t know what a Bunny Bear is, but it doesn’t seem human, so I could ask Yerim… Damn it, I’d rather do it myself…….

“Is this form not conducive to conversation?”

It spoke. Even the voice was the same. Next to me, Yerim shouted, “Bbawoo [onomatopoeia for a baby’s babbling] is crying, how cute!”

“If you know, change it right now.”

Bobbing-head Yoon Kyungsoo is much better. I answered through gritted teeth, and Yoohyun, damn it, chuckled.

“I guess you know, but this isn’t the form I wanted. It’s what Hyung wanted to see.”

“…Don’t smile with that face.”

It was getting hard to bear, but thankfully, it changed its appearance. It became much smaller. Smaller, but the target it was imitating didn’t change. It was still Yoohyun. This is going to drive me crazy in a different way.

“Ah, seriously insane…….”

Cute. My brother, around six or seven years old, smiled brightly. Soft, fluffy hair like a puppy, and round, chubby cheeks. Tiny hands with equally tiny fingers and small feet. The little Yoohyun I could easily pick up and hold right now…….

“Yoo, Yoohyun-ah [term of endearment], hold me for a second.”

“What?”

“I feel like running out there, wow, really, seriously…….”

I want to stroke his hair. I want to hug him. I want to touch his cheeks. Even though I know it’s a corpse, I wanted to run to him right away. How can he be so lovable and cute?

“Mister, what are you looking at?”

“…Yoohyun when he was little.”

“Wow, I want to see too! I want to see Mister when he was little too! Change, Bunny Bunny Bear! It’s not changing. Then dance!”

She clenched and unclenched her hands before taking out her phone. Just in case, I tried to take a picture, but it only captured the zombie. Damn it. Videos don’t work either, damn it.

“Yoohyun-ahhh.”

“Hyung, I’m here.”

I turned to my brother at his slightly sulky voice. Seeing a twenty-year-old after looking at a six or seven-year-old, I felt a new appreciation. He was so small, when did he grow up so much?

“Our Yoohyun, you’ve grown up so much.”

“Get a grip, Mister. You look completely spaced out right now.”

“He’s cute.”

Just in case, could I just once, just stroke his hair once? Of course not. Who knows what that is. Get a grip.

“Is this one hard to talk to as well, Hyung-ah?”

“Yoohyun-ahhh!”

“Hyung!”

“Mister!”

Yoohyun and Yerim grabbed me at the same time. Damn it, calm down. But I can’t calm down. Should I just close my eyes? But there aren’t any pictures left from that time, it’s such a waste. Besides, it’s moving, blinking, and talking.

My heart hurts. He’s so cute. Look at those tiny shoes. I want to buy him something delicious. It’s not real, but it’s fake. Damn it, either way, photos and videos aren’t the real thing either. What can I feed him?

“This won’t do. Hyung-ah needs to talk to the original form.”

“What? Wait a minute!”

The young Yoohyun disappeared, and Yoon Kyungsoo’s creaking corpse took its place. This can’t be. My brother.

“Let me reintroduce myself, everyone. I am a kind of successor to the Lizard Owner.”

The corpse said. Yoohyun frowned, and Yerim tilted her head.

“I can only hear Bbawoo sounds. I don’t know what he’s saying.”

Yerim can’t hear it as human speech? It seems the words are only conveyed to those who know about Filial Piety Addicts [a group obsessed with family bonds].

“You showed up quickly. There wasn’t much to hand over, I guess.”

“There wouldn’t be, since he died. Luckily, there’s a human whose contract is still valid, so I came to say hello briefly. Can you tell me who killed the Lizard and how?”

“Why would I tell you?”

“I figured as much. I don’t know much about this side either… I don’t like jumping in recklessly. But the Lizard Owner died, and I don’t know the circumstances, so I’m not fully prepared. But I can’t do nothing.”

Yoon Kyungsoo’s head sighed deeply. At the same time, it bobbed so much it was a wonder it didn’t fall off. It’s hideous, really.

“I don’t want to risk my life working, so let’s all be safe. Okay? Just one time. Rock-paper-scissors, maze-finding, a duel, whatever. Then I’ll consider my job done and step back, and you all can diligently defend the dungeon. How about it, sound good?”

The zombie’s hand rose and pointed at my chest. And said,

“Diarma’s Successor.”

“You’re saying unpleasant things.”

I glanced at Yoohyun, but he didn’t show any particular reaction. Like Yerim, the content Yoohyun heard seemed different from mine.

“The Lizard Owner was a bit dim-witted. But his abilities were useful. He was good at combining Cursed Toxic Dragonkin. I don’t know how he learned that ability.”

Judging by his words, this zombie seemed to be higher up than Diarma. Of course, it could be a bluff, or he could be belittling him because their relationship was bad, but it’s better to overestimate the enemy’s abilities than underestimate them.

‘He definitely has mental-type skills like illusions.’

The Lizard bastard used those kinds of skills when he dragged me in too. Do Filial Piety Addicts have a lot of guys with mental skills? I need to ask Myungwoo for mental resistance items. I wonder if I can’t squeeze any items out of the Unfilial Bastards [a group opposing the Filial Piety Addicts].

“Being disturbed while we’re busy defending the dungeon is naturally unwelcome, but I’ll answer after hearing the terms of the bet.”

“Alright, good. Please pass the message on to the Unfilial Bastards as well. You’re in contact with them, right?”

I hesitated for a moment before nodding. With Diarma’s abilities, it would sound like an obvious lie to say no.

“I see. But why you? There’s a delicious-looking kid right next to you. Talented and possessing a spirit. I like him. How about betting him?”

“Don’t talk crazy and get lost if you’re done.”

Why do these bastards keep targeting my brother? The zombie laughed and collapsed. At the same time, Yoohyun and Yerim turned to me.

“I only heard Bbawoo sounds. Mister seemed to be talking, what did he say? Is a zombie infection about to start?”

“No. That won’t happen… I think? Maybe.”

I couldn’t be sure. Dungeons have appeared, so there’s no reason zombies couldn’t appear too.

“Yoohyun, what did you hear?”

“Questions about being their successor and how I got out of the contract. He asked if I was thinking of making a new contract, so I refused. What about you, Hyung?”

“I…….”

I trailed off, looking at Yerim, whose eyes were sparkling with curiosity. I need to tell Yerim too. But the Mermaid Queen’s words about influence growing with knowledge bothered me. It would be better to ask the Unfilial Bastards about sharing information.

“Let’s go back and talk—”

“Ah!”

The corpse suddenly stood up again. With a rough movement, the bobbing head finally fell off and rolled across the floor. Regardless, the voice continued.

“I almost forgot to give you a gift. The owner of this body is quite valuable, so you should be able to receive a decent gift. Good luck.”

Immediately, Yoon Kyungsoo’s corpse melted away. And above it, a gate appeared. A hyper-saturated dungeon gate about to burst. As soon as I saw it, I quickly grabbed Yoohyun, who was about to go inside, and stopped him.

“Hey! Who knows what’s in there!”

“I have a gate stone, so I’ll come out right away if it seems dangerous.”

“Then it’s better for me to go! I have the item Myungwoo gave me.”

“Hunter Park Yerim, please take care of Hyung.”

My brother ignored me and pushed me away. Then Yerim grabbed my shoulder from behind.

“Even if you use the damage nullification item, it’ll be over if you just go in there. Look, you can’t do anything if you get caught.”

…That’s true. Yoohyun touched the gate. But it was blocked as if he were touching a wall.

“It looks like a hyper-saturated gate on the outside?”

“It seems to be deactivated. Is someone inside?”

That can’t be. Anyway, we can’t go in.

“Let’s step back and prepare for a dungeon break.”

They both nodded at my words. I took out my phone to tell Song Taewon about the situation and stepped back.

Thrum.

The gate shook. Then, what poured out from inside was blue water.

Yoohyun snatched me up and jumped into the air. Yerim also used her flight skill right away. With a loud crash, the water that kept pouring out instantly swallowed the quarantine building. A whirlpool formed where the gate had been, and the ground was dug up.

In the blink of an eye, a small lake was created. In the middle of it, the gate was located like an eyeball. No, is that really a dungeon gate? The gate floating on the water soon sank below the surface.

Amid the chaos, we escaped the lake for now.

“What happened?”

Kang Soyoung, who was standing on the outskirts of the lake, where the water barely reached, asked us. The people near the barricade seemed to have been swept away by the water. Fortunately, it was just ordinary water, so they were swimming out without much damage.

“I’d like to explain, but I don’t really know either.”

There don’t seem to be any monsters, and I’ve never seen a dungeon break where only water pours out, even before the regression. Usually, only monsters poured out.

Song Taewon also appeared and asked what happened, but there weren’t many words to explain. It’s unsettling to just leave it alone, but we can’t really do anything about the lake. Should we drain the water? Everyone was at a loss when Kang Soyoung said.

“Doesn’t it seem bigger than before? The lake, I mean.”

As she said, the lake was slowly but steadily growing. It was a slow pace, but if we left it like this, there was no telling how much the water would swallow.

“…I think it would have been better if monsters came out normally.”

Song Taewon’s expression stiffened. The others had similar faces. In the meantime, Yerim raised her hand.

“Since water came out, can’t we go inside the gate now? I’ll check it out. I have those earrings, you know. The ones with the effect that allows you to move freely underwater.”

No, Yerim-ah [term of endearment]. Still, you can’t go alone.