The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 672: World of the Moon (2)

[Related □□□□ to current point in time– □□□□□□]

Some of the letters in the message window were broken. While I was flailing, clutching Chirp, the system started loading dungeon data all on its own.

“Wait! Hey!”

A flow of mana so complex I couldn’t interfere at all swirled around me. It was the process of loading information from a past world and generating a dungeon. Naturally, there was no way I could understand it, let alone even think of lifting a finger.

[□□□ point in time □□□□□□□□□ confirmed]

The system’s mana wrapped around my body. I tucked Chirp inside my windbreaker as if hiding him and looked around. The scenery in every direction flipped in an instant. They were all things related to me.

[Our Yuhyun’s all grown up~]

It was fuzzy like there was static, but not hard to make out. My little brother, wearing a brand–new middle school uniform, was smiling in front of me. His cheeks were still round, but even back then he was already pretty tall.

[Now I can go out together with you, Hyung.]

[We’re only one subway stop apart. At least until I graduate.]

[…I should’ve been born a little earlier.]

Yuhyun said gloomily. But our commuting to school together ended much sooner than that.

[I mean, I’m doing this because I want to make things easier on my family too, but still, it’s okay to look the other way a little, right.]

In the other world, Kyunghoon–hyung was handing me a canned coffee. The pre–regression me just turned my gaze away without a word.

[You didn’t do anything wrong.]

The current me kept my mouth shut too. Even if it wasn’t my fault, he was still my little brother. The guilt of having left my brother in danger felt like something I’d never be able to let go of. Even if he’s way stronger than I am, I’m still the guardian.

The blurry bits of past data appeared and vanished over and over, gradually growing clearer. Then they cut off, just like that, and—

[I should buy some new clothes.]

A new scene appeared. As he helped me sort my things, Yuhyun spoke. It was shortly after my regression. Compared to now, the awkwardness still hanging between us was obvious. His voice was calm, and my eyes were wandering everywhere.

[Especially the suits… I doubt they even fit right.]

[Uh… It’s not like I’ve had any reason to wear them. I was in the army and stuff. Just leave them. There’s barely anything worth using anyway.]

I was the first to stand up. I hadn’t wanted my little brother to see the traces of how sloppily I’d been living. That’s why I’d left more than half my boxes unopened, just piled up.

In another direction, the rooftop garden showed up.

[Mister! Over here!]

Yerim bounced away with light, lively steps, and Peace ran after her, then turned back to me again. Up in the sky, Chirp was circling.

[You should come out and work at least one day a week.]

Do Hamin, wearing an apron, said it. We were at the café.

[That way we’ll get more customers. There are a lot of Hunters who want to see the Breeding Facility Director.]

[You’re not even paying rent; just take it easy.]

[If we’re doing it, we’re doing it right! Let’s get uniforms. For you and your little brothers too.]

[Are you nuts. This damn bastard’s trying to put the kids to work too.]

That bastard Do Hamin had wanted to try recruiting not just Soyeong, but even Seong Hyunjae. Then he chickened out. He’s pointlessly enthusiastic. I had no idea what he was doing now. Hopefully he made it back to Korea okay.

[Ughhh– we’re almost done now.]

I said, stretching long and hard. The desk was littered with a laptop, all sorts of documents, data, and so on. Chief Song, buried in paperwork as usual, looked at me and nodded.

[You’ve done a lot of work.]

It was around the time of the A–rank ranking match. I’d been the one to stir things up, and I was the only one who knew pre–regression ranking match info, so I’d been working with the Hunter Association. On one side of the office, flower baskets were piled up like a mountain. Obviously, that was all Mr. Seong Hyunjae’s work. He really went overboard back then.

[When did it get this late. Let’s go, I’ll buy you dinner~]

[That won’t be necessary.]

[Come on, we’re basically coworkers right now. I’ll keep it cheap, right on budget! I’m craving something spicy for the first time in a while. With soju. I haven’t been able to go to places like that in ages because of the kids.]

The image of me dragging Chief Song outside quickly blurred and faded. Next, scenes from after my regression popped up all over the place at once.

[Hyung, she tore open and ate the shampoo.]

–Kyaw!

Blue, her face covered in shampoo, wagged her tail excitedly while caught in Yuhyun’s hands. He and I took Blue into the bathroom to wash her. Crash – something broke.

[Mister! I got my first fine notice!]

Yerim waved the first fine notice she’d ever gotten, fascinated.

[I swear I did it the same, so why does the taste come out different.]

[Why, yours is good too, Yujin.]

[My Sorok’s dad! Come on in!]

[Hyunah! Don’t call me that! There are other people here!]

[It’s true I haven’t been to places like this much, but I know the basics. You don’t need to teach me.]

[Team Leader Seok? Or Young Master?]

[I learned it from Yuhyun, but he learned it from Mr. Seok Gimyeong, so let’s say the source is the first one.]

[Sometimes I fly all the way out to the East Sea. It feels good to keep going until I can see the ocean.]

[Seoul’s night view is nice too. Ah, an airplane.]

[Chief Song, this bento cost under three thousand won in ingredients! Hey, don’t dodge me!]

[Boss Kim! Hey! What’re you eating? Give me some!]

[Peace, let’s run away from home and live just you and Dad!]

–Kkiang!

[Hyung! I was thinking of you–]

[This is all Han Yuhyun’s fault!]

Yuhyun and Yerim each grabbed one of my arms. I was pretending to be angry, holding back a laugh. Even now, I couldn’t help but smile a little. We’d gone through a lot, but there had been a lot of fun moments too. I zoned out watching the past, then quickly shook my head to pull myself together.

“…This is not the time.”

They said within a thousand years, but it was all my past. At most thirty years – thirty–one now. At this rate I was going to blow my chance to get any intel.

‘And it’s almost all Korea, too.’

I’d only been overseas for the first time after my regression, so there was almost no foreign scenery. No matter what I chose, it felt like it’d all be more of the same. What should I do. Should I just not pick anything and wait until Myungwoo contacted me? He hadn’t said there was a time limit, so that was probably better.

“…Huh?”

It was then. A strange landscape came into view, one you’d never see in Korea – or in our world at all. A fox with three horns ran through a dense forest of trees I’d never seen before. Fluffy white puffballs with dragonfly wings fluttered up in a flock.

I wondered if it was inside a dungeon, but none of the dungeons I’d gone through looked like that. It was a completely unfamiliar sight. The system should’ve been loading only data related to me, so why suddenly…

‘…Maybe?’

Something flashed through my mind. No way. It couldn’t be. But if I was right—

Bzzzt.

The strange scenery also started shaking violently, like it was going to disappear. The forest warped and vanished in patches, like it was being eaten away.

“Wait a second!”

I quickly reached out. Data related to me. The beings who’d been tangled up and mixed with me so deeply that the system might get confused were—

‘Just two!’

The King of Harmless, and Crescent Moon. I had turned into the King of Harmless, and I’d accepted Crescent Moon twice. In other words, there was a possibility the system could mistake me for either of them. For a brief time, Han Yujin had been the King of Harmless and Crescent Moon.

Both Transcendents were ancient beings. The King of Harmless had even said they’d once been together with Crescent Moon. So if I could go to either of their worlds…

“…Urgh!”

–Peep!

The moment my hand touched the disappearing forest, a massive surge of mana burst out. Under the pressure that flattened my whole body, my vision went black. Swept away like in a violent current, I couldn’t move at all as my body was dragged sideways somewhere.

Then, whoooosh—

“Gah!”

A bright blue sky filled my vision. I squinted reflexively against the blaze of sunlight pouring down on me and then—

“Hold on—”

I started plummeting. Crap, damn it. Thanks to Grace, I’d probably only end up with a few bruises, but still.

–Peep! Peep!

“…Daddy’s okay.”

Chirp clutched my clothes tightly with his two feet and flapped his wings desperately. Chirp, you’re not what’s making us fly. It’s the item Myungwoo gave me. You’re going to overload it like that. Still, thanks to his effort, our falling speed did slow a bit. I turned my head and looked down. The forest rushed up to my nose in an instant. Since I was, luckily, still wearing the Lynx set, I twisted my body as the branches came up at me.

Crack!

Both feet landed squarely on a branch, and the branch snapped with a sharp break under the impact. But my speed definitely dropped. I stepped onto another branch and jumped down again. Leaves rustled, and the birds around us burst into frightened flight.

“Ugh, my ankle.”

A buzzing pain surged up from my foot all the way to my head. Still, it wasn’t broken, and it didn’t feel sprained. It might swell some.

–Peep–peep!

As I pushed myself upright, Chirp spread his wings proudly in front of me.

“Yeah, thanks, Chirp.”

–Peep!

Anyway, where the hell was this. Did I even get to the right place? I tried to open the system to check, but there was no response.

“…Did it break.”

There was no main body here I could thump on. If they realize something’s wrong, either Myungwoo or the newbie will come save me, right?

“Feels like I might’ve jumped in a little too blindly.”

–Peep.

“But, you know, this chance came from an error. I couldn’t just let it go. If the other Transcendents find out, they’ll definitely block it.”

–Peep peep.

“But seriously, what do we do, Chirp. The world’s way too big to just wander around.”

Even if this place was on the smaller side, it’d still be at least the size of a country. Then again, since it was data pulled in as a dungeon, it might be unexpectedly narrow. I took a step, just to look around.

Thud!

–Peep?

“…That wasn’t Daddy.”

There’s no way my footsteps are that loud, Chirp. I sucked in a short breath.

Then, again—

Thud!

A heavy sound boomed. So yeah, this is another world, but it’s still a dungeon, and that means there are monsters and I’m screwed.

‘Please be A–rank or lower!’

I shoved Chirp back into my clothes and used a stealth skill. With another flutter, a flock of birds burst into the air. There were way more this time. I heard trees crunching and splintering too. Whatever it was, it was definitely big. I checked the direction the sound was coming from and started running quietly.

If it were small, maybe, but something that big was dangerous even with Grace. Getting stomped on or swallowed and suffocating wasn’t something Grace could prevent. So I needed to get as far away as—

Tonk!

“Ack!”

Something snagged my ankle. As I stumbled forward, about to fall, countless thread–like strands wrapped around me and hauled me up.

“Wh–what the hell?”

My body, caught in a net, was hanging from a tree like a cocoon in no time. What is this? A hunting trap? I hurriedly pulled out my dagger to try to cut the net, but the overlapping fine strands didn’t let even a single thread be severed. I could feel mana in each and every one. It was a high–grade item.

“…Why is this thing so tough.”

–Peep!

“This is driving me crazy. Anyone he—”

I shut my mouth before I could yell. I couldn’t feel the tremor of the monster’s footsteps anymore, but you never know. …Still, I couldn’t exactly hang here all night. Should I try shooting it? Would an S–rank mana bullet tear it? It’d be loud, so I should probably wait a bit longer…

“Those guys have set their nets again.”

Just then, a human voice came from below. And then, thump – my body, net and all, dropped to the ground. I hurriedly pushed myself up and lifted my head.

“I apologize. Are you hurt?”

The first thing that caught my eye was a full head of pink hair. It was soft, fine hair like cotton candy with a faint silvery sheen. The eyes looking down at me with a smile had almost no visible whites. In the dark purple irises, like a clear night sky, a thin silver moon lay embedded.

“I’m fi—ne, but…”

–Peep–peep!

“Chirp!”

Chirp suddenly hopped up onto the pink hair and seated himself there. Oh, for crying out loud, Chirp! I bowed my head quickly.

“I’m so sorry!”

“It’s all right. More importantly, do you not intend to treat your arm?”

“Huh? No, of course I want to treat it.”

“It is best to restore damaged parts of the body as quickly as possible. If you go too long without them, that becomes your true form and it grows difficult to heal.”

“It’s just that I’m in a situation where I can’t freely use healing skills or items…”

“So it seems.”

Those slender moon eyes looked at me. Then, as if my arm had never gone missing, it returned to normal. Without a single side effect.

“I took the backlash. It is nothing to me.”

“Th–thank you.”

“Consider it a forest keeper’s reward. From the empty look in your eyes, you do not appear to be someone of this place.”

The forest keeper lifted a hand to stroke Chirp as he spoke.

“I am called Crescent Moon.”

Just as I’d suspected, this was Crescent Moon’s world. Even so, a fresh surge of tension dried out my throat. She looked completely different from the Crescent Moon I knew, yet she wore a gentle smile.