The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 101

This is practically a scam tour.

The once-grand old castle had collapsed as if it had been hit by a concentrated bombing. Demolished, cut, ground, and burned. It was as if a professional demolition team had been mobilized, clearing everything away neatly.

The serene lake suffered the same fate. After Riette fell in a few times, the blue surface turned a murky gray. The salamanders in the water, terrified by the poison, floated to the surface only to be torn apart in the aftermath of the battle. The boss monster on the first floor, which appeared when the number of monsters fell below a certain level, met a similar end.

The water dragon, which had proudly raised its head, became Riette’s stepping stone and was plunged into the water. Then, after being grazed by Sung Hyunjae’s lightning, it was charred black and struggled, only to be vertically split in two with the remark, ‘It’s just getting in the way.’ All of that took less than three minutes.

Even though it was a mid-boss in an A-class dungeon, it ended up like a shrimp getting its back broken. I almost felt sorry for it.

In any case, the tourist spot that Sung Hyunjae recommended had become a sight I wouldn’t want to see even if I were paid. Just look at the corpses piled up by the lake. It’s a relief it resets; otherwise, it would be a huge nuisance to the Sudam Guild… Oh, right, I already beat up the guild leader. There’s no more nuisance to cause. I wonder if they’re even alive.

‘To think there are two more like those guys.’

Who are the remaining two? I have some guesses, but I’m not sure. They’re probably in the top ranks, but they might not have participated at all. Ranking battles are largely for exchanging benefits, so a lone hunter like Riette might not be interested.

Fighting on a prepared ring with rules is a completely different feeling from the current brawl.

“It seems to have calmed down a bit, right?”

Noah tilted his head slightly at my question.

– It still might be dangerous to approach rashly.

“If we’re going down, it’s better to go to the Seseong Guild Leader’s side.”

Sung Hyunjae would be less swayed by his emotions than Riette. Plus, he’s older.

– You seem to be closer to the Seseong Guild Leader than I thought.

Noah said, tilting his wing to change direction. Oh, what a misunderstanding that could cause.

“It’s purely a business relationship. If there’s no benefit to each other, we’re complete strangers from that moment on.”

If I were still an ordinary F-class hunter like before the regression, would that guy have even glanced at me? We didn’t even have any contact back then. Sung Hyunjae wouldn’t have been interested in me, and to me, he was just a cool but annoyingly lucky rank 1, that was about it. Now, he’s just an annoyingly successful guy who’s even more annoying.

Why does my skill compatibility have to be so good with that guy? No, it’s a useless skill for me, but… I’d rather it be good only for me. It’s a problem that it’s good for the kids.

Ugh, annoying.

“Would you like some more cheesecake?”

Seeing that he brought a whole cake, I thought he might like it. I fed Noah a piece and put the remaining one in my mouth. I threw the empty box and plate into the air. The trash disposal is taken care of by the dungeon reset.

In fact, some F-class dungeons are used as landfills. There are concerns about side effects, though.

Sung Hyunjae and Riette stood over a hundred meters apart on the site where the castle had been. Some building remains were visible in the less destroyed areas.

To sum up the result, it was something of a victory for Sung Hyunjae.

Riette’s attack power was no joke, but it only works if it hits. Since her speed wasn’t overwhelmingly superior, she couldn’t inflict significant damage on Sung Hyunjae as long as he had the cheat skill of combat prediction.

On the other hand, Sung Hyunjae could foresee the opponent’s movements, making it a much more disadvantageous fight for Riette. If it weren’t for the poison, that is.

‘An S-class poison skill is not to be taken lightly.’

If it were Yoohyun, he could burn it away, but Sung Hyunjae’s skills didn’t seem to be able to completely eliminate it. The poison spreading like mist was a wide-area attack that was useless to predict, so Sung Hyunjae couldn’t approach properly, and Riette’s abilities prevented her from being hit by attacks from afar. In the end, only the surrounding area was destroyed more than the two people themselves.

Still, Riette’s injuries were more severe. Sung Hyunjae was annoyingly unscathed. Even that damn white coat wasn’t dirty. Does he have some kind of cleanliness skill?

“Is it okay to approach?”

I asked, landing a little away from Sung Hyunjae. The eyes that turned to look at me were coldly fierce. Noah, who had released his sign language [a form of communication for dragons], reflexively took a step back.

“Of course, you can. I’d rather ask you to come.”

His voice was lower than usual.

“Keep the baby dragon as it is, don’t move. The poison is bothering me, so it’s annoying.”

In addition to that, there would be a stat difference. Noah looked uneasy, but I guessed why he was calling me, so I moved my feet.

Looking closely, Sung Hyunjae wasn’t completely unscathed either. That’s probably why he called me. He seemed to be poisoned because he couldn’t completely avoid the poison. In particular, the complexion of his lightly wounded left hand was noticeably different.

“The performance of the detoxification item seems to be worse than expected.”

“If it were bad, I wouldn’t be this okay. Even if it’s the same S-class poison skill, the Poisonous Dragon Species’ poison is much more potent. It becomes even more dangerous if the stats are also high.”

Sung Hyunjae said, wrapping his left arm around me. Well, that’s true. Attack skills are greatly affected by stats, so Riette’s poison would be stronger than Noah’s. In the first place, the types are likely different. Even if it’s an S-class detoxification item, it will take quite a while to detoxify.

The story of the Poisonous Dragon Species reminded me of something I had put aside for a moment, and I frowned involuntarily. Then Riette strode over. Her clothes were torn in places, and there were still scars that hadn’t been completely healed. The way she walked over with an empty potion bottle in one hand and a slightly flushed face was, well, reminiscent of a drunkard.

She certainly seemed to be in a good mood, as if she were drunk.

“What, the poison has completely disappeared? That’s a bit frustrating.”

Riette grumbled, stopping about five meters away.

“Do you need to borrow a potion?”

“It’s okay, honey. I have plenty. It’s a shame to erase it all right away. The potion’s performance is so good that there are no pleasant memories left.”

Pleasant memories, huh? Never mind, really.

“More importantly, how did you get into the dungeon where Dio Valshesis appeared?”

The timing is too good to be a coincidence. Riette took out a new potion and answered.

“Pebble told me.”

Noah? Noah, who had been cautiously approaching like a cat with its fur raised, wary of Riette and Sung Hyunjae, stopped abruptly. Then he glanced at Sung Hyunjae.

I have a rough idea. One of Sung Hyunjae’s investments in Noah was the Twin title of Dio Valshesis, I guess.

I looked up at the man standing right in front of me. He smiled a picture-perfect smile at the unspoken question.

“I’ll answer that it’s correct.”

“Didn’t you know you’d be abandoned when you told Noah about the dungeon?”

“I’m not a prophet.”

So he didn’t notice until then. It’s certain that the cult gave the Dio Valshesis title to the siblings through Sung Hyunjae. It was probably to eliminate Sung Hyunjae and create an S-class hunter to use instead.

When Riette was ready, she showed signs of dealing with Sung Hyunjae by bringing in MKC [a hunter association] and Sudam [another hunter association]. The cult probably deliberately made it obvious. Since they had known each other for a long time, including before the regression, they probably expected Sung Hyunjae to act like this.

What was unexpected, perhaps, was me.

‘Do they not know about my title?’

If they had known, they would have aimed for when I wasn’t there. Then they might have succeeded in dealing with Sung Hyunjae.

I said that Sung Hyunjae was superior in the fight between the two, but if he was poisoned and time was bought, Riette would have had a good chance of winning. If she had cooperated with other hunters and received assistance, Riette would have been even more favored.

‘If Riette had come forward and Choi Seokwon and Yoon Gyungsoo had protected the healers, support, and ranged hunters, it would have been really dangerous.’

But Riette broke free from the command of the higher Poisonous Dragon Species. And that higher Poisonous Dragon Species is…….

“Riette, can you tell me in detail about the situation when Dio Valshesis appeared? Was there anything unusual?”

“Anything unusual? Other than the dungeon disappearing… Oh, there was one more boss monster before Dio Valshesis came out.”

“One more boss monster?”

“It was like a big tiger, but when I was about to catch it, a black dragon suddenly appeared and tore the tiger apart. A golden dragon also came out. And…….”

Riette tilted her head and continued.

“Dio Valshesis was, surprisingly, easy to catch. He didn’t attack much? That was a bit strange. Was he sick somewhere?”

Easy to catch, huh? I unconsciously clenched my teeth at her words.

I was a little puzzled. The Poisonous Dragon Species in the S-class dungeon five years later. The fact that Riette and Noah safely hunted Dio Valshesis in that place, which was definitely more difficult than it is now.

Of course, Riette is strong enough, and Noah’s skills are useful. But it wouldn’t have been enough to make up for the five-year gap.

‘Even if there was a separate original boss monster, did someone, a higher Poisonous Dragon Species, deliberately… make Dio Valshesis appear in the dungeon for the sake of Riette’s siblings’ title?’

He can make the Poisonous Dragon appear in the dungeon. Deliberately.

The moment I recognized that fact, the blood in my whole body turned cold.

It was a D-class dungeon. Even in a time when strange monsters appeared frequently, there was no case where the difference was so severe. Rauchitas appeared in the dungeon I entered, and Hanyoohyun came to save me as if he had planned it with him.

The conclusion that appears as the puzzle pieces fit together makes the inside of my throat feel dry as if it were burning.

“…Sung Hyunjae, tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“Anything, everything you know about those guys.”

Sung Hyunjae made an exaggeratedly troubled expression.

“Didn’t I say I couldn’t say?”

“If you’ve been silenced by something like a contract, I’ll release it.”

“So you had a curse resistance skill too.”

…Indeed. Thanks to that, I came to my senses a little and took a step back. Sung Hyunjae was looking at me with a look full of interest.

“Were you guessing?”

“If it’s superior to Dio Valshesis’s Twin, which is an SSS-class title, it must be at least an SSS-class title. Since you definitely have poison resistance, there’s a high probability that curse resistance is also attached. And there are one or two more, right? Since there don’t seem to be any related attack or special skills, they’re resistance or support types, and the grade is high. Dio Valshesis’s main skill is summoning, so the rest were only around S-class, so Hanyoojin’s resistance skill is probably SSS-class, or maybe L-class. Is that about right?”

“I thought you weren’t a prophet.”

“It’s just a guess. I’d be happy if it was correct.”

He’s really a person I don’t want to associate with. I want to ask my past self if I was crazy to say the keywords to that guy.

“Before guessing, aren’t you wondering how I got such a title? I would usually assume it’s impossible.”

“As long as the performance is good, I’m not interested in such trivial history.”

Does he really not care? I bet a picnic basket that he’s already searched my past thoroughly. Anyway, knowing that he knows makes it easier to persuade him.

“My curse resistance skill is L-class. So will you tell me?”

“I’m sorry, but it’s not enough.”

…What? I was surprised for a moment, but at the same time, Yoohyun’s attitude from a while ago was belatedly understood. His reaction when he asked if curse resistance was also L-class and then looked somehow sullen. It seemed that Yoohyun had also been silenced by a curse contract of the same grade as Sung Hyunjae.

“Is it an L-class contract? What’s the price?”

“The right arm and eye. One each.”

…Damn it, Yoohyun. You shouldn’t sign such a crazy illegal contract!

“How could you accept such a contract?”

“It’s high risk, high return. It’s not that dangerous as long as you’re careful about what you say. More than anything… it’s too boring to play the blind man even though the guys who are obviously trying to pull off some tricks are scattering business cards.”

“So did you have some fun?”

“…No.”

Sung Hyunjae answered sullenly. It’s not acting, he seems genuinely disappointed.

“I benefited, but it wasn’t much fun.”

“Then why don’t you cut it off for sure this time?”

“As I said, it’s an L-class curse contract, so it’s difficult with the same L-class resistance. The power of a conditional curse that you directly signed increases relative to the grade.”

“There’s also a skill that doubles the skill effect when dealing with the Poisonous Dragon Species.”

The slightly surprised eyes looked back and forth between Riette and Noah.

“Does it also apply to double the attack skill effect?”

“That’s because I’m sharing my skill, not using it against the Poisonous Dragon Species. The shared skill itself has a double effect.”

So even if it’s an L-class curse contract, it can be broken enough. If it’s certain that the opponent is a Poisonous Dragon Species.

“It’s good to be confident, but you haven’t confirmed it, have you? More than anything, you can’t even know if the person who wrote the contract is a Poisonous Dragon Species.”

“So are you going to continue to be silenced? Is that all you are? One eye and one arm, if something goes wrong, I’ll take responsibility for it no matter what. I’ll even rip off the Elixir from the Breaker Guild. Or tell me what else you want, and I’ll compensate you to your satisfaction.”

Tell me the guy who used me to kill my brother.

“I cherish Hanyoojin very much, but.”

With the slowly flowing voice, Sung Hyunjae’s hand grabbed my neck. Then he lightly pulled me towards him.

“Yoojin-ssi!”

“It’s okay, just stay still.”

I stopped Noah and looked straight at Sung Hyunjae. The gaze that seemed to see through me would have definitely felt chilling if I didn’t have fear resistance. No, I might have been even more terrified and avoided it.

But I was able to face it without a single tremor. It’s not normal, but that’s why I’m glad.

“I’m not going to give up a part of my body.”

“Do you really think so? It’s not your life, it’s just one arm and one eye? Sung Hyunjae-ssi, I still have a lot to hide.”

I smiled, raising the corners of my mouth.

“So the future will be more interesting.”

I threw it out provocatively, asking if he would miss the opportunity because of just a part of his body, to the man who probably knows my value even better than I do.

The eyes that had been coldly appraising me softened for a moment. The hand that had been holding my neck released and lightly patted my cheek.

“I hope it doesn’t end with just words.”

“Don’t worry, you’re holding the reins. I’m rather worried that you’ll keep your mouth shut even after the contract is safely terminated.”

“Would I do such a trivial thing? But Hanyoojin, remember one thing. Even if you succeed in the release safely, I bet my arm and eye for you.”

He bowed his head towards me and continued.

“I expect you to repay this debt for sure.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

I’ll complain to God first about why I have to deal with this guy.