The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 356

354. Cao Hu Special District (3)

A Chinese Hunter twisted my arms behind my back and handcuffed me. Judging by how sudden this was, the middle-aged man was likely a non-Awakened.

“To meet a fellow countryman in this distant land, I should say, ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you’~ but who are you again?”

As I approached the table, the middle-aged man rose from his seat, a twisted smile on his lips.

“I used to be with the Hunter Association. Thanks to Director Han—”

“Ah! I remember now! Wan Yong, right? With the surname Lee, am I correct? Wow, no wonder the Chinese guys knew my information so well; Wan Yong really lived up to his name.”

Even if the poison resistance was known to people at the hospital, the Seed Skill was top secret. I only informed the Association during the Awakening Center negotiations.

At my words, Wan Yong frowned deeply and suddenly grabbed my collar.

“You bastard, all talk and no action!”

“Would I be more alive than you? How much did you blab? Huh? Your face is glowing; you must have been treated well.”

“I was the Head of Personnel at the Hunter Association—!”

“Yes, Wan Yong. I know, I know.”

Look at that twisted face; he might hit me.

“If you sold your country to settle down, you should have just quietly enjoyed your life. Why did you want to meet me? What did you sell off? As the Head of Personnel, you must have handed over the Hunter Association’s Hunters’ stats. I guess it’s fortunate that Director Song isn’t affiliated with the Association. The Hunter Association wouldn’t have just kicked you out; they must have made you sign a confidentiality agreement. Did you get a severance package?”

Just in case, I briefly turned off my curse resistance. If Wan Yong suddenly turned around and hugged me, the curse would be lifted. Wan Yong cursed at my words. He couldn’t undo the curse he received for breaking the contract? His limbs look fine, so what kind of curse is it?

“I, from the very beginning of the Association, how much effort did I put in to get where I was!”

“I heard. You played a big part in kicking out the initial members, right? Well, if you kick people out, you get kicked out too; the world goes round and round. You’re reaping what you sowed.”

Did he just want to vent his anger by meeting me? That can’t be it. Among the people kicked out of the Association, I didn’t expect those who avoided prison to quietly sell information so quickly. Even if I knew, there wasn’t much I could do to stop it.

‘They should have written a stronger contract.’

But the Association also has to consider human rights issues. They can’t outright write ‘If you leak, your head will fly off.’ That’s why, when registering as a Hunter, they usually just overlook it even if they notice you hiding skills or stats.

“Do you have any other friends who came with you? What about the MKC [Mystic Knowledge Cabal]? I heard they also joined hands with China. Did you sell a lot of information about the Breeding Center? What about Haeyeon?”

At the mention of Haeyeon, the hand gripping my collar tightened. Wan Yong pulled me up, half lifting me onto the table. The sharp corner of the steel table is a bit painful.

“Whether it’s your younger brother or your older brother…….”

The guy ground his teeth and muttered. Why is Yoo-hyun coming up?

“Why are you bringing up someone else’s brother?”

“Don’t you know that the Association tried to take in Han Yoo-hyun when that brat first Awakened? Well, he made a mess of things.”

…I remember Yoo-hyun, who had been missing for a few days, returning with a cold demeanor. Did the Association guys spout nonsense? Of course, it wasn’t wrong. If Yoo-hyun and I had continued to have a good relationship, there would definitely have been people trying to take me hostage to get their hands on an S-Rank Hunter with no backing.

Still, threatening a kid with that kind of talk? Is that what adults do?

“As you said, he was a kid. But you tried to make him bow down by mentioning his family? You goddamn son of a bitch.”

Trying to shake him by exploiting a kid’s weakness. It’s disgusting. Even between adults, taking family hostage is a dirty trick, but he was a minor. My insides burned. The bastard sneered.

“Are you even aware that that brat wiped out the temporary accommodation for high-level Awakeners and knocked down all the Hunters affiliated with the Association? We tried to persuade him as nicely as possible. Shit, that bastard threatened to kill us first if we interfered with him creating his own guild—”

“Good job.”

Our Yoo-hyun is so smart. I was worried about how he would prepare to create a guild alone before receiving Seok Si-myung’s help, but he used the bastard in front of me. I’m glad the kid didn’t have to suffer as much.

“Taking family hostage failed, and in the end, because he’s an S-Rank Hunter with no weaknesses, you were terrified? If things went wrong, he could kill you all and flee overseas and be welcomed, so you had to quietly clean up after my brother to survive. Thank you so much.”

After the guild is established, that kind of threat won’t work. It could negatively affect the guild. But before that, well, even if he frantically tries to tell the world, he has nothing to lose. There’s a possibility of being taken advantage of after establishing the guild, but Seok Si-myung would have handled that well, right?

Wan Yong cursed. I glanced around. Two Hunters were guarding the door. Next to them, Cho Hwa-woon looked bored. One was standing next to the table, but not too close. He didn’t look like a high-level Hunter either.

“So, Wan Yong, do you still contact Korea? I’m worried because the Association wasn’t completely overturned, even though it was cleaned up.”

Only the serious parts were cut out. They’ve been internally reorganizing since then, but it’s impossible to get rid of everything. The corner of the steel table. Maybe it’ll work. I should have worked out harder.

“Since I can’t escape from here anyway, let’s hear who the spies are. …Ah, this position is uncomfortable.”

I grumbled about wanting him to let go of my collar and naturally climbed onto the table.

“You’re not going to tell me that. But I can give Director Han some advice.”

Um, is this perhaps that thing? The person who defected first says, ‘Hey, if you want to live comfortably too~’ I’ve seen scenes where they say ‘Comrade’ and stuff.

Anyway, this bastard will continue to extract information from Korea, and he even threatened my brother.

“No, the person who’s going to give advice is picking a fight? You’re terrible at your job.”

“You started the fight first! I came to see the sight of you, whom the S-Ranks coddled so much, being dragged here in the end—”

I leaned my upper body back sharply. My back touched the table, and the bastard who was grabbing my collar staggered. At the same time, I kicked off the table and raised my leg. My bent knee touched the bastard’s nape, and I completely rolled my body as if doing a somersault, then slammed my knee, the bastard’s neck, down onto the edge of the table.

Bang!

With the sound, I heard the cracking of his neck bones. A Chinese Hunter who was late in rushing over grabbed me. Wan Yong’s body slid down under the table and collapsed.

“Healer, no, he’s dead!”

My kick is originally dangerous even if you just get hit. With the steel table helping, it would be hard for a non-Awakened to survive if it landed properly. Cho Hwa-woon, who had leisurely walked over, nudged the fallen Wan Yong with his toe. Then he turned his gaze to me. He smiled as if asking if I had any complaints.

“You’re more ruthless than you look.”

“Is there any reason to keep a bastard who sells out his country alive? He even touched my brother.”

If I left him alive, movements to save me from Korea might leak in. I have to deal with him when I can. Cho Hwa-woon reached out and snatched the back of my neck. He lightly lifted me as if handling a rat and threw me to the floor.

“Ah, shit.”

That hurts. With my wrists tied behind my back, I had no choice but to fall face-first onto the floor.

“The Haeyeon Guild Leader’s precious, an F-Rank Hunter who hasn’t even been Awakened for half a year. And a special support type. Yet, he killed someone without a second thought.”

“I haven’t been Awakened for long, but I’ve experienced quite a few things. I lived a tough life even before that. I’m an expert at being kidnapped.”

If you include before the regression, it’s more than ten times.

“And I can tolerate everything else, but I can’t stand anyone touching my brother, my kids.”

I met his cold gaze.

“If you lay a hand on my kids, I’ll kill you, S-Rank or not.”

Cho Hwa-woon laughed silently, as if he thought it was a bluff. But I’m serious. Then he stepped on my right leg.

“Since a person died under my responsibility, you must pay the price.”

“Bullshit, you didn’t care whether he lived or died.”

He was far away and distracted, but he’s an S-Rank Hunter. If he had tried to stop me, there was a chance he could have succeeded, but he didn’t even twitch an eyebrow and crawled over like a turtle. What nonsense is he spouting? But Cho Hwa-woon didn’t even pretend to listen.

“……!”

He put strength into his foot. My leg bone broke instantly. For a moment, everything in front of me turned white. I gritted my teeth and barely managed to exhale, but he continued to grind his foot as if to crush the broken bone completely.

“Agh, ugh! You crazy…….”

My whole body trembled from the extreme pain. Without me knowing, my fingers were scratching the floor. You crazy bastard, ugh…….

The foot that was crushing my leg finally came off, and he took out a potion. Seeing it, my spine went cold.

“Wait a minute! If you use a potion now…….”

My bones aren’t just broken; they’re shattered. If you use a low-level potion in this state, the wound won’t heal properly. It will recover in its messed-up state, making it even harder to treat. …I knew this from experience.

But he poured the potion on my leg anyway. The pain lessened, but it didn’t completely disappear. When I tried to move my injured leg, I put strength into it.

“…Ugh.”

A tingling pain ran through me. You’re really a son of a bitch.

“I’ll personally guide you to the place where you’ll live from now on. Follow me.”

He passed me and walked towards the door. Hey, you son of a bitch!

“I can’t even get up?!”

“Then you’ll have to crawl.”

The look in his eyes as he looked down at me felt very disgusting. Sigma was a good kid compared to that bastard. The food was tastier here too. I miss our Dal-i.

“Like sees like, so because you’re a son of a bitch, you see me as a son of a bitch. Crawl, you say, woof woof. I just cursed at you. What did I curse at?”

Cho Hwa-woon’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“Didn’t you understand? If not a son of a bitch, meow? Meoow. If not that, what could it be. Baaa?”

“Pick him up.”

At Cho Hwa-woon’s command, the Chinese Hunter picked me up. As soon as my right foot touched the floor, I felt pain. Cho Hwa-woon approached the door. No, how can I walk…….

The Chinese Hunter’s hand pushed my back as if urging me. I reflexively took a step and then fell forward with a thud.

“I can’t wal—”

“Pick him up again.”

What… this. He’s one of the top sons of bitches I’ve ever met. No wonder even Park Ha-yul was wary; he’s not just crazy. My body was picked up again, and I gritted my teeth and took a step, but I fell before I could even take two steps.

“Pick him up.”

Ah, I want to go home.

“The Cao Hu Special District is where Awakeners who require special management and observation are sent.”

Cho Hwa-woon surprisingly gave me a proper tour. If you exclude the fact that he was forcibly dragging someone who had difficulty walking, there were some things worth listening to.

“Among them, the No. 1 Special Awakener Management Office in Laoshan is where Awakeners with rare or important skills are managed.”

What, is he telling me to steal them? But the surveillance was definitely thorough. There were currently three S-Rank Hunters staying here, including Cho Hwa-woon and a woman named Guan. Rotation takes place, but at least three people are always on standby. In addition, emergency support can be requested from Shanghai.

‘Shanghai is a huge city, so there must be at least three or four S-Rank Hunters.’

How close is it from here? I should assume that at least seven S-Rank Hunters can gather within a few hours. On the other hand, how many of our S-Rank Hunters can come here? At most, about five? A few have to stay in Korea too.

“This is Restaurant No. 2.”

“…I’m not curious.”

Just let me go, you son of a bitch. My back was soaked with cold sweat. Cho Hwa-woon turned to me and smiled.

“If you can control your poison resistance, I’ll give you a painkiller.”

“I can’t. Besides, why would I trust you and take it? Do you think I’m really a son of a bitch?”

No, even a dog wouldn’t eat it. How would I know if it’s really a painkiller or a confession drug or some other suspicious substance? Cho Hwa-woon started walking again. I turned and fell again. I don’t know how many times it’s been. My whole body must be covered in bruises.

‘He’s trying to break my spirit, the bastard.’

If I just said I was wrong and cried, he might let me off the hook. That would be easier, but damn it. Screw you.

I was dragged around inside the building and then came outside. Before I knew it, the sun had set, and the wind blowing from the lake coldly enveloped my whole body. Stairs, damn it, stairs. Still, on the stairs, he would grab me if it looked like my head was going to hit the edge. I almost rolled down the stairs with my whole body and stood on the observation deck overlooking the lake. No, I was crumpled.

I leaned against the railing, crouched down, and glared at the crazy son of a bitch.

“You have a talent for torturing people?”

He wasn’t just inflicting pain; he was making me exhausted. Cho Hwa-woon leaned against the railing and took out something like a cigar. Has China already developed cigarettes for high-level Awakeners? Or is he just pretending? With familiar movements, he cut the end, lit it, and put it in his mouth.

“We’ll be seeing each other for a long time, so make sure to engrave it in your head.”

“Engrave? You’re joking.”

I scoffed. You have big dreams.

“When I go home, I’ll get clean treatment and live well. You tried, but this is nothing. It’s really nothing.”

The only one who tore my heart apart and made it impossible to heal was just one person. Compared to that, this is really nothing. I narrowed my eyes and looked at the swaying black surface of the water through the gaps in the railing. The lights of the watchtower shone long and faded away.

I wonder what everyone is doing right now.