The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 460: Disciples (3)

“What did you talk about back at the dungeon hotel? And ‘bring him’ — don’t tell me you’re going to teach Seong Hyunjae too?”

Why him, of all people. He’s already plenty good. Sure, it’s not bad if he gets stronger, but it still feels too early to relax around him. The Filial Duty Addicts are aiming for him, the Crescent Moon mess is still there.

And before that, I begged you a bunch of times to teach our kids! Favoritism. Special treatment.

“You were about to smack his head with a lobster — when did you start liking him that much? Or did he give you something? Is he offering you something? Well? What did you get?”

“I didn’t get anything.”

“Then you’re going to teach him for nothing? That’s too much, ow!”

My forehead stung. Young Chaos flicked my brow with a fingertip and clicked his tongue.

“Why would I teach the chain–master.”

Chain–master, huh. Not wrong, but hearing it like that makes Seong sound like a rustic Korean artisan. He is Korean, but that face suits chains better. Say “chain–master” and you picture some mountain hermit who’s forged chains all his life. Intangible Cultural Asset No. nn, or something.

“He’s got too much piled up — you don’t teach that, you grind it out of him.”

“…Grind him?”

“Push him right up to the brink of death, constantly.”

“…He’s not that bad.”

How much are you planning to beat the man. First impressions were bad, sure, but strictly speaking that wasn’t the current Seong Hyunjae. The current one was… relatively courteous, wasn’t he.

“At my age, talk of good and evil… the third tried to dump the second in.”

“Huh?”

I glanced toward the lake, but my eyes couldn’t make it out. I snatched up Peace and used the Teacher skill — and saw Yerim fall into the water.

“…The third fell in.”

“The second dodged.”

In the lake, Yerim flailed with both arms. I couldn’t hear her, but she was shouting something. Either way, Yuhyun was already running far ahead. Yerim almost climbed ashore, then changed her mind and started swimming straight across the lake.

“That’s fine too. The third handles water. Moving underwater with her mana minimized will help.”

Right. Maybe we should just buy the pool we borrowed for Mar’s temporary stay. Or put a pool on the rooftop garden instead of an open–air bath.

Swimming is slower than running, of course, but Yerim’s speed was solid — and since she cut the lake’s center instead of circling it, she wouldn’t fall far behind Yuhyun. Not that it was a race.

“If you’re going to keep that guy nearby, bring him regularly. I’ll check him.”

“You mean the ‘piled up’ part. Checking is good — but you’ll only check, right?”

You’re not going to decide he’s in a bad state and try to ‘handle’ him, right.

“Right. The decision is his.”

By then, Yuhyun had returned first. He’d run a long way, but he didn’t look winded. Yerim arrived a moment later, soaked. She shot him a glare and peeled hair off her face.

“Run again.”

Young Chaos said. …Eh?

“Again? Are you going to make them run all day?”

“Just running will take too long. Bunny.”

[Yep!]

“Raise a hill beside the lake.”

Rumble. The space shivered; a low hill swelled up by the lake. Two shovels floated over to Yuhyun and Yerim. Oh, no.

“Fill the lake.”

“Sir!”

I created a headache! Kids, I’m sorry!

“And no mana this time either.”

…It’s training. It’s necessary, I told myself — and my chest still hurt. What a slog. My face must’ve been bleak; the kids tried to soothe me.

“It’s fine, don’t worry, Mister.”

“Yeah, hyung. We’re fine. Rest.”

“…Don’t push yourselves too hard.”

“We have to.”

Chaos cut in flatly.

“You empty yourselves until you can’t even move.”

“That far?”

“From there, your body starts to support itself with pure mana. For a rapid boost to control and sensitivity, nothing beats this.”

If he says so. I watched their backs, eyes stinging, as they headed for the hill. The fundamentals are brutal. A sigh slipped out.

[Honey, want a snack?]

the Rookie boinged. No snack.

“I want to ask about this. This thing.”

I took out the King of Harmless’s 71st Drawer from my inventory. The volleyball’s painted face wobbled hard at the cube.

“The King of Harmless gave it to me — is it safe?”

[One moment!]

Tentacles unfurled from the ball. Ugh. They slithered over and tapped the cube in my hand.

[Hmm, it recognizes Honey as the owner. The inside space doesn’t seem that big.]

“They said you can go in multiple times — true? I won’t go in and get stuck, right.”

[Right. But the mana budget is limited. Without refills, about thirty entries per person? That’s the cap. Unlike the Blacksmith’s Forge, this is just a simple vault — it was made rough.]

An actual subspace — “made rough,” he says.

[I can’t see the interior specifics. So first time, it’s safest if Honey goes alone.]

“Just me?”

[Yes. You never know what’s in there. Honey has a damage–nullifying item and, as the drawer’s owner, you can exit anytime — you’re fine.]

Even if there’s some monster, I can just hop out. So use Grace at around L–grade and take a look.

[Drawer grade SSS–grade? Then it only stores items at or below that — even less of a problem!]

Up to SSS–grade — then yeah, I’m really safe. I’ve got poison and curse resistance too.

[Just avoid using it in a dungeon if you can. A dungeon is also a system–made storage space — signals can cross. Like how the Blacksmith reached me through the Forge.]

“Got it. Thanks.”

[You’re welcome! I can always check things to that extent, so ask anytime~]

I’ll try it at home. What’s inside? If an SSS–grade piece drops, that’d be amazing. I put the drawer back and asked the Rookie:

“Any other news? About the Transcendents.”

[The gap from Honey’s side is still too big. Feels like they’re up to something!]

Hence aiming at Seong. Wait — then maybe…

“Chatterbox’s side — they don’t know much about the pre–regression me, right?”

[We don’t know you well from then either. You only drew notice at the very end… because you weren’t a ‘needs caution’ target.]

The Rookie sounded apologetic.

“I had two innate S–classes near me, though.”

[There were lots of people like that besides Honey. From then — hmm, oh! The Dragon Rider. In Korea, outside of S–classes, she’s the one most thoroughly recorded.]

Right. Soyeong’s close with Seong, and after becoming acting guildmaster she’s had contact with Yuhyun too. Then there’s Hyunah and Chief Song. Even if Seong and Chief Song met with me pre–regression, Soyeong still had more frequent, longer contact.

There’s Seok Gimyeong, high–class healers, etc., too. So the defector side won’t have much on pre–regression me.

“Could you propose a ‘fair duel’ kind of method?”

[We can float the idea. They won’t accept it easily, though.]

“Then, Rookie — how about this?”

The Rookie bounced at my idea.

[Sounds good! But isn’t that unfavorable for Honey?]

“No, not at all. But don’t say I suggested it — make it your idea.”

[Okay!]

It was safe, and it looked unfavorable to us while actually favoring us. Hope they bite.

“Uuuuuu…”

With half the hill gone, Yerim was the first to collapse. She flopped flat like speech had abandoned her.

“Uuuuuu.”

“Sir! Yerim looks really exhausted!”

“She’s still got the strength to grumble.”

“That’s grumbling? That?”

“She’s sulking about losing to the second. Cursing him out.”

How can he tell. Even Yuhyun was slowing at the shovel. Sweat beaded on his forehead. S–class — with fire skills.

Young Chaos walked to the fallen Yerim and tapped her twitching fingers with the stick tip.

“Try to get up, youngest.”

“…Nngh.”

“Yerimmm…”

“Strain until you can’t even twitch a finger.”

While she twitched, Yuhyun’s shovel clonked off a rock. He stumbled hard and one knee hit the ground. Ah, my little brother. An S–class who can’t even break a rock!

“Yuhyun! If it’s too much, just lie down!”

“…I’m still fine.”

He rose again and dug around the rock. He’d long shed his regalia; his shirt sleeves were rolled. His hands — and up past the wrist — were caked in dirt. He hefted a load of soil and trudged to the lake — not quite staggering, but clearly slowed.

“Sir, do you not feel bad for the kids?”

“I felt bad watching you flail.”

“Uugh…”

Yerim groaned assent. With her last strength she bobbed her head — then went completely still.

“Yerim!”

She’s breathing, right? To check, Chaos poked her shoulder with the stick tip.

“Good. Now, slowly release your mana. Just enough to stand and move.”

Yerim’s chest rose and fell big. Breathing deep, she began to move. Her fingertips twitched first; then she pressed the ground, raised her torso, sat up.

“Phew — this is a weird feeling. It’s my body but… uh, I am moving it, but it’s like playing with a doll…?”

“Focus on the flow settling into every corner. You’ve used that body all your life, so the moving sensation is too natural — you never felt it. No one lives thinking through how their body works, one by one.”

True. You just “walk,” you just “grab” — you don’t analyze knee bend and extension, how much force, exactly how far your fingers curl. No need. Sometimes you notice your breath or tongue position, but that’s it.

Yerim stood fully. Swaying a little, she picked up the shovel again.

“Continue?”

“Skip the shoveling. Circle the lake slowly in that state. Keep your attention on body and mana.”

“Okay!”

After she’d walked a while, Yuhyun fell too — both knees this time. He exhaled long and tried to rise, but his legs — even his arms — trembled visibly. Even so, with that shaking body, he forced himself up — took a few steps — and went down completely. I could cry.

Chaos checked him, and the same sequence as with Yerim played out. Tonight, they’re getting a restorative dinner. Samgyetang, maybe.

Only after they’d circled the lake a few laps did he allow them to lift the mana restrictions. Using just enough to barely move, they sprang back to life in an instant.

“Wow, I feel alive!”

Yerim windmilled her arms. Looking at them like they’d spent a week in the wild, I thought maybe Seong should get rolled around a bit too. Adults should lead by example.

“Can I wash my face?”

Yerim formed a droplet — wanting at least to rinse — and it wasn’t the usual simple shape.

“Look, Mister!”

The water formed a clean hemisphere, like carved by a sculptor — she even shaped a handle. It held with not a wiggle, like there was an invisible bowl.

“It used to slosh around! The effect is super fast.”

“Don’t get cocky. It won’t last more than a few hours.”

Even with that warning — that she was just temporarily sensitive to mana — Yerim beamed. Yuhyun drew out a bit of flame and his eyes lit too.

“If we keep training, we can do this normally, right?”

“You can.”

“Please keep teaching us!”

“Me too — please.”

They bowed; Young Chaos shrugged.

“Whatever. I promised — I’d have checked on you even if you didn’t ask.”

His voice was blasé, but he didn’t dislike it. Next time, I should pack something he likes.