The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 449: Gift

Powder. No, seeds would be more accurate — there were of course many of them. By contrast, Chief Song wasn’t suited to dealing with a crowd.

“I’m fine, so go to Chief Song–”

My mouth snapped shut. Wait a sec — Grace keeps me safe against most attacks, but that…

“A tentacle–type monster. What’s its mechanism?”

“Yuhyun! Yerim!”

I need you two! I lobbed Little Song onto Seong Hyunjae’s head and then hauled myself up to cling to Seong Hyunjae’s shoulder as well.

–Baa–aa

“Don’t come down, stay put! That thing, that thing has Lightning–attribute resistance too!”

For once, I was absurdly grateful that Seong Hyunjae was tall. I pulled myself all the way up, draped across his shoulders.

“And you said you were fine.”

“I am not fine with tentacles! It’s useless, useless. Tentacle–types and amorphous monsters that swallow people!”

What Grace gives me isn’t a shield but a damage–nullification item. Which means it can’t block something that covers my face or goes into my mouth or any other holes. If I can’t breathe, I die — obviously. So for that kind of monster, even a low–tier is dangerous, never mind mid or high. With the earrings I can probably handle up to mid–tier, but still.

“So Han Yujin’s weak points are tentacles and slime.”

“I’ve grown to hate tentacles even more lately!”

Meanwhile, the tentacles, sheathed in black chitin, had fully grown. Stuck to the ground like anemones, they waved their filaments in strands.

“It looks animal–type, but it’s actually a plant — a Kentnishi between B– and A–class. Since it has roots, its mobility is low, but it sometimes jumps. It has at least B–class Lightning resistance, so Mr. Seong shouldn’t use that skill.”

I pulled out my phone and hit speed dial as I spoke. If it were alone, maybe, but this was right in the middle of the city. Given how current spreads, blasting enough electricity here to burn out the tentacle plants would cause a lot of collateral damage. Since they can’t move well, it’s better to issue an evacuation and handle them slowly.

[Hyung.]

“Yuhyun, you heard? Come right away.”

[Yeah, I’m coming. I was about to call — are you okay?]

“Of course I’m fine.”

As expected, Haeyeon must have been contacted first. It was the closest S–class guild to the Hunter Association. I gave a brief, quick rundown and hung up.

“Does the scratch on my face look bad?”

“There’s even blood beading.”

“…Mm, that much should be fine.”

I hurriedly pulled on a cardigan. I should tell Yuhyun there was a sniper, of course, but he doesn’t need to know I hurt my arm — it’s already healed anyway. In Seong Hyunjae’s hand was a long, slim glaive, almost like a spear.

“S–class?”

“A–grade.”

“Does the Sesung Guildmaster carry even A–grade weapons around?”

“Good for pruning.”

“And mowing the lawn.”

“Are we living together by any chance?”

“We’re out of shampoo, so pick some up on your way home.”

Whiiish — the glaive’s edge carved a smooth arc through the air. I could see more than thirty of the tentacle plants gathered here alone.

“Fewer than the powder would suggest.”

“They’re a kind of spore — not all of them mature. The first ones to sprout absorb the others nearby and grow even faster.”

“Have you dealt with them before?”

“TV. TV.”

My favorite program. More importantly, that Kentnishi shouldn’t be showing up this quickly. They even procured spores and scattered them. So it’s connected to the Transcendents, the Unfilial Children side? They said it was a truce. Isn’t this a foul!

“Let’s move. They’re probably wasting effort without knowing the traits.”

I tried calling the Hunter Association, but it was stuck on hold. With this chaos, of course the lines were flooded.

“Hold tight.”

Seong Hyunjae dipped his torso slightly as he spoke. With a quick apology, I used my Teacher skill on him. I thought he’d head straight out, but strength surged into the arm holding the glaive. His shoe drove hard into the ground and — vwoom — the wide swing of the glaive bit into the earth at a slant.

Krrrrng– The ground shook like an earthquake, and cracks zzzzt–zzzt spiderwebbed forward from where the glaive struck. Then current rode along the weapon and slithered into the ground.

Immediately after—

BOOM!

With a thunderous explosion, a mound of dirt geysered up. The tentacle plants were flung helplessly into the air. Golden chains flew toward them. With a rattling metallic hiss, they wrapped and bound the tentacles.

The glaive vanished from Seong Hyunjae’s hand, and instead he gripped the end of the chain. Like cracking a whip, he flicked it, flinging the bundled tentacle masses toward the Association’s parking lot. With clods of dirt still hanging from their roots, the tentacles disappeared over the wall.

“Nothing left, I hope.”

“Looks that way.”

“We can’t have Chief Song Taewon’s kid’s playground go up in flames.”

It was already a wreck, actually. Still, better than burning to ash — it’d be quicker to repair. After clearing out all the tentacles from Little Song’s playground, Seong Hyunjae stomped the torn, gouged ground. In an instant, the scenery changed and the wide parking lot of the Hunter Association unfolded.

“Urrk.”

The sight of the parking lot packed with black tentacles turned my stomach. Cars crushed and rolled under the coils lay everywhere, and Hunters were moving in a hurry.

–Baa!

Little Song couldn’t withstand the recoil of Seong Hyunjae’s landing and tumbled down. The Seeker’s Chain snagged the lamb and dangled it up.

“Chief Song! Is staying here the answer?”

Song Taewon, who’d been helping set up barricades while keeping the reaching tentacles in check, turned to us.

“Yes. It hasn’t spread outside.”

“They regenerate fast, so conventional attacks don’t do much! You have to keep cutting and cutting for ages to finally kill them. Haeyeon’s guildmaster will arrive soon, so just keep them from bursting out!”

For a mid–high tier, they weren’t that threatening. Other than constricting with tentacles, they had no proper offensive skills. Tough, fast regeneration, and prolific breeding made them a headache. They’re weak to heat and cold, so a Hunter with a high–rank AoE skill could handle them easily.

At my shout, the Hunters who’d been attacking the tentacles fell back. With the monsters filling the lot in the middle, they formed a perimeter and switched to a defensive posture. Seong Hyunjae also drew his glaive again, only slicing the tentacles that stretched toward the edge.

“You seem experienced. Do you really mow your own lawn? Our garden could use some care.”

“Are you offering a side job? If the terms fit, I’ll go.”

“No partner discount?”

“In exchange, I’ll ask for a five–star review.”

“Wow, mighty Sesung asking for a paid–for review. Want your name plastered on every portal front page? Shoot up to top search no. 1?”

“We’re already regulars.”

Aren’t you just precious. While we traded nonsense, a red dot swiftly approached from the distant sky. Seeing Peace, the Hunters all took a collective step back. The Flame Horned Lion, wings spread wide, hovered in the air. From that lofty height, Yuhyun hopped down lightly.

He didn’t use Blue Willow Leaves. The Thunderbird’s Regalia fluttered and flame roared up. Crimson fire swirled like a vortex around Yuhyun, then deepened black, then indigo. Shrouded in blazing heat, he—

BOOM–!

—landed in the middle of the tentacle cluster. Like a bomb going off, the heat billowed out with the flames. All I could see was that deep, indigo–black fire. The flames swallowed only the tentacles, spearing up high. It was as if they were trapped by an invisible wall — such delicate control.

The tentacles popped and snapped, leaping here and there as they burned away in an instant. Leaving black ash scattered everywhere, the flames whooshed down. Only the parking lot and a few unlucky cars melted; there was zero damage beyond that. As the fire died at its owner’s will, my little brother emerged from it.

“Wait, Yuhyun!”

Yuhyun looked back at me. Spotting the cut on my cheek, his brow furrowed hard. And then, the ashes left behind began to move.

“Right now I’ve got S–class–or–higher damage nullification, so don’t waste your strength!”

The ash gathered to a point, clumping into a round mass. Yuhyun stepped back, coming toward me.

“Are you hurt?”

“No, just a scratch. A little. What happened was–”

“Your clothes.”

“Uh, it’s a bit chilly with Little Song out at the outdoor playground.”

At my answer, Yuhyun glanced at Seong Hyunjae. Seong Hyunjae only smiled silently. Then Yuhyun’s gaze slid over to Chief Song. No, no.

“Someone shot at me but missed! It just grazed me.”

“…A gun?”

Meanwhile, the ash heap began to change. A long black stalk thrust up from roots sunk into the ground. At the tip of the stalk, now four or five meters tall, a round, fruit–like thing swelled.

“It’s going to burst soon, get ready.”

At my words, Yuhyun turned his body toward the black stalk.

“Just burn the spores cleanly.”

When a Kentnishi colony dies out, it tries to reproduce. At that moment, even S–class Hunters can barely damage it. But immediately after the pod bursts — while they’re still spores — you can burn them easily. If they rode the wind and scattered it would be a problem, but with Yuhyun’s control he wouldn’t miss a single grain of dust.

Thin flames swam like fish around Yuhyun, circling him. The pod swelled until it was two or three times the size of a person, ballooning tight. And then—

Pop–

It burst and the spores… the spores…

“Hyung, it’s flower then fruit, right?”

“Huh? Uh, that…”

Normally, yes — but that one hadn’t even blossomed. Instead of fruit, a bud burst and pink petals poured out. A gigantic pink flower, several meters across. Layer upon layer of petals, so ornate it was almost beautiful.

…Weird.

“I am a non–awakened!”

Just then, someone shouted. I — and the other Hunters — turned toward the voice. Beyond the barricade stood a middle–aged man. Looking terrified, he shouted again.

“They said they’d spare me if I only relayed a message, so please don’t attack!”

He shot both hands straight up. Somebody threatened him?

“For Director Han Yujin of the Breeding Facility, I heard you like pink flowers, so I prepared this.”

No!

“It’s a light greeting, a gift for the Director, so rest easy. It’s safe.”

Safe? Whoever you are, are you insane? The flames around Yuhyun loosed like arrows. They coiled around the giant flower and burned it to nothing in an instant.

“We will see you again after the term is over.”

…So it was tied to Chatterbox after all. This is a greeting? And they get to crawl in and cause a mess while we’re not allowed to? That’s unfair!

“Chief Song Taewon, I’m a fan.”

The man clamped his mouth shut. Under the rain of stares, he hurriedly added,

“That last bit is also something I was told to relay.”

This time, all eyes turned to Chief Song. Chief Song just looked tired.

“…First, let’s begin the cleanup.”

With a short sigh, Chief Song said so.

The aftermath went quickly. Officially, we decided to count it as no monster appearance. There was no upside to saying monsters appeared so soon after a dungeon stabilized. Instead, we announced that there had been something odd among the dungeon items.

Luckily, it was at the Association, which had a Hunter Market, and the last thing to appear was a harmless giant flower, so it wasn’t hard to paper over. We called it a seed–type item that bloomed a giant flower.

“Upstairs, it’s been reported as the work of an anti–Hunter terrorist group.”

Chief Song said as he entered the conference room. He was holding a bouquet — not pink, but red and white flowers.

“The first bomb that went off, as well as the bullet that grazed Director Han Yujin, were not dungeon items. Overseas, there are many anti–Hunter groups that carry out terror attacks with modern weapons.”

“They only made it into Korea much later.”

Everyone here knew I’d regressed, so I spoke freely.

“They weren’t all that strong. Sure, there was a fair bit of damage, but there wasn’t anything like using monsters like today.”

Having never left Korea, this was all alien to me. They mainly targeted the Hunter Association or major guilds, so I had no reason to run into them. Against the big guilds, it was like ant bites — annoying, nothing more.

“What about the man who delivered the message?”

“He was an ordinary non–awakened. Said his family was being held hostage.”

Saying we couldn’t get any information on the blackmailer, Chief Song set the bouquet he’d been holding on the table.

“…It was addressed to me.”

Oh dear. Did he pick up another Seong Hyunjae–type? I glanced at Seong Hyunjae and he shrugged. Ten to one it was a foreigner — in the end, isn’t this just a stalker who started out following the Sesung Guildmaster around?