The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 458

456. Still in the Hospital (3)

“You’re awake?”

A woman in a white coat smiled down at me. A face I didn’t recognize. What was more, there was no one else around. Instead of answering, I pulled out my white gun and aimed it at the woman. Slowly sitting up, I looked around again.

The hospital room definitely hadn’t changed.

“You’re suspicious.”

“I just had surgery, and there’s no way my brother wouldn’t be here, let alone someone else.”

He wouldn’t leave unless an S-Rank dungeon broke out near the hospital. And if it were such a dangerous situation, there wouldn’t just be a stranger standing next to me.

“Even if the kids were sent out to rest, Yoohyun should be here. This isn’t reality, is it?”

Suddenly, a chair appeared, and the woman sat down. Before I knew it, she had glasses in her hand and put them on lightly.

“It’s supposed to be a truce.”

She said quietly. *Why is this happening again, with the guy who shot me and everything?*

“I’m not on either side.”

“…Not on either side?”

“Strictly speaking, I’m on the side of the rebellious children, but it’s become very corrupt now.”

*It’s become, very corrupt now.* Could it be…

“You talk a bit like an old person.”

“Huh? I updated the language patch to the latest version. Is it strange?”

“No, you said it’s corrupt now. Old-timer, even the young Chaos [likely referring to a powerful, chaotic entity] grumbled similarly.”

“That’s too much.”

The woman shook her head.

“I’m much younger than Chaos. Well, it might be the same to you.”

“So, who are you?”

“A lighthouse keeper. That’s the closest word in this context. One of the original system creators.”

The lighthouse keeper said. The original system creator.

“So, you’re a very senior colleague of the newbie [referring to the system administrator]. Why are you here?”

“You’re not even surprised.”

“Why would I be now? I know roughly everything. The Source [the antagonistic force] tried to swallow the world, and they created the system to stop it.”

“The initial system was just a support role, but now it’s trying to act as a leader.”

“If we get rid of the system now, can’t the Transcendents [beings of higher power] intervene?”

“That’s not true. Besides, your world would be in a lot of trouble without the system. The dungeons would disappear.”

The lighthouse keeper continued to explain.

“Monsters would come pouring out right away. It would be a mess. Even if they awakened, the lower ranks would die easily, and the surviving mid- to high-ranks would be abandoned in a collapsed society. If the civilization they enjoyed disappeared in an instant, even the high-rank awakeners would feel uncomfortable. Morale would drop, and efficiency would decrease.”

It would literally become an apocalypse. Just the existence of dungeons made the system’s usefulness undeniable.

“As long as the Source exists and tries to devour the world, it’s better to have a basic system in place. It’s not without side effects, but only until people adapt to the changes. Originally, the system was supposed to disappear in about ten years, though it seems that’s not being followed well these days.”

“I’ve heard that too.”

“So, we were the best option.”

The lighthouse keeper said confidently and proudly.

“To help people protect themselves. To protect their world. We poured ourselves into the system.”

“…I don’t think you mean you ground up the common engineers, do you?”

“So, I can only wake up when a serious bug or exception occurs. I woke up once before when this world’s system stopped. I also gave you the spirit’s egg.”

Come to think of it, Yerim said she met a woman in a suit, not a newbie, in the Japanese dungeon back then. It was the lighthouse keeper.

“So, there’s another bug now.”

“This time, it’s a bit complicated.”

The lighthouse keeper frowned deeply.

“The dungeon has become globalized.”

“…What?”

“That temporary dungeon that was created. That place with only two intelligent beings has become a completely separate world.”

A temporary dungeon with only two people. Could it be…

“With information from before the regression, a dungeon was created…?”

My voice trembled slightly. The lighthouse keeper nodded.

“The dungeon created by the newbie, the King of No Harm, and another newbie has been closed. Usually, dungeons closed like that escape the system’s protection, and then they are naturally swallowed by the Source.”

The dungeon, the world and monsters within the dungeon, are the Source’s power. So, they are being reclaimed, the lighthouse keeper said.

“The system only wraps the power coming from the Source in a package called a dungeon. Or, would an aquarium be more fitting for us? It’s like containing the water and fish pouring into a large aquarium. And the challengers clean it up before it overflows.”

“So, a dungeon not managed by the system, the power should return to the Source, but…”

“It’s being maintained as is. It’s the first time I’ve seen this. It’s never happened before in any of the Source’s worlds.”

My first thought was relief. That world is safe. But why?

“I don’t know the reason either. Only the Source can create a world… But why that small dungeon with only two people?”

“Don’t you have any guesses?”

“One is the will of the Source. There’s a theory that the Source has a self. It might have suddenly wanted to create a miniature world.”

*It’s really out of the blue,* the lighthouse keeper said. Judging by her attitude, she thought the possibility was very low.

“The other is the existence of someone who can create a world with the power of the Source… But that’s even more impossible.”

“So, you’re saying you don’t know.”

“If I knew the exact reason, I wouldn’t be here.”

She stared at me intently, as if asking if I knew anything. *Even if you look at me like that.*

“I just found out that the dungeon became globalized.”

“You were connected for a moment, weren’t you? To that world.”

“…What? I thought it was a dream.”

That wasn’t a dream.

“Anyway, that dungeon, that world, will be safe, right? As long as the Transcendents don’t touch it.”

“A newly born world can’t be touched. The barrier of the world is strongest then, and even the young Chaos would need at least a thousand years to break through.”

“That’s good.”

Then neither I nor anyone else would ever be able to meet those two. I felt a mix of relief and regret.

“But you were connected.”

“I was inside it. Since we’re the same being, there must have been a temporary mix-up or something.”

I heard the sound of a chair sliding back. The lighthouse keeper, who had stood up, looked down at me. Her eyes scrutinized me as if to dig into my soul. *Should I just shoot her?*

“No matter how I look at it, you’re just a human.”

“Since we’re in a hospital, should I get a genetic test or something?”

“Your existence value has increased a lot, but your foundation is ordinary.”

“I’m just the eldest son of a common Han family. My younger brother is a bit special, though.”

Besides them, Sung Hyunjae and Song Taewon were also special from birth. It was a specialness that Chief Song wouldn’t want. The lighthouse keeper sighed deeply and sat back down.

“To think I have to leave this anomaly as is. I don’t have much time left, so I should repair the system and go back to sleep.”

“Then why don’t you tell me something? About Crescent Moon or White Bird. Especially Crescent Moon, who’s been playing around with people and manipulating them.”

At my words, the lighthouse keeper’s eyes widened.

“Crescent Moon? It would be the opposite. Crescent Moon was very concerned about the system. He felt a sense of rejection towards interfering with people’s destinies under the guise of protecting them from the Source.”

…Is it a different person with the same name? He’s been catching perfectly fine people and making them run around in circles.

“Even if it’s just support, the system limits people’s potential once it’s applied. Even if it’s released in several years to a dozen years. The same goes for less intrusive things like prophecies. In the end, people who seem outstanding to the Transcendents get more opportunities.”

So Crescent Moon avoided it, she said, which made me even more dumbfounded. Well, people can change, but he’s changed too much.

“Crescent Moon was also an ordinary human or such a race at first, right?”

“Of course. We were all like that. I can’t tell you the details since it’s someone else’s information. Crescent Moon was lovable to anyone who saw him.”

I thought of the Crescent Moon from before the regression that the jellyfish showed me. Lovable… Hmm. Either the lighthouse keeper’s sense of beauty is off, or Crescent Moon has changed a lot.

“So adorably cute.”

*It’s the former. You have a unique eye.*

“On the other hand, White Bird was hard to understand. He didn’t talk much and often stood alone blankly, so I didn’t know what he was thinking. We didn’t have much interaction, but he suddenly came to me and said, ‘Chaos will give a sword to the fire, and you will meet the young water.'”

Fire is Yoohyun, and water is Yerim?

“And he made a few requests that I had no choice but to grant. Because he’s a future-seeing species.”

The lighthouse keeper scratched her cheek with her fingertip.

“I was committed to sacrificing myself to the system, but I was still a little afraid of losing myself. But White Bird said that I would meet the young water in the distant future… That means my ego will be safe until then. If that prophecy comes true.”

So, I had no choice but to cooperate, the lighthouse keeper said.

“Out of my own greed. A future-seeing species is such a being. That’s why most future-seeing species had short lifespans.”

The silent White Bird. He’s done a lot of work for someone like that. Well, he’s lived so long that he might have opened his mouth once every few hundred or thousand years.

The lighthouse keeper stood up again. A faint light began to spread from her toes.

“It’s definitely related to you, but I don’t have time to investigate. And I don’t know if my abilities will reach it.”

“Ask the newbie instead. I’m really just caught up in it. I even have Chatterbox, those Transcendent bastards, trying to screw me over. If I had the ability to deal with the Source, I would have dealt with them first.”

“Things are definitely turning out strangely, aren’t they? I hope we don’t meet again. Well, actually, I’d like to see you again. It’s so nice to come out this often. So, should I tell you something? Chatterbox seems to be planning to bring in the strongest person in your world.”

The lighthouse keeper said that she overheard it while looking at the system. The strongest person, could it be Sung Hyunjae? A cult has already approached him. He’s not someone who would fall for it easily, but it makes me uneasy…

Leaving the words that she’ll see me again next time, the lighthouse keeper disappeared, and I opened my eyes. This time, it was a hospital room again, but unlike before, Yoohyun was next to me.

“Hyung, are you okay? Does anything hurt?”

“Uh… I’m fine.”

I blinked. Not only did nothing hurt, but I couldn’t feel anything in one of my legs at all?

“I couldn’t use painkillers, so I paralyzed it. You won’t be able to move for a day.”

Doctor Hoyeon said to me. My leg was in a cast up to my knee, so I wouldn’t be able to move even if I was fine.

“The surgery went well, and everything is fine except for the paralyzed leg, but eat porridge today. And take your medicine. There are some types that poison resistance doesn’t work on.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

“The cast is also to maintain the paralysis, so you can take it off tomorrow. Be careful when walking for a week after the paralysis wears off.”

Then, Doctor Kang Gyeongho showed me a picture of my leg bone.

“It’s very pretty, I mean, it’s perfectly fine, right?”

He was pleased, saying that it was completely restored. He sparkled, saying that if you put the left and right sides side by side, you wouldn’t be able to tell which leg was injured.

“I really can’t tell. Amazing!”

“It wasn’t easy to match the position, but I have my auxiliary skill. It’s a skill that shows the right place for the body, like a puzzle board.”

He can also suture the skin perfectly.

“The scar won’t be big either.”

After telling me to press the bell immediately if I felt any pain, the doctors left the hospital room.

“Should I bring you porridge? Do you want to eat now?”

– That’s right, Daddy. You must be hungry.

Gyeol, who was on the sofa, flew to the bed and said. Peace didn’t come up on the bed and sat below. The other kids were worried about touching my leg, so they were let out into the indoor garden. The Horned Fox was stuck to the glass wall, desperately looking towards where Peace was.

“I’m not very hungry right now. Ah, Yoohyun, do you want to draw on it?”

“Huh? Draw?”

“On the cast. A lot of people do it.”

When else would I get to do this? Hunters are far from casts. Even if they’re mid-level, they’ll just use potions. Yoohyun tilted his head, wondering what I was talking about.

“Here, here. They write things like ‘Get well soon’ or ‘Fighting.’ Try it, once.”

After hesitating for a moment, Yoohyun took out a pen from his inventory. Then, after much deliberation, he wrote on my leg cast.

[I love you, Hyung]

…It’s a bit embarrassing. But I’m taking it off tomorrow anyway. Yoohyun, who was looking at what he had written, asked me.

“Can I write more?”

“Of course.”

[Han Yoohyun Hyung]

He wrote that and made a satisfied expression. Seeing that, Gyeol reached out his hand.

– Can Gyeol write too?

“Yes. Here’s a pen.”

The fairy dragon held the pen as if he knew how and wrote.

[Daddy, get well]

When did he learn Korean? It was crooked, but there were no misspelled letters.

Yerim, who came to visit after school, also wrote [Stop kidnapping Uncle!]. Moon Hyuna, who came at night, wrote [Go, Dad of a kid!] in large letters. I’m already in a situation where I’m being misunderstood, but that’s too much.