The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 691: The End of This World (2)

To secure victory, I had to climb all the way up to the mayor’s seat. In Miranglune City, the mayor was chosen not only by achievements but also by the citizens’ support. Fortunately, the current mayor had been in office for quite a while and said he was willing to retire.

“I can’t stand war. Bellond City has pulled back for now, but there’s no telling when they’ll attack again…”

“It wouldn’t be strange if they declared war again as soon as tomorrow. They’ve prepared thoroughly.”

So just hand it over to me and get some real rest. Of course, even if the mayor said he’d pass the seat along, it wasn’t something that could be wrapped up overnight. The ordinary citizens’ support was high enough to punch through the sky and split the sea, but among the other council members and power brokers, there were some who felt uneasy about a young punk who had suddenly appeared and was rising too fast.

Which is why.

“Hello, Chairman Marang. I’ve heard so much about you.”

We held a banquet to celebrate having pushed the mayor and council into stopping the war, and invited all the big shots. This time, I steeled myself and dressed properly. Grace also got to fully show off her skills for the first time in a while. I still didn’t look in the mirror, of course. That’s life.

“Councilor No. 3, I’ve respected you for a long time. I hope you’ll guide me a lot in the future.”

“Your sense of fashion puts the rumors to shame, Administrator! Your latest column really moved me.”

“Not at all. I’m not just young, I’m still practically a kid, so I should listen carefully to those who are ahead of me in life.”

“To be honest, I’m really worried about whether I can handle this. I wish I had someone I could rely on.”

“If it’s all right, may I ask for your advice from time to time? I’ve only just stepped into the council, so there’s a lot I don’t know.”

“You’d like to set up a quiet, private meeting? I’d absolutely welcome that. Please feel free to contact me anytime.”

You have to be the one to lead me – I went around whispering that everywhere. I’d accomplished enough to be worth keeping an eye on, but I was also too young. It was easy to plant the thought, If I play my cards right, I can coax him a bit and pull the strings from behind the scenes.

Maybe my looks helped on top of my age, because the balloon people folded right away at a little poke of Won’t you help me? People are just more inclined to trust someone who’s good looking. You shouldn’t judge by appearances, but humans are creatures who rely a lot on what they see.

“Mister Han Yujin! No, Councilor No. 1~!”

Mari, in a bright pastel dress of sky blue mixed with light pink, waved at me. Beside her I could see Samir as well. Nice outfit, Mister Samir.

“Hello, Chef Mari.”

Mari, who had taken over the restaurant in place of Seong Hyunjae, was still doing great. Smiling brightly, she hopped her way over to me. The balloon people murmured in admiration as the heavy hem of her dress swished lightly.

“Dance with me too!”

“I’m sorry, but I never learned the dances they do here.”

“It’s fine. Mister Samir was the same.”

Samir gave me a small wave with a wry smile. No doubt he’d already been dragged around by Mari for quite a while.

“Then just for a little…”

“Just follow my lead. I’ll go easy on you.”

And with that, Mari picked me right up. Wait a second! Yuhyun, who was accompanying me as my aide, stared with wide eyes. I quickly waved my hand to signal I was fine – don’t spin! People clapped for us – no, for Mari – from all around.

“I know you’re in the middle of an important game.”

Mari said quietly as she set me gently back down.

“But I’m having so much fun! We’re living a completely different life in a completely different world.”

She spun, light as if she were doing ballet, and the hem of her dress flared out like a flower in full bloom.

“Maybe it’ll all go boom and something terrible will happen in the end. But fun is still fun, right?”

Her bright smile was nice to see. I was a bit envious. If you were determined to enjoy it, this game could be as fun as you wanted. It was a virtual reality life game. How could that not be fun? If there weren’t so much riding on it, even if something weird happened, I’d just scream Aaaagh and quit.

“I’m still pretty thoughtless, huh?”

“Who cares. You’re allowed to be, Mari.”

“Mister Han Yujin, you’re so kind!”

“Thanks, aack!”

Don’t throw, don’t throw! What is wrong with the dances in this place! Mari caught me again perfectly. Yuhyun hurried over to collect my staggering self. Lively is nice and all. Whew. Good luck, Mister Samir.

“Ughhh, as long as Seong Hyunjae doesn’t roll a 6 today.”

I went out onto a quiet balcony and stretched as I spoke. The sky was already darkening, but today’s dice still hadn’t appeared. My mayorship would be decided at the council session tomorrow morning. Thanks to running around all day, it looked like I’d become the mayor of Miranglune City without any real issues.

How long had it been since I came here. You can do it too – become a mayor starting from a two and a half ton delivery truck.

“You look tired.”

Yuhyun said worriedly. I’d told the others to stay home, eat something good, and rest. I couldn’t exactly bring Liette to a formal banquet, and I was a bit worried about Yerim too. If she didn’t beam at me every time we met and shout City’s Most Handsome Mister! it would’ve been fine to bring her along. Leaving just the two of them alone made me nervous, so Noah ended up staying behind as well, which naturally meant Yuhyun had to come with me.

Our team really is great, but… Hm. Honestly, Peace is more mature and reliable than Liette. It’s not that I’m looking down on Liette – if anything, she’s too amazing. In a lot of ways.

“And your clothes look way too heavy.”

Yuhyun lifted a bit of my hem. Heavy outfit, light steps. Not exactly a great custom. What a waste. All this is just squandering resources. You can just dress neat and clean, why all this.

“I do kind of want to take off the wings. Still, after walking around like this all day, it feels a little less embarrassing.”

Everyone else looks like this too. In a world where everyone has one eye, the person with two eyes is the weird one, or something like that. If I kept living here, I’d probably start thinking fancy formal wear was normal too.

“Hyung.”

Yuhyun looked down at me leaning on the railing.

“It’s okay if we lose.”

“Huh?”

“Even if we lose a few countries, you don’t need to feel guilty. It’s not your fault.”

“Hey, even if it’s just a few… One of them could be our country.”

“I’ll miss it a little since it’s the place I stayed with you, but it still doesn’t matter. Wherever you are is my home, and we’ll be fine anywhere, just like now. And it’s definitely not your fault.”

He was right. The ones making a fuss about taking our world were the villains. Failing to stop them wasn’t a sin.

“But other people won’t see it that way.”

“And you won’t either. That’s why I’m saying this. If you get hurt, none of it means anything. I don’t really understand why you’re trying to protect people you don’t even know, but I can accept it. That’s just who you are. But you can’t be perfect.”

His gaze on me sank, heavy as the night.

“Hyung, I can throw everything away for you.”

“Yuhyun.”

“This isn’t some heavy resolve. It’s like you catching a fish, gutting it, and grilling it over a fire to feed me. That level. Something obvious and nothing special.”

Killing a person or killing a fish – to my little brother, there probably wasn’t much difference. An S rank Hunter could live alone, and once you stepped outside the framework of society, you were the one who decided the rankings of value. Even a check for one hundred million dollars only had meaning as long as you belonged to human society where it worked.

“I’m not asking you to feel the same. Even if you devote yourself to something no one, including me, can understand, I’ll do my best to help. As long as you don’t get hurt.”

“…The thing is, that’s not something I can control. I can’t just say I’ll always be fine.”

At my words, Yuhyun pulled a sulky face. He looked like he had no idea what to do with me. He couldn’t lock me up on impulse like before anymore. At some point, Iryn had snuck up to my ear and whispered softly.

–Hyung, I seriously think ending it together with Yuhyun wouldn’t be so bad.

“…Rin.”

–Then Rin will hug you both tight and fall asleep happily.

You said you liked Yuhyun. Weren’t you the one who said you had to live a long time so Yuhyun could too. Fire spirits really were hard to understand.

“Yuhyun, come here.”

I opened my arms and pulled my little brother into a hug.

“Don’t worry too much. I know very well it’s not my fault. It’s just, you can’t help but feel like, if only I’d done a little better. You don’t have any complaints about how your Hyung raised you, right?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“But sometimes I still feel sorry. Like I should have taken better care of you.”

“I really liked it. That you were by my side.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just me being greedy. That’s why I keep trying to do better and to understand more, that kind of thing. I won’t just sit around feeling guilty this time either. Plus, we’ve got a very clear target to curse at. I’ll get down, feel depressed, sure. But then I’ll get back up and go Screw you, Transcendent bastards.”

Honestly, my insides were already stinging. The load was just too heavy. I was only forcing myself forward because I wasn’t alone. I kept telling myself, Take it a little lighter~ but that was easier said than done. Might as well hug my little brother a bit longer. When I looked back, I could say I’d really lived my second chance well, but the road ahead was a complete black void.

[Today’s Dice!]

That was when the tactless dice popped out. The game board unfolded after it. Seong Hyunjae rolled a 4. Two spaces before the goal. Thank goodness.

“If things go well, I might be able to finish after becoming mayor.”

Assuming the dice didn’t appear again at dawn. It seemed they didn’t show up while I was asleep, so I’d better turn in early tonight. I let go of my brother, spun in a circle, and stretched my arms wide.

“I’m dressed this perfectly, it’s a waste to just do politics! I’m quitting the council and becoming a fashion model! Yuhyun!”

Yuhyun pulled out his camera and started taking pictures of me. I grabbed the railing, put my foot up, sat on it, and struck all sorts of poses. It was just Yuhyun there, but I still felt embarrassed.

“Ahem, truly flawless… damn.”

Anyway, time to roll. The dice tumbled along and came to a stop.

[6!]

The little version of me moved forward and paused for a moment on the space where the mini Seong Hyunjae was. He glared at mini Seong Hyunjae, then held out one hand. Was he trying to make peace now that the finish line was right in front of us? Mini Seong Hyunjae smiled and took the handshake. The little me briskly let go and hopped one square ahead. Then he turned back to mini Seong Hyunjae, full of swagger. Hey, even if you roll a 2, I reach the goal first.

“What’s at the very end…”

The little me looked down at the space he was standing on, then glanced back and forth between me and mini Seong Hyunjae. What, did something weird show up or what.

[Blessings upon your life! Was it an enjoyable journey? Choose the partner who will share your ending!]

“…Excuse me?”

[Choose one person among those you have met so far with whom you have had sufficient interaction! Your love will absolutely come true! You will head straight for a wedding venue as the goal♡ As a final bonus, this will not affect your occupation★]

“…I’m dropping the modeling career and going back to politics. This is not my calling.”

More importantly, marriage? Marriage? It was still just a game, but suddenly marriage?

“I’m a firm believer in staying single.”

[You must choose one person!]

Life, huh. And so, I ended up having a wedding.

The venue was a villa by the sea. Beyond the large windows, the moonlit night sea played its song with the waves.

“I can kill it after the wedding, right?”

Yuhyun asked.

“For once, I think I agree with Mister Han Yuhyun. There’s no need to keep it alive, right?”

Yerim chimed in.

“It could be dangerous for Mister Yujin… I agree as well.”

Noah said gravely,

“Should we roast it or boil it?”

Liette smacked her lips. I looked at my marriage partner – a massive octopus crammed into a big water tank on wheels. One of its legs had slipped out of the tank and was writhing.

I swear to the heavens, my ideal type is human. Even if they were a different race, I wanted someone shaped roughly like me and capable of conversation. Up to four legs was fine as long as they could transform into a person – but anything with five and up, I didn’t want anywhere near me.

“Wow… Hyung…”

“It’s not like that, Hyunah. Please don’t misunderstand, Chief Song.”

“…I was a bit surprised, but I don’t believe Mister Han Yujin is marrying an octopus because he likes it.”

“You’re not doing it because you like it?”

Mari tilted her head as she spoke. Her lack of prejudice was rivaling Yuhyun’s.

“People can have all sorts of–”

“No, Samir.”

I hate octopus! Unless it’s cooked, I don’t want a living octopus anywhere near me! But still.

“The dice said it would force us to fall in love. I couldn’t choose a normal person for that…”

Right? Even if it was just temporary, it felt wrong to pick someone I knew. Even if they were a balloon person, they could talk and I’d interacted with them, so I didn’t like it. Which left only one partner I could feel at ease choosing – or one creature, technically.

My fishing rival.

A rival was definitely someone I had plenty of interaction with. It wasn’t human, but the system happily accepted my choice. Among the creatures I’d grown close to there was Pongpong too, but plants were apparently off the table. We decided to keep the wedding small and only invite close acquaintances. Fortunately, weddings here didn’t require an officiant. For a simple one, you just needed five witnesses to sign off.

“Luckily, I wasn’t too late.”

That bastard Seong Hyunjae showed up too, carrying a bouquet.

“I heard you’ve been put on a wanted list in Bellond. You sure made it here easily.”

“Were you not the one who so earnestly called for me? Asking me to be with you.”

Looking not just relaxed but downright smug, Seong Hyunjae strode over in an outrageously fancy outfit and held out the bouquet.

“I never imagined I would lose that place to an octopus, though.”

“Officers of Bellond City, he’s right here.”

As I took the bouquet, the octopus stretched a leg toward me. Don’t come here, don’t.

“Mister Han Yujin! I’ll catch the bouquet! Me!”

“Ah, me too! Mister! Over here!”

“It’s not a bouquet.”

There’s no such thing as a bouquet in this world. And you, Seong Hyunjae, why are you getting in there. Don’t yank on Chief Song. Hyunah, stop shoving him. Liette, stop trying to hand things to my brother.

“Hyung… I really don’t like you getting married. Let’s kill it now.”

“It’s a game, a game. It doesn’t count. I’m not planning to get married and I don’t even have a partner. Anyway, let’s just say the wedding happened and move on!”

At the guests’ urging, I tossed the bouquet high. Liette leapt up swiftly, but Seong Hyunjae’s chains were faster. The chain smacked the bouquet and sent it flying straight toward Chief Song. He tried to dodge, but Hyunah grabbed him. Right before the bouquet hit his chest, Yerim blinked in with teleport and Mari reached out her hand. Their hands tangled for an instant, but by the tiniest margin, Mari caught the bouquet first.

“It’s mine! This time I’ll find a prince with a good personality!”

Mari waved the bouquet with a grin. Yeah, that’s how it should be. One Seong Hyunjae in your life is already more than enough.

“I will now file for divorce. I hereby separate from Miss Octo–”

“It’s male.”

Seong Hyunjae kindly informed me. Oh, come on.

“Then the marriage is annulled! Hiding your gender like that! That’s grounds for cancellation, right?”

It’d be even better if it were completely null and void. Different species, so under Korean law that should be possible, right? Well, we couldn’t even file the marriage registration in the first place. Either way, I have never been married. It was a life game, a game.

“We hereby declare that First Councilor Han Yujin of the Family Love Party has become the thirty–first mayor of Miranglune City.”

The now former mayor looked at me and held out the mayor’s staff. I took it and smiled toward the gathered crowd and the broadcast cameras.

“Citizens, thank you. I will devote myself to working for Miranglune City.”

Even though the time I had left was only until today’s dice showed up. After accepting congratulations, I returned to the mayoral residence. My real duties would start tomorrow, but tomorrow would never come. Thinking that made me feel strange.

“Let’s rest properly until the dice appears.”

Nothing was going to change now; Han Yujin would end his run as the beloved mayor of Miranglune. If this were my real life, this would be the new beginning – developing the harbor and commercial district, keeping Bellond City in check.

“Change into your pajamas and lie down, Hyung.”

“I’m not sleepy though. Whoa, Yerim.”

“I brought out every cushion, pillow, mattress, and blanket in the house!”

The living room had turned into one giant bed. Liette rolled around on the pile of cushions. At some point, Mari had joined her and was bouncing up and down. A smile slipped onto my face without thinking.

“Let’s call everyone else too. Their numbers are… Ah, Hyunah! You’re not working today, right? Bring lots of alcohol! Yerim, nothing you like.”

After changing clothes, I sprawled on the cushions too. Yerim and Mari started throwing pillows at each other. Sitting next to me, Yuhyun grabbed a cushion and batted away any pillow flying our way. Liette, for once, left Noah alone when he said he wanted to just lie on a mattress and rest. Instead, she jumped into Yerim and Mari’s pillow fight.

Before long, Hyunah, Chief Song, Samir, and Seong Hyunjae arrived as well. We rolled around on the cushions, snacking on drinks and junk food without a care for the cleanup.

[Today’s Dice!]

As the sun was setting, the dice appeared.