The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 550: Manhattan Auction House (1)

└ Yujin, Rockefeller Center is a famous New York landmark and each floor has various entertainment options!

“New York?”

So it’s the exact location where the dungeon is. Then I can just take the subway to get there.

└ Yujin □□□□□ buy me a meal lololol

└ From today my name is Kim Slave, Yujin steal me away;;;;

└ Self-proclaimed slaves rapidly increasing in chat lolol thief inventory gonna burst

Participant-related information was still blocked. I set an hour on my phone and timer, then approached the door and lightly shook the bars. It made quite a loud noise, but there was no sign of anyone approaching. So they’re making the first escape easy, huh?

“If you’re a high-rank Hunter, you’d just break through and leave, but unfortunately my stats are F-rank. I need to conserve my strength too. Being a thief means getting chased to death… sigh. Ah, I may be in my bright twenties, but compared to the police, I’m sixty.”

That is, if you compare them to energetic twenty-year-old S-ranks. At sixty, I’d be in good health—practically half-corpse level. I lowered my head to check the door’s locking mechanism.

“It’s electronic without a keyhole. Since there are no wires connected, it must be battery-powered. It’s a style that doesn’t match the typical prison locks we usually see.”

└ Chief Han’s at it again lololol

└ Mouth! Mouth! Mouth!!!

└ Does this way not work either? Yujin sㄹaㅍe□□□□□□

I took out a pouch from my inventory. Then I pulled out a stun gun from inside it.

“The pouch sponsorship is from Yu Myungwoo! He specially lent it to me~”

The subspace pouch Myungwoo received when he got the Master of the Golden Forge skill. It was an impressive pouch that could hold up to one ton on its own, but on top of that, it could store anything except living things. Even items that weren’t from dungeons.

I did have a drawer too, but the drawer consumed stored mana every time I used it. That’s why I kept all the small items in the subspace pouch.

“Since it’s the starting point, security shouldn’t be too tight, so like this—”

Crackle!

I pressed the stun gun against the locking mechanism and used it. Sparks flew and the device malfunctioned, unlocking it.

└ Yujin, you… picking locks comes naturally to you?

└ Says you can live without laws but picks locks really skillfully lololololol

“Ah, this is like common sense~ Living life, you end up picking locks a few times, don’t you?”

I lowered my voice considerably as I went outside.

“Can you still hear me?”

└ ㅇㅇㅇㅇㅇ

└ Subtitles appear too

I walked along the long corridor. I couldn’t see anyone besides myself around. The other cells were also completely empty. There couldn’t be just one thief, so did others start elsewhere? Well, if the starting points were the same, people could form alliances right away.

└ Blliind ffiltter answerrs eeverythinng traanslate itt backwaards Chhief Haan Yujjin sllave □□□□□□□□□

└ Filters it like a ghost lolololol?

I came out of the building without any obstacles. Under the bright sunlight, I could see pedestrians passing by.

“It’s just New York.”

└ Subway on the left!!

└ How to ride New York subway [link]

Just in case, I tried clicking the link, but as expected, it didn’t connect. Then several people directly explained it.

└ Watch out for police! Real police!

└ I have an unlimited pass but wish I could swipe it for you

“I appreciate the sentiment~”

There would naturally be police or station staff in the subway. If I wasn’t careful, I could get caught by real police rather than participants and end up at the police station. But using a stealth skill would be a waste, and it’d be boring too. For now, I headed to the subway station.

“Do I have to steal food and stuff to eat too? Can I use money from pickpocketing to ride the subway?”

There were quite a lot of people at the station, as if it were rush hour. Police, present. So this place uses a card-swipe system. If it were a ticket-insertion type, I could brazenly claim the machine was broken.

I mixed as naturally as possible among the people and approached the subway entrance. Neither the police nor the station staff paid attention to me. If it’s rush hour, there should definitely be at least one person. Then finally, I spotted the person I was looking for.

Someone running late, rushing to catch the subway. Just before they swiped their card, passed through the entrance, and reached the stairs, I also ran and shouted.

“Pickpocket!”

└ ?????

└ What what? Did someone see???

People’s gazes instantly focused on me. But the man I pointed at didn’t even care and was busy running down the stairs. The police ran toward me and I leaped over the bar blocking the subway entrance.

“There! My wallet!! That guy!”

The police chased after me as I frantically ran down the stairs. I stopped, panting and looking around.

“Ah, shit…”

“Did your wallet get stolen?”

The police spoke kindly to the flustered me. Maybe my disguised appearance is white?

“Yes… I felt someone bump into me, so I checked just in case…”

I explained the pickpocket’s description and the wallet’s shape and maker while receiving sympathetic looks from the police and people around.

“I need to go urgently. The money’s fine, but if you happen to find the wallet and ID, please contact me here.”

I politely handed the police a roughly written phone number. The police consoled me and turned away. How nice of them.

└ Did you really get pickpocketed???

└ ㄴㄴㄴㄴlolololololol

“If a thief gets pickpocketed, I gotta shed that thief label. Don’t try this outside.”

I spoke quietly enough not to be heard around me while waiting for the subway. Even without me saying anything, the chat was active. Words overflowed with admiration, praise, and delight over nothing special, making the inside of my chest tingle.

‘…It’s a funeral that bastard Chatterbox is holding.’

So I thought I should have more of a sense of crisis, yet I found it hard to hold down the corners of my mouth trying to rise. If I smiled now, I’d really look strange, so I covered my mouth with my hand and lowered my head slightly. I’d probably look dejected from having my wallet stolen.

‘This isn’t the time to be this happy.’

What’s my situation right now? But still, even so. I couldn’t help my wavering heart.

Soon the subway arrived. Right after disembarking, my location was discovered by the police. Rockefeller Center Station wasn’t that far, and there was still plenty of time. And everyone would be heading to or already at Rockefeller Center. I got off one station away from the station.

└ You need to go further!

└ That’s not it

“Stealth skill uses are precious. At Rockefeller Center Station, I’d have to use a stealth skill immediately after getting off to survive. But at this station, there’s a high probability there won’t be police nearby.”

What were the odds of them riding the same subway as me? Since my location was revealed, I quickly left the subway station. Fortunately, I didn’t need to swipe a card when exiting.

“I don’t know the area well, so I’d appreciate guidance~”

└ Opened navigation app, just go straight ahead

└ Heart pounding □□□□□□□□

Detailed explanations poured in telling me where to go. Some people deliberately gave wrong directions, but those posts were immediately followed by strings of comments saying no.

└ Let’s go our SF!!!

└ Chief Han, please post lots of tiger photos too

└ Over there’s my regular shop! So delicious

└ What food do you like?

“Me? I don’t particularly dislike anything. Though I’m not too fond of things that are too sweet.”

└ Are you seeing anyone?

“Not right now~”

└ ‘Right now’ means you had someone before

“How old am I? Of course I had someone.”

Actually, I hadn’t. But I’d heard that in America, if you’re old enough and still have no dating experience, you’re treated as somewhat problematic. Even in Korea these days, kids date young. So I’d been advised to just say I had someone in the past.

└ Yujin, tell us Yuhyun’s sword name pleaseㅠㅠ I asked Yuhyun five hundred billion times and got ignored five hundred billion times;_;

“I’m sorry, but I can’t share information my brother hasn’t revealed. We’re family, but we’re also Hunters. So—”

Suddenly I felt chills, and immediately after—

CRASH!!

My body tumbled through a store’s glass wall. I heard people’s startled screams.

“Oh my God!”

“Police!”

└ Yujin!!!

└ Police?????

└ Crazy that’s □□□□!

My hand stung from being cut by glass shards. Since I had Grace turned on at a mid-level, there were no major injuries. It didn’t seem like they’d attacked very hard in the first place. To avoid revealing Grace, I looked at the person who attacked me while grimacing as if I were dying of pain.

An unfamiliar face in a police uniform.

“Evacuate. This is a dangerous criminal.”

The police spoke awkwardly, and the store’s customers and people around hurriedly moved away. The employees also took shelter through the back door.

“Since you’re bothering to say it, there must be a rule that police can’t harm ordinary people, right?”

As I got up, the police crossed over the broken glass wall and entered the store.

“A-rank? Your stats don’t seem to be F, but your reaction is too slow.”

“Because I’m a thief. Plus I’m a su— I mean, anyway!”

“You’re support class, obviously. It’s obvious. That’s why you became a thief.”

…What an annoying bastard.

└ So irritating

└ □□□□□□ that bastard □□□□

For now, I raised both hands to show I had no intention of attacking. Thieves can’t kill other participants. Maybe because of that, the police seemed very relaxed.

“You’ll either die here or get locked up again, so let me ask. How did you know? You’re too slow to have followed me after seeing me get off the subway.”

There were many people inside the station, so if that were it, they would have attacked right after I came out. So they didn’t discover me through the location information right after disembarking. The police definitely had another ability. The police rubbed their thumb and index finger together. Isn’t that a bribe demand?

“Gold coins.”

I clapped at the police’s words.

“Wow— when evacuating citizens, you were like a wooden block reading a book, but now it’s a complete life performance. So very realistic. Was your previous job a corrupt cop? I can feel the soul in this shakedown!”

└ Yujin, please watch yourself! What if Han Yuhyun comes and says you’re being reckless?!

└ Someone block Han Yujin’s mouth for me

Why? It really was natural. As I hurriedly lowered my body—

CRACK!

A wire grazed over my head and left a long mark on the wall. What a foul temper. Anyway, what was certain was that the police had a way to know the thieves’ locations. What could it be?

“Can’t you even grant a dying person’s wish?!”

“You’re F-rank.”

└ The mouth is the problem

“Think what you want. Would I act exactly like usual? Unless I’m brainless. Ah, maybe you’re the one acting as usual— ugh!”

I barely dodged this time too. The table split in half with a crunching sound. It was as if they’d swung a blade rather than a wire.

“Looks like you can’t kill thieves either. It said it wasn’t impossible, so is there a penalty? Hey!”

I tried to shout ‘I’m Han Yujin,’ but the words wouldn’t come out. It seemed directly revealing one’s identity was impossible. How annoying. Anyway, the person presumed to be S-rank was going very easy on me. Just enough not to kill me instantly.

The police frowned as if annoyed. Then pulled out handcuffs.

“Hold out your hands.”

“I’m asking how you found me. Did you write ‘thief’ on my back? Do I have special thief clothes like your police uniform?”

Should I find a mirror? I don’t know what I look like right now. In the broadcast, I seem to appear in my original form.

“Just one thing, really, what do I look like?”

“What?”

“Let’s tell each other. Mr. Police Officer has short brown hair, eyes close to black-blue. Height around mid-180s? Female.”

The police’s eyes widened.

“I’m fema—”

“Ah, no. Male. Probably? White.”

The police, who frowned, still obediently opened their mouth. Someone who understands give and take.

“Short blonde, green eyes, early 180s, female.”

“So I’m male.”

And I got taller! Though my actual eye level stayed the same. Might as well have made me over 190.

“Thank you for the kind explanation. Can’t you take me in without handcuffs?”

I said while rolling my eyes. What should I do? Since this police officer knows my identity, I want to eliminate them, but thieves can’t kill participants. If I get locked up and escape again, does my appearance change?

“The handcuffs—”

Shlick—!

Right after a chilling sound, thud, roll. The police’s head rolled across the floor. Maybe due to censorship, no blood flowed. Or perhaps it’s replaced with a fake upon instant death. Anyway.

THUD!

The police’s body fell to the side.

└ Whoa! Whoa!!!!!!

└ That’s!!!!!!□□□□□111111111111

└ Yujin!!!□□□□□□□!!!!!!!!!

Someone was standing beyond the police’s corpse. An incredibly cold gaze looked down at the eliminated participant, then sharply turned away. The uniform’s hem swayed greatly with that movement. It was a uniform, but slightly different from the police. Could it be?

‘…Police chief?’

But why would the police chief kill a police officer? The police don’t accept bribes—this city’s a mess. I quickly got up and tried to chase the police chief, but grabbed the handcuffs the police dropped and the uniform jacket they were wearing. Then I shouted.

“Sesung Guild Leader!”

Not even pretending to hear. Then. I tried to call out “Yuhyun,” but I couldn’t call them that way.

“Haeyeon Guild Leader!”

Still no reaction. The police chief’s figure instantly disappeared from sight. Neither one, huh? Well, even if it were true, they wouldn’t openly show it.

“Judging by skill, it seems like it’s one of these four: Sesung Guild Leader, Haeyeon Guild Leader, Hunter Liette, or Director Song Taewon.”

Since they severed the head in one stroke, it’s not Yerim. But the attack method could also be disguised. Who on earth could it be?