S-Classes That I Raised to Devour - Chapter 73

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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 73. Good Medicine Tastes Bitter (1)
Chae Mujin took all the items Choi Ganglim offered. There was no point refusing—he’d wait until Mujin accepted them anyway.
As they left the dungeon with a satisfied Ganglim, the crowd outside was staggering. The Lotto Dungeon’s disappearance meant someone had claimed the treasure.
Countless people had gathered to see who had taken it.
‘This is going to be annoying.’
Chae Mujin watched the onlookers approaching him cautiously, wondering how to handle it.
“I cleared the Lotto Dungeon!”
At someone’s shout, all eyes snapped in that direction at once.
It was Moon Donghun who’d called out. He held an Angel’s Feather high in the air—his reward.
“This is the Angel’s Feather I got from defeating the Boss Monster, the Corrupted Angel!”
The spectators let out gasps as they saw the feather, because sacred power was actually emanating from it like an aroma.
The attention that had been directed at Chae Mujin evaporated, and everyone focused on Moon Donghun instead.
“Of course, I didn’t do it alone. Without this friend here, it would’ve been impossible.”
Donghun pointed to Spider, who swept back his bangs and puffed out his chest.
“Want to know? How we defeated the Corrupted Angel?”
“What’s a Corrupted Angel? I’ve never heard of that Boss Monster before.”
“It was an angel whose body had been taken over by a tentacle creature. Terrifying thing. It fired off angel techniques as is, but then suddenly—like this!”
Spider mimicked tentacles with his hands and jabbed a Hunter’s neck sharply.
“If those tentacles hit you, paralysis sets in instantly. Without my Detoxification Technique, I’d be crossing the river by now.”
“Ooooh!”
The vivid description held the spectators’ rapt attention, their eyes gleaming with fascination.
Thanks to this, Chae Mujin and Choi Ganglim managed to slip quietly away from the scene, but their eyes met nonetheless.
‘Skip the thanks.’
They said so with their eyes, and Chae Mujin mimed holding a phone to his ear, silently mouthing words.
‘Call me.’
After settling Choi Ganglim in the passenger seat and taking the driver’s seat himself, Chae Mujin finally allowed himself a breath.
“Just because your profession is thievery doesn’t mean your heart has to be one.”
Nod nod.
“Did you lose your memo paper?”
Nod nod.
“One moment.”
Chae Mujin retrieved memo paper and a pen from the glove box, and Ganglim immediately began writing.
―Thank you. I’m alive because of you.
“We’re even, so let’s skip that. I introduced myself before, but you weren’t in your right mind then, so let me reintroduce myself.”
Chae Mujin handed over his business card, meeting Ganglim’s eyes directly.
“I’m Chae Mujin, CEO of the Hunter Management Company. I came looking for you to sign you as an exclusive Hunter.”
―I’ve heard of Chae Mujin before I came here. You were incredibly famous, but why someone like me?
His confusion was natural. At this point in time, Choi Ganglim was nothing but an unknown Hunter with no reputation.
But Chae Mujin had come prepared.
“I heard a rumor. There’s a talented Tanker out there with an unusual skill—one who can make shields float and control them remotely. A ranged Tanker, one and only in this world. I’d be a fool not to sign you.”
When he’d recruited Kim Yeoul and Lee Minji, he’d improvised on the spot, full of holes.
But coming prepared like this, his logic was airtight. Even if Ganglim raised doubts again.
―I’m a flawed Tanker. You saw it yourself—I can control shields, but originally, I lose control after just one or two hits in combat. It was only because of Chae Mujin’s Buff that I could perform.
“So you’re saying without Buff support, you’re just an ordinary Tanker?”
―Yes, that’s correct.
“If I keep casting Buff on you, that solves the problem, doesn’t it?”
Ganglim’s expression asked: Is that even possible?
Chae Mujin nodded solemnly.
“Just as you showed your true strength as a ranged Tanker this raid, I showed mine as a supporter. During five hours of combat, was there even a moment when my Buff wavered?”
Ganglim had been focused on fighting and hadn’t noticed, but now that he thought about it, the Buff had never dropped for even one second.
“Did my Buff merely raise trivial numbers like some other supporter’s would?”
Shake shake.
“Then Choi Ganglim, under my Buff, becomes a flawless ranged Tanker, doesn’t he?”
Unable to find words, Ganglim could only slowly nod in acknowledgment.
“Okay then, let’s head to the company and draw up the contract. Before that, I’ll return these.”
Chae Mujin returned all the Holy Water and Purification Arrows before taking the steering wheel, but—
Shake shake.
Choi Ganglim shook his head and began writing quickly on the memo paper. He had much to say; it took him a while.
―Lost my voice in the Lotto Dungeon. To be precise, I can only speak twenty words for the rest of my life. A Tanker who can’t communicate is useless in team play. Even I think I’m nothing but a burden.
―Also, I don’t think a contract with a Management Company will work. I’m affiliated with a Guild, so I need to report back to the Guild Master first.
Chae Mujin pretended to read the memo slowly, buying himself time.
He already knew about the voice problem, so that wasn’t an issue. But affiliated with a Guild?
‘He was in a Guild? I didn’t know that….’
They had helped each other obtain treasure and fought side by side, building some camaraderie along the way.
Yet he wanted to go back to the Guild, which meant he had genuine attachment to it.
‘Is there someone else who recognized Ganglim’s worth before me?’
Tankers have the image of being sturdy, seemingly the least likely to die, but the reality is the opposite.
In fact, Tankers have the shortest lifespans of any class.
‘They charge forward before anyone else, and retreat last when everyone falls back.’
The fact that among A-Rank Hunters, Tankers have the second-lowest ratio after Supporters attests to this.
‘But a Tanker who endures through all that and reaches A-Rank becomes overwhelmingly stronger than any other class.’
So Choi Ganglim had to be signed. Even if someone else had already recognized his worth.
“I’ll drive you to the Guild. I’ll explain what happened to the Guild Master on your behalf.”
―I can’t trouble you that much.
“It’s not troubling me. I’m staying by your side to convince you.”
As Ganglim considered this silently, Chae Mujin added:
“Of course, I won’t try to convince you forever either. Until tonight at midnight. If your mind hasn’t changed by then, I’ll quietly step back.”
Ganglim checked his phone. It was 2 PM.
Nod.
So Chae Mujin drove toward the Guild headquarters where Ganglim was supposedly registered.
Until then, Chae Mujin had been thinking seriously.
‘Should I tempt him with benefits? Or maybe get the Guild itself to join the Management Company….’
Even as they arrived at the Guild headquarters and the thoughts continued to churn, the man who appeared to be the Guild Master came out to greet them.
The moment Ganglim stepped out first and Chae Mujin followed—
Smack!
The Guild Master slapped Ganglim across the face and shouted:
“Where the hell have you been ghosting? Now you show your face? You ungrateful beast!”
* * *
The Guild Master raised his hand to strike Ganglim’s other cheek, but Chae Mujin stepped in and grabbed his wrist.
“Who the hell are you!”
“I’m Chae Mujin, Choi Ganglim’s representative. And who might you be?”
“What~? Representative~? Ganglim! Did you hire a lawyer while you were ghosting?”
“Choi Ganglim is unable to speak due to a curse.”
“This is ridiculous. Hey, lawyer buddy. This guy’s a beggar, so stop wasting time and get out of the way. You’ll get hurt.”
He’d mistaken Chae Mujin for an ordinary lawyer and tried to intimidate him.
“You still haven’t answered my question about who you are.”
“Why would I tell you? You planning to sue me or something? Judging by your face, words won’t work with you, will they?”
The Guild Master tried to shove Chae Mujin’s chest, but Mujin grabbed his wrist instead.
The Guild Master sneered and applied force, but Chae Mujin didn’t budge an inch.
“Hey, let go of my hand!”
“Since I don’t know your name, I’ll just call you pig. And I don’t need to be polite to a pig.”
Chae Mujin raised his hand to strike the man’s cheek as Ganglim had been struck—
Grab.
But Ganglim caught his hand.
Chae Mujin turned to see Ganglim shaking his head.
“You, you’re not a lawyer but a Hunter? Stay right there!”
Chae Mujin didn’t care if dozens came, but he immediately questioned Ganglim’s action.
“Why did you stop me?”
It was then that Ganglim himself realized once again just how great a disadvantage it was not to speak. Even in a serious situation, he could only write things on memo paper.
―That man isn’t a pig—he’s the Guild Master Han Taewoo. He saved my life in the dungeon and even lent me an Elixir.
“An Elixir?”
It wasn’t uncommon for one Hunter to save another’s life. But hearing that he’d done it using an Elixir made Chae Mujin laugh despite himself.
“Do you know how precious an Elixir is?”
―Yes. Without the Elixir then, I would have had no choice but to die.
“That’s not the issue here.”
Elixirs—the legendary potion that appears in every fantasy RPG. Drink it and your HP fills to one hundred percent instantly. A miraculous draught.
Elixirs existed in this world too, and they were even more effective than in games.
An Elixir could revive a corpse missing half its body.
‘Even the Association Chairman probably doesn’t have many of those.’
And a mere Guild Master had possessed an Elixir and used it to save someone?
‘That’s a five-thousand-percent scam.’
Just as Chae Mujin was about to tell him the truth, Han Taewoo appeared with twenty lackeys in tow. From what Mujin could see, their levels were around fifty at best.
Han Taewoo pointed at Chae Mujin with a smug grin.
“So you’re Chae Mujin. Go ahead and say it again. What were you calling me?”
“Han Taewoo. Is it true that you’re Choi Ganglim’s benefactor?”
“Heh, now you’re scared, huh?”
Han Taewoo was saying something different again. Chae Mujin’s teeth clenched so hard he thought they’d crack.
“Don’t answer a question with a question. Got it?”
It wasn’t intentional, but killing intent leaked out.
Han Taewoo wasn’t strong enough to consciously perceive killing intent, but his survival instinct made him answer despite himself.
“Y-yes! I saved this bastard from being eaten by a monster, and I revived him with an Elixir! Do you know how precious an Elixir is?!”
“So after saving him with such a precious Elixir, you didn’t know he’d entered the Lotto Dungeon?”
“Wait, he really entered the Lotto Dungeon? I told him to go in, but he actually did it?”
“Ha….”
Chae Mujin pressed his forehead.
The reason Choi Ganglim had risked his life fighting in the Lotto Dungeon.
Someone told him to go? It wasn’t his choice? Worse—he’d been deceived?
“Just to confirm—I’m not assuming, but: when Choi Ganglim cleared the Lotto Dungeon and brought back the treasure, were you planning to take it all for yourself?”
“Take it? I saved his life and spent an Elixir doing it—of course I get compensated!”
Looking at him spitting as he spoke, Chae Mujin saw another person overlaid on him.
Ri Donghyeok, who’d run an illegal loan-sharking operation. He too had been squeezing the weak for money.
The difference was that Ri Donghyeok had threatened lives using poison and bombs, while Han Taewoo manipulated people through gaslighting.
Compared to Ri Donghyeok, who’d lived with extortion and murder as his default, Han Taewoo wasn’t quite villain material.
Just a common criminal who’d evolved into a Hunter.
‘From my perspective, they’re both garbage….’
But he didn’t seem to warrant summary execution.
At least, not yet.

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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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