The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 704: Wolf Hunter (1)

Yuhyun is alive. He isn’t dead. I muttered it like I was engraving it into my brain. It’s fine. I tried my best to ignore the empty space in my arms. I shoved the image of my little brother, probably sleeping right now in our team room, in that old house steeped in traces of the past, into the hollow place he’d left.

So it’s fine. He’s safe. I forced my boiling thoughts to calm down somehow. More than anything, right now.

‘Five SS–ranks.’

I had to deal with the wolf pack. I could ask Seol for help, but using a dragon on that kind of mutt pack was overkill. Who knew what would happen later. Yuhyun’s death… wasn’t real, so Final Recompense wouldn’t trigger like during the fight over the Chatterbox party invitation–.

[Partial Final Recompense condition–

Modifying…

Incomplete▒▒▒▒ Processing]

A system window popped up. Strange characters I couldn’t read flickered past, then disappeared, and then letters I recognized reappeared.

[▒▒▒▒▒▒ Check Completion Rate 76%

Manager: King Trapped in the Tower]

‘…Rookie?’

What the hell is going on. Why all of a sudden–.

“What the hell is that flame.”

One of the Hunters muttered. Even after Yuhyun vanished, they couldn’t easily come closer. Blue fire that swallowed even the system. They probably had no idea what its exact power was, but their instincts were feeling the pressure. Or maybe, being beasts, they were just scared of fire.

[Partial Application Confirmed

Calculating Skill Effect Reduction…]

The system window flickered. Was Rookie trying to help me? It didn’t have to be perfect – as long as it gave me stats equal to Yuhyun’s instead of doubling them, that’d be enough. With the Final Recompense skill window still open, a new system window appeared over it.

[Stat Adjustment Conditions

The team Han Yujin belongs to may have Han Yujin decide the method for determining victory or defeat.

The opposing team’s consent is required.]

Looked like it was trying to patch up my F–rank stats. They did say they’d do that. The first two times there’d been radio silence though. Even if one time I’d been in a protected position and the second was just a dice toss.

‘If their consent’s required, it’s hard to make it completely in my favor–.’

Whump. Something smacked my back and I pitched forward. A foot came down, pinning me so I couldn’t get up. Blood soaked into the dirt right in front of my nose, vivid stains smeared into the ground. I wasn’t as pissed as I’d expected. It wasn’t anger so much as sheer disbelief. I felt a little hazy, like I was drugged.

“What a shame.”

Cho Hwawoon’s voice came from behind me. The foot on my back pressed down harder, but it was only enough to make breathing a little tight.

“Stay still.”

I muttered. Cho Hwawoon let out a soft laugh at that.

“Your mouth still works, I see.”

The foot lifted and his hand clamped around my throat again. Being hauled up to face the mutt didn’t feel great. I like dogs, but the one in front of me just didn’t inspire any affection.

“Live long enough and you see dogs talking like people. Paw.”

I held out my palm, but the dog just gave me a cold stare. Guess no one had taught him any tricks. Really, what do you expect from a mutt that bites passing people with no leash on.

“Fetch.”

Cho Hwawoon jerked his chin at the Hunter beside him. The Hunter’s hands started patting me down.

“Is it this bracelet?”

Grace was undone. At the same time, a force hit my neck, hard enough it felt like it might snap.

“Kuh…!”

“You were acting cocky because you trusted this, weren’t you.”

Cho Hwawoon’s face blurred. How did he know about Grace? It was about time someone figured out I had some special defensive item, but still. The blockage in my throat eased a little. Coughing, I was flung to the ground.

“Doesn’t go into an inventory. And it doesn’t seem to do anything even when you wear it.”

…Didn’t Seong Hyunjae bring it in his inventory? Maybe Grace didn’t reject him. The moment I tried to push myself up, a kick slammed into me. I rolled over the dirt again. Before I could gather my wits, another thump landed on my chest. For a second, I couldn’t breathe. My ribs were probably cracked.

“Been a while since I’ve been worked over like this, koff, with a pack of mangy mutts swarming in and poking around to see what they can chew off.”

I barely managed to lift my head and grin up at Cho Hwawoon. That earned me another kick. My back hit a tree trunk and I slid down it.

“I always found it weird, why that guy isn’t scared. His little brother’s S–rank, sure, but his own stats are F.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

A Hunter who looked like a mild college student who only went between school, the library, and home stepped forward and spoke.

“Han Yujin is the sacrifice desired by God.”

Oh great, a fanatic. Hey, your team leader’s in the same boat. Not that Crescent Moon is actually a god.

“All I need is the chance. Thanks to that, I rose all the way to SS–rank. I suppose I should be grateful.”

“Handling monsters is the domain of God, and you were arrogant enough to trespass. London was destroyed because of your conceit.”

“An F–rank who doesn’t know his place.”

Flip–flip, Cho Hwawoon tossed a dagger up and caught it. The blade spinning over and over, flashing at the edge of my vision, made my eyes swim.

“What you’re born as doesn’t change.”

Crunch– the dagger ripped past my ear and buried itself in the tree. Warm blood trickled down, soaking the nape of my neck.

“You were born to crawl on the ground.”

“I’m human, you’re the mutt, and the one that crawls on the ground is the dog–.”

My forearm burned like it’d been seared. The dagger sliced deep again as it passed. He was taking his time, making it obvious he wanted to play. If I died here, how would that count for the game’s win–loss? I was a little curious.

“You were a tool meant to be handled obediently under me.”

Cho Hwawoon’s voice was surprisingly cool. As if something like me defying him, even tripping him up, was simply impossible. He still thought of it as being bitten by a stray he was trying to tame, not another human being.

Just how coddled had he been from birth that even with his limbs cut off he still couldn’t change that attitude.

“We still have to play the game, don’t we? No system window yet?”

I said it while sneaking glances at the Final Recompense window. Maybe because it was being applied in a shady way, it was taking a while.

“Want to roll dice peacefully? Five throws, whoever gets the lower total wins.”

I’m confident I could roll a string of ones. Cho Hwawoon walked toward me. His shadow stretched over my face with his slow steps. His foot pressed lightly on my ankle. Pain shot through the twisting bone and I clenched my teeth.

“Beg politely. Then I might indulge you.”

“I do feel bad about putting a bullet in your head. I wouldn’t have any excuse if they arrested me for animal abuse, aagh!”

[Please choose the terms of the bet!]

A system window popped up like it was urging me. I exhaled slowly and looked at them. When they grouped up, they seemed to get some special skills, so I had to face them one by one. If Final Recompense activated at double strength, there’d be no problem, but chances were slim.

“…You can’t kill me anyway.”

I didn’t know exactly what the Mermaid Queen was plotting, but it was obvious she wanted me alive to use me. The Transcendent who gave these guys their power was almost certainly Wolf. Wolf had interfered with me in the first game too. And Wolf would be following the Mermaid Queen’s orders.

“That’s why they wanted to capture Yuhyun. It was hard to mess with me directly.”

“Losing a limb or two is acceptable. Should I start skinning you from the fingertips?”

“If I’m not in usable condition, they’ll just boil the mutt instead, you know? Ever heard of tosa gu paeng – once the hunting dog outlives its usefulness they cook it? Pretty sure that’s a Chinese saying.”

Cho Hwawoon still looked like he wanted to boil me alive, but the other Hunters hesitated. They worshiped a Transcendent as a god and craved greater power; of course they didn’t want to offend Wolf.

“So here’s my proposal. Chase me one at a time.”

I staggered up, leaning on the tree. My trampled ankle throbbed, but I could still walk.

“Thirty minutes each. You know I have a stealth skill, right? I’ll run and hide first, and you start chasing ten minutes later. If you catch me, you can do whatever you want from then on.”

Cho Hwawoon’s lips twisted up.

“What are you scheming.”

“If I surrender within thirty minutes, you get one point. If time runs out, I get one point. First to three points wins. Nothing to lose, right? You can vent all you want and you can’t even complain later since I suggested the game. Plus, there’s a safety net: if I can’t take it, I can just surrender.”

“You must have more items like that bracelet. Or some movement item.”

“Nope, nothing. Let’s say I lose if I use any teleport items or vehicles like a bike, or if I take any painkillers. You weren’t going to accept a normal game anyway, right? Since I can win as long as I endure, it’s not a bad deal for me either. I may not look it, but I’m good at putting up with things.”

At my “how about it,” Cho Hwawoon glanced around at the other Hunters.

“Don’t touch the head. It’s better if his sight and hearing are intact.”

The rabid mutt turned his gaze back to me. His wolf–cold eyes held a mocking smile.

“Only touch the body so his screams and expressions come out properly.”

The way his gaze crawled over me felt like insects skittering on my skin.

“I’m not really into torture.”

“All for God.”

That fanatic might end up being worse than Cho Hwawoon. Not that it mattered.

“Let me sum it up again. Each round is thirty minutes, I get a ten–minute head start. When thirty minutes pass or it ends earlier, you fire a flare to show where you are, and the next one starts from there. Everyone else waits right here.”

As soon as I finished, a system window appeared.

[Starting tag!

Departure in 5 minutes]

The system randomly set the order. Cho Hwawoon ended up fourth. He shot a disgruntled look my way.

“If he looks like he’s going to give up easily, gag him. Make sure it reaches the fifth.”

I dabbed a little potion onto my ankle. I checked my gear carefully and watched the timer. Ten seconds, five, one. The moment it hit zero, I bolted. I had to open up as much distance as possible. Thankfully, the forest was dense enough that even SS–rank eyesight couldn’t pick me out by sight alone.

‘I managed to split them up one by one, and their guard’s completely down.’

Rookie, hurry up! I could probably endure a round or two, but the best option was to take down the first guy. Five minutes passed. My breathing started to burn, but I kept running.

‘Movement items are banned, but what about this.’

I checked, just in case. Looked like I could use it. Three minutes left now. I rounded a huge tree. Right then, the system window updated.

[Calculation Result

Final Recompense ? Keyword Application Target’s… Half, Duration… Two days]

“Hold on!”

Half is way too stingy! Can’t I tweak it? Shorten the time and raise the stats. I kept running while desperately trying to fiddle with the system. It felt like it could work, come on, system…

[Keyword Application Same as Target, Duration 1 hour]

One hour. Cutting it close, but doable. Final Recompense activated on me. At the same time, Yuhyun’s memories flowed in. With efficiency under half, the memories coming through were limited too.

‘When you do laundry alone, just use the dryer. It’s heavy.’

Yuhyun spoke while hanging a blanket out in the rooftop garden. I saw myself insisting blankets needed some sun. The dryer supposedly sterilized everything, but still. Peace had to be there too, but I couldn’t see him. In Yuhyun’s eyes, there was only me and the blanket.

‘Do you like that plushie?’

I saw myself sitting on a long sofa. Everything was pink… Was that when we got back from China? I was making excuses like, it’s not that I like it, it’s just really soft. Yerim, Peace, Noah, and Seong Hyunjae were there too, but it still felt like only I existed. Sometimes Peace’s tail flicked at the edge of the frame, nothing more.

Seriously, that kid–.

‘Because you were distracted by something other than me.’

I heard Yuhyun’s voice. Yuhyun stood in front of me. Even though I was watching his memories while running, my legs froze.

‘…No.’

Han Yuhyun said it. Desperately. The memory ended there. All the blood in my body went cold. My heart froze hard enough that I could feel the chill.

What was that, just now.

Han Yuhyun was looking at Han Yuhyun. It was too dark around him to make out exactly where it was. He wasn’t twenty, or twenty–one. But how.

‘…The China dungeon?’

Had he somehow peeked at his pre–regression memories in the nightmare dungeon? But the Yuhyun in that dungeon… Yuhyun was…

Thud! Someone kicked me. I toppled over. Yuhyun had never talked about his pre–regression self. He’d never shown any particular interest in it either.

“You only managed to run this far?”

There shouldn’t have been any chance for the two of them to talk in the nightmare dungeon either.

“Han Yujin.”

Someone grabbed me by the collar. It wasn’t impossible. I’d faced my own pre–regression memories plenty of times. But still…

Smack– My cheek burned. I finally forced my eyes fully open and glared at the Hunter holding me. He spoke with a displeased look.

“I thought I might go easy since Cho Hwawoon is looking forward to his turn. But I’ll test how long you can keep ignoring me.”

…Why are most S–ranks like this. I guess when you’re disgustingly talented, it’d be weirder if you were humble. My head was still a mess, but I stuffed the stray thoughts down. I had to make it back alive. Only then could I even ask.

“But why isn’t your cheek red?”

I grabbed his arm as he frowned in confusion.

“Bite.”

– Sss!

The bracelet on my wrist turned into a snake in an instant, baring its fangs. While the Hunter panicked and grabbed for it with his other hand, I used the King of Harmless’s Drawer. The scenery around us flipped in a heartbeat and a warning window popped up.

[Game timer is paused!

If you remain in the subspace for more than 10 minutes, you automatically lose!]

There was a penalty. I couldn’t cheese the thirty minutes just by using the Drawer. But this much was enough.

“Ugh, what the hell!”

The Hunter flailed as he was suddenly dumped into water. Even SS–ranks needed to breathe. While he struggled, I sliced away the collar he was holding and used Willow Leaf to spring up to the surface. The Hunter stuck his head out of the water and glared at me. So he didn’t have a flight skill, huh. I hurried to the shore and pulled a necklace from my inventory, slipping it on. I pushed mana into the round bead hanging from it.

“We meet again quickly. The youngest young lady was startled and cried, but she calmed down soon enough.”

A tiny Seong Hyunjae popped out. Gyeol was separated from me, but was still based on me. On top of that, Seol – practically his kin – was still with us, and Byeol by Seol and Gyeol’s side was linked to them like a twin.

So we’d run an experiment. If we split Seong Hyunjae’s bead in two and Gyeol and I each held a half, Seong Hyunjae could appear on my side for a short while. He couldn’t stay long and had to recharge mana from Gyeol afterward, though.

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

“So this time I’m the item, hm.”

“No need to make a big deal of it. Think of it as karma, maybe.”

Boom! There was the sound of water exploding upward. The SS–rank kicked off the surface and charged at me like a monster. A volley of thorn spears flew in and, with Combat Foresight’s help, I barely dodged them and landed on the sandy shore. Swords, sabers, and the like were stuck all along the beach. SS–rank weapons that couldn’t be taken out of the Drawer.

They started to melt. Blade–Devourer. Weapon upgrade to SSS–rank. On top of that, attack skills doubled. One more, the Fragment of the First Flame. Yuhyun had used it only a day ago, so normally it would still be on cooldown, but right now it was my skill. In other words, the cooldown was gone.

Which meant yet another doubling.

“I don’t know what you did, but–.”

The SS–rank Hunter lunged at me with full momentum. Our stat difference was obvious. But Combat Foresight struggled along just enough to let me track his movements. His attack grazed my cheek, and the arc of my red, molten blade swept toward him. His defensive skills and weapon moved to block in a flash, but– slash– all of it was cut apart and melted down. Skills, weapon, and the one who wielded them.

Splat. The Hunter’s body dropped limply onto the sand.