The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 400: Sunset (4)

[1:04:55 until sunset]

Three more raids came and went in just over twenty minutes. It seemed like almost every nearby Hunter had swarmed to this location, but Noah and Song Taewon were still nowhere to be seen. I was starting to worry. Both were seasoned S-Rank Hunters, but there were also SS-Rank Hunters—monsters—running around here. At least they couldn’t leave their designated areas, so escaping shouldn’t be too difficult, but there’s always that nagging “what if.”

Still, I couldn’t go searching for them with sunset approaching so quickly.

“Leave it to me.”

“Right! I’m totally confident in my running-away skills!”

Yerim and Yun Yun volunteered. The Rookie had mentioned in a message that those with teleportation and spatial movement abilities would be fine even after sunset, but…

“You still have to be back before sunset. If you two don’t return, I’m going out to look for you myself.”

“You? That’s dangerous!”

“Then make sure you’re back on time. It’s a promise. Don’t venture too far, and you two must stick together. If things get desperate, don’t hesitate to use long-distance spatial movement.”

I could at least send these two because they had long-distance spatial movement capabilities. I’m counting on you, Yun Yun.

“I promise. You should go to the hotel and rest. And have dinner.”

“I’ll be back, Boss Kim Seobang! Little Kim Seobang, let’s go see if we can find any hamburgers.”

“They’re probably stone cold by now.”

Yerim and Yun Yun teleported away. They seemed to get along surprisingly well. Could the amazing person Yerim mentioned be the future Yun Yun? She was certainly amazing for rescuing so many people, but I couldn’t imagine Yun Yun encouraging Yerim to study hard.

Just in case they arrived here late, I decided to leave a note at Gangnam Station Exit 1. Naturally, it wouldn’t be in Korean.

“Mr. Seong Hyunjae, do you know French? I think it would be fine to leave a note for Noah in French.”

How many Hunters would know French? Besides the hotel name, I could just give them directions on which way to go and how to find us.

“Chief Song, um.”

“There’s a code.”

“There’s something like that?”

Did he cause so much trouble that he had to drag Chief Song around and develop a code system? Anyway, I wrote down the location so both of them could recognize it.

“We should head to the hotel now…”

We need to go, but the roads are a complete disaster. I guess we can’t use the motorcycle.

“Yuhyun, you take care of him.”

“I have two perfectly good arms.”

“I know that, but it’s still inconvenient. There might be more Hunters lurking around.”

Yuhyun reluctantly picked up the pre-regression me. Clearly unused to being carried, the other me ducked his head in embarrassment. Seeing that reaction, I felt a slight twinge of alarm. I think I’ve been getting carried around too casually these days. I should learn to be a little more embarrassed about it too.

Although the pre-regression me had higher stats, he obviously didn’t have a damage nullification item, so Yuhyun took point. Even an S-Rank doesn’t have eyes in the back of their head, making them vulnerable to attacks from behind. It also helped that Seong Hyunjae had combat foresight.

But would Grace recognize the other me as a contractor too? Yuhyun and Seong Hyunjae seemed to sense that we were the same person.

“Unfortunately, there isn’t much I can tell you.”

Seong Hyunjae, who was carrying me, spoke curtly.

“You’ve been in here for quite a while now. What have you been doing all this time? Where did you first appear?”

“Ah, that.”

Seong Hyunjae’s expression darkened slightly.

“It seems I was unconscious for quite some time.”

“What? Why would you—”

I stopped mid-sentence as something suddenly occurred to me. The Seong Hyunjae in the dungeon. It was highly likely that he and this Seong Hyunjae were strongly connected, just like me and that other Han Yujin. But unlike me, the pre-regression Seong Hyunjae wasn’t in a normal state.

Bound by Crescent Moon’s chains and possessing power that even surprised Young Chaos—could it be that the current Seong Hyunjae had lost consciousness, suppressed by his other self? If there are two versions of the same person and one is overwhelmingly powerful… could one actually absorb the other? Like some kind of fusion or integration?

“It seems my partner knows something.”

“Ah, that’s… well.”

“I saw Song Taewon’s grave.”

So he had been there. Seong Hyunjae stepped onto the collapsed building and leaped up. Moving as if he’d escaped gravity itself, he bounded gracefully between the scattered debris.

“The guild building was a complete wreck too.”

“…Did you go inside?”

“Wasn’t it sealed off?”

Those golden eyes looked down at me with a gaze that seemed to know everything already.

“You must have met me.”

“He was a complete bastard.”

Seong Hyunjae laughed.

“Should I apologize?”

“The hospitality was terrible, but I’ll let it slide this time.”

“I’ll have to invite you over to make up for it. Han Yujin will be my first guest.”

“The new house, you mean? Did you move in well? Though you probably didn’t have much to move.”

Everything had been destroyed. Poor fish.

“You’ve probably already figured it out, but that’s what I was going to mention. About this situation.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Seong Hyunjae said shamelessly.

“I’m still waiting to hear it.”

As if he has no idea. But I suppose this is his way of being considerate. I called out to Yuhyun, who was walking ahead.

“We’re stopping by the supermarket! You guys go ahead and make sure it’s safe!”

“But—”

“Besides seaweed soup ingredients, do you need anything else?”

The other me in Yuhyun’s arms shook his head. He still looked embarrassed. If he keeps acting like that, I’m going to start feeling embarrassed too. It would be quite a sight if someone saw us.

Yuhyun and the pre-regression me headed to the hotel first, while Seong Hyunjae and I entered a large supermarket. We broke through the locked glass door to get inside, and naturally, the place was completely empty.

“You’ve never pushed a shopping cart before, have you? You might experience information overload again.”

“I doubt I’ve never been grocery shopping.”

Seong Hyunjae took the shopping cart I’d pulled free and pushed it forward. It looked out of place on him, yet also like he was filming a commercial.

“Even if you did go grocery shopping, it would’ve been at some upscale department store with a VVIP attendant and a subordinate pushing the cart. It’s obvious without even asking.”

“This might indeed be a first.”

“In any world.”

He’d mentioned having no friends or lovers, after all. …I should probably be a little nicer to him. Honestly, who wouldn’t develop a bad temper after being dragged around like that? Even a saint would find it unbearable.

“Seaweed soup means beef seaweed soup, naturally. The one with rice cakes was delicious too. The side dish shop owner made an incredible beef and rice cake seaweed soup. Could that Breaker Guild person be the same one?”

I grabbed an umbrella to use as a walking stick and headed for the butcher section first. The lights were off, so I worried the meat might have spoiled, but cold air was still radiating from the cases. Well, this dungeon was created recently. Even without power, as long as you don’t open the refrigerator doors, things stay fresh for a while.

Since it’s all free, I selected the finest Hanwoo beef for soup. Should I grab some for grilling too?

“This is all free, so Chief Song will eat well, right? Though raw beef might be pushing it.”

There were many mouths to feed, and several big eaters among them, so I loaded up on premium cuts. Are the gas and electricity working at the hotel? With Yuhyun and Seong Hyunjae there, grilling shouldn’t be a problem. I packed some lettuce for wraps, and Yerim loves garlic. Mushrooms, kimchi—where’s the kimchi? And cola, no wait, every hotel room has drinks. They’re usually overpriced, but now they’re free.

I also grabbed a small bag of rice. Making red bean rice would be difficult—just soaking the red beans takes forever. It’s lucky that seaweed rehydrates quickly. I took the most expensive seaweed available, and while the hotel probably has seasonings, I packed some just in case.

“The tank’s still running. Would abalone in the beef soup be too much? Should we grill it instead? Should I take a lobster? Chief Song likes sashimi, you know. Making sashimi from whole fish is tricky.”

“Sashimi is easy.”

“Ah, right—is there anything you can’t do? Anyway, it’s all free!”

If not now, when else would I get the chance to feed Chief Song something expensive? I selected one live lobster, then another. Yerim likes this kind of thing too, though she prefers meat over seafood. Noah surprisingly enjoyed sashimi as well. I packed some abalone and shrimp, and for fish, well… gochujang, soy sauce, and wasabi.

I figured there would be plenty of fruit for dessert at the hotel. There’d be meat too, but I wouldn’t know the grade or origin of what’s in the kitchen refrigerator. If I’m going to feed them, it should be the best Hanwoo. Do they label everything here?

“A robber in the supermarket! Wait, Han Yujin? Now you’re even stealing—”

BANG! The magic bullet that flew past barely missed the chattering Hunter’s head. It wasn’t that I missed—he dodged well. Must be high-rank.

“You bastard!”

The shouting Hunter froze when he spotted the Sesung Guild Leader pushing a shopping cart. Seong Hyunjae picked up a pair of kitchen scissors from a display rack and casually threw them at the Hunter. THWACK, THUD. Correction—must be low-rank. Even if an S-Rank threw them, they’re still just scissors.

“My reputation was pretty terrible, wasn’t it?”

I said, rummaging through the snacks lining the shelves.

“As you can probably guess, I’ve returned from the future. Originally, I was thirty!”

“I see.”

“What do you mean, ‘I see’? And Mr. Seong Hyunjae, you disappeared before the regression. He claims he was raising sheep in the Alps.”

“Song Taewon died.”

“Yes. You said you saw his grave, right? Mr. Seong Hyunjae said he forced them to build it there.”

“Is it because of me?”

“I don’t know. There’s definitely a connection, but he didn’t give me the details. And Mr. Seong Hyunjae was just waiting for the day Crescent Moon would drag him away.”

“How unfortunate.”

Seong Hyunjae spoke as if discussing someone else’s problem. I looked at him while tossing a bag of snacks into the cart.

“Seong Hyunjae said it would be better if Seong Hyunjae disappeared. What do you think?”

“What does Han Yujin think?”

“Well, me?”

I’d give the same answer no matter who asked, no matter when.

“I’m tired of losing things, and I’m not the type to give up easily. I can’t just say ‘Oh well, nothing to be done about it, let’s say goodbye here. See you in the next life~'”

“Even if I said I wanted to quit?”

“Then I’d curse you out. An S-Rank has his pride, and an F-Rank is working his ass off, so who does he think he is to quit? If you’re going to do that, you should strip off your rank and give it to me. Now that I think about it, I’m getting pissed off. You can give up after I collapse from exhaustion first!”

If you lived well, flaunting your high rank, then you should pay the price. I can’t stand to see you give up before me—it wounds my pride.

“Besides, you made a promise. That you’d stay as you are. The pre-regression Mr. Seong Hyunjae never made such a promise, so there’s nothing to be done about him, but you’re different. Since things are already like this, we have to wallow in the mud together until the very end.”

“I won’t be able to make the first move out of fear of Han Yujin.”

What first move—oh, like in Go? Looking at his leisurely smiling face, I kept thinking of the Seong Hyunjae trapped in that collapsed building. I never wanted to see him like that again. The sight of him entangled as if caught in a spider’s web—it really didn’t suit him.

But how could I stop Crescent Moon? It seemed plausible that the pre-regression Seong Hyunjae would lose heart after losing Song Taewon. Was there really any escape other than death?

“Was I in such a pathetic state?”

“The only person who could kill Mr. Seong Hyunjae is Chief Song Taewon.”

I didn’t mention the story about myself. It was too uncertain a prophecy. Honestly, I thought the same thing—how could I possibly?

“So he said he’d treat you well. That other version of Mr. Seong Hyunjae from some other world.”

“I am treating you well.”

You should at least think before you speak. I pulled the cart and passed right through the checkout counter. There was too much stuff to bag separately, so I left the supermarket with the cart as it was. The sound of the wheels rolling was cheerful.

“So don’t try anything funny with me. I’ve already been hurt plenty.”

I told Seong Hyunjae about the pre-regression events, filtering them appropriately.

“I was being sincere.”

“You said you didn’t need it.”

“Even so, it’s not good for the two of you to be too close.”

A chain slithered out and pierced a Hunter who’d been sneaking up on us. I thought we’d cleared them all out, but they kept popping up one by one. Well, it would take a while for a mid-rank Hunter to get here on foot without a car.

“You’re already pushing your pre-regression self away, calling him different.”

“Excuse me? I’ve never done any such thing.”

“It’s close to instinct. If they’re completely the same person, they’ll feel their position is threatened. There’s only room for one Han Yujin.”

Two people can’t occupy the same space. If two people try to enter, they have no choice but to split it in half, or unevenly. That’s what Seong Hyunjae was saying.

“Even to protect Han Yujin, you have to create a completely separate space for one of them. Even if he can live independently, it’s better to keep the spaces themselves separate.”

“…Isn’t that just an excuse to take me away with you? No, more than that, Mr. Seong Hyunjae, you were trying to snatch me up so suddenly. Are you saying it’s fine as long as you can have either one? You’d end up with one more business partner.”

“I only have one partner.”

Such smooth talking.

“But I did want to try raising one. Since it’s no longer possible with my current partner, I admit I was a little excited about the prospect.”

As expected of someone whose hobby is raising things. From Seong Hyunjae’s perspective, I was a fascinatingly curious subject to nurture. It’s not often you get the chance to raise the same person in a different way. And this was with someone who had already rejected him. Though the me here refused as well.

“Oh, the hotel has its lights on.”

Beyond the darkened street, I could see light flowing from the lobby’s glass doors. Did the Rookie put in some effort? If the others also return safely, it looks like we can spend the night comfortably.