The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 134

“How could you……”

My voice trailed off, and my legs gave way. It felt like all the pent-up reaction from forcing myself to stand had crashed down on me at once. Yu-hyun’s arm caught me before I could collapse.

The little lizard had somehow taken on a human form. It wasn’t a perfect human appearance. Like I-rin or I-smu-are, it was a figure sculpted from flames.

“…You can even do this.”

– I guess I can, thanks to the ruckus in Hong Kong. But it’s a big strain, so I can’t use it for long.

“A big strain? How much?”

– Well, for one thing, my real body is defenseless…….

“Are you crazy, Han Yu-hyun! Go back right now! You’re in the middle of clearing an S-Rank Dungeon [the highest difficulty level]!”

– Don’t worry. A Dungeon full of Guild members is safer than outside. There are two S-Ranks [top-ranked hunters] too. Peace and Park Ye-rim will protect my body for your sake, hyung [older brother or respected male figure].

That damned younger brother spoke so casually, but it worried me so much my heart ached. Separating a spirit this far away wasn’t easy, so he’d put it to sleep and set it up to wake up if Eun-hye reacted. Then he hadn’t seen the wound on my chest? I’d reflexively covered it as soon as I heard Yu-hyun’s voice.

– The complete assimilation can only last for about thirty minutes at most. I-rin will fall asleep again, too. So contact the Seseong Guild Leader.

Yu-hyun said, watching Song Tae-won brush off the flames on his clothes.

“Sung Hyun-jae should still be in a Dungeon, right?”

– He went abroad again for something related to the Hong Kong incident and came back this morning. Hunter Evelyn went into the Dungeon.

It seemed another Seseong S-Rank Hunter had entered the Dungeon instead of Sung Hyun-jae. I didn’t know what he was up to, but he was informing Haeyeon as promised, it seemed.

“Um, I was planning to avoid Sung Hyun-jae for about three days, so contacting him is a bit… Noah is nearby, too.”

– Hunter Noah won’t do. Chief Song Tae-won has the most combat experience with S-Rank Hunters in the country. He’s even specialized in one-on-one combat, so a support-type won’t last even three minutes.

Three minutes, huh. That was short. Still, I didn’t want to run into Sung Hyun-jae right now. I swallowed hard and looked at Song Tae-won. My spine tingled slightly when our eyes met.

– Contact him immediately.

Yu-hyun said, creating a spear of fire. I could sense a faint tension from his low voice.

– I don’t know what happened, but he’s not going to let it end easily.

At the same time, Song Tae-won began to move. He wasn’t using Teacher Skill [a special ability], so I couldn’t properly catch his movements with my eyes. I just heard the ground rumble.

Bang!

All I saw was the spear of fire slamming into the ground, creating a wall of flames. Before I knew it, Yu-hyun had disappeared from beside me. Feeling the heat swirling around me, I took out my phone. I really didn’t want to run into him right now.

The signal went through quickly, and Sung Hyun-jae answered the phone. His usual leisurely voice felt a little different than usual. I was already shrinking back just from the call; if I actually met him, shit, I should just say I dialed the wrong number.

“…If you have time, could you come to the Dungeon Break area for a bit? It’s okay if you’re busy.”

[Is Chief Song not enough? Even if it’s an S-Rank monster, he should be able to handle a Lycan-type without much difficulty. I heard Noah is there, too, as a support.]

He said, with a hint of doubt. You know it well. The S-Rank Lycanthrope is a mess right now.

“The problem is that Chief Song. He said he wouldn’t aim for my life since I’m F-Rank [the lowest rank], but this time, Sung Hyun-jae, you’re wrong.”

[Was my item’s charm too much?]

“I don’t want to see even the fragments of that damn item, so get over here in ten minutes.”

I didn’t think Song Tae-won would really kill me, but… Wouldn’t he break my arms and legs or something to tell me to stay still and not cause trouble? Maybe it was because my Fear Resistance Rank had decreased, but just thinking about it made one of my legs throb.

It would be nice if my legs were okay.

‘Should I use Teacher Skill, at least?’

All I could see was still flames and occasionally flying debris. In my current state, it would be hard to handle the information transmitted through the Skill, but that might not be so bad. It would be better to faint than to face Sung Hyun-jae with my C-Rank Fear Resistance.

If I pretended to be dead, maybe Song Tae-won would just pass by. He wasn’t a bear, but… Didn’t they say that if you pretended to be dead in front of a bear, you’d actually get eaten?

‘There’s nothing I can do anyway.’

Let’s lose my mind before Sung Hyun-jae comes. First, I used Teacher Skill on Yu-hyun and I-rin. At the same time, I felt like my whole body was burning up. My mouth felt dry from the pressure. When I had L-Rank Fear Resistance, it was like watching a fire across the river, but now it felt like watching a burning flame right in front of me, almost touching me.

And Song Tae-won.

‘…He’s fierce.’

Even engulfed in flames, his calm eyes felt even colder.

Since the Skill effect was halved, the range of Plunder was narrowed. Still, he must have been wearing Flame Resistance equipment because there weren’t many signs of burns, even with the flames swirling around him.

Not that there weren’t any. One of his shoulders was deeply torn, as if a flame spear had properly slashed it.

Crack, his foot slammed into the ground, kicking up a thick chunk of overturned asphalt. The flames trying to bite Song Tae-won thickly melted the black mass.

Meanwhile, a hand wrapped in shadows tore through Han Yu-hyun’s chest. No blood splattered because it wasn’t a real body. There wouldn’t be any pain, either. But Yu-hyun’s current body was a Skill in itself. The deeply torn flames couldn’t easily recover, and his red eyebrows furrowed as if he was in trouble.

‘At this rate, he won’t last even half of thirty minutes.’

It wasn’t his original body, so he could barely use Skills, and he didn’t have any equipment. Because of that, he was pushing through with simple firepower, so the consumption of power would be even greater. Even that was being gnawed away by Song Tae-won’s Skill.

Well, if it doesn’t work out, I’ll just faint.

I used Teacher Skill on Song Tae-won again. My vision spun. My breathing was a little heavy, but not enough to faint.

‘Song Tae-won, you’re not refusing, though.’

Why? Even while wondering, I unilaterally transmitted Song Tae-won’s senses to Yu-hyun. Immediately after, Yu-hyun narrowly avoided Song Tae-won’s kick and swung his arm violently. The fireball struck Song Tae-won like a mace, sending him flying.

His body, accurately hit, spun in the air. Song Tae-won’s foot strongly kicked the unfortunate building’s outer wall.

Crumble—

The wall cracked, and a large hole was punched through it. Concrete dust swirled, and the sprinklers activated, sensing the heat. Steam surged as fire and water met. In the midst of that, the two people collided again.

That building is going to collapse today.

Every time their magic throbbed wildly, I felt nauseous, so I ended up just sitting down roughly. I wanted to faint before Sung Hyun-jae came, but my mind seemed to be unexpectedly tough. I should really pretend to be dead—

– Hyung!

Then Yu-hyun shouted. I could also feel an ominous sensation. Damn it.

Rumble.

The ground shook. Damn it. Before I could even get up, a huge mole-like thing appeared, shattering the paving stones. Monsters from the first or second floor must have appeared. I’d temporarily forgotten that I was a monster restaurant.

– Keeeee!

The mole looked at me and shouted, “Looks delicious.” Probably. Just before it reached out its forefoot to me.

Bang!

The black head was engulfed in flames and burst like it was being roasted. Then, the head of the thing that appeared behind me was pierced by a flying dagger. A wire wrapped around the mole that was collapsing toward me with a big hole in its head and pulled it to the side.

Crash, I was a little dumbfounded by the monster’s corpse rolling and falling to the side, avoiding me. Anyway, Chief Song, you said you were going to destroy me or harm me a little while ago.

‘It’s a relief, but.’

– Hyung, are you okay?

Yu-hyun suddenly appeared next to me and set fire to another mole that popped out. It wasn’t like I was seeing monsters for the first or second time; this much just made me a little nervous. I couldn’t get up, though. The ground kept shaking, too… This whole area is going to need major construction.

“It seems that Hunter Noah can’t stop them without poison because they’re the type that moves underground.”

Song Tae-won said, grabbing the mole’s neck and crushing it. Already, a long burn mark stretched from his forehead to his right eye. It was painful to look at, but he didn’t even blink.

“Han Yu-jin-ssi [formal address].”

A hand with bulging veins pulled out a spinal bone and threw it into the eye of another mole. At the same time, the mole’s scream spread from under the foot that was slammed down with force.

Yu-hyun glared at him as he approached me. His momentum was fierce, but the spirit’s flames had already weakened a lot.

“Come this way. I will protect you.”

The hand stained with blood and flesh was extended to me. The fact that those words were sincere made him seem really crazy. Yu-hyun frowned, half-embracing me.

– What really happened, hyung? It looked like Chief Song was trying to take off the bracelet, but now he’s protecting you?

“…Did we have some kind of discussion about life?”

I told him to stop doing the twisted pretzel dance and mind his own business, and I meddled in his life, which was already twisted. Looking back, I think I should have just let Song Tae-won pull out my tongue and said, “He deserved it once.”

Still, the atmosphere was pretty good when we first met. Song Tae-won’s car was wrecked, and my neck was strangled… Um, it doesn’t seem much different from now. After all, people should keep a spoonful of appropriate fear in their hearts. If they don’t, this could happen.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to go because I’m scared of Song Tae-won right now.”

“In this situation, people usually are scared. But it’s better than being swallowed by a monster.”

Song Tae-won soothed me as if he were dealing with a victim found in a disaster area.

“How do you know which is better? Maybe it’s more comfortable in a monster’s belly than being caught by Song Tae-won.”

“If you stay still and do as I say, I won’t touch you.”

The words I had said came back to me. Even in the meantime, the moles kept popping out. They couldn’t come near the blazing fire and were gathering far away.

– …I’ll get out as soon as possible.

Yu-hyun, who had become very blurry, looked down at me worriedly.

“You don’t have to. I’m okay.”

Yu-hyun’s body shrank. He returned to the form of a lizard, I-rin, sat on my shoulder, and then seeped into my skin like a tattoo.

Song Tae-won walked over the ruined road. I didn’t have the strength to get up, so I just looked up at the man standing in front of me. Even though it was a summer night, I felt a chill. Frankly speaking, my body was trembling.

“He’s a terrified ordinary person. Please treat him kindly.”

“If you continue to stay still, I will do so as much as you want.”

“Like drinking beer together and having pointless chat calls, or something like that?”

“I can’t do that during work hours.”

“Do you usually get along well with your neighbors like that?”

“I’m not a good person to get along with. I’m not.”

“I won’t be a good person to get along with if I get scared.”

Song Tae-won bent down. He lightly lifted my body.

“So, are you not going to call anymore?”

“I will. And I’m going to keep doing things that Song Tae-won hates. After all, Song Tae-won is going to keep doing things even if I hate it, right? But I’m close to an ordinary person, so please be a little lenient, S-Rank.”

Thump—

Instead of an answer, a piece of paving stone was kicked away. The head of a mole that was slowly approaching was shattered. They were the ones who could easily cross the barricades and make a mess of the city by digging through the ground. But now, they were all just looking at me.

At this rate, an essential item option to reduce Dungeon Break damage would be added.

“I still don’t know how to treat Han Yu-jin-ssi. I sometimes think it would be easier to get rid of him here.”

The calm voice was even more chilling. As I suppressed the fear that was smoldering up and chose my words.

Quarrel—!

Thunder roared. A light so bright it hurt my eyes flashed, and the mole group was swept away. The monsters’ screams were buried in the continuous thunder.

Really in an instant, the monster group turned into a pile of corpses. As a bonus, one unfortunate villa and two houses exploded like popcorn bags.

“Chief Song Tae-won.”

Sung Hyun-jae lightly skipped over the road that was cracked like an earthquake. A smile was on his eyes as he looked this way.

“If you picked up someone else’s thing, you should return it to the owner’s hand nicely. Can public officials receive rewards under the Lost and Found Act? My item is so precious and valuable.”

I could make a solid profit. Sung Hyun-jae said, scratching my nerves as always. I thought that my and Song Tae-won’s feelings were similar right now.