S-Classes That I Raised to Devour - Chapter 7
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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 7. Kim Yeoul the Assassin (2)
Ten Goblins charging at once was a sight drenched in violence.
So violent that Kim Yeoul’s life flashed before his eyes.
Growing up under an abusive father and helpless mother, childhood felt like hell itself; after graduating elementary school, he went to the Department Store with his mother.
“Yeoul, have an ice cream. Mom will be back after shopping.”
After that, his mother never returned.
Kim Yeoul has never forgotten the taste of that ice cream. The bittersweet flavor of the first and last one he ever ate.
From that day on, Father made it a constant refrain.
“The most useless bastard in the world. Why even go to school? Find work already and bring in some money!”
Kim Yeoul wanted to run away too. But his younger sister’s legs were weak, so escape was impossible.
‘Just endure until high school graduation.’
The moment he became a middle schooler, he took odd jobs whenever he could and saved money.
Naturally, in secret from Father. He planned to use that money to rent a small room and live with his younger sister.
Then came graduation day in his third year of high school. He searched for the bankbook he’d hidden, ready to leave—but it was gone.
‘This… this is strange. I definitely hid it here.’
As he rummaged through everything, drunk Father came and dropped a single sentence.
“Got any more hidden money, you worthless bastard?”
“…Do you even know what that money was for?”
No place would hire a middle schooler. So he had no choice but to do illegal work.
Monster Cleaner—disposing of the corpses of monsters that had crossed into the real world.
Even in protective gear, the mana that monsters emit is lethal to ordinary people. Sometimes corpses only play dead, making it dangerous work where one must risk their life.
“Shut up and deposit all your future earnings into my account. Otherwise—”
“Otherwise what?”
“Your sister’s gonna earn money too. Luckily she’s got a decent face like that woman who left home, doesn’t she?”
The last thing he remembered was a hologram appearing before his eyes.
[You have Awakened.]
[You have Awakened.]
For some reason, the message that he’d become an Awakener appeared twice, and after that, memory vanished. When he opened his eyes, the room was drenched in blood.
He couldn’t tell what happened to Father. Or rather, didn’t want to know.
“B-brother.”
“It’s fine. I’ll… handle everything.”
Becoming an Awakener gave him some breathing room. The Government provided ample support to Awakeners.
Simply registering as an Awakener earned him a million won in support, which he used to secure a Basement Rental Room in the outskirts.
He’d finally found freedom, yet misfortune didn’t end.
Living in a Lawless Zone without police, he was exposed to crime daily.
But strangely, whenever danger came, he’d black out, and when he opened his eyes, he’d be surrounded by blood.
He feared both the crime and the seas of blood that appeared after blacking out.
Except for that, everything was good. At least he didn’t have to repeat the hellish past. He thought that alone meant no further misfortune.
Then one day, his younger sister contracted Awakening Sickness—an incurable disease.
“It’s a disease that develops from sustained exposure to mana. Do you have any idea how she might’ve contracted it?”
It was my fault.
Because I handled monster corpses, that mana transferred to my younger sister.
“There is no cure… If she doesn’t become an Awakener, she will die. Most cases lead to the latter, so… you must prepare yourself mentally.”
At first, he didn’t believe it. But soon had to accept it.
There was only one answer.
Money—that would do it.
He’d always needed money, but now he needed it even more.
They said Hunters made a lot of money. So he decided to work as a Hunter, but…
Not just anyone could become a Hunter.
“You’re too timid to work as a Hunter. Your Skill is D-Rank, so you won’t receive any special treatment either.”
Thinking it was his last lifeline, he took the official Hunter exam.
But even there, his timid nature held him back.
‘If you don’t score 3 points or higher on the first round, you’re essentially disqualified.’
According to advice he’d found online, with a score of 2, he was disqualified anyway.
‘Give up. How could someone like me ever become an official Hunter? Just keep doing what I was doing… cleaning monster corpses.’
That’s when Chae Mujin appeared. A legendary Supporter who scored a perfect 10, something even Cheon Ihwa hadn’t achieved, and he proposed forming a Party with him.
He wasn’t timid but he wasn’t stupid either, so he refused.
Why would a Supporter with a perfect 10 want to form a Party with someone like him?
But Chae Mujin stopped him from leaving and introduced himself as a Manager.
Honestly, he didn’t fully understand or process what Chae Mujin was explaining. But, but…
‘This person actually needs me.’
He’d never heard of Hunter Management before, and honestly, it reeked of a scam.
But wanting no one else, he wanted to believe in someone who genuinely wanted him.
And now, back to the present.
Ten Goblins charged with foam at their mouths.
Magic required setting five parameters, making instant casting difficult.
Power, range, speed, angle, duration—even setting these five as fast as possible took five minutes.
But just now, he’d activated magic in a mere five seconds.
“Fireball!”
A large fireball materialized from the staff’s tip and flew swiftly. The single method his Manager had taught him.
‘You overthink because you’re trying to hit a moving target. So do the opposite—hit a fixed target instead. Don’t overthink mana control either; just think of firing twice and split it in half.’
The Fireball didn’t fly toward the Goblins. Instead, it struck a stationary tree.
Boom!
“Keeeek?!”
Seven of the ten Goblins caught fire from the explosion’s shockwave.
While the burning Goblins rolled on the ground, the remaining three charged forward—
“Not on my watch.”
Kim Jiwoo, the Dealer, blocked their path.
Chae Mujin had given Kim Jiwoo just one instruction.
“Just stand in front of Kim Yeoul. Enemies will come on their own. You just need to counterattack and you’ll win.”
Everything unfolded exactly as Chae Mujin said.
With enemies coming on their own even if he stood still, Kim Jiwoo only needed to swing his blade from that spot.
His sword, enhanced by a 99-fold Buff, could cut through anything—spears, shields, even Goblins trying to force their way in with their bodies.
“Eek?!”
Sliced apart by Kim Jiwoo’s blade almost pathetically.
The three Goblins were dispatched in moments.
Then another Fireball flew toward the strongest opponent—the Goblin Warrior.
Here too, Chae Mujin had given an order.
“Don’t aim for the body; aim for the ground. Attack with the Fireball’s shockwave.”
“Won’t the damage be insufficient to finish it?”
“Don’t worry. My Buff will take care of it.”
“Aren’t you specialized in physical attack power Buffs?”
“I never said that.”
With nothing to do but trust and fire the Fireball, Kim Yeoul unleashed it at the Goblin Warrior’s feet.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
An explosion of incomparable scale erupted compared to before.
Though aimed at the ground, the shockwave alone shattered nearby trees—such destructive force.
No need to check if the Goblin Warrior had died. With that power, even a Goblin elder would be dead.
“H-how is this… You didn’t show everything in the exam!”
Despite the passionate outcry, his Manager responded with an indifferent expression.
“Just finish the remaining Goblins quickly. Before other ones hear the noise and come.”
Dealing with the burned Goblins was truly easy.
Kim Jiwoo harvested their lives like a woman gleaning stalks.
Handling ten Goblins he’d thought impossible to defeat took barely a minute.
[Combat End. Experience distributed.]
[Level Up ×7!]
Chae Mujin’s promise to make him a qualified Hunter was no empty word.
“You did well, Yeoul. Not bad for your first time.”
As though he’d never used formal speech, his Manager gently patted his shoulder. Toward that Manager, he spoke inwardly.
‘Manager, I’ll really try trusting you.’
* * *
After dealing with ten Goblins, the way Kim Yeoul and Kim Jiwoo looked at him changed completely.
Naturally—they’d thought I only specialized in physical attack power Buffs, yet I’d also boosted magical attack power.
‘Those two probably think I used all my mana just now.’
They’re wrong.
In that entire battle, I’d only used 2 mana. Thanks to my Savior Characteristic, my Buff effectiveness multiplied by 99, and duration extended by 99 times as well.
I was on a completely different level from Supporters who had to wait for their mana to refill after casting one Buff.
But there was one weakness—
‘Even with a 99-fold Buff, I only get 10 percent of the experience.’
Some complained that Supporters took 10 percent of experience, but Chae Mujin was different.
Getting only 10 percent even though I provided the Buff to defeat them—it was hardly fair.
‘Truly a Job specialized in being used, isn’t it—Supporter.’
But this too was merely a matter of time.
Monsters defeated while Buffed sent their experience to me.
That is, if I just cast Buffs, I’d gain experience doing nothing but breathing.
What if I cast Buffs on not one or two people, but multiple?
‘Level up just by breathing.’
Though my mana pool was small right now, making that impossible.
Just then, Kim Jiwoo’s action interrupted my thoughts.
‘Look at him—sneaking Mana Stones into his inventory.’
Same Party member, even riding along on our coattails, yet he was pocketing Mana Stones like a thief.
This was clearly no rookie performance.
“Any Mana Stones drop?”
Asking innocently, Kim Jiwoo lied without hesitation.
“They must’ve vanished in the explosion? I don’t see any.”
If I hadn’t seen it myself, I’d have believed him—his lie was that smooth.
But I know exactly how many Mana Stones he took.
Confiscation Target: Kim Jiwoo
Grace Debt: 2,999,006
[Confiscation List]
Characteristic:
‣Sword Spirit of Mountains (A)―100,000 [Confiscation Possible]
Skill:
‣Taesan Blade Technique (C)―10,000 [Confiscation Possible]
Item:
‣Lowest-Grade Mana Stone (9)―1,000 [Confiscation Possible]
Kim Jiwoo was shrewder than expected.
I’d seen seven Mana Stones, but he’d actually picked up nine—two more than I’d spotted.
These weren’t cheap trinkets either; each one was worth 10,000 won.
So Kim Jiwoo just pocketed 9 million won by himself.
“Look carefully again.”
“I’ll even turn over the soil.”
Watching Kim Jiwoo pretend to search made me smile inwardly.
‘Gather it all up like a squirrel. I’m taking it anyway.’
Besides, I noticed his Grace Debt had gone up. Just by 6, though.
‘So it went up in this battle… 6, huh. Looking at it that way, 1,000 points doesn’t seem easy to get either.’
With my Confiscation Skill activated, looking at Kim Yeoul revealed a window that hadn’t appeared before.
[Confiscation Target has been updated.]
Confiscation Target: Kim Yeoul
Grace Debt: 80
[Confiscation List]
Characteristic:
‣Flame Resistance (D)―3,000 [Confiscation Impossible]
Skill:
‣Fireball (D)―3,000 [Confiscation Impossible]
Item: None
Seeing his Characteristic and Skill, I felt a definite sense of incongruity.
‘I heard Kim Yeoul was an Assassin—a Martial Artist. But this Characteristic and Skill are unmistakably Mage.’
It was rare, but at level 300, one could choose a second Job without learning an Awakening Skill.
So did Kim Yeoul live as a Mage all the way to level 300?
The sense that this would take longer than expected made my head ache.
‘I’ll need to recruit one or two more people.’
Since I’d committed to Hunter Management, I didn’t have to depend on a single person.
But too many would be uncontrollable, so four or so should be manageable.
‘By the way, this Grace Debt thing goes up even from minor favors, huh.’
Kim Jiwoo’s went up by only 6, yet Kim Yeoul’s jumped by 80—the reason was a mystery.
‘Is there individual variation? Then what criteria determines that variation?’
Just thinking about it wasn’t my style.
‘I’ll figure it out by doing it.’
What if I handed out Passing Tokens generously right now? How much would both their Grace Debts rise?
I naturally knew where Passing Tokens were plentiful.
“Rest time’s over, Yeoul. Let’s move.”
“Where to?”
“Where else? To get Tokens. I know a place with plenty.”
“I’ll just trust you and follow, Manager!”
Going somewhere without knowing where—he seemed happy about it.
A twinge of guilt tried to surface, but I shook my head to dispel it.
‘I showed my skill, so he’s trusting my skill. Not trusting me.’
There’s no need to feel guilty. It’s not like I’ll kill him after making him S-Rank; I’ll just take his Characteristics and Skills.
Kim Yeoul can spend a comfortable retirement with what he’s earned so far.
He’ll make at least 100 billion won by the time he reaches S-Rank. I won’t steal that from him.
‘Since higher levels boost physical abilities, even without his Characteristics and Skills, he’ll be stronger than a B-Rank Hunter.’
Recalling the past when I was betrayed, I steeled my resolve and tried to soften my expression with a smile.
“Let’s go! Level up and grab plenty of Tokens.”
Unaware of their own futures, Kim Jiwoo and Kim Yeoul followed along happily.
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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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