The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 579: Preparing the Ingredients (1)

The giant screen darkened, and a bright light gathered at the center of the bottom edge. It stretched out into a rectangle, forming the shape of a door, then that part of the screen slid open to both sides just like a real door. Chatterbox took a couple of steps toward the open doorway. He turned his upper body toward me and held out his hand.

“And for you, I have one proposal.”

The door had opened in a showy swirl of white light, but beyond it was pitch–black. It wasn’t like I couldn’t guess what kind of offer he’d make. There weren’t that many options. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Yuhyun shoot up from his seat. I gave a small shake of my head. There were still spectators here. The broadcast would still be running too.

Because we still had to keep living in this world.

‘Getting chased out while being treated like the villain might actually not be so bad.’

It’d be freeing, not having anything tying me down. But even if I could live with that, I didn’t want everyone around me getting dragged through the mud. Yuhyun probably wouldn’t care. In the end, I was the one who hated it.

I stepped toward Chatterbox. He went in first through the doorway. We hadn’t even gone down many steps leading under the stage before it became so dark I had to feel out each stair with my toes. When the door behind us shut, I could barely make out even Chatterbox right in front of me, just a faint outline. He lifted his hand and snapped his thumb and index finger together.

Fwoosh–

Little flames bloomed one by one along the walls. They were small white fires that flickered and swayed.

“Spaces like this, in your world…”

Thump, thump, thump. Our footsteps on the stairs echoed dully like someone beating a drum.

“Often turn out to be inside tombs. Like the Egyptian pyramids.”

So what. I didn’t even feel like answering. We came down the rest of the stairs and walked along a corridor. Thankfully, a door appeared before long, and beyond it was an ordinary waiting room–looking space. It felt like my clogged–up lungs finally cleared.

“Would you like some tea?”

Chatterbox stretched out his long arm and lifted a teapot. With his height and those long limbs he looked as graceful as a crane, but at the same time he was as creepy as running into a big insect. Every movement was refined, but it felt like countless long, thin legs were crawling over my skin.

…Maybe that was just my own bias against Chatterbox. Regular people would probably see him as nothing more than some ridiculously successful celeb. No, I was sure of it. Even without pulling out my phone to check, I knew the internet had to be exploding about him by now.

When I didn’t say anything, he poured the tea anyway. Steam rose over the cup even though he hadn’t boiled any water. Chatterbox held up a square, individually wrapped teabag toward me. I was dumbfounded.

“After all that pretending to be refined and classy, you’re serving teabags?”

“The tea we normally drink would not suit you very well, you see.”

We? I blinked for a moment, then realized the other person in that ‘we’ had to be the King of Harmless. Chatterbox tore open the wrapper, pinched the teabag, and dipped it into my cup. The string with the little tag hung down the outside of the cup, and the clear water slowly turned red.

“Even Sesung’s illustrious Guild Leader personally brewed the tea when he served it, and you’re giving me this?”

I perched on a chair and lifted the cup. The smell was pretty decent. The taste was…drinkable. But he didn’t bring out any snacks to go with it. Not that I wanted to put anything Chatterbox baked anywhere near my mouth.

“So what’s the proposal. Once the audience is gone there are plenty of people who’ll smash the cameras and rush in here, so hurry up and say it.”

No matter how much he claimed my safety was guaranteed, that wouldn’t last forever. The corners of Chatterbox’s lips curved up gently.

“If you follow the instructions in the final game.”

“You won’t touch the people I care about? That’s it? Lame.”

I took a sip of tea, pretending to be calm. Warmth slid down my throat and spread through my chest.

“Like you said, I don’t like that star all that much. But I’m not planning on throwing my life away over it.”

Either way, I wanted to live. Even if I couldn’t bring myself to value me, there were still people who liked me and needed me.

…But still.

“I am curious what exactly you want, so I’ll hear you out a bit more.”

‘You just have to give up.’ That line was so easy and sweet.

“You losing your life is not something I desire either. On the contrary, I would prefer you not suffer even the slightest scratch.”

“Right, I’m a precious memento that’d be hard to replace.”

“You’ve done very well so far. But you still fall short of becoming her.”

“Excuse you, but I am a citizen of the Republic of Korea, male, not exactly in perfect shape but generally healthy and have even done my military service. Want me to strip so you can check, you lunatic?”

The bastard didn’t even pretend to hear me. Not that gender mattered to this freak anyway. When you carve a statue, nobody cares whether the block of stone is male or female. It’s just material.

“I am not expecting perfection, but at the very least, for this party, I want you to be the strongest and most radiant existence here.”

“Then I recommend Guild Leader Seong.”

If he messed with that guy, he’d end up grabbing Crescent Moon by the hair and brawling with her. It’d be great if the two of them took each other out.

“The man whose name literally screams saintly, wise, and imperial doesn’t even need polishing to be strong and flashy all on his own. I know him personally, want me to introduce you?”

“However, on your own, you cannot achieve it.”

“You yourself said I was first overall in the rankings. Has it even been an hour since then?”

“Given that your stats are F, the viewers will understand and accept a bit of assistance. I will present it as a perk for placing first.”

“So it turns out I’m actually invisible? Aaaah, mic test.”

“Of course, your own capabilities are also important. So think of this as a kind of bet.”

Chatterbox held his hand out toward me. A contract rolled out from his palm with a rattle.

“I will do my utmost to support you, to the extent that the viewers will not feel it is unfair. And every time you achieve a certain level of performance, I will allow you to protect one of your precious ones from me.”

“…To what extent?”

“As long as they do not come at me first, I will have no reason to lay a hand on them. At first, I had planned to deal with all of them right in front of you.”

Chatterbox’s eyes curved like a crescent moon as he smiled.

“But now, something more important has appeared. If you stand at the very top perfectly, then there will be no numerical limit–you may have all of your precious ones.”

“…”

Honestly, it wasn’t a bad deal for me. I was going to do my best in whatever game it was anyway. Even without a contract, I’d probably get results good enough to protect three or four people from Chatterbox. So accepting it was the logical choice.

“And once you’ve forcibly put me up on that pedestal, what are you going to do with me? Stuff me and mount me?”

“I will keep you in good condition, so do not worry. That part begins immediately after the party ends.”

Until then, the contract would keep me safe. Chatterbox spoke in a low voice. Right now, he was just refining the material called me. I rubbed my palm against my thigh. The disgust I’d felt on stage earlier pounded at my chest again.

Today, I saved people. That’s how it would’ve looked. But that wasn’t me. It was an image Chatterbox had led and crafted. At this rate, even in the final game I wouldn’t be wholly myself. Only just now had Han Yujin started to be, at least a little…

“Even if you do not fulfill the contract, there is no penalty for you.”

His voice was tempting.

“It is a contract where the outcome simply changes according to your performance. Even if you refuse my help and crash to the very bottom, that is all. I will simply receive a somewhat unsatisfactory inheritance.”

I could sign first and then back out later. A pen appeared beside the teacup on the table.

“…This is way too favorable to me. Deals like this always come with a trap.”

“This contract is purely for my own satisfaction. For the lovely mist.”

I picked up the pen.

“For Chatterbox, you mean.”

There wasn’t a trace of mourning or grief in anything I was seeing now. It was nothing but the greed of a Transcendent right in front of me. And I was the same–saying I wanted to protect the people precious to me was, in the end, my own greed too. The tip of the pen hovered uncertainly in the air. The contract itself was all benefit and no real downside. I’d checked it over several times and kept coming to the same conclusion. So all I had to do was sign.

Beep–!

Just then, an alarm went off at Chatterbox’s waist. He pulled out a communicator.

[Due to Hunter Seong Hyunjae’s provocation, Hunter Moon Hyunah has attacked Hunter Seong Hyunjae!]

Huh?

[Right now–]

Over the staffer’s voice…

[Send the repair bill to Sesung!]

Moon Hyunah’s voice came through. I hurriedly turned on my phone. Someone was streaming and filming the scene live.

└ Hyunah–unnie, you’re amazing!!!!!! Love you!!!!!!!!!!!

└ Ah I just wanna stay and keep watching

└ You gathered that many S–ranks in one place, it’d be a miracle if they didn’t fight LOL

Fortunately, it didn’t look like this fight was going to hurt anyone’s image. In that case, maybe…

‘Are they fighting on purpose?’

They couldn’t very well smash the stage in the name of ‘getting me back.’ But S–ranks brawling and ‘accidentally’ breaking it was fine. As long as there were no casualties and they paid for damages, it wouldn’t be a problem. The onlookers would probably be thrilled.

[Hunter Han Yuhyun is also claiming Hunter Philip Maas bad–mouthed him, ugh!]

Boom! A deafening crash reached even here, and the ceiling trembled slightly. Chatterbox stared into the air for a moment.

“Aside from a few, they’re refusing to move. I suppose today’s schedule is effectively over.”

Rumble, another crash sounded somewhere as something collapsed again. With Peace there, it wouldn’t take them long to find me. Chatterbox’s eyes turned to me as if to ask what I planned to do. After hesitating, I put the contract and pen into my inventory. Right after that–

KWAANG!

A gigantic spear burst through the wall in a shower of rubble. Sparks flashed as a black silhouette landed lightly on the tip of the spear. A short cape fluttered behind them.

“Hi, Director Han. Don’t know if you heard, but they said the other side’s paying for the repairs~”

Moon Hyunah gestured toward him as if introducing him, and Seong Hyunjae, still standing on the spear, lifted his arm to his chest and gave us a polite little greeting. Then, on the opposite wall–

Slice!

A huge section was neatly cut away. With a whoosh, wrapping the air, the black soft sword flew back to its owner and vanished.

– Kyang!

Peace, in a smaller form, bounded over to me and circled my feet. Yuhyun came up in front of me, wearing an expression that was trying to look apologetic, and said,

“I tried to hold back, but he just kept picking a fight.”

“Yeah, good job.”

I did feel a little sorry for the Hunter who might not actually have said anything.

“Mister~ I just came to watch!”

Yerim popped in with a teleport and slipped between me and Chatterbox like she was cutting us apart. I spotted Song Taewon as well. He gave off the vibe of having come to keep the situation from getting too out of hand, but there was no way he didn’t know the real reason for this mess. And yet he hadn’t stopped them.

“Well, look how many S–ranks are gathered here. This much is pretty mild. Don’t you think so, Mister Chatterbox?”

I said it with a smile, and Chatterbox also smiled and gave a small nod.

“The S–class Hunters around Hunter Han Yujin get along very well. It must be thanks to Hunter Han Yujin.”

Saying they wouldn’t be filing for damages, Chatterbox told everyone to please head back now. This time, no one refused the transfer. We arrived in the hotel lobby, and Seong Hyunjae stepped down from his spear.

“You want to really go at it for real sometime?”

At Moon Hyunah’s words, Seong Hyunjae just shrugged. Yerim narrowed her eyes sharply and pressed right up against my side.

“What did the ghost jerk do to you?”

“We just had tea.”

Everyone stared like, yeah right. Feeling awkward, I added,

“He said he’d help me in the final game. So I can win perfectly.”

“That really all? It sounds like a good thing for you, Mister.”

“You can’t let your guard down, hyung.”

“Don’t worry. I haven’t answered him.”

Not yet.

And that night, before I went to sleep, I signed the contract. Ironically, the fact that everyone had come to help me made it even easier to decide. Chatterbox appeared, explained the game, and lent me a few items. Did I really have to give them back?

At dawn–

“Yujin.”

The golden dragon came to see me. I took the file he handed over, checked it, and saved a copy to my phone as well.

“…There’s also a letter.”

Noah grimaced and pinched the corner of the envelope like it was something filthy as he offered it to me.

“It’s from that Chinese guy.”

“Ah.”

“He said he had it translated into Korean.”

Well, look at that. Out of respect for the effort, I unfolded the letter. It was a self–proclaimed love–filled message of support. Noah neatly melted the letter away with his poison. I’d seen something I really didn’t need to see.

“Look at this, Mister. They’re treating you like a total hero!”

Yerim flapped a magazine energetically. “An F–class who saved fifty thousand people from an anti–Hunter attack.” It was praise from every direction, like Chatterbox had paid them all off.

“Uh, yeah.”

Maybe he actually wanted to embarrass me to death. It wasn’t even something I’d really done myself, which made it even more unsettling.

“There’s a disgusting amount about Chatterbox too, though.” Yerim pouted as she flipped through the magazine.

“What’s so amazing about him revealing his face! It’s not like he’s even that handsome.”

“Yuhyun’s better looking.”

“That’s not what I meant! I mean, honestly, I guess…”

Yerim kept sneaking annoyed glances at Yuhyun glued to my side, then continued,

“He is better than Chatterbox, though. Leaving my opinion completely out of it! Speaking in a purely objective sense. Personally, I don’t really like Han Yuhyun’s face.”

Even though she’d called him handsome when we first met. If I said that out loud she’d definitely sulk, so I just smiled.

“America’s hero!”

Moon Hyunah laughed and gave me a thumbs–up. I wanted to crawl into a hole. The other Hunters could stop staring now, too. What, was I some kind of sideshow?

A little later, Chatterbox stepped up onto the platform.

“Everyone, unfortunately, today is the final event of the party.”

Not many people looked disappointed. Everyone just seemed dying to know about the rewards. They probably wanted this over with so they could hurry up and get paid.

“Then, Hunter Han Yujin.”

At Chatterbox’s call, I stood up and walked onto the stage.

“Hunter Han Yujin, who placed first overall, is both the main character of the final event…and the reward.”