The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 403

401. Sunset (5)

Pushing the cart, I entered the lavishly decorated hotel lobby. I saw another version of myself sitting on the plush chairs lining one side of the spacious lobby. Of course, I had taken off my padding since we were indoors, but, uh, why was that me taking off his pants?

My brother was kneeling on one knee in front of him, looking troubled, embarrassed, and perplexed. What Yoohyun was intently examining was none other than my leg. Specifically, the injured one.

“Hey, Yoohyun. I’m here, along with the Seseong Guild Leader.”

Realizing we had entered late, I felt a little ashamed and nudged Yoohyun’s shoulder. Even though I was covering my thighs with the padding.

Yoohyun stood up and turned to me.

“Why didn’t you ever get angry at me?”

“…Huh?”

The me sitting on the sofa shook his head as if he hadn’t said anything. Of course, there was no way he would have said anything unnecessary to the twenty-year-old Yoohyun. I faced my brother with a slightly stiff expression.

“Why would I get angry at you? Nothing much has happened yet in the first place.”

Of course, I had a hard time because my brother suddenly left home, but other than that, there wasn’t much. It was just that guys looking for handouts or scammers were sticking around.

“It’s something you don’t even remember, and it’s not like it was your fault.”

How much did he realize? He wouldn’t have told me with his own mouth that he coldly turned me away when I went to him to fix my leg, would he? Just why did you leave me injured like that, or something like that?

“Still. You must have thought it was me, hyung.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah.”

I nodded reflexively, but my mouth felt awkward. My brother, both of them. Both are Yoohyun, but.

“I’ll heal you as soon as possible.”

Yoohyun looked at the pre-regression me, at my leg, again. I could clearly see the difference between the injured side and the healthy side. A long scar wrapped around the relatively thin leg.

It wasn’t like I couldn’t use that side, but it was bound to get weaker and weaker. Even that was a lot better. After I injured my leg and couldn’t use it properly, the muscle just kept falling off. Still, it was at a normal level at this time. The healthy side was sturdier because I moved it more diligently and put more strength into it.

“…What are you looking at so intently? It’s your leg.”

The pre-regression me said gruffly. I hated showing my injured leg to others.

“Can’t you get rid of the scar now if you use a good potion?”

“No. What’s the point of just looking good? Especially since we’re in a dungeon.”

“Hyung, sit down.”

Yoohyun said to me.

“No, I’m fine—”

Ugh. That bastard didn’t even listen to me and grabbed me, forcing me to sit on the chair. The me in the next chair looked at me with an expression that said, ‘I was like that too.’

“Hey, wait a minute! You can just roll it up, roll it up. Or cut it off!”

“Take it off.”

The other me said. That damn bastard! …It feels uncomfortable telling myself to go to hell.

“It looks like it’s been at least a year.”

Then Seong Hyunjae approached me, who was hugging a pile of padding. I gave Seong Hyunjae a wary look. Regardless, Seong Hyunjae slowly bent over.

“May I take a look?”

“At, what?”

“Your leg, I mean.”

The pre-regression me, pressed against the back of the chair, narrowed his brows.

“You’ve already seen it before, why again… Huh?”

Huh? A bewildered sound came out of my mouth too. You’ve already seen it before? Could it be?

“Do you remember anything?”

“No, what am I even saying.”

I shook my head in confusion. But it was clearly a reaction to having met Seong Hyunjae before, that is, in the past. What happened? The pre-regression Seong Hyunjae and the current Seong Hyunjae are the same but different beings, so did that have an effect? I don’t know the details, though.

“Seong Hyunjae-ssi, feel free to take a look.”

“What? Hey!”

“I permit it. Therefore, it’s mutually agreed.”

Anyway, I’m me. I glared at myself fiercely like a cornered animal. What, why? The healthy leg fearlessly tried to kick Seong Hyunjae, but it was easily caught. Oh my, it smells so savory even before it’s stir-fried with seaweed [a Korean expression for being in a dangerous or embarrassing situation].

However, the problem was that I was in a similar situation. Does this mean the embarrassment is doubled because there are two of me? Yoohyun stroked my leg with a serious expression.

“The bone…”

“It doesn’t hurt now, aagh!”

“It doesn’t hurt?”

“It hurts if you press it, if you press it!”

“I only pressed it lightly. Doesn’t it hurt every time you walk at this point?”

“It doesn’t. Walking is fine.”

I felt some pain without crutches or a cane, but it wasn’t to the point where I couldn’t walk. Yoohyun gritted his teeth.

“You cut it off too easily. I should have crushed it slowly.”

“Step on him if you meet him again.”

He’s still alive, after all. He is alive, right? Meanwhile, Seong Hyunjae-ssi seemed to be having a good time. He rested his chin on his fist on the armrest of the chair and looked at me, the Seseong Guild Leader, who was about to die from the pressure.

“Don’t you remember anything else?”

“No! Wait a minute, why are you taking off my socks!”

“To check the reaction.”

Hehehe, serves you right. No, wait a minute.

“Yoohyun, that leg is healthy, hey, hey.”

“It’s bruised. And there’s a scar on the knee. I’m upset, hyung.”

“You can bump into things and fall while living, what’s the big deal? It’s okay, it’s okay.”

So please give me my pants now. I’m glad the cardigan is long.

“…Seseong Guild Leader, shouldn’t you examine that side too?”

As Yoohyun stood up, I gritted my teeth and said.

“Of course, I should.”

“What do you mean, of course! My brother examined it well!”

“Since everyone sees things differently, it’s better for several people to check.”

“It’s fine.”

I said sharply and quickly grabbed my pants. I could clearly feel Seong Hyunjae’s gaze fixed on my leg. He didn’t seem to like my condition very much. He had a slightly sulky expression and then turned his gaze to the pre-regression me, who was putting on his pants.

“With surgical treatment and the help of a high-level healer, it shouldn’t be difficult to heal.”

“I refuse.”

I said with a slight bow. I took a short breath with a subdued expression and looked up at Seong Hyunjae.

“High-level healers won’t move for pocket change. I don’t have the ability to repay you.”

“It can be handled as a guild member welfare benefit. It depends on the grade and contract terms, and there’s the issue of the injury being before registration, but I’m the guild leader, aren’t I?”

“You’re even more annoying than I saw on TV.”

I was a little nervous, but my voice was blunt. I really have no fear. He must have finished assessing the situation that he can’t do anything to me, but still, I’m an F-grade with no fear resistance and he’s a born S-grade.

“Hyung, I’ll heal you, so don’t worry. Both of you, I mean.”

Even though it was the words I had been hoping for, the pre-regression me quietly avoided my gaze. Yoohyun’s face also darkened as he looked at me. That, um, uh…

“Oh, let’s get ready for the night! Are all the curtains drawn? Should we just draw the curtains in the rooms we’re staying in?”

“As I came, I saw that the curtains were open in three places.”

“You have good eyes. Then I’ll ask Seong Hyunjae-ssi to do that.”

Just in case, it would be best to draw as many curtains as possible. Seong Hyunjae nodded and walked over to take the elevator up.

“Yoohyun, you, there’s a kitchen here, right?”

“Yeah. It was on the first floor.”

“Then can you organize the groceries? It would be nice if you could prepare for cooking too.”

Yoohyun said he understood and pushed the shopping cart to the restaurant next to the lobby. Then we.

“Let’s tear off that decorative cloth and cover the glass walls and doors.”

Rather than simply saying, ‘Draw the curtains,’ it would be more accurate to say, ‘Make it so you can’t see inside from the outside.’ I went to the lounge, which was a bit far from the restaurant, with him. The pre-regression me took out a wire with a hook from the inventory. The sharply sharpened hook was thrown towards the cloth hanging from the ceiling. And whoosh, it cut the cloth in one go.

I stopped picking up the pile of cloth that had fallen to the floor and took off my cardigan, putting it in the inventory. It’s a bit hot, maybe because there’s heating.

“You, really…”

“No, this is an item, equipment.”

Of course, it might look funny to be wearing Chinese-style clothes, a jacket, and a cardigan! My fashion sense isn’t that bad. It’s normal.

“You said the cardigan is an item too. Can you layer them?”

“It’s okay because the type of effect and grade are very different, but I just wore it for warmth. This is demon beast wool. It’s warm just as clothing.”

Even though I made excuses, the me gave me a very suspicious look. Why don’t you trust me?

“The padding didn’t fit in the inventory.”

“Of course, wait. Since this is a dungeon, are normal clothes also dungeon items?”

If you think about it, that’s how it is. I tried to pick up a small flower vase on the table and put it in the inventory.

[Error! Cannot put it in the inventory!]

Yeah, it’s an error. This dungeon is a complete mess. It seemed that only items that were originally dungeon items, like the hook wire I used earlier, could be put in the inventory.

“To be honest.”

He glanced at the restaurant where Yoohyun had gone. It’s okay because it’s a distance that even an S-grade hunter can’t hear.

“I can’t guarantee that I can take you out.”

“Yeah.”

A calm answer came back as if he had guessed it.

“But I’ll take you out if possible, somehow.”

“…Why?”

I looked at me. His sunken eyes were heavy.

“There’s nothing good for you. I’m not very useful either.”

That was exactly what he meant. The me in front of me only had the Guardian title. He was even younger than the me right before regression, so the total amount of future knowledge he knew was also less. Of course, there were things he could do, but it wasn’t to the point where it was worth taking him out with difficulty; to put it coldly, it wasn’t.

It would be better to take other S-grades out. Yerim might be there too.

But.

“This is a secret from Yoohyun, but you’ll keep it, right?”

I continued, rolling up the second pile of cloth.

“I probably won’t live long.”

“What?”

“My body isn’t in good condition. I don’t plan to give up easily and I’ll try to live longer, but I think there’s a limit.”

“…Aren’t our bodies the same anyway? Did you regress because you had an incurable disease?”

“It’s different. The current me has several high-grade skills that I can’t handle. I have two L-grade titles and five L-grade skills attached to them.”

I gave him a suspicious look. It’s hard to believe, right?

“Besides that, there are other problems, so my body can’t handle it. My body is still F-grade.”

“What if you don’t use the skills?”

“I can’t afford not to use them. I can’t die right now just to extend my life a little.”

I never dreamed that the first person I would tell this to would be me. Because I know better than anyone what kind of guy I am, because he’s someone I can trust, I felt comfortable and the words came out easily. If you think about it, is it the same as talking to myself?

“So I wish you were there. For our brother. I think you can live a long life if you take good care of your health from now on. I think it’s possible to raise your grade if I ask an elder I know.”

It would take quite a bit of rolling around [persuading and using connections], though. Even if you’re just a mid-level, you can easily live over a hundred years. Even if it’s hard to become a transcendent like the young Chaos, you never know with an S-grade because the teacher is good.

“If Yoohyun doesn’t have me, I don’t think he’ll be able to live. If it’s about a hundred years later, he’ll have lived as much as a normal human, so it’ll be okay, but one or two decades isn’t enough. It could be even shorter.”

There was a mountain of work piled up, so I couldn’t guarantee it. Not only because of my physical condition, but there were also plenty of other problems that could arise.

“But because you’re me, if you’re there, ugh!”

My collar was roughly grabbed as if snatched away. I growled lowly.

“What the hell are you talking about, you bastard.”

“What do you mean, bullshit.”

“Damn it, you really.”

My body was pushed away. I staggered and fell onto the long sofa. The pre-regression me bent his knees and ruthlessly pressed down on my stomach.

“Keuk, hey!”

It hurts! Wait a minute, what, Eunhye? Eunhye? Don’t tell me you didn’t give me damage nullification because that’s me? Or do you also think I said something I deserved to be hit for?

“You’re different from me.”

Cool, angry eyes looked down at me. He also seemed sad.

“You must already be feeling it too. That’s why you’re spouting bullshit about me filling in as a substitute.”

My mouth and eyes contorted.

“I’m just, because I’m F-grade and you’re not. Damn it, I’ve heard a lot of people say I’m a lump of inferiority complex, but I never thought it would come to this with myself.”

“…What we were jealous of was our brother’s side.”

“Yeah. You, you. Good for you. To be recognized enough to come into this dungeon together.”

I tried not to think about it forcibly. I’m a monster, and Yoohyun, yeah, he looks good. But to drag me out and fill your empty seat. You’re a cheap bastard. If I were better than you, would I have said that kind of thing? You’re saying that because you’re confident that you won’t lose your place when you’re alive.”

“Honestly, ugh, that’s right.”

I know very well that I’m doing something cheap.

“But you’re me. …You’ll accept it, right?”

Even if the situation was reversed. I’m not the kind of bastard who would let Yoohyun die. Ugh, I could hear the sound of teeth grinding.

“You crazy bastard. Even so, even so. Are you really me? I do love my brother, but I really do love him.”

“Yoohyun died.”

I froze.

“Because of me. Trying to save me. That’s why I regressed—”

Thud. One side of my face was numb. It felt like my lip was busted.

“What are you talking about. That’s.”

“It’s something to go crazy about, right? Then. Would I be in my right mind.”

“Why did Yoohyun die!”

Another fist flew at me. This time, I waited and barely dodged it, kicking his leg, the injured one. Ugh, he staggered, and I rolled off the sofa. My body fell to the floor, but I didn’t stop and rolled around once more. As expected.

Stab!

A knife was stuck in the floor. Damn it, you savage bastard. But I’m me.

“Why are you still alive! So perfectly!”

“Tell me about it!”

I cursed at myself again. It was rather refreshing. Who else would get this angry for me? Yoohyun also said it was fortunate that he died, saying it.

“Hyung!”

Yoohyun ran over, probably because the commotion was so loud. He quickly grabbed me, who was attacking me, and looked at me with worried eyes.

“Are you okay? What’s going on? …Hyung?”

For some reason, tears started to flow. I was crying too.