The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 310: Negotiations from the Outside

Chatterbox—if I remembered right, that was the transcendent who’d interfered with dungeons alongside Jellyfish, the King of Harmless. So that bastard’s become Jellyfish’s successor?

“A proposal? What kind of proposal? If they’re coming around now to talk about some peace treaty or whatever, I’d love to say screw off and save your breath—but also, tell them I accept.”

It’s not like I’d forgiven those Filial Duty Addict bastards. But the ones who’ll suffer when they get involved again are my kids. If they’re offering a ceasefire, then yeah, I’ll act all grateful and accept. What else can I do? I did already kill Diarma, at least.

“It’s… not like that, actually…”

The newbie said hesitantly.

“Chatterbox wants the person who killed the King of Harmless.”

“What?”

I was taken aback. Were they really that close? They didn’t seem so loyal back when Diarma died. Did the King of Harmless actually have more friends than I thought? Didn’t seem like the type.

“Just say you don’t know. I mean, it’s technically true. A supposedly all-powerful transcendent wouldn’t have been taken down by a measly stat-F, right? She just went missing.”

If they’re out for revenge, that’s gonna be a huge problem.

“…That Chatterbox guy, was he really close with Jellyfish?”

“The King of Harmless wasn’t more than a friend, but…”

So, a one-sided crush kind of situation, huh. Great.

“Whatever, I don’t know anything. That’s the story. Obviously, the Unfilial Children didn’t help this time either. She just vanished. I don’t know her. She disappeared, that’s all.”

If they find out I’m the one who killed her, will they stop at just taking me out? I’d be lucky if they did. Most likely, the people around me would be in danger too. That kind of threat is way too common. “I’ll destroy everything you care about,” kind of deal.

…Was it because this was a dream that my fear resistance wasn’t working? My whole body went cold. It was too easy to imagine who they’d target first—that only made it worse. I wanted to sit up, but I still had no strength.

“…Chatterbox doesn’t know the full details yet, right? Say yes. Please say yes.”

The newbie nervously rolled their bright red eyes around. Damn it. My chest felt tight, like I had indigestion. I couldn’t let it happen again. Even if I died, not again.

“They don’t, but… they do know the King of Harmless was after you, Honey. So now they’re after you.”

I stared up at the newbie blankly. Diarma and the King of Harmless—I’d just thought of them as dungeon bosses. Just kill them and be done with it. That’s how it went with Diarma. Got the reward, and everything. But the King of Harmless—Luga Pheya—was different.

Someone cared about her.

It was something I hadn’t considered. At all.

“They’re not gonna care if I say it was self-defense, are they.”

Even if it was unfair to me, what would that matter? I wouldn’t either. If Yuhyun had made a mistake and been killed for it, I’d still hate his killer. I’d want to take revenge, even if it didn’t make sense. That’s just how it is, before right or wrong.

And especially for them—for transcendents, humans must feel like insignificant pests. If a person got bitten by a rat and died from infection, would anyone blame the human? No, they’d kill the rat. Probably wipe out every rat in the area.

‘…Chatterbox can access the system, too, right?’

They’d already interfered with dungeons. Unlike other transcendents, having the power to “protect” the world didn’t mean they were safe to deal with. And unlike me, most of the people around me went into dungeons regularly.

My insides twisted. Dammit, how much does Chatterbox know about me? Should I send Yuhyun and Yerim away from the house? Pretend we’re not close? No—act like we’re on bad terms…

‘…This is just like…’

Suddenly, I remembered something from before the regression, and the strength drained from my body. Even if I said to Yuhyun or Yerim or anyone else, “Stay away from me, a transcendent’s targeting me,” they’d never listen. And I—I couldn’t bring myself to drive them away without a word.

My vision was blurry, and my eyes stung, but a laugh slipped out.

“Chatterbox or whoever—just try to lay a hand on my kids.”

“…Honey.”

“They’re the ones who started this. Who the hell picks on someone who’s just trying to survive? You think I can’t do it a third time after doing it twice already?”

Back when I first regressed, I thought everything would be okay. I’ve been through a lot since then, but right now—this feels worse than anything else.

Diarma and Luga Pheya were both transcendents way beyond what I could handle. But at least they had separate goals. If we crossed paths, we could talk. There was room to argue for letting me and the others live. There was time to make a move.

But Chatterbox… was just driven by vengeance. Nothing else. No negotiation, no delay. Just kill me and be done with it—if I was lucky. Enemies who only want to hurt or destroy, without any other motive, those are the worst kind.

“We’re not just going to sit back and do nothing either!”

The newbie crouched in front of me and said.

“…You’ll help?”

“I want to, but…”

“What was the proposal?”

The newbie glanced up at me, gauging my reaction, and finally opened their mouth.

“If we hand over Honey’s world, they said they’d help us and not interfere for the next hundred years. Chatterbox doesn’t like taking the lead, but since he can manage the system, once he gets involved, he’s a real pain to deal with.”

“Yeah, I’m sure he’d be such a help.”

“R-right… It’s like, sacrificing one world to save many others…”

“Hand it over, huh?”

At my words, the newbie quickly shook their head. Their fluffy ears flopped like little propellers.

“No! Not yet, anyway! I said we shouldn’t do that, and so did Droplet and Senior Tree!”

“The Mermaid Queen woke up?”

“Yes! Oh, and Crescent Moon too!”

My chest gave a sharp thump at the mention of Crescent Moon. Seong Hyunjae, probably still asleep right now, came to mind immediately.

“Crescent Moon woke up too?”

“I just heard from her a little while ago! She can’t move yet, but even Crescent Moon said she’s against handing Honey’s world over to Chatterbox.”

The newbie spoke cheerfully, but I wasn’t feeling the same. Of course she wouldn’t want to hand it over—Seong Hyunjae was here. If Chatterbox or the Filial Duty Addicts learned about him, they’d almost certainly try to erase him.

‘Not all of the Unfilial Children are going to welcome that, though.’

There were probably those even among them who feared the power to destroy the Source. Especially if that power belonged to a single transcendent—Crescent Moon. Some would feel threatened, maybe even terrified.

Everything just kept piling up.

“You said you wanted to meet Crescent Moon, right, Honey? Should I pass along a message?”

“No, not now. More importantly—you guys refused to hand over our world, right?”

“Yes. But everyone’s still thinking about negotiating… And other Filial Duty Addicts besides Chatterbox are also showing interest.”

“I already knew that, but hearing it still pisses me off. Who do they think they are?”

Sure, I appreciate the whole “helping a world on the brink of destruction” thing. But that doesn’t mean they get to treat us like poker chips. What—they’ll just make decisions without our input and expect us to nod along? And no one here even knows what’s happening, except me. Not one person in our world has been asked what they think.

“So the mighty transcendents just assume that when they make decisions, us pathetic humans should just obey, huh.”

“Um, Honey, that’s…”

“Most of the new ones these days started off on top anyway.”

Young Chaos spoke. Despite the childish face, the words sounded awfully elderly.

“In the past, there were a lot of transcendents who weren’t born as original root beings.”

Just how far back was that?

“I thought all transcendents were born S-rank or something.”

“Of course not. If anything, original roots often hit their limits early. They don’t have to struggle, so they don’t bother trying.”

So basically, if you’re born with everything, you don’t push yourself and just plateau. Makes sense—if you get everything easily, why work harder?

“Most transcendents these days are the cultivated kind. And that’s something only original roots can do. Those guys inherently believe they’re different from other humans—even from their own kind.”

Young Chaos continued, as if it was only natural that they’d look down on regular people.

“Even those who didn’t start out that way often change after being transcendents for long enough.”

Guess it’s the whole “frog forgetting it was once a tadpole” thing.

“But you seem a little better, Newbie.”

“M-me…?”

Flustered by my stare, the newbie fiddled with their ears. Well, S-ranks are people too, I guess. They’re bound to have all kinds of personalities. And this one just happened to be on the gentler side.

“So Chatterbox isn’t going to attack right away, right? Right?”

“Right. He can’t even access Honey’s world yet. So the negotiations will take time.”

Whatever else, it was painfully obvious that I—we—were powerless here. I had no choice but to hope the Unfilial Children would hold the line. Or maybe someone like Diarma would lend a hand. Making another monster like Changeling… That was almost impossible. The materials alone—like a transcendent’s magic stone and a fragment of Seong Hyunjae—were one in a million.

“We’re not sure what the solution will look like, but eventually, we’ll have to reach some kind of compromise with Chatterbox. If we just reject everything outright, he’ll find some way to harm your world.”

“Yeah… I get that.”

“We’ll try to make it as favorable for Honey’s world as possible. I’ll do my best! Even though I’m a newbie, I can work the system, so I’ve got real say in the matter!”

“Thanks. I’m counting on you.”

The newbie gave a bright smile and bounced to their feet. Their clothes fluttered like flower petals. I’d given them a hard time so many times before, and yet they still treated me kindly. Out of all the Unfilial Children, this one really was the nicest and best. Even if Yuhyun and Chirp still treated them like some kind of sketchy dev, from the system’s perspective, the newbie probably saw things differently. And now, I was starting to see the newbie in a new light too.

“Hey, by the way. What’s your name?”

“…Huh? My name?”

“You’ve got one, don’t you? Or are you not allowed to tell me yet?”

“Uh, yeah, my name… I can’t tell you!”

The newbie panicked and shook their head, then quickly changed the subject.

“It’ll take a little while before the system’s fully connected. Especially in Honey’s country. But until then, it’ll be safe, so please rest up!”

“Yeah, I will. How’ll I know when the system connects?”

“Try using the Promising Talent skill. That one requires manual input, so you won’t be able to use it properly until the system connects. If the target hasn’t been previously registered, the status window won’t show up.”

I had been thinking about looking for another suitable Awakener since things seemed calm for a while, but that’s a shame. Even if the status window doesn’t appear, the skill itself still exists, so I should at least get a feel for it.

“By the way, Elder, why are you here with the newbie? I didn’t think I’d see you again so soon. Thank you again for the sword, by the way. My brother really loved it.”

I bowed politely. Maybe he’d come to give me something else. Chaos loosened the arms he had casually crossed.

“Because it bothered me, seeing a half-dead kid still scrambling around.”

“…Sorry?”

“Just look at you.”

I mean, on the outside I looked fine.

“You said you’d live at least another twenty years.”

“At the rate I’m going, maybe I’ll be half-buried by next year.”

“It’s already September. That’s harsh.”

The look he gave me was like he was watching a scruffy stray pup wandering a roadside.

“Whatever you did, your mana flow’s a mess. Look at this.”

Young Chaos, standing behind me, smacked me lightly on the back of the neck with his palm. Even though it was a dream, it stung.

“Hey, even if you say look…”

“Just move your mana the way I show you.”

“But you said this dream can’t affect me.”

“Which is why I’m only teaching you. Even if it’s a dream, if you move it yourself, your real mana flow will follow. So shut up and concentrate.”

A warm sensation spread from where his hand touched the back of my neck. It moved slowly, tracing a path up my back to make it easier for me to follow. I tried guiding my own mana along the same flow. It wasn’t easy, but I managed to follow it fairly well.

“This breathing method will help settle your scattered mana. It won’t stop the side effects entirely, but…”

Sure enough, I felt a bit of strength return to my sluggish body.

“Thank you. Do I owe you points this time?”

“That was inside the system last time, and I directly intervened. And…”

Young Chaos scanned me up and down. He made a face full of dissatisfaction and clicked his tongue. Just like before, and again now—he keeps looking at me like I’m some guy who’ll keel over if left alone.

“Once the system connects, come see me again.”

“Thank you very much for your concern, Elder.”

He must be planning to give me something else again. Felt like visiting an actual elder in the family right before the holidays. Not like real life, where they try to take what little you have instead.

“Oh, what about the point shop? When’s that going away?”

“The current point shop is something the system creator linked in, so I can’t touch it yet.”

“The system creator?”

“Yeah. They stopped by briefly… something happened!”

Seems like it’s a touchy subject. Anyway, as long as I can keep using the shop, I’m good.

“What about the remaining points?”

“Those can’t be reclaimed either. Same with the items Honey’s already holding.”

Oh, so the Lynx items stay with me too? When I asked, they said I could keep using them. But the loan and binding status would remain unchanged. The newbie waved a hand with a cheerful “See you next time,” and then my vision began to darken. Amid the hazy awareness, a familiar voice reached my ears.

“Hyung, are you really tired? I’ll take you to bed.”

Yuhyun had come. I slowly opened my eyes. But I still couldn’t see anything.