S-Classes That I Raised to Devour - Chapter 41

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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 41. Don’t Laugh, I’ve Grown Attached (1)
The total number of Hunters caught in the Dungeon Break at Hwarang Hotel came to eighty-three, of which thirty-five survived. Of the remaining forty-eight, eleven were confirmed dead and the rest were missing.
Since missing was effectively the same as dead, the Survival Rate was forty-two percent. This was an unprecedented, staggering figure.
The average Survival Rate for Dungeon Breaks was merely sixteen percent. Just last year’s Lava Swamp incident involved one hundred twenty-seven Hunters, and only three survived.
This was the first time in a hundred years of records that more than forty percent had survived. And this was anything but coincidence or luck.
“Cheon Ihwa! Could you share your thoughts on experiencing a Dungeon Break?”
“What’s the secret to defeating a Yeti a hundred levels stronger than you?”
“How do you feel about the deaths of your personal bodyguards?”
“We heard you were caught up with a Villain. How did you manage to find them?”
People attributed the success to Cheon Ihwa’s presence.
Everyone was already running headlines about the secret behind the highest Dungeon Break Survival Rate in history.
Cheon Ihwa, the accomplished daughter of the Hunter Association chairman, working for the Hunter Bureau, had set an unprecedented record in world history. Not only did her outstanding leadership and strength save everyone, but she even caught a Villain!
It was drawing attention not just from Korea, but from around the entire world.
Yet the person in question felt anything but righteous. Of course, as the person in charge, she had done her utmost—that much was certain.
But how could this have been her achievement alone? It was possible only because of one man who had not hidden his power but revealed it openly.
Cheon Ihwa turned her head and looked at Chae Mujin, the person in question.
A gesture asking: can I speak about you?
The problem was that it was too obvious, and the reporters went mad snapping photographs.
“The man beside you doesn’t seem to be a bodyguard—who is he?!”
“Could he be your lover?”
“Why were you looking to him for approval? Please say something about it!”
Thousands of onlookers crowded in, tens of thousands taking photos and videos near and far, and seventy million live viewers worldwide including overseas accounts.
This was nothing new to Cheon Ihwa; she had been educated for such moments and found them familiar. But she worried about Chae Mujin and his companions, who accompanied her here.
They had never received such spotlights before. If they panicked and said anything thoughtless, there were legions of people eager to seize on it and tear them down.
She was about to call her bodyguards to remove them when—
Chae Mujin snatched a reporter’s microphone and turned the volume all the way up.
“I have something to say to everyone who came to conduct interviews.”
His voice was neither low nor high, but calm and measured. The reporters who had been clamoring to ask their questions fell silent, moved by that composure.
The silence created by thousands of people is quiet and heavy. Cameras continued rolling in real time, and most of the Korean population was watching this broadcast live.
Yet Chae Mujin was not at all intimidated. He had done this dozens of times already.
Though in his previous life he had conducted interviews as a public Hunter, always with a prepared script.
That meant he had never been able to say what he truly wanted. So now he had decided to freely say what he had wanted to say back then but couldn’t.
“Shouldn’t the first thing you say be thanking us for our hard work?”
“And if you truly acknowledged our hardship with sincere hearts, shouldn’t you show consideration by letting us receive treatment and rest as quickly as possible, rather than keeping us pinned here?”
“If you don’t understand our hardship and won’t show us consideration, why should we answer your questions earnestly?”
Chae Mujin paused for a moment, then opened his mouth again just as people were about to burst into speech.
“Experiencing a Dungeon Break for the first time, I had all sorts of thoughts. But do you know what came to mind first?”
Chae Mujin, who had been speaking with such weight, suddenly grinned awkwardly.
“I really wanted to eat a double cheeseburger.”
* * *
Hands down, the highest viewership on NewTube belonged to content related to Hunters.
Among these, there was one broadcaster who reported Hunter news the fastest and most accurately.
―Omniscient Observer Perspective
Abbreviated as “Omni-Observer,” Jeon Yuseong had been waiting to film Cheon Ihwa but ended up capturing Chae Mujin instead.
At first, he wondered who this guy was standing next to Cheon Ihwa. But Chae Mujin’s remarks thrilled the viewers.
Very intensely, in fact.
‘This is huge!’
Jeon Yuseong, owner of the Omni-Observer channel, thrilled as he watched viewership climbing in real time.
Eight hundred thousand Korean viewers, four million foreign viewers. A total of four point eight million were watching his broadcast and sending paid chats like crazy.
―@lwdk90: Does anyone know who that guy is? He’s sticking to Cheon Ihwa, so he’s gotta be somebody, but why do I not recognize him?
―@DaShin: He’s not an A-rank Hunter anyway. I know the names and faces of all A-rank Hunters.
―@liiil1: Look at that suit fit. Isn’t he a model, not a Hunter?
―@군필남대생쟝: Cheeseburger guy’s gaze is so damn sexy ㅠㅠ I’m a guy but I almost got pregnant.
―@GildongHwang: He’s being serious, then at the end he smiles and says he’s gonna go eat a cheeseburger and everybody just steps aside ㅋㅋ
―@투게더2040: Not just a cheeseburger. A double cheeseburger. The guy knows his food ㅇㅈ
―@웅쿠마: Lectures about consideration → boring and pedantic. Wants to eat cheeseburger → ends quick. No prior knowledge needed, no counterargument possible.
Thanks to the real-time translation system, the language barrier crumbled, and foreign reactions exploded too.
―@Rob_CR7: His words and deeds touched my heart. I’d forgotten the very meaning of consideration.
―@jackthemac132: I just ordered a double cheeseburger. But the wait is two hours.
―@wall777_z9d: I had thought of Hunters as not quite human. But seeing this Hunter, I realized they too are human. Like me, a person who loves double cheeseburgers.
―@Richardrom81: So what is this Hunter’s name? I’m very curious.
―@enva: For our future sons and daughters, we should erect a statue of this Korean in every nation that loves Hunters. The most unique, greatest Hunter in history.
Chae Mujin’s name was never revealed to the world, but his words and deeds would remain vivid in the memories of millions.
Of course, Jeon Yuseong too would remember him vividly.
‘This crazy bastard made eighteen hundred million in just ten minutes?’
After platform fees and taxes, he’d still have seven hundred million left.
‘I can’t miss this opportunity.’
Jeon Yuseong whispered softly toward the camera.
“I’ll conduct an exclusive investigation into which brand of cheeseburger he went to eat. Please subscribe, like, and sign up for membership.”
Chae Mujin’s party boarded a sleek, mysterious vehicle.
―@barbarian_k9j: Isn’t that a Prion Car?
―@돈방석맨: There are only seven Prion Cars in the entire world and one’s waiting here?
―@robertG.L: Was Cheeseburger Guy really that important a person?
―@jacktheR0: Are you stupid? Obviously it was waiting for Cheon Ihwa. The Korean Hunter Association chairman is a Prion Car owner.
With the Prion Car’s appearance, the paid chat began burning even hotter.
Jeon Yuseong’s excitement burned too. If he filmed where the Prion Car was heading until the very end, a net profit of ten billion for just today wouldn’t be a dream.
“Huh?”
But that grand dream could never come true. The Prion Car suddenly vanished before his eyes.
Truly vanished. Not flown away, not turned transparent, but gone as if it had never existed.
―@로마의휴일22: Did you edit the live footage? Where did the Prion Car go?
―@kdqls_j2k: They used Cloaking. Run a scan.
―@noobs: But seriously where’d it go ㅋㅋ
―@qkjdladw21: Omni-Observer, what are you doing? Find it. I’ll donate a million won if you do.
“Please wait. I’ll switch to special film mode.”
His camera could switch to infrared and X-ray modes.
Normally he could see through most invisibility skills, but no matter which setting he switched to, he couldn’t locate the Prion Car.
* * *
Anyone riding in a Prion Car for the first time is guaranteed to be surprised.
It looks like a sedan from the outside, but the interior space is as spacious as a camper van. Kim Yeoul and Lee Minji had ridden in one before but still marveled at it.
Cheon Ihwa, seeing their reaction, had wondered how Chae Mujin would be amazed, but he boarded nonchalantly, which caught her off guard.
“Isn’t it really incredible, sir? What kind of technology would you need to make a car like this?”
Lee Minji said what Cheon Ihwa wanted to say.
“You could make it possible if you transformed the car’s interior into a different dimension.”
“A different dimension?”
“There is such a thing.”
“…It seems you’ve ridden in a Prion Car before, haven’t you, Chae Mujin?”
Even as Cheon Ihwa spoke, she thought it made no sense.
There were only seven Prion Cars in the entire world, and the one in Korea belonged to Hunter Association Chairman Cheon Mujong. Even the President hadn’t ridden in one—how could Chae Mujin have?
Of course, Chae Mujin, who had ridden in them plenty in his previous life and found nothing remarkable about it, waved his hand dismissively.
“I’ve never ridden in one, but I’ve seen them often online so I’m familiar with them.”
Even as he said this, Chae Mujin naturally retrieved water from the refrigerator and drank it.
“We’ve arrived, miss.”
Only three minutes after boarding at Hwarang Hotel’s parking lot. The driver announced their arrival without any sense of movement.
It would be normal not to understand what this meant, but Chae Mujin disembarked naturally and stretched.
“Ahhhhh, ohhhhh, I’m dying, I’m dying.”
Instead of the bustling Hwarang Hotel, the parking lot of an upscale detached house appeared—with high walls, a lake, and gardens.
“The location changed in an instant again.”
“Does the car Teleport? Driver, sir. How does it move like this?”
Curious Lee Minji asked, but the driver answered dryly.
“Exit, please.”
“Yes, yes―”
As everyone exited, the Prion Car vanished once more.
“Why aren’t you surprised, sir? Even though we’ve seen it twice, we’re still amazed.”
“I’m tired. Do you know how many hours we spent in our dungeon? More than twelve at minimum. I didn’t get proper rest. You all only think you’re fine because Runner’s High is active right now, but once you lie down, you’ll pass out.”
“It’s okay to sleep here if you’re tired.”
Cheon Ihwa said suddenly. Lee Minji brightened at the suggestion, but Chae Mujin and Kim Yeoul shook their heads.
“I can’t sleep in someone else’s house.”
“I’m worried about my younger sister, I’m sorry…”
“Let’s go, Minji. I’ve called an autonomous taxi.”
“But I want to stay and play with you, unnie! You want that too, don’t you?”
Lee Minji thought Cheon Ihwa had asked her to stay because she liked her.
But the moment Chae Mujin said they were leaving, her expression turned cold.
“Sorry. I just remembered something urgent.”
“…Unnie?”
Thus Lee Minji boarded the taxi in a daze. The destination was naturally the studio her parents operated.
They stopped by a burger place and bought three double cheeseburgers, and by then the two had already fallen fast asleep.
Kim Yeoul leaning against the window, and Lee Minji leaning on Kim Yeoul’s shoulder. Chae Mujin spoke quietly so as not to wake them.
“You worked hard.”
The sudden Dungeon Break was a daunting phenomenon even for Chae Mujin, a veteran Hunter.
Honestly, it had exceeded expectations.
That rookies like Kim Yeoul and Lee Minji had followed orders so well and endured was partly thanks to good instructors during the intensive training camp, but it would have been impossible without their grit and effort.
‘I didn’t have time to teach them in detail due to the urgency, but that very desperation became a precious experience.’
Surviving in harsh conditions, how to treat others, how fights with Villains differ from fights with monsters—
‘But can they do the same when I’m not there?’
The biggest reason they could perform was thanks to Buffs.
He had boosted their movement and attack speed to keep pace with a two-hundred-level monster’s movements, and applied an attack power Buff to land critical hits.
Even if they took hits, a defense Buff ensured that one or two blows would be like nothing happened.
They had believed in him. In his Buff and his instructions.
‘But I can’t always be beside them.’
I can cast Buffs, but I can’t be there. I need to gain more Hunter skills.
‘Once they gain more practical experience and confidence, they’ll naturally work well alone or with different parties.’
[Collection target has been updated.]
The Collection window broke the mood. He didn’t want to check it right now.
‘However much it’s gone up, it’s meaningless until I reach S-rank.’
Checking every time it updates is tiring. He’d simply check it like a year-end settlement at the end of December.
After resting that whole day, the next morning, he sat the aching Kim Yeoul down at a negotiation table.
Whoosh.
A parchment contract slid across the table. The paper emitted a faintly bloody smell, and the writing on it seemed to writhe like something alive.
A soul contract created by O Sungtae—one that could absolutely never be broken.
“Read it carefully, and if there’s anything you don’t understand, tell me.”
An unavoidable moment had arrived, uncomfortable though it was.

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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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