The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 556: Doing Their Own Thing (2)

To get a better look, I cast the teacher skill on Mr. Noah and pulled a megaphone out of Myungwoo’s pocket. Facing the old auction house, still choked with dust clouds, I shouted.

“Ah, mic test, mic test.”

Listen up, everyone.

“Attention, asset–holders and thieves. The slave has already been secured, and the police chief is massacring the cops.”

“The police chief?”

“What is he talking about.”

The asset–holders stirred. Unless they were like me and had seen the cops directly, they wouldn’t have heard this yet.

“We haven’t figured out the police chief’s identity yet, but─”

└ Yujin, think carefully, who else could smash a bunch of S–ranks in one hit like that, sob sob sob

└ The police chief is handsome and kind □□□□□ Yujin!!

I was about to continue when I flinched at the chat. I’d ruled out Liette and Ms. Hyunah, and even if it was a preemptive strike, the cops were getting wiped out too fast, so I’d figured it was Yoo Hyun or Seong Hyunjae or maybe Yerim and Chief Song. But if he was “handsome and kind”…

‘Is it Chief Song?’

The “kind even in other people’s eyes” part snagged me. Seong Hyunjae was obviously out, and Yoo Hyun was kind to me, but if I threw away my brotherly affection and honestly, objectively speaking… hmm. His public image was decent, sure. Wait, does Seong Hyunjae look kind to outsiders too?!

“Uh, in any case, even for most S–rank Hunters, I’d assume he’s a very dangerous opponent. Also, the Outlaw is destroying Manhattan.”

“In that situation, we should hurry up and draw lots.”

White Suit spoke up. At his words, Noah whispered softly.

“Should I kill him?”

“Let’s just subdue him for now. You can just drop me.”

Noah’s hand released my body.

└ Gasp!

└ H–Y–J!!!

I plummeted straight down and threw the smoke bomb I’d prepared. Thick smoke spread over the ground, and before my body hit the floor, Noah dove at White Suit like an eagle. But the moment the smoke bomb went off, White Suit slipped away as if he’d been waiting for it. Crack! Noah’s fingers pierced the concrete, and White Suit, who had hopped back, drew a sword.

Right after that, I hit the ground too. Normally I would have splatted pathetically from that height, but thanks to the lynx gear I rolled once and bounced back up at once. This should make me look like a low–stat A–rank support, at least. I didn’t look F–rank.

“Asset–holders can’t initiate attacks, you know that. Thieves can. If you move carelessly, you’ll be facing multiple enemies at once.”

“But thieves can’t kill participants. Asset–holders are only barred from attacking first; they can kill. Thieves, please don’t act rashly.”

White Suit, standing on a broken column where he’d dodged Noah’s strike, spoke calmly.

“There might be a very dangerous Hunter hiding among you.”

The few thieves in the vicinity twitched. Cops were more likely to be stronger, but the point was that asset–holders were rich enough to burn through items. Even if the thieves, probably mostly A–rank supports, ganged up, if they happened to hit someone like the Sesung Guild Leader, they’d just get wiped out instead.

‘Should we really get rid of him like Mr. Noah said.’

If that White Suit disappeared, it would be easier to draw the asset–holders in, even if things were already half ruined. Noah rose into the air and slowly circled around White Suit.

Let’s sort things out.

Thieves can’t use their movement skills. In other words, getting Mr. Noah to carry the slave and fly to Governors Island was impossible. Hunters who weren’t close to me had too high a chance of betrayal. The ones left were Yerim and Liette, plus Yoo Hyun and Peace. That made four, but saying, “Help me win and I’ll give you gold coins,” felt awkward. Besides, the reverse was possible too: I help them and take gold instead.

Given my own situation, the latter might actually be the better option.

‘I’ve already won in a row anyway, so I can skip this one.’

With a thief’s abilities, a solo victory without other players’ help was hard. For me, it was basically impossible. So I should go for a joint win instead.

‘And drag in as many as I can.’

So my role would be big.

“The cops will be here soon. The auction is over, after all.”

I spoke toward White Suit. Calm black eyes settled on me. I had a feeling I knew who this was.

“The thieves only need to keep them from collecting gold coins before then.”

“So you’ve teamed up with the cops. But among those cops, is there really no one who wants a solo victory? And among the thieves, for that matter.”

That was the problem. White Suit smiled.

“Asset–holders, the thief targeting me right now cannot attack you.”

“Get him! All the other thieves, go for that guy in the white suit!”

“If more than one of you joins in, it becomes many–on–one!”

Exactly. Noah, probably the strongest thief here, couldn’t easily attack asset–holders beyond this point. He went at White Suit again. But White Suit was faster than expected. Maybe he had some kind of speed–related buff; his smooth dodges hinted at plenty of experience.

“Finish the trades before the cops gather!”

Rumble─ Debris piled at White Suit’s feet crumbled like a sandcastle when Noah’s foot brushed by. Even when Noah forced a buff on him, White Suit didn’t panic. His footing slipped, the landing point changed, but he still narrowly escaped danger. It reminded me a bit of Seong Hyunjae. If it were that guy, this would already be over, but there was something slightly similar.

“What should we do!”

Kang Soyeong ran up to my side, shouting. The asset–holders were watching one another. The mood was such that once one of them stepped up, they’d snap up the gold and end things in an instant.

“Can I help now?”

If Kang Soyeong put her buffs on him, Noah would be able to subdue White Suit quickly. But then we wouldn’t be able to stop the rest of the asset–holders. The thieves here were all playing it safe. How to deal with the asset–holders… ah.

‘He’s short, but with short blond hair. White.’

Even knowing our appearances were different, the image in front of their eyes had a big impact. And also…

I let out a short sigh and straightened my back. I lazily looked around like I was a bit bored.

“I suppose it can’t be helped. I wanted to enjoy my role as a thief a little longer.”

“…What?”

“If the asset–holders start pooling their coins.”

I tilted my head slightly and smiled.

“I’ll take care of all of them.”

Kang Soyeong blinked. Then, catching on quickly, she cried out,

“Oh, Guild Leader! You’re doing this again! But I like it~”

A few asset–holders froze. White Suit turned to look our way.

└ What is even happening right now????????

└ Director Han, what are you doing??

└ This, lololololololol it’s the Sesung Guild Leader lolololololol They can’t go at him

There weren’t many guild leaders who’d attend with their guild members. And among them, there was only one person who would pretend to be a thief and act weak like this. On top of that, we had this:

“Yes, understood.”

Mr. Noah added his line. The kind of presence that could issue orders to high–rank Hunters. I calmly looked over the rattled asset–holders. Kang Soyeong moved to stand slightly behind me, just like she always did when attending Seong Hyunjae.

“…Is that really the Sesung Guild Leader?”

“I think that really is Kang Soyeong.”

I couldn’t directly state my identity, but others could. And in a game where everyone’s identities were obscured, tricking people like this was one way to play.

└ The asset–holders’ chat room is going nuts too lolololol The filter, seriously lololol

└ He’s blowing everything up in every sense lololol?

└ In my life that feels like winter, Yujin showed up carrying a Bomb

└ □□□□□ This room is hilarious, no one cares about the game, they’re just here to talk their hearts out, what is this, a campfire or something lololol

└ How can they fall for that lololol sob sob sob

To the viewers, it must look ridiculous: F–rank–stat Han Yujin pretending to be the Sesung Guild Leader… I’d like to see it too. I flicked a gold coin into the air, let it spin, then snatched it out of the air.

“If collecting gold coins is the win condition, then before that, we can just─”

“Candybox.”

White Suit cut in. Oh, come on. I calmly ignored him.

“The odds are higher that you’re Hunter Han Yujin.”

I only smiled without replying. The asset–holders didn’t need to believe me completely. It was enough to make them hesitate. If they tried to collect coins carelessly, they might get attacked by the Sesung Guild Leader and lose their gold instead. If I could just stir that anxiety, drag things out until the cops arrived, that would be enough.

Then another asset–holder spoke up.

“He’s a guild member too, that man in the white suit.”

“Ah!”

Kang Soyeong’s eyes went round before she clapped a hand over her mouth. …Yeah, I knew who he was now too. White Suit, who had dodged Noah’s strike by sliding across the ground, shouted toward Kang Soyeong.

“Hunter Kang Soyeong, no matter how much you like Director Han, you can’t treat him like the Guild Leader! That’s a demerit!”

“Excuse me? No, the demerits are for the Guild Leader, that’s─”

“Gold coin!”

Evelyn shouted, and the asset–holder who’d backed her up—probably Vanessa—pulled out her gold coin. The asset–holders all looked as if they’d snapped back to their senses.

“We’re out of time! Right now─”

And almost at the same moment—

Vrooooom─!

A loud motorcycle engine roared. A Hunter with long black hair tied up in a loose ponytail gunned the bike straight toward the piled–up wreckage and—

Kwakwang!

—charged in. It was like another bomb had gone off; fragments of building material scattered in all directions. Then rumble, more Hunters burst out, destroying intact buildings one after another.

“You’re all under arrest!”

The Hunter who’d smashed the building bared her teeth in a grin and shouted. Tossing the bike aside and jumping off, another Hunter shrugged at her before turning their gaze back our way.

“We cops want a peaceful joint victory. But we don’t have time to talk everyone into it slowly.”

Thud! A staff so thick it looked like it could wrap around my entire torso struck the ground. The area trembled as if an earthquake had hit. That should have been a club at first. The bike, too. So this was Ms. Hyunah.

“If you don’t cooperate, we’ll respond with force.”

“Is this sacrifice of the few for the many?”

Evelyn asked. Moon Hyunah looked at her, at him.

“A little compromise means no one has to be lost and everyone gets something.”

“Compromise by force is robbery. And more than anything, the asset–holders…”

Evelyn’s gaze, Moon Hyunah’s gaze, everyone’s gaze turned upward. On a nearby rooftop, not that far away, someone stood. Police uniform. Under reddish blond hair, cool gray eyes watched us silently.

The police chief.

“If we just hold out a little longer, things will tip in our favor.”

If the police chief killed most of the cops, only the relatively weak thieves would be left, and they could safely collect gold without worrying about being robbed. Evelyn’s eyes curved in a smile.

“Wouldn’t it be faster for the cops to take down the thieves gathered here?”

At those words, a subtle current rippled through the air around us. A joint victory really wasn’t going to be easy.

└ Group projects fall apart in real life, so a joint victory is just a dream, right???

└ If the species is “human”, a joint victory is impossible

Just as Moon Hyunah was about to retort,

“Damn it!”

One of the cops grimaced hard. The other cops’ faces darkened too. The police chief’s orders had come down.

“Why am I not being called?”

The cop who was probably Liette tilted her head, and Moon Hyunah raised an eyebrow.

“Now he’s openly picking people. He must have caught on to who you are or who I am.”

“Even though cops can’t initiate attacks, he’s calling them one by one, and putting off the people who’d make the fight loud and messy.”

At my words, Moon Hyunah gave a small nod.

“Witnesses. That’s probably the restriction. Cops get penalties for killing participants too.”

“I saw it, so thieves are probably excluded. Think I could secretly follow them?”

The cop who’d received the order drew his weapon. Being an S–rank Hunter himself, he clearly had no intention of going down quietly.

“If I notice, I’ll have to stop him. To obey the order.”

Forcing a fight to stop it wouldn’t be easy either. If the cops fought each other and burned through their strength, it might put them at an even bigger disadvantage. The cop left, and Noah came closer and whispered to me.

“Mr. Yujin, the thief’s victory condition…”

Right, there was that too. Eliminate all the cops. So the thieves had no intention of protecting them. The fewer cops there were, the better it was right now for both thieves and asset–holders.

“Asset–holders only need one person left alive~ Let’s kill them all.”

“That’s obviously you, Liette. Anyone have a guess who the police chief is? Ms. Hyunah, do you know?”

“What do you think, big bro? My money’s on Seong Hyunjae or Young Master. Any intel in the chat? Skim it hard.”

“It’s all censored boxes, and what I can actually read is…”

└ Things H–Y–J blew up = the auction house, my heart, and Chief Song’s stomach

└ Yujin, is that bomb in your inventory multiplying or something?? Why do you have an endless supply…

└ Yujin, don’t just rob the army base, rob my house too

└ Yujin, if Peace is refreshing…! He’s Cool Peace!

No, that laugh earlier just slipped out. Anyway, aside from the censored bits, it was mostly the same stuff we already knew.

└ The only one who laughs next to Chief Han is H–Y–H–N

└ But Noah’s smile really is so pretty, sob sob Please smile all the time~!!

└ There isn’t a tank in Yujin’s inventory too, right? Right…? But if it’s Han Yujin, I kind of feel like it’s possible…

“I do not have a tank~ I’m not that shameless. The twins? When we first met, the one on the left was a girl. The Sesung Guild Leader’s phone really does get charged. A bomb at the office… I shouldn’t, but, hmm. Chief Song would arrest me. That’s about the gist of it.”

“Most of mine is small talk too. ‘Do you remember the 80,237th tennis ball you hit?’ That was summer.”

Thieves who’d left to search for the slave had begun drifting back toward the area one by one, ready to vanish with stealth at any moment. The asset–holders had grouped together and were still watching each other carefully, and the cops looked restless, not knowing when they’d be summoned away.

Cooperation, in this situation. And the asset–holders’ joint victory condition was to protect the slave for one hour.

“Do you really think there won’t be internal conflict for a whole hour?”

Evelyn asked. No one here would believe that was possible.

“Let’s clear out the asset–holders, then go after the thieves.”

One of the cops spoke up. The thieves edged back, and the asset–holders backed away too. Since there were penalties for killing participants, none of the cops rushed in first. But in that tense air where anything could explode at any time—

Rumble!

The ground shook, and a message window popped up.

[One quarter of Manhattan has been destroyed! If the Outlaws destroy half or more of Manhattan, the game will end in an Outlaw victory!]