The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 359: Goblins (1)

‘An S‑Rank Hunter, huh.’

It was said that more than three S‑Rank or higher Hunters were stationed here. One was that damn Cho Hwawoon brat, and if the other was the coffin lady I briefly saw at the airport, then there had to be one more. That remaining one was probably this man in front of me.

Even squatting, he was absurdly massive—looked to be over two meters tall. He didn’t quite look fully East Asian either. His hair color leaned toward brown. Judging by appearances alone, he didn’t seem to have a bad personality.

I walked to the edge of the pool and reached out toward the man.

“What are you just staring at?”

“Hmm?”

“Mr. Cho wrecked my leg, so I can’t get up on my own. Haven’t you heard yet?”

It wasn’t truly impossible, but it’d be a bit tough. If it were Cho Hwawoon, he would’ve just stood there watching me struggle without letting the soldiers help, but what about this guy? As I stared at him, the man chuckled and pulled me out of the pool in one swift motion.

“Thanks.”

At least he was mild-mannered. It felt a bit cold stepping out of the lukewarm water. I looked up at the man who was much taller than me.

“Could I also trouble you for the crutches?”

Without a word, the man brought me the crutches. Thank you so much for treating me like a human being.

“I’ll be back tomorrow. Behave yourself.”

— Bbyuk!

After bidding farewell to the water dragon, I turned back to the man.

“Hello, I’m Han Yujin. Though I’m sure you already knew that.”

“Hwang Rim.”

There was curiosity in his gaze toward me. Not a hint of wariness, just the look one gives to a harmless and easily handled opponent. Naturally.

‘At least he can talk, unlike Cho Hwawoon.’

That brat acted like everything I said was just a barking dog in the background. Even when cussed at, he didn’t seem offended—he just punished. That alone made it clear he didn’t see me as human. Like, “Oh? A dog’s baring its teeth? Time for training.” That sort of thing.

Someone I couldn’t communicate with. I couldn’t even come close to matching him in strength, and if we couldn’t talk either, then there was barely anything I could do. That’s part of why I had acted out even more—just to get noticed.

And of course, because it pissed me off to bow my head.

“Are you an S‑Rank Hunter? I heard there are three of you here.”

“Yeah. I heard you were bullying the kids?”

What kind of nonsense is that?

“Isn’t it the opposite? Just look at the state I’m in.”

“You look like a half‑drowned pheasant chick.”

A pheasant, seriously? Hwang Rim lifted my wet hem and clicked his tongue.

“Did you tumble down the stairs or something? Want a potion?”

“I’ve got a body that shouldn’t be treated with potions or healing skills. So tell Mr. Cho to go easy on me, will you?”

“He doesn’t listen to me either.”

“What’s with his attitude?”

“Only child from a prestigious family.”

A little prince, huh. Or should I say little emperor? Seems like only someone born into a filthy rich household with a nasty personality could turn out like that.

“If I stay like this, I’m going to catch a cold. Mind if I go change clothes first?”

I frowned at the soldiers standing dumbly nearby while hobbling on my crutches.

“Aren’t you guys here to manage me? If you’re taming a water dragon, you should at least expect a splash or two. Why are you all empty‑handed? You’re totally a Tang dynasty army—oh wait, we’re in China, so I guess that fits. If I get sick and it messes with training, it’s on you. Got that?”

The word “responsibility” made the soldiers flustered. They hurried off, saying they’d bring a towel and dry clothes.

“You are bullying them.”

Hwang Rim lightly tapped my shoulder. Well, it was light for him—nearly knocked me over. His hand was the size of a pot lid.

“They’re not doing their jobs properly.”

“What do you expect from soldiers? Most of them spit out exactly what you put in. That’s even considered ideal. The best kind of private is the one who just does exactly what they’re told.”

True enough. Especially in the military, a soldier who constantly acts on their own, no matter how capable, is a headache for any commander. Great for a movie protagonist, though.

“Someone slick‑tongued like you would either be cut loose or end up getting promoted if they joined the army.”

“But even the soldiers here are Awakened, aren’t they? They seemed to be intermediate level at least.”

“Exactly. Which is why discipline has to be even tighter. And the ones who make it out here—they’re basically treated like machine parts. No second thoughts, just loyalty to orders. Tell them to dig a pond today and fill it back in tomorrow, and they’ll do it without question.”

Sounds like a typical army. So anything below intermediate Hunters are all tightly controlled.

In the meantime, the soldiers returned with a towel and clothes. And that was it.

“…No one thought to bring a chair? You’re just watching me with crutches and all?”

Come on, it’s not easy to change pants standing up. Sure, I could just sit on the ground, but ugh. Hwang Rim pointed that out and even helped me change. How kind.

“I really shouldn’t get attached to you. I’m planning to escape, after all.”

“I’m curious to see how you’ll pull that off.”

Hwang Rim hoisted me over his shoulder like luggage. With his size, even his shoulders felt like an ocean. He took the stairs in two or three strides at a time.

“To be honest, I’m being treated too poorly not to run. Why are they like this? If I just stuck my neck out and said, ‘Kill me, I can’t raise a monster mount,’ what would they do? It’s not even something they can force me to do.”

“No one’s unbreakable. And there’s a more important goal here than just raising monster mounts.”

There’s another purpose?

“…What is it? Not gonna tell me?”

“Killing the Korean Hunters who come to rescue you.”

I was momentarily speechless. It hit harder because it came from someone who’d been acting so easygoing until now—like a blow to the back of the head.

“They’ll come for you eventually, right? Don’t you think?”

“No, I mean… it’s not certain. Are you really okay saying all this?”

“It’s not much of a secret. Even a kid could guess it. They come, there’s a fight, and then one of the two sides dies.”

Not wrong, but still.

“You’re pretty confident. I could be snuck out secretly, or your side could be wiped out.”

“Don’t worry. Your little brother will be kept alive as a hostage if possible. Looks like the plan is to bring all of Haeyeon’s monster mounts, have you raise them again to increase their power, clean up the Murim Alliance, and then take over Korea after its S‑Rank Hunters are reduced.”

So basically, having a valuable hostage meant they didn’t care whether I resisted or complained. Yuhyun would, for sure, make a good hostage. If they could catch him. He was an S‑Rank Hunter—hard to kill… Damn it.

I forced myself to calm the churning in my gut. There’s no way someone capable of capturing my brother exists in China. So it was just a delusional plan.

“I heard Haeyeon’s guild leader will definitely come, and that Sesung is likely to show up too. What do you think? Apparently, they’re thinking of trying to win over the kid from Haeyeon who uses water, since she’s still young. Think she’ll come along? I’d rather not fight a kid.”

“…I don’t know. Seriously, what’s with the confidence? Just having numbers doesn’t make you stronger.”

“It does.”

…Yeah, that’s true. But still, I couldn’t see Yuhyun or Seong Hyunjae losing. And this was a lake, after all. Yerim could probably take on two or three S‑Ranks by herself here.

…Maybe they had something besides sheer numbers. Maybe not—but if they did, that’d be bad. Then again, pre‑regression China collapsed from internal strife. It wasn’t much. But… it could have changed.

‘Wasn’t that dungeon Noah and Liette went into also Chinese?’

Maybe they got a special item or title from a special dungeon that shouldn’t have shown up until far into the future. Or maybe a newbie botched management again. Even so, Yuhyun’s gotten much stronger than he was in the original timeline. New skills, different weapon grades too.

“Hey, since you’re being generous and all, why don’t you go ahead and tell me exactly how you plan to capture someone’s precious little brother.”

“Nope. I know what’s okay to say and what’s not.”

“It’s not like I could do anything with the info anyway.”

“You made a phone call too.”

“I won’t anymore. You won’t let me if I don’t get permission, right?”

“Maybe.”

I didn’t think so, but Hwang Rim just laughed and leapt up the final flight of stairs in one bound. Then he set me down and said:

“From now on, I’ll give the order for them not to respond to anything you say.”

Gasp.

“Hey, you saw it yourself—unless I ask, they don’t do anything properly.”

“Here.”

Hwang Rim handed me a communicator.

“Use this to tell me exactly what you need. I’ll relay it to the soldiers.”

Damn it, now he’s shutting my mouth too. Looks like a bear, but sly as a fox. My usual trick of ‘If you ignore me and something happens, your superiors will hold you responsible~’ won’t work anymore. Of course, they still have ears, so it might shake them a little, but it won’t be easy.

If Hwang Rim was right, the soldiers here wouldn’t take bribes like the ones on the plane either. What a pain.

“You’re more annoying than I expected.”

I grumbled as I snatched the communicator, and Hwang Rim smiled in a way that almost seemed friendly.

“And don’t piss off Un too much. You want to stay in one piece while you still can.”

“…Does this look like one piece to you?”

“You’ve still got all your limbs, haven’t you?”

This place is seriously brutal. I let out a deep sigh and looked up at Hwang Rim.

“Most S‑Rank Hunters don’t like being in the military. Don’t you have any complaints? Never thought about starting your own guild? Or did they maybe take your family hostage or something?”

Cho Hwawoon, sure, maybe he planted himself in the military from the start. But this guy didn’t look like a soldier. Not even wearing a uniform.

“I was in the army even before I awakened.”

“…Seriously?”

“Second son of a rich family. Tying myself to the military made things easier. It was a smart move, and I’ve lived too comfortably to complain. I’m a body that’s had a lot of money poured into it since birth.”

“Ah, okay.”

So appearances really aren’t everything. Hwang Rim swaggered off, saying we’d see each other again soon. Still, unlike Cho Hwawoon, he might be someone I could apply keywords to. If he’s lived a good life, then he probably doesn’t harbor much resentment toward his caregivers.

Cho Hwawoon, though… he’d probably be ruthless even to his own parents. Just has that vibe.

“If you’re gonna keep making me work, at least feed me. I’m starving.”

At my words, a soldier silently took the lead. The place I was guided to turned out to be a dining hall. Not the regular one for soldiers—this was the officers’ mess. And sitting there was that bastard.

“Sit.”

“Feels like I’ll just get indigestion if I eat─”

“You prefer the floor?”

Fine. Food didn’t do anything wrong. I did as I was told and took a seat. The food soon arrived. It looked like an egg on the outside, and I wasn’t sure what was inside, but that was all that was on the plate. Taste-wise—it was decent. Then came abalone, sea cucumber, a huge steamed fish, and some soup.

Most of it had unfamiliar and intense flavors, but it was edible. Honestly, it was pretty good.

“I did eat well, but it’s a bit suspicious now that you’re suddenly being nice.”

Whatever change of heart he might have had, Cho Hwawoon’s gaze toward me hadn’t changed one bit. It wasn’t even the way someone looks at a subordinate—more like watching a wild animal that had just been captured and needed to be tamed. Should’ve flipped the table.

“Humans adapt quickly.”

Cho Hwawoon said, setting down his long chopsticks.

“They adapt surprisingly fast to pain too.”

“…So basically, being physically comfortable just makes the mental torment worse, or something… Ugh, son of a bitch.”

Even as the curse slipped out naturally, the bastard remained expressionless. Instead, one of the soldiers standing by stepped forward—

Smack─!

—and slapped me across the face. That pissed me off a little. Even before the regression, people didn’t usually hit the face unless they wanted to make a statement.

“Thank you for the meal. May I leave now?”

Cho Hwawoon gave a small nod in approval. This really wasn’t a place to stay long. Hwang Rim’s words were still on my mind. I returned to the room I’d been assigned and took off my top.

“I only changed clothes after getting out of the pool, so I need to shower—could you get things ready?”

I spoke, but the guards didn’t so much as twitch a brow. Guess Hwang Rim’s order had already gone through. With an exaggerated sigh, I used the communicator he gave me to request a towel and pajamas.

“No plans to help me wash, huh? Yeah, yeah.”

Heading into the bathroom, I stopped halfway through closing the door and poked my head out to look at the guards.

“Should I close the door all the way? Or leave it open this much?”

“…”

“Oh, come on. You’ve gotta at least answer that.”

And of course, they had to ask higher‑ups just to say, “Leave it open.” The door was left slightly ajar, but it wasn’t at an angle that showed the shower booth. Didn’t seem like they intended to come in, either. I turned on the water, letting the sound of the shower fill the room, and glanced around carefully.

‘They should’ve followed me.’

I tore off some toilet paper, pulled out a pen, and wrote:

[Goblin?]

I waved the toilet paper around for a bit, and soon, faint translucent shapes appeared in the corner of the shower booth. They whispered softly.

“Hello, Mister Kim!”

“We didn’t tell anyone we saw you.”

“Can we trust you?”

“Can we?”

The goblins spoke cautiously. I lowered my voice to the point it would be drowned out by the water.

“Do you know Yun Yun? The Goblin King.”

The goblins jumped and made gestures like covering their mouths.

“Can’t.”

“Can’t talk.”

“Not allowed.”

So they do know. But why can’t they say anything? Did something happen to Yun Yun?

“I’m Yun Yun’s friend.”

“Really?”

“The humans here lie a lot.”

“Mister Kim lied too.”

“I didn’t.”

At least not to them. Though I did slightly deceive Yun Yun… hmm. More importantly, it looked like the goblins had gone through something bad in China. I put on a mischievous expression and whispered to them:

“Hey, want to do something fun?”

“Something fun?”

“What is it?”

“What is it?”

“Nothing big.”

I pulled out a bomb from my inventory and gave it a little shake.

“A prank to blow up this whole island~”