The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 641: Temporary System Administrator (4)

“What, what happened?!”

He’d been perfectly fine. Both eyes, both arms, all attached and working. I was stunned and completely thrown. No, why, how. Did his condition get bad and some other Hunter attack him? I should have begged Chief Song to go with him. If he’d gotten weaker he should have just gone quietly back to Korea, not wander around on his own leaving a perfectly fine guild behind and end up like that!

“How badly is he hurt? What about a healer? They said they can’t regrow the arm? There’s a Saintess in this area right now, so—”

“It’s been a while.”

A low voice echoed. It had been a while, sort of. Not even half a month had passed, but still. But Seong Hyunjae’s voice was much deeper than that. My steps, which had been carrying me toward him, came to a halt on their own. It felt like not just a few weeks, but more than a year had sunk in between us, as if a deep ravine had opened right in front of my feet.

I blinked. I really looked at the familiar face. Faded hair, golden eyes.

“…Seong Hyunjae?”

“I’m still not used to it.”

Seong Hyunjae smiled faintly. His eyes closed, then slowly opened again. The dulled, lifeless irises took on a golden color, like the rim of the sun. His arm, too, came back as if the missing part had been a mirage. Seong Hyunjae lifted the arm he’d recovered and opened and closed a fist.

“In this body, I mean.”

This Seong Hyunjae hadn’t lost an eye or an arm. And Seong Hyunjae had lost an eye and an arm.

“You.”

My mouth went completely dry.

“Who are you?”

“As you can see.”

“The body.”

I couldn’t get used to it. He was missing an eye and an arm.

“You’re talking like you stole it.”

“In the end, it’s probably similar.”

Still wearing that faint smile, he continued.

“Traces from before regression. I tried to take hold of the version of that which had been given form. The information and the shadow Song Taewon left behind. They were too valuable to simply let disappear.”

…So Seong Hyunjae had gone to look for the traces of himself from before regression. Something like that had been left behind? Even if there had been traces, how the hell had he turned them into something solid like this.

“And then.”

The fingertips of the hand he’d lost slowly brushed along his chin, the corner of his mouth.

“Let’s say I ended up on the surface.”

“…What the hell is that supposed to mean.”

“Even if I’m nothing but residue left between the flows of time, I’m still Seong Hyunjae. Which side would consume and which side would remain – maybe you could call it a matter of luck. And so we ended up like this. Or rather,”

his smile deepened.

“We became. Does this side feel more familiar?”

I could almost hear the snap as my patience, which had been thinning bit by bit, broke all at once. My body moved before my brain. My foot came down, I pushed off the ground and lunged, hand reaching out, and it all felt strangely distant, like it was happening to someone else. The fingertips that had been aiming for his collar scraped through empty air. At the same time, something slammed into my stomach.

Wham!

With a thud, my body was flung backward. Thanks to Grace it only throbbed a little, but a reflexive cough burst out of me. I skidded a long way across the floor before stopping. I started to push myself up, and a strong force pressed down on the back of my neck. Bracing on both hands wasn’t enough; my elbows bent and I ended up almost flat on the ground, blinking. A polished shoe tip entered my vision. Only one. It wasn’t hard to guess that the other foot was planted on the back of my neck.

“You’ve gotten awfully soft.”

The dry voice fell from somewhere far above my body.

“You must have been treated very kindly. If Mr. Han Yujin, who’s rolled around as much as you have, is charging in without thinking.”

…Yeah, he’s right. Before regression I would never have rushed an S–class, a high–rank Hunter, head–on. Especially bare–handed. I would have picked up a weapon, quietly waited for an opening, and at least tried to leave a scratch that looked like a bite mark. Even now, if it had been some other high–rank Hunter, it would have been different.

“With a certain someone…”

I clenched and unclenched my hands.

“…I kind of thought of us as partners.”

But clearly he didn’t. Boom! A bomb went off in my palm. A violent pressure surged up with heat. My vision flared hot. The force pinning my neck vanished and my body lifted off the ground again before dropping. This time I was ready and landed lightly. At the same time I popped a smoke grenade and threw myself to the side.

Swish!

Something sliced through the air. A flash of metal flickered at the edge of my vision. I activated a stealth skill and slid along the floor. Even an S–class Hunter wouldn’t find me easily.

Bzzt–

A faint current prickled over my skin. A curtain of electricity took hold of the entire space, sensing every movement in detail. Even if I hid my presence perfectly, there was no avoiding the hands sweeping through every inch around me. Soon, in front of me—

Tap.

A shoe heel clicked against the floor. Like scooping up a fish from a net, he yanked up my collar with ridiculous ease. My hair, ruffled by the explosion, swayed over my smooth forehead.

“You damn bastard.”

Both of them. They’re the same guy anyway, but still. I swung my leg up and kicked him. Of course he didn’t budge. My overheated head cooled down a little. But my insides were still twisted. What the hell kind of mess was this.

“Eaten? That’s what you’re going with?”

I kicked him again. The foot that had been dirtying his clothes was grabbed. I twisted my body and used the Delroux skill. My body shrank sharply, slipped free of his grip in an instant, opened up some distance, and then I turned back into a human.

“You goddamn human, seriously!”

He couldn’t have ended up like that without thinking. That just made it more irritating. He probably had a plan, and maybe he was even putting his trust in me. If I calmly, rationally sorted things out, it wasn’t even that bad a situation. It was practically the same as pulling out information from before regression, and somehow he’d even become a proxy on the Filial Duty Addicts’ side.

There was a lot to gain. And that damned human would have assumed I’d get a proper grasp of the situation. Because I’d handled everything well so far. Because he knows I’d never give up…

“You son of a bitch!”

Yeah, I said I wouldn’t give up! Damn bastard! How many times did I cling to you. Is that it? Huh? Is that why? So you could just throw your own body away? Even if his opponent was himself, he’s not the type to lose easily – don’t tell me he handed it over on purpose! I jabbed a finger at Seong Hyunjae. One of his brows twitched up.

“I’m going to put you back the way you were no matter what! I’ll fix you and then I’m going to kill you!”

He can’t die anyway, so taking his head off once should be fine. It’s not like I haven’t blown it off before. Seong Hyunjae shrugged.

“So the post–regression me is surprisingly disliked.”

“Same goes for you, you too!”

Why are you talking like it’s someone else’s problem, you jerk.

“You damn dog–bastard no. 2! Or is it no. 1? Whatever, I owe every actual dog an apology because of you! You—”

If I could, I wanted to grab him by the collar. I wanted to shove a fist right into that shameless face.

“You’re the one who erased my memories! On your own damn whim!”

If the me from back then was still me, there was no way I would have wanted that. Absolutely not.

“From that point on, it’s no longer Han Yujin’s story.”

“That line again! You said yourself your memories aren’t complete either!”

“That was after using the plundering power in my body in various ways. When I was in the middle of testing it they were significantly mixed together, but now I’ve recovered most of what I’d lost.”

This Seong Hyunjae looked a bit older than the one I met in the nightmare dungeon. It was probably close to the point right before regression.

“It wasn’t something Han Yujin should have had to shoulder.”

“That’s for me to decide.”

I glared straight into both intact golden eyes.

“Maybe it would have been painful. I don’t know exactly what kind of relationship I had with you and Chief Song, but either way, I… definitely must have liked both of you.”

I would have. Even if I wasn’t sure about Seong Hyunjae, Chief Song was a sure thing. He’s someone I can’t help but like. And as for Seong Hyunjae, even if I called him annoying, I must have grown attached at least a little.

“Maybe it was… even my fault. Then it would have been really, really hard, but I still would have endured. I would have lived even if it hurt so much I wanted to die, and kept on living. And I would have written a reply to that damn postcard.”

That damn postcard I don’t even remember. I pulled a dagger out of my inventory at random and threw it. Seong Hyunjae only had to tilt his shoulder the slightest bit to dodge it.

“My life is mine to decide! So that makes you about five times more of an asshole!”

Even if they’re both assholes, the one who trusts me even a little is at least a little less of one. This guy thinks he can handle me however he wants. Just like the Seong Hyunjae right after regression did. Maybe he erased my memories to protect me. Just like how he offered to be my guardian after regression. But I don’t need that.

“You’re such a goddamn amazing Shepherd, aren’t you.”

The words left my mouth and I flinched, closing it again. When you say shepherd, the famous story is the lying boy, isn’t it. For a moment I doubted whether this was really the pre–regression Seong Hyunjae. His attitude was definitely different from the current one but… he’s plenty capable of acting.

‘He’s such an unreadable bastard that I’m confused even in a situation like this.’

Either way, that body is the current Seong Hyunjae, so I just have to somehow put him back the way he was.

“So then, why exactly are you here.”

“Finished venting?”

“I could go all night and still not be done. The Filial Duty Addicts wouldn’t have wanted to accept you as their representative, though. You were on our side, for starters.”

At my question, Seong Hyunjae closed one eye. Like, what do you expect me to say.

“There are usually two ways to erase the price of breaking a contract.”

“One is for a power stronger than the contract to nullify it. And the other…”

“To fulfill the terms of the contract again.”

The eye he’d closed opened again. Two intact eyes, two intact arms.

“The current me seems to have had the nullification done safely, but the pre–regression me couldn’t manage that. All I could do was reduce the physical effects to a degree. And as long as I’m the one on the surface, the contract continues as is.”

“You restored the contract.”

The contract the current Seong Hyunjae had with Diarma, the Filial Duty Addicts, had been erased cleanly. But it remained with the pre–regression Seong Hyunjae.

“The contract was with Diarma, but it must have been the kind that automatically transfers to the other Filial Duty Addicts.”

“How clever.”

“That’s the look you make when you’re praising a son of a bitch.”

“As if.”

The contract with the Filial Duty Addicts was still in effect, and the situation was very different now. On top of that, I’m sure Seong Hyunjae had talked his way through everything. Maybe he told them that the current him is practically a different person.

“What happened to the message I sent.”

“That would have been the second one.”

The corner of that bastard Seong Hyunjae’s mouth curled up.

“Right after Han Yuhyun.”

“…I mean, yeah. You’re strong, at least.”

“They started at the same time, to be fair.”

“So you did it on purpose, you petty jerk!”

Seong Hyunjae deliberately stalled instead of answering the message from me. And in that time—

“You kept me pinned and sent messages to Chief Song and Hyunah, didn’t you.”

Was it because they’d already been flagged as unsuitable. On the other hand, Seong Hyunjae hadn’t been chosen.

“Shouldn’t a representative be flagged as unsuitable from the get–go! This is total cheating!”

Seong Hyunjae lifted his hand and tapped at the air. And then—

[Mr. Han Yujin! Please choose to be on Seong Hyunjae’s side~☆ Your dearest partner has chosen you! Please take your partner’s hand, Mr. Han Yujin!(?□?)/]

A message popped up in front of me. Hey, you! …Why the hell does it look like this. Don’t tell me my message looked like this too. Like, “From your loving big brother, to Yuhyun~” or Shishio… let’s not think about it.

“Still, I didn’t think you’d bring Hwang Rim.”

“Hwang Rim?”

Seong Hyunjae repeated it like he’d never heard the name. What, then why did that guy get flagged as unsuitable? I mean, as a person he’s unsuitable in a lot of ways, but still. Was it because he had a contract with another Transcendent, the Puppeteer? I let out a long breath and stared hard at Seong Hyunjae.

I had no idea what scheme he was running. Still, seriously, you could have at least left me a hint before disappearing, damn it. Just wait until you really get back to normal – I am not letting you off. Any of you. I’m going to collect with interest, several times over.

[Temporary System Administrator]

Right then, a message appeared.

[We will now begin a practice game for adapting to the system.]

A practice game?

[Please summon one of the chosen Awakened!]

If it’s one person, obviously Yuhyun– wait. How do I call him here?

[Instructions for operating the registered Awakened spatial transfer system]

Thankfully, a manual popped up. So first, designate an area, then search for the target’s location, search…

[Follow the map and draw in the system’s mana, focusing it!]

I grabbed onto the system mana being offered and dragged it along, following the arrows on the map that appeared, somehow managing to keep up. An F–rank without a mana imprint wouldn’t even be able to attempt this. The Transcendents probably operated it without this kind of helper.

“There, Yuhyun! Right there!”

“Mr. Han Yujin.”

“Oh? Chief Song!”

Song Taewon appeared in front of Seong Hyunjae first. He looked back and forth between me and Seong Hyunjae, his eyes narrowing slightly. He sensed that something was off about Seong Hyunjae, but didn’t seem sure. And then—

“Hyung!”

Yuhyun moved to stand in front of me. My younger brother’s eyes quickly scanned me.

“You okay?”

“As you can see, uh, I just rolled around a little. I didn’t get seriously hurt, really.”

Suspicious looks were thrown my way. Two of them, not one. Chief Song, I’m really fine.

“What happened? And what’s with that affiliation next to your name.”

“It’s kind of a long story to explain…”

Especially that bastard Seong Hyunjae – how was I supposed to explain him. I was picking my words when another message appeared.

“…Myungwoo?”

Another familiar face appeared.