The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 733: Our Home…? (1)

‘It looks vivid, so I guess it’s real.’

There was a clear difference in image quality between social media posts based on real-world data and posts made by the people dreaming them. The former looked normal, while the latter were usually blurry, and in bad cases it was hard to make out either the shapes or the text.

‘On the other hand, when it was directly connected to the real me, it got sharper.’

Data related to me and the people with me could be considered reality-based. And besides…

‘…there’s no way anyone would dream up Seong Hyunjae and Chief Song walking around looking like that.’

How many people would seriously imagine the Sesung Guildmaster catching a cold and sneezing? If someone dreamed about Seong Hyunjae, it’d be something like him hunting monsters in style, or driving around in a custom car in a suit. Him coughing in clothes that didn’t even fit was just… no.

But how the hell did they end up like that? If they were in Japan, did they fall into the ocean by mistake or something? Wait, no way—Yuhyun and Peace too? The kids can’t even use their skills, so they can’t dry themselves off! Should I buy cold medicine? What food is good for colds again?

“Hey, are there any posts about Yuhyun or Peace? Like, anything from someone who saw them in the last few hours?”

I’m terrible at searching this stuff. If I looked up Han Yuhyun, there were already a bunch of accounts with the same name. Peace was even worse.

“I’ll check!”

Not long after, a phone was shoved in front of me again.

“It says Russia.”

“Russia?”

In the unfamiliar landscape was a tall, strikingly handsome man riding on the back of a Flame Horned Lion. Against the wind-tossed red fur streaked with gold, his straight-backed silhouette looked like something out of a heavy, dramatic ad campaign.

“It says he asked in English where he could find a large helicopter. They said adult Peace was terrifying.”

“He only looks scary. He’s actually sweet.”

Thank God Yuhyun knew how to fly a helicopter. They’d probably all be here soon enough. I’d felt a little guilty that I was the only one who’d landed in Korea, but thinking about it now, this was probably for the best. I can only drive a car. I really should’ve learned how to pilot a helicopter.

“Thank you! Come visit the Breeding Facility sometime!”

“Huh? Didn’t you not have a license?”

“I got one~.”

I didn’t actually, but still. At this rate, unless the rules changed, I probably never would. I climbed into the truck and headed for the Breeding Facility. The convenience store in the building should have cold medicine, right? Russia was cold, after all. Just in case. Maybe I should stop by the grocery store and buy some chicken too. Nothing beats baeksuk when it’s cold. Samgyetang would work too.

At last, the familiar building came into view.

And so did the scenery around it.

I hit the brakes and came to a stop.

Wow…

‘…That’s me.’

It was me. Han Yujin out for a walk with Yuhyun, Han Yujin snacking with Yerim, Han Yujin holding Peace, Han Yujin getting kidnapped… huh?

“Yuhyun, mmph!”

The door of a black van slid open, and Han Yujin got kidnapped. I mean, sure, I had been kidnapped several times before, but still. Before I could even react, the van sped off and faded into blur.

‘…More people are dreaming about me than I thought…’

Then again, even if someone in America or Australia dreamed about me, if the setting was the Breeding Facility, it would show up here. Dreams didn’t care about location. Staring at all those different versions of me was giving me a headache. And what was with that one looking so scrawny? Like he hadn’t had a proper meal in weeks. Of course, it wasn’t just me out here.

There was something even more common.

– Kkiang!

– Kyaaung!

– Kyarrrrung

Peace.

Big and small versions of Peace had taken over the space in front of the Breeding Facility. The cub form was the most common, but there were a few adult forms too. A whole pack of tiny baby Peaces was rolling around in a tumbling pile. Adorable… And way up on top of the building, I spotted Noah too. There were five Noahs patrolling around the building. One of them was even in dragon form. Maybe that one belonged to Soyeong’s dream.

“At this rate, are there, like, dozens of Yuhyuns roaming around Haeyeon Guild too?”

…Now I kind of wanted to see it. There were probably dozens of Yerims too. It was right next door anyway—maybe I should sneak a look. At Sesung Guild, dozens of Seong Hyunjaes. At Breaker Guild, dozens of Hyunahs. In the Chief Song’s office, dozens of Chief Songs. Even if they were all a little blurry, they’d probably still be in all kinds of weird situations.

So this really was a dream world. Dreams were nice.

Except for the part where people dreamed about me.

Seeing that many copies of me swarming around was honestly kind of creepy. I put on the sunglasses, mask, and hat I’d prepared in advance, then got out of the car.

“Hello~.”

A Han Yujin who had just made eye contact with me beamed and greeted me. Way too friendly for no reason. I absentmindedly patted the purring Peaces as I headed toward the grocery store. There were two Han Yujins shopping inside. I loaded food ingredients, cold medicine, and whatever else seemed useful into a cart and wheeled it straight back out. I pushed through the crowd of Han Yujins until I reached the front of the building.

‘…Huh.’

A familiar back was standing by the entrance.

No—familiar, but not.

It was Yuhyun. But he was taller and broader than the younger brother I remembered. Since this was somebody’s dream, that wasn’t strange. There’d already been a Yuhyun shopping with me at the store, so it shouldn’t have surprised me now.

But my eyes kept going back to him.

“Yuhyun.”

The name slipped out before I could stop it.

Yuhyun slowly turned around. Dark, sunken eyes settled on me. A faint smile touched his expressionless face—

and then he vanished.

“…Yeah, definitely a dream.”

Making my little brother look all mysterious like that. Sure, people were free to dream whatever they wanted, but could they please stop dreaming about my brother? Grumbling to myself, I pushed the cart into the building.

Inside the building…

“This is an SS-rank weapon, made just for you.”

There were Myungwoos.

Myungwoo, wearing a solemn expression, presented equipment to the Hunter standing before him. The Hunter clutched the weapon to his chest with a blissed-out face. Ah… so these were scenes from Hunters’ dreams.

“Master! Please!”

I even saw a foreign Hunter clinging to Myungwoo. Since the forge wasn’t open to the public, I guess everyone was meeting him in the lobby instead. Our Myungwoo really had it rough.

“Make my SS-rank equipment right now!”

And in the middle of all that, some asshole was shouting at him.

Was he doing in a dream what he’d never dare in real life? I was about to let it go with a what can you do, it’s just a dream, but then I saw Myungwoo shrink back.

And I snapped.

I grabbed a bottle of vitamins from the cart and hurled it at the bastard.

Thunk!

“Gah! Who the hell was that!”

He whipped around, and I took off my sunglasses.

“Get out. Right now. You’re banned forever!”

“What—”

“You’re not leaving? Huh? Should I call the Haeyeon Guildmaster?”

I smacked him over the head with a packaged green onion. Get out, get out, get out. Even in a dream, someone who did this kind of crap wasn’t setting foot in our building. The frightened Myungwoo vanished, and the guy left the building looking annoyed. I pushed my cart past a Hunter who was busy praising Myungwoo to the skies.

‘How much can dreams affect reality?’

Now I was actually starting to worry. Sure, they were “just dreams,” but things could still sink into your subconscious. Like when you have a vivid dream where you get in a huge fight with a friend, and even after waking up, things still feel a little weird. Usually you just laugh it off and say, wow, I had the strangest dream, but that didn’t mean it left no mark at all.

If the influence was positive, that was one thing. But if it was negative, that was a problem.

I pulled out my phone and sent Yerim a message telling her to be nice to people, even in dreams. There were real people on the other side of them.

Once I passed through the building, things grew quiet fast. Not many people could come this way, and it had only been shown on a broadcast once, maybe. I wished I could at least meet the kids in their dreams. I hope Dad’s doing oka—

“…What is that.”

It was a castle.

Where the Breeding Facility should have been, there now stood a colorful castle straight out of a fairy tale. It looked cute, like it had been made of ice cream, candy, chocolate, cotton candy, and every other sugary thing imaginable, but…

Wasn’t this supposed to be our home?

‘…Is this Byeol’s dream?’

But I’d never seen the building itself changed this drastically before. People often dreamed up backgrounds that didn’t exist in reality. In cases like that, the made-up background only appeared to the dreamer. But the castle in front of me was far too vivid, far too solid.

Still reeling, I walked toward the castle—

and then stopped short again.

“…Mr. Seong Hyunjae?”

“I’m the gatekeeper.”

“Gatekeeper, Xiao Jin.”

Seong Hyunjae and Hwang Rim were standing in front of the castle gates in security guard uniforms. Like everything else here, the two of them were unnaturally clear. There was no way a man who’d been sneezing in Japan and another one collared in China had suddenly ended up here, so yes, this was definitely a dream, but still.

“H-how did you end up working as gatekeepers here?”

“I’m also pulling double duty as the cook and the janitor.”

Seong Hyunjae said it so casually.

Good lord.

So there was someone out there dreaming of hiring the Sesung Guildmaster as house staff.

And that someone was one of our kids.

…Was it Gyeol? If it were Byeol, Hwang Rim wouldn’t be here, and Seong Hyunjae would probably be getting treated like a tiny toy.

Yeah, Gyeol.

Looks like you’ve gotten pretty close with the two of them. Seong Hyunjae especially.

“Good… luck with that…”

Still deeply unsettled, I stepped through the gate Hwang Rim opened for me.

Beyond it stretched a bright green field. Though we were indoors, a vivid blue sky shone overhead, and baby monsters ran around beneath it.

– Meee!

Little Song bounded over and headbutted Sorok. Sorok had always been bigger than Little Song, but now he was three or four times her size, and he caught her easily. Mar was swimming in the pond, while Yerim floated above it. They all looked so incredibly vivid. Was it because Gyeol was a mental-type Fairy Dragonkin – Changeling?

“Huh? Mister?”

Yerim turned to me with wide eyes.

“You escaped again?”

“…What?”

Escaped? What are you—

“Hyung.”

Yuhyun’s voice came from behind me.

When I turned, my brother was looking down at me with sad eyes.

“Why won’t you rest?”

“Huh? No, that’s not—”

“She’s right, Mister. You need to rest!”

“Wait, no, I—ugh, Yuhyun!”

Yuhyun hoisted me right over his shoulder.

Then he got into an elevator and went up.

Wait, where even was this? It kind of looked like our house, but…

“Just rest quietly, hyung.”

The door opened, revealing a spacious room. A huge bed, soft floors, a recliner, a table laid out with food, stuffed animals everywhere, a TV, and beyond the giant glass windows, a beautifully landscaped garden and a beach.

And on the bed—

“…There are two hyungs.”

Yuhyun muttered.

I was lying there, asleep.

“No, that’s—”

“There were times when there were two of you. Sleep like that hyung. Don’t come out.”

Yuhyun set me down on the bed and walked out.

I ran straight to the door, but it wouldn’t open. Locked.

What the hell was going on?

“Hey, hey! Wake up!”

“Mmm…”

The me on the bed showed no sign of waking up. Gyeol… did you really want me sleeping like this all the time? I went back to the door and pounded on it.

“Gyeol! Daddy’s here! It’s really Daddy!”

Daddy’s here! If I could use my inventory, I’d have this stupid door open in seconds. I stalked over to the table, snatched up a strawberry and shoved it in my mouth, then grabbed a chair.

And swung it at the door as hard as I could.

Crash!

“Daddy’s here!”

I never thought I’d get imprisoned by my kid after getting locked up by my brother, but here we were. The metal leg bit into the wood, leaving a gouge. Luckily, it was a wooden door. I adjusted my grip and kept slamming the area around the doorknob. The sleeping me on the bed rolled over irritably at the noise.

“Gyeol, I’m sorry.”

For making you dream something like this.

Once I’d made a hole big enough, I pulled out a kitchen knife and widened it until my hand could fit through. Then I stuck my hand through the opening and unlocked the door from the outside.

‘The hallway looks like our house?’

It was much longer, wider, and taller, but the structure was the same. I hurried down the hall toward the living room where the kids usually played.

There was a giant dragon there.

Its shape was still that same rounded baby dragon form.

It was just the size of a car now.

Curled up in Gyeol’s arms were a black dragon and a wheat-colored furball, both asleep.

Seol and Byeol.

In the sunlit living room, their soft little breathing filled the air.

“…Gyeol.”

I walked over slowly and gently stroked the top of Gyeol’s head. Those big round golden eyes opened lazily.

– Daddy.

Gyeol shrank down. Back to the small Fairy Dragonkin I knew, half-lidded and sleepy as he leaned into my arms.

– Daddyyy.

“Yeah, Gyeol. It’s Daddy. I’m home.”

Even if home had changed a little too much.

Gyeol yawned wide. He blinked a few times, then his eyes sharpened as he looked up at me.

And then he jolted.

– Huh? But this is Gyeol’s dream!

“That’s right. We’re inside a dream. But Daddy’s real.”

– D-Daddy? Really?

“It’s a long story, but basically everyone fell into the dream world together. Your uncle and aunt and everybody else are on their way home too.”

Though flustered, Gyeol clung to me even tighter.

“We’ll be going home soon too. You’ve been doing okay, right?”

– Y-yeah. Oh! In Gyeol’s dream, I met the person who was trying to marry that thing!

“Mari? Mari made this world. And then I think she left for reality…”

– I think so too. It doesn’t feel like the same person.

The Fairy Dragonkin nodded, then slapped his tail once and made a grave face.

– It’s gotten really different from normal dreams. And…

Gyeol hesitated, then frowned.

– I think… this world is looking for you, Daddy.

“What? Me?”

If the one who made this world was Marisa now, what was going on? Still, I’d already planned to go meet her, so it wasn’t bad news. Before the system could fully take hold, I needed to find—

‘Yuhyun.’

Once I got my brother back, everything would be over.

Now, really, there wasn’t much left.