The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 301

The ground was muddy. Large and small swamps emitted a dank, resinous odor. The larger and wider the swamp, the lighter its color; the smaller ones were darker, with the tiniest resembling tar pits. Being a low-level dungeon, the swamps weren’t tainted with poison or other toxins. In fact, the mud was clean and of good quality, fetching a decent price, as I recalled.

Still, a mud puddle was a mud puddle. Feet sank easily, making walking difficult, and clothes were bound to get dirty. To top it off, monsters would splash and charge, so after clearing the dungeon, everyone invariably looked like they’d been rolling in a mudflat.

Not a single drop of muddy water splashed on Yoohyun’s clothes.

-Croak!

-Croak!

Willow leaves fluttered above the loud croaking of large toads. The tips of his boots lightly touched the leaves, which hung low as if about to touch the swamp. It was as if he were gliding across the water’s surface. There was no chance of his legs sinking and struggling.

Clack, clack—the sound of hard scales colliding as the Ruler’s Sword transformed. Scaly cracks appeared on the smooth, jet-black blade. True to its skill’s name, it resembled the slender, elongated tail of a reptile.

The instantly lengthened sword swirled in a wide circle. The mere aftermath rippled the swamp, and the toads that had been eagerly gathering were effortlessly sliced by the sharp blade. Yoohyun swung his arm wide, retracting the whip-like flexible sword. Clatter—the black sword returned to its original form.

“I need to practice a lot.”

My brother nodded at my words.

“My movements keep getting too big. I should be able to change direction with just a flick of the wrist, but as it is, they’ll quickly figure out where I’m going to swing.”

“It won’t be easy to adapt right away, especially since you can adjust the length, too.”

It wasn’t fixed at 5 meters but could be freely transformed. That meant he had to be able to handle it at any length. It was already a difficult type of sword to use. Though it had a blade, it was more flexible than any other flexible sword, closer to a whip, so if swung carelessly, his own body would be torn to shreds.

“I won’t even be able to test the paralysis skill against these monsters here.”

“They die from just a slight graze. Besides, the effect varies depending on the grade anyway. You’ll have to test it against S-grade monsters or Hunters.”

At my words, Yoohyun’s gaze landed on Peace, who was carrying me. As if sensing something, Peace growled softly.

“It would be better to have a Hunter who can accurately describe the state of the skill application rather than a monster.”

“Ask Sunghan, who’s defense-type. Oh, what skill did you buy?”

“Area-of-effect support.”

“Huh? Support?”

Yoohyun stepped on the willow leaves and approached me, finally stepping onto drier ground.

“I didn’t think I needed any more fire-attribute attack skills, even though they’re cheap. My control has increased, so I can produce similar effects without those skills.”

Indeed, if he could manipulate flames with precision, he wouldn’t need minor attribute attack skills. Shooting fire like arrows, weaponizing it, or imbuing it into weapons—he could do it all. Yerim wouldn’t really need any more attribute-related attack skills either, unless they added special support effects.

“I didn’t really like other attack skills either. They cost a lot of points compared to their grade, but what bothered me was relying on skills. Support skills are different; I’m directly moving my body. Lately, that feels a bit… unpleasant.”

My brother frowned slightly as he spoke. Skills gained upon awakening were his original talents, but those bought with points were different. If he suddenly became a sharpshooter overnight just because he bought a skill, even though he’d never touched a bow before, it would feel strange. He’d wonder if it was truly his ability.

Getting abilities for free might be nice, but some people, like Yoohyun, would feel sensitive about it. Especially if they were transcending the limits of skills, it would be even more bothersome.

“Yeah, support is good. We can’t always fight with support-type Hunters. Weren’t there any healing types?”

“There were, but they required too many points. I guess it’s not my aptitude.”

It didn’t seem like it. His childhood dream was to be a doctor, but now… well, he could probably disinfect with fire.

“Area-of-effect, so it’s similar to Yerim or Shisio’s skills. What is it? S-grade?”

“No, it’s SS-grade. ‘The Last Melted Door’.”

An SS-grade skill—it must have cost a ridiculous amount of points. Judging from the skill’s name, was it fire-related? If so, he might have gotten a big discount because it suited his aptitude. When I asked Yoohyun, it was indeed cheaper than its grade would suggest.

“But I still had to use almost all my remaining points.”

“Good job! There’s nowhere else to use them anyway, so it’s better to use them perfectly. What’s the effect?”

“Increases fire-attribute skill effects by 20% within the area, decreases non-fire-attribute skill effects of designated targets by 20%, accumulates stat increases when melting or burning terrain within the area, and lastly, decreases the defense of metals and minerals.”

It was truly an area-of-effect support skill that pushed him to use fire skills. It was a shame that the effect only decreased the opponent’s attribute skills, but it was still something. Plus, it had accumulated stat increases. Melting or burning the surroundings would naturally occur during combat, so it was practically an automatic increase. The last effect, decreasing the defense of metals and minerals, was also quite good. Monsters with such shells usually had particularly high defense.

“That’s amazing! With that, you can clear dungeons with attributes you’re not compatible with much more easily.”

“Yeah. I thought it was the best skill among the ones within my point range.”

“You chose well, really! But why didn’t you use it in Japan?”

“There was no need to. Besides, using it against people would reveal the skill’s abilities.”

That was true. Monsters couldn’t talk, after all. And with this kind of area-designating support skill…

“You can nullify other area-of-effect support skills with your area-of-effect support skill.”

“Nullify?”

Yoohyun tilted his head, looking like he was hearing it for the first time. That was understandable, as area-of-effect support skills were rare, and nullifying them was no easy task. It was only first revealed in the third ranking battle.

“If you just use them, they overlap and end, but if you intentionally collide and mix the skills’ magic power, they mutually nullify each other. It’s only possible with very high magic power control.”

“Ah… come to think of it, attack skills also very rarely collide and completely nullify each other.”

“Theoretically, all skills can be nullified by skills of the same type, but intentionally doing so is nearly impossible. However, area-of-effect support skills are, well, they have a fundamentally stable structure and are similar to a kind of formation, so intentionally nullifying them is possible.”

I didn’t remember the details. Anyway, it was so difficult that I didn’t bother telling Yerim. There was no suitable practice partner. But now it was different. At my words, Yoohyun nodded seriously.

“Practice with Yerim. It’s usually better to just use them in overlap rather than nullify, but if the opponent’s skill is too good, mutual nullification is better. If you’re skilled enough, you can even nullify a skill one grade higher.”

“Okay, I’ll tell Park Yerim. The monsters are too weak, so there’s no need to test the sword any further. I’ll take care of them all at once, so you’re using Grace, right?”

“Yeah. It’s pretty much unshakeable now. Myungwoo checked the new skill, and if it’s SS-grade, it can protect me for a whole week.”

Grace’s new skill, ‘Young Mana Spring’. It wasn’t like a mana hole that could endlessly pump out mana. Like the unit ‘spring’, there was a limit.

If it was S-grade, it lasted a month; SS-grade, a week; SSS-grade, 24 hours. L-grade and above weren’t accurate, but it seemed like it could maintain it for about half a day, and Myth-grade for about an hour. But using it for too long with Myth-grade could damage the spring itself, so he told me to be careful.

Unless a Transcendent intervened, SS-grade was enough, so the time limit had practically disappeared. Plus, I could also say goodbye to mana potions.

“Don’t worry about it and just sweep them away.”

“Okay. Let’s get out of here quickly.”

Yoohyun smiled and turned around. Blue willow leaves once again spread over the swamp. Yoohyun’s figure quickly disappeared into the distance. Instead of taking out his sword, flames coiled up from his toes. The ordinary red flames turned dark blue.

-Croak!

A particularly large toad jumped. Muddy water splashed high, but it didn’t reach Yoohyun at all. The flames instantly swallowed the muddy water and spread. The swamp boiled, and the dense trees and bushes burst into flames.

I watched the scene and slowly blinked. Those flames would never turn completely black now. They shouldn’t.

‘…Still no message.’

I hoped, but no message came from the newbie [referring to a new contact or player]. Had the Changeling’s protection blocked even the system’s interference? If so, I had no idea when I’d be able to contact them again.

…Telling Yoohyun the truth, too.

‘It’s not a good thing that it’s been postponed.’

How long was I going to postpone it? Once we left the dungeon, when would I get another chance? No, I had decided to tell him in the first place. No matter what the newbie said, I would tell Yoohyun. It didn’t matter whether I could meet the newbie or not.

I had decided to tell him.

The swamp engulfed in heat quickly dried up. Peace spread his wings and lightly floated into the air. The boss monster, a crocodile, appeared from the largest swamp in the center, but it was soon swallowed by the flames. The swamp turned into a dry wasteland, and a gate appeared. Seeing the flames subside, Peace landed back on the ground.

“It’s over, hyung [older brother],”

I watched Yoohyun approach and got off Peace’s back. My leg faltered. I limped noticeably, severely.

“Hyung!”

-Kheuheung

My brother’s face instantly filled with worry. Peace also looked back at me as if asking if I was okay.

“Are you really okay? It’s been the same leg the whole time!”

“Yoohyun.”

“Let’s go to the hospital and get it checked. If it hurts even though you’re not injured, it’s even more-”

“I was injured.”

Yoohyun’s eyes widened. Then they turned fierce.

“When? Who was it?”

“In three years.”

“…What?”

“Not three years. More like two years and… anyway, a few years from now.”

I looked down at my bewildered brother. The inside of my throat tingled.

“I was quite badly injured. So even after it healed, I limped. It’s fine now. It’s an event that hasn’t happened yet. But maybe because my head remembers, it hurts a bit, and I limp a bit.”

“What, what are you saying? That’s…….”

“…It was five years from now.”

After uttering those words, my mouth wouldn’t open. The blackened, scorched earth was visible. I felt like my insides were similar.

“Don’t say it.”

“…Yoohyun.”

“If it’s something you have to force out, I don’t want to hear it.”

A firm voice was heard. Yoohyun refused to listen, but my mouth moved even more.

“It’s something I have to take out. It’ll rot if I keep holding it in.”

“Then, if it’s a story for my sake, I don’t want to hear it. I’ll pretend I heard it. But if it’s a story for hyung’s sake, tell me.”

A story for my sake, huh? I slowly organized what I wanted to say.

“You want to know about the things I’m hiding, right?”

“Yeah. But you don’t have to. It’s okay if you don’t tell me everything.”

I took a deep breath. What I wanted to say most for myself was.

“You, Yoohyun, saved me and died.”

More than anything else.

“…Died, you damn bastard.”

My eyes naturally welled up. My throat was choked, but I wasn’t speechless. Rather, my voice grew louder.

“It was a trap, but you insisted on going in! You, I’m talking about you. Five years from now, back then, Haeyeon was the best. You were, really, the most successful Hunter. But you died like that!”

“Hyung.”

“You died. And an item came out. A wish stone, it said it would grant any wish, but it couldn’t revive the dead…….”

The unfilial bastards had deceived me. The hand gripping Yoohyun’s sleeve tightened.

“So I turned back time. Remember? The day I was caught trying to meet an awakening broker in Haeyeon [a Hunter association]. Back then, back then.”

“Yeah. Of course, I remember.”

“I have a unique skill, I know a lot about Hunters and monsters, the unfilial bastards approached me, all that was because of regression. Returning to the past, that’s why. All thanks to you, Yoohyun…….”

Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe. But that Hanyuheon, my brother, wasn’t here. My tongue stiffened. I couldn’t speak anymore. My whole body turned cold, as if I had been thrown into a frozen snowfield.

I slowly lifted my head, which had been lowered, trembling slightly. In my blurry vision, Yoohyun was smiling.

“Thank you, hyung.”

His voice was very satisfied.

“For coming back to me.”

“…Yoohyun, you.”

“I mean it. And that’s enough. More than enough.”

All the strength drained from my body. Yoohyun hugged me as if supporting me.

“Are you happy that I came back?”

“Yeah, very much. Saving hyung is a natural thing, but to be honest, I don’t like leaving hyung alone.”

Listening to those words, I remembered my smiling brother. A face without any regrets, as if he had done everything he needed to do. I could easily guess the difference. That child had completely given up on being with me. He had suppressed what he wanted to the point of eliminating it altogether.

I hugged my brother back.

“…Yeah. So don’t die first. There won’t be a second time.”

“I’ll try.”

“Don’t just end it with trying.”

“Okay, hyung. But being able to turn back time is also possible. That’s why hyung suddenly changed. All the other suspicious things were because you knew the future.”

Yoohyun seemed to be in a good mood. He even seemed a little excited. I smiled back at him. For now, this much, taking a couple of steps and stopping. Now I have to tell Seong Hyunjae, too.