The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 353: Chao Lake Special District (2)

The man who opened the door slammed the emergency button on the wall and instantly grabbed me by the collar.

“How did you do it!”

“What do you mean how? Me? With what?”

I gave him a look like, what’s your problem, and kept talking.

“What could an F-rank stat even do. I don’t know how it happened either. I didn’t see it properly. If I had the ability to silently take down both of them at once, I wouldn’t have been dragged here in the first place.”

More people rushed in at the sound of the emergency alarm. I grumbled with even more injustice toward the ones checking on the fallen Hunters.

“I wish I were the one who knocked them out! Seriously! If I could’ve done that, I would’ve broken the arm of the guy grabbing my collar and busted a hole in the plane’s side to escape. You think I’d be dangling here like this? If you’ve got something other than chocolate-covered walnuts in your head, try using it.”

Real walnuts at least taste good. The guy holding my collar scowled but let me go, practically throwing me off. I pretended to sulk and sat in the corner of the bed, slightly pressing down the pillow with my body.

The two fainted Hunters were carried out, and new guards took their place. Even if the two regained consciousness, they wouldn’t be able to explain the situation easily. Admitting they accepted a bribe from me would be outing themselves. Since I didn’t even escape, it would be smarter for them to just keep quiet and hold onto the formula.

I didn’t know the exact time, but roughly two hours later, the plane began preparing to land. Since the phone hadn’t been caught, the tracking must still be ongoing. Feeling the shaking of the plane, I hugged the pillow to my chest as naturally as possible.

“…Excuse me, I guess you won’t answer if I ask where this is?”

I glanced at the guards, trying to pretend I wasn’t scared. In the silence, I held the pillow a bit tighter in my arms. It’d be nice if I could get all the way to the final destination like this.

With a jolt, the plane landed on the runway and came to a complete stop not long after. The Chinese Hunters lifted me up and escorted me out. Thankfully, they didn’t take the pillow away.

“Hyung!”

Park Hayul greeted me with his shiny-faced enthusiasm.

“What’s with the pillow?”

“A new friend I made.”

“Huh?”

“Just like those guys, it doesn’t talk. But at least this one’s soft and comfy. That makes it a much better friend.”

Harmless and gentle. The more I look at it, the more I like it. As I was stepping off the plane under guard both front and back—

Boom!

With a loud explosion, a corner of the airport building was blown apart. At the same moment, soldiers in uniform rushed toward the building. Their movements were practiced, as if used to this kind of assault.

Pushing through the cloud of dust, someone burst out.

“…What the hell is that.”

A white robe and long black hair fluttered in the air. A man in white leaped high into the air and unsheathed a sword with a dramatic motion. The blade buzzed as he swung it toward the soldiers. The soldiers moved in perfect formation and formed a line. I could see the ones in front activating defense skills.

Thud! The sword slammed down on the layered shields, and another massive blast rang out. I didn’t really know what was going on.

“…What’s with that outfit.”

The white clothes, you know, like the kind in martial arts movies or dramas. Looked like he was about to proudly declare his sect and name…

“I am Samokwol, leader of the Murim Alliance’s Special Division!”

…The man in white, presumably an S-rank Hunter, shouted loudly. At me. Almost as bad as Shishio. I’m embarrassed just looking. Please don’t. Go away. I don’t want to get involved.

That guy, Samokwol, lightly stepped on the tip of a spear aimed at him and soared back into the air. The attacking skills chasing after him were blocked by his blade and exploded like fireworks.

“Are you the noble young master, beast handler Han Yujin, brother of the Ice Dragon of Haedong!”

Never heard of such a person. What the hell is an Ice Dragon of Haedong. Did this guy come from the medieval times? I’m from the future.

“…Hayul, what the hell is that?”

“He’s a martial artist rebelling against the military.”

Park Hayul answered calmly. What are you saying. Isn’t this the 21st century?

“…Why would a martial artist pop up here?”

“They call their civilian Awakener organization the Murim Alliance. But in China, all Awakeners are required to be under state control, so they’re fighting.”

I see… But why… why…

“Why go that far…?”

“For image management.”

Park Hayul explained.

“They say that calling themselves martial artists instead of a modern armed group makes them feel less threatening to the public. Like, ‘it’s fine for martial artists to fight with the authorities,’ or something like that. It feels more familiar too.”

Hearing it like that, it did seem plausible. It’s much easier and faster to use an existing concept to create a positive image than to build one from scratch. And if you’re an Awakener with strong physical abilities, it makes sense people would think of martial arts movie masters.

In the US, they did image-making for high-rank Awakeners using superheroes. It seemed to be a similar approach.

“Master Haaaaaan!”

A booming shout echoed across the airport. I admit it’s an effective tactic, but I still don’t want to get involved. And I really didn’t want to get tangled up in internal Chinese conflicts here. I was about to tell Park Hayul we should get out of here when Samokwol’s whole body was enveloped in a black glow. Then—

Thud! Thud! Thud!

“Urgh!”

“Block it!”

Samokwol began charging straight toward me with loud footsteps. The soldiers tried to stop him, but they were sent flying like mice hit by a rhinoceros. Neither weapons nor any attack skills could leave a scratch on Samokwol’s body. It seemed to be a powerful defensive skill.

He broke through the military blockade and rapidly closed the distance to me. Surely I’m not going to get kidnapped again here, am I? Just as I started to tense up, someone stepped in front of Samokwol. A booted foot slammed into the ground, and the body twisted with force as one leg swung outward. The kick, packed with full-body strength, flew toward the charging Samokwol.

Boom!

Samokwol’s palm collided with the military boot. The air vibrated fiercely, and cracks spread across the ground. Samokwol grinned at the person who blocked him.

“It’s been a while, Miss Gwan.”

“A piglet with its tail on fire.”

With a cold voice, a newly arrived S-rank Hunter launched a kick mid-air while one leg was still held. Another explosive sound rang out as the two exchanged intense blows. With F-rank stats, I couldn’t even follow their movements with my eyes.

“So it caught your scent already.”

Suddenly, a strange voice came from beside me. I flinched and turned my head to see a man with a sharp impression standing there. His eyes moved down to look at me. Though his smile was handsome, his expression was utterly cold.

One glance was enough to tell. He was that kind. The elite S-rank who doesn’t even consider mid-level Awakeners as human.

“Oh, General Cho Hwawoon.”

Park Hayul greeted him as if he recognized him. I didn’t know what the rank “General” meant, but it must be high. I could see the Chinese Hunters around me stiffen up. Even Park Hayul looked unusually tense. Must be someone dangerous to mess with. I looked up slightly and greeted Cho Hwawoon. (TL Note: It’s Chinese (上將님), which means General)

“Hello.”

Still, if he’s an S-rank Hunter, he’d probably want to get a Monster Mount from me, so he wouldn’t treat me too roughly. Meanwhile, one of the planes exploded. Debris flew all the way here, and a large piece burst right in front of me with a loud bang. Did the S-rank standing next to me block that? I didn’t even see him move.

“Is it just Samokwol? What about the others?”

“No sign of any other members from the special division.”

“They might be hiding near the roads. Search the area.”

Cho Hwawoon issued orders. That made three S-rank Hunters here. Judging by the condition of the airport, it didn’t seem like a big city.

How many S-rank Hunters are in China right now? Officially, nine. But in reality, it had to be way more. Just by population, it was more than ten times larger than Korea. Even accounting for Korea’s high S-rank ratio, China must have at least twenty or thirty.

‘…This is a bit concerning.’

I said it’s fine as long as we’re not fighting Transcendents, but there’s a saying that numbers always win. I wanted to tell the others to be careful.

I couldn’t predict the outcome of the battle with my current abilities, but Samokwol wasn’t getting any closer to me. In fact, he seemed to be slowly retreating. It looked like he was wary of Cho Hwawoon joining the fight. As Cho watched the fight, he began walking forward. Park Hayul and I followed behind him.

“So where are we going now?”

“There’s a big lake called Chao Lake.”

Park Hayul answered.

“It’s called the Chao Lake Special District. Civilians are not allowed to enter.”

There was a car waiting ahead. I glanced back at the airport. One plane was destroyed, then another—two total—but the airport facilities didn’t seem too damaged. Just some cracks on the ground.

China didn’t have Monster Mounts yet, and even if they did, planes were faster in most cases. So…

I quietly pressed the detonation button.

Boom-boom-boom-BOOM!!

“Hyung, what the hell!”

“What the!”

With a terrifying explosion, the plane I had arrived on and its surroundings were completely blown away. I’d slipped a bomb under the bed just before getting off. Shards of debris shot high into the sky and rained down like a meteor shower. The runway and even the airport building were showered with wreckage and left in tatters. Glass windows shattered with crashing sounds one after another.

“T-that’s where we were!”

Park Hayul shouted in shock. I nodded with a stunned expression as if I were just as surprised.

“Scary… really…”

Wow, got chills. This place is brutal. Even Cho Hwawoon’s expression hardened. At this rate, this airport wouldn’t be usable for a while.

“Investigate everyone who was at that spot and anyone who approached the plane.”

That includes you, though. Cho Hwawoon got into the front vehicle, and I was put into the back one with dark-tinted windows. This time, Park Hayul rode with me. Soon the car departed.

“Looks like there’s a lot of conflict between civilian Hunters and the military.”

“If you’re not government-affiliated, you can’t raid dungeons. China is so vast that unregistered dungeons are everywhere, but if you get caught, that’s the end. Even during a dungeon break, unregistered Hunters aren’t allowed to act.”

That’s harsh. At least let them act during a dungeon break. I didn’t know much about China even before regression since not much was revealed. I’d never heard the name Gamokwul among Chinese Hunters either. …Did they die? I didn’t remember Cho Hwawoon either.

‘Did conflicts between Hunters intensify so much that even several S-ranks were killed?’

This is not the time to be fighting each other.

“By the way, do you know how many S-rank Hunters are in China?”

“I’m not exactly sure either. The ones in the military are top secret, but there’s definitely more than ten. I heard the Murim Alliance has at least five. Apparently the underworld groups has a couple too, and there are probably some unaffiliated ones.”

There’s a lot anyway, Park Hayul said.

“Even if there are many, dungeon management is properly…”

He trailed off as the Hunter sitting across from him shot him a glare. It was only natural things weren’t running smoothly with opposing factions involved. And it wasn’t just China—it was a global problem. If the main forces were focused on dungeon raids, the base left behind could be vulnerable to attacks. Because of this fact, it required more than just enough people to clear dungeons.

In effect, it created surplus manpower. If everyone could agree not to hurt each other, and if the agreement went smoothly, then all the Hunters could enter dungeons at the same time without any being left over. Well, if that were possible, we wouldn’t need military forces either. It’s because there’s no trust in an agreement like “Let’s not invade each other” that countries pour so much into military spending.

After driving for quite a while, the car came to a stop. When we got out, the sky was already tinged with sunset. The vast lake before our eyes reflected a reddish hue. So this was Chao Lake. It was huge. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought it was the sea.

“There aren’t any boats here. There used to be, but they got rid of all of them.”

As we approached the fenced edge of the lakeside, Park Hayul said that. If he’s mentioning there aren’t boats, then there must be some kind of facility in the middle of the lake. I stared at the water, then tossed the pillow I’d been holding.

“Hyung?”

“Just annoyed.”

The pillow quickly absorbed water and began to sink slowly. If the phone signal gets cut here, they’ll assume we’ve reached our destination.

We boarded a prepared helicopter. Even from the air, the lake was massive. Before long, an island surrounded by tall barbed wire came into view. It looked like escaping alone would be difficult.

‘With my stats, swimming out of here is impossible.’

There were no boats, and I couldn’t pilot a helicopter. Even if I used a stealth skill, they’d do a thorough sweep before taking off. One small relief was that in an environment where outside intrusion and escape were so difficult, surveillance on me might become more relaxed.

Should I just gather information from the inside while waiting for outside help?

“I’m dead tired. Can I just sleep early today?”

As I got off the helicopter, I asked Park Hayul. He replied, “I’ll ask,” but before he could even finish, rough hands grabbed both my arms. Then came Cho Hwawoon’s order.

“Search him again and attach a tracker.”

My poor fate. Park Hayul yelled, “Please be gentle!” I was dragged off, stripped again, and had a tracker attached to my ankle. Should I say thank you for not implanting it inside my body?

After being transported across long distances nonstop and dragged around, I wasn’t just saying it—I was genuinely exhausted. I didn’t care about dinner or anything; I just wanted to rest now. But instead of being led to a bedroom, the dry, unadorned corridor took me to a small room that felt more like an interrogation room. A middle-aged man sat at the table.

“…That face looks familiar.”

The middle-aged man smiled as he looked at me.

“Long time no see, Director Han Yujin.”

The accent and lip movement were Korean. Was he Korean?