The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 600: Missing (2)

“Someone from the Association will meet us in the hotel lobby.”

“Even if it’s a low–rank dungeon, it’s still someone else’s country. They’re letting us in super easy. What did you tell them?”

Park Yerim asked as she put on a translation item.

“I said two S–class Hunters were about to go at it for real. That it’d be hard to stop them, but if they lent us a dungeon, we’d politely go inside and fight there.”

Letting S–class Hunters go wild in the middle of Manhattan was worse than giving them a safe place to do it. As she pressed the elevator button, Moon Hyunah glanced back at Han Yuhyun.

“I get that you’re in a hurry, but keep it down in front of civilians. We need the government to cooperate if we want to find your brother more easily–”

Sssk.

The tip of Han Yuhyun’s blade sliced cleanly through the elevator doors.

“I’ll be careful once we’re outside.”

He threw himself into the empty shaft. Thud, he landed on top of the elevator car that had stopped around the middle floors and carved open its ceiling. The Hunters inside looked up at him.

“Are all of you S–class?”

“Uh, yeah?”

The moment he got his answer, the elevator cables were severed. The safety system that tried to kick in melted in the flames. Freed from the cables, the elevator immediately began to plunge.

Screeeech!

The car scraped and slammed against the shaft walls as it shot down toward the first floor. Just before it could drop on into the basement, Han Yuhyun kicked off the elevator roof, sliced open the doors, and stepped out onto the first floor.

Boom!

The crashing elevator exploded below, sending fragments flying back up the shaft. From underneath came grumbling.

“We were going to get off on the first floor anyway…”

“Huh? So we don’t have to hold the elevator anymore? Where’s Director Han?”

Kang Soyeong, who had already come down to the first floor with Liette, spotted Han Yuhyun and asked. Instead of answering, he started toward the lobby.

“It is faster and easier for us if there isn’t an elevator car.”

Liette nodded, saying it was a good method. Park Yerim, Peace, Moon Hyunah, Noah, and Song Taewon also reached the first floor, and once everyone had grasped the situation, Hunters on each level began smashing open their own elevator doors.

“What the hell just happened?”

“Regression? I didn’t know that was even possible.”

“What? Regression? What’s that supposed to be?”

Confused voices traded back and forth among the high–ranked Hunters who hadn’t had all their memories stolen. Some of them even wondered if what they’d seen had really been real. But one thing was clear.

“Where is Han Yujin!”

An S–class Hunter shouted at Han Yuhyun as he strode across the lobby. At the center of all those memories was Han Yujin. Han Yuhyun flicked his gaze toward the Hunter trying to block his way. Without breaking stride, he planted one foot and spun, using it as a pivot to snap a kick up at the man.

Thock!

It was a clean, easy–to–read attack, so the Hunter blocked it with both arms and relaxed, thinking he’d defended perfectly.

“Urgh!”

Scrrrrk– His body was pushed back, scraping a long line over the marble floor.

“What kind of strength is that–”

Even though he was shoved, he had at least stayed standing, and he blinked. At some point, the figure of Han Yuhyun, who had been right in front of him, had vanished. And then–

Crack!

A sheathed blade smacked hard into the back of his neck. As the Hunter hastily spun away, retreating, Han Yuhyun coolly watched him and slid the sheath off. Shiiing, a blade shining with light emerged. It was a silent warning that the second time, the bare steel would pierce his neck without mercy.

“Anyone who’s interested in my brother can step forward now.”

No one volunteered. Instead, Park Yerim strode up to stand beside him.

“If you don’t think you can handle us, you’d better give up early.”

“It would be wise to take this warning seriously. Not only because of the S–class Hunters, but because Han Yujin–ssi himself will be hard for you to handle.”

Noah also walked over to the two of them. Peace trotted out to stand in front of Han Yuhyun as well. Shrugging her shoulders, Moon Hyunah raised one hand.

“My kid’s still at the age where he needs his dad. Let’s not mess with the kids’ dad, yeah?”

“Exactly, Director Han still has to raise the kids!”

Kang Soyeong chimed in with a nod. Between them, Song Taewon let out a small sigh and spoke up.

“Please abide by the law. Dodam Monster Mounts Breeding Facility counts as a special Hunter–related facility, so any high–ranked Hunter of foreign nationality must notify the Korean Awakened Management Office and Hunter Association of their reason for visiting and receive permission.”

His voice was faintly tired, but calm as he continued.

“And I am obligated to protect my country’s Hunters.”

In other words, he too would not stand by and watch anyone lay a hand on Han Yujin.

“It’d be fun if they did rush us.”

Liette said, clearly entertained. But unlike her, the other S–class Hunters were holding back. Their opponents weren’t exactly easy, and the confusion from their scrambled memories weighed heavily.

“Forget Han Yujin, what happened to Chatterbox?”

“What? Who?”

“The one who hosted the party!”

“Oh… that… was it a woman?”

Plenty of them no longer remembered Chatterbox properly. They remembered clearly that there had been a party where Hunters gathered and that it had been broadcast. But Chatterbox himself had become blurry.

Among those Hunters, a few quietly slipped away. Whether what they’d heard was true or false, a flood of new information had been dumped on them. Even if it was all limited to Han Yujin and Korea, there were bits and pieces that could be useful. And now that Chatterbox’s whereabouts were also unknown, there was no time to hesitate.

“Guildmaster of Breaker Guild, are you here!”

Just then, an Association staffer rushed into the lobby and shouted. Moon Hyunah stepped forward.

“Over here! It’s close, right?”

“Just two blocks ahead. But, um, who exactly is going to be…”

“Oh, him, the Haeyeon Guildmaster and his guild member. They say they’re going to settle who gets the Guildmaster’s seat.”

Saying they were short on time, Moon Hyunah hurried the staffer along, then turned to Kang Soyeong.

“Soyeong, you and Liette wait here.”

“Okay. What about our Guildmaster? Is he with Director Han?”

“Maybe?”

Unlike Kang Soyeong, whose memories were mostly gone, Liette scratched the back of her head with a vaguely complicated expression. Glancing around, the Association staffer took the lead.

“We’ve been getting strange reports nonstop. Especially S–class guildmasters from all over the world requesting to visit Manhattan…”

“Guess they want to crash the after–party now that the main event’s over.”

Moon Hyunah replied offhandedly. Nine times out of ten, they were trying to meet Han Yujin. Guessing as much, Han Yuhyun’s expression darkened. Soon they reached a nearby low–rank dungeon, and Park Yerim knocked three times.

“I don’t know if this will work here too. Since it’s not Mister.”

“They’ll at least respond. Just in case, I’ll stay out here. You can’t get any contact at all once you’re inside a dungeon.”

“Then I’ll stay with you, Hyunah–ssi. If we hear anything about Yujin–ssi, we’ll need to move fast.”

“I’m counting on you.”

With a slight nod, Han Yuhyun stepped straight into the dungeon. The others followed behind him.

– Kyarrrk!

A grassy plain unfolded, and a monster that looked like a gaunt wolf lunged at them. Peace, in his adolescent form, clamped down on the monster’s neck in one go and flung it aside, baring his teeth. At his low growl, the rest of the monsters shuffled backward.

“Rookie! Volleyball! Mister’s gone!”

Park Yerim shouted into the air. The surroundings shimmered faintly, and letters appeared.

[Everyone hold hands!]

Han Yuhyun grabbed Peace by the scruff, Yerim hooked a hand in the hem of his jacket, and finally Song Taewon took Yerim’s hand. The scenery changed.

Shiiing— The moment they shifted space, Han Yuhyun drew his sword and leveled it at the neck of the man in front of him. Hwang Rim raised both hands and smiled.

“Calm down, Little Bro.”

“Huh? Isn’t this Myungwoo–oppa’s forge?”

Park Yerim looked around. Song Taewon also scanned their surroundings.

“This is that forge?”

“Yeah. First floor, not the basement. I came here once with Mister. Normally Ismuar should be over there.”

“Where is my brother?”

Still holding the sword on him, Han Yuhyun asked. Hwang Rim gave a big shrug.

“I don’t really know what happened after we dodged into the forge to get away from Chatterbox. Let’s see, I saw up to Jin having a grand old time rolling around with the Sesung Guildmaster after you.”

“What about Myungwoo–oppa?”

“Upstairs. Looks like he’s in bad shape, he wouldn’t even let spirits get close. That’s why I ended up trapped here.”

Park Yerim ran for the stairs to the second floor. She called, “Ismuar!” but there was no reply. Just as she started up the stairs, she hastily raised a fog to block the heat rushing down toward her. Sss, the sound of evaporating water hissed in the air.

“You’re right. Han Yuhyun, you go!”

At her words, Iryn popped out and waved his front paws like he was telling him not to go.

[This is Ismuar’s territory, so even Honey’s little brother is in danger! His rank is higher!]

Just then, the volleyball bounced out with a thump. Delighted, Park Yerim grabbed it.

“Rookie! Mister, Mister’s gone missing!”

“Where did my brother go?”

“Is it related to where the Sesung Guildmaster disappeared to?”

– Kyaooong!

[Oh, I sent Honey safely back to Honey World! But it wasn’t a normal transfer, so even I don’t know where he ended up. And Chain got sent to a specific location Chatterbox had set up in advance, so that’s probably a kidnapping, right?]

“Can you tell us roughly where Hyung was sent?”

“You’re sure Mister’s okay, right? So who kidnapped Mister Seong?”

Song Taewon looked at Hwang Rim. Hwang Rim spread his hands like he was completely innocent.

[Things are a mess on this side too, so it shouldn’t be anywhere too dangerous. Fundamentally it links to places with lots of sentient beings, humans and such. Honey used the King of Harmless’s power to spread memories, so what happened before the regression ended up affecting reality as well. I did scoop everything back up, but the world got shaken up pretty badly… and then Chatterbox disappeared, which caused another wave of problems…]

Muttering a string of words no one else could understand, Rookie bounced once more.

[We’re doing everything we can to clean it up! Since the blacksmith–ssi borrowed Young Chaos–nim’s sword, he needs more time to rest, so I’ll send you out with that human.]

“Jin’s little brother’s scary, so I’d rather go out separately.”

[Humans who learned about the regression are definitely going to come after Honey! And, well, no, actually yes, please find Honey and protect him!]

Looking like it was about to cry, the volleyball spun around and around. The first floor of the forge warped into a wrecked hotel room. With an awkward expression, Hwang Rim slipped sideways to hide behind Song Taewon, keeping away from Han Yuhyun.

“I really did come to help, you know. Otherwise why would the blacksmith–ssi have saved me?”

“My brother has my sword.”

Han Yuhyun said, pulling out his phone.

“If the sword comes out of the inventory, I can at least get a rough sense of its location.”

“Someone could’ve taken it.”

“No one but me or Hyung can hold the Ruler’s Sword. Unless their fire–resistance is SS–class or higher.”

There was no such person in the world right now. Han Yuhyun called Haeyeon again. After getting the answer from Do Hamin that tracking would be difficult as well, he looked past Song Taewon. A spear appeared in Park Yerim’s hand, and Song Taewon stepped aside.

“We’re not a courier service.”

“Give me a reason not to cut your throat.”

At Han Yuhyun’s icy words, Hwang Rim sighed as if he had no choice.

“Gyeol? Grace?”

He called quietly, but there was no reply. His arms were pulled back and tied, his fingers wrapped up tight so he couldn’t use his inventory at all.

‘It’d be convenient if it auto–linked to my mouth.’

For a human with all four limbs intact, items from the inventory appeared in both hands. If both hands were out of commission, it automatically switched so you could take things out with your mouth instead. For races with tentacles instead of hands, it would link to the tentacles. In any case, you couldn’t change it manually, so once both hands were completely blocked, using the inventory was difficult. And in his current situation, even if he spat something out, there wasn’t much he could do with it.

“Grace really isn’t here, right?”

On top of that… his earring was gone too. Same for the lynx gear he’d been wearing. Seriously, they’d stripped him clean from head to toe. At least they’d thrown him onto a bed instead of the bare floor, but the room was so empty it was obvious this wasn’t meant to be a friendly welcome.

‘And there aren’t even any windows.’

Was this underground? Gyeol should be safe. They could catch him, but they couldn’t hurt him. After squirming a few times, he gave up and went limp. Chatterbox, that damned bastard, was a pain in the ass to the very end. He let out a sigh and slowly scanned his surroundings again.

Aside from the single bed, there was nothing in the room. The door looked like metal, and there was a CCTV camera mounted in the corner of the ceiling. There wasn’t a single heater, but the air was lukewarm.

‘…So this isn’t New York.’

It didn’t feel like winter. Where was it warm even in early December? Hm, California? If this was a different country entirely, that would be a hassle. He hoped everyone was okay–

“Khuk!”

A metallic taste surged up from inside. Out of habit he started to hold it back, then just let it come out. It wasn’t his house and he wasn’t the one who’d be doing the laundry.

“Ah… blood.”

Ru Ga Pheya had told him to take care of himself, and sure enough, he didn’t seem to be in great shape. Even aside from that, he’d been tossed around enough to mess up his insides. He slowly checked over his body. With Grace and the earring taken, his mana had dropped sharply… but he was in better shape than he’d expected.

‘I can still feel the kids.’

Maybe because they’d properly settled as individual beings, the mana of the Black Dragon and Blackie was clearly separated now. The Black Dragon was fine, but he really had to change Blackie’s name soon.

He wasn’t even black anymore.

‘Maybe I should give him a temporary name. His eyes are blue, but we already have Blue. He’s small, so I’ll just go with Little Guy for now.’

He coughed again and spat out more blood. Lying limp on purpose, it wasn’t long before he heard footsteps approaching.

It was closer to them collecting something that had fallen than a proper kidnapping, but either way, he might as well take a look at the face of whoever had dumped him here.