S-Classes That I Raised to Devour - Chapter 66

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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 66. Lotto Dungeon (2)
It was Pierrot, wearing a bowler hat, who greeted Chae Mujin’s party in the Second Room.
“Oh, a new challenger appears? You’re always welcome, always welcome!”
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
Along with his greeting, Pierrot shuffled a stack of cards, then hurled them to the ground.
The cards fell in rows and columns, landing face-up with their numbers visible.
Chae Mujin watched this spectacle with interest, when Bong-gu, who had followed behind, cried out in despair.
“No, no! We’re done for. This is absolutely impossible to beat!”
A total of 999 cards were arranged in 37 columns and 27 rows.
Pierrot pointed at the cards with his staff and explained.
“The rule for passing the Second Room is simple. Choose these numbered cards in order from 1 to 999. Don’t worry if you make a mistake. You can pay one stat to get another chance!”
Then Bong-gu interjected.
“Please don’t start, sir! Tell him you give up. Then you’ll only lose 10 stats and leave.”
At that, Pierrot clicked his tongue.
“You’re experienced, are you? How rude of you to spoil the fun. But he’s right, what he said. Will you give up now and leave?”
“Let me hear the full explanation first.”
“Sir!”
“How bold! Very well. Now I’ll shuffle these cards. You’ll normally get 10 minutes after the shuffle, but since you’ve shown such daring, I’ll give you a bonus minute—11 minutes total.”
Whirl-whirl!
The staff spins. The 999 cards that were neatly arranged scatter into chaos.
“Now, 11 minutes starts now. When time’s up, the cards flip to show only their blank backs. You’d better memorize them quickly! Tick-tock, tick-tock!”
The staff transforms into an hourglass, sand pouring down. Bong-gu became anxious.
‘Can any human memorize the order of 999 cards in 11 minutes? No, it’s absolutely impossible!’
Even the world’s best memory expert managed to memorize 493 cards in 10 minutes.
This Guinness record still stands hundreds of years later.
Yet Pierrot asks him to memorize 999 cards—more than double that.
It’s common sense that Hunters are stronger than ordinary people, but that’s only physical ability.
Becoming a Hunter doesn’t improve intelligence or memory. Bong-gu had attempted this before, and it cost him a whopping 75 stats.
He hadn’t even passed. He’d spent 65 attempts buying chances with stats, and when it seemed impossible, he’d sacrificed 10 stats to give up.
‘Losing 75 stats compared to others is like losing out on 19 levels. That’s an enormous loss.’
A single stat doesn’t matter much. It’s hardly noticeable. But when it accumulates, it becomes a huge gap.
Then the hourglass stopped. Eleven minutes had passed.
“Time’s up!”
The 999 cards flip face-down. Pierrot grinned wickedly and spoke.
“In case you forgot, let me remind you. Flip the cards in order from 1 to 999. Easy, right? And if you flip the wrong card, I’ll take one stat from you. Very humanitarian of me, wouldn’t you say?”
Instead of flipping cards, Chae Mujin looked around the room. There were many challengers in the Second Room.
They too were flipping their 999 cards, with another Pierrot encouraging them from the side.
“Are all of you the same entity?”
Despite the abrupt question, Pierrot answered kindly.
“Yes, we’re all my clones.”
“That’s impressive. But they don’t look like clones at all—they seem completely alive and vivid. You’re wasting talent being here.”
“Ahaha! How flattering to be recognized as the world’s greatest Pierrot. But even with such praise, I’m afraid there are no extra bonuses.”
“So you’re just a lackey of this dungeon? I thought a Pierrot special enough to grant an extra minute would be more unique than that.”
“…I am the most special Pierrot in the world. That’s precisely why I had the authority to grant that extra minute.”
Watching this, Bong-gu felt frustrated. Why was he just chatting with Pierrot instead of matching cards? This was completely unproductive.
If this went on, all the numbers he’d memorized would fade away.
But Chae Mujin continued the conversation.
“Authority, you say. Then is it possible to modify the rules? This might be difficult.”
At a question he’d never heard before, all the Pierrot clones stared at Chae Mujin.
“Modify… the rules?”
“For instance, change it so that every time I pick a card wrong, you take two stats instead of one.”
“No, sir! Why would you do such a thing?!”
Bong-gu exclaimed in shock and tried to stop him, while Pierrot’s expression showed intrigue.
“That’s possible! I’m the world’s greatest Pierrot, after all!”
“But here’s the thing. If you change it like that, I’m the only one losing, right?”
“That’s a fair point.”
“So I’ll add a condition. If I get all the cards right, you’ll give me stats as a reward. You decide how many. But the more stats you give me, the more stats I’ll agree to lose if I make mistakes.”
“Oh ho ho! Now that’s an interesting proposal! No one has ever offered me something like this!”
Pierrot, thrilled, hopped around like a rabbit, circling Chae Mujin.
“I’d like to know the name of someone interested in adding such an exciting rule.”
“Chae Mujin.”
“Player Chae Mujin! I accept your proposal. If you get all the cards right, I’ll give you 100 stats with my authority. But if you pick a card wrong, I’ll take 10 stats!”
The original rule was 1 stat per wrong answer. But Pierrot had increased it tenfold.
Bong-gu couldn’t just watch this happen.
“This isn’t a Pierrot—it’s a con artist! To profit, you’d have to fail only 10 times and get 990 correct, which is impossible!”
“Oho, is that so? What can I do about it? If you’d like to quit, you’re free to. Though the choice wasn’t yours to begin with, was it?”
Chae Mujin spoke to the smug Pierrot.
“For the world’s greatest Pierrot, your stakes are too small. How about 1,000 stats? In exchange, I’ll give you 100 stats every time I fail.”
“…!”
Bong-gu’s jaw dropped. Other Hunters too had abandoned their own cards and stared open-mouthed at Chae Mujin.
1,000 stats required at least 200 levels. Getting that from a single card game would be a jackpot.
But the price was steep. 100 stats lost per mistake.
Pierrot swapped his staff for a magnifying glass and examined Chae Mujin’s face intently, then smiled wickedly.
“Player Chae Mujin. Your total stats are 966, I see. That means just nine mistakes would finish you. Do you understand?”
“Are you worried about me? Or about yourself? Has the world’s greatest Pierrot gotten scared?”
Chae Mujin provoked Pierrot. Pierrot pressed his bowler hat down firmly and suddenly fell silent.
“…Granting 1,000 stats to a single human would violate the rules. The maximum is the 100 stats you initially proposed.”
Who was he consulting? The system? Or the dungeon’s master? Either way, Chae Mujin spoke without disappointment.
“Then let’s do this. The extra 100 stats, plus restore what this person lost in the dungeon.”
Chae Mujin pointed with his finger at Bong-gu.
Bong-gu was completely stunned.
They’d known each other for barely an hour? No, maybe thirty minutes.
Yet why was this man making such a reckless gamble for him? He couldn’t comprehend it.
Pierrot looked at Bong-gu through his magnifying glass and clapped his hands.
“Ah, our dungeon’s most valued customer! I’m afraid his eyes and arms are already spent, so we can’t restore those, but we can return his name, stats, and skills…”
Pierrot let his words trail off.
One might expect him to ask what the problem was, but Chae Mujin waited calmly. Eventually, Pierrot, worn out first, continued.
“If you wish to recover his skills as well, Player Chae Mujin must wager skills too. Once you’ve spent all your stats, then you’ll hand over skills one by one.”
“No, sir! There’s absolutely no reason for you to make such an insane gamble because of me!”
No matter how much Bong-gu protested, Chae Mujin, who hadn’t looked back until now, turned to face him.
“I’m not really trying to save you. I just want to milk this dungeon for all it’s worth, so don’t misunderstand.”
Whether it was a kind lie to spare him guilt or the truth, Bong-gu couldn’t tell, but he couldn’t protest any further either.
Chae Mujin extended his hand to Pierrot, who was waiting for an answer.
“Deal.”
“Contract established. Ahahaha!”
Pierrot laughed wildly.
Over the centuries, hundreds of millions of players had attempted this game billions of times.
Among those who passed, the fewest wrong answers on record was 7. Even the smartest person on this earth made seven mistakes.
‘Player Chae Mujin. Even if you’re the second smartest person on this earth, you’ll make at least seven mistakes.’
Then he’d lose 700 stats. Even after giving 100 stats as a reward, the dungeon would gain 600 stats, so there was no reason to refuse his proposal.
‘This is why creatures that don’t live 100 years are so inferior.’
Then Chae Mujin flipped card number 1. He found card number 2, the next one, without hesitation.
This level even a monkey could do, so there was no particular thrill.
‘I can already picture that arrogant face contorting.’
Everyone was the same. They’d flip quickly at first, then slow down at some point, until finally their hand would stop.
Chae Mujin should have done the same.
“……”
But his hand doesn’t stop. In fact, it seems to speed up.
* * *
Pierrot had been cheating. Since flipped cards are invisible to the player, he was changing the numbers from behind.
This way, Hunters think they got confused, not that it was manipulated.
And even if they knew, what could they do? There’s no evidence.
Even the smartest person on earth only caught on after falling for this trick twice.
But Chae Mujin didn’t give him time to swap the numbers.
Chae Mujin’s both hands traced afterimages in the air. The moment his right hand flipped a card, his left hand was already holding the next card and the one after that.
Mechanical relay—the process of checking and thinking was omitted entirely.
Pierrot had no opportunity to manipulate numbers from behind.
‘No, this won’t do. If I lose this game, I…’
Pierrot hastily swapped the positions of the final two cards: 999 and 998.
This caused Chae Mujin to flip 999 when he should have flipped 998.
The Hunters watching in suspense gasped. He could have gotten it all right, but he made one mistake.
Bong-gu was disappointed, but he thought it wasn’t so bad.
‘One mistake is okay. We break even.’
But Chae Mujin himself immediately glared at Pierrot.
“You switched the order?”
To his sharp voice, Pierrot responded coolly.
“Haha, I understand your regret. But switched the order? Do you have proof?”
“My memory is never wrong. You swapped the positions of 999 and 998.”
“And how exactly will you prove that? Did you bring a camera? Did you take pictures?”
Chae Mujin fell silent. Pierrot’s face became smug.
‘That’s what I thought.’
In the tens of billions of games played, some had suspected the trick, but not a single person had ever presented proof.
Then Chae Mujin spoke.
“If I prove it, what price will you pay for your cheating?”
“That… that’s impossible. Stop being difficult and flip the cards. There are only two left. Hurry and flip them so we can move to the next room!”
Chae Mujin turned his gaze elsewhere—to the ceiling, to nothing. Then, as if speaking for someone to hear, he said:
“Don’t try to brush past this. If the cheating went undetected, fine. But once it’s exposed, shouldn’t we see it through to the end?”
Then Pierrot’s eyes changed. His body trembled, and he opened his mouth.
“M-master has responded. He asks you to present the proof you spoke of.”
“Skill Window.”
Chae Mujin opened his Skill Window.
The Skill Window is personal. No one else can see it.
But Chae Mujin understood the system’s flexibility.
“For this moment only, I grant you the right to see my Skill Window.”
“Ha! What difference does that—”
The moment Pierrot looked at Chae Mujin’s Skill Window through his magnifying glass, he went silent. He’d seen the Akashic Record in the Traits section.
「Trait — Akashic Record (EX)」
• Absolutely preserves all memories you retain.
• Preserved memories are immune to erasure and manipulation.
• Your memories persist even through dimensional and temporal distortion.
• Preserved memories are usable at any time.
Clatter.
The magnifying glass fell from Pierrot’s hand to the floor.
To think—into this room designed to mock the imperfect memory of humans—would come a being with such a transcendent Skill as absolute memory.
It was an unwinnable game from the start. The cheating itself could never have worked against such an opponent.
“I… ah… um…”
“Is further proof needed, Master of the Dungeon?”
The Hunters thought Chae Mujin was insane. Who on earth was he talking to?
But surprisingly, an answer came.
—Acknowledged.
It was as if the dungeon itself was speaking.
“M-master! Please forgive me just this once—”
—It is finished, incompetent fool.
Pierrot’s body began to melt from his head downward.
He flailed his arms begging for mercy, but the dungeon’s master granted him none.
Splash…
In the blink of an eye, Pierrot became liquid and was absorbed into the dungeon.
—But there will be no second chance.
[System: You have obtained 100 stats from a special event.]
[Status window has been updated.]
[Status Window (New)]
Name: Chae Mujin (Level 150)
Class: Support
Strength: 159+25 Stamina: 159+25
Dexterity: 159+25 Magic: 489+52
The promised 100 stats had been added.
But it wasn’t over yet.
“I… I got it back… my stats, my skills!”
The stats and skills Bong-gu had lost in the dungeon were fully restored.
“Do you remember your name?”
“I do remember it… but I don’t need it. From now on, I’ll live as Kim Bong-gu.”
“That’s going too far. Let’s move to the next room.”
As Pierrot died, a door to the next room appeared.
Chae Mujin was about to head through when Bong-gu grabbed his collar and stopped him.
“Wait, sir. You should take the spoils.”
It was a Staff—the one Pierrot had used. It appeared to be what Pierrot left behind when he died, but Chae Mujin was puzzled.
‘I didn’t see a dropped item where Pierrot died?’
Surely there was nothing where Pierrot fell. Where did it suddenly come from?
‘Whatever it is, it’s probably not much.’
Besides, Bong-gu, who had picked it up first, must have checked its options. Bong-gu’s expression was calm—the look of someone happy to give it away. So Chae Mujin figured it was at best a Rare.
「Equipment — Thousand Transformations」
Rarity Grade: Legend
Quality Grade: D
Forms: 0/3
• Can transform into objects you remember.
— Rare and below: 200% performance.
— Unique: 100% performance.
— Legend: 50% performance.
— Cannot transform into Mythology or higher.
— Can preserve three forms total.
• Auto-repair
• Auto-conceals upon wearer’s death.
It was the ultimate equipment every class desired.

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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
—————