The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 398

396. Managing the Dungeon

The sunset sky remained unchanged. Haeyeon Guild was blocked off, and Seseong Guild was closed. The system message must have been delivered to everyone else as well. So, where should I go now? And where is everyone?

‘If it’s not just me who’s been separated, but everyone is scattered.’

The place I woke up was a subway station. It wasn’t a particularly special place, but it was where Yoohyun’s birthday advertisement was displayed. Do I end up going to places that have some connection? But Yoohyun and Yerim weren’t near Haeyeon Guild. And the real Sung Hyunjae wasn’t at Seseong Guild either.

Well, neither is my current home or my old home, which have direct connections…

‘…Would I be there too?’

Sung Hyunjae was there. The hunters from the Hunter Association were also present. Then what about me…? I’m just an F-rank, so I might not even appear as a dungeon monster, but the fact that this dungeon was influenced by the conquerors bothered me.

I paused for a moment. A long sigh escaped my lips.

‘I should check.’

If I am there, I’ll be a monster, so it’s better for me to take care of it first, before the others see it. Even if my rank has risen due to the dungeon buff, it’s only E-rank, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.

‘Would it be the house after my awakening?’

Before awakening, it was still a decent place, but I had to move because of debt. I sighed once and changed direction, moving my feet. An S-class hunter, now an SS-class, wouldn’t be wandering outside the area, right? If I’m careful not to step into specific areas, I can go safely with my stealth skill.

If I am there, don’t release the stealth skill. That’s right.

The hunters and monsters sparsely seen on the streets were only mid-level. Avoiding them, I calmed my mind and recalled what I had seen.

‘Sung Hyunjae cannot die.’

He had become an immortal being. To be precise, tens, hundreds, or even thousands of existences were stacked on top of each other, so even if one on the outside was removed, it wouldn’t make much difference. Sung Hyunjae’s death seemed only achievable by completely annihilating his stacked existence in one go, before the Crescent Moon intervened.

Perhaps it would be impossible unless one was a Transcendent. Sung Hyunjae’s massive bulk itself would already exceed the abilities of a Transcendent.

‘Then, Chief Song…….’

Black Eclipse. The White Bird described it that way, but it was definitely Song Taewon.

‘But how? Chief Song is just an S-class hunter.’

He was strong among S-class hunters, but still far short of a Transcendent, a human belonging to this world. But how could he kill Sung Hyunjae? Is the skill ‘Plunder’ that powerful? Or is there something else within Chief Song?

I roughly understood Sung Hyunjae’s existence and the purpose of the White Bird and Crescent Moon, but Chief Song became even more puzzling.

‘Even Chief Song only tried to take away a part of Sung Hyunjae and ended up dying.’

Was it simply a failure? There was no way someone who could devour everything couldn’t withstand just a part. Because of the Crescent Moon’s intervention? What on earth happened in the dungeon?

The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to return to Seseong Guild right away. But it was already closed, and I couldn’t be sure if Sung Hyunjae inside was safe.

‘Someone who seemed to have nothing to envy in the world…….’

My fate is also quite twisted, but Sung Hyunjae’s was no less so. If he hadn’t caught the eye of the Crescent Moon, would he have ended his life as he wished a long time ago? He might have become a Transcendent, but he seemed more suited to being the first, protecting his world and staying there.

He would have been able to prevent destruction easily enough. Perhaps in that world, he would have created precious people and been with them. Sung Hyunjae, who would have aged, retired naturally, married, and even had children and grandchildren. It wasn’t an easily imaginable image, but it still felt warm.

‘The Crescent Moon said he couldn’t even make friends, let alone marry.’

Too bad that I and Chief Song, who are exceptions, are both men. Still, it’s fortunate that he could have at least two friends. Chief Song would hate it, though. Ah, maybe the young Chaos is possible too? He was said to be the strongest among the Transcendent.

Anyway, so what happened to Chief Song? What is he, really, is he even human……? The White Bird said he was human, but how?

‘Should I show him to the Elder?’

He seemed to be good at seeing such things. He noticed something strange right away when he saw Sung Hyunjae in the dungeon, so he might be able to see Chief Song well too. Chief Song wasn’t at the Hunter Association. Would he be near the Awakened Management Office again? He doesn’t know about my regression, so he must be flustered… Wait a minute, it’s after his death now.

‘Chief Song!’

What to do. No, he might just think that human-looking monsters are talking nonsense. Still, everyone thinks you’re dead, that Sung Hyunjae killed you, if they say that… I have to find Chief Song quickly—.

“It’s better to wait here since Hyung [older brother or close male friend] might be in danger.”

Yoohyun’s voice was heard. My heart dropped. What, what did he just say?

“I’ll just check the situation and come right back, so don’t ever come out of the building. There are no other monsters or hunters around.”

It was a caring voice mixed with worry. I could immediately deduce the situation in my head, but I couldn’t accept it and took a step forward. Beyond the statue next to the building, not easily visible from the street, two people were standing.

“…Okay.”

I, wrapped in a black padding and holding a cake box, answered softly. His face was shadowed and weary, but still not completely dark.

So it was really there. When was this? I stared blankly at the two. Oh, um. It did feel strange. The emotions that the current me is feeling are inevitably imagined… making my heart ache even more.

My brother came to visit. At that time. And Yoohyun these days is really, so kind.

‘Then what I felt.’

Must have been my emotions. I see.

I didn’t know what to do, so I just swallowed hard. Can I step in now? After Yoohyun leaves, should I talk to that me then? This is really unexpected. First—.

Crack, the sound of the cement floor being crushed was heard, and at the same time, broken pieces of the floor flew towards me. Yoohyun had broken the floor and kicked it up. The crushed pieces, like grains of sand, poured over my body. Even without Grace [a protective skill or ability], there would be no significant impact. An attack to identify the location of the stealth skill user by seeing the pieces collide.

Immediately after that, Yoohyun approached me closely before I could react. My shoulder was grabbed by his outstretched hand.

“…Hyung?”

Taking a deep breath, I released the stealth skill. My gaze met mine.

* * *

[Seseong Guild Area Closure Complete]

“Done! Closed it!”

The newbie cheered loudly. The flower petal-like clothes fluttered along. But the joy was short-lived, and the newbie made a very tearful face.

“Ugh, it’s a complete mess!”

In front of the newbie, there were more than a dozen spheres made of intricately intertwined lines floating. The spheres were connected to each other and spun around chaotically.

“It was okay until I made the dungeon…….”

Originally, even if it was a region outside of Korea, this level of intervention would have been impossible. But shortly before the Christmas Nightmare Dungeon was created, Yoo Myungwoo came to the newbie.

Yoo Myungwoo crossed over to Japan and entered a low-level dungeon. He couldn’t find a passage to meet the newbie, a dungeon for Han Yoojin, but instead, he came up with another method.

The Golden Blacksmith. If the space belonging to Yoo Myungwoo, which was not of this world, was used within a dungeon where the newbie could intervene relatively easily, wouldn’t it be possible to meet the newbie directly? And as expected, a different race with long ears appeared in front of Yoo Myungwoo.

‘Blacksmith, perfect timing!’

The newbie, who said this place would work and spun around the smithy, grabbed Yoo Myungwoo’s bewildered hand and began to explain.

‘We need to make a dungeon from now on, so let me use this place as a passage!’

No, it was closer to a notification than an explanation. But because he had to make the dungeon quickly, and because Han Yoojin and the people around him would be safe, Yoo Myungwoo reluctantly rolled up his sleeves and helped the newbie. For him, even just following the instructions for controlling the magic, which he still couldn’t understand even a little, was difficult.

Yoo Myungwoo, as well as the newbie, were completely exhausted, but the new dungeon was completed without being too late. With numerous errors.

“But at least I’ve blocked the biggest error for now! Although Honey’s brother made another error… Besides, the kid with the power of water droplets also caused problems…….”

The newbie’s two ears, which had been raised slightly, gradually lowered.

“Why is the King of Innocence! Interfering so much! The last dungeon too, and even dragging in Chatterbox! If he were alive, I would have grabbed him by the collar!”

“Do you have the strength to do that?”

The newbie twitched his nose at the young Chaos’s taunt, who was sitting on a round chair without a backrest.

“I, I’ll start debugging the whole thing again for now. Blacksmith, are you alive?”

“…Yes.”

Yoo Myungwoo raised one hand and lifted his body, which had been slumped on the chair. The newbie was in charge of most of the dungeon creation, but the Golden Blacksmith was the passage to make it a reality. In other words, Yoo Myungwoo, the owner of the Golden Blacksmith, had to be responsible for the connection.

He had only just become interested in handling space. It was no different from a freshman who had just stepped into the threshold of university being dragged into a world-class authority’s professor’s lab and acting as a teaching assistant. He had only glanced at the cover of a major textbook.

The newbie looked apologetic at Yoo Myungwoo’s appearance, who looked like he had stayed up for several nights in just a few hours.

“It’s all like that at first. Do you want to go up and rest for a while? I think it’ll be okay for about an hour. I’ll call you if I need you.”

“I can handle it.”

“Still, you should rest when you can. If you overdo it, you’ll only create more errors.”

Yoo Myungwoo nodded staggeringly at the newbie’s words that the information loss rate would be high if the passage was unstable.

“Should I bring you some refreshments on the way?”

“Do that.”

The young Chaos answered, and Yoo Myungwoo’s figure disappeared from the basement. Seeing that, the newbie clapped lightly.

“It’s his own space, but he’s learning quickly! I think the Blacksmith’s spatial control over the smithy is about 30% now.”

“30%?”

“When it’s perfect, he can even make refreshments right here.”

“I still like the ones made directly. More than that.”

The young Chaos looked around. The newbie, who noticed the reason, said.

“It’s okay. I’m taking care of this area.”

“What the hell is that Chain guy?”

The black eyebrows furrowed deeply. The newbie wiggled his ears, touching the spheres here and there with his hands and tentacles.

“I don’t know either. Crescent Moon was in charge of Chain. He was just one of the Origin Vein people in Honey’s world.”

“What Origin Vein person is that? He might have been an Origin Vein person once. No, what’s wrong with that first one that weird things stick to him?”

“Well, I wasn’t originally interested in Honey [referring to Han Yoojin]. I only realized later that Honey’s brother had a guardian. But what’s wrong with Chain that you’re saying that?”

The young Chaos narrowed his eyes and closed his mouth, then opened it again.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Rabbit, but if you don’t know anything, I can’t tell you now. If things get bigger here, I can’t handle it.”

“…Is it that serious?”

The newbie tilted his head. The young Chaos sighed briefly.

“But why does it feel closer to an actual human than a monster? Even if it’s an error.”

“Ah, that’s because it’s connected to the main body! It’s receiving real information. That’s why the real Chain couldn’t wake up right away either. It seems like the Crescent Moon’s power is what suppressed the monster Chain’s main body. He must be awake now.”

“Then will the first and second also meet their actual selves?”

“Honey will. But Honey’s brother is dead. I don’t know what state he’ll be in, but it’ll probably be a little different. He might not appear as a monster at all. The same goes for other dead people besides Honey’s brother.”

The newbie continued, looking at the dungeon data.

“The Goblin won’t come out because it couldn’t be racialized before the regression, and these two also died.”

“Two people?”

“Yes. Since dead people are excluded, they can’t even belong to the dungeon made of fragments of the world before the regression. Even if it’s perfectly replicated data, it’s not the real thing after all.”

“…….”

“Just think that simple data can’t become real!”

The young Chaos decided to let it pass.