The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 390: Christmas Carol (4)

“No, you should say Deputy Guild Leader, Deputy Guild Leader.”

A nearby Hunter chimed in softly. At that, Park Yerim retorted grumpily.

“I haven’t accepted it yet.”

Deputy Guild Leader. Although she was an A-Rank Hunter, not an S-Rank, and was young, her skills seemed to be definitely recognized. Park Yerim looked at herself, who seemed to be three or four years older than her.

She was taller than she was now. She looked to be well over 170cm. With her hair just touching her shoulders, she definitely looked more mature. Perhaps because of her wary expression, her eyes looked a little fierce, unlike now.

Although traces of her younger self remained, she also felt very different.

At the blatant observation, the face of the Park Yerim in the dungeon grew even colder.

“If you’re from the Sichuan Tang Clan, are you a Hunter from China? State your purpose.”

At Park Yerim’s cold words, Park Yerim, now Tang Ye, tightened her grip on the bow.

‘Even if you say purpose…’

What should she do? It was Park Yerim. Her future self. No, since this was a dungeon, it was highly likely to be a monster. A Christmas Carol dungeon influenced by the memories of the raiders.

‘So, is this a point in time before Mister regressed? The future me, who couldn’t meet Mister…?’

When she heard the story of the regression from Han Yujin, she had been curious. What happened to the original me, Park Yerim? But no matter how much she thought about it, it seemed that she would have been more lonely and had a harder time than the Park Yerim who had met Han Yujin, so she had deliberately not asked for details.

Maybe she didn’t want to know. The possibility of an unhappy future.

“…You look better than I thought.”

“What did you say?”

“That, I, uh, was just passing by!”

Honestly, no good solution came to mind. Even if the opponent was a monster, she had no will to fight, and she was also worried about whether it was okay to touch her recklessly. Tang Ye cleanly admitted her lack of experience. Let’s meet Mister first and ask him what to do. Having reached that conclusion, the moment she was about to use teleportation—

SHAAA–

The surrounding air began to freeze. A Cold Sigh. A white mist appeared quickly, blocking Tang Ye’s escape route. With teleportation, not spatial movement, it was impossible to escape without touching that mist. But Tang Ye used her teleportation skill without hesitation.

Rustle, the mist swirled and scattered around Tang Ye’s body, which was moving so fast it was invisible. The cold air tried to freeze and hold the enemy, but it didn’t work on Tang Ye. It seemed she would escape so easily, but—

“You have cold resistance?”

Park Yerim, though bewildered, instantly followed behind her. It was the same teleportation skill. Tang Ye’s eyes widened in surprise.

“What, you’re faster?”

Park Yerim’s skill proficiency was of course higher, but that didn’t mean she was faster. The reason Park Yerim could immediately follow Tang Ye was thanks to the cold mist she had spread around. She had felt the cold air of the sigh scatter with her magic before her eyes, predicted the direction, and immediately followed.

Park Yerim was said to be on par with S-Rank Hunters in terms of magical ability. Although it had been less than two years since she awakened, her combat ability was said to be no less than that of the early awakened Hunters. Compared to the other her, who was S-Rank, her experience and senses were superior. And with the dungeon’s buff, her stats had risen to the S-Rank level.

In other words, there was no reason for Park Yerim to be pushed back.

“Everyone, retreat! Mid-rank and below, evacuate to the basement!”

Park Yerim shouted to the guild members. The Hunters who had been outside the building began to move in an orderly fashion. Most of them went inside, and a few A-Ranks remained on standby for support. As the surroundings were quickly cleared, Park Yerim fiercely raised her momentum.

“Why are you targeting our guild?”

“No! What do you mean, targeting!”

“Don’t lie when you’ve prepared cold resistance. Teleportation is also a good skill for running away.”

Park Yerim, who had concluded that Tang Ye was a spy, said, letting out an even thicker cold air. Tang Ye looked aggrieved and scrunched up her nose.

“What’s the problem with me having my own skill? And, I, I’m affiliated with the Haeyeon Guild!”

“What?”

Park Yerim’s brow furrowed.

“A Hunter from Haeyeon?”

“Yes! I’m also on good terms with the Guild Leader. The Haeyeon Guild Leader even makes me instant food and offers it, ack!”

A dozen or so thin ice arrows flew toward Tang Ye. They were surprisingly fast. Tang Ye quickly used teleportation to dodge them. THWACK, the ice arrows embedded themselves in the sidewalk, and Park Yerim took out a long spear.

“The Haeyeon Guild Leader, Han Yuhyun, is on such friendly terms with a guild member? That cold-blooded man? You’re a really clumsy spy. You have to say something that makes sense!”

“No, I know Han Yuhyun is a jerk! But still, Mister, he’s good to his brother. He’s not a completely bad guy…”

The spear spun in Park Yerim’s fingertips. A white cold air gathered on the spearhead and flew toward Tang Ye. If she hadn’t had cold resistance, it would have been an attack difficult to dodge properly, as her body would have frozen before the spear even reached her. But Tang Ye lightly stepped back without any effect.

“What do you mean, good to him. That bastard.”

Park Yerim growled softly. Park Yerim’s spear, which had brushed past Tang Ye, struck a parked car directly. CRUNCH, the sedan froze and split in half. The tip of the spear swung, as if scooping up half of the split car. The half-torn car body flew toward the spot where Tang Ye had dodged.

“I said I don’t want to fight!”

Tang Ye shouted, swinging the bow she was holding wide. The half-car, like a ball hit by a tennis racket, flew up and then rolled on the ground. In that brief moment, Park Yerim used teleportation to rush right in front of Tang Ye. Having confirmed that ice attribute attacks were ineffective, the flashing spearhead flew in, imbued not with cold air, but with electricity.

“Wh-what!”

Tang Ye, flustered by the unexpected attribute power, used teleportation. But it was of little use against Park Yerim. If she used teleportation, she would follow right behind with teleportation. Tang Ye hurriedly raised her bow to block the attack. CRUNCH! The spearhead struck the bow, and a faint scratch appeared on the bow. Seeing that, Tang Ye’s eyes contorted.

“Wait! Time! Stop! I borrowed this!”

“The Haeyeon Guild Leader you know so well?”

“No, Evelyn unni.”

At Tang Ye’s words, Park Yerim’s expression grew even colder.

“To be on terms to borrow a weapon from the Sesung Guild’s American branch leader. That’s amazing.”

“Huh? American branch? Evelyn unni isn’t in Korea?”

“…What on earth are you talking about.”

The words kept strangely missing the mark. Park Yerim, feeling bewildered, jumped back. To say she was pretending not to know to dig for information, that person named Tang Ye didn’t even know widely known facts.

“The Sesung Guild’s Korean Guild Leader is Kang Soyeong. Officially, she’s the acting guild leader, but she’s no different from the guild leader–”

“Soyeong unni is!”

Tang Ye’s mouth fell open.

“Wow, my goodness! My goodness! Soyeong unni finally took over the Sesung Guild? Then the Sesung Mister, Mister Seong Hyunjae?”

“…”

Park Yerim looked at Tang Ye with an even more bewildered expression. It had already been a year since the whereabouts of Seong Hyunjae, the Sesung Guild Leader, had become unknown. Even if you weren’t Korean, as a Hunter, the possibility of not knowing that fact was almost non-existent. Since the world’s number one ranker had suddenly disappeared.

“You, what on earth are you.”

“I am.”

Tang Ye, Park Yerim, straightened her shoulders proudly and said.

“The guardian of the monster mount breeder, Han Yujin, and the future Haeyeon Guild, that is, the overseas branch guild leader, and the future strongest Hunter in the world who will crush both Han Yuhyun and Mister Seong Hyunjae! I’m also scheduled to get a water spirit, and I got my monster mount too!”

“…When a child awakens as a high-rank Hunter, they sometimes have absurd dreams.”

Park Yerim said, retracting her spear and sending a look of pity. She thought she looked young, but it seemed she was a real child with empty delusions. At her words, Tang Ye flared up.

“Absurd! Half of it is already done, you know? I’m different from you…”

Tang Ye couldn’t continue and closed her mouth. Park Yerim and Park Yerim are different. The things that Park Yerim thought she could naturally achieve were nonsense that Park Yerim couldn’t even imagine.

The young Park Yerim bit her lower lip. She felt strange. She didn’t want to feel this way.

The Park Yerim here didn’t seem bad either. Judging from the building, it didn’t seem to be a very large guild, but it wasn’t small either, and she was recognized as a deputy guild leader. But compared to now, it was clear that many things would be different.

The facts she had tried not to think about suddenly reared their heads. What if she hadn’t met Han Yujin?

“…Hey, when did you awaken?”

“When I was eighteen.”

Park Yerim answered, though bewildered. Eighteen years old. It was a full three years later. Until then, Park Yerim would have had to live with her uncle, unable to become independent. Just that alone made her mind go blank. And it was hard to think that it would have been smooth even right after she awakened.

Relatively low value A-Rank, and no adult to help her. Just thinking about her uncle, it seemed there must have been many hardships.

And above all.

‘She must have been, alone. All this time.’

She was alone at her uncle’s house. She would have been alone even after becoming independent. No one to answer when she said, “I’m home,” no one to welcome her, saying, “Welcome back.”

The current Park Yerim’s home was warm. Not only at home, but also outside the house, it was full of good people. But all of that was because Han Yujin was there.

Unlike S-Rank Hunters, A-Rank Hunters were relatively common. So the A-Rank Hunters that the pre-regression Han Yujin had his eye on would not have been just one or two. Among those A-Rank Hunters, Park Yerim was luckily chosen. That was all there was to it.

Just lucky. By chance. She tried not to think about it, but that was the truth. Just looking at the Park Yerim in front of her proved it. Han Yujin and Park Yerim could have been complete strangers. No, they had already passed each other once, being nothing to each other.

Park Yerim suddenly remembered the vision the pearl oyster had shown her. What if she had been family with Mister from the beginning, what if she had been his real blood relative like Han Yuhyun?

She had said it was okay. She was envious, but she had said it was okay. She had tried to think it was okay because she also had loving parents. And it really seemed to be okay.

But was it really okay? When so many things are so uncertain.

“No, hey. It’s really common for kids to be like that.”

Seeing the young girl’s eyes contort as if she were about to cry, Park Yerim said, a little flustered.

“I’m not trying to blame you. You said your name was Tang Ye, right? Did you really come from China? I know the situation in China is not good. What about your parents?”

“…They passed away.”

“I see.”

“You’re not saying you’re sorry.”

“I also lost my parents early, and I hated hearing things like that. I’m sorry, that’s too bad, you poor thing, things like that. I don’t really care now, but I really hated it when I was little.”

At Park Yerim’s words, Park Yerim nodded her head slightly. She had hated the pitying gazes and voices. It was as if they were pushing her, saying, you lost your parents, so of course you should be pitiful and unhappy. In reality, her situation couldn’t be called happy, but that’s why she acted even brighter. It was partly out of rebellion, and also a defensive attitude of not wanting to be a pitiful child.

But now, like the Park Yerim in front of her, Park Yerim also didn’t care much. Because Park Yerim was not pitiful or pitiable, but a strong S-Rank Hunter.

“I don’t know what your situation is, but it’s still dangerous to go around using an S-Rank Hunter’s name. Did you enter the country illegally? For a high-rank Hunter, as long as you’re not a criminal, they’ll definitely accept you. It’s hard for a young Hunter to have a high-rank weapon, so did you perhaps steal that bow? That’s why you’re running–”

“I said I borrowed it.”

“Let’s return it. A scratch like that will be unnoticeable if it’s repaired. It’s my fault too, so I’ll pay for the repairs.”

“I have a lot of money too… I have enough for repairs. And I really did borrow it.”

Despite Park Yerim’s words, Park Yerim didn’t seem to believe her. Don’t worry, I also caused some trouble when I first awakened, she said, trying to comfort her awkwardly. At her own appearance, a small laugh escaped from between Park Yerim’s lips. Her hardened expression also relaxed slightly.

It wasn’t bad. Definitely. The Park Yerim without Han Yujin was also, okay.

“The name Tang Ye is actually a pseudonym.”

“Really? I thought so.”

“I’m not Chinese, I’m Korean.”

“No wonder you speak Korean so well. You don’t have an affiliated guild either, right?”

“No. I am a Haeyeon guild member. This is true.”

You don’t have to lie, Park Yerim said, looking at her. Park Yerim untied the cloth that was covering her face. She also took off her half-wig. As her familiar appearance was revealed, Park Yerim’s eyes widened. On her surprised face, the image of her younger self was deeply engraved.

“My name is Park Yerim. I am the fifteen-year-old you.”