The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 566: The Objective Behind (2)

Their world was both narrow and wide. The space for the Unfilial Children excluded by the Source was, at most, about the size of a small country. That space was further divided into five.

There were five Sources in existence. Accordingly, there were five zones, each responsible for a Source. However, since Young Chaos was facing the First Source alone, the first zone remained uninhabited and was used merely as a storage area.

The zone assigned to Rookie was the last one, the fifth. Excluding common areas like the lounge and administration room of each zone, the remaining space was given to the Unfilial Children. The space each individual could possess was roughly the size of a large house. For Transcendents who used to hold worlds and planets in their hands and shake them, it was a pitifully shabby level, but depending on the owner’s ability, the space could expand endlessly.

Rookie had recently decorated his house to resemble Han Yujin’s home. A house with a spacious garden. He set up a Christmas tree in the garden and made it snow white. He placed a sofa and a table in the living room and installed a large TV. A bedroom, kitchen, study, and bathroom. Everything looked ordinary, but the innermost room was different.

In the innermost room, countless small towers were erected. On the floor, on the walls, and even on the ceiling. Each one was a pseudo–dungeon space expanded by Rookie.

Among them, a tower where yellow flowers and blue clouds bloomed was the place Rookie spent the most time in these days.

“That First guy needs to look out for his own share first.”

Young Chaos clicked his tongue in disapproval. A large screen was floating in front of him. A video was playing on the translucent screen, which didn’t quite match the surrounding strange cliffs with waterfalls and the lush forest. Channel Chatterbox.

“But Honey is gaining more allies.”

Rookie said, twitching his drooping ears.

“That’s usually a good thing. One of the biggest stumbling blocks in saving a world is internal strife! No matter how hard we try, people who put their own benefits first always pop up!”

There were even times when a world they thought would definitely be saved ended up being swallowed by the Source. It was because the most powerful wizard in that world fell into a trap set by a group jealous of him and lost his life. Those who followed the wizard attacked the trap makers, and during the long, drawn–out battle, unmanaged labyrinths burst open one after another, leading to the world’s destruction.

“It’s exactly what they call raining on the parade in Honey’s neighborhood! Even if it’s hard for us to give them the full details. They have a clear enemy called monsters! Yet, they fight among themselves at the drop of a hat. Or conversely, they dump everything on a few strong people. …Just like in my hometown.”

Rookie blinked slowly. If there had been someone else by his side. If there had been someone he considered precious. Would he have not accepted the Crescent Moon’s offer then? Would he have tried to protect it until the end?

It was a story already finished, but he couldn’t help thinking, what if.

“Everyone has greed, after all. Among various greeds, the one usually prioritized is the desire for oneself. You might find things infinitely precious as you live, but before that, ‘I’ must exist.”

“But if the world is ruined while you’re busy fulfilling your own greed, you die too.”

“Idiots who stuff their faces with even the seed corn meant for farming exist everywhere you go. I mean that the greed of caring for oneself isn’t wrong in itself. Rather, it is a necessary and natural greed. Even if all the good things in the world exist, what meaning is there if I am not there? That goes for you too, Rabbit.”

Chaos’s red eyes looked straight at Rookie. Rookie’s ears twitched. Even though Young Chaos wouldn’t know the details of Rookie’s past, it felt like he was saying that if Rookie had looked after himself first, his world might still be safe.

“Oneself is more important than anything else in the world. Since all these worlds are, in the end, things that I see, hear, feel, and think.”

“…People do say to cherish yourself, though.”

“This isn’t comfort or anything, just a simple fact. Whether you cherish and love yourself or roll yourself in a field of dog shit, it is an unchanging truth.”

Whether you are at the very top of the world or at the very bottom.

[Hunter Han Yujin, who gave up his own victory for the victory of more Hunters! Shall we watch it again?]

Just then, the screen showed Han Yujin riding a motorcycle out of the plaza. Young Chaos, who had been speaking calmly, furrowed his brow deeply.

“Anyway, that First guy! That bastard has bad habits right from the start. It’s obvious he’s been like that since he was young.”

“You think he was born with it?”

“Born with it, my foot.”

“Why not? There are people who are naturally kind. Those who work hard for others and are praised as excellent. They even risk their lives.”

Rookie said, carefully gauging Chaos’s mood. Rookie had also sacrificed himself for many people. Thanks to that, many lived in abundance.

“There are times when you make a resolution that you really must do it.”

Changing the TV channel, Young Chaos continued.

“Not because you’re pushed into it, and not because you have no choice. There are moments like that. In those moments, the thought of sacrifice doesn’t even cross your mind. You just do what needs to be done. Before helping others, you are doing what you yourself want to do.”

“…Honey might be like that too.”

Rookie certainly wasn’t, though. He had just followed orders.

“This time, at least the Second looked after him, and he took his share. But the First…”

Even after changing channels, Chatterbox’s party was the hot topic. The whole world was chattering about it.

“Sometimes, looking at him, it’s not just that he doesn’t take care of himself…”

Young Chaos shut his mouth. Rookie tilted his head.

“Anyway, is that Clown guy okay? I don’t know much about that side of things, but he seems to be digging too deeply into the First’s world.”

“He’s fine. Naturally, we placed strict restrictions on him!”

Rookie explained confidently.

“The name known in Honey’s world is ‘Chatterbox’. Not the Transcendent Gi Os Sanus. He entered Honey’s world after making it clear that Chatterbox is an entity separated from the Transcendent, so there is absolutely no influence from Gi Os Sanus! It’s like having a completely different ID card. The photo is different, the name is different, and even the date of birth and residence are different. So, he can’t enter Honey’s world as a Transcendent while holding Chatterbox’s ID!”

No matter how famous Chatterbox becomes, he has no relation to the Wizard of the Maze, the Transcendent. Young Chaos looked slightly skeptically at Rookie, who assured him not to worry.

“It’s a relief if there are no problems, but.”

“Lord Chaos, you should also take this opportunity to learn—”

“Can you still not do chatting or whatever it is?”

“I told you, it’s difficult to go beyond simple observation and actually interfere. You need to find a contractor in Honey’s world, like Chatterbox did. And go through negotiations, and create a new identity unrelated to the Transcendent.”

Rookie rattled off a list of things that needed to be done. Young Chaos pretended not to hear.

Jingle.

“Mr. Blacksmith!”

A bell rang from somewhere, and Rookie lit up with joy as he opened a door in the air. Through the open hole, the inside of a forge could be seen. Yu Myungwoo naturally crossed over into Rookie’s space.

“Hello, Elder.”

Yu Myungwoo bowed politely to Chaos first, then bowed to Rookie as well. Rookie beamed and clapped his hands.

“Shall I give you tea? What about snacks? How about tentacles? I specially picked them out with care! The Moss Rocks of the Third World recently came up with a pretty decent tentacle production formula. They aren’t that gross! Probably? How about we try adding a scent or color that Honey likes? Or we could make them plant–like! Statistically, people in Honey’s world don’t have much aversion to plant stems! They eat them a lot too. Like arrowroot, sweet potatoes, or grapes!”

“Separately storing mana in the magazine to allow for rapid fire turned out to be tricky. Mana of the same nature basically has a strong tendency to clump together, you know.”

Yu Myungwoo let Rookie’s words flow in one ear and out the other as he took out a handgun to show him.

“I’m fine without refreshments.”

“Ah, rapid fire is originally difficult. Unless you make bullet items separately, pure magic bullets will mix together just like you said, Mr. Blacksmith. Honey’s gun is S–Rank, but I don’t think the separate loading for magic bullets was applied, right? Start by keeping the space far apart with a larger weapon! Also, should I bring Senior Tree’s tentacle as a sample to show you?”

“I will decline. I’m continuing to practice sprouting buds with magic stones from plant–type monsters, but it’s not easy.”

“Still, there’s nothing better than that for solidifying the basics of spatial composition. Try following the mana circuit of the magic stone without missing a single strand. And about Honey! He set off a lot of bombs this time; were any of them yours, Mr. Blacksmith?”

Yu Myungwoo shook his head.

“The ones used this time were probably ordinary bombs obtained from Japan.”

“That’s a relief! You have to be careful. If the performance of modern–style weapons coming out of dungeons becomes too good, there’s a high probability of a huge backlash in Honey’s world. The faction of people selling weapons is large, you see. So, make sure! Make them so they are only effective against monsters.”

“Don’t worry. I can’t even dare to make tanks or fighter jets yet, and regarding firearms, unless it’s the magic power of a high–ranking Hunter, heavy firearms are inferior to modern weapons.”

Furthermore, small firearms were much more expensive than non–dungeon ones. So, while an FF–Rank Awakened who isn’t a Hunter might keep one for dungeon break preparation, they would likely still use ordinary firearms for daily use.

After Rookie and Yu Myungwoo chatted for a while, Young Chaos suddenly spoke up.

“Something has been fluttering over there for a while now.”

“Ah, that…”

Rookie answered with an annoyed expression.

“One of Chatterbox’s games ended. So they’re probably calling me. Even though nothing special happened.”

The hole connecting to the Golden Forge appeared again. With Yu Myungwoo’s current ability, he couldn’t stay here without Rookie’s help.

“I’ll be right back!”

After sending Yu Myungwoo back and creating a refreshment table for Young Chaos, Rookie left the space. Stepping out of his house, he leaped toward the common area. Above a metallic golden round spring, a Deer and a Tree were waiting for Rookie amidst flower bud–like chairs floating around. Deer reached out and touched his antlers, which were half recovered.

“I couldn’t even leave my room because it was so embarrassing. I can’t even hide my antlers, yet leaving only the ugly stumps behind—that was too much.”

If he hid his antlers, which were the source of his power and his greatest pride, he wouldn’t be able to use his unique authority. That was the restriction Deer had. Yet, Deer would bet his antlers on a wager once or twice every thousand years. It was because that was one of the few stimulations he could feel in a boring daily life without change.

“Seniors, why did you call me? Nothing special happened.”

Rookie sat as if burying himself in a flower bud, spreading his petal–like clothes with a flutter.

“Rather, it is proceeding well, just as planned…”

“That’s right.”

Tree smiled satisfactorily. Fingertips like dry branches twitched slowly.

“To think Chatterbox would play the game in that way. Thanks to him, the number of S–Rank Awakened who have goodwill toward Honey is increasing. On top of that, Chatterbox will definitely try to harm Honey and Honey’s precious people at the end. Perfect!”

“The conclusion is that we teach him the method at that moment. Then Honey will accept it without resistance, too.”

Deer also chimed in while constantly stroking his antlers. Tree looked up at Rookie floating around with the chair.

“Rookie, the reason we called you is to ask if there was anyone who applied the Keyword during the game.”

“You didn’t watch?”

“Because there was no need to watch every single detail. Did you not watch either?”

“Of course I watched! It was fun!”

At Rookie’s words, Tree and Deer made similar expressions.

“He really is young, I tell you. Our youngest, aww, our baby.”

Rookie bristled at Tree’s words.

“It’s true, just watch it once!”

“We’ve seen things like that hundreds, thousands of times. We even issued oracles to make Awakened compete in that manner.”

“But…”

It’s different. Rookie looked at the two Transcendents. To them, this game was nothing more than a common, repeating event. But Rookie had someone he knew. There were people he was interested in and fond of. He had empathized, cheered, felt anxious, and rejoiced together with them.

“Enjoy it while it’s still good. Anyway, Rookie, didn’t the number increase by one or two?”

“…No. In this game, appearances were hidden. It would have been difficult to apply the Keyword.”

“Is that so? When you meet Honey next time, urge him appropriately. We need to fill at least 50 people. The more, the better.”

Rookie’s eyes rolled around.

“I don’t think my work will be finished on time.”

“Wouldn’t it still be okay? As long as Chatterbox does well. Just in case, take good care of the Blacksmith. You said you already connected him to the forge, right?”

Rookie nodded. However, Yu Myungwoo would not abandon his people or his world. Unlike the ones here.

“It might end sooner than expected.”

“Then I should sleep soundly for about a hundred years. So that my antlers can be completed more perfectly than before!”

“You can’t escape the form of a beast because you’re obsessed with your antlers.”

“If I didn’t even have this obsession, how could I live through the boredom? It’s just simple repetitive work.”

Tree and Deer disappeared. Simple repetitive work. Rookie, left alone, muttered quietly and then craned his neck to look down at the golden spring. Rookie’s face was reflected blurrily before being buried under falling petals.

‘What we are doing is the right thing.’

It is the work of saving the world. That fact remained unchanged, but…

Countless circular ripples rose on the water’s surface before scattering and disappearing.