The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 274: Even When I Retrace (2)

“W-What are you talking about…”

I was trembling. I was afraid.

“Even if you’ve awakened… why would you, Yuhyun, become a Hunter? You’re still just a kid, not even an adult yet…”

Han Yujin’s younger brother is an S-Class awakened. That’s what they said, but it still didn’t feel real at the time. Even though awakeners had started appearing after the first dungeon shock and things were beginning to get organized, to ordinary people it was still nothing more—or less—than a disaster.

Dungeons and monsters were unknown fears. That was all. It was the same for me.

“Don’t go outside for no reason. Just stay home.”

Yuhyun said softly. Back then, he still showed signs of worrying about me. If I had just obediently listened to him at that time… No, no point thinking useless thoughts. That damned lizard would have approached Yuhyun anyway, and we would have—

“Yuhyun! Han Yuhyun!”

My brother left my side. I stood there, stunned, unable to accept it. I flailed uselessly, trying somehow to return things to how they were. Even though the world had already changed.

“Yuhyun, please…”

I was clutching my phone, begging. The background was our old home. My face was pale. I remembered not eating or sleeping properly.

“Don’t become a Hunter, okay? It’s dangerous. If something goes wrong in a dungeon, they say you won’t even get a body back. Not even a body… So why would you go there, Yuhyun…”

S-Class Hunter. At the time, when dungeon difficulty was still relatively low, it was a rank not even worth worrying over. But to me back then, none of that registered. The rumors I’d heard were all grim, and the TV kept showing the dangers of dungeons and monsters.

It was a time when there wasn’t enough equipment, not enough Hunters, and even less experience—so even in low-rank dungeons, mid-to-low-ranked Hunters often died. Dungeon raid failures, awakeners who never returned, injuries, deaths, disappearances.

Day by day, my nerves frayed like brittle paper. What if a familiar name showed up on the list of the injured, the dead, the missing? I had nightmares more than a few times.

“I’ll do better. I’ll try harder so you don’t lack anything…”

The phone stayed silent. More than how I looked now, more than this memory itself, that silence tore into my chest. What must he have been thinking, listening to my voice? He couldn’t have not known what I was going through—so then, what was he feeling?

I cried.

“…Please don’t go into the dungeon.”

Yuhyun.

I couldn’t understand, and he couldn’t step back. Faced with the rapid change brought by chaos, we were both still young and immature.

The money Yuhyun sent me—I didn’t even touch it. I sent it back in disgust. To me, back then, it was blood money traded for the life of my little brother. Maybe Yuhyun just wanted me to live safely, to have something to support myself with. But I believed I had sent my brother to his death, and I couldn’t possibly accept it. All it did was pile up more helplessness. There was nothing I could do. I could only stomp my feet. It was almost a relief when I got dragged into the military—at least I could suffocate in my misery without doing anything.

The unit I was assigned to dealt with dungeon-related support operations. Thinking back, I’m sure Yuhyun had a hand in that too. To protect me, who was wandering around near dungeons and Breaker zones, trying to stop him—and to help me understand the new world.

While doing relatively safe, menial tasks, I naturally came to understand dungeons and Hunters better. Including just how incredible an S-Class Hunter really was.

During that year, the world adjusted to dungeons. Related industries developed, Hunters gained status, dungeon breaks became less frequent, and life began to normalize. At the same time, high-rank Hunters became objects of admiration. People envied me for having a younger brother who built his own guild and rapidly grew. Some even said it was like I’d won the lottery.

Goddamn it.

“…There’s no one here.”

I muttered, staring at the empty house I returned to a year later. What part of any of this was a good thing? What part was worth celebrating? I had nothing. Somehow, word got out and calls started pouring in from everywhere. People said they’d heard about my brother.

That day, I ran. I threw away everything—not just the house, but all of Yuhyun’s belongings that remained. That was also when I told people not to contact him anymore. I didn’t want to receive anything from him. If I accepted even the smallest thing, it felt like everything the people around me said would become true.

Must feel worth it, raising a kid like that.

Bet you’re living off your brother.

Rolling in money, huh?

Not a thing to worry about now.

I never wanted that. Not even a little.

And even after running away like that, I couldn’t fully give up on getting my brother back.

[Guild MKC has successfully cleared Korea’s third S-Class dungeon. Multiple casualties reported, and Guild Leader Choi Seokwon was also seriously injured…]

[Public concern grows over whether Haeyeon Guild’s acquisition of an S-Class dungeon was premature.]

[Sudam Guild Leader Hunter Yun Kyungsu hospitalized under mysterious circumstances…]

Even S-Class Hunters weren’t immune to getting hurt. At the time, Han Yuhyun—then the youngest S-Class Hunter not just in Korea but globally—was often the subject of worried glances. Every time a dungeon raid took longer than expected, negative articles poured out.

For someone like me, who had no choice but to watch it all from the outside, it was only natural that I began clinging to the idea of awakening. It felt like the only option.

If I could just awaken. If by some miracle I became an S-Class Hunter, then maybe everything would return to how it was.

“Not bad to look at.”

My stomach did sting a little, but it was manageable. So I was okay.

-Don’t let your guard down.

The Changeling lifted one small front paw and pressed it firmly against my cheek. The soft paw with tiny claws squished just slightly.

“I’m not letting it down.”

I knew full well this was only the beginning. It was my life, after all. Still, if it was only this much to watch, then I could handle it. There were people waiting for me outside. As long as I didn’t forget that.

Unlike now, the Awakening Center had opened. Unlike now, I went to the Awakening Center and awakened. F-Class support-type Hunter. Would it have been easier if I’d just given up there? Maybe. But in that case, the present me wouldn’t exist anymore. Instead, Yuhyun, unable to leave me behind, would have remained in this world to the very end.

‘…Don’t think about it.’

Don’t get dragged in.

“Seriously, you just never listen to reason!”

Thud—a kick landed in my stomach. My body lifted into the air, then rolled across the ground. I blinked from the pain that radiated sharply through me. Huh? Wait a second.

“All you’ve got left is that ‘Han Yuhyun’s brother’ label, so what’s the point of being stubborn?”

The man crouched beside me, clicking his tongue, and slammed my head down against the floor.

Up until a moment ago, I’d been an observer. But at some point, I’d been pulled fully into the illusion. Wow. Talk about hyper-realistic 4D.

‘What exactly counts as “enduring quietly”?’

The contract had said not to resist the activated skill, so was I supposed to just take the beating? I felt the pain, but it didn’t seem to actually affect my real body. It was phantom pain. The contract clearly stated that the King of Harmless’s skill wouldn’t cause any physical harm. I wouldn’t have signed otherwise.

It was a bit unsettling, but I was still fine. In fact, everything up until now had been too easy. No way would a bastard like that jellyfish be satisfied with just a walk down memory lane.

“Even if your hotshot brother ditched you, if you cling hard enough, he’d toss you something just to save face, right? Huh?”

“…Sorry, who were you again?”

“What?”

“Losers like you are a dime a dozen. I don’t have time to remember every single one. How could I possibly memorize all the throwaway villain extras?”

I glanced at my inventory list. Practically empty—looks like I could only use items I had on me during that time. My stats too were likely stuck as low-tier F-Class, with no special abilities.

“Fighting back with this body isn’t a breach of contract. This isn’t my real body or real stats, and the contract said responses based on the situation were allowed.”

“What kind of bullshit are you spouting—urk!”

There just so happened to be a handy dagger in my inventory, so I gently stabbed it into the guy’s nape. As I twisted the wrist holding the dagger to make sure he stopped breathing, I scanned the surroundings. Of course, there wasn’t just one of them.

“Y-You’re insane!”

“Get him!”

As the next guy rushed at me, I hurled the still-warm corpse at him with all my strength. Blood sprayed as the body flew, and the bastard flinched in panic. That moment of panic left him completely defenseless. I couldn’t just let a gap like that go—especially after getting kidnapped and threatened.

I dropped my body low, slipped under his guard, and swept his legs out in one clean motion. Already off balance, he toppled easily—and I struck his neck dead on again.

“H-He killed someone!”

The last one screamed in panic and bolted, reacting all too realistically for an illusion. I threw my knife at the back of his fleeing head. But with my current strength, it didn’t reach, dropping to the ground with a soft thud. If it had been Yuhyun, it would’ve landed clean.

“Hey, not that you can hear me, but my brother never abandoned me.”

Not even once.

Rather than painful, this was actually starting to feel kind of refreshing—but the thought had barely formed when—

“Augh, gah!”

A searing pain tore through my arm. I swallowed the scream out of habit. Screaming after getting wounded in a dungeon was suicidal. It was like advertising to the monsters that weak prey was nearby.

Gritting my teeth, I blinked through the blur in my eyes. A blade was lodged in my arm. Even at a glance, it looked like a good item. Definitely not low-tier gear.

“D-Damn… bastard… guh!”

The blade was yanked out roughly. When was this? I couldn’t recall. But I was sure whoever did this wasn’t the kind of opponent an F-Class Hunter with a little experience could mess with.

“Don’t take it too personally. Even if that Haeyeon Guild Master guy doesn’t care much about his brother, he’s still benefited from him, hasn’t he? You’ve leeched off that name plenty, right? So think of this as paying the price.”

Laughter rained down from above me. I could hear more voices badmouthing Haeyeon. Looked like they were people who’d gotten on Yuhyun’s bad side and paid for it.

After it became known that Yuhyun and I had a falling-out, there were people who took out their frustrations on me after clashing with Haeyeon.

But it didn’t last long. Haeyeon made it clear that they didn’t like anyone associating Han Yuhyun with me just to vent, and wiped them all out.

I even got publicly scolded—said that just letting myself be treated like that was a burden on my brother.

“…You’re all gonna die, you—ack!”

“What, you think Han Yuhyun’s gonna come rescue you or something?”

“He’s cold-blooded too. Cut ties with the brother who raised him in place of their parents without a second thought. Is that even human?”

My blood boiled. That bullshit resurfaced, vividly and a beat too late, in my memory. Back then, I—

“Damn it, it’s because I wasn’t good enough!”

Because I was only F-Class, because I made mistakes, because I got involved in unnecessary things. Even now, like this.

“You’re still defending your brother?”

“It’s just—ugh—it’s true, okay?! He’s the Haeyeon Guild Master—what’s so hard about taking care of his own blood? If he dumped me, it must’ve been because I was worth dumping!”

That’s what I said. And I kept saying it, again and again. Because honestly, it was easier that way.

If there was no reason, I felt like I might actually die. But if it was my fault, I could accept it. The more people blamed me, the more it meant Yuhyun wasn’t wrong—it was just that I’d gotten greedy, that I’d messed everything up.

If I just did better, succeeded, maybe we could go back to how things used to be.

Maybe I wasn’t all there in the head. But it would’ve been hard for anyone to stay sane.

“…It wasn’t Yuhyun’s fault.”

Then it was mine. Just like everyone said. I had an inferiority complex toward my younger brother, I tried to be a Hunter, got an F-Class rating, and became nothing but a burden. Han Yuhyun simply threw out the trash—and if I could just clean myself up, he’d come back.

Maybe that was my final hope… and at the same time, the dream I was too afraid to chase. Because if I got better and Yuhyun still turned away from me—

“That stings a little.”

The more I looked back, the more hopeless my life seemed.

Brief flashes of past violence skimmed across my body. All I could think was, Wow, I really went through all kinds of shit, huh. If we were just talking about violence, Diarma was still the worst of them. Since I couldn’t die, he’d tried everything without holding back.

And then blood splattered again.

“Ruined…!”

A familiar face fell to the ground. A man in his mid-thirties.

-Kyarruk!

A monster charged at me where I stood, stunned. It looked like a large bipedal dog, swinging its claws, and I dodged reflexively. My body felt light. The enemy was an E-Class monster, and I had received the stats of an E-Class Hunter, doubled.

I swung the spear in my hand. The shaft smacked the monster’s drooling snout, then spun as the blade stabbed into its neck. I lifted the impaled monster’s corpse and used it to block the attacks of the other charging mutts.

Thud, crunch—fangs and claws sank into their comrade’s body, and I grabbed the shaft to vault myself upward. Like a pole-vaulter, I leapt over them, landing behind their backs, and drew my blade. The dead man’s skill surfaced in my mind, unbidden.

I pulled out a spare jungle knife and wielded both blades like a natural dual-wielder. With added sharpness, two dog heads were sliced clean off. Immediately after, I hurled the right-hand blade hard. Thwack! It buried itself in the back of a monster attacking a Hunter.

“Y-Yujin!”

The Hunter, saved by a hair, looked at me with wide, shocked eyes. Originally, I couldn’t save anyone. Even if I suddenly gained power, I wouldn’t have had the composure or mindset to use it properly. I’d only flailed and cried, swinging a blade wildly.

Even now, the one I truly wanted to save was—

“…He’s alive.”

Even if coming back through regression wasn’t perfect. He’s alive. So this, too, is okay.

“No matter how many times you show me, the result will be the same. So just give up.”

Maybe the bastard agreed—this time, it ended after just one round. But then something appeared that wasn’t in any of my memories.

“Hyung.”

He appeared before me. Yuhyun at twenty-five years old. He stood in our old home, the house we once lived in together. With a faint smile on his face. Something like that—definitely didn’t exist in my memories.

“I’m sorry.”

His dark, pitch-black eyes looked unbearably sad.