The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 595: The Party’s Over (4)

Chunks of earth that had been blasted high into the sky came raining down. Between the falling dirt, shattered rocks and trees pounded the already ruined ground. The stench of burning seeped through the smoke, thick as darkness.

Whoosh, a whip–like gust rose and swept some of the smoke aside. Through the gap, I saw Chatterbox. He wasn’t injured, but he looked nicely wrecked. The once–white hem of his clothes was scorched in patches, dust and ash settled over him. It wouldn’t have been hard for him to restore himself to a pristine state, but he left it.

‘Guess he doesn’t want to waste any unnecessary power.’

His gloved hand brushed casually at his collar.

[You can’t replay just any memory. Only things that happened in this place, things you did yourself or you’re really familiar with. So you can’t just replay the powers Chatterbox used and turn them back on him~.]

The King of Harmless explained that the efficiency changed depending on how familiar I was.

[Simple objects are no problem at all. But wow, you must be pretty close with Little Moon, huh? You’re using her stuff so easily?]

“It’s not like we’re not close, just… a little.”

–Who are you talking about, Daddy?

Gyeol shouldn’t be able to hear Ru Ga Pheya, but he asked sharply anyway. Uh, just think some Mister from the next neighborhood over.

“It stung a little, but coming from such unimpressive origins, even with the mist in your hand, this is all you can manage.”

Instead of answering, I pulled a low–grade mana stone, the kind we used for the kids’ food, out of my inventory and tossed it. Chatterbox caught the stone and looked at me.

“Laundry fee.”

“─.”

“Oh, I’m good. You gave me these clothes anyway. And as a bonus.”

This time I threw a mid–grade mana stone. It sliced through the air and, again, smacked neatly into Chatterbox’s palm.

“Use that for your funeral expenses. I doubt you’ve got a pre–paid funeral plan, and you don’t have kids, friends, or siblings, so I should chip in. Do they do nice funeral meat platters in this world too?”

I didn’t have parents or a partner either, so. I pulled out a contract sheet next.

“You seem pretty loaded, so how about this. Leave your estate to me, I’ll park your memorial tablet at a temple, and swing by once every hundred years to pay my respects. Inheritance OK?”

[What, give me memorial rites too~.]

The jellyfish smacked the back of my head with her palm. Considering what I’d gotten from her, I couldn’t exactly say no.

Thunk, Chatterbox let the mana stones fall to the ground.

“Come to think of it.”

The corners of his mouth curled up at me.

“Han Yujin was a party participant as well.”

“Wow, newborn’s already showing signs of dementia.”

He killed Gi Os Sanus and was reborn, so technically he was zero years old. One hell of an overachieving infant–

–Daddy?!

“Gah!”

Suddenly my own hand clamped around my neck. I tore it off fast, but my body wouldn’t move the way I wanted. It was like strings were attached to my whole body, controlling me. My legs buckled and twisted. I tried to get away from there, but I couldn’t budge.

“Under my hand.”

Chatterbox came right up to my nose. I hurriedly activated my earring’s shield skill. I layered the B–rank shield over itself again and again, boosting its grade and the number of stacks.

Bang! Chatterbox spun his long body halfway around and kicked the shield.

“Those that moved.”

Clang, clang, clang– the shields shattered one after another like thin panes of glass. Grace only nullified damage; with my movements restricted like this, the odds he’d snatch it away were high.

“My puppets.”

“Take a look at me right now!”

Forcing my stiff body to move, I staggered back and fired the King of Harmless’s staff strings. Dozens of strings vanished all at once, then came stabbing down toward Chatterbox. Whoosh, a deep red curtain–like cloth snapped out and blocked them.

“How much of anything actually went the way you wanted, and you’re going on about puppets? I’m still Han Yujin!”

The King of Harmless hadn’t been completed. All Chatterbox had gained was being anchored to this world. I fought the intangible force binding my whole body and groped through the memories around me. And I realized.

“This was– all the same place?”

Every space Chatterbox had dragged us into so far was the same dungeon. Or stage, really. He’d just swapped out the backdrop, but it was all one stage, wasteland, canyon, city, everything.

[The Unfilial Children probably lent him a replica dungeon. Since Chatterbox has dungeon management authority too, they might even have built it together.]

A thin, fencing–style sword appeared in Chatterbox’s hand. He twirled it, and the dark red strings tangled together, bound tight without even managing to teleport. He threw the sword away with the strings wrapped around it and came for me again, thick mist coiling around his long legs.

Crackle–

Everything froze. Chatterbox’s body jerked and halted. Willow leaves fluttered around me. I stepped up onto them and thrust my hand forward.

“Y’know, thanks to you, you personally showed me the highlight reel.”

I hadn’t seen that scene directly, but it was still imprinted in this space. And indirectly, I had seen it. Dark blue flames gathered in my hand. The wrecked landscape flipped into a gas station. The flames layered and layered and layered again.

Normally, the more layers you pile on, the thicker something gets. But the fire cupped in my hand grew paler instead, a clear, clean blue. Even with the mist of memories I’d swallowed, the power building up was almost too much for me. My breath hitched.

“Handling the stage is the host’s job.”

Chatterbox flicked his fingers. The gas station, full of fuel, flipped into a rippling lake. At the same time, I hurled the spear of fire. Water, clearly the opposite attribute to fire.

“And so what.”

Normally, when fire and water collide, fire is weakened. But pure fire, layered again and again—

Fwoom–!

—rose up, swallowing the water. Its nature was to consume everything in the world and even burn itself away; water couldn’t be an exception. Especially when it wasn’t even infused with mana, just ordinary water, no better than dry brush waiting to be lit.

“Tch.”

The lake filled in an instant with deep blue fire, and Chatterbox’s brows drew together. But only for a moment.

Thoom!

With a booming noise—

“Wh–what the hell!”

Everything around us emptied out. There was nothing, just an endless black void. The fire, which still couldn’t burn anything non–physical, vanished in an instant. And then—

Squelch!

The stage shifted into a swamp. This again! And this time I was in up to my waist. Before I could drag myself out, the swamp turned into metal, clamping tight around my body. I raised the flames again, melting the metal in a rush and yanking myself free, and the moment I did—

“Aagh!”

–Daddy!

My arm twisted. Chatterbox’s controlling force was now concentrated in just one arm, not my whole body.

“I–it’s f–fine.”

It was only one arm. And Chatterbox had clearly found that last space shift a bit much too. Wiping everything out in an instant wasn’t exactly easy. I revived Yerim’s mist and used it to interfere with his movements. Immediately, scorching heat whooshed up from the ground. The floor at my feet began to melt. I backed away, raising flames to avoid it, and at the same time a freezing chill slammed into me.

“It’s cold!”

I yelled and tried to recreate Yerim’s skill again, but in an instant the air turned warm. God, this was annoying.

“You’re giving me more trouble than I expected.”

“Look who’s talking.”

My temper flared. At the same time, the area around Chatterbox turned into a field of grass. White, downy tufts. They were poison–eating plants that occasionally appeared in S–rank dungeons. If you cut or pulled them, they lost their effect, but when they grew in living clusters like this, they absorbed even the strongest toxins. The way they shimmered while drinking in poison was beautiful, completely at odds with the situation.

Around me, meanwhile—

“Damn it!”

Sticky sundew–like plants wrapped around my legs. I burned them away in an instant, but it still felt gross.

“It is my stage, so how about this.”

A Chatterbox clone appeared.

“The actors onstage.”

The clone’s form shifted.

“Hyung.”

He turned into Yuhyun in his police commissioner uniform. That son of a…! Yuhyun pointed a sword at me. On top of his aura and stats feeling almost the same, there was even Iryn with him.

“You think I can’t face you!”

He was a fake anyway. And right now, weaker than me. I drew my sword and swung at my charging little brother—no, at the fake. Right before the blade hit the fake Yuhyun, I squeezed my eyes shut without thinking. I still felt the sensation of flesh and bone being cut apart.

When I opened my eyes again, Yuhyun was gone. Instead—

“Mister!”

Yerim stood there, beaming at me, and my hand froze on its own.

“…Can’t I show that bastard an illusion too?”

I summoned lightning, doing my best not to actually look at her. Crack–boom! Light erupted, blanking out my view. Thankfully, I didn’t hear any screams. I knew they were fakes, but this was seriously bad for my mental health!

[You don’t have the ability to rummage through Chatterbox’s memories. You’re lacking in power and skill!]

Come to think of it, even the jellyfish had to lay down conditions and make me sit still to show me illusions. Using that kind of skill on someone stronger than me was hard. Unfairly so.

“Mr. Han.”

This time it was Seong Hyunjae. He appeared chained up with the fairy dragon. Huh, even wearing the same outfit as back then–

–I hate it! That’s not me!

Gyeol screeched.

[He’s young and his race is mental–type, so he’s more sensitive to being copied.]

I swung my blade. Moon Hyunah, Evelyn, and Song Taewon showed up next.

“Mr. Yujin.”

Noah smiled at me. Cut it out already, seriously! I swallowed down the anger boiling up and raised my sword again—

Clack.

Noah’s hand closed around the blade, and his other hand shot toward my chest. His nails, sharpened like claws, raked a long line across my chest.

“Ghk, Chatterbox!”

He tore my clothes and left a long mark on my skin even through Grace’s power, which I’d cranked up to SSS–rank. Even so, most of the damage had been nullified, so it wasn’t a serious wound. Noah—no, Chatterbox—watched me retreat with a smile.

“How’s my makeup job?”

“Minus ten points for not understanding your target!”

Catching my breath, I glared at Chatterbox as he shifted back to his original appearance.

“…Neither your powers nor mine are really suited for straight–up combat.”

We were both on the special support side of things. I’d barely managed to drag out memories and layer them into something that actually hit, but that was about my limit. As for Chatterbox, it went without saying. He didn’t seem to have any abilities suited for direct attacks.

[I was never built for that side of things~. That’s why I lost to you too. You’re just a kid! Still kind of stings.]

Ru Ga Pheya added that she didn’t even like fighting much. Even back then, for a Transcendent, she’d been pretty clumsy with her body.

“So.”

I gathered the mist. Countless memories. Among them, the ones tied to the party, especially the final act. Chatterbox looked at me in confusion.

“Let’s really end the party.”

She’d said if you erased the memories, something might disappear. I threw away the memories crammed full inside me. I gave up that power on my own. The memories of the party that had allowed Chatterbox the party host to fully become Chatterbox.

The thick mist thinned. It rolled and slipped out between my fingers. Along with it, the power of memories that had filled me faded away. I went back to being F–rank Han Yujin.

“…What is this.”

Chatterbox looked down at his hands, his body. Seeing the confusion flicker over his face, I smiled.

“The party’s over. So we don’t need a party host anymore either.”

The human Gi Os Sanus had inhabited—Chatterbox in the body of some nameless human—stared back at me. His lips twisted and he bared his teeth in a smile.

“Temporary memory removal, is it. When the past is erased, the present changes with it.”

Uh—so that’s how it works? I’d just thought if I wiped the Chatterbox part of the memories, he’d disappear. Whatever, the end result was close enough.

[You’ve got talent, huh? Cutting out the part that let Chatterbox have his current power~. Since you were holding everyone’s memories, you could pull it off that way! Definitely! It’ll last, oh, about an hour or so!]

R–right. Let’s go with that.

“But now you’re F–rank too.”

“And?”

I took the devouring Ruler’s Sword out of my inventory. The hilt felt slightly warm.

“I’ve always been F–rank.”

From the start. So help me out this time, okay? Just once. If I die here, you die too. Let’s live together, yeah? Trusting the Black Dragon resting in my back, I tightened my grip on the hilt. As the blade slid out of its sheath, my palm stung. But there wasn’t the fierce rejection from before.

“That body of yours, about S–rank?”

I aimed the pitch–black tip of the sword at him. Dark red flames flickered faintly.

“I’m F–rank. An F–rank who’s taken down multiple S–ranks. And also—”

I flashed him a bright grin.

“There’s no King of Harmless anymore. No mist. You’re going to end at the hands of Han Yujin, who has nothing to do with the mist.”

Just Han Yujin.

Chatterbox’s eyes twisted wide.