The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 433: Shards of Mist (2)

The hospital ceiling darkened and suddenly stretched— rising to an unfathomable height. It was a starless night sky. Across that pitch–black expanse, moonlight rippled like waves.

Silvery strands streamed down in locks. Those threads of silver, spreading softly, felt almost like someone’s hair. In their midst, a pair of eyes slowly opened.

Even though it was only a fragment of memory, I felt a pressure weighing down my whole body. It was as if I were submerged— not in water, but in something far heavier and more viscous. And even that couldn’t be Crescent Moon in her fully manifested form.

How the hell was anyone supposed to face that? In the suffocating dread that gripped my chest, the moonlight wavered greatly.

[ My beloved Little Moon. ]

The voice carried a faint shade of pity. As though she had no doubt that her touch could never be escaped.

[ If you wish to keep wandering the fleeting dreamscape, then do so as you please. ]

Her tone was gentle, almost coaxing.

[ For every path has its end. ]

The end darkened, and the moonlight dimmed. Ru Ga Pheya tilted her head back to look up at the silver dispersing through the sky.

“That must be why Crescent Moon suddenly went to sleep— because she intervened to stop the Eclipse.”

And she had succeeded. Completing Seong Hyunjae had only been delayed for a while— but the sole threat was removed.

Song Taewon was.

He blinked slowly. He was no longer in human form.

In the blurred replay of memory, black shadow melted away, falling drop by drop to the floor like endless tears.

What had once been his hand reached out.

[…Live.]

He had protected humanity— Song Taewon had.

Whether Chief Song truly saw Seong Hyunjae as a human rather than a monster, or whether it was simply a final comfort, I couldn’t tell. But for some reason, though he failed to take solid form, his face—

It seemed to carry a faint smile.

[ As a human. ]

Seong Hyunjae’s figure was barely visible. But I could see that the Plunder— Song Taewon’s last strength— had been given to him.

[ I was, in the end, a monster. ]

…I wanted to shout that it wasn’t true. The fact that my voice couldn’t reach the record of the past was frustrating.

[ You— live. ]

“…As… a…?”

Seong Hyunjae spoke, but it didn’t come through clearly.

[ With that, I… ]

The shadow collapsed with a muffled sound. Seong Hyunjae’s hand touched the darkness that spread like a puddle.

[…I’m sorry. ]

It was a voice so fragile it might break at any moment. What was it, until the very end—

[ I… was greedy… but, again… ]

Again.

[…Even if… human… how many… times… ]

“Of course… I…”

As his fingertips curled for the last time, the black shadow scattered into white. Not even a corpse remained. Only a single gift— the final trace he left behind.

The final gift that would allow Seong Hyunjae to live as a human.

Before the regression, Song Taewon had never been able to accept himself as human. Yet he had continued to protect others, and even for the one he thought a monster, he left a path toward humanity.

…Was he, perhaps, at least a little satisfied?

The mist faded. A clear sky appeared, and the surroundings shifted back to the forest. A long sigh slipped from my lips before I realized it.

“…Crescent Moon… tch.”

My throat felt a little dry.

“She stepped back easier than I thought.”

“Because the Eclipse is gone. She must have been satisfied. Even if she acted generous in that memory, right now she’s probably in trouble.”

The King of Harmless smiled mischievously.

“Because when you turned back time, you brought the Eclipse back too.”

“But Chief Song would never harm Seong Hyunjae— the Little Moon. He’s not someone who would. Crescent Moon must know that, don’t you think?”

“How could you trust a being that might have been born from the Source’s will?”

“Because he’s definitely not that kind of person. Absolutely not.”

I replayed what I’d just seen in my mind. My eyes narrowed slightly on their own.

“I might not know, but you’ve got to know something, right? About Chief Song’s condition.”

“He definitely wasn’t an ordinary human. It looked like the black shadow even dealt some damage to Crescent Moon. Even after she displayed that much power, he wasn’t killed— he endured it. Though in the end, he collapsed, unable to withstand his own power.”

She sounded almost regretful when she said she wanted to call in the Eclipse to examine him.

“If I’d known, I would have sided with Han Yujin!”

“I regret that too.”

Even if her intentions were impure, if even one Transcendent had taken my side, I’d have welcomed it with open arms. And if the King of Harmless had lived and joined us, Chatterbox might have tagged along as well. …That’s honestly tear–jerkingly regrettable.

“Couldn’t Chief Song just swallow Seong Hyunjae entirely? Then maybe he could remove only what Crescent Moon bound him with?”

“Impossible.”

Ru Ga Pheya flatly cut me off.

“It’s been woven too tightly over too long a time. The Eclipse’s ability can’t just erase Crescent Moon’s influence alone. It’s like trying to cut away an extremely fine, tough thread binding the body— it needs a delicate hand. The current Eclipse is at the level of swinging a huge blunt weapon, not a blade.”

“So it’s not that it can’t be done, just that he’s not skilled enough?”

“If he grew for about a thousand— no, ten thousand years, it might be possible. By then, he could handle his own power as precisely as surgical scissors.”

Ten thousand years. In other words, not anytime soon.

“That’s… difficult.”

“Of course it is. You think it’s easy to take away something a Transcendent like Crescent Moon has painstakingly raised? Even managing to screw her over this much is impressive~”

I wouldn’t call it ‘screwing over.’

“If someone cut even a single one of the countless tangled threads, maybe— but it would still be hard. It’s purely a matter of inexperience.”

And who would do that cutting? So Chief Song would have to live for a few thousand more years before he could safely help Seong Hyunjae? That’s daunting.

“Will Chief Song live that long?”

“As long as he isn’t devoured by his own power. Same with the Little Moon— one’s after–acquired, the other’s innate. Both are shouldering power they can’t fully bear because of an external will. And you, Han Yujin—”

The jellyfish twirled in a slow circle around me.

“You’re shouldering things you can’t bear all on your own. Ignoring broken arms and a torn–open chest.”

“I can still manage, for now.”

“Ahh, it’ll be fun to watch in the future.”

With a regretful sigh, Ru Ga Pheya turned back to me.

“So, how should I handle your reward? The version of you inside the dungeon counts as the same person, so it’s been processed as you having soloed the boss monster.”

Oh— right. I looked at her with expectant eyes.

“An F–class soloed an L–class. Shouldn’t this be even better than a wish stone?”

“Not L–class. S–class.”

Tch, she didn’t fall for it. S–class was still one or two steps below my pre–regression level.

“Do you have anything you want?”

“What I want…”

Of course there were plenty of things. But asking her to save our world was impossible, and getting my brother back was…

“…Before the reward, could you help me with something?”

“Hm? What?”

“Chatterbox.”

Ru Ga Pheya tilted her head.

“What about him?”

What about him?

“He’s grinding his teeth at me, swearing revenge for you.”

“Revenge? Why?”

She looked genuinely puzzled. Wait— don’t tell me…

“Because he… loves you?”

“I see.”

“I see? That’s it?!”

That was way too little reaction. For a second— just a second— I felt a tiny, ant–sized pang of pity for Chatterbox.

“There were plenty of people who loved me. I’m charming, after all.”

Ru Ga Pheya swayed her tentacles with a smile.

“I wouldn’t know— too different a species.”

“Skill isn’t tied to species~ And when I was young, in one world, as a ruler of my kind, there were plenty who courted me.”

“Still, tentacles are a bit…”

“You’re really biased against tentacles.”

At any rate, the King of Harmless didn’t seem to have any special feelings for Chatterbox.

“Leaving love aside, were you at least friends?”

“We hung out, had tea together— so probably.”

“Then at least talk to him. Leave him something like, ‘I have no grudge against Han Yujin, so give up on revenge.’ Or, ‘Han Yujin didn’t actually kill me.’”

“I could, but revenge is for the satisfaction of the living.”

She shrugged.

“If it’s truly pure love for another, it ends the moment they’re gone. There’s nothing left. No reason for revenge.”

…I thought of Yuhyun. My little brother, who had ignored even himself to focus only on me.

“Love— emotions— are usually interactions. ‘I,’ the one who loves you, matters. It’s me loving you, not anyone else. For ordinary, mutual love— for emotional exchange— the ‘I’ has to exist before the ‘you.’”

“Sounds a bit abstract to me.”

“Chatterbox is moving for the sake of ‘himself who loves Ru Ga Pheya.’ It’s not pure revenge for my sake.”

…That was true enough. And honestly, if someone’s dead, what do they care about revenge anyway?

“Still, if it’s someone truly precious, you’d naturally want to avenge them.”

“It’s Chatterbox’s grief, not Ru Ga Pheya’s. Chatterbox’s anger, not Ru Ga Pheya’s. Of course, emotions aren’t made in isolation— I’m not completely unrelated. His grief and anger exist because I existed.”

If a person were truly alone, maybe feelings couldn’t form at all. You probably needed something— someone— else to feel joy or sorrow.

“In the end, it’s still for oneself. If you lost someone precious and got a letter saying, ‘Please don’t take revenge,’ could you stop?”

“…No.”

No way. I couldn’t stop until their throat was cut. Though unlike Chatterbox, I wouldn’t target the people around them.

“It could even backfire. But maybe I’ll leave a message. Even if I never see it, it’d be boring if your story got blocked by Chatterbox’s revenge.”

“Boring? You died, that’s why!”

“Exactly. Boring, really.”

This jellyfish was impossible to understand. She took her own death far too lightly. Tentacles reached out again, curling around my shoulders— and her face came close—

“Wait, wait!”

“Close your eyes.”

W–What was she—? I flinched, but the faint warmth touched my eyelids.

“The rest is luck.”

“I don’t know what that means, but thanks, I guess. Hey, don’t you want to come with me? Even just a memory shard could make a familiar, like that fairy one I saw before.”

“No. That wouldn’t be me.”

She refused instantly. True enough, even with a shard, a Changeling and Seong Hyunjae were very different— only similar in looks, not in power or personality.

“There’s not much time left. With your reward points, you could get even SSS–class equipment. If it suits you, maybe a skill— but I don’t recommend skills. Bad for your body.”

“Getting an offensive S–class skill is out of the question?”

It’d be useful since I could double its effect. As expected, she shook her head.

“Even A–class would be hard.”

“That’s harsh.”

“Your aptitude was always just for basic support. Now you’re more specialized for nurturing. Aptitude can change with environment and effort, though.”

“Five years in the field and I don’t have some combat aptitude?”

“Combat also depends on physical condition. You burned your body out, remember?”

Right— my pre–regression self. Honestly, my body was in better shape then. Maybe that guy had some combat aptitude. Ah, I should’ve had him try the Points Shop! Might’ve gotten a discount!

“My points… all blown because of Crescent Moon…”

My body was a bit healthier now and my mana imprint more stable, but still— it stung. Ru Ga Pheya glanced into the air, as if checking the system.

“That Points Shop looks useful. Want your reward in points?”

“What? You can do that?”

“Exchange rate’s bad— you’d lose about twenty percent.”

“I’ll just take gear, then.”

Better to take care of the kids. With Myungwoo around, anything requiring metal could be made, so it’d have to be SSS–class gear a blacksmith couldn’t craft.

“Got any recommendations? You know Chatterbox and Crescent Moon— we’re bound to clash.”

“Greedy, aren’t you?”

“Then give me information instead. Any weaknesses?”

“Crescent Moon’s slightly weaker during the day, but still far beyond you. Chatterbox handles the system well, but like most system managers, he’s not great at fighting— it’s not his aptitude. Still much stronger than you, though.”

Utterly unhelpful. But then, going up against them would be worse than eggs against a boulder. Maybe I should just take the gear…

“Oh— want me to give you one of my drawers?”

“Huh? Drawer?”

A cube, like a square Rubik’s Cube, appeared before her.

“The others can’t use it anyway— it’ll be locked forever. This is my smallest drawer, but it’s still got items better than your reward value.”

“…Are you sure you can give me this?”

“It’s a loophole. It’s mine. You can only take three things from inside. That’s the max.”

Was it okay to take it? Hopefully she wasn’t planning to screw me over. I reached out and took the cube.

[ Drawer No. 71 of the King of Harmless ]

It really was a drawer.

“…How do I use it?”

“Go inside, take what you want, and come back out.”

“In one trip?”

“No. You can go in as many times as you want. Like that blacksmith’s forge.”

That meant the cube alone was valuable— it could even be used as an emergency shelter.

“You’re suspiciously generous.”

“You’re more interesting.”

So she had no concept of good or evil— just gave to whatever pleased her. No reason to refuse, then.

“What about the leftover reward points?”

“Convert them to points.”

Better to keep them for the Points Shop than get random junk now. Once I’d taken all the rewards, the scenery began to blur. Ru Ga Pheya’s form turned translucent, her tentacles swaying slowly in a farewell.

“…Thanks. Goodbye.”

She’d caused me plenty of trouble, but I hadn’t expected to get help like this. Really—

“Oh, right!”

“Hm?”

She blinked as if she’d remembered something.

“You can’t take anything from here unless it’s processed as a reward.”

“Obviously—”

“Even your clothes.”

What?!

“W–Wait! All my clothes are from here!”

Outerwear, underwear— I’d changed everything!

“I can make clothes easily, so I forgot. But it’s nothing serious. Bye~”

It is serious! I hurried to pull out Silekia and put it on— and then my vision darkened. The ruined island came into view.

– Kkuwoong!

And with it, a welcome cry reached my ears.