The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 592: The Party’s Over (1)

“Unfortunately.”

Chatterbox opened his mouth. At the same time, my heart thumped and shuddered. The Fear Resistance skill message flashed in front of my eyes. I bit the tip of my tongue without thinking. Even if I’d dodged the worst–case scenario, that didn’t mean I was out of danger.

“The imitation that could have come close to perfection has fallen into being a common fake.”

“…What ‘perfection’ is there in an imitation.”

I forced myself to answer.

“A fake is just a fake.”

“The fact that my mist had already taken root in your body is, fortunately, a small consolation.”

That bastard Chatterbox still hadn’t given up on treating me as a substitute for the King of Harmless. He came toward me, step by step. The closer he got, the heavier the air grew. I let out a long breath. Ru Ga Pheya just watched, not looking like she had any intention of helping. Not that the remnant of her that was left now could have taken on Chatterbox anyway.

“I’ll turn the audio back on for you.”

“Don’t need it.”

“Now then.”

A gloved hand caught my chin.

“I’ll have to refine you in a less than elegant way.”

“…What.”

“I’ll cut off both your legs.”

His light, quiet voice made my skin crawl.

“And attach tentacles filled with white light in their place. Should I swap out some of your organs first, perhaps.”

His hand went down below my neck and pressed lightly against my chest. The Fear Resistance message popped up again.

“My mist does not use pulmonary respiration.”

“It’s not that it doesn’t at all. Ninety percent of the breathing is through the skin, ten percent is lung breathing. The lungs are just very small.”

The King of Harmless said breezily.

“Then I’ll have to replace your lungs and all your skin.”

His hand trailed back up. He slowly stroked the skin at the nape of my neck, checking the shape of my ears.

“I’ll replace your eyeballs and install them, make a new one, and now, open your mouth.”

I tried to clamp my jaws shut, but Chatterbox’s fingers easily pried their way in. I bit down irritably, but all it did was hurt my teeth.

“The number of teeth is different as well. This will be quite a bit of work.”

“…You psycho.”

“The number of arms is the same, so I’ll only need to cut off the hands. What about the bones. The flexibility is much worse, so perhaps I should replace all of them.”

If he replaced me like that, how much of me would actually be left. I glared at Chatterbox as hard as I could.

“If you’re going to change everything, why base it on me at all. Just make a new one from scratch.”

It wouldn’t make much of a difference anyway. Maybe my skull would survive at best. And even then the skin and eyes would have been swapped out. Chatterbox met my gaze and curled his lips up.

“While your precious ones watch.”

My heart lurched violently. Lunatic. Absolute fucking lunatic.

“You said you wouldn’t touch them!”

“They can close their eyes and cover their ears. That is their choice.”

“You son of a bitch!”

The ropes binding my arms and legs slid loose. I suddenly dropped out of the air and collapsed onto the floor. As I staggered, trying to get up, a square window appeared in front of me. Like a bank of CCTV monitors, the screen was divided into boxes, each showing a different waiting room. A not–so–big room with a single chair. And there were hardly any rooms where the chair was still intact.

With trembling fingertips, I pressed the screen showing Yuhyun. The image expanded until it filled the window. The chair was burned so badly there were barely even ashes left, just a dark smear faintly staining the floor.

[Hyung!]

Yuhyun’s voice came through. Bang! His fist slammed against the wall. I caught sight of a sword lying broken on the floor. There was blood on the hilt. My little brother’s hands were covered in it.

“I’ve put a limit on them so they can’t use power beyond a certain level. It would be a shame if they died in there.”

Chatterbox said. That meant he couldn’t use Blue Flames. The thought made me breathe a little easier, but I still bit my lip.

“Yuhyun, calm down. It’s okay.”

[How is any of this okay!]

My little brother’s voice came out like he was coughing up blood. Yeah, of course it wasn’t okay. If our positions were reversed, I’d feel like my throat was being strangled from worry too. Even now my heart felt like it was being scorched.

“But still, Yuhyun. Just close your eyes for a bit, cover your ears…”

Bang! His fist hit the wall again. Dark red flames flared up around Yuhyun. There wasn’t a hint of blue in them, they were even blacker than usual. The fire surged in every direction as if it would swallow everything, but it didn’t leave a single scratch on the walls.

“…Don’t, Yuhyun. Don’t do it.”

[Hyung! How am I supposed to–!]

“Yuhyun, your hyung is going to make it to the end. …You’ve seen it yourself.”

He must have watched from beginning to end without looking away even once.

“There hasn’t been a single thing in my life that wasn’t hard, but I never give up. I never have.”

Even the pre–regression Han Yujin, the one who really had nothing, managed to live all the way to the end. So what if a Transcendent was standing in my way now. Back then, the wall called S–rank was no different from a Transcendent to that Han Yujin.

Yuhyun lowered his head. He put his hand on the wall that held the screen. I caught a glimpse of his eyes, wet with tears, and my chest ached.

[…I do believe in you, Hyung. But still.]

“Yeah. I know. I get it.”

My jaw clenched on its own. Damn Chatterbox probably thought as long as our bodies were intact, everything was fine. I wanted to yell that even keeping them locked up like that was technically a breach of contract, but if I pushed it and my brother got released instead, that would worry me even more. He’d absolutely throw his body away trying to find a way.

“I no longer have any reason to show consideration.”

When I glared at him with savage eyes, Chatterbox drawled lazily.

“Because you’ve lost that value. Still, I am making this concession so you can say your last goodbyes, so you may feel grateful.”

“…What a load of crap. You failed to remodel me, so now you’re just trying to turn my stomach however you can.”

He hadn’t been able to make me kill my precious people with my own hands. So he was trying to inflict a different kind of pain instead. The window split back into multiple screens. I saw Yerim, not sure what to do with herself. A curse slipped out of me automatically.

“And leave the minors out of this! You crazy bastard!”

“I cannot understand why you still care about such trivial matters. Death is fair.”

“Why? Because once you give up on that, it really is over, dumbass! That’s just saying we should let everything go to hell!”

If you couldn’t even protect the kids, that meant things were truly ruined. It meant society had shattered and any hope for the future was completely gone. Even setting all that aside.

“And because I’m the adult. I’m the guardian.”

Even if I didn’t exactly look the part.

“So Yerim, it’s okay for you to turn away.”

No answer came back. Yerim turned her body, like she didn’t want me to see the way her face was twisting up as she tried to say something.

“You don’t have to shoulder this. There are still adults around you. You don’t need to feel any burden. That’s how it should be, that’s what’s right.”

Being young didn’t mean everything they did was okay. Kids still had rules to follow and things they needed to correct. But they didn’t have to share the load of an adult’s burden. It was fine for them to worry about their guardians, but they shouldn’t have to feel responsible.

“Being young isn’t a flaw. It doesn’t mean you’re lacking or you did something wrong, it’s just a natural part of life. So Yerim, for Mister’s sake, cover your ears.”

[…But.]

Yerim spoke quietly. Just then, Moon Hyunah’s voice came.

[I’ll watch.]

With a scrape, Moon Hyunah dragged her chair over in front of the wall and sat astride it. Facing the screen head–on, she spoke calmly.

[Yerim, you look away. It’s fine. Young master, Hunter Noah, you can close your eyes too.]

“…Hyunah.”

[Of course, it’s not like I don’t care what happens to you, Hyung–nim. I’m just more used to it. And this isn’t a final farewell, just the thoughts of someone who’s already seen everything, but you did well. You worked hard, Han Yujin.]

“Thank you. And this isn’t my final goodbye either. I’m glad I got to know you, Hyunah.”

Before regression, we’d barely even exchanged a proper word. But after regression, having Hyunah there had been a huge comfort.

[…I can watch too.]

Noah spoke up. His face had gone a little pale and his eyes were trembling, but he still didn’t look away.

“You don’t have to push yourself.”

[I’m not a kid. It’s time I graduated from running away and hiding.]

Noah gave a faint smile. I curved my lips up as well.

“Hey, Chatterbox. You keep going on about last goodbyes, you’re ruining the mood.”

It wasn’t like I had any plans to end things here. As I grumbled and tried to stand, Song Taewon, who had been silently standing there, spoke.

[Drawing this out like this might not be a bad thing.]

He didn’t say much more, just looked at me. Maybe Rookie or the young Chaos, and Myungwoo who was probably with the two of them, were trying to come up with a plan. But how could they interfere. Chatterbox had taken his time setting up this stage and paid the price of himself as a Transcendent. To oppose that, a sacrifice on a comparable level would be needed.

And that was, honestly, both difficult and a waste.

“Mm, don’t worry too much.”

[Mr. Han.]

“You’ve seen it, I’m stubborn as hell. More than that, I’m sorry, I get the feeling you’re going to have your hands full once you’re back.”

Cleaning up after this, they’d probably need Director Song, the public official, more than anyone. Even if the other S–rank Hunters tried to wash their hands of it, what could he do.

[…I’ll be fine.]

“Then I’m fine too. I’m counting on you and Hyunah. Don’t you go anywhere.”

No matter what was happening in Korea, Yuhyun would be pouring his whole heart into saving me. It was at least a relief that Seonghan had become S–rank. Peace and Gyeol must have just been treated as monsters, they weren’t visible anywhere. It’d be nice if they weren’t even watching TV.

I got to my feet. My eyes met Seong Hyunjae’s. I should probably say something. Hmm.

“Got anything you want to say? Must be pretty frustrating. You’re basically stuck in a tiny little birdcage, aren’t you.”

He couldn’t move a muscle, just watch. With that guy’s personality, this had to be an infuriating situation.

“Fortunately, it’s not boring.”

…His voice was the same as always. His expression too. Like nothing was happening.

“Then pay your viewer fee. If it’s enough to keep you from being bored, you’d better cough up a lot.”

“Of course. As much as you want.”

There was no way he was actually okay with any of this. I didn’t know if he believed I’d make it out alive, or if he thought he’d be able to rescue me himself. I didn’t know what was in his head, but I hoped it was the former.

His golden eyes curved lightly in a smile, and I gave him a half–assed grin back. Yeah, it wasn’t like this was the first time something like this had happened.

“Anyway, that’s enough chatting–”

Keeping my eyes on the screens, I shifted my steps naturally, then threw myself forward. Jingle, I grabbed Grace and scooped up the Ruler’s Sword and the White Lynx set like I was hugging them all, shoving everything into my inventory. At the same time, a dark red string sliced through the air toward me.

“Urgh!”

Screech. The blade–sharp edge ripped my sleeve and grazed my skin. It could easily have gone straight through me, so he had to be doing it on purpose, just giving me a passing wound.

“You perverted freak!”

I spat a curse and bolted.

“He’d probably like it even more the more you struggle.”

The quiet Ru Ga Pheya spoke up. The mist that had been swallowing me was gone, and she was just floating there faintly like a ghost.

“Yeah, well, I still can’t just stick my neck out for him!”

I had to at least thrash around. Sitting around waiting to be rescued just wasn’t my style. Swaek– strings whipped in one after another. Red lines opened up on my cheek, my leg, the back of my hand. I could block them if I used Grace, but Chatterbox had already stolen Grace from me once like it was nothing. It would be better to keep it in my inventory as much as possible and save it for the very end.

Clack! This time the string hooked my foot. I tumbled forward.

“Ugh…”

Rocks and branches and who knew what else pounded into my body as I rolled along the ground. My white clothes were instantly caked in dirt. Soon enough they’d be soaked in blood too.

“Aren’t you going to fight back?”

His leisurely voice floated over. I shot to my feet and half–assed flipped him off over my shoulder.

– Grrrrrr!

“Damn it, I kept calling you a dog, and you actually let the dogs loose!”

Did he seriously unleash actual dogs! A savage growl sounded from behind me. And it wasn’t just one. I spun around and a pack of weirdly shaped canine–type monsters lunged for me. I hurriedly threw my arm up to guard my neck. Canine monsters almost always went for the throat first. And sure enough.

Crunch!

“Kh.”

The moment the monster clamped down on my forearm, I jammed the muzzle of my gun against its head and fired. Thud! With a wet sound the monster’s head exploded. It was stronger than me, sure, but it didn’t seem to be that high a rank. Yeah, he clearly planned to keep this going and torment me for a long time.

– Kyaaak!

– Kkak!

As soon as one went down, the rest of the monsters flinched back. I didn’t miss the opening and fired my gun. The monsters sprang away in fright, but I didn’t get out unscathed either.

‘No Grace.’

Just from firing a little, the symptoms of mana depletion were already starting to show. I hopped back and hurried to put my earrings back on first. Even if he took those again, they’d be a loss, sure, but not something I could never replace.

Whoosh!

That was when another string teleported in and slammed hard into my legs. I hadn’t even finished falling before the monsters pounced.

– Grrrrng!

They grabbed a leg each and started dragging me away. Another one lunged at my arm as I tried to aim my gun. I shoved the gun into my inventory so I wouldn’t drop it and triggered the earring’s shield at the same time I detonated a bomb.

Boom! The blast of wind mixed with the explosion sent the monsters staggering. I hurried to get up and run, but there was no strength in my bitten legs. I collapsed back onto the ground, and Chatterbox walked toward me slowly.