The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 135

135. Drawn (5)

Crash! The building’s outer wall, which had been barely holding on, collapsed in a cascade of debris. Remnants of flames crackled, hungrily consuming everything around them. The acrid stench of blood mingled with the sharp smell of burning flesh.

It was, without exaggeration, the heart of a battlefield. In reality, a Dungeon Break was little different from one. During the height of a Dungeon Shock [a period of intense monster activity following a Dungeon Break], they even entered a quasi-war state.

However, the most dangerous targets now were hunters, not monsters.

“Han Yoojin is a person,” Song Taewon stated firmly.

“Of course, he’s a person. Did you only realize that now? To think you haven’t been treating Han Yoojin as a person all this time… that’s a bit much.”

*No, weren’t you the one who brought up items?* Seong Hyunjae slowly moved closer. As the distance between them closed, the chill clinging to my skin intensified. I wouldn’t need an air conditioner at this rate.

It wasn’t terrifying enough to make me want to die, but my spine was crawling, and the ends of my hands and feet were tingling.

Squish. The heel of his shoe sank into a puddle of blood. Seong Hyunjae stopped about two or three meters away, meeting Song Taewon’s gaze. His gloved hand reached out and gestured lightly.

“Give him to me.”

“There’s no reason to hand him over.”

“There’s no reason for Chief Song to hold onto him either, is there?”

“Han Yoojin is a quasi-civilian with an F-grade stat and no offensive skills, so I have a duty to protect him in the current situation where a Dungeon Break has occurred.”

Seong Hyunjae chuckled softly. Immediately after, I thought his laughter was quite chilling.

“Ugh…”

The oppressive feeling that I thought I could manage suddenly bared its teeth and crushed my entire body. It felt like my head was submerged in water, and I couldn’t breathe. I reflexively turned my head and closed my eyes. I could still see Seong Hyunjae through Song Taewon’s perspective because I was still using Teacher Skill [a skill that allows the user to share senses with another person].

“…What did you do?”

Seong Hyunjae looked down at me with a puzzled expression. Did he not know the details of Song Taewon’s skill effect, or did he not suspect the existence of my Fear Resistance Skill?

“It’s a natural reaction to an S-grade hunter’s presence. Please reduce your aura.”

“Han Yoojin.”

At the call, I turned back to Seong Hyunjae. The moment our eyes met, my whole body tingled. I didn’t mind his slightly sulky face. I felt a little sorry for calling him, but this timing was definitely his turn to be the villain.

Song Taewon couldn’t decide on his attitude toward me. Was I a weak person to protect, or a liability to dispose of? It was a bit more complicated than that, but to put it simply, that was it. So, I had to add a little weight to the scale to make it easier for him to decide.

“I-I’m sorry… Guild Leader Seong.”

My voice trembled. No one would ever think it was acting. It wasn’t acting, though. I was genuinely scared.

“Please, go back…”

Seong Hyunjae slightly opened his mouth. Then, he smiled without saying a word. It was annoying how quick-witted he was, but that’s why I liked him. He really deserved to have something like Combat Prediction [a skill that allows the user to foresee an opponent’s moves].

In Song Taewon’s view, my face wouldn’t be clearly visible, so I subtly raised the corners of my mouth in response. *Since you came all the way here, please play along.* And as if he was willing to do so…

Clang—

Golden chains flew in, directly toward my neck. Song Taewon’s hand grabbed the end of it.

“What are you doing?”

“Can’t you tell? I’m collecting lost items.”

“Didn’t you hear him say to go back?”

“There’s no need to heed it.”

At the words that he would cleanly ignore my opinion, force was applied to the hand holding the chain. Light sparked from the tightly stretched chain. An ordinary person would be electrocuted, but the shadows gathering in Song Taewon’s hand swallowed all the creeping current.

The tension soared momentarily, and my body trembled again. *Ah, I want to go home. I wasn’t supposed to be involved in something like this.*

“Can you walk?”

Song Taewon asked me. Walking was a bit difficult, but crawling might be possible.

“You can just… leave me here.”

I won’t die even if you leave me alone. Song Taewon frowned slightly and let go of me. I staggered and collapsed to the ground. The gaze looking down at me as I took a deep breath contained genuine concern. It was like an upgraded version of giving poison and then medicine.

“Are you really not going to consider going back at this point?”

“I’ll go back once I take what I need to take.”

“Han Yoojin has already refused. If you continue to try to touch him, I will respond.”

“That’s not bad either. It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it?”

That guy looks like he’s enjoying this. I suddenly felt sorry for Song Taewon. Was Fear Resistance affecting my conscience too? It kept stinging since the grade went down. Should I just stop here?

“Song Taewon, I’ll go with Guild Leader Seong. I was the one who called him in the first place.”

“No. It’s alright.”

“Still, there’s no need to fight unnecessarily…”

“Stay still.”

The voice telling me to stay still was filled with a crushing weight. The moment I heard those words, I was convinced that this guy had no intention of listening to my opinion either. Even if I shouted that I would go with him and that I was actually close to Seong Hyunjae, he would repeat “It can’t be done” like a machine.

Song Taewon took out something like a wrist guard and put it on. Seeing him use it now, I guessed it was an item like electric resistance. I wondered if he had also acquired a new cold resistance item.

“It’s a pity to have you sitting on the bare ground. I’ll prepare a chair next time.”

*What next time?* And the chain exploded.

Each link broke and shot toward Song Taewon like dozens of hidden weapons, each carrying a powerful electric current.

Song Taewon dodged, using his shadow-covered arm to block the ones that had already come close. Then, he grabbed a mole corpse and threw it upward.

Boom!

At the same time, lightning struck down, turning the corpse into ashes. The scattered links that had been scattered reformed into a chain along with a metallic sound. Seong Hyunjae slipped his foot through the scattering ashes. The tips of the two people’s feet came close to touching, and his gloved hand spat out crackling electricity.

Even with the light spreading before his eyes, Song Taewon tried to grab and twist Seong Hyunjae’s wrist without a flicker. But Seong Hyunjae was faster to pull back. At the same time, the chain that came in from behind attacked the already wounded shoulder. As soon as Song Taewon twisted his body to avoid the chain, the heel of his shoe kicked out as if to strike Seong Hyunjae’s chest.

“There’s one thing I’m curious about,” Seong Hyunjae said leisurely, wrapping the chain that had flown to his side around his hand.

“How could Young Master be here? The only person in the country who can leave that much burn on Chief Song Taewon is our Young Master.”

He watched Song Taewon use the potion without even thinking of stopping him, and he tilted his head slightly.

“It’s not like he didn’t enter the dungeon, but he wouldn’t have disappeared leaving his brother behind. Did he develop some cute new talent that I don’t know about?”

As he said that, he turned to look at me, so I mouthed to him to mind his own business. He had too much unnecessary interest in someone else’s younger brother.

Song Taewon moved again. The floor cracked for a long distance with the weight of his footsteps. Song Taewon rushed fiercely toward Seong Hyunjae, who jumped up to avoid it. His stats themselves were S-grade, but with the addition of mass, it was truly like lightning speed. Moreover, it was difficult to avoid in a situation where he was floating in the air without any flight skills.

Clang!

But the chain that had unfolded blocked Song Taewon’s attack. The opposite end of the chain wrapped around Song Taewon’s wrist, tied up a collapsed concrete block, and pulled it. Gigigik, a concrete block the size of a large truck was dragged across the floor. With his movement blocked, Song Taewon kicked off the ground and flipped his body. His heel struck down toward Seong Hyunjae’s crown.

Kwagwang!

The knife-like kick brushed past Seong Hyunjae’s collar and broke the floor. This time, the concrete block swung by the chain covered Seong Hyunjae, who had narrowly avoided it. Golden eyes smiled thinly.

Crash, concrete fragments scattered like grains of sand in the light that burst out. Through the gaps, a black trajectory cut the chain and swung toward the relaxed man. Fist and palm collided. Seong Hyunjae was inferior in terms of weight-bearing physical force, so he retreated as if pushed back without resisting the rushing force. At the same time, he threw the knife he had taken out. Song Taewon’s back of his hand deflected the back of the knife, gently turning it and strongly hitting the end of the handle to return it to its owner.

Kwagwagwa, the knife, with a completely different momentum, grazed Seong Hyunjae’s shoulder and cut the street lamp in half.

All of that was an exchange that happened in an instant. Bang bang bang, lightning struck in succession, and Song Taewon jumped back to avoid the light that burned all around.

*The speed and power of close combat are clearly superior for Song Taewon.*

Nevertheless, the attacks didn’t hit properly. It must be because of the Combat Prediction skill. Of course, if the difference was too great, it would be difficult to avoid even if he knew in advance. Even if I warned and fired a warning shot, saying, “I’m going to shoot this gun at you now,” an ordinary person would have no countermeasures.

*Anyway, that cheating human being.*

I felt resentful for no reason. If it wasn’t for Combat Prediction, he would have been hit once or twice. I put Teacher Skill on Seong Hyunjae, wondering if I should convey the sensation to Song Taewon. The moment I directly felt his presence, my whole body shuddered, but it was bearable…

“Keuh…”

The front of my eyes sank darkly. Dirt and stones rolled around in the re-emerging vision. I lost consciousness for a moment. Seong Hyunjae rejected the skill. He was ruthless.

“Han Yoojin!”

“Since Han Yoojin is going that far, shall we stop playing around?”

Seong Hyunjae clicked his tongue and said. Song Taewon glared at him fiercely.

“What did you do?”

“It’s not me who did something.”

Kugeugeu—

Thousands of strands of light like snakes soared from below the ground, not above. The ground literally turned upside down, and the blades of electricity rampaged madly.

“It’s my cute item.”

The dance of lightning, close to a rampage, chased Song Taewon like herding rabbits. He said that the power would weaken if it spread out, but what kind of crazy thing was he doing? Still, it seemed that it had weakened for sure, and it didn’t seem to have much impact with just a few strands wrapping around him.

Kwarleung!

Song Taewon, who had moved toward the building, broke the wall. The pile of buildings that were swept away covered the swarm of electric snakes. The strands of light wrapped around the steel bars protruding between the concrete a few times before becoming quiet.

“Then shall we finish it now?”

Light sparked again. But the lightning that struck down fell behind him, not Song Taewon. At that moment, both I and Song Taewon wondered what it was.

Kwaduk, Kwak!

Blood splattered. Various fragments made of steel bars and metal were shot toward Song Taewon like arrows with powerful force.

It wasn’t just one or two. How many collapsed buildings were around, and the number of floors in the building right next to it was quite high. Naturally, the number of metal pieces was enormous. It was literally an unavoidable rain. Still, it was because it was Song Taewon that he managed to fend off most of them, but anyone else would have become a hedgehog.

“…How did you do it?”

Song Taewon asked with steel bars stuck in his shoulder, side, and one leg. Golden chains slithered out from right behind him.

“It’s simple. Magnetism. I made the chain attract the metal.”

So, the electricity that scattered in all directions a little while ago was for that? The lightning didn’t miss Song Taewon, but it struck the chain that was sent there? I don’t know exactly, but could he do something like that too?

Song Taewon gritted his teeth and pulled out the steel bars stuck in his body. Perhaps because it also contained electricity, the wound was burning, and not much blood flowed. Seong Hyunjae looked at it a little indifferently before turning his body. He didn’t care about the attack coming from behind.

“Then, Han Yoojin.”

Seong Hyunjae, who came to me, glanced at the wound on my chest. Then, he picked up my limp body.

“I think we need a little conversation, but do you have the energy to talk?”

“Fortunately, it doesn’t take much effort to move my tongue.”

The heavy pressure was still there, but it wasn’t hard to endure now. Song Taewon stood in place and looked this way without moving. What was he thinking? I swallowed a sigh and withdrew Teacher Skill.

Before long, I saw a car parked on the side of the road. It was originally a really well-designed sports car, but it had become a wreck after being hit by debris. *He’ll have to scrap it.*

“…I think I parked in the wrong place,” Seong Hyunjae muttered a little hollowly, and I became a little cheerful.