The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 277: When You Accept It (1)

“…Outside, it’s okay, right? If too much time has passed, everyone’s going to be worried.”

The jellyfish bastard said it had forced its way in, creating a breach. It didn’t directly go outside, but rather invaded through the dungeon—still, you never know. At my quiet question, the Changeling nodded and landed in front of me.

— This place is a kind of rift, so time barely passed. There was a little impact on Daddy’s world, but it’s okay.

“A little?”

— The place where Daddy lives is fine.

“…Then what about other places?”

The dragon with silver scales tinged pink sat like a person, daintily placing both front paws in front of its chest. Its big, slowly blinking eyes seemed to be acting cute.

— It’s hard to perfectly cover the entire world, so I made the country where Daddy lives thicker. The rest is a little thinner.

“Even if it’s thinner… is that okay?”

— There’s still some of the original protective power left. If that disappears completely, maybe the dungeon difficulty in other countries will rise faster?

Faster, huh. They already said it would speed up because of the regression.

“When will the original power disappear?”

— I don’t know that either. It could vanish in a few days, or it could last a few years. The breach is still open, so you have to be careful, Daddy. If you stay in your country, you’ll be safe. I made it sturdy there.

The Changeling wagged its tail, asking me to trust it. Well, even if other countries fall, ours won’t stay safe forever. It’s not like we’re some remote island—monsters can easily cross over. Even if it was an island, flying monsters would still reach us.

Still, if not for this kid, everything might’ve already collapsed.

“You did good.”

When I patted its head, it folded its ears back in satisfaction. The soft purring sounded just like a kitten.

I stared blankly at the Changeling. I felt empty inside. Even though the Changeling’s power was still in effect, I felt like I had regressed past F-rank, like all my strength was drained. I tried not to think too deeply about it. It was over now. This matter was finished. Everyone made it through, no major problems occurred.

“Now… I should go back.”

— The shield hasn’t fully settled yet. Just stay a little longer.

“Yeah. Once the shield settles, you won’t be able to use that power anymore, right?”

I wasn’t really expecting anything. It was a power that even the King of Harmless had been shocked by. If it wasn’t a one-time thing, it would’ve been completely broken. Like a single-use wish stone, maybe. As expected, the Changeling nodded.

— I’ll only be able to use my original ability.

“Original ability?”

— The ability to make illusions real. Like what I’m using on Daddy now. But I can’t do it as perfectly as this.

Even if not perfect, it would still be incredibly useful to me.

“How much can you do?”

— About enough to use one person’s ability for a short time? The strongest person—Uncle’s—is too hard. Daddy wouldn’t be able to handle it. The guards’ abilities are doable, but even then, it would put a lot of strain on Daddy. Same goes for the other S-rank Hunters around you.

Hearing that brought back the things Ru Ga Pheya had said. That I wouldn’t live long because my stats couldn’t handle the skills.

It wasn’t all that surprising. I’d heard similar things before regression. Like those Hunters who overused combat-type skills and died from exhaustion. High-rank Hunters had high base stats—in other words, their physical durability let them push through things now and then. But mid-rank and especially low-rank Hunters were said to be at real risk.

Still, I figured my skills were support-type and didn’t have direct physical impact, so I thought I’d be okay. Healing-types were said to stay healthy even when their skills were above their stats, so I figured support would be the same. But apparently not. Fifty years… that’s way too short. I’m supposed to outlive Yuhyun. I don’t know if that meant fifty years from now or fifty years since I got the L-rank titles. If it’s fifty years from now, that’d be seventy-five—doesn’t sound that short.

At least Myungwoo’s stats are increasing. Maybe it was some kind of consideration from Sharlos, hoping his successor wouldn’t die young. A good person.

“Don’t go blabbing out there. Just keep what you saw and heard here to yourself.”

— I’ll have to sleep for a while, so I won’t be able to talk. But Daddy.

“If I just play it safe and the world ends, I won’t even last five years. If I succeed in saving it, maybe I’ll get an item that extends my life or something. Or maybe I’ll find another way. If they’re reviving the dead, extending a lifespan shouldn’t be that big of a deal.”

I’m not planning to die early. At the same time, I didn’t want to just be protected by people worrying over me. Once they find out, there’ll be more than a few who’ll try to keep me from doing anything.

— Don’t overdo it.

“Of course I won’t overdo it. When I get back, I’ll eat stuff that’s good for me. Exercise, too.”

Even if someone made a stamina potion, I should probably avoid working through the night. And, hmm.

‘Sweet-talk the new recruit.’

Since our world almost got wiped out, I should use that for both threats and persuasion. The new recruit was trying to help us, so I do feel a little bad… but it’s not like I can afford to be picky. If the Transcendents start getting suspicious because of this incident—if Crescent Moon wakes up—we won’t be able to handle it.

Honestly, I don’t care what happens in other worlds. Let the Unfilial Children scheme all they want—just save our world and be done with it. Don’t even think about using my kids or me to save anyone else’s. Rotten bastards.

‘What if we’ve already fulfilled the conditions to save our world without knowing it?’

Before the regression, Yuhyun was stronger than the SS-rank guards. And the current Yuhyun had the potential to grow even faster than that. Because I had my skill. Same for the others, too.

I don’t know exactly how difficult the dungeons will become, but in about two years or so, we should be able to handle SS-rank monsters—maybe even SSS-rank. L-rank though? That would be pushing it. Even in the world where the guards were annihilated, L-ranks never appeared.

If it was just the lack of information on L-rank monsters that prevented them from spawning, then that means up to the end, only SSS-ranks showed up. If that’s the case, then we can stop them with our own strength, without the help of the Unfilial Children. As long as we have enough time.

‘The Unfilial bastards don’t even tell us what level of preparation we need to actually protect our world.’

That’s the kind of thing they could tell us, right? Why keep it hidden? Is their true goal to use us to save other worlds too? If they admitted we’d done enough to save our own, maybe we’d stop pushing ourselves for their sake.

The fact that the so-called Filial Duty Addicts give more information than those jerks who claim to be on our side—how does that make sense? “Just gather 50 S-ranks and we’ll take care of the rest!” Sure. Like we’d trust that. You want to be trusted? Act trustworthy.

But I don’t have the power to go after them and beat the answers out of them… So, like Ru Ga Pheya said, the only option might really be to go after Rookie. Maybe I should bring a gift. Wonder what they like.

As I racked my brain about the frustrating future, I actually felt calmer. Nothing beats staying busy to keep your mind off things. So—

— Chirp!

“…Huh?”

That… was nonsense. There’s no way Chirp would be here—

— Chirp chirp!

“Chirp?!”

It really was Chirp. The white, round baby bird had suddenly appeared and was trying its hardest to swallow the magic stone. Ack!

“Chirp! No!”

That was Ru Ga Pheya’s magic stone. The stone that had been lying on the ground—Chirp was shoving it into his beak with all his might. He even used his wings, and only the very tip of it was still sticking out. I shot up and snatched him up in a panic.

— Chirrp.

“Chiiirp!”

Too late. What are you gonna do if something goes wrong?! Normally, even an A-rank stone would be too big for Chirp to swallow whole, but because Ru Ga Pheya’s was unusually small, he managed to eat it all by himself. I flipped Chirp upside down and gently shook him, but he just flapped his wings and showed no sign of spitting it out.

— Chirrp chirrp!

“You’re not hurt or anything, right? How did you even get here?! I told you to wait quietly!”

— It’s really hard to come here.

Changeling, now perched on my shoulder, spoke.

— Spatial teleportation skill is really, um—Daddy!

Changeling suddenly gasped in shock, and I felt it too. My vision dimmed for a moment, and a crushing pressure slammed down on my entire body. It was like being squeezed from all sides by the pressure of the deep sea.

— Chirp.

Light returned to my vision. A white snowflake brushed past the tip of my nose.

— Daddy, look!

It was snowing. Constantly. Chirp was floating gently through it. I had seen this place before.

A white bird flying through white snow. And beyond that, a colossal tree. A white tree with countless branches.

Even before I could fully understand what was happening, my heart clenched tight. This was—could it be…

— With your current stats, you can survive here, but still, to bring you to this place…

I don’t have much time left to maintain the illusion. We need to return before that.

The moment I heard Changeling’s voice, I started walking. Chirp flew ahead of me. Snow piled up around my feet. I had only taken a few steps, yet my breath was already catching in my throat.

And then I saw it.

“…”

My mouth opened. I tried to form my brother’s name, but no sound came out.

There he lay, quietly. As if sleeping. His face slightly pale.

I—

“…Ugh.”

Honestly, I didn’t fully feel it yet. Maybe it was the effect of Fear Resistance. Dulling the sense of reality. Even when I had held my breathless brother in my arms—it had been only for a moment. And then I had been met again by my very much alive brother.

“…Huh… uhh…”

Yuhyun had laughed, cried, gotten angry—stood right next to me the whole time. His warmth in my hand. His gaze, his voice, his breathing—I had felt them all vividly.

He’s right there, alive, in front of me. So wasn’t it all just my imagination? Wasn’t I the one who was wrong? Maybe it was all a dream, a delusion—I’d gone crazy, and nothing had really happened to us.

“…Ah…”

Every route of escape crumbled. The reality before my eyes stabbed into my chest. The time I’d spent functioning like nothing had happened surged into every corner of my body.

I sank to my knees in the snow. Reached out my hand. The tips of my fingers felt like they’d freeze.

So cold—yet he didn’t feel like a corpse. His cheek was soft, unblemished, so perfect, so clean.

My heart shattered.

“…He really…”

He’s dead. He really died.

…I don’t remember what I said at the end. I hope I didn’t blame you. I hope I didn’t say anything harsh. If only I could’ve said the very best thing to you in the end.

But back then, I—I to you. You smiled at me one last time, and I…

“I should’ve told you it was going to be okay…”

That I’d be fine because you saved me, thank you. I’m sorry. I love you.

That I love you, over and over again.

— Daddy. You have to go back before you return to F-rank.

Changeling said I couldn’t endure it in this body. I hugged my brother’s body close.

“How… how can I leave Yuhyun behind…”

— You can’t take him with you. He’s just a body—he’ll never survive. Or, Daddy, maybe… just stay here now—

“No.”

I could have ended it here. I could’ve used Yuhyun’s skill to send him off. But my brother…

“I have to… bring him home.”

I thought of Yuhyun, happy to be back at home. How much he must have wanted to come back. All those long years. Spending them alone, in a place he never even thought of as his own. All the way to the end.

So we have to go home. Even if it’s only now. Even if Yuhyun can’t feel anything, or know anything… If I can’t even do that for him, then I…

“Let’s go home, Yuhyun. I’ll get you there somehow.”

If I just wait a little longer, then—

— Chirp.

— Daddy.

“Just a little longer, just a bit more…”

There has to be a way to bring you back safely. So no matter what it takes, I’ll bring you home.

Chirp climbed onto my head. Changeling tapped my shoulder with its paw. So I wouldn’t get hurt from the teleportation. So I let go. I stood up, repeating to myself again and again that this would be the last time I let my brother go.

“I’ll come back.”

Next time, we’ll go together. No matter what.

My vision blurred. My brother’s figure vanished.

White snow fluttered down. The snowy field, now void of its sudden visitors, was quiet once more. The sky above, covered in sprawling branches, was barren, not a single leaf in sight. The white wings that once drifted through the sky had long since disappeared.

Only the occasional breeze stirred, dancing with the falling snowflakes. And in the midst of that wind, a small orb caught in the current. Half-buried in the snow, it rolled away with a soft gust. It tumbled here and there before—tap—touching the tip of a hand.

The small, glimmering orb shimmered once… then quietly vanished.