The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 573: Dream Within a Dream (1)

Peace came through the door into the spacious lounge and looked around. No familiar faces. He twitched his nose; only unfamiliar smells filled the air. Among the party staff, a couple with experience handling pets carefully approached Peace. Even if he was normally a Monster Mount, right now he was a participant and guest at the party. So the staff were very respectful.

“You’ve finished your match in first place.”

– Grrr.

“Is there anything you might… need?”

Peace tilted his head. The staff looked troubled, then tried again with gentle voices.

“We can bring you something to drink or eat.”

“…I don’t think he understands… or maybe he does.”

“Um… oh, right. Food! Your meal.”

The staffer said the word “meal” very clearly in Korean. At that, Peace snapped his head around. The movement clearly said he didn’t want that, and the staffer quickly replied, “Understood.”

“Hunter Han Yuhyun from your team will be coming here as well.”

– Grrr.

“And Hunter Han Yujin from your group too.”

Peace’s tail swished. A staffer quickly brought over a big cushion.

“Please relax here until Hunter Han Yujin arrives.”

– Whine.

The Flame Horned Lion quietly climbed onto the cushion and lay down. Seeing he had no intention of wandering off, the staff relaxed. With all the Korean Hunters out of the room, it would have been a problem if Peace had decided to go looking for his group on his own.

A little later, the Hunter who had lost to Peace showed up, grumbling. The staff tensed a bit and quickly explained the lounge to him. After some time, Han Yuhyun appeared. His eyes and Peace’s met for a brief moment, then both of them looked away. At the same time, they both scanned the room for Han Yujin. Peace lazily lowered his head back between his front paws, and Han Yuhyun asked a staffer,

“Has Hunter Han Yujin not come out yet?”

“No, Hunter Han Yuhyun, you were the second to finish your match.”

Han Yuhyun silently nodded and took a seat in a nearby chair. Liette arrived soon after.

“Commissioner, next time let’s really go at it~”

Han Yuhyun neither answered nor even glanced her way. Even though she was completely ignored, Liette just said she was getting hungry and headed for the table laid out with food. For both of them, indifference was the default. They were beings who had no need to live in groups, so they felt no obligation to respond out of politeness to things that didn’t interest them. When the other party didn’t react, they simply accepted it as, oh, they don’t care either, and felt no regret. Since they were living mixed in with human society, they made some effort with “social humans,” but only to that extent.

Time passed again, and Hunters started to show up one by one.

– Uh, r–rawr!

The fairy dragon Gyeol appeared. He had been about to say something, but hurriedly cried out like Peace instead. Pretending he couldn’t talk, he looked around as if searching for Han Yujin, glanced once at Han Yuhyun, then went over to Peace and claimed his side.

“You’re still as dirty as you were. Where’s the bathroom here?”

Because only injuries from the fight itself healed, Moon Hyunah was still caked in dirt. Frowning slightly, she asked a staffer. Judging by her appearance alone, you’d think she was the one who lost. Moon Hyunah gave the area a quick once–over, then left immediately to wash up. Evelyn, whose shoes were only a little dirty, appeared with a faint smile and poured herself some wine. It was part of the goods Moon Hyunah had supplied as a sponsor.

“Sis! Did you win? You did, right?!”

Kang Soyeong bounced over to Liette like she was skipping.

“Nope, I lost~”

“Huh? For real? Was it maybe our Guild Leader… no, Guild Leader of Haeyeon?”

“That’s right!”

“That must’ve been fun!”

“I wanted to see it too…” Kang Soyeong said with regret.

“I fought Noah! But I don’t see him?”

“The victor has to come out directly through the door. If they leave right away, they arrive before the loser, but if they don’t, they might end up arriving later.”

A staffer explained. Passing Soyeong a sugar–soaked cherry, Liette asked with an interested look,

“Noah actually tried to fight?”

“He hesitated at first. I mean, I can’t take him on alone, right? So it took longer just to get the fight started. He kept dodging and asking if I wouldn’t rather just forfeit. But once we started, it ended pretty quick!”

“They say he’s soft on people he’s close to~”

At Liette’s words, Kang Soyeong let out a squeal.

“For real? I knew it! There’s that Korean saying, you know – keep chopping and even the toughest tree will fall eventually! Ah, Noah!”

Noah, who had just entered the lounge, flinched and looked over at her, expression a bit sour.

“Thank you!”

“…Huh? I, uh, was the one who won, though.”

“Noah, want a cherry?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“I love you!”

“…Okay.”

“I’m interested in you!”

“Yes.”

“Not my little brother – you, Noah!”

Liette shouted with a big grin. Noah blinked.

“I realized I don’t really know anyone besides my little brother. So I figured I’d get to know you. I’m curious.”

“…Do as you like.”

Noah answered without much sincerity and turned away. To be precise, he just didn’t expect much. Too much time had passed for him to suddenly start hoping again just because Liette’s attitude had shifted a little. The fact that his sister had changed wasn’t bad, but that was about all he felt.

Han Yujin still hadn’t shown up. Park Yerim was missing too – only Han Yuhyun was there. Thinking he’d better sit somewhere and wait, Noah instead walked over to Han Yuhyun, having caught a faint unease in his expression.

“Is something wrong?”

Han Yuhyun glanced up at Noah.

“My brother still hasn’t come out.”

“Well, some matches can take a while.”

“There aren’t many people left.”

“More than half…”

Noah’s voice trailed off. There were plenty of Hunters still in the matches. But the people Han Yuhyun meant by “left” were the ones Han Yujin knew personally. If he’d been matched with one of their own, it was fine. But if it was some other Hunter – and unlucky enough to be one who held malice toward Han Yujin…

Both Han Yuhyun and Noah knew very well how stubborn Han Yujin could be. He wouldn’t give up easily. And if he didn’t forfeit… if his opponent ended it quickly, that would almost be a relief. But far too much time had already passed for that.

As their unease grew, Vanessa from Evelyn’s team appeared, and Song Taewon came into the lounge as well, jacket off. The color drained a little more from Han Yuhyun’s face. Noah went over to Song Taewon and asked,

“Did you happen to run into Yujin?”

“No. It was a Hunter I’d met before–”

Song Taewon quickly scanned the people gathered in the lounge. When Noah told him Hunter Moon Hyunah had already arrived as well, a hint of concern crossed Song Taewon’s face too.

The number of Hunters in the lounge kept growing, some of them drifting back out again. When fewer than ten were left, Seong Hyunjae appeared. Noticing all the eyes turning toward him, he looked puzzled for a moment, then muttered softly,

“Looks like Mr. Han Yujin still isn’t out.”

“Yes. So it wasn’t you either, Hunter Seong Hyunjae?”

At Song Taewon’s question, Seong Hyunjae gave a short shake of his head.

“I was–”

“Ah, I lost!”

At Park Yerim’s entrance, Han Yuhyun shot to his feet. He turned to the nearest staffer and asked,

“Give me a list of the Hunters still inside.”

“Excuse me? I’d have to check, but it’s probably not allowed. Hunter personal information is restricted by contract…”

“What’s wrong, Han Yuhyun? Mister still hasn’t come out yet?”

There was no Han Yujin standing next to Han Yuhyun. Yerim looked around in a panic. Gyeol fluttered over to her, perched on her shoulder, and whispered,

– Gyeol came out early, but Daddy wasn’t there…

Yerim’s expression turned grim as well. She ground her teeth and her eyes sharpened dangerously.

“Whoever it is, I’m calling it – something happened to Mister.”

When the number of remaining Hunters had dwindled to fewer than you could count on one hand, Han Yujin finally appeared. To the eye, he looked perfectly fine.

“Hyung!”

Han Yuhyun went straight to him and checked him over carefully. The rest of the room’s gaze pinned him as well. Flustered, Han Yujin opened his mouth.

“I just forfeited.”

“Then why did it take so long? You don’t look hurt, but…”

“They healed up all the injuries and stuff. Mister, are you really okay?”

“Your clothes are fine.”

Circling around to check his back, Han Yuhyun spoke. Chatterbox only healed injuries from the match itself; it didn’t restore clothes. And Han Yujin was, overall, intact.

“Far too clean.”

“There are no traces of battle.”

At Seong Hyunjae’s comment, Song Taewon nodded in agreement. Han Yujin dropped his gaze. Avoiding everyone else’s eyes, he looked down at Peace, who was pressing his cheek against Yujin’s leg.

“I told you, I forfeited. I can’t win with my body anyway, so I tried to talk it out… Peace, are you okay? No Hunters suddenly came at you or anything, right?”

– Kyang!

Han Yujin scooped Peace up. He kept his eyes only on Peace as he stroked the soft fur.

“I’m fine. It’s not like I got out without a scratch, but there weren’t any big injuries. You can ask Chatterbox if you want. I’m okay.”

Han Yuhyun realized that Han Yujin wasn’t looking at him. But he stayed silent. Park Yerim thought it was strange that Yujin wasn’t asking about her match with Han Yuhyun, or even who his opponent had been. But she stayed silent. And everyone else kept their mouths shut as well.

A short silence settled over them.

Peace was warm and soft.

“I’m okay.”

Thankfully, his voice didn’t shake. He probably looked fine.

“…Hyung, let’s go back to the room and rest.”

“No, I’m fine.”

Is it that obvious? But he was standing there looking perfectly normal.

“Uh, Mister. What do you want to eat?”

“I’m okay, Yerim.”

He wasn’t hungry at the moment.

“All matches have now concluded. We will proceed with the awards by ranking.”

A staffer’s voice rang out. This time there was no broadcast – it would be done quickly, and anyone not receiving a prize didn’t need to attend.

“Can a Monster Mount send a representative?”

Yuhyun asked a staffer. Apparently Peace had placed in the rankings.

“I’ll check.”

“No, Yuhyun. Let’s go together. You placed too, didn’t you?”

“…Yeah.”

“Then you definitely have to go. A prize is a prize.”

We started walking. They really were keeping it simple – the place wasn’t very big. Chatterbox wasn’t there either. I took a seat and set Peace down. Peace had taken first place.

“Hyung?”

Moon Hyunah asked if I was okay. I said I was. Yuhyun, who’d placed second, went up with Peace to receive their prize.

“The prize is–”

“Instead of a prize, I’d like a favor. Peace wants the same thing I do.”

“Excuse me?”

“Please let us share a room with Hunter Han Yujin. We’re family, and more than anything, Peace gets anxious when he’s away from his dad.”

Yuhyun spoke. The prize felt like a waste, but the words Don’t do that only went around and around in my mouth and never came out.

The staffer in charge of the awards looked flustered, asked us to wait a moment, then stepped aside to make a call. After a short conversation, he came back and replied,

“This was just a light, bonus–type event, so it is possible to change the prize. However, since the prize itself isn’t that big and this breaks party rules, sharing a room with another team will only be allowed for one day.”

“Understood.”

Yuhyun and Peace took their gold coins and came back to my side. Yuhyun lifted Peace up onto my lap.

“…What a waste.”

“They said it was a small prize, so it was probably something like A–rank. I’d rather be with you. I bet Peace feels the same.”

I stroked Peace. Third place was some Hunter I didn’t really know. Gyeol came in fourth, and Ms. Hyunah was fifth.

“Mister, I got matched up with Guild Leader Sesung!”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yeah! I lost though.”

Yerim was beaming.

“Yerim, you’re still young, it’s fine.”

“It’s not gonna be that way for long, you know. Thing is…”

Yerim leaned in to whisper in my ear.

“I’d already decided to forfeit, so Mister Sesung wasn’t planning to kill me or anything. But at the end he slipped up!”

“Uh, probably because you fought too well, right?”

“Exactly! The way I see it, it’ll take at most a year.”

My lips curved into a smile. I could still laugh.

“Yeah, our Yerim is the best.”

“Hyung, I won too. I fought Hunter Liette.”

“Yeah? That’s impressive. She’s not easy.”

“And check this out. Looks like Peace got broadcast.”

Yuhyun held his phone out to me. On screen, Peace tilted his head at a Hunter in front of him.

“Why are you trying to touch someone else’s kid without permission…”

Oh dear. The Hunter’s head got chomped clean off.

“Serves them right. Good job, Peace.”

– Kyawng!

– Daddy! Gyeol won too! …They forfeited because Gyeol’s cute.

Gyeol whispered into my ear as well.

– They said they’d forfeit if I gave them a kiss on the cheek. I thought about it, but I figured winning would be better.

“It’s okay, Gyeol. You did great. Being cute is a talent too.”

I let out a long breath. My body, tense without me realizing, loosened a little.

I turned my head slightly. Noah, whose eyes met mine, gave me a smile. I couldn’t bring myself to meet Seong Hyunjae’s gaze. Same with Song Taewon.

They definitely sensed something off. If they started asking questions, I didn’t trust myself to answer properly right now.

“Hyung, wanna go back to the room? We can order some room service and turn in early.”

“…Yeah.”

It felt too early, like there was still something I should be doing, but nothing came to mind. No one had mentioned any other plans, so taking a day off should be fine.

We ate a simple meal and then just flopped around. My little brother stayed by my side the whole time. Yerim stopped by partway through and dropped off some bath additives and snacks. She told me I had to take a half–body bath, so I did as I was told. The bath stuff was probably Yerim’s choice, but the snacks felt like something Seong Hyunjae had bought. They weren’t Yerim’s style.

After washing up, I lay down and drifted off to sleep. In the dream, a huge hand reached toward me. I reflexively tried to block it.

“I’m not planning to scold you.”

Tsk. Clicking his tongue, Young Chaos patted my head.