The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 140

140. Fragments That Permeate (2)

“This is the Guild Leader’s private residence within the Guild. You don’t happen to have any items that can track location, do you?”

“No, I don’t.”

Though I do have spirits, not items.

I hesitated as I was about to go inside. My fear resistance is still only C-grade, and I had a rough time just yesterday, so it’s a natural reaction. Besides, it feels unpleasant. Honestly, I don’t think I’ll see anything good.

“Is there a Hunter who can extract information from corpses?”

“Excuse me? Corpses?”

Kang Soyoung blinked, tilting her head. I brought it up hoping to get cooperation without going directly through Sung Hyunjae, but she seemed genuinely unaware. It seems Kang Soyoung only knows about domestic matters or dungeon raids.

I probed a little more, but she didn’t seem to know the details of what happened in Hong Kong. She just knew that Sung Hyunjae helped rescue me.

I guess I have no choice but to meet Sung Hyunjae.

Kang Soyoung looked at me worriedly as I sighed deeply.

“How about coming back tomorrow if you’re concerned?”

“I wish I could, but it’s urgent. I need to meet him as soon as possible.”

I should have asked for his cooperation last night, but I was too tired. And I didn’t want to be with that damn human for long. Yesterday’s me is making today’s me suffer. I wish I could just put it off until tomorrow.

“Actually, the Guild Leader hasn’t exactly approved your visit, Han Yoojin.”

“…Excuse me? He didn’t approve it?”

“Yes! To be exact, we couldn’t reach him.”

Kang Soyoung replied cheerfully. What is she even saying?

“He’s not answering, and we’re too scared to just go in. So we asked around, and they said to just let you in, so we did.”

“No, can you just let outsiders in without permission like this?”

“It’s okay! The security chief and others have all been informed.”

…Is this really okay, Sesung [Sung Hyunjae’s title]? Of course, I’m F-stat, and he’s one of the top S-grade Hunters. Even if Sung Hyunjae is defenseless and asleep, the difference is so vast that I can’t do any real harm, so there’s no need to worry about safety.

“Even if he seems upset, he’s not going to eat people. It’s not like you can’t go in.”

“Even regular company employees wouldn’t want to visit their boss’s house for personal matters, would they?”

That’s true. Besides, it’s my personal business, so it’s impolite to bother the Sesung Guild members. I’m grateful that they let me in this far, even though they couldn’t contact Sung Hyunjae. I gave Kang Soyoung a slight bow.

“Thank you for your concern.”

“You’re welcome. If possible, please cheer up the Guild Leader. And tell us what he’s up to.”

I wondered if that was why they were so willing to let me in. I used the damage nullification item before entering the portal. The mana stone I fed him last time probably hasn’t been fully digested yet. How long did I use it last night? Still, it should last about an hour.

Beyond the mini-portal, a door appeared. I rang the bell, but there was no answer. I was already starting to feel a little nervous. I opened the door with the key Kang Soyoung gave me and went inside.

“Sung Hyunjae? Are you there?”

This house is huge. I looked around, moving forward. The center of the house seemed to have a two-story-high ceiling, like a hotel lobby. In the middle, there was a small garden, and above the garden, a cylindrical water tank hung from the ceiling.

Light permeated the rippling water. The glass of the tank was so clear that it seemed like the water itself was forming a shape. Inside, colorful fish were swimming. I wonder how they feed them. It must be hard to clean.

‘More importantly, where is this guy?’

How many floors are there? Judging by the ceiling height, at least two. Maybe even three. The tank is unbelievably big.

“He lives in a disgustingly large house. And he’s single. He should get married.”

No, just live alone for the sake of the women out there. It would take someone like Liete to stand up to that man, but then the people around them would be miserable. Just imagining it gives me the creeps—such a destructive couple.

I wandered around, but just thinking about rummaging through the place made me tired, so I sat down on a bench that looked like interior decoration in front of the garden. He couldn’t have missed me coming in. He should at least give me a sign of where he is.

“At least tell me what floor you’re on! And the direction, if possible.”

I’m already exhausted and tired, and now I have to wander around a mansion as an F-stat? But there was still no answer. I had no choice but to search from the first floor, but as I was about to get up, something rustled through the bushes in the garden.

‘…Is he raising monsters in the garden too?’

Something like a snake appeared in front of me as I reflexively stepped back. It was a golden chain. Fortunately, I won’t have to wander around—

Clatter—

The Seeker’s Chain wrapped around my body and yanked me forward. Then, it dragged me across the floor.

“You crazy bastard, ugh, hey! Sung Hyunjae!”

The stairs, damn it, the stairs! I could tell I was going to get bruised from the thudding. I have two perfectly good legs, so why is he doing this instead of just guiding me?

The unnecessarily long stairs finally seemed to end, but then we went up another floor. And there was a long, long hallway left. I couldn’t help but swear. Is he trying to clean the house with my body? It was spotless, though.

After being dragged like that, I arrived at a spacious room with a view of the water tank in the center of the floor. Raindrops pattered on the glass ceiling. Even without looking up, the tingling sensation told me that there was a terrifying human here.

I was shaking, but I had to say what I needed to say.

“I have legs, you son of a bitch.”

There was no response to my grumbling. I expected him to say he forgot because he always carries it around, but he was silent. Even the chain binding my body remained as it was. He didn’t release me.

Belatedly, goosebumps ran down my spine. Thinking that things had gone wrong, I looked up.

Sung Hyunjae was standing in the center of the room. The glass on the floor was so thin and transparent that it seemed like he was standing on the surface of the water. His eyes, looking down at me with a slight tilt of his head, were darker than usual.

“…Say something.”

“Han Yoojin.”

The chain moved again. My body was dragged towards Sung Hyunjae, over the water tank. The deep water came right up to my nose. The sight of the garden faintly visible far below felt a little scary. The glass is really too thin. Is it even there?

“He was Haeyeon’s young master’s brother.”

Sung Hyunjae murmured, as if recalling something. It was as if he didn’t quite remember me.

“Are you already getting dementia at that age?”

Again, there was no answer. Instead, the floor beneath me suddenly gave way.

“What, ugh!”

With a slight splash, my body sank into the water as if being swallowed. Bound by the chain, I couldn’t move and remained there, instantly reaching the bottom. Panicked, I looked up, but the crazy bastard was still standing on the surface. Damn it, it wasn’t ordinary glass after all.

I was suffocating. The little air I had held in was already bubbling up.

‘Drowning… damage nullification is useless against it.’

I learned something new. And the eleventh condition of the contract couldn’t be broken in this situation. Irin said that in the tattoo state, she couldn’t see or hear anything except for specific pre-determined conditions. Other skills, the earring’s barrier, were also useless.

I don’t think Sung Hyunjae would really let me die, but.

Yellow and blue fish brushed past my fading vision. Tell me the reason, you crazy bastard. With that thought, my consciousness sank deeply.

* * *

It was an unpleasant sense of incongruity.

Something was off. Immediately after feeling that, Sung Hyunjae checked the date. August in the summer. It was the same time as in his memories. But around this time, he hadn’t entered a dungeon raid? The somewhat vague memory became definitely distorted because of Kang Soyoung’s words.

“I hope Comet grows up quickly. I heard he’s going into training soon.”

At the incomprehensible words, Sung Hyunjae looked at Kang Soyoung. And Kang Soyoung, with a smile still on her face, stepped back and quickly left the office.

After that, the discrepancies continued to catch his eye. Amidst the minor things, after hearing that he had gone to the dungeon break site last night, Sung Hyunjae felt something close to anger for the first time in a while. But he couldn’t unleash it outside the dungeon, so he went to his home.

As he was sorting out his complicated thoughts, a phone call came in. ‘My Item.’ It was a name that made him tilt his head. He felt an urge to press the call button out of curiosity, but he refrained because it was clear that the call would only add to the sense of incongruity.

And not long after, someone entered the house. At the sound of the doorbell, Sung Hyunjae connected the security devices installed throughout the house to his phone. The face captured by the camera at the front door was unfamiliar. No, it looked like he had seen it somewhere.

The young man, who appeared to be in his mid-twenties, opened the door with a key and went inside.

[Sung Hyunjae? Are you there?]

He looked around, then stood in front of the garden. He glanced up at the water tank for a moment and then grumbled.

[He lives in a disgustingly large house. And he’s single. He should get married.]

What is that? Then, he became even more puzzled by the shout asking to be told what floor he was on. Sung Hyunjae sent the Seeker’s Chain. The young man, entangled in the chain, was flustered but not surprised. Instead, he swore.

He was familiar with the Seeker’s Chain. And when he was dragged in front of him, he flinched at the S-grade Awakener’s pressure but opened his mouth.

“I have legs, you son of a bitch.”

He always carries it around, so I forgot. Sung Hyunjae swallowed the answer that was about to come out. Carries it around. Even people. Amidst the surging bewilderment, he remained silent as the young man looked up. When he faced the real person instead of the screen, someone came to mind.

Han Yoohyun, and definitely.

“Han Yoojin.”

He moved the chain and pulled him closer. Han Yoojin trembled slightly, seemingly afraid of the water swaying right below his eyes.

The Haeyeon Guild Leader’s older brother. A non-Awakener. The information in his memory was like that, but the Han Yoojin in front of him was an Awakener. Judging from the fact that he couldn’t move in the chain, which wasn’t even tightly bound, his stats were low-grade. And that red earring.

‘Why does Han Yoojin have it?’

It was a common design, but he remembered it because it was an item Sung Hyunjae had obtained himself. The stat option of increasing essence was useless, but the B-grade barrier skill attached to it had considerable value. It was an item he had never given to anyone or sold.

Amidst the incomprehensible confusion, Han Yoojin once again spat out sarcastic words at him. Surprisingly, it wasn’t offensive. But he judged that it was necessary to subdue him a little for a comfortable conversation.

Sung Hyunjae opened a part of the special item surrounding the water. Specifically, the part where Han Yoojin’s body was. Pulled by the chain, Han Yoojin sank into the water. His panicked face looked up at him. Even though he had no way to escape, he didn’t even struggle as he was dying. He just blinked as if asking why.

‘He believes… that I won’t harm him…….’

That expression lasted only for a moment. As expected, he couldn’t last long due to his low stats and lost consciousness. If left like that, he would completely stop breathing. He thought that wouldn’t be bad either, but.

Splash—

Sung Hyunjae moved the chain and pulled Han Yoojin out of the water.

* * *

‘…That crazy bastard, really.’

I swallowed a curse and opened my eyes. I recalled what happened before I fell into the water. The gaze that faintly contained curiosity, the voice that murmured as if groping through memories.

‘Is he really getting dementia?’

That’s unlikely, but it seems like there’s a problem with his memories of me. Could it be that the memories from before the regression are influencing him? Thinking that would be a big problem, I got up. My hair was still wet, but my clothes had been changed. How kind of him. Maybe he didn’t want the sofa to get wet.

“How much time has passed?”

I asked Sung Hyunjae, who was sitting on the opposite sofa.

“About 30 minutes.”

I picked up the phone on the table and sent a text to Yoohyun first. Fortunately, the waterproof ability held up, and I didn’t lose my phone for the second day in a row.

“Besides my name and appearance, is there anything you remember about me?”

“My item.”

“I told you to drop the possessive.”

“So it was you after all.”

It seems he didn’t remember but guessed. I guessed that Sung Hyunjae had mixed a little with his pre-regression self because his tone had changed, but this was completely reversed. Sung Hyunjae without any memories of me—that’s troublesome.

“What kind of relationship did we have?”

“A relationship where we acknowledged each other’s usefulness and agreed to use each other appropriately with mutual consent.”

And besides that.

“A tourist guide and a dissatisfied customer. Ah, you were the guide.”

“…What?”

“You’re also raising my kid. You even came to save me when I was captured by a dragon, and somehow we danced together. Sung Hyunjae even bet one eye and an arm on me. We also participated in an auction together. This time, you’re the customer, and I’m the product. By the way, the egg was soft-boiled.”

“Nonsense?”

“I only told the 100% truth. As a bonus, we caught about two SS-grade monsters together.”

Sung Hyunjae’s eyes widened, and then he laughed silently. Is it just my imagination, or does he look younger and more youthful than usual?

“Didn’t I say I fell for you?”

“I also received roses as a plus.”

“When?”

“When the New Association building collapsed. Sung Hyunjae wasn’t there at this time. I called you to come watch, but you refused.”

“That was my mistake.”

He laughs out loud this time. I’m glad he seems happy, but what do I do now?

“Sung Hyunjae, this is an excessive request in a situation where we’re practically strangers, but could you trust me just once?”

It looks like I’ll have to go inside your head after all.