The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 158

‘…Looks like a dungeon break.’

Sometimes, parts of the dungeon environment leak out like this, in addition to monsters. But the article didn’t mention a dungeon break. Nor did it provide detailed information. It simply stated that there was a conflict between high-ranking Hunters, and local residents were being evacuated with access restricted.

‘Can’t see what’s going on.’

Thanks to the headlights, I could roughly see the road right in front of me, and the navigation system was working fine, so finding my way wasn’t a problem. To be able to navigate even without any signs is a victory for modern civilization. Yes, yes, turn left here.

– Shhh!

At that moment, Bellare made a wary sound, and I sensed it too. A human-shaped heat signature was rapidly approaching.

Crack!

The car was seized. The tires screeched loudly against the asphalt. The large van was as helpless as a child’s toy car.

Snap—

Before I could even grasp the situation, the door was torn off. Then, a large hand suddenly reached in, grabbed my shoulder, and threw me out.

“Ugh!”

– Siiit!

I rolled across the ground and collided with a roadside tree. That hurt. Bellare, flung away a short distance, quickly crawled back, making discontented hissing noises. The dense fog made it hard to see the attacker clearly. But I had a good guess who it was.

“You shouldn’t throw people around like that. Someone as fragile as me could end up in the afterlife from a simple bump, Director Song Tae-won.”

“I assumed Han Yoojin would use a damage nullification item the moment he entered a dangerous area.”

Well, you know me so well. Song Tae-won emerged from the fog. He didn’t look pleased. Understandably.

“You found me even in this thick fog.”

“The car’s sound could only belong to Han Yoojin.”

I took his offered hand and stood up. Bellare, I know you’re angry, but don’t bite. Please bear with it.

“You could have just called me over.”

“You wouldn’t have stopped.”

Again, you know me so well. I probably would have sped up even more.

“Do you have any information on the current situation?”

“Not yet. Even if I did, I’m not allowed to disclose it to unauthorized personnel.”

Song Tae-won stared into the dense fog.

“Since Han Yoojin is here, I assume the Haeyeon Guild Leader is involved in this.”

“My brother is a victim. He got caught up in this.”

“You’re certain without even seeing it.”

“Yoohyun doesn’t have strange abilities like this. There isn’t a Hunter who can cause such a widespread anomaly right now.”

So, let’s go to where Yoohyun is first, I said, looking for the car. Approaching the spot where the heat lingered, I saw the van in terrible condition. Even if we ignore the torn-off door, I wonder if the engine will survive after being forced to stop like that. Even if it runs fine.

“Um… Director Song, would you like to carry me and run? Going in a straight line would be much faster than the car.”

“Han Yoojin, please return the way you came. The car should still be running.”

“But it’ll be hard for you to find your way without me. The fog is so thick, and you don’t know the exact address.”

I said, turning on the map app on my phone.

“How about bringing a human GPS with you?”

I’m not going to go back willingly anyway; it’d be better than letting me wander around alone, I added. Song Tae-won sighed and reached out his hand to me.

The phrase ‘runs like he’s flying’ really suited Song Tae-won. He went straight in the direction I pointed, even leaping over buildings. Before jumping, he put his weight down, then drastically reduced it in the air. The fog surged like waves beneath our feet, rushing past.

As we neared our destination, I felt a mass of heat above us.

“Director Song!”

I couldn’t see the opponent because of the fog, but Song Tae-won quickly noticed the approaching presence. Thinking it would be difficult to dodge in mid-air, Song Tae-won’s body suddenly dropped downwards. He had increased his weight to fall.

Whoosh!

Almost simultaneously, something sharply slashed through the fog above our heads. A glimpse of golden scales, the shape and size of the heat.

“Noah?!”

It was definitely Noah after Specialization [a Hunter’s evolved state], but why was he attacking? Did he misunderstand that Song Tae-won was forcibly holding me?

Thud. Song Tae-won’s toes touched the rooftop of a building. He put me down and tilted his head towards the sky. But the fog was still thick. I quickly used the Teacher Skill [a skill that allows the user to share senses and information] on Song Tae-won to share Bellare’s heat detection.

“Noah must have misunderstood something.”

“I hope so. I’ll try to subdue him first, so please try to detoxify him.”

Song Tae-won took out a wire rope and gripped it in both hands. Since it came from his inventory, it wasn’t an ordinary wire rope.

The dense fog swayed with the movement of the heat mass. The dragon’s wing movements pushed and pulled the fog, then soared upwards.

– Krrr!

With a low growl, the golden dragon crashed down through the fog towards Song Tae-won. Baring its teeth and claws, it was covered in venom.

Song Tae-won accepted Noah’s charge while holding the wire.

Kagagak!

The wire scraped loudly against the golden scales and wrapped around him. Song Tae-won twisted his body to the side and wrapped his thick arm around the dragon’s neck. At the same time, Noah’s claws raked across his side,

Crack, rumble!

The floor, unable to withstand their combined strength, cracked greatly and then collapsed. I quickly grabbed onto the railing to avoid being swept away and used the Teacher Skill on Noah. There was some resistance, but thanks to Lauchitas’s nemesis effect [an ability that weakens resistance to skills], I was able to unilaterally transmit Noah’s movements to Song Tae-won without much difficulty.

But resistance.

‘Is there something wrong after all?’

In addition to attacking Song Tae-won, he even resisted my skill.

– Kyaaak!

Noah, having broken through the ceilings one after another, fell to the first floor and struggled to push away Song Tae-won, who was pressing down on him. Song Tae-won skillfully tied up the dragon and added weight to immobilize Noah. But the venom was spreading, and if left alone, Song Tae-won’s body would be paralyzed. The range of the Predator skill [a skill that blocks harmful effects] was too narrow to completely block the poison.

“Ah, damn it.”

What to do? …What else can I do? I took a breath, held Bellare in my arms, and jumped down through the gaping hole.

“Kuh, that hurt.”

Thanks to Grace [a protective skill], I didn’t suffer any major injuries, but I had to accept some minor ones. I quickly got up and approached Song Tae-won.

– Kyareuk!

Noah bared his teeth fiercely as I approached. He snarled, wrinkling his nose. It seemed like he couldn’t even speak. I detoxified Song Tae-won and spoke to Noah.

“Noah, don’t you recognize me? It’s Han Yoojin.”

– Grrrr.

Bang, the tail slammed against the floor. Song Tae-won fended off the tail that swung and attacked with only one arm.

“You can still talk in Specialized state. Try to create words like you use skills.”

– Krr, let go of me!

Oh, he’s talking. He hasn’t lost his mind. Judging from the fact that he doesn’t recognize me and has forgotten how to speak in Specialized state… he must have lost some of his memory. Recent memories, at that.

“We’re not enemies. We don’t intend to harm Noah. We’re just subduing you so you don’t get hurt.”

The large gray eyes blinked and looked at me. He growled occasionally, but stopped thrashing.

“Will you turn back into human form for now?”

Noah glanced at Song Tae-won and nodded. The wire rope that had been constricting the dragon’s body loosened, and Noah, stepping back, released Specialization. He shrugged slightly and looked back and forth between us.

“Noah, don’t you remember me?”

“……”

“I’m F-stat [a low Hunter rank]. I’m much weaker than Noah.”

So, relax, I said, slowly approaching him.

“This is Korea. Do you remember coming to Korea? You helped me a lot.”

Was it poison or curse or some other mental skill? I thought of the successor to Diarma, who resembled a jellyfish.

A bizarre creature that shimmered with dazzling colors. The appearance and skills may not match, but it seemed to have poison in addition to illusions.

‘If the fog erased memories, it’s even more likely to have toxicity.’

The reason Song Tae-won and I are fine might be thanks to our poison resistance skills. The fog has spread and weakened its influence.

“Korea… I think my sister mentioned it.”

Thanks to his high poison resistance, fortunately, he didn’t seem to have lost much memory. I approached Noah even closer and spoke in the kindest tone possible.

“She must have told you to meet me. Han Yoojin. There was a monster to entrust to the Beast Tamer who raises monsters. Bellare, do you remember? This jewel serpent.”

– Shh.

I showed him Bellare and moved closer. My poison resistance effect should work at this distance. I met Noah’s eyes as if looking into them. Since it could be a mental problem, I used the Teacher Skill more strongly. I tried to remind him of his memories with Noah.

“You came to me to entrust Bellare. And.”

“…Ugh.”

Noah’s brow furrowed deeply. His hand grabbed my shoulder. His nails were raised with a groan-like snarl. Slowly, they dug in shallowly, and blood seeped out. Song Tae-won reflexively tried to move, but I raised my hand to stop him.

“Sister, similar feeling……”

Whether he remembered what happened then, the hand holding my shoulder tightened. On the contrary, thanks to that, damage nullification was applied, and the misfortune of my shoulder being torn off did not occur.

“Do you remember?”

“…Yes. Ah, Yoojin-ssi. That, ah!”

Noah, seeing my shoulder, was startled and took his hand away. With a face that turned pale in an instant, he stammered and used healing skills.

“I’m sorry!”

“It’s okay. More than that, can you tell me what happened?”

Noah nodded and told me about going to Choi Seokwon.

“And suddenly fog poured out from the collapsed Choi Seokwon. Both the Haeyeon Guild Leader and I immediately stepped back, but the fog spread faster. It was much denser than it is now, and when I was exposed to the fog, my vision blurred for a moment… Uh, I think the Haeyeon Guild Leader attacked me. I don’t remember well, but I treated my wounds and ran away.”

Yoohyun attacked Noah, huh. He probably didn’t remember Noah, and feeling threatened by seeing him partially transformed.

“Confused, I wandered through the fog and ended up attacking you two. To be exact, I think I was aiming for Han Yoojin. Song Tae-won seemed more threatening, so I tried to deal with him first.”

“Is the fog that made you lose your memory a type of poison?”

“It was mainly poison, with a hallucination? There was a similar feeling. Especially when I was first exposed to it.”

I’m glad I could restore his memory with my skill. I turned to Song Tae-won and said.

“Yoohyun doesn’t have poison resistance, so he’s likely to have lost more memories than Noah. But he’ll still remember me and Director Song. Noah, it’s dangerous, so please don’t step forward. Song Tae-won, please wait for now. I’ll talk to him first.”

Unless he completely loses his memory, he wouldn’t have forgotten me. Yoohyun has been by my side since he was a newborn baby with unfocused eyes.

For accurate confirmation, Song Tae-won contacted the Hunter Association and the Awakened Management Office. The answer came back that a rapid evacuation had taken place as soon as the fog spread, but there were many people with memory problems. It seemed that only some of the recent memories were blurred, so it was lightly regarded as a mental shock due to the sudden situation.

Leaving the building, we headed straight to where Yoohyun was. I was worried about what to do if he had moved places, but fortunately, heat was felt near Choi Seokwon’s villa. No, fire.

Whirr—

The flames shook a long tail and pushed away the fog. Inside, Han Yoohyun was standing between the half-destroyed buildings. Yoohyun, who found us, raised his eyebrows slightly.

“Yoohyun.”

Taking a step forward, I called my brother with a slightly trembling heart. He wouldn’t have lost all his memories, would he? Yoohyun slowly opened his mouth.

“Hyung [older brother].”

He recognizes me. That’s a relief. But his voice and expression were as cold as could be. It was both unfamiliar and familiar. Then, in an even lower and hardened voice, he said.

“I clearly told you not to come near me.”

…I remembered. After hearing that, I told him not to call me either and blocked Yoohyun’s number. Unnecessarily recalled old memories made my fist clench tightly.