The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 396

394. The Prophet (2)

‘I would have hit him if I could, seriously.’

I was starting to see Sung Hyunjae in a new light. I should treat him well when I see him. For about three minutes.

“Why does it not matter that I don’t know when it’s my business? Why did our kids fight? And what exactly happened to me?”

Before Song Taewon died. Around that time, I was settling in reasonably well.

After the dungeons appeared, the hardest time for me, besides right after my brother ran away, was when I had just awakened [gained my Hunter abilities]. The hope I had was shattered, and I even made a bad contract. If it had only been that, Yoohyun might have reluctantly helped me. Of course, I would have refused my brother’s help, but he would have tried to protect me, even forcibly.

But then the Awakening Center issue exploded.

The flood of low-level Hunters and inadequate training led to countless casualties, and the blame was directed at the high-level Hunters. In fact, it was impossible not to feel dissatisfied looking at the successful high-level Hunters. The dissatisfaction, which had been suppressed by the image of risking their lives to conquer dungeons and protect the country, burst out all at once.

The most attacked at that time was the Haeyeon Guild. How unpleasant it must have seemed that they were building and establishing a guild at a young age without the support of a large corporation. And all for the reason that they were just lucky enough to awaken as S-class [the highest rank for Hunters].

Seseong and Sudam were also talked about because they were self-made, but it was much less compared to Yoohyun. It was similar to how a rich person winning the lottery ends as a lighthearted story, but when a commoner wins, everyone tries to take a piece of it. That was the difference between Hanyoo Hyun, who started as a minor orphan, and the adults who were already established in society.

Since they could involve me in it, the Hunter Association, the root of the problem, found it perfect to use me as a shield.

‘But it eventually subsided.’

I suffered for quite a while, and even after that, guys who kept trying to drag me down kept popping up, but after three years since awakening, I was able to breathe a little. Of course, I was still an F-class [the lowest rank for Hunters] who didn’t even belong to a small guild, and just when I thought I might build a career as a Hunter, my leg broke.

…My life is really something. That’s why I didn’t want to think about the old days. To think that even those messed up memories aren’t intact, what’s with this?

‘Around that time, I was drinking quite often, wasn’t I.’

I had drunk before, but it increased after I injured my leg. There were several reasons, but the biggest was that painkillers didn’t work well. Maybe Yoohyun was more relieved that I was just drinking. I also had to go to dungeons that were relatively easy compared to my experience.

I raised my head, or rather, slightly lowered it, and looked at Sung Hyunjae. If it’s a bar.

“Have you ever bought me a drink? You know, those places that low-level Hunters frequent.”

“I offered to buy you a drink, and you threw a glass at me.”

“…I’m sorry. I had a bad temper back then.”

Besides, since it was that kind of place, I would have been sensitive because there were often guys who brought up Yoohyun’s story. Wait a minute, did Sung Hyunjae also mention Yoohyun? I wouldn’t have thrown a glass at someone who spoke nicely. In the first place, he came to check on Yoohyun, so there’s no way he wouldn’t have said anything. Apology canceled.

“So you were watching me and making fun of me? At that time, Soyoung was acting as the guild leader, and I was half-retired, right?”

Around that time, Sung Hyunjae… said that he was openly aiming for overseas expansion, instead of quietly leaving like before. It was about two years from now. After the Awakening Center issue was resolved and the Haeyeon Guild became a stable, large guild. The Seseong Guild Leader announced that he would pay more attention to overseas activities.

Come to think of it, he already had a lot of connections overseas.

“I wasn’t that free, but I did visit often.”

“Do some work. You left everything to Soyoung, who’s young enough to be your daughter.”

“Soyoung would have welcomed it if she knew. Is that not the case now?”

“Oh, um. It’s still like that now.”

She even told me directly, ‘These days, even if the guild leader is in a bad mood, there’s no need to worry, which is great!’ Because she can pass it on to me. …Soyoung is a bit too much.

“If you visited often, how many times did I throw a glass at you? Judging from the way you’re talking, Sung Hyunjae, I probably threw a bottle too. You must have been digging into my relationship with Yoohyun from the first meeting.”

“I apologize for making you cry.”

What did this guy do! Sung Hyunjae added that I threw a bottle too, of course.

“I compensated for it.”

“Of course you should! How much did you harass a poor F-class? That’s too much for an S-class.”

If Sung Hyunjae had set his mind to it, he would have stabbed me as sharply as Seok Simyeong, so it might be a relief that I don’t remember. Maybe this guy caused an accident and erased my memory.

“Surely we didn’t just meet at bars all the time, did we? Did we run into each other elsewhere? Did Yoohyun notice?”

“The Seseong Guild Leader was on an overseas tour. I noticed Song Taewon’s approach right away, but that wasn’t something to worry about.”

Given Chief Song’s tendencies, Yoohyun might have been relieved. Because he’s the only S-class who sincerely tries to protect an F-class Hunter. Besides, he’s a person who prioritizes official duties, so even if he gets a little closer to me, the line will be clear. Unlike the Haeyeon Guild Leader, there wouldn’t be anyone approaching me to target Song Taewon… would there? There’s nothing to take from me.

“But Park Yerim was wary. Not an S-class, but an A-class [a high rank for Hunters] with excellent potential and young age. Maybe it was jealousy.”

“So you’re saying they almost fought? Yerim, uh, is close to me… so?”

“She’s going to leave anyway. She’s an A-class. There’s no benefit to being close to me. She’s just lonely now, and she’ll soon make a lot of good friends. That’s what Han Yoojin said.”

The back of my neck flushed slightly. That, well, he’s right. Before the regression, I was a truly insignificant F-class.

“Ah, seriously, I don’t remember any of this. What do you mean it affected me? This is a story related to me.”

At the gaze asking him to speak, Sung Hyunjae quietly lowered his eyes. The golden eyes slowly disappeared under his eyelashes and then reappeared. The gaze shifting to me made my spine feel cold for a moment.

“Yoojin.”

Unlike the friendly call, his voice was cold.

“There was nothing you could do.”

“What…….”

“An F-class is an F-class. Even if you were unique, one of a kind, and influenced me. That’s all.”

…I was reminded of when I first met Sung Hyunjae after the regression. No, it must have been worse than that. Before the regression, I wouldn’t have even been a useful tool.

To make an analogy, I was like a dog or a cat. Even then, just a pet that he’d be fond of for a moment. Or a rare collectible that’s of no help in real life, just something to look at from time to time.

I unconsciously ground my teeth. I was upset, but I couldn’t help but accept it, which made me even angrier. Sung Hyunjae grabbed the end of one of his gloves and pulled it. The bare hand revealed under the black leather wrapped around my chin. His thumb pressed on my cheek, parting my clenched teeth.

“That’s not a good habit.”

“Can’t F-classes grind their teeth?”

“Still, let me say that I cherished Han Yoojin.”

“Should I wag my tail for you?”

I knew that all I could do was endure. Unlike now, what could I have done even if something had happened to Sung Hyunjae? No, in the first place, I would have heard about Song TaeWon’s death and the disappearance of the Seseong Guild Leader without knowing anything.

“There’s no need to feel wronged just because you’re ordinary. It’s just how you were born.”

“Yes, fish can’t run, and mice can’t fly. But there’s also the story of the lion and the mouse.”

“If the net were a chain, the mouse’s teeth would only break.”

It was a hopeless statement. Right, a normal F-class wouldn’t even make a dent on an S-class. In the end, before the regression, Sung Hyunjae approached me unilaterally, treated me well as he pleased, and then suddenly disappeared, only to send me postcards.

If I had that memory intact, I wouldn’t have even looked at him, damn it.

‘He was always that kind of person anyway.’

What could I expect from someone who gets tired of even S-class Hunters?

“Let go. If you don’t want to see my teeth break from biting you.”

“I don’t know why you’re growling so much.”

Sung Hyunjae said in a soothing tone. What do you mean you don’t know?

“It’s okay. If I disappear, this world will head towards its ordinary destruction. And the probability of preventing that destruction is quite high.”

If Sung Hyunjae disappeared.

Then there might really have been no problem. I recalled Diarma’s memories that I had seen. That dragon bastard tried to find Sung Hyunjae after he broke the contract. The fact that he, who was so clueless, noticed me and tried to bind Yoohyun even more might have been because of Sung Hyunjae. The termination of a high-grade contract might have made him uneasy, so he might have dug deeper into Yoohyun.

If that hadn’t been the case, if he hadn’t noticed me until the end.

The words of the unfilial bastards also came to mind. Our world was evaluated as having a high probability of preventing destruction. If Crescent Moon and White Bird hadn’t intervened, would that really have been the case? Could we have safely cleared the dungeons without Sung Hyunjae?

And after escaping destruction, would Yoohyun have come to find me? Several years, or even more than ten years later. Would there have been a chance for my brother, who was over thirty, and me, who was approaching forty, to meet again and slowly fill the deep gap?

‘I’m sorry for everything, hyung [older brother or close male friend].’

The thirty-year-old brother, who was not much different from when he was twenty-five, might have said that. My brother apologizing first, not me, and me getting angry. I wouldn’t have accepted it right away even after hearing the circumstances. But eventually, it would have slowly gotten better.

That might have been the case. But.

“It’s not like anything will be solved now just because you disappear.”

Not now.

“Regression. It sounds nice, but in the end, it’s not like it never happened. If it never happened, things shouldn’t have changed. In the end, it’s just that everyone except me doesn’t remember. No, the Transcendents all know. So what do you mean it never happened.”

I remember, and I have changed, and so my surroundings have changed. And those changed surroundings were changing the surroundings again.

“This time, that mess didn’t happen at the Awakening Center. Because I remembered the fact that low-level Hunters were sacrificed. They died in vain, but this time, that didn’t happen. Detecting the dungeon’s condition was also created in Korea this time, and dungeon generation will also be discovered in Korea. And I will tell everyone and tell them. The Hunter Association has also been purged, and MKC has already collapsed. There’s no more room for tyranny. Diarma that bastard is dead, how would we have fought back if it hadn’t been for the events of the regression.”

I looked directly at Sung Hyunjae. Song TaeWon was dead, and Sung Hyunjae only had a short reprieve before being recovered by Crescent Moon. Han Yoohyun was dead, and Han Yoojin was left alone without reconciling with his brother and even having his body taken away.

“You and I are both ruined. But so what? Saying you’ll end it in advance because it looks like it’s going to be ruined again is really bullshit. So much has changed thanks to being ruined, what are you talking about solving it simply? Isn’t that just running away alone?”

After speaking, I felt a little pricked. Even though it was quite an annoying thing to say, Sung Hyunjae was only smiling faintly.

“Are you saying I will change too?”

“You’ve already changed quite a bit. And there’s a way.”

I turned my gaze to the moonlight swaying around Sung Hyunjae’s body.

“It’s not like there isn’t one. You’re not the type to give up easily in the first place. You aren’t, Sung Hyunjae.”

Is it because the current Sung Hyunjae is in a hopeless state? It was more like Sung Hyunjae to cut it off himself rather than being tied to Crescent Moon and used like this, but still. Sung Hyunjae picked up the glove on the table and put it back on his hand. His long fingers bent slightly and then straightened.

“As long as I exist, as long as Crescent Moon exists. This world has no choice but to be destroyed.”

“…Excuse me?”

“It means that I can solve my problem and save the world at the same time.”

“Is the world a bonus?”

His scale is also huge. Crescent Moon will try to recover Sung Hyunjae no matter what. Does that act of recovery itself destroy the world? Because of excessive intervention? Or could there be another reason?

I pursed my lips tightly. Honestly, it was hard to confidently shout, ‘I’ll do whatever it takes, so please let the current Sung Hyunjae go!’ I had caught two Transcendents, but still, a Transcendent was a Transcendent. During Diarma’s case, the rookie and the Mermaid Queen helped, and the King of Innocence also had the help of the Changeling. And that Changeling wouldn’t have been born if he hadn’t caught Diarma.

To face Crescent Moon without those things, it was just daunting. In all likelihood, I would just be watching Sung Hyunjae being dragged away. Or I would be in a situation where I couldn’t even watch.

‘Thinking coldly, it would be better to stay out of the matter between Crescent Moon and Sung Hyunjae…….’

Crescent Moon was still on the side of the unfilial bastards anyway. Chatterbox was also there, so adding more enemies here was a stupid thing to do. But how could I do that. Even if it was like throwing an egg at a rock, still.

Even so, shouldn’t I try to do something, when I was about to open my mouth.

[Correcting errors in the Seseong Guild area!]

A system message window appeared. At the same time, the surroundings began to shake violently. It wasn’t a simple earthquake. The collapsed buildings and piled-up debris remained as they were. Without fragments rolling down, the space itself was literally shaking as a whole.

Following that.

“…Keuk.”

Sung Hyunjae’s figure blurred faintly. The moonlight that had been spreading, the silver chains, also faded. Darkness spread in the space where we were, and with the sound of something breaking, fragments scattered. I opened my eyes wide and stared at the scattering fragments.

They were fragments of memories.

Fragments of Sung Hyunjae before this world. The accumulated information was being forcibly scattered.

[Removing errors! Do not move!]

Is that an error! At that time, something came into my eyes. A pure white feathered bird.

‘White Bird!’

At the same time as the thought, my body moved. I reached out with all my might. The Transcendent who took my brother. The being who was deeply involved in all of this along with Crescent Moon.

The tip of my finger barely touched the rapidly scattering fragments of information. Sung Hyunjae’s memories poured in like a waterfall.