S-Classes That I Raised to Devour - Chapter 43

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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 43. There Are No Wicked Demons in This World (1)
The Food Market, lined with souvenir shops.
Judging by appearances alone, it looked like a tourist bazaar, but what lay at its end was a dungeon.
The experimental laboratory of the alchemist Terimoor. Dungeons are ordinarily dangerous enough that even the entrance vicinity is cordoned off, but this dungeon, Yeon Tesil, was crowded with ordinary people.
That said, there were Hunters too.
Zing, zing.
A Hunter eating tteokbokki shot to his feet when the Vibration Bell in his hand chimed.
Then he headed for the dungeon gate, where security was formidable. Four soldiers armed with heavy sniper rifles watched from a watchtower, and the gatekeeper was a Level 100 Hunter.
The Hunter handed his Vibration Bell to the gatekeeper.
“Number 192.”
“Understood. Is this your first time here?”
“Ah, yes.”
“You have six hours from the moment you enter the dungeon. If you don’t come back after that, you’ll be classified as a Rogue, and a subjugation team will come after you.”
“I’ll remember that.”
“Don’t get attached and come out exactly at the six-hour mark. Please exit at least thirty minutes early.”
The Hunter said nothing in response to the gatekeeper’s grim warning, only nodding.
Kim Yeoul, who had been watching the scene alongside Chae Mujin, found it utterly baffling.
“…Manager. What kind of dungeon is this place that we even need to draw a waiting number?”
“This is a Beneficiary Dungeon.”
“Beneficiary… what does that mean?”
“It means a dungeon with low conquest difficulty but high experience rewards.”
“Ah.”
“You relieved it’s not a dangerous dungeon?”
“A, a little.”
“You managed to take down a Yeti just fine.”
“That time I wasn’t thinking clearly, so it was easier. But now I’m in my right mind, and…”
“You’ll get used to it quick enough. Otherwise you’ll die.”
Chae Mujin said something grim while smiling, then approached the gatekeeper directly.
The gatekeeper, noticing he had no Vibration Bell, spoke immediately.
“You can’t enter without a waiting number.”
“I’m here for a different reason.”
“You’re not going to tell me you’re just here sightseeing, are you?”
“We’re going to the ninth floor.”
“…!”
The gatekeeper’s eyes widened at Chae Mujin’s mention of the ninth floor. Then, his expression growing more serious, he studied both Chae Mujin and Kim Yeoul.
“You understand what the ninth floor is, I take it?”
“Creatures that give experience as if they were around Level 100, but their combat abilities are at Level 300.”
“…Hold on. This is the first time I’ve met someone who talks like they know what the ninth floor is.”
The gatekeeper exchanged words through a radio and then stepped aside.
“Just a precaution, but I should warn you—floors one through eight are under constant surveillance by our Guild members. If you don’t proceed straight to the ninth floor, you’ll be treated as a Rogue.”
“Fine by me.”
Chae Mujin and Kim Yeoul entered the Beneficiary Dungeon, Yeon Tesil, without further delay.
* * *
An artificial life-form with a sturdy, blunt body and glass eyes. The fantasy world’s robot—a Golem. The Golem had initials marked on its forehead: BP.
BP spoke to the Hunters.
“Beginning the sixty-eighth Durability Test.”
BP simply accepted all the Hunters’ attacks. Then, the moment its limit was exceeded—
“Durability Test complete.”
Pshhh.
It didn’t burst dangerously. It merely ceased functioning with a sound like air escaping and vanished.
The initials on the Golems appearing from floors one through eight were all different, but the point that they did not attack remained unchanged.
In fact, they dropped Mana Stones at quite a high rate, which was why Hunters lined up to enter the dungeon.
Upon reaching the eighth floor, Chae Mujin tried to go straight up to the ninth, but something felt off, so he turned to look back.
Kim Yeoul had stopped following and stood motionless.
“What are you doing?”
“These Golems…”
“What about them?”
“I feel sorry for them.”
“Why would you feel sorry for a monster?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but… it seems like they’re waiting for something. And it looks like they’ve been waiting for a very long time.”
This was territory of emotion that made no sense to Chae Mujin. Monsters were the enemy of all mankind.
There was no reason to feel pity for them.
“So you’re saying you don’t want to fight?”
“That’s not it, but… if I could help, I’d want to.”
“Yeoul. There are no good monsters in this world.”
“Really?”
Chae Mujin’s mouth closed before he could answer.
A certain creature came to mind. No—a girl.
A Lord-tier boss monster—the Thousand-Pierced Magic Girl.
She was unmistakably a monster, an enemy of mankind, and yet she tried to protect people and ultimately sacrificed herself.
The process and outcome had caused tremendous damage, but…
‘If she had rampaged without mercy, the catastrophe would have been far worse.’
Is the Thousand-Pierced Magic Girl good? Even though her very existence is harmful to humanity?
Logically, he had arrived at that conclusion, but his tongue said otherwise.
“Maybe not all of them.”
Kim Yeoul smiled faintly at his answer and followed Chae Mujin once more.
The moment they ascended to the ninth floor, the dungeon’s atmosphere changed drastically.
Unlike the eighth floor, which was so brightly lit there was nowhere dark, the ninth floor was a dimly lit corridor with irregular bursts of red light flickering sporadically.
Crackle.
Moreover, the ground, walls, and ceiling were not normal. Eerie sparks scattered from the cracks.
The atmosphere alone was frightening enough that Chae Mujin had expected Kim Yeoul to be afraid.
And that was precisely what he had been counting on.
‘What good is a Hunter who’s scared?’
There could be no such thing as a cowardly Hunter. Because of that, Kim Yeoul would have to overcome fear—
“Manager, I think there’s one right ahead.”
Kim Yeoul was not afraid at all. And it wasn’t as if she were forcing herself to be brave, either.
Her voice was entirely natural as she pointed forward.
There was a Golem in the direction she pointed. One with HT marked on its forehead.
“Beginning the two-hundred-twenty-eighth Killing Test.”
HT was utterly different from the Golems on floors one through eight.
Its right hand wielded a spear, its left a sword. Its eyes were blood-red, and the moment it caught sight of Chae Mujin and Kim Yeoul, it lunged forward in a grotesque manner.
The sharp metallic screech of steel joints interlocking echoed off the cave walls and scrambled the mind.
Yet neither Chae Mujin nor Kim Yeoul blinked.
“I’m not fighting.”
“Got it!”
Understanding the intent to let her fight alone, Kim Yeoul immediately generated nine Fireballs.
Nine Fireballs shot forward at once, heating the air oppressively.
Boom-boom-boom!
The Fireballs ignited harmless ground. Not because they were aimed poorly, but because HT was so fast and erratic that they couldn’t land.
Previous enemies could be effectively struck by shockwaves and heat, but HT, being made of steel, was entirely unaffected.
Kim Yeoul, not realizing that shockwaves would be useless, was immediately flustered.
HT was almost within arm’s reach.
Kim Yeoul instinctively looked to Chae Mujin, but he shook his head and sent her a look that said, ‘Solve this yourself.’
Boom! Clang-clang!
The sound of newly regenerated Fireballs detonating at close range, overlapping with the sound of sword and spear slashing and stabbing at Kim Yeoul.
In a normal situation, Kim Yeoul would be dead. But she bore not a single scratch.
It was thanks to the tremendous defense Buff that Chae Mujin had given her.
However, the sensation of being attacked did not disappear, so Kim Yeoul’s composure was already beginning to crack.
‘No matter how strong the Buff is, shockwaves alone won’t kill it.’
Previous enemies could take damage from shockwaves alone, but HT was hopeless. She absolutely had to land a direct hit.
‘Stay calm. Manager isn’t refusing to help. He’s already helping me.’
By giving her the right to fail, and the privilege that a single success meant victory.
“Breathe…”
Even as she was being attacked, she steadied her mind with deep breathing.
‘If I can’t predict and land the hit, then instead…’
Thrust!
The moment HT’s spear pierced Kim Yeoul’s chest—
Grab.
Kim Yeoul boldly seized the spear with her bare hand. She had cast aside her staff, the symbol of a mage, and offered only her empty palm.
“Fireball.”
With a cry full of conviction—
Boom!
The Fireball struck HT’s face directly.
The Golem had formidable fire resistance, yet it melted away helplessly.
It was thanks to the Brilliant Flame attribute that the Robe of Brilliant Flame, which Chae Mujin had given her, granted.
Golems had high fire resistance but were vulnerable to light attributes, and with Chae Mujin’s powerful Buff added to that—
“Test… failed.”
HT could not withstand a single Fireball and collapsed to the ground.
* * *
Give flesh, take bone.
It was a tactic Chae Mujin favored.
But he didn’t consider it a good one.
‘If she gives away flesh every time she fights, eventually there’ll be nothing but bone left.’
After observing the battle silently for an hour, I reached a conclusion.
‘She’s no genius.’
Despite defeating eight HTs over the hour, her accuracy showed no signs of improvement.
Some might say an hour was nothing, but in my world, an hour should show noticeable growth.
“Yeoul. Want to take a break? You’re bruised.”
The defense Buff prevented deep wounds, but it didn’t negate all impact. It must be painful and tiring.
“I’m fine. I think I can do more.”
Yet Kim Yeoul insisted on continuing. I could hear her quietly murmuring that she’d try a bit faster this time.
Another hour passed. Kim Yeoul was still failing, but I could confirm something again.
‘No genius, but she has grit.’
She was growing steadily, using each failure as a stepping stone.
To me, who had only ever observed geniuses, this tortoise-like growth was painfully slow.
‘But lazy geniuses always get overtaken by diligent tortoises.’
Even without immediate obvious progress, she would surely reach greater heights.
Boom!
Then, for the first time, a Fireball landed on HT from a distance, not close range.
The tired Yeoul turned to me smiling, her expression asking, ‘I did well, didn’t I?’
But I shook my head.
“Luck isn’t skill. And skill doesn’t rely on luck.”
Success two or three times isn’t enough.
Even ninety-nine successes out of a hundred attempts falls short.
“You need a hundred attempts with a hundred successful hits.”
I deliberately spoke more harshly.
Though there was no threat to her life thanks to my Buff, this was still a dungeon and we were Hunters.
We weren’t sports athletes preparing for competition.
Personally, my own life was at stake. Broadly, the fate of all humanity hung in the balance.
“You did well though. Don’t forget that sensation right now. Hold it close. Sensation is something that can never be explained.”
“Ah, yes!”
By the time we’d defeated roughly fifty, she had leveled up.
“Manager, I just hit Level 50!”
The moment we’d been waiting for had finally arrived.
I clasped my hands together, desperately praying that a useful Skill would appear.
“Yeoul, do you believe in God?”
“No.”
“Believe for this one moment. Pray that a good Skill appears.”
“Do you think it will?”
“Open your Skill Window with reverent heart and check what Skill came through.”
At each fiftieth Level, two Skills were learned.
Passive and Active.
One had to be chosen.
‘Best case is a homing Passive. If not that, a homing Active would do.’
As Yeoul opened her Skill Window, her expression shifted moment by moment.
Tension, surprise, disappointment.
She didn’t tell me what Skills appeared, but it was clear at least that no good ones had come through.
“…Manager, I’m sorry. Both of them turned out to be Rank C Skills.”
If they’re Rank C, they’re definitely not homing.
Homing Passive is Rank A, and Active is Rank B. I don’t understand how her luck with Skills could be so average.
“Don’t feel bad. Rank C is actually decent since it’s middling. How bad could it be that it’s not Rank F?”
“Really? Both of them seem bad to me…”
“Just tell me what Skills came through. I’ll judge whether they’re useful.”
“The Passive is Overheat, and the Active is Flame Mine. As for the Skill effects…”
“I know both Skills already. And Yeoul, it’s a jackpot.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“A jackpot just hit.”
“…?”
Kim Yeoul’s expression showed complete incomprehension.
“Read the description of Flame Mine again.”
“…It says you can install incendiary mines using flame as a medium. Is that a jackpot?”
“Why did you think it was bad?”
“Because it needs a flame to install the mines, I thought I’d have to carry something like a matchstick around, and somehow it just feels… vague.”
“You have Fireball, don’t you?”
“Then I wouldn’t have to carry a torch, but… to dig the ground, wouldn’t I need a shovel?”
“Yeoul. Common sense is binding you.”
“Pardon?”
“Read the Skill description again. Does it say the Flame Mine must be installed in the ground as a condition?”
“Ah, no!”
“Then what becomes possible?”
“Could it be…”
Kim Yeoul wasn’t a genius, but she wasn’t foolish either. She immediately learned Flame Mine, generated a single Fireball, and used it as a medium to create a Flame Mine.
Seeing the Flame Mine hovering suspended in midair, Kim Yeoul’s lips trembled.
“M-manager. I, I never imagined. That something like this was possible!”
Ground-based mines are hard to find but can be avoided.
But mines suspended like underwater mines cannot be circumvented—they must be detonated.
Seeing them makes the pressure even worse.
Yeoul was delighted just by how the Skill’s utility had expanded, but in my eyes, she was still far off.
“Yeoul. You’re too honest. You need to abandon your conscience.”
“What do you… mean?”
“Why are you honestly installing one Flame Mine on one Fireball?”
“…!”
Just then, a Golem approached from far off and spoke.
“Beginning the two-hundred-twenty-ninth Killing Test.”
I offered Yeoul advice she would not forget.
“Cheat, Yeoul.”

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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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