S-Classes That I Raised to Devour - Chapter 17

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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 17. Civil Livelihood Support Fund (3)
As Chae Mujin had anticipated, Lee Minji was no novice Hunter.
With two years of solo Hunter experience under her belt, she’d received recruitment offers from countless Guilds.
For all her youth, she’d had plenty of interview practice.
But this was her first time like this.
Slurp.
“Ahhh—this broth hits different every single time.”
Crunch, crunch.
“And Janchi Guksu with Kkakdugi on the side? You only get that here.”
“Excuse me, mister.”
“Didn’t you call me ‘oppa’ earlier?”
“No, mister’s right. Who has a job interview at a noodle shop, anyway?”
“Oh, sorry. Are you more of a bibimbap noodles person?”
“Not really…”
Gurgle.
Was it the tension dissolving? Or was it the anchovy broth from the Janchi Guksu wafting such an irresistible aroma?
Unable to resist the hunger, her chopsticks moved on their own.
Gulp.
“Oh?”
“Good, right?”
“Really good.”
“Try the Kkakdugi too. Normally Janchi Guksu comes with cabbage kimchi, but this place is weird—they give you Kkakdugi. And I’m telling you, it’s got a real kick.”
Following Chae Mujin’s advice, Minji picked up some Kkakdugi and felt like she’d entered a new world.
‘This is so good.’
She’d always been penny-pinching with food, living off bland white bread and strawberry jam—just twice a day.
But eating umami-rich Janchi Guksu with sweet-and-sour Kkakdugi awakened memories she’d forgotten.
‘I used to love eating.’
Whenever she went to watch baseball with Dad, they’d always eat something delicious.
Dad used to say people needed to eat tasty food to be happy.
But when had she stopped eating like that?
“I’m heading out, Minji.”
“Why are you going to Jeju Island? People online are saying it’s really dangerous!”
“Dangerous is exactly why I’m going. There will be a lot of injured people. What’s my job?”
“You’re a nurse, not a doctor.”
“Doctors may not need nurses, but doctors need nurses.”
“Still, still—why does it have to be you? There are plenty of other nurses!”
“Minji. If you were thirsty, would you wait for your mother or me to bring you water?”
“Just go! I won’t talk to you for the rest of my life!”
Why had she said that to Dad? She should have told him to come back safe.
Maybe then he would have come back alive.
Drip, drip.
Teardrops fell onto the Janchi Guksu.
Chae Mujin watched her suddenly weeping over her meal, set down his spoon, and raised his hand.
“One more Janchi Guksu, please.”
What kind of noodles were they that made her cry?
Lee Minji wept her way through two bowls of Janchi Guksu, finishing them both cleanly.
“Whew.”
“You’ve got a good appetite. I was worried you might not like it.”
“I usually eat well. Get me some Tanghulu too.”
“Aren’t you going to do the interview?”
“Never mind. This Hunter management thing, let’s just give it a shot, why not.”
“No, you have to do the interview.”
“What? I’m strong, pretty, and young—what more of an interview do I need?”
“I can’t really say you’re pretty… hey, don’t raise your fists. There’s one condition.”
His last words were dead serious, so Minji replied seriously.
“Mister, I pray every night before bed. To demons. Please take my soul and kill Bahamut for me. Do you need a soul too?”
“I’m greedier than demons. I want everything of yours.”
Chae Mujin spoke deliberately vague.
If he’d said directly, “I’m taking all your skills,” she’d have made a fuss.
But Minji misunderstood, and her face flushed.
“You… want everything of mine?”
“That could mean your life, or it could mean your wealth.”
“You’re really straightforward, aren’t you?”
“Huh? Well, no need to beat around the bush.”
“Hmm…”
Minji sized up Chae Mujin from head to toe.
‘I usually hate the type popular with girls… what am I even thinking? It’s not like I could ever catch Bahamut anyway.’
Even if she succeeded in catching Bahamut, she had no future anyway.
‘I’ll die when my revenge is done.’
It wasn’t an impulsive thought. It was a resolve she’d made since her entire family died.
That resolve made her an Awakener, and allowed her to grow this far.
So whether Chae Mujin wanted her body or her wealth, it didn’t matter since she’d die anyway.
“Fine. So when do we start the consulting?”
“We already started.”
Chae Mujin pointed at the two empty bowls. Minji couldn’t believe it.
“Two bowls of Janchi Guksu—that’s your consulting?”
“You were on a diet, weren’t you? Because of your weapon’s trait.”
“…Creepy. How did you know? That trait’s classified.”
“I saw how easily you swung that heavy hammer.”
“There are lots of traits that reduce weapon weight.”
“But there’s only one that makes it exactly 1 kilogram.”
“How can you know something weighs exactly 1kg just by watching someone swing it? That’s impossible.”
“If I didn’t have that kind of eye, I couldn’t be a manager.”
Of course, in reality he knew because of his Collection Skill, but even Chae Mujin couldn’t have guessed someone’s traits and skills just by watching them without it.
‘There are hundreds of thousands of skills out there—how am I supposed to memorize them all?’
Since he couldn’t mention the Collection Skill, being shamelessly confident like this was the best strategy.
“So you understand. My weight needs to drop for damage to go up. Eating like this will make me heavier and my attack power weaker. Isn’t that the wrong consulting?”
“You’ve been fixated on that attack power.”
“High attack power is good, isn’t it?”
“Sure. But think back to our sparring match. All that impressive power means nothing if you can’t land a hit. Trading one’s bones for another’s flesh? That’s worked so far. Monsters are simple, after all. And you couldn’t run away in that match without losing face. But here’s the thing—someone out there won’t be bound by those rules. You’re throwing your overwhelming advantage away.”
“Where are you going, in the middle of talking?”
“Didn’t you ask me to buy Tanghulu? Let’s go. I haven’t had it in a while and I’m craving some.”
Walking behind Chae Mujin as he led the way, she felt people’s gazes on them.
The stares that usually fell on her now all turned toward him instead.
But the light in their eyes was completely different from how they looked at her. Awe and envy.
‘Now that I think about it, this guy was the supporter Cheon Iwhwa had her eye on.’
Perfect score on the first test, perfect score on the second, and on the third he conceded intentionally to get 8 points, placing second overall.
‘He could have beaten me, but he threw it. Without doing that, he’d have beaten Cheon Iwhwa and taken first. But he doesn’t look the least bit disappointed.’
He possessed the strongest Physical Attack Power Buff in history, and his own combat ability was exceptional too.
A supporter like that didn’t exist anywhere in Korea or abroad. Without exaggeration, Chae Mujin was a supporter everyone wanted.
He himself knew his own worth. Yet he didn’t show off. He didn’t look down on people.
‘He was like a kind uncle.’
Dad had said that it was natural for the weak to bow before the strong, but it wasn’t natural for the strong to bow before the weak.
So if you ever saw a strong person bow before the weak, that was someone worthy of respect.
‘But I don’t think I respect this guy.’
It was unlikely that would ever happen.
* * *
“Um, what is this…?”
Kim Yeoul looked at the skewers filling the entire table.
“Tanghulu. I got different fruits, so pick whichever you like.”
“The mandarin is mine!”
Lee Minji snatched the mandarin. Kim Yeoul cautiously pointed at her with a finger.
“Who… is this person…?”
“Civil Livelihood Support Fund. Shorten it to Minji. You two look about the same age, so let’s all be comfortable with each other~”
“Oh, um, yeah.”
“But Minji, why do you mention the Civil Livelihood Support Fund?”
“My mom said without it, she couldn’t have had me, and that’s why she named me Minji. Hearing it, it made sense, and when I introduce myself that way, people don’t forget my name.”
“That’s fair. Mm!”
Kim Yeoul, who had no idea what was happening, just blinked.
‘Ah. Strawberry.’
Then she spotted a strawberry Tanghulu and reached for it―
“The strawberry’s mine too~”
The strawberry Tanghulu vanished before her eyes. Kim Yeoul’s hand had nowhere to go.
“So Minji, you need to exercise.”
“I am exercising. Breathing exercises, and stomach exercises!”
She answered playfully, but Chae Mujin ignored her and continued.
“Some people think that because they have Stamina as a Stat, they don’t need to exercise. That’s because they don’t understand how Stats work. Stats are a multiplier system. Your actual stamina gets multiplied by your Stamina Stat. Even if two people have the same 10 Stamina Stat, the value of that 10 is different between an ordinary person and someone who’s trained.”
“And you might think you don’t need much Strength since your weapon weighs only 1 kilogram. But you do. Much more than you’d think, actually. Have you ever held the Giant Hammer for more than 10 minutes straight? I doubt it. You keep it in your Inventory normally and only take it out for combat. Before a fight, you’d be resting it on your shoulder.”
“How did you know I rest it on my shoulder? Are you watching me?”
“Human shoulders are naturally slightly asymmetrical. If you’re right-handed, your left shoulder sits a bit lower. But you’re right-handed and your right shoulder is lower instead. That means something’s been pressing on that shoulder consistently.”
“…Mister. What are you, exactly?”
“Just keep listening since we’re just getting started.”
Minji set down her Tanghulu and straightened her posture.
She could tell that even when she usually joked around, she knew when to be serious.
“Your strategy of one-hit kills—trading one’s bones for another’s flesh—worked every time, so you never felt the need to understand the importance of Strength and Stamina. But as you hunt, the moment will come when you realize it. Strength and Stamina matter. The problem is, most Hunters realize their shortcomings right before they die. Monsters don’t know mercy. If you’re lucky and survive, you grow. If not, you die.”
“In our sparring match, I showed you your future. After just 10 minutes of running around, you were exhausted. You had the power left to swing your weapon, but your stamina was already depleted, so your attack—already slow—got even slower.”
“First solution: eat more, build your Stamina and Strength. Just doing that alone will let you grow two stages from where you are now.”
The conversation ended, but Minji and Yeoul just stared blankly at Chae Mujin’s face.
“Any questions?”
“Yes. What kind of exercise should I do?”
“Why are you asking me? Go to a Hunter Exclusive Gym and ask them. When you sign up for personal training, they’ll tell you kindly based on your weapon and fighting style.”
“Oh, so you don’t know that.”
“I don’t know everything.”
A lie. He actually knew. But there was no point wasting his precious time on something others could teach.
“Yeoul, what’s with that ‘I don’t care’ expression? You have to go to the gym too.”
“But I’m a mage…”
“Mages, healers—everyone needs to exercise. You’re too thin.”
“Yeoul. Let’s get a gym membership together.”
Ten minutes after meeting, Minji was already approaching Kim Yeoul.
But Kim Yeoul kept backing away like she was repelled by a magnet.
“Why~? We’d motivate each other, wouldn’t we? It’s boring to go alone.”
“…I need to use the restroom real quick.”
Kim Yeoul fled to the bathroom. Chae Mujin laughed.
‘That wasn’t intentional, but how are their personalities exactly opposite?’
He exchanged numbers with Minji and sent her back to her lodging for now.
He returned to his own room and turned on his computer. There was something he needed to research.
―Search: Bahamut
Scrolling through numerous search results, he got a rough sense of Bahamut’s power and imagined what it might be like to face it.
In his past life, he’d been stuck on Jeju Island and had no reason to raid, but this time around, he had two reasons.
‘She’s perfect as material to make Minji S-Rank.’
One way to become S-Rank without reaching level 500 was to consume the heart of a Lordship-tier boss monster.
Minji would achieve her revenge and retire wealthy, he’d get all her skills including her Authority, and everyone wins.
Isn’t that a world where everyone’s happy?
‘And thinking about a fight with the Moon, I absolutely have to bring down a Lordship-tier boss.’
Thinking about it again, the Moon was an unreasonable boss.
The entire nation’s collective effort couldn’t guarantee victory—a Stage 3 Apocalypse-tier.
‘The Moon isn’t Apocalypse-tier. It’s beyond that.’
Stage 4, the tier that only a tiny handful knew about, not even disclosed to ordinary Hunters.
10 years ago, there had been over 100 S-Rank Hunters, it was said.
But one day, an entity appeared and slaughtered most of them.
Fortunately, the entity vanished on its own, so humanity survived, but the S-Rank Hunters who remained live in terror of the aftereffects even now.
Thus, the boss hierarchy that had only three stages before was quietly extended to four.
The name of Stage 4 was taken directly from what that entity had revealed about itself.
Keter-tier.
Chae Mujin was certain the Moon was a Keter-tier boss monster.

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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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