The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 535

533. Going to America (2)

While waiting to depart at the airport, I read articles about Chatterbox. Since his first broadcast, Chatterbox had only put his proxy, the Prophet, forward, never appearing himself. Naturally, people were very curious about him. Among the various theories, the most popular one was that he was a wealthy investor from France.

‘The Phantom of the Opera, huh.’

I’ve never sung, though. But the phantom in the novel I looked up was quite similar to Chatterbox. Of course, the people saying that don’t know, but that Chatterbox bastard is committing crazy acts because of someone he unilaterally likes.

‘The youngest of the severed maze, was it?’

It was a title that made it sound like he’d create a sinister underground labyrinth. If I were to apply it, I’d be Raoul, but this crazy phantom is trying to kidnap Raoul instead of the dead Christine to use as a substitute. It was a bit disgusting. If it were someone else’s business, I might be munching on popcorn, thinking, ‘Wow, what a mess,’ but unfortunately, it’s my problem.

Anyway, people were saying that Chatterbox has an enormous amount of money and is trying to attract S-Class Hunters from all over the world with all sorts of items, including the SS-Class weapons he’s been hoarding. In reality, it was common for wealthy people who hadn’t even awakened to buy high-level items. It was for investment, showing off, and self-protection, as item effects still applied to non-awakened people.

In particular, there were so many such celebrities in the United States that the government had tried to regulate them. But it didn’t really work. I don’t know the details, but it seemed that weapon dealers had jumped into the item trading market, making it even harder to control. And the mafia, terrorist organizations, and other armed groups were involved… Oh, and of course, oil money was involved too. They couldn’t just sit back and watch as magic stones replaced oil.

In short, it was a mess.

“Are there really a lot of organizations in America that hate S-Class Hunters?”

Yerim asked, bringing dishes to the table.

“There aren’t many in Korea, right? There aren’t really any organizations.”

“It’s not just America, it’s around that area. All the way to the Middle East. There was even a saying that if a Hunter dies, the culprit is OPEC [Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries].”

One day, A-Class Hunter Mr. Thomas was found dead. The police pointed to Mr. Thomas’s team members, lover, the man next door, and his regular item dealer as suspects. Who is the culprit? Answer: OPEC across the sea.

“OPEC?”

“The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. They say it’s the organization that hates Hunters and dungeons the most in the world.”

“Ah, oil!”

Yerim nodded as if she understood. On the other hand, Gyeol on my shoulder tilted his head. He knew a lot compared to how young he was, but he was still lacking in everyday common sense.

“And the American shale industry hates them too. If Hunters and dungeons disappeared overnight and the supply of magic stones suddenly stopped, they’d be partying for months.”

The consumption of oil was still high. Just because a new energy source called magic stones had appeared didn’t mean that all the cars and machines around the world could be replaced at once. It was also used in various fields other than fuel. But if the use of magic stones became widespread, the collapse of the oil industry was inevitable. Even though oil was used in all sorts of places without anything being wasted, the biggest consumer was fuel.

“Korea is relatively peaceful because it doesn’t produce oil. The replacement of energy with magic stones is also progressing smoothly. But Hunters in that area had to fight against large corporations. Even if an Awakened is great, the opponents already have immense wealth and power.”

No matter how strong a Hunter is, they are individuals belonging to society. Unless they live their whole lives alone, they can’t help but be influenced by society. Even in the early days, they couldn’t even form guilds or other organizations.

“They poured a lot of money into all sorts of organizations, including politics, media, religion, medicine, and the environment. Still, as dungeons kept appearing and threatening their lives before magic stones, the Hunter community eventually gained power and established itself, but the influence still remains.”

“That’s amazing. If dungeons appear, money is useless.”

“Since they can’t do anything about dungeons, they probably aimed to step on the Hunters early on rather than eliminate them altogether, and to take control of the magic stone distribution themselves. Of course, they’d want both dungeons and Hunters to disappear completely.”

“I heard that using magic stones is good for the environment. But did environmental protection groups really go over to their side?”

“There must have been a lot of fake data about the harmful substances generated when using magic stones as an energy source, right? I don’t know the details either.”

“There was a slight influence in Korea in the early days. But it soon subsided.”

Yoohyun said, placing a plate of fruit in front of my table.

“Overseas, several people claimed to have gotten sick because of magic stones. Hunter guilds were also caught up in various lawsuits. In Korea, Hunters were not held responsible even if they caused civilian damage during monster hunts due to dungeon breaks, but the United States was different.”

Yoohyun explained that some of the early Hunter guilds went bankrupt because of lawsuits. Goodness. They entice ordinary citizens with legal support because of their interests, while making their image look good. Killing two birds with one stone.

“I wonder if I should just stay quiet and not go sightseeing.”

Yerim muttered with a slightly subdued expression.

“If you accidentally destroy a building, you’ll get sued for hundreds of billions of won, right?”

“In New York, it would be hundreds of billions. There are buildings worth over a hundred billion in Seoul too. If related damages lawsuits get tangled up… it might reach trillions. But you shouldn’t destroy buildings anywhere before that happens.”

“It’s more difficult overseas. Team Leader Kim told me to never get caught if I cause an accident in the United States.”

In Korea, S-Class Hunters tend to be favored, but not overseas. Why would they favor foreign Hunters? They’d try to squeeze as much as possible out of them. Thinking about that, Sung Hyunjae really caused a lot of trouble.

“We pretended not to go to China, but the United States is an official visit, so we have to be careful.”

Even with dungeons and Awakened, the world is still capitalist. High-level Hunters are in the spotlight because magic stones and items make money.

“Well, the thing I need to be most careful about is me.”

In many ways. How great would it be if I could just say that Chatterbox and the filial piety addict are my enemies and that I only have to deal with them? But the reality is that it’s not clear who’s on my side and who’s not.

– Dad, don’t worry too much.

Gyeol, who was touching tangerines after going down to the table, said.

– If people blame Dad for doing something wrong, Gyeol has a good idea.

“I told you I’m okay.”

What is a child going to do? But the fairy dragon’s eyes were serious.

– It’s a really sure way.

“Gyeol, children—”

“Let’s hear it.”

Yoohyun interjected. Yerim also looked curious. Gyeol slammed the tangerine with his front paw and continued.

– The best way to cover up a scandal is with a bigger scandal!

…I should have given him a phone that can’t access the internet.

– Gyeol will do an interview in his human child form. He’ll say that the Seseong Guild Leader abandoned his mother and doesn’t even know his child. Then there will definitely be a commotion, and Dad’s work will be completely forgotten!

…Did he watch some kind of 막장 [makjang – Korean slang for over-the-top, dramatic] drama?

“Gyeol, if you keep looking up weird things, I’m confiscating your phone.”

– Uuuuung.

Gyeol shook his head with all his might. His ears fluttered at the force.

“And if you do a genetic test, everything will come out. It’ll be revealed that you’re not human.”

– Just manipulate it!

“Phone confiscated.”

– Dadddddy!

“Wouldn’t it be less effective to simply say that parents abandoned their blood relatives?”

Yoohyun said seriously.

“It’s common, that kind of thing.”

“It’s not common. Of course, it wouldn’t be much of a story unless it’s a celebrity…”

I looked back at my brother, and my heart ached. Yoohyun had a completely indifferent expression.

“…Parents are supposed to take care of their children. Our parents were wrong. I, Yoohyun. I had to be okay back then.”

I was still young, but I vaguely knew. If our family wasn’t okay, then I, especially my brother, would be abandoned.

“I had to pretend to be normal. It had to be a perfectly fine family so we could continue living as we were. If our parents couldn’t hold on and gave up, if they broke up, we would have had to break up too.”

That was the scariest thing. Yoohyun might have been secretly thrown away. Because they wouldn’t have wanted to take either of us. And I, too, would have had no choice but to avoid my mother or father. Because they would be a constant reminder of the fact that they abandoned their second child.

So, for me at that time, pretending to be normal and harmonious was the best I could do. I tried to believe that too. In fact, everyone outside the house regarded us as a normal family. There were no fights, no violence, and they took care of the basics.

“Hyung [older brother]. I was really okay.”

Yoohyun opened his mouth calmly, looking at me.

“Even if it was weird and not normal, it’s not for me. So… Hyung made the best family for me, at least. It was unavoidable for Hyung, but I was really okay and happy.”

“…Okay.”

I reached out and stroked my brother’s head. Yoohyun added as an excuse that he knew his brother had a hard time.

“Yeah. But I’m happier that you were okay.”

Sincerely. Before the regression, there was no way to avoid talking about our family situation. I heard so many times that I was neglecting my brother, so that’s why he was so cold. I was young too, so of course I was lacking. Even if I did my best, that guilt was definitely etched in my heart.

That’s why my brother’s words were comforting.

“…I shouldn’t say things about other people’s families, but your parents were definitely bad. Even if Han Yoohyun doesn’t seem human, he was a child.”

“My parents were ordinary people. I understand.”

“Even if you understand, what’s wrong is wrong.”

That’s… right. At least it wasn’t my fault. Yoohyun was just born that way.

“But we’re living well now. We’re not a normal family now either… No. If we’re living well, that’s normal. Who cares.”

“That’s right, we’re doing okay.”

Well, does it have to be a parent-child relationship to be a good family? If the people living together are happy, that’s the best thing. Even if there are strange things to others, what is the standard for that strangeness in the first place? As long as you don’t harm others and live well, that’s normal.

“Even if they’re different species, they’re family.”

– Yeah, Dad!

Piece on my lap purred as if he understood what I was saying. I smiled and held out my hand to Gyeol.

“Phone.”

– Hiiiing.

“But Hyung, I think the method itself is good. Let’s say you abandoned your child and faked your wife’s death as an accident. The genetic test will say he’s not human, so it might be okay. We can say Seseong contaminated him.”

“…Hey. Are you planning to send the Seseong Guild Leader to jail?”

Then my work would be completely buried, but Sung Hyunjae would be buried along with it. Of course, that human would somehow solve it, but it was a method that would prick my conscience to death.

“And Gyeol will be harmed before the Seseong Guild Leader. That’s absolutely not allowed. The same goes for you two. If I see you sacrificing yourselves to protect me, I’ll blow it up even bigger. Really.”

“That’s a little scary.”

“…I won’t.”

– …Gyeol will endure it too.

The three of them shuddered at the same time. After all, I’m confident that I can cause a bigger accident even if they do.

“The Breaker Guild’s private plane is scheduled to arrive in New York in three hours.”

Song Taewon entered while we were eating refreshments and looking at the American Hunter community for the last time.

“It’s taking a really long time. Noah went out last night.”

Noah belonged to Dodam Breeding Center, but this time he decided to act with Moon Hyuna, who was a team member. The Hunters who boarded the Breaker Guild’s private plane yesterday were Moon Hyuna, Noah, Riet, and Kang Soyoung. Soyoung is also a Seseong Hunter, but she joined that side because Riet is an S-Class. In addition, Yoon Yoon accompanied them to register a super-long-distance gate.

“I heard it takes more than ten hours to fly to America.”

That’s crazy. Still, if there’s a plane, I can go in a day. If it were a ship, wouldn’t I be celebrating Yoohyun’s birthday on the sea? How long would a ship take? A month?

“Civil Servant Ajusshi [term of endearment for older man, like ‘Uncle’] is good at English, right?”

Yerim looked at Song Taewon with expectant eyes. Even though she received a translation item from Ciel, it doesn’t translate.

“…Reading is slow.”

“It’s okay if you can read! You’re a civil servant, so you know the law well, right? We can trust that Ajusshi, right?”

“……”

Embarrassment was cast over Director Song’s face. He looked troubled about what to do. Yerim is a completely different type from Sung Hyunjae. Even if she’s an S-Class, she’s young. Director Song, good luck.

“…Because it could become an international issue, please act carefully and cautiously.”

“Yes! But can I go to Hollywood? Fly, for a moment.”

“It takes more than five hours to fly from New York to Los Angeles.”

“…Wow.”

Yerim’s mouth dropped open. I was a little surprised too. I knew America was big, but it’s the same country.

When the departure time was almost up, Sung Hyunjae and Evelyn also arrived, and we all boarded the plane to America.