The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 709: Three Days (3)

There was no way out. Even though he had thrashed about for a long, long time, in the end he was dragged right up to the edge of the cliff. All those layered years were nothing but traces of failure. Heavy enough that even the strongest person would be crushed flat, smothered under the weight until they died, unable to breathe.

He lost everything. The only thing left in Seong Hyunjae’s hands was himself. And even that he was about to lose. He had even missed his last escape route, death, before the regression. The unease hadn’t gone away even now.

Even so, he wanted to live.

“I cherish all who live.”

The Seong Hyunjae standing beside me opened his mouth.

“Those who find their own path and walk it all carry some kind of value, big or small. I especially like those who never retreat.”

“Like Chief Song?”

“He looks stiff on the outside, but inside he’s far fiercer. He loves someone’s death and, at the same time, another’s life. And it happens to be my death, so how could I not love him?”

His eyes curved and slanted toward me.

“You as well, Mister Han Yujin, went down sweet on my tongue. You were lacking back then, but it seems you’ve become life itself to the current me. However.”

Even if that life and death belonged to him.

“The one at the center is still myself. Even if Song Taewon came back to life and begged me, I have no intention of abandoning myself, letting myself be crushed, and stepping into a place that isn’t mine. I’d just pour him a drink.”

That was who Seong Hyunjae was, and that was why I hadn’t understood before.

His lone remaining golden eye closed slowly, then opened again. The current Seong Hyunjae still held a smile. It felt like all the light seeping in through the window gathered on him. Dust motes in the air glittered, trembling like tiny seeds of sunlight.

This was Seong Hyunjae’s memory. And the Seong Hyunjae inside that memory was… dazzling. The feelings he’d had before the regression came through to me just as they were.

Beautiful.

Not his looks, but his existence itself. A person taking a step forward at the end of a severed road.

“Of course… that’s it.”

A dry voice leaked out.

“If it were someone else, not me, even if they shook my heart as much as they liked, I would still put myself first.”

“I’m not you, but at the same time, I am you.”

A self who wanted, more than anything, to live. The perfect ideal type in Seong Hyunjae’s eyes. It was a maddening temptation he could never refuse.

His one remaining hand reached out. As if admitting defeat, he showed his palm and bowed his head slightly.

“And that’s how I.”

Like the curtain falling on a stage, the vision vanished.

“Ended up standing here.”

In the middle of the wide hall, Seong Hyunjae turned to look at me.

“Does that answer your question?”

“…Yeah. More than enough.”

He’d had no choice but to leave his own time and come here. I let out a light breath.

“So in the end, it’s love.”

“The one who falls first is the one who loses. Like you, Mister Han Yujin.”

“I was the one who fell for my little brother first too. What can you do when you like someone.”

I’d never imagined Seong Hyunjae would throw himself away for an emotional reason. In the end it was still for his own sake, so it was something he could do, but even so, it made the distance between us feel that much smaller.

“So what kind of proposal are you going to make, Mister Han Yujin? Start with something simple, like a glass of juice?”

“Please leave out the orange.”

Seong Hyunjae started walking ahead. I followed right on his heels, almost shoulder to shoulder.

“As you know, throwing the game on purpose is impossible. Depending on the game, skating by with a draw might barely be doable, but.”

“There’s no need. All I want is for you to take the bet seriously.”

What mattered was what happened after the result. My game started from that moment on.

– Kyaa–aang.

Peace, who’d been sprawled at my feet, stretched his front legs long and yawned. He opened his mouth wide and smacked his lips, then rubbed his cheek against my leg. The gentle breeze brushed through Peace’s fur and my hair. Under the bright sunlight, the sunshade cast a cool shadow. The armchair hugged my body, and the table was piled with drinks and snacks.

“You have to ride the flow of the wind properly.”

Noah spread his golden wings wide, talking to Yerim.

“Even if you’re flying with mana instead of wings, you still get hit with the same air resistance. Blue’s faster because she has a skill that reduces drag.”

“Think I can copy that? Block the wind with water and– ow, cold!”

Yerim tried to raise her flight speed with a shield of water in front of her, but couldn’t beat her own momentum and slammed her head into the water mass. Below them I could see Yuhyun, Liette, and Young Chaos. Chaos was facing the two of them at once. No skills, and using the bare minimum of mana control.

At first, Yuhyun and Liette’s coordination was so clumsy they sometimes even attacked each other, but it didn’t take long for them to start syncing up. They even looked like they were starting to push Young Chaos now, but…

“You just ram in without thinking.”

In a blink, Chaos stepped behind Liette, grabbed her by the scruff, and pitched her away. Splash, water flew up. Yuhyun, the last one standing, quickly tried to defend, predicting the counter, but the switch slid between his guard and smacked his waist with a sharp crack.

“You’ve already picked up bad habits from Ruler’s Sword. Turning it into a chain–sword is good for defense, but don’t overuse it.”

“Ugh, yes.”

“Rely on a weapon too much and you’ll only end up with more openings.”

“I haven’t been using weapons lately!”

“Then you just throw yourself around trusting only your body.”

“But it’s tough~.”

“That’s the problem with thick–scaled types.”

Chaos pointed it out like a swordsman who’d fought every kind of opponent over an age. It was short but productive training. Of course, I wasn’t just goofing off either.

[You’re right, Honey. About ninety percent of the system is practically on auto. That’s why you and Chain can manage to operate it at all.]

“So that’s the difference between an administrator and a creator? As long as you’ve got decent mana application, you can manage things, but you can’t do any creation or heavy maintenance.”

Several system windows floated around me. Instead of nodding, the volleyball bounced up and down.

“There are lots of people in your world who can use computers, right? But way fewer who can actually build them. This is like personally making everything, from the programs all the way down to the components~.]

“And right now, the only creator is you, Rookie?”

[Among the Transcendents who are awake, yeah. The blacksmith is almost there too!]

Rookie zipped over to Myungwoo. He was prepping lunch and waved his hand, looking annoyed. But he didn’t look like he really hated it. Seemed the two had gotten pretty close while I wasn’t looking.

[Dragon Lord–senior went, “Since there’s a rookie now, I’m retiring,” and took off! For some reason, creators just haven’t been showing up much lately. There are way more Transcendents than before, but. I thought I’d be stuck as Rookie forever!]

Maybe it was the difference between natural growth and devouring your own world to be born. While we rested, I squeezed Rookie for everything I could about the system. There were a lot of spots where they went, “I’m not supposed to tell you this far,” and clammed up, but I still managed to confirm most of what I’d wanted to know.

[I think it’d actually be fine if Honey came over to our side.]

Rookie whispered quietly.

[If Honey’s brother and the others become Transcendents someday, you could all be together.]

“The kids could probably manage it, but I’m the problem.”

[Ah, then, if there was a way, would you come?]

“Dunno. I’m not really into it.”

There was no way an F–rank stat block could join the Transcendents without it being something bizarre, and I didn’t like the stuff the Unfilial Children were doing either. I felt like having a few people just doing creation and maintenance would be enough; we didn’t need administrators at all. At my words, Rookie drooped.

[I figured. Besides… you know.]

“From where I’m standing, it’s awkward anyway. I like you, Rookie.”

I reached out and patted the volleyball. Rookie drew on a big, beaming smile.

[Then let’s just stay like this forever!]

“Yeah, I’d like that too.”

But if things wrapped up according to my plan, I wouldn’t be able to see Rookie much anymore. That was what I regretted the most. Couldn’t Rookie just quit being a Transcendent and move into our neighborhood? Mentally, they were still like a kid, and the job environment among the Transcendents was not exactly child–friendly. I had a feeling they’d get along great with my kids though.

‘Hope everyone’s doing okay.’

I wondered suddenly if Star had started crying again. Curious, I pulled out the necklace.

[Oh, that!]

Rookie saw the bead dangling from the chain and nodded.

[That’s a basic clone.]

“Clone?”

[A fake body made from a piece of the original. It’s rough. With this, it’d be hard for the clone and original to be conscious at the same time.]

“Seong Hyunjae made it.”

[Chain? For an Awakened to make that, it’s impressive. Normally, below a certain threshold, making a clone at all is hard. The original has to have a really solid sense of self, and for a lifeform that hasn’t even lived a hundred years yet, that’s–]

Rookie started explaining again. I let most of it wash past as I pushed mana into the bead.

“Come on out.”

A small Seong Hyunjae appeared.

“Are the kids doing well? Hyunah and Chief Song went back over there. How is it?”

“They both visited. Chief Song handled the youngest miss pretty well.”

“Your ‘pretty well’ is not very reassuring.”

“He was extremely flustered and got dragged around.”

Mm, I could picture the scene so clearly it hurt that I’d missed it. I should’ve watched it in person! As we talked, Rookie formed hands and clapped.

[Since it’s a clone that can’t hold consciousness at the same time, you can use it like this! Normally, a consciousness–less clone is hard to keep existing, but with Honey providing backup it works. Sounds like Honey’s world has a backup partner too.]

“Uh, yeah. Something like that.”

Let’s just go with that. Hyunjae said Gyeol and Star were eating well, sleeping well, and playing well.

“And Chirp’s back too.”

“Chirp is?”

“Thanks to him, I got buried. He and Star get along.”

“They say he stayed with Chirp–elder for a while.”

He’d once told me he didn’t know what it was, but it felt weirdly familiar. When I mentioned it might be related to the white bird, Young Chaos nodded and said it seemed that way too.

“Mister Sesung! Are Gyeol and Star doing okay?”

Spotting mini–Hyunjae instantly somehow, Yerim flew over in a flash. Good eyes, that kid.

“What’s with the way you look.”

“It’s been a while, Elder.”

Hyunjae bowed politely. Chaos looked him over with barely concealed displeasure.

“He’s been looking after the kids lately. Two out of the three. You’ve seen Gyeol, and besides the black dragon, there’s another one at home. Star. Han Byeol.”

“The black dragon didn’t kick up a fuss?”

“No, he said he’d help me and then go independent.”

Chaos lifted an eyebrow.

“Help you? That brat?”

“Yes. He and Star are close. So…”

I felt Black’s mana. Did he have something to say to the Elder? I let Black out like he wanted. Don’t cause trouble.

“I got a younger sibling.”

The moment he appeared, Black blurted it out. Arms folded, he looked up at Young Chaos. Chaos silently looked down at the black dragon.

“There’s even one you could call my own kind.”

“I see.”

“Now we’re gonna live together.”

Black tried to sound blunt, but he couldn’t completely wipe the smile off his face. His shoulders even rose slightly, like he was showing off. Young Chaos let out a soft laugh.

“You used to treat anything that came near you like prey.”

“That was when I was alone.”

“You ate everyone who tried to talk to you.”

“They were all either waving weapons around or bashing their heads on the floor begging. Why wouldn’t I eat things like that.”

“You.”

Chaos frowned.

“You tried to eat the one you call your younger sibling too.”

…What? I stared at Black, aghast. Yerim looked just as shocked. Black didn’t deny it. So it was true…

“He came clinging to me saying he liked me.”

So Black had approached Star intending to eat him. But Star had liked Black.

“Since we were together inside Dad, he asked if that made me his older brother. So instead of eating him, I made him my little brother.”

“Decided we’d live together.”

“Since I’ve got a younger sibling, I’ll make an effort in my own way.”

“That so.”

Not just Star alone, but literally together, in society, with other people. Young Chaos reached out a hand. Black couldn’t dodge and grimaced as Chaos ruffled his hair.

“Live well.”

Black glared at Young Chaos, then vanished. Chaos stared heavily at the empty spot for a moment, then smiled.

“It really is worth living long. Anyway, that’s one less thing to worry about.”

“You were worried?”

“The black dragon brat’s got a temper, and he was my first sword in a way. Even if we were enemies once, you can’t help but grow attached. I’m glad he found his way.”

Chaos nodded and shuffled off. He sounded relieved, but his small back looked a little lonely.

“…I’m shocked he tried to eat him.”

“He’s different from us. To the black dragon, Star was… if you think about it, he must’ve felt like prey.”

If you imagined his original form, Star really was bite–sized. Still, just knowing Star had almost been eaten made my chest go cold. That had been way too close.

“You didn’t even blink, Han Yuhyun. He’s your sword.”

“Ah, sorry, Hyung. It’s my fault.”

At Yerim’s scolding, Yuhyun let out a small “oh,” and apologized. To him, all that “eat or not eat” talk probably wasn’t that strange. He was similar in nature to Black in the first place.

“Nothing to be sorry about. I should’ve been more careful. I’ll watch it from now on.”

“…You said you weren’t going to make any more.”

“I mean if, hypothetically. Three’s already a lot, I’m not planning to take on more responsibility.”

Not that I had the room to anyway. After sending Hyunjae back, we had lunch. We spent the rest of the time just resting together. And when evening came…

[One hour remaining until the end of rest.]

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