The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 501

The hall where the protagonist had disappeared was silent. Only remnants of the party were scattered, with no one left. The sunset streamed in through the open wall, illuminating the stained tables. A long veil wrapped around Seong Hyeon-jae’s feet as he stood on the stairs.

He would always be the last one left. He would have grasped more than anyone else, as if it were natural, only to have it slip through his fingers like sand. Repeatedly. Standing at the edge of twilight, just before everything was submerged in darkness. But he himself would ultimately fail to greet the night.

And his night entered where the sunset shone. Seong Hyeon-jae leaned against the railing, smiling. Song Tae-won frowned slightly as he looked up at him. Seong Hyeon-jae looked down at those dark eyes with amusement.

“Please refrain from wandering around alone as much as possible.”

“Did my age suddenly lose its first digit or something?”

“I’d rather deal with a child.”

Song Tae-won crossed the hall. Seong Hyeon-jae also slowly stepped onto the stairs, following the railing. With his relatively slower movements, Song Tae-won reached him before he had even descended half the stairs. Song Tae-won’s eyes fell on the faint scars on Seong Hyeon-jae’s hand. Several scars extended from under the shirt’s sleeve to the inside of his wrist.

“What happened?”

“A guest came to visit. It’s nothing serious.”

“If traces remain even after using a potion, is it perhaps a curse?”

Song Tae-won reached out, asking for permission.

“Han Yu-jin is temporarily away, so I will check it as a temporary measure.”

As ‘Encroaching Plunder’ [Song Tae-won’s unique skill] nullifies the opponent’s skills, it would have some effect on poisons or curses if they are also caused by skills. Skills that have already been activated and completed, such as losing a part of the body, are unavoidable, but continuous types that slow down wound healing could be temporarily nullified.

“It will only temporarily block it, so Han Yu-jin’s help will be needed, but it will be possible to treat it right now.”

It doesn’t completely解除 it. If ‘Encroaching Plunder’ is withdrawn, the curse will remain as it is, and if the same area is injured again, healing will be slowed down again. However.

“…It might be different if I swallow the curse itself.”

With the true power contained within ‘Encroaching Plunder’. Song Tae-won’s face darkened slightly, and Seong Hyeon-jae said jokingly.

“Am I becoming a test subject?”

“I have no intention of doing that right now.”

Song Tae-won answered stiffly and placed his hand on Seong Hyeon-jae’s wound. Immediately after a black shadow-like substance appeared on his hand,

Zap!

Light flashed, and the wildly moving shadow deeply cut Seong Hyeon-jae’s hand. Song Tae-won quickly withdrew his skill and stepped back. His startled gaze fell upon the hand, soaked with blood that had instantly welled up.

“Just now…….”

“I see. Now that I think about it, it was a bit similar.”

Seong Hyeon-jae nonchalantly took out a potion and poured it on his hand. The wound healed, and the blood was washed away by the potion. Seong Hyeon-jae lightly shook the water off his hand.

“There’s no need to worry about it.”

“What is going on?”

“I told you it’s nothing serious.”

Song Tae-won grabbed Seong Hyeon-jae’s shoulder as he started to descend the stairs. As soon as Seong Hyeon-jae turned his head towards him, Song Tae-won’s hand immediately fell away. Golden eyes curved into a round shape, and he looked up at Song Tae-won as if amused.

“You’re worried. Not just about the problem caused by me, but also about me.”

“…Excuse me?”

“You’ve been greatly influenced by Han Yu-jin in the meantime.”

He was inevitably influenced by Han Yu-jin, who naturally treated Seong Hyeon-jae as a human.

“Whether it was the old days with no lamplight or now with the whole city bright. Night is night.”

“Please tell me what’s going on. Could it be that the… the accumulation has become a problem again?”

“There’s no need to worry about that. The Elder gave me a good solution.”

“Are you talking about the Little Chaos?”

“I won’t need to rely on those two this time.”

Song Tae-won stared silently at Seong Hyeon-jae, who was smiling gently. If the Little Chaos, that transcendent being, had helped, it would have been somewhat believable. But strangely, he felt uneasy.

“Rather than that, don’t let your guard down too much.”

Seong Hyeon-jae turned his body completely and stepped up one step on the stairs.

“You know better than anyone that my interest doesn’t only move in a good direction.”

You should worry more about Han Yu-jin. Song Tae-won’s eyebrows twitched at the quiet whisper.

“The thought of wanting to kill the Young Master or the Little Miss has become stronger recently.”

“…I don’t think you would—”

“Think back to the Chinese dungeon.”

Honestly, it was fun. Thrilling. A faint smile grew even thicker on Seong Hyeon-jae’s lips.

“What kind of reaction would Han Yu-jin show if I killed his precious younger sibling? Just imagining it excites me.”

“Not at all.”

One of Song Tae-won’s feet moved back, stepping up one step on the stairs. He wanted to back away, but the other foot didn’t move.

“And it’s something I have to stop.”

“Don’t worry. Unfortunately, I’ve already made a promise. That I will never lay a hand on Han Yu-jin’s younger sibling. Moreover, there’s only one Han Yu-jin.”

Seong Hyeon-jae sighed briefly.

“The way he tries to embrace his younger sibling no matter what is also enjoyable, and it looks good. In this case, I might even feel jealous that he only protects his younger sibling too much.”

“…You’re just pretending, right?”

“It’s fortunate that the Han Yu-jin from the dungeon didn’t come out. If he had, it would have been difficult to restrain myself.”

It’s like having a spare, so I might have done things I had to endure. Again, people shouldn’t be together, Seong Hyeon-jae said, turning his body again and lightly running down the stairs. Song Tae-won stared blankly at his back before suddenly opening his mouth.

“Don’t go out alone! And I need to properly check the wound again.”

An ominous feeling brushed against his chest, but chasing after Seong Hyeon-jae was more urgent now. Song Tae-won also quickly descended the stairs and left the hall.

* * *

“Damn it!”

With a cry of frustration, a hunter flew far away and plunged into the water. Splash! If it were summer, water would have splashed up with a refreshing sound.

“That team is a goner too.”

Let’s see, this was the third team. But there wasn’t even a small scratch on the turtle’s shell. It was smooth and flawless.

[Grade 1 Giant Armored Species – Sunken Sea Armor

Current Stat Grade SS

Awakening Possible Stat Grade S~SS

Optimized Initial Skills

Blessing of the Sea (SS) Acquired

Drenched Water Armor (SS) Acquired

Gulp Gulp (S) Acquired

Wave Whip (S) Acquired]

Just looking at the name, it seemed sturdy, and the skills also looked sturdy. Fortunately, the power of the attack skills wasn’t very strong, but the problem was that, like that toad from before, our attacks weren’t working at all. As expected, SS-grade monsters are not easy to deal with. But.

‘It might be easier to攻略 [capture/defeat] than I thought.’

Looking at the skills, I roughly knew how to攻略 it.

“Ye-rim.”

“Yes, Uncle.”

“Can you take a look around for a moment?”

They were working hard to攻略 it, but I was sorry to say that there was almost no chance that those people would catch the turtle. To catch it in 30 minutes, I had to plan the route in advance. A little later, Ye-rim brought me the information I wanted. It was just right.

“Good. Yu-hyeon, do you think you can pierce that shell? Without my buffs or the DoGeom Eater [a weapon].”

At my question, Yu-hyeon shook his head briefly.

“The shell itself is hard, but it’s difficult because it’s absorbed water. I can’t use the Final Door either.”

“I thought so.”

“Yeah, sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? It’s more advantageous for me.”

If a water-attribute SS-grade magic stone came out, I could make equipment for Ye-rim. That’s great. The turtle I hadn’t even seen yet looked very pretty. Thanks to it, I could make a good income and get magic stones, what a 기특한 [admirable/praiseworthy] guy.

Whoosh!

“Cough!”

“Ugh!”

A strong current swirled around the turtle, sweeping away the hunters. The hunters who were hit were knocked away and plunged into the water. I should have done this in the middle of summer. And broadcast it if possible.

Anyway, there didn’t seem to be any other variables.

“Shall we go back soon? Hyun-ah is watching, so I can ask about the hunters’ abilities later.”

“I’ll stay here longer. It’s good to watch them fight in the water!”

“Okay, don’t stay too late.”

It was a shame that the turtle didn’t move much, but it would be helpful to watch the hunters’ battle. I’ve seen it a lot on TV. It would be nice if I could show it to Ye-rim too.

Most of the hunters had flocked to the beach, so the mansion was deserted. Seong Hyeon-jae and Song Tae-won were standing near the still-open wall. Seong Hyeon-jae was wearing light shirt and pants, as if he had really gone to wash up. Why didn’t he dry his hair like a child? There was water on his shirt… wait a minute. Why is he rolling up his sleeves again? The atmosphere was a bit strange.

“Yu-hyeon, what’s Song Chief’s expression like?”

“Stiff.”

He was always like that, but. Peace folded his wings and landed, skimming over the flower bed. I got off Peace’s back and approached the two of them.

“What’s going on?”

I spoke as professionally as possible since there weren’t many people around. Song Chief, who was examining Seong Hyeon-jae’s arm, turned to me and replied.

“…There was an attack.”

“An attack?”

Who would attack Seong Hyeon-jae… who……. I guess there are a lot of suspects. Song Chief seemed to be thinking similarly.

“He said he didn’t see the face because he only used skills from a distance.”

“Really? As the host of the gathering, I’m obligated to ask, are you okay?”

Seong Hyeon-jae raised both arms. Traces of small wounds remained on his arm.

“I just got scratched a bit.”

“Scratched… okay…….”

Suspicious. Even if it was a shallow wound, he was injured like that, but he let the opponent go so easily? No matter how far away they used skills, there was no way he couldn’t have chased them. …Could it be that his physical condition is worse than I thought? He recognized the mark of the Chatterbox, and it bothered me.

“If you used a potion but the wound still remains, is it a curse?”

“It doesn’t seem that strong, but I’d welcome it if you’d hug me.”

“…No, thanks.”

What are you trying to do when there are eyes watching? Did you give up on acting now? Still, I told him to contact me if there was a problem.

“Do you have any suspects?”

“Well. I’ve unintentionally earned quite a bit of hatred, but if it’s an opponent who’s bold enough to attack directly like this.”

Seong Hyeon-jae stared at me silently. What, why me.

“…I have an alibi. There are several witnesses.”

“That’s a shame.”

He has the energy to talk nonsense. I was worried for nothing.

“Let’s go inside without worrying about it.”

Yu-hyeon said I must be tired. Yeah, why would I worry about that human being, of all people? It must be one of the Seong Hyeon-jae haters who are all over the place who caused an accident. I tried to think it was nothing, but I felt uneasy for no reason.

“I hope the Seseong Guild Leader doesn’t get stabbed in the middle of the night, would it be okay to ask you to watch over him?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye on him.”

Song Chief replied reliably. I felt sorry that he came all the way here. But even if I didn’t say it, he would be guarding… no, monitoring Seong Hyeon-jae. I glanced at Seong Hyeon-jae again and turned away.

Peace hopped up the stairs ahead of me. Even though it was mainly used by high-ranking hunters, there was no elevator. I wouldn’t need to exercise separately when I’m here.

“Oh, you’ve all worked hard~”

I bowed my head as I entered the room with monitors placed everywhere. One of the hunters who was examining the recorded video approached me.

“Here’s the first list.”

It was a list of hunters who were presumed to have received invitations from the Chatterbox. In order to closely check the movements of high-ranking hunters, but above all for safety, everyone here was A-grade. In addition to Haeyeon, Breaker also cooperated. Everyone was very active even though they hadn’t heard the details.

“Thank you. What about the people who contacted us?”

“So far, there are five in total. Two of them were related to Gi Seung-soo, and the other three said they wanted to ask about the mark on Director Han’s neck.”

“Let’s meet all five of them for now.”

Gi Seung-soo might be an excuse. As I looked at the list and the contact information of the five people, Yu-hyeon snatched it away.

“Do it tomorrow. Most of them are at the beach now anyway.”

“Okay, okay.”

“You need to wash up and change your clothes too.”

He seemed dissatisfied that I had been buried in work recently. Gyeol-i also nodded, and Peace made a sound as if agreeing. I’ll be busy tomorrow too, so should I rest early today? As soon as I entered the guest room, Gyeol-i shouted.

– I! REALLY! HATE! IT!

The subject was omitted, but it was easy to know who he was talking about.

“Why, Dad poured more wine.”

– That was good.

“And honestly, it was fun.”

Who else but me would have poured wine on Seong Hyeon-jae’s head? Even if it wasn’t that.

‘Fighting with Seong Hyeon-jae itself… is quite enjoyable.’

I wanted to grab him by the hair and have a brawl, not just pour wine on him. It was impossible with my strength alone. I took off my coat and picked up the phone in the room and sent a text message.

[What does the mark on my neck mean?]

Until I came out of the shower, and even after that, there was no reply.