The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 89

89. Calm Down (2)

Crack!

The sound of something breaking snapped me awake. Was it Blue? I was about to ask what he broke this time, but then I remembered I was at Yoohyun’s place. The nine o’clock news was playing on the TV.

…Nine o’clock? I thought Yoohyun insisted on staying up when he came to my place. Did he end up falling asleep? I should have told him to set an alarm instead of just sleeping if he was going to be a pain.

I quickly sat up and saw Yoohyun sitting on the sofa. He wasn’t asleep.

“Hey, why didn’t you—!”

The words ‘wake me up’ couldn’t escape my lips. His eyes staring at me were darkly cold. I could faintly hear Peace growling on his lap. In Yoohyun’s hand was a phone, crushed almost beyond recognition.

“Your hands are okay, right? Well, of course they are.”

First, I took Peace into my arms and soothed him. I couldn’t feel it as well, but that guy seemed to be in a pretty savage state. I didn’t know why, though.

…Actually, there were so many reasons to be angry that I didn’t know. What was it? Judging by how serious he looked, was it Noah?

“Hey……”

“I don’t want to hear it from you, hyung [older brother or close male friend].”

Yoohyun cut me off and stood up. He tossed the broken phone onto the table and opened a display case on one side of the living room. He must have misjudged his strength, because the handle of the display case broke. Inside, I could see unopened phone boxes.

“What’s all that?”

“They break easily.”

He answered, but his voice wasn’t normal at all. He seemed to be planning on just switching the SIM card, but would the chip even be intact? Then, I heard another crunching sound.

Thud.

A shattered phone fell to Yoohyun’s feet, along with its box.

“…Hey.”

“The packaging was hard to open.”

Then, he crushed the second phone too. I heard a small sigh. He wasn’t doing it on purpose. Thinking that, I felt a sudden worry.

“Yoohyun-ah [term of endearment, adding ‘ah’ to the name].”

“Just a minute.”

His voice had been monotone since earlier. The third phone was successfully taken out, but the SIM card pin was stuck in the wrong place. The hand holding the pin seemed to tremble slightly. He glared at the cracked phone and gritted his teeth.

“…Should I do it for you?”

“I’m fine.”

And then the last phone was broken. A heavy silence descended. Han Yoohyun stared intently at the phone crushed in his hand. Like a doll with all its springs unwound, he didn’t move at all.

“Yoohyun-ah, Han Yoohyun.”

“……”

His reaction was still strange. I put Peace down on the sofa and stood up. Yoohyun didn’t move until I took a step to the side.

“Even if you don’t want to hear it from me, listen. I wasn’t planning on hiding it in the first place. It was obvious you’d find out soon anyway, so what would be the point? I just forgot for a moment. After I heard you and Peace came out, I couldn’t think about anything but you two.”

I had actually completely forgotten. If I had remembered, I would have prepared an excuse and explained before this mess happened.

“…You forgot?”

“Yeah. I don’t know what you found out, but it wasn’t a big deal.”

Yoohyun’s eyes finally turned to me. His gaze was hardened with anger, but there was also a very faint hint of fear.

“How could it not be a big deal? The only thing I could be relieved about was that I thought you wouldn’t be in a life-threatening situation. At least the high-ranked Hunters would think about your value and keep you alive.”

So it was about Noah.

“He didn’t attack me.”

“…He didn’t?”

“Yeah. He wanted to attack someone else, not me.”

The problem was that he regarded me as that other person, Riet. Yoohyun let out a short breath and put the broken phone down on the display case.

“Who was it?”

“Did you break your phones without listening to everything? Noah Ruhier. He’s not Korean, and he’s the guild leader of a guild called Ark overseas.”

He didn’t seem to know. He furrowed his brow slightly and asked me again.

“Are you sure? Didn’t he say anything else strange?”

“Strange things?”

“…Something like being caught up in a cult, something like that.”

Why a cult all of a sudden? He probably wasn’t talking about a normal cult, but the one that worshiped the dungeon system as a god. No, that wouldn’t have gained momentum yet, would it?

“I don’t know what that is, but it wasn’t anything like that. It was just like a sibling squabble. I was unlucky enough to get caught up in it, and Yerim protected me so I wasn’t hurt much. I got treated properly too. Look.”

There wasn’t a single trace left now. It wasn’t a serious injury in the first place. Yerim was hurt much more.

“More than that, what’s with the cult? Weren’t you wary of other guilds or Hunter-related people?”

“I don’t know exactly either. …Something like Confucianism?”

“No, that’s not a cult.”

Confucius would be upset. Before that, would anything serious happen because of Confucianism? Judging by Yoohyun’s reaction, it was like an SSS-grade monster had appeared.

I thought I should ask him more about it, but Yoohyun beat me to it.

“So, is that Noah guy dead?”

“…He was just arrested, safe and sound.”

“Not even escaping, and he’s safe and sound?”

Yoohyun tilted his head as if he was puzzled.

“He was taken in willingly, and there were no deaths or unawakened people harmed. Don’t even think about messing with him, Yoohyun. He’s a pitiful person if you know him.”

“Did the Seseong Guild Leader go back into the dungeon?”

“No. He brought a healer.”

“And you’re saying nothing happened? Is he related to that guy?”

…If I leave someone safe and sound, does that mean they’re related? What kind of forced logic was that?

“He said he would subdue him. I refused, though. Anyway, it was a mistake and he’s quiet now, so leave him alone.”

“We’ll see. But what’s that handprint on your neck?”

…He found out about that too? At least Yoohyun knew that I had fear resistance, so it was easier to explain. After I told him what Song Taewon had said, he looked upset but understood.

“So I’m trying to keep the fear resistance off even at home. It’s better to keep it on usually since I run into high-ranked Hunters a lot in my situation.”

“…Turn it off once.”

“Now?”

There was no reason not to, but. I nodded and turned off the fear resistance skill. There wasn’t much of a difference right away. It was just that the presence of Yoohyun and Peace felt slightly stronger. Like the difference between a cat and a lynx.

Yoohyun, who seemed to be watching my reaction, smiled slightly.

“It doesn’t seem like anything changed.”

“You’re stating the obvious. I’m adding this just in case, but nothing really happened in the hospital room. The goblin was just playing around. Even Bbyak was there, but not a single feather was hurt.”

I spoke up first and picked up Peace, who was prowling around my feet. The time was already close to ten o’clock. Blue must have already fallen asleep.

“I should go home soon. Is there anything else you want to ask?”

“I’ll take you.”

Then, he held out his palm to me.

“What?”

“The keys.”

He was demanding it like it was obvious. I placed one of the two remaining front door keys on his outstretched palm.

* * *

Since it was right next door, we decided to just walk. There was no need to worry about safety with Yoohyun and Peace around.

With the fear resistance off, I felt a slight sense of intimidation from the A-rank Hunter we encountered on the way. It was unbalanced to be intimidated by an A-rank when I had an S-rank next to me, but it had been like that since before the regression. I was more afraid of and wary of Kim Sunghan or Seok Simyeong than Yoohyun. Was it because I had known them since I was young?

The SIM card was intact, and there was a phone store across the street, so Yoohyun bought a new phone and we walked down the street. The night air was still pleasantly cool.

“It’s been a while, something like this.”

Just walking down the street together normally, without anything special happening. It had been a while for Yoohyun too, but it had been a really, incredibly long time for me. Maybe it was because we were near the Haeyeon Guild, but surprisingly no one approached us, which made me think of the old days even more.

“If the world was the same as before, there wouldn’t be anything like ‘it’s been a while.’”

Why did it turn out like this? I didn’t ask the system administrators that. Even if I asked, I didn’t think I would get a proper answer.

“Do you think it would be better if there weren’t things like dungeons?”

“Of course. More than anything, it’s dangerous.”

“People who get good skills or stats usually think the opposite. If they haven’t been directly harmed, that is.”

I guess so. If I had been around A-rank from the start, I might have thought life was great. Now, I’m sick of A-rank and S-rank alike.

I was already quite tired, and I was worried about what would happen in the future. I was also doubtful whether everything would really end well if I just gathered 50 people, as the system administrators had said.

…Suddenly, the future seemed so dark. Was this also an effect of turning off the fear resistance? It felt like the worries I had been pushing back were rushing in all at once.

“Did you get anything special as a dungeon reward?”

I quickly changed the subject. He had cleared an S-rank dungeon alone, excluding Peace, so the rewards should have been better than usual. I wondered if he got a title or something.

At my question, Yoohyun hesitated for a moment and took something out of his inventory.

“Something I’ve never seen before came out, but I don’t know what it’s for.”

In his hand was a small red egg.

“It’s an SSS-rank item with just the name ‘Red Egg.’”

“That……”

I had seen it before. Before the regression. A series of unidentified eggs that came out very rarely. There were about five colors, including red, blue, and green, but nothing had been revealed about them. They were so hard that they couldn’t be broken, and no matter what we did, they didn’t react, so they were judged to be useless.

“Well, I don’t know either. Give it to me for a second.”

I received the egg and used My Brat skill, just in case. But even the keyword unapplied notification didn’t appear. I guess it didn’t work. Even if the growth skill worked, it would be impossible to apply keywords to an egg without ears.

Next, I used Seedling skill, but nothing appeared this time either.

“It doesn’t seem like a normal monster egg. Is it really just an item?”

If it was alive, Seedling skill should have worked, but there was no reaction.

“Should we give it to Myungwoo, just in case? He might be able to use it as a material.”

“Do as you please.”

As I was about to put the egg in my inventory, Peace showed interest. When I held it out in front of him, he grabbed it and gnawed at it with his teeth. It didn’t even leave a scratch, though. It was an egg that even S-rank Hunters with better stats than the current ones in 5 years couldn’t budge.

“Don’t drop it.”

– Grrr.

Even though it was right next door, the breeding facility was large and we had to go around the front of the building, so it took quite a while. I was worried about Bbyak, who probably hadn’t fallen asleep yet, and Comet, who would wake up soon, but unlike my mind, my pace was leisurely.

As we exchanged various small talk, we arrived in front of the breeding facility. What should I do, should I tell him to sleep over? But Comet was the problem. Should I ask them to take care of him in the breeding facility for just one day? I think one day would be okay.

Then, my phone rang. When I took it out, there was a text message from Song Taewon.

[Noah Ruhier has disappeared again. Please check.]

Again? Why does he keep escaping?

‘…Don’t tell me he’s sitting in front of the mini-portal again.’

A chill ran down my spine. I turned my head to the side. When our eyes met, Yoohyun smiled. First, I turned the fear resistance skill back on. As soon as my mind calmed down, I smiled back as if nothing was wrong.

“Yoohyun-ah, can’t we go back to the Haeyeon Guild?”

“Huh? Why all of a sudden?”

“I just want to rest for a day. I’ll have to take care of the kids again if I go in now, and it’s making me tired just thinking about it.”

At my words, my brother gave me a puzzled look.

“We have the breeding facility. There’s a Hunter in charge too. Weren’t you going to leave them there anyway?”

“That’s true, but……”

Damn it, what should I do? I don’t know what will happen if I go in like this and run into Noah. I don’t have the confidence that Yoohyun will just greet him and pass by, and I don’t have the confidence that Noah won’t think of his sister when he sees me.

…To have to face the risk of being smashed for two days in a row, poor my house. It hasn’t been that long since I moved.

“Let’s go in quickly.”

“Wait, just a minute—”

Yoohyun opened the glass door at the entrance. He didn’t listen to me trying to stop him and took a few steps before stopping abruptly. He tilted his head slightly slowly.

“There’s an unfamiliar presence.”

“My fri… end’s not really a friend, but an acquaintance’s younger sibling!”

“You know someone who has an S-rank Hunter as a younger sibling? I don’t remember that.”

“We became friends recently, through SNS [Social Networking Service].”

We were a little friendly, but we’ve fallen out now. …Should I tell him about Riet too? A lot of people heard the phone call, so I can’t hide it. Why have there been so many things happening in just a few days?

“But why is he here? In the middle of the night, too.”

“He visited in relation to monster breeding, um, should I say he’s showing sincerity……”

What should I explain this as? While I was organizing my words, Yoohyun started moving again. Ah, really!