The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 671: World of the Moon (1)

I took a windbreaker jacket out of the closet. I’d thrown it out a few years ago, but I guess I’d worn it so much before that it had claimed a spot in the room. It was a little big and loose, so when I put it on, it covered my injured arm.

Closing the closet door, I looked around the master bedroom. I’m pretty sure it had been smaller than this in reality, but maybe my memory had prettied it up, because it felt pretty spacious and clean.

‘If I ever end up somewhere like this again… will it have changed into our current house by then?’

I hoped so. I wanted this to be the house we lived in together long enough that it would remain the biggest, clearest one in my memory. Though we might have to move if the kids kept multiplying. Maybe I should look into whether we can expand the current place. The rooftop garden is big; it should be doable.

“Mister, your outfit looks nice.”

When I went out to the living room, Yerim laughed like she was surprised.

“This is really old.”

“Trends just come back around~”

There wasn’t a hint of shadow in her cheerful voice. Even so, it bothered me a little. I’d heard that once you’re around S–rank you get mental–stat buffs and all that, but that’s not a cure–all. If anything, since the limit’s higher, you can just keep pressing it down, piling it up until it explodes even bigger later.

My Fear Resistance definitely had side effects too. You can’t just block out every negative emotion forever and call it good. …Not that I can just stop using Fear Resistance either. It’s a quiet pain in the ass.

“I don’t want to send you off alone, Hyung.”

Yuhyun clung to my back and said it in a childish, whining tone. Him doing that in this house really brought back memories. When he was little he barely showed any emotion at all, and then, bit by bit, it increased. If he needed something, this kid who hadn’t even started elementary school yet would just clearly state his business like he was submitting a company report.

Back then I didn’t know any better and just thought, wow, my little brother must be really smart. Kids who try hard to act grown–up aren’t that rare, after all. Then gradually he’d start saying things like, I’d like it if you did this, I want to do that, I think I don’t like this – actually voicing his own feelings.

“I don’t want to be away from you guys either, but what can we do. This time I’ll really come back in one piece. I might even tell them to call the main team. Since we usually rotate, it’s probably the main team’s turn anyway.”

I tried to soothe him, but my little brother wouldn’t let go that easily. Yerim even grabbed my good arm and pretended to hang off it. Yerim, I can handle at least your weight, you know. You can just actually hang on.

“I’m on your side, Mister, but hooonestly, how is Han Yuhyun supposed to believe you?”

“…I did try, you know. I really did.”

It’s not like I could just sit there and lose quietly in that situation. The world’s more at fault than I am. If the circumstances would just cooperate, I could take good care of my body and live safely and quietly. I still haven’t given up on the dream of being unemployed.

“Once I finish everything I have to do, I’m going to live really, really quietly. Take good care of my health and everything.”

Just taking care of the kids. After I soothed Yuhyun and Yerim properly, I left the room.

When I reached the space I was starting to get used to, Myungwoo was waiting. His gaze went to my arm and then moved away.

“What is it this time, Teacher?”

“I’m not exactly sure. But it looks like the main team’s coming along.”

“That’s something, at least. My kids have been really worried.”

“Of course they have.”

It was such an ordinary answer, but my chest still gave a guilty little twinge. This is all the Transcendents’ fault. I am genuinely innocent here.

Soon, Seong Hyunjae appeared as well.

“Have you been managing that body of yours in one piece?”

“How thoughtful. You sound like you worry about me more than I do.”

“Not you, your body. It’s precious and very useful, so we need to take care of it. I’ve got shares in that body too, you know.”

“Did you.”

“Ah, you didn’t hear? We signed a contract about a month ago. I have a one–third share in Seong Hyunjae’s body.”

He doesn’t remember. Of course, that never happened.

“At the time, he also agreed to transfer half of Sesung’s shares to me. I was like, it’s fine~, it’s fine, and refused over and over, but he just insisted on giving them to me.”

Anyway, that’s how it went. I had no memory of it, but sure, let’s say it was true. You can forget little things like that in life. Seong Hyunjae narrowed his eyes and smiled.

“What a surprising revelation.”

“I was shocked too, you know. Myungwoo, you heard about it, right? It was all over the news. Dodam Breeding Facility takes half of Sesung. Sesung Guild Leader Seong Hyunjae gives thanks to Director Han Yujin. What on earth happened between the two of them?”

“…Ah, yeah. Mm. If you say so, Yujin, I guess that’s how it was.”

Myungwoo answered awkwardly, clearly struggling to play along. He still had a bit of how he was when we first met. See, case in point – he pulled out a fresh contract.

“But now the contents have changed, which is a problem. However, the law cares about the body, not the mind, you know? So come on, let’s write up a proper contract again. Sesung Guild Leader Seong Hyunjae shall provide Director Han Yujin of Dodam Breeding Facility with half of Sesung’s shares, plus as alimony one SS–rank item of Yujin’s choice.”

It was a joke, but my heart fluttered just a little as I held the contract out to Seong Hyunjae. “Yujin…” Myungwoo called to me softly. Yeah, maybe it was a bit much to try to scam someone who’d lost his memories. Seong Hyunjae’s lips curved gently.

“I’m terribly sorry I don’t remember something this important.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay~”

“So as an apology, I’ll just transfer all of Seong Hyunjae’s shares.”

“…Excuse me?”

Huh, not Sesung’s? Seong Hyunjae took out a pen. I froze, then freaked out and stumbled back.

“I’m kidding, kidding! Wha–”

I thought I’d escaped, but somehow the contract was already in Seong Hyunjae’s hand. He edited the text and signed it. What the hell…

“Wait, hey.”

What am I supposed to do with owning you!

“Take it back! I don’t nee–”

Krrrk–

With a strange noise, the edge of the contract began to burn. In moments, it disappeared completely without even leaving ash. Seong Hyunjae lightly waved his now–empty hand and laughed soundlessly.

“Sadly, I have a prior commitment.”

…Crescent Moon. He looked back at me.

“If Mr. Han Yujin could have me, I’d find that even more entertaining.”

“…Whoever it is, I don’t think owning a person is okay. Even less so through some contract.”

It’s one thing if it’s a light joke, like saying I’m yours because I really like you. But Seong Hyunjae should belong to Seong Hyunjae. I swallowed a heavy sigh.

“Even tied up like that, you were still able to make a proxy contract, huh.”

“I found that betting all of me is the only thing that’s impossible. Parts of my body are fine. Even my life.”

Because he doesn’t actually die anyway, huh. Once he dies and comes back, any contract from before that would be void.

Myungwoo also looked at Seong Hyunjae with a slightly odd expression. Seong Hyunjae met his gaze.

“Does our future Transcendent Teacher have any thoughts on the matter?”

“Seeing the precedent makes me even more worried about Yujin.”

Myungwoo turned his eyes to me.

“Me joining the ranks of the Transcendents is still something in the future. But I don’t plan to let this slide no matter how this turns out. If I manage to become a System Administrator–”

“Hey! The security here can’t be perfect, you know. Be careful!”

“It’s fine.”

Myungwoo shrugged.

“System Administrators – more precisely, creator–class Transcendents – are extremely rare, so even a candidate is someone they can’t touch carelessly. Either side, or the neutrals. They all need the system.”

“R–right?”

“At the very least, I’ll be under protection. Anyway…”

After checking a system message, Myungwoo spoke.

“Please summon the main team members one by one.”

So it really is the main team’s turn! I hurriedly opened my system window. I should call Yuhyun first. I was working the system interface with what I liked to think was growing familiarity, but Seong Hyunjae summoned Chief Song even faster than I could. He really is capable, at least.

“Hello, Chief Song.”

“…”

Chief Song stayed silent. Huh? Even if we’re technically on opposite sides right now, he’s not the type to ignore a greeting… Oh. Chief Song’s eyes were fixed squarely on my arm.

“It’ll go back to normal soon, really soon!”

I half–hid my body behind Yuhyun, who had just arrived.

“It happens all the time, you know. Why, even our Yuhyun once took a bite out of your arm, Chief Song. As his big brother I’m really sorry~”

“It was the result of a fair fight.”

“I mean, still.”

“And I returned the limb in as intact a condition as possible and even offered treatment support. Chief Song Taewon refused, though.”

R–right. Good jo…b? I guess?

“That’s different from you erasing yours completely, Hyung. Not to mention the rank difference between you and your opponent, and with the state your body’s in, it’s harder for you to even receive treatment.”

“…The Haeyeon Guild Leader is correct.”

Chief Song spoke quietly.

“As an S–rank Hunter of the Special Management Office, it was my duty, and recovery was fully possible.”

“Even if it had been completely lost, Mr. Song Taewon is an S–rank Hunter. I would have stepped in and regenerated it if I had to. For high–rank Hunters the burden of physical regeneration is low; losing an arm is no problem.”

“But for low–rank Hunters, even with a Healer’s support it puts a serious strain on the body. The impact at the time of the injury is also completely different.”

I shut my mouth obediently. I should’ve just kept quiet from the beginning.

Chief Song let out a short sigh.

“Please be careful.”

“…Yes.”

Next, Hyunah appeared. I waved to her happily – with half my body still hidden behind Yuhyun, of course.

“Why are you hiding like that, Hyung–nim? Finally seeing you face to face. If you were putting a team together, you should’ve called me first! I’m hurt.”

“I was going to call you too, Hyunah, but Seong Hyunjae pulled something first!”

“Yeah? Still not going to go easy on you.”

“I’m aware.”

And of course she shouldn’t.

Yerim arrived a little after Hyunah. She immediately shouted loudly,

“Hyunah unni! Mister chopped his arm off!”

Yerim! Hyunah whipped her head around to look at me.

“So that’s why you’re hiding like that.”

“I got scolded a lot. I’m reflecting on my actions. But it’s not like I meant to do it, you know.”

“Mr. Han Yujin!”

Mari’s voice rang out. As she ran toward me, Yuhyun blocked her path. Mari glared at him, sulking.

“I really do think I prefer kind people.”

“Then Han Yuhyun is out, unni. You’re unni, right?”

“Ah, yes! I may not look it, but I’m older.”

Get a bunch of them together and it gets noisy fast. Soon, the rest of the people arrived.

Liette waved toward Samir.

“Hey there, kid.”

“It’s been a while.”

“You two know each other? You were Hunter Liette, right?”

“Yeah. My arranged marriage candidate~ Of course I turned it down.”

Mari’s jaw dropped. Then she ran over to Samir and started chattering, peppering him with questions.

Our team was one thing, but Seong Hyunjae’s side also didn’t look particularly controllable. Even setting Mari and Samir aside, neither Hyunah nor Chief Song were the type to blindly follow orders. In actual combat they’d stick to their positions exactly, but still.

“Unni, were you really thinking about marrying Mister Sesung? You lived together for quite a while. Was it okay?”

“The face was good. Still is. I like the face.”

Mari said with a sigh.

Well, she’s not wrong. But deciding to marry someone just because of their face is a no–go. What’s inside matters too.

“This time, the temporary System Administrators will directly choose the location.”

Amid the noise, Myungwoo spoke up. Seong Hyunjae and I turned to look at him.

“The system is linked to data on past dungeons and vanished worlds. You’ve already experienced that once.”

The dungeons in Japan and China. More precisely, it must be drawing out data from worlds that were swallowed by the Source.

The system really is impressive. It’s based on the Source’s power and has a lot of restrictions, but it can still create copied worlds.

…Those two worlds really did become real, didn’t they.

“Please choose one from among the many data sets. However, you can only access approved dungeons and worlds.”

Myungwoo looked straight at me as he said it. He probably meant, don’t go poking at weird stuff.

“Any criteria worth considering?”

“None. Whether it ends up helping in the matches to come is purely a matter of luck.”

Depending on which world we chose, it could put us at an advantage or disadvantage. So I needed to choose carefully – except I had no idea what to even do, which was the real problem.

“Then you two should create your own system management spaces.”

“…Huh?”

“Just follow the manual. Building it completely on your own is hard.”

Ah, yes sir. Seong Hyunjae’s figure disappeared first. I handled my mana as instructed and entered my system management space as well.

Not that it was anything fancy – just an empty space. But I could feel the system’s flow of mana much more directly.

[Loading dungeon data!]

[Currently authorized data is within one thousand years by system time.]

A thousand years is a long time, but to a Transcendent it’s just a moment. So nothing further back than that, huh.

So basically…

‘Like when Seong Hyunjae was still free.’

Or when Crescent Moon was still young. If I could go to a world with Crescent Moon in her past, I might be able to find some kind of weakness.

“Find me a world related to a Transcendent.”

I tried saying it, but the system didn’t answer. Work, system.

“How do I see anything beyond the authorized data?”

[Information unrelated to the involved party cannot be accessed beyond what is authorized.]

Should I dig through everything within this thousand–year window? It didn’t feel like there’d be much, though. Data related to me would just be… hmm…

– Peep!

“Yeah, Chirp. Daddy’s busy.”

Chirp climbed onto my head. He let out another little peep.

I froze for a moment, then jerked my head up in panic. Chirp?! At my sudden movement, Chirp tumbled off my head.

“Chirp!”

– Peep.

No, why is this kid here!

The instant I scooped Chirp up in my arms, the space around us began to wobble like a broken TV screen.

[Unable to detect]

W–wait a second! Teacher Myungwoo, I think there’s a system error here!