The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 591: Han Yujin (3)

“…What is that.”

“If you want to hide the skill and the wish stone, that’s the only way~ Maybe I should’ve gone with hearts instead of stars?”

The jellyfish said brightly. Hey…

“No, before that, you can’t just blatantly say I regressed! That’s a problem!”

It was already pretty much all out there, but still, going, Han Yujin regressed! and pointing right at me was completely different from glossing over it vaguely. As long as you don’t spell out who it was, you can still claim, Oh, I just got swept up in someone else’s regression.

“…I’m an idiot for trusting a jellyfish.”

“Looks like your taste in tentacles has improved in the meantime. How many do you want to stick on? Want to start by swapping out your fingers?”

“My big mouth is the problem.”

If the jellyfish hadn’t helped, I’d already be a knockoff King of Harmless by now, so I wasn’t exactly in a position to complain. But just thinking about trying to fix this made the back of my head throb. Could this even be fixed? Maybe I should go deep underground for a few years until everyone forgot. Yuhyun would be thrilled.

“…Are you really, truly sure it’s okay to reveal this much about the regression?”

“I’m cutting out the Transcendent info very diligently, so.”

I still couldn’t bring myself to trust that. The subtitles disappeared, and Han Yujin appeared on screen, pulling Yuhyun into a hug.

“I love you.”

I got goosebumps.

“I–isn’t this enough?”

The memories from before the regression were actually easier to watch. In my head, pre–regression Han Yujin had always been shabby, pathetic, incompetent, someone you couldn’t even have expectations for. But watching Han Yujin again now, as a viewer, he came across very differently from my memories, and that made it okay.

But after the regression is just, a bit, ugh…

“It has to connect all the way up to the current Han Yujin for it to be perfect~ Come on, chop–chop, let’s go!”

The Perfect Nurturer or Lautitars–related skills didn’t appear. After I made up with Yuhyun, I went to the Hunter Association and registered. F–rank.

“Hey! Myungwoo!”

Then I spotted Myungwoo, ran after him, and grabbed him. Ah, aaah, stop!

“Someone cover my ears! Ugh, I don’t want to hear this!”

Look at that shameless bastard run his mouth. Somebody save me. Of all times, both my arms were tied up so I couldn’t even cover my ears.

“There’s no need to crane your neck staring up at people until it breaks. Just live with, ‘Honestly, I’m great; other people just don’t recognize it.’ Have some affection for yourself. I love the amazing me!”

…He wasn’t wrong, but I wanted to die. And seriously, Han Yujin, you’re the last one who gets to say that to other people. Back then I hadn’t learned the truth about Yuhyun yet, so I still had some room in my heart, but still. I wondered if Myungwoo was watching this too. He’d changed a lot. It was mortifying enough to kill me, but at the same time I felt kind of proud. Still, mostly mortified.

– Grrr.

A baby Flame Horned Lion circled around Han Yujin. Wow, Peace is so tiny. He can still turn incorporeal now, but back then he’d been even smaller than his current spirit form. Fluffy little Peace looked around and cautiously started exploring the living room.

– Rrrowr!

When the TV turned on, he jumped back in shock and dropped into a defensive stance. With his ears pricked and his head tilted, he was so cute it gave me chills.

“This is a TV. They’re not real people.”

– Hrrng.

Peace crept up to the TV and sniffed at it. Still suspicious, he tried his best to peek around behind it. Our Peace had been so innocent when he was little. Well, he’s still cute now.

“By the way, are you really acquainted with my parents?”

The scene where I met Yerim came up. Aaaagh! Stop talking! Still, Yerim had changed more than I thought. Seeing the wary look in her eyes and the unavoidable shadow hanging over her made my chest ache. And she was probably suffering right now just like me. Yerim, I’m sorry…

“Cut down Yerim’s part, cut it down! Or just edit in only the cool bits.”

Even if it’s embarrassing, I should be the only one embarrassed. While I writhed in shame, the scene of me saving Myungwoo passed by, and then the bar with Kim Seonghan…

“No! Skip it! Have mercy!”

“Which only makes me want to watch it more~”

“Lord Ru Ga Pheya! Please!”

“I don’t get why you’re so embarrassed, though.”

The damn jellyfish patted my head as he spoke.

“‘I like you, I love you~ You’re amazing, you’re cool, you’re the best,’ and so on. They’re all nice words, aren’t they?”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“Creatures that live in groups usually feel shame over things like insults and badmouthing. That stuff harms social relationships. It doesn’t help you survive.”

So if you don’t need to live in a group, you can just talk all the crap you want… I guess it wouldn’t matter. Though if you’re living alone there isn’t much opportunity to insult anyone in the first place.

“Uh, being honest about your feelings is just, kind of, how do I put it… embarrassing. And, well, there are always people who nitpick.”

Honestly, like eighty percent of it was just secondhand embarrassment. I could still shower my kids with praise, though. …And it’s not like saying something nice to someone you’ve just met is a bad thing. Right, there’s nothing to be embarrassed…

“Mr. Kim Seonghan, I love you.”

“Okay yeah, that’s not okay at all! Agh! Agh! Agh!”

Why is that part showing when I blacked out?! I screamed loud enough to drown out Han Yujin’s voice. The jellyfish grumbled that I was noisy.

“I was drunk! Drunk! Everyone, that was just drunken rambling! Jellyfish, subtitles!”

[Han Yujin♡Kim Seonghan]

“HEY!!!”

Have you lost your mind with those subtitles?! And stop adding the pink effects! I mean, just because I say I love someone doesn’t automatically make it romantic. I love Yuhyun, I love Yerim, I love Peace! And I love Chirp and Gyeol and Myungwoo and Noah and Hyunah and Chief Song, and Seong Hyunjae… I guess I have to include him too. Anyway, there’s a lot!

The scenes of meeting Yun Yun and Seok Hayan flashed by. The time I entered a dungeon for the first time after the regression with Yuhyun, Yerim, and Myungwoo showed up too. Peace grew, and Myungwoo worked hard. The blades scattering light as they were ground down still looked cool even now.

The day the guild masters all gathered to trade over the Monster Mounts breeding. Watching that day again made me feel weird.

“…Back then, I never thought things would end up like this.”

I thought we’d just do some business and that would be it. Somehow, I ended up luring one of them into a trap and killing him, got close to two of them, and Hanshin stayed pretty much the same.

“I’ll remember the exception clause.”

said Seong Hyunjae. And to think he used to act like that. My lips curled up for no reason. Later he’d get kidnapped, and I’d quietly slip away…

“Hey! That’s still a secret!”

Fortunately, since it was related to the Perfect Nurturer title, it was edited down to just me sneaking out to pick up Chirp. Helping Park Hayul got the same treatment. I raised the kids, helped put together Seok Hayan’s team, in the meantime Myungwoo got his Master of the Golden Forge skill and Liette popped out. I’d been living busier than I thought. Even the abridged version went on forever.

“Of course I’d be anxious.”

Yuhyun was pressed right up against me. For someone with such a big body, he was acting like he wanted to crawl into my arms like when he was little. That was after the three of us went to the dungeon with Peace. Maybe because it involved the System, that part had been cut out.

“I also hate it when you keep getting tangled up with other S–rank Hunters.”

– Grrr.

Peace growled in complaint from under the sofa. He tapped at Yuhyun’s leg with his front paw like he was telling him to move, but Yuhyun pretended not to notice.

“Still, you can’t just lock people up. I’ll be careful. And once the S–ranks get their Monster Mounts, they won’t have much reason to deal with me anyway.”

That’s how it should have gone. Watching Yuhyun trying to wrap me up and hide me away made a little laugh slip out. He’s gotten much better now. He’d still be thrilled if I said I’d stay safely at home, but unlike before, he believes in my abilities.

Blue came to the breeding facility, and Myungwoo announced his forge skill. Hearing his declaration again made my face burn for no reason. The scene changed sharply to Yerim flying around in a dungeon. It was the dungeon raid to make Kim Seonghan an S–rank. Since it was related to the System, the giant toad didn’t appear.

Chief Song visited the hospital and took Comet to the breeding facility. Gasp, hold on!

“Subtitles here too! Chief Song Taewon was worried about Han Yujin! He was checking for brainwashing!”

Couldn’t let that be misunderstood. Next.

“Thank you for allowing me to visit.”

Noah appeared. Things were going fine while we talked in the rooftop garden.

“Subtitles! Hunter Noah wasn’t trying to hurt me–!”

Why are there so many landmines? Maybe it was the Fear Resistance; I hadn’t thought much of it back then, but even after the regression things had been rough. Noah wrecked the rooftop garden, and then there was Han Yujin, dying from lack of sleep thanks to Comet. I staggered across the living room looking half like a zombie.

“Ow, cold!”

I poured water straight onto the table without a cup, then snapped back to my senses in a panic. Peace, Blue, and Chirp trotted after me and all tilted their heads at once, asking what was wrong. Cute…

Yuhyun and Noah fought, and then… that whole part was cut out.

Han Yujin learned about his younger brother. He tossed and turned without being able to sleep. The King of Harmless didn’t project the memory, but he did read it, and pressed my cheek firmly.

“Sad?”

“…If I hadn’t known my little brother was left alone, the me right now would be pretty different.”

“Really? I feel like you’d be about the same.”

“People… aren’t made up of just themselves.”

That’s what I believe.

“There’s almost no such thing as a ‘pure’ Han Yujin. I’m Park Yerim’s guardian, Peace’s dad, Yu Myungwoo’s friend. There are lots of other relationships too. And the one that takes up the biggest part is, of course, being Han Yuhyun’s older brother.”

Aside from those five years, I’ve lived my whole life as Han Yuhyun’s older brother.

“So when you lose someone, I think you also lose the Han Yujin connected to that person. If Han Yuhyun disappears, then Han Yuhyun’s older brother can’t exist either. If you rip out the part of me that’s ‘Han Yuhyun’s big brother,’ there’s really not much Han Yujin left.”

Aside from those five years, I’ve lived my whole life as Han Yuhyun’s brother. All that time would collapse in an instant. That’s why losing someone precious hurts like your chest is being gouged out. The more of you that person occupies, the worse it is.

“Yuhyun is by my side now, so I’m still alive. But it’s also true that I lost my little brother. So there’s no way I wouldn’t have changed.”

Han Yujin had been there too, under the snow–covered tree. They say funerals are also for those who remain, and it really was true. We had to bury Han Yuhyun’s older brother, the piece of Han Yujin, along with him.

Seong Hyunjae and Liette were fighting. The lake dungeon appeared, and the Awakening Center got blown to pieces. I was arrested and kidnapped to Hong Kong. The shimmer of water and electricity wrapped around the building was dazzlingly beautiful.

“I probably would have been more careful. Maybe Hangyeol would never have been born.”

I wouldn’t have burned with the desire for revenge against Diarma, and I wouldn’t have planted the magic stone in my heart to take my brother back.

Chief Song Taewon charged into the swarm of bee–type monsters. I was left at Seong Hyunjae’s home, the now–gone Sesung Guild’s residence. It had been comfortable. Liette rampaged and the A–rank ranking match took place. Seeing hot pink yarn strewn all over the Sesung Guild’s garden, a hollow laugh slipped out. Why did I do that?

They skipped over the Japan dungeon, but the scenes of us hunting the SS–rank monsters were all intact. My Yuhyun really is amazing. Cutting out the Transcendent stuff made it feel like almost half of it was gone, but even so, so much had happened.

“Okay, that’s enough. I’m about to die of heatstroke even though it’s the middle of winter.”

Kicked out to the kitchen, Han Yujin grumbled next to Seong Hyunjae, who was holding a spatula. He was wearing the padded overcoat Kang Soyeong had delivered. It was Chuseok, but Soyeong’s hometown was far, so she’d parked herself in the living room while she was here.

“And I don’t even like that pink.”

Gasp, Gyeol, no! Don’t watch this! Seong Hyunjae expertly flipped the jeon as he smiled.

“People subconsciously choose what they like.”

“I picked it specifically to mess with you, you know?”

“It was a birthday present for me…”

Seong Hyunjae pretended to be sad. There was no way a guy like him would be hurt by something like that, but his expression was so convincing it actually made you feel bad for him.

“Wait, no! I, um, put a lot of care into it! Soyeong, should I heat up the fried food too?”

I hurriedly changed the subject, shouting the question, and Kang Soyeong answered, “Yes!” That day had been fun. Thinking about it, it was the most bustling holiday of my life. Han Yujin’s face had been bright and happy. Even if he felt guilty about his own joy, he was still happy.

I got half–voluntarily kidnapped to China, held the breeding–facility meeting in Japan.

“I have the right to participate.”

Han Yujin said firmly. He attended Chatterbox’s party alone. That’s how he ended up here.

The hair that had once shaken down past his eyes was now short. Chatterbox’s magic that had been burrowing through my body was completely pushed out, the power of the mist unable to hold out any longer.

Han Yujin’s existence was more solid than anyone’s. Enough that he didn’t lose out even to a Transcendent, to the King of Harmless.

“There’s only one Han Yujin. Just like with every other being in the world.”

Ru Ga Pheya declared. Naturally, it was a life unlike anyone else’s.

“Congratulations on protecting yourself. And now~”

The curtain revealing the memories was drawn back. Beyond it…

“…Ugh.”

Chatterbox was standing there. Calm and quiet–faced, with all the power he’d lost fully restored. The terrifying pressure that had briefly vanished pressed down over my whole body again, and Ru Ga Pheya said lazily,

“The power he used to turn you into me went back to its owner.”

…Even if I was okay, Chatterbox was still the same. My limbs were still bound. A shiver ran down my spine. Out of the frying pan and straight into the fire.