S-Classes That I Raised to Devour - Chapter 15

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 15. Min Saeng-jiwon (1)
In that brief interlude, Cheon I-hwa had gotten her makeup done, and now she looked like a successful CEO.
“Why are you looking after me without understanding your place? What if you die doing that? It’s like I owe you something now. It’s irritating.”
She opened with a rebuke and continued muttering in succession.
“Hmph. More than that, hiding your real ability—how perverse.”
Kim Yeo-ul turned to look at Chae Mu-jin with bewilderment. Then Cheon I-hwa stepped closer and spoke.
“Who are you looking at? I’m talking about you, Kim Yeo-ul.”
“M-me? You mean me?”
“Well, who else would it be? You deliberately scored 2 points in the first test. Was it because you didn’t want attention?”
“No, I wasn’t hiding anything at all…”
“Lying doesn’t work on me. I already know that in the second test you subdued a Level 27 Tanker with one hand.”
“Ah…”
She couldn’t very well say it was the doing of Yasha, her dissociative alter, not her own.
“The strength you showed in the training match was honestly amazing too. You have the trait where you take no damage from your own skills, right? It’s probably A-rank, and that fire magic that broke through my Protective Energy Barrier is obviously A-rank as well.”
She was misunderstanding. The truth was that all of it was thanks to Chae Mu-jin’s buffs. The moment Kim Yeo-ul opened her mouth to correct the misunderstanding—
“That’s actually thanks to—”
Pinch.
Chae Mu-jin pinched her waist from behind, and Kim Yeo-ul changed what she was about to say.
“Your manicure is very pretty.”
“What are you suddenly talking about?”
“I, I just noticed it suddenly.”
“In any case! You can consider it an honor. The hunters whose names I remember are few and far between, Kim Yeo-ul.”
“…”
An awkward silence settled over them. Cheon I-hwa, standing with her arms crossed as she waited for a response, suddenly flared up.
“Aren’t you going to thank me?”
“Th-thank you very much.”
“Take good care of yourself. You’ll be working under me anyway.”
“I’m sorry, but I came here to become a Certified Hunter…”
“I know that already. And… Chae Mu-jin.”
Called out suddenly, Chae Mu-jin answered in an off-handed manner.
“You’ve only seen me a few times and you’re speaking casually?”
“We’re the same age. Don’t act like a wizened old man.”
“Sigh. So what?”
“Just get yourself mentally prepared. Heh.”
Bang.
Cheon I-hwa left those ominous words behind and departed. Of course, Chae Mu-jin understood perfectly well what she meant.
‘The Am-haeng-eosa—an extralegal organization formed by a joint venture between the Hunter Association and the government. They’re already preparing.’
Creak.
Cheon I-hwa, who was thought to have left, opened the door a crack and extended only her hand.
“Kim Yeo-ul, don’t you ever look after me again. Next time I’ll really get angry.”
Whoosh!
“Ahhh!”
Something bead-like came flying. It was so fast that Kim Yeo-ul not only had no chance to catch it—she squealed with her eyes squeezed shut.
Chae Mu-jin caught the bead instead. It wasn’t actually a bead at all.
「Item—Vitality Pill」
• Rapidly restores health, stamina, and mana.
[Permanent Effect]
Health +1 Mana +1
Mana Regeneration +0.01
[Temporary Effect]
Health +3 Mana +3
Mana Regeneration +0.1
It wasn’t quite as potent as the Eternal Martial Pill that Cheon Mu-jong had given him, but this too was a supreme elixir.
Though the stat increase was modest, it lived up to its name—a miraculous remedy that rapidly replenished depleted health, stamina, and mana.
“I see your spending habits are exactly alike.”
Once he placed the Vitality Pill in Kim Yeo-ul’s palm and she confirmed it was an item, she jumped back in surprise.
“Wh-what is this? I’ve never even heard of an item like this!”
“Swallow it quickly. The effect disappears if it touches air.”
It was a lie, but Kim Yeo-ul scrambled to her feet anyway.
“Oh! Water, where’s water?”
“What are you talking about? It’s not a nutritional supplement. You just swallow it.”
“It smells like herbal medicine…”
“Ask for strawberry flavor next time.”
“What flavor is strawberry? Ugh!”
Chae Mu-jin snatched the Vitality Pill away and put it directly into her mouth.
The elixir melted like snow the instant it touched her saliva, trickling down her throat.
Kim Yeo-ul’s face scrunched up as if she’d bitten into a lemon.
“Why is this so strong? Blehhh…”
“Medicine that tastes bad is always good for you. Come on, get up.”
“Huh?”
Kim Yeo-ul, whose body had felt heavy and sluggish as if she had the flu, rose with surprising lightness.
It was as though she’d slept deeply for twelve hours straight and then showered in ice-cold water—her body and mind felt refreshed and clear.
“Feeling better?”
“Yes!”
“Then let’s hurry. We’ll be late.”
“Late for what?”
“The second round, of course. You’ve been lying here for forty minutes.”
“Ah…”
And so Kim Yeo-ul headed back to the Training Arena for the second round.
* * *
The spectator stands of the Training Arena were unusually crowded with people.
Kim Yeo-ul was nervous, thinking the crowds had gathered because her opponent was someone as famous as Cheon I-hwa, but it was actually the opponent who was nervous.
“Pl-please go easy on me.”
“Pardon?”
Her second-round opponent was a warrior ten levels higher than she was.
‘Ah. He knows the results of the buff as his own strength.’
She almost wanted to tell him out of pity: this time, the buffs won’t be as strong as they were against Cheon I-hwa.
Before the match began, Chae Mu-jin briefed her on the strategy.
“I won’t give you as powerful a buff as when you fought Cheon I-hwa. Just follow the strategy I taught you and it’ll be enough to win.”
The strategy he’d taught her was surprisingly simple—so much so she wondered if winning like this was even okay.
―[00:00]
The instant the countdown ended, she created four Fireballs above her head.
Seeing the Fireballs, the warrior braced himself and prepared to dodge. Ignoring his readiness, she fired two Fireballs simultaneously.
The speed was slow enough to see and evade with the naked eye, so the warrior dashed forward to dodge—
Boom!
The Fireballs that struck the ground left shockwaves and flames in their wake.
The oncoming heat startled the warrior considerably. And in that moment, the other two Fireballs came flying.
This time he couldn’t stay composed and dodge cleanly.
The psychological pressure of being caught off-guard, the slightly crumbled stance—it made him desperate.
Kaboom!
He did move, but his mindless motion sent him rushing straight into the Fireballs.
“Arghhhh!”
The terrifying thing about Fireballs wasn’t just the impact—the heat from the flames stirred primal fear.
The warrior thrashed on the ground frantically trying to extinguish the flames, and in that moment, the Training Arena’s lights turned red.
“Kim Yeo-ul is the victor.”
The referee declared her victory.
Even as she won, Kim Yeo-ul couldn’t quite feel like it was real.
‘I won without a buff.’
The remaining three rounds proved it was no accident—she won all of them with strategy alone.
“Tankers will always block with their shields. So just pour all your mana into one Fireball and launch it.”
“The Healer will probably forfeit, but if she doesn’t, just fire four Fireballs at once.”
“The Assassin will use Stealth right at the start, but if you focus on your ears, you’ll hear the sound of their feet dragging. Shoot a Fireball diagonally in that direction.”
Excluding Cheon I-hwa, she’d racked up four wins for eight points total.
To Kim Yeo-ul, who was smiling with delight, Chae Mu-jin spoke seriously.
“I’m happy you won, but don’t ever assume this strategy will work in real combat. I’ll teach you properly later.”
“Wasn’t this the proper lesson?”
“Not at all. I just taught you how to win a game. This isn’t real combat—it won’t help you at all.”
Just then, an announcement came through the speakers.
―All matches in Group A have concluded. In one hour, Group B matches will begin at the scheduled time. Please check the pairings and time.
Finally, it was Chae Mu-jin’s turn.
* * *
If Cheon I-hwa was the hot topic of Group A, then Chae Mu-jin was the focus of Group B.
But the point of intrigue was different.
The main draw with Cheon I-hwa—the daughter of the Association chairman and student of the Great Sword Master—was wondering how capable she truly was and how quickly she’d eliminate her opponents. With Chae Mu-jin, however, he was an unknown quantity.
His buffs were powerful, but could he fight well himself? Public opinion was precisely split down the middle.
“If a Supporter can fight, is he really a Supporter? Of course he’ll lose!”
“Even if his buffs boost attack power, that’s like putting a gun in a child’s hands.”
“A gun’s still a gun even if a kid fires it. He might not hit properly, but if he does by accident, it’s a fatal blow.”
“Plus, Chae Mu-jin even discovered Janus. Someone with that kind of eye for talent couldn’t possibly be bad at fighting!”
Here, “Janus” was the name the crowds had given to Kim Yeo-ul.
Outwardly timid and meek, but in combat, bold and aggressive—the public had bestowed this epithet upon her.
Of course, such names weren’t given to just anyone.
Though she’d lost, she’d pushed Cheon I-hwa hard and won every match afterward, earning herself a reputation.
While the spectators debated loudly, the person in question, Chae Mu-jin, had no interest in winning or losing.
His interest was solely in one thing: ‘S-rank talent.’
“With so many hunters gathered, why can’t I find anyone decent?”
While teaching Kim Yeo-ul, he’d observed other applicants in his spare time, but they were all chaff.
‘To suppress the thousand-times-pierced mage girl, I need a decent physical damage dealer.’
Chae Mu-jin wasn’t asking for much. He had just two criteria.
Either they possessed an S-rank skill, or they had the aptitude to become an S-rank hunter.
“Out of hundreds, not a single one stands out.”
Chae Mu-jin had wandered throughout the facility, even observing quiet applicants tucked in corners.
But all he saw were mediocre hunters.
‘Thinking about it, Certified Hunters themselves have this air of being rice-eating hunters that the state permits to some degree. After all, they’re civil servants.’
Nobody becomes a Certified Hunter risking their life in combat. They come for stable support and welfare. Perhaps that’s why.
Most of the applicants gathered here were ordinary.
It’s said that to become an S-rank hunter, one must reach Level 500. But that’s only half-true.
One can possess Authority even without reaching Level 500. The condition is simply extremely secretive and difficult.
In any case, one thing was certain: an ordinary person could never become S-rank.
They needed madness. The madness to treat their precious life as worthless.
‘But don’t we call people like that mad?’
Thinking it over, every S-rank Chae Mu-jin had ever met had something loose in their head.
Human, yet not quite human.
Take Kim Yeo-ul herself—wasn’t she a villain of the worst kind?
‘So I need to raise madmen, then.’
Actually, that suited him fine. It meant he could extract what he needed without a trace of guilt.
‘I can’t see inside each person’s head anyway.’
Ding, ding!
His phone alarm went off while he was pondering. It was the alarm he’d set for ten minutes before the match.
“Guess I should head over.”
Since Chae Mu-jin had no intention of becoming a Certified Hunter, there was no real reason for him to compete. He could just forfeit and go home.
Yet still, he’d come to the Training Arena for one reason.
A slim hope that he might discover here a madman he couldn’t identify just by looking.
But the result was a complete disappointment.
First round. A hard Tanker cowering behind a shield, shaking.
Second round. A sub-Healer who started crying and forfeited the moment he landed one punch.
Third round. A dual-sword dealer uselessly twirling blades back and forth.
Fourth round. A Supporter who called out his bank account number at the start, asking for payment to take a dive.
‘Not even worth pulling out the Sword Spirit’s Soul I took from Kim Ji-woo.’
Chae Mu-jin beat all four opponents with his bare fists and took four wins with ease.
And so came the final, fifth round.
Past ten at night, exhaustion and disappointment had reached their peak. He was just deliberating whether to forfeit and leave when—
Boom―!
The Training Arena floor resonated with a heavy vibration.
Sleep vanishing instantly, Chae Mu-jin’s eyes snapped wide open as he looked ahead.
“Hello! I’m Min Saeng-jiwon. You can call me Min-ji for short!”
A petite high school girl in a school uniform.
In her slender hands, she wielded a two-meter Steel Hammer far too massive for her frame.
Watching the girl smile brightly as she slung that savage weapon over her shoulder like it weighed nothing, Chae Mu-jin’s lips slowly curled upward.
‘Found one. A madman.’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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