The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 735: Ambush (1)

“The main road’s too exposed. Take the alley!”

An eight-lane road with barely any traffic was the perfect place to get picked off. Noah whipped the wheel and shot the car between the buildings.

“This car, uh, bullet… defense.”

“What?”

“I think he means it’s bulletproof, bro. Bulletproof.”

“Yeah. It’s not an item.”

“Dungeon byproduct vehicles take forever to custom-order, so people sometimes use armored cars until theirs come in.”

Yuhyun explained in Noah’s place, and Noah nodded.

“Yujin-ssi ride my car. Safe.”

Dungeon byproducts got a lot of their durability from the mana they contained, which meant in a situation like this, they could actually be weaker than ordinary objects. As we rounded the corner, I saw smoke swallowing up a chain coffee shop. A helicopter had crashed by the roadside. In front of it stood a man holding a gun.

“Run him down!”

Noah accelerated without a second’s hesitation. The moment the man turned, the front bumper slammed into him. Thud! His body flew up and hit the ground rolling.

“Hunters don’t use guns.”

I jumped out of the car as I said it. In lower-rank dungeons, they sometimes used firearms as support, but usually it was all about items. Which meant anyone carrying a gun was probably the enemy. People who knew that in this world, items didn’t work properly.

Thwack! I kicked the gun out of the bastard’s hand and sent it skidding away. He didn’t look Korean. Yuhyun and Liette scanned the area while Noah aimed his gun at the man.

“Hey, Sesung Guild leader, Sesung Guild Master, where! Where!”

The helicopter, half swallowed by flames, was empty. At least that meant they’d gotten out alive.

“Hyung!”

At that moment Yuhyun grabbed me and yanked me back. Noah and Liette dove behind the car a split second later.

Ratatatatat!

Bullets sprayed the air. The alloy frame rang under the barrage like metal under heavy rain. Tang, tang, tang. Liette listened to the shots for a second, then suddenly sprang to her feet. At the exact same moment, the gunfire stopped. Had she been counting rounds? Liette, had you been a mercenary before you awakened or something?

“Ho~.”

Liette spun up over the trunk like she was weightless and pulled the trigger. A shot rang out, and the enemy she’d hit vanished. The Hunter who’d been lying on the ground had disappeared too. So they were dreams as well. In that case—

“Blood!”

Keeping low, I checked around the helicopter. No way they got out without getting hurt. They couldn’t use potions, either. Which meant there was a good chance they’d left blood behind. Sure enough, I spotted dark red stains drying on the ground. Drops left behind in a hurry.

“That way.”

A building with shattered glass doors came into view. We got back in the car. The frame jolted as it climbed the curb and barreled straight for the entrance. Crash! It smashed through the rest of the glass and lunged into the dim interior—

Boom!

An explosion rocked the car. It must’ve been rigged with explosives. I had no idea who made this bulletproof thing, but it was absurdly sturdy. Flames roared up, and Yuhyun threw the door open.

“Wait! What the hell are you doing—”

I didn’t even get to stop him before he ran straight through the fire and opened up with his gun. I chased after him a beat later, checking him over.

“Hey! You can’t even use skills right now!”

“My abilities as an awakened person aren’t completely gone. Normal fire like this is fine.”

Was that because he’d basically been born fire? Even so, his clothes were singed. The people attacking us clearly hadn’t expected anyone to come charging through the flames, and they all went down before they could put up much of a fight.

“The Sesung Guild Master went upstairs!”

Someone who’d been hiding in the corner ran out and shouted. He looked like one of the Hunters from the building.

“What the hell is with the gunfire? And it actually works!”

Yeah. Didn’t need to see it to know what happened. The Hunters had probably rushed in thinking bullets wouldn’t do anything to them, then got mowed down. That explained why the place had seemed deserted.

“Go tell the people in the building to watch out for guns.”

The Hunter nodded and sprinted outside. After checking our weapons, we headed for the stairs.

“If you die, that’s it. No potions.”

Even if Gyeol could make high-grade potions, it wouldn’t matter if we died before we made it back to the Breeding Facility. I warned them not to charge in like usual and stepped onto the stairs. Emergency lights cast a dim glow over the stairwell. It was dead silent. Not even breathing. Staying on guard, we started climbing. Second floor, then heading toward the third—

Tok.

Something small hit the floor. At the same instant, Liette leapt onto the railing and swung the butt of her gun. Clang! She knocked a grenade-like object hard into the air.

Boom!

It exploded midair. Noah blocked the flying fragments with a cushion he’d brought from the car. Seriously, had Liette actually fought in a war somewhere?

“C— Run!”

With a dagger clamped in her teeth, Liette started climbing. She didn’t take the stairs—she grabbed the railing, hauled herself up, and glided upward like a spider, reaching the next floor in one smooth motion. Noah climbed up onto the railing too, but he didn’t follow Liette. Instead, he pulled out his gun and aimed upward, laying down covering fire.

“Yuhyun!”

Let’s go too! Yuhyun and I sprinted up the stairs. Even with their stats reduced, S-ranks were still S-ranks, and Yuhyun quickly left me behind. By then Liette had already reached the enemy. Someone screamed. Yuhyun vaulted onto the railing and bounded up the remaining floors in a rush. Thud! A man who’d rushed him got kicked and pitched backward, falling. Noah shot him without hesitation.

I reached the fight a moment later. Beyond the emergency exit, the hallway stretched ahead, and I could sense movement. It looked like they’d already taken care of everyone in the stairwell. Noah came up behind us, and together we moved toward the exit door.

“Door. Door.”

I gestured toward the emergency door’s hinge. It was metal, so it should do the job. Yuhyun, easily the strongest among us, grabbed one of the broken railing bars from where the grenade had blown it apart and slammed it into the hinge. Bang! Bang! After two heavy metallic blows, the door came loose. We used it as a shield and charged into the hallway.

Thunk, thunk, thunk! Bullets hammered into the door. Even metal couldn’t stop every round. One pierced through and grazed Noah’s leg. It had lost power punching through the door, and Noah was still tougher than an ordinary person, so all it did was tear his pants a little.

We were just about to push forward when—

Bang!

A huge locker came hurtling toward the attackers. Its doors flew open, spilling documents everywhere.

It was Chief Song.

“Chief Song!”

The attackers hesitated at the sight of the locker, and I threw the door aside and rushed in. I buried my dagger in the neck of the nearest bastard, then tossed the rifle slung over my shoulder to Song Taewon. The second his big hand caught it, he spun and fired toward the locker. The guy pinned underneath jerked hard, then vanished.

“Are you oka— no, that’s not—”

“It’s not my blood.”

Chief Song’s clothes were soaked with it. If it wasn’t his, then—

“…Where’s Seong Hyunjae?”

“He’s inside.”

Chief Song moved first, speaking quickly as he led us on.

“I recognized some of the Hunters. But something was wrong with them. It was like they were being directed by someone.”

“One of the transcendents, probably. They may not be able to interfere directly before the system is fully applied, but they could’ve made contracts with Hunters beforehand. Like Chatterbox.”

They couldn’t touch our world now. But if Hunters they’d already made contracts with were dreaming, then maybe controlling them was still possible.

“…To be precise, they were people who had clashed with me, and with Hunter Seong Hyunjae.”

“With both of you?”

“Yes. They were already hostile to begin with. Even so, they weren’t the kind who’d go so far as to arm themselves and attack. …Probably.”

That probably was definitely about Seong Hyunjae. Who the hell had pulled those Hunters in? Some transcendent with strong mental abilities? Maybe Crescent Moon had stepped in. If it was her, manipulating dreams would be easy enough. The target might not have been Seong Hyunjae at all. It might’ve been Chief Song.

Chief Song opened one of the office doors lining the hall. Inside, Seong Hyunjae was sitting in an old office chair. His abdomen was red with blood. One ear was gone, and a long red slash ran down his cheek.

“You came… to rescue me.”

He coughed, and blood came up with it. It felt like getting hit in the back of the head. Normally, injuries like that wouldn’t have shaken me much. I would’ve pulled out a potion and scolded him for not being more careful. But now my stomach churned.

Come to think of it, my fear resistance skill wouldn’t activate either.

Honestly, I was scared. Right now, it had never been easier to lose someone—suddenly, pointlessly.

“…Let’s get back as fast as we can. We can use potions at the Breeding Facility.”

Chief Song looked visibly relieved.

“I was starting to think we’d need to find a doctor.”

“There’s no stretcher, and— hey, don’t get up, stay seated! We’ll just wheel you out like this. How the hell did you end up in this state?”

“…He protected me.”

I saw the muscle in Chief Song’s jaw tighten as he answered. Seong Hyunjae, pale as death, still managed to look aggrieved like always.

“Chief Song Taewon resents me quite a bit, it seems.”

“That’s not true.”

“You know what they say—when someone starts acting out of character, it means they’re about to die.”

Chief Song started pushing the chair Seong Hyunjae was sitting in. Noah ran ahead, saying he’d check whether the elevator was working. Outside the building, something exploded with a loud bang.

“It was nothing more than a practical calculation. My life, at least, is guaranteed.”

…On the day of the wedding, Seong Hyunjae had died once and come back. He’d probably do the same now. If he recovered completely afterward, then from a purely tactical standpoint, him shielding Song Taewon had absolutely been the right call.

“What, should I just cut your throat now?”

“An extremely tempting offer, but I’ll decline.”

“I was thinking of dumping you here if you said you were fine.”

The only person who’d object to that was Chief Song. And because of Chief Song, I guessed we had to drag this bastard along.

Then Liette came over and said something. My English was bad enough. French was hopeless.

“Sounds like they’re waiting for us outside. He says there are trucks too.”

“We should go through the alley.”

Chief Song said it, but even the alleys around here weren’t all that narrow. Worse, we could get boxed in.

“No, I think the main road’s better. Hold on.”

I pulled out my phone and checked the street view nearby. Technology really was a beautiful thing. Let’s see… yeah. This should work. Besides, that sound I’d been hearing off and on—

It had to be it.

“Let’s head out into the open.”

Let them bring all the trucks they wanted.

Seong Hyunjae got into the back seat. I heard a muffled groan—one of his wounds must’ve been pressed. I took the wheel, and Yuhyun sat beside me. I didn’t have a license, but right now I was still the best choice to drive. Chief Song sat next to Seong Hyunjae. I started the engine and checked the time on my phone.

Three minutes earlier. Two minutes. One minute.

Right on time.

I stepped on the gas and shot forward.

Crash!

At the same moment, a large SUV burst out of the neighboring building, a car dealership. Noah and Liette were inside. Six people in one car had been too much, so we’d split up. The only people who could really communicate with Liette were Noah and Seong Hyunjae, and there was no way we were leaving an injured man with Liette. Yuhyun could manage in English too, but there was zero chance he was leaving my side.

‘More than that, Noah and Liette really do work freakishly well together.’

Screeeech! I swung the car hard and turned toward the Breeding Facility. The instant we tore down the main road, a large truck appeared ahead. Beside it was a military truck they must’ve dragged in from somewhere. More than enough to block the road.

But—

Wheeeee—

Something came flying from the direction of the Breeding Facility far in the distance.

And then, dead-on—

Kaboom!

It dropped right on top of the large truck. The truck was swallowed in flames in an instant, and the surrounding vehicles swerved in confusion. I took the opening and accelerated.

‘Nice one for once, Hwang Rim!’

Even if Gyeol made missiles, they’d disappear the moment they left the Breeding Facility. But Hwang Rim’s cannon, which simply launched bombs he’d brought with him, still worked.

Crunch, bang! Noah’s SUV, as solid as our armored car, smashed through the scattered wreckage and came up tight behind us. The surviving vehicles started chasing us too. Then more long-range fire rained down on them.

Boom, bang! Exploding cars sounded one after another. Even then, the bastards kept firing at us. The Breeding Facility wasn’t far now. We were only a few dozen yards away when—

Bang!

A bullet blew out one of the tires on Noah’s car. The SUV fishtailed and ground to a halt. Noah and Liette jumped out with their weapons.

“Go!”

Noah shouted.

I checked the rearview mirror. Thank God, their priority still seemed to be us. No cars broke off to go after the two of them. Even so, I clenched my teeth hard. The front of the Breeding Facility building was empty by now. Maybe the explosions had woken people up. Only a couple of Han Yujins and several Peaces had retreated to one side, checking the damage.

Maybe they were out of bombs, because nothing else came flying. I drove right up to the lobby and got out. Chief Song hauled Seong Hyunjae onto his back.

“…Ugh.”

Still alive, huh.

“Get inside first!”

I sent Chief Song and Seong Hyunjae ahead, then Yuhyun and I fired at the cars charging toward us. Hunters poured out of them. We were outnumbered, but—

“Who the hell do you think you’re shooting at!”

The Hunters who’d stayed inside the building came rushing out. Apparently my warning had gotten through, because this time they didn’t charge blindly into gunfire. They came with shields and defense-type Hunters up front.

“Everyone, fighting! I’ll remember this!”

Leaving our backs to them, I hurried after the other two. Since Chief Song was carrying Seong Hyunjae, I caught up fast.

“Just a little farther!”

We were almost there. The moment we passed through the building, a brightly colored castle appeared. There was a new turret on the roof, and even an exterior elevator built just for us. Praying Noah and Liette would make it back safely, I hurried into the elevator.

– Dad!

Gyeol, who’d been waiting in front of it, started to throw himself at me—

– …Uh, uh…!

Then he saw Seong Hyunjae and went wide-eyed. I quickly pulled him into my arms before he could get a good look.

“It’s okay, Gyeol. Can you make a bed and a potion? And a screen too. Like the one you saw at the hospital.”

– O-okay.

“Gunshot wound? Did you remove the fragments?”

Hwang Rim came over and asked. Fragments… I looked at Chief Song, and he shook his head.

“They’re probably still inside him. They need to come out before we use a potion.”

“Don’t worry, Little Jin. As long as we’ve got enough high-grade potions, blood loss won’t be a problem. This’ll be easy. Young master, painkillers too, please.”

Chief Song carried Seong Hyunjae toward the bed partitioned off by screens. Hwang Rim followed with the potion and painkillers Gyeol had made. Once things quieted down, Gyeol lifted his head a little from my arms.

– …That scared me. I didn’t think that person would get hurt so badly.

“It’s okay because you helped us, Gyeol. You don’t need to worry.”

Seong Hyunjae was… well, Seong Hyunjae. No matter what happened, he was the kind of person who always felt like he’d somehow be fine.

Just then Yerim climbed down from the turret and came over to us.

…Yerim?

“Hey, Hwang Rim, letting a kid—”

“Mister!”

Yerim ran up and clung to me. Her hands were trembling slightly.

“Y-Yerim…”

“This time… I was really scared. Thinking you and Han Yuhyun couldn’t use items or skills… that’s why I said I wanted to help too.”

“…I was scared too, Mister. I kept thinking facing a transcendent as an S-rank and standing in front of guns with your stats nerfed weren’t really that different, but… it was different.”

At my words, Yerim nodded with a small smile. I told her we’d made it back safely thanks to her, and thanked her.

“Look at my hand. I grabbed it so tight it turned red. But, um… over there…”

“We have potions. He’ll be fine. Noah and Liette… fell behind, but thankfully it didn’t seem like they were the real target.”

Since they were still fighting in front of the building, they probably wouldn’t come back right away. It would be safer for them to hide for a while and wait. Swallowing a sigh, I looked toward the bed.

‘This isn’t going to be easy.’

At least we had a safe zone.

– Dad.

Gyeol, still in my arms, suddenly spoke.

– Someone’s here.