S-Classes That I Raised to Devour - Chapter 3

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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 3. The Supporter Hides Her Skill
Everyone’s attention at the 1st Test Site was fixed on a single person.
Applicant 76, Cheon I-hwa.
The Association Chairman’s prized daughter and heir to the Great Blade of Korea.
By the overwhelming presence she displayed and her perfect score of 9, no one spared a glance for the next applicant, 77.
Chae Mujin felt equally unnoticed.
Without being called, Chae Mujin climbed onto the test platform of his own accord and pressed the proctor to begin.
“Aren’t you going to start the test?”
“Ah, yes—my apologies. Let’s begin the test.”
The proctor moved behind Chae Mujin, just as he would for any other supporter.
But Chae Mujin remained perfectly still.
“What are you doing?”
Chae Mujin spoke before the proctor could.
“That’s what I should be asking. You haven’t cast a Buff yet?”
“I’ve already cast the Buff.”
“What? No, when did you—?”
In games, Buffs leave obvious traces when cast.
A soft aurora wraps around the body, or fairies circle overhead.
But in reality, Buffs left no visible sign—neither to the eye nor on the Status Window.
Which meant the supporter had to either announce the Buff or the recipient had to sense it themselves.
“I cast it right after you finished speaking.”
“You cast it beforehand, didn’t you? Pre-casting violates the regulations.”
“Ask the Control Room. They’re watching with high-speed cameras, aren’t they?”
Since verbal argument was pointless, the proctor radioed the Control Room.
The proctor who received the response couldn’t believe it.
Chae Mujin had committed no violation.
His claim that he cast the Buff the moment his own words ended was the truth.
The problem was the speed.
‘Faster reaction time than Cheon I-hwa, the Quick-Draw Expert.’
The fastest human reaction time science recognizes is 0.1 seconds. Anything beyond that is prediction.
But Awakeners who transcend humanity easily shatter that limit.
Cheon I-hwa’s blade draw was so fast it left only afterimages.
Chae Mujin’s Buff showed no afterimage at all.
The proctor, himself an Awakener, found this reality incomprehensible.
‘He must have pre-cast by prediction and gotten lucky. Yes, that must be it.’
Having reached his conclusion arbitrarily, the proctor moved to the next stage.
“What kind of Buff did you apply?”
“Physical attack power Buff, sixty seconds.”
“Hmph. Your Buff is fast, but your judgment is sorely lacking. I’m a Skill Dealer.”
“That’s irrelevant. Whatever profession you claim.”
“How is it irrelevant? Skill Dealers attack only through Skills.”
“If basic attacks become as powerful as Skills, there’s no need to use Skills at all.”
Chae Mujin handed the test Short Dagger to the proctor.
Then he gestured for the proctor to strike the dummy.
The proctor was dumbfounded.
‘A level 1 Awakener’s typical Mana is 10. A Buff drains 1 Mana per 10 seconds of duration. That means he’s already wasted over half his Mana on the Buff’s uptime.’
The remaining Mana was 4. It amounted to only a 4-point increase in physical attack power.
A laughable figure, but as a proctor he had to demonstrate, so he struck the dummy’s neck with the Short Dagger.
Shrrip.
The dummy’s neck came clean off, as if cut by scissors through paper. The proctor, despite having done it himself, looked bewildered, alternating his gaze between the dagger and the severed neck.
“What—what just happened?”
“Like I said. It’s a physical attack power Buff.”
Except the Buff that entered far exceeded what the proctor expected.
“Steel cut by a dagger?! How much did you boost physical attack power?”
“900.”
“900?! You granted A-grade Weapon attack power through a Buff?!”
I answered in silence. Unlike my past life.
‘My Buff is special.’
「Trait—Savior (Unique)」
• Buff Skill effects increase by 99 times.
• You cannot cast Buffs on yourself.
In my past life, I foolishly revealed my Trait to everyone, and all hell broke loose.
‘The American President even teleported here to cause a commotion.’
Next came the Governor-General of New Japan, and the Korean President also rushed here by jet, desperately grabbing my pant leg to beg me to stay.
‘This time around, I need to be more careful.’
I had no aversion to attention itself.
But look at Cheon I-hwa over there. Surrounded by countless people, unable to rest properly, living a life of 24-hour surveillance—it’s no exaggeration.
‘At least I-hwa gets protection since she’s the Association Chairman’s daughter. I’m just the youngest son of a Gamjatang restaurant, with no one to protect me.’
But if I hide everything, they’ll just ignore me—that won’t work either.
So I hinted that my Trait was specialized only in “physical attack power.”
I kept secret the fact that every Buff had 99 times the effect, as in my past life.
This should be enough to earn a reputation as an exceptional supporter—just not enough for the American President to show up.
That’s exactly the right level of attention for me.
Stepping down from the test platform, all eyes turned to me, as expected.
―[Applicant 77: 10 Points]
Cheon I-hwa received 9 points on this test, and I received 10. The eyes pouring onto me all said the same thing:
‘Who is this guy? What did he do to get a perfect score?’
One person rushed toward me faster than anyone else.
“Chae Mujin! You must be exhausted!”
Kim Ji-woo, who’d ditched me claiming he needed to use the restroom, thrust a cool glass of water into my hands.
“Constipation?”
“Pardon?”
“What kept you in the bathroom for three hours?”
“Ah, ha-ha. Yes, my stomach wasn’t feeling well.”
I placed a hand on his shoulder and laughed.
“Don’t bullshit me. You abandoned me the moment you found out I was a supporter.”
Tolerance and consideration, mercy and forgiveness.
All useless.
Ungrateful bastards like Kim Ji-woo—show them tolerance and they take you for a fool, forgive them once and they think they can do it again and keep pushing.
In my past life, I forgave such things with ‘Oh, that happens.’ But not this time around.
“Want to form a party with me?”
“Yes! With your Buff alone, I could pass the test. So if you’ll forgive me just this once, I’ll honor you as my benefactor for life.”
“Then go buy me some coffee.”
Kim Ji-woo’s face brightened. Running errands was humiliating, but humiliation once in exchange for becoming a certified Hunter was worth any price.
“What kind of coffee should I get?”
“Americano.”
“I’ll be right back.”
“If you’re not back soon, I’m forming a party with someone else.”
Kim Ji-woo ran off in a panic and returned, thrusting a hot Americano into my hands.
“Even freezing to death, you don’t know what ‘iced’ means?”
“Ah, well, right. Ha-ha, of course.”
He ran back again and returned with an iced Americano. I took a sip and immediately frowned.
“Syrup—two pumps. Why didn’t you add it?”
“What? You never said anything about that.”
“You should have asked. Go get it again.”
“…Yes.”
Watching Kim Ji-woo with bulging veins from irritation yet smiling nonetheless, I felt completely in control.
After sending Kim Ji-woo off again, a strange notification appeared.
[An unconfirmed Skill exists.]
‘Why would there be an unconfirmed Skill?’
Upon Awakening, one receives one Trait and one Skill.
As a supporter, I’m fixed to receive the Buff Skill, so there shouldn’t be any unconfirmed Skill—
Since my Status Window and Skill Window open just by thinking of them, a hologram immediately appeared before me.
[Skill List (2)]
—Buff (Unique)
—Unconfirmed (???)
There really was an unconfirmed Skill.
New Skills are learned every 50 levels, and I’m still level 1. Why would there be an unconfirmed Skill?
‘Might as well check it.’
Since no one can ever peek at my personal System Window, I confirmed the Skill without worry.
「Skill—Collection (EX)」
• Targets who have received favors from you become Collection targets. Based on accumulated Gratitude Debt, you can collect Skills, Traits, and Items. Collected Skills can be transferred to others.
“……?”
I rubbed my eyes.
An EX-grade Skill?
Among tens of millions of Hunters worldwide, only three possess EX-grade Skills.
And I suddenly acquired one? At level 1?!
Kim Ji-woo, returning, saw my expression and asked cautiously.
“What’s wrong now?”
The moment I looked at his face to answer, a red System window materialized above his head.
Collection Target: Kim Ji-woo
Gratitude Debt: 3,000,000
[Collection List]
Traits:
‣ Swordmaster’s Spirit (A)—100,000 [Collectable]
Skills:
‣ Taesan Bakdo (C)—10,000 [Collectable]
Items:
‣ Basic Mana Storage Bracelet—1,000 [Collectable]
* * *
The entire world is red. Kim Ji-woo isn’t the only Collection target.
Nearly half the people here are marked as Collection targets.
But none have a Debt as high as Kim Ji-woo’s. Most hover around 1,000.
‘Why is Kim Ji-woo at 3 million?’
Thinking for a moment, the answer came immediately.
‘It includes my past life.’
That fits perfectly.
Why Kim Ji-woo’s Gratitude Debt is 3 million, and why the other Hunters have at least 1,000 stacked up.
‘I did tend to stick my nose in everywhere.’
By the standards of my past life, I helped quite a lot of Hunters, trivially or decisively.
I attended boss raids consistently, so it’s no exaggeration to say almost every Hunter owes me their lives.
Here, a fundamental question arose. Will the target know that I’m collecting from them?
I can’t resist curiosity.
[Will you collect the Basic Mana Storage Bracelet from target Kim Ji-woo?]
‘Yes.’
The moment I decided in my heart, the System displayed a notification.
[‘Basic Mana Storage Bracelet’ has been collected. Remaining Gratitude Debt—2,999,000]
An Awakener’s Inventory has 9 slots, each holding one item.
Originally, I shouldn’t be holding anything at all.
[Chae Mujin’s Inventory]
1: ‘Basic Mana Storage Bracelet’
2~9: Empty
‘It really appeared.’
I watched Kim Ji-woo standing beside me.
He was standing awkwardly, still holding the coffee.
He hadn’t noticed at all that the item disappeared from his Inventory.
‘Should I just strip his Trait and Skill clean?’
That wasn’t feasible.
Items only show absence if you check your Inventory, but Traits and Skills are different.
Especially an always-active Trait—he’d notice the moment it disappeared.
Though deducing that I stole it would be nearly impossible.
‘If he throws a fit about his Trait and Skill vanishing, I’ll get caught up in the commotion too.’
There’s no rush. The certified Hunter test runs for four days, not one.
“Hehehehe.”
I couldn’t suppress my laughter.
“Why, why are you like this, hyung?”
“I’m just so happy.”
“About…what?”
“That I have such a reliable friend in you.”
I was already troubled. I could never forgive Kim Ji-woo for betraying me in my past life, but killing him seemed too far. Maybe I’d settle for making him half-crippled.
But then this Skill appeared and solved my dilemma.
‘I’ll take everything but his life.’
A Hunter without Traits and Skills is just an ordinary person with a sturdy body.
And Kim Ji-woo isn’t the unflappable type. Once he realizes his Trait and Skill have vanished, he’d surely lose his mind.
“You drink the coffee.”
“Uh…”
I ignored the guy with the bitter expression, as if he’d just tasted something foul.
‘A Skill appeared. Could there be a Trait too?’
No harm in checking. I opened my Status Window, and my lips naturally curved upward.
[Status Window]
Name: Chae Mujin (Lv.1)
Job: Supporter
Traits:
Savior (EX), Akashic Record (EX)
‘Just as I thought!’
A new Trait had appeared. EX-grade, like the Skill!
「Trait—Akashic Record (EX)」
• Memories you hold are stored absolutely.
• Stored memories are immune to erasure and manipulation.
• Your memories persist even through dimensional and temporal distortion.
• You can access your stored memories at any time.
Reading the description, I questioned whether this was really EX-grade worthy—then it clicked.
‘This is why I remember my past life.’
Then this truly is EX-grade. Without remembering my past life, the current me and the past me would be entirely different people.
‘EX-grade Trait, EX-grade Skill, and Regression. Insane rewards.’
I couldn’t suppress my smile. All these rewards existed for me alone.
Until now, no matter how great a supporter I was, I could never be the protagonist.
I could only be the supporting character shining a light on the lead.
But not anymore.
‘And with the Collection Skill, I don’t have to fear betrayal.’
I can collect their Skills with the Gratitude Debt they’ve already accumulated before they betray me. That’s the answer.
What’s the point of pouring effort into raising someone to S-grade? How would I know if they’ll truly follow my orders, if they’ll fight to the death for me?
It’s better for me to fight. To collect their strength.
‘I won’t end as a Kingmaker like in my past life. This time, I can be the protagonist.’
But stripping the Traits and Skills of someone I’ve raised without cause does weigh on my conscience.
Then who exactly should I raise for this?
Pick someone worth taking from, then raise them.
And conveniently, that person just stepped onto the test platform. The decisive reason I decided to stay in the testing grounds was that very person.
―Applicant 266, please begin.
Frizzy hair and thick glasses. The man in wizard robes holding a Staff seemed to embody the very word “timid.”
“I, I’m starting? Is it okay to start?”
“Yes, please begin.”
The man cast Fireball, a standard offensive spell. His score was 2 points. For a wizard, it was remarkably low. His preparation time had been too long.
But this man—he was exactly who I was looking for. Someone I could raise without any guilt.
He appears to be a mediocre wizard on the surface, but that’s an illusion. In three years, he’ll be called the Murderer Association Chairman and become South Korea’s worst villain—Kim Yeo-ul.
It was then that something approached him, dejected from his low score.
“Care for a word?”
Someone I hadn’t anticipated at all blocked my path.

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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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