S-Classes That I Raised to Devour - Chapter 74

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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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Chapter 74. Good Medicine Tastes Bitter (2)
Chae Mujin turned his back and looked at Choi Gangim.
There was an easy way out. To condemn him.
He could simply call him an idiot. Push the narrative: How could a mere guild master possibly own an Elixir? Are you stupid, a complete fool? It would be simple.
Most people’s contrarian instincts would flare up at that moment. Because accepting the criticism would make them feel completely worthless and foolish.
So even if the other person is a villain, they’d side with him. They’d rather destroy themselves to preserve their own pride.
‘Educated people are especially susceptible to this. They tell themselves they’re too smart to be fooled, so they distrust their friends and family instead—and believe the con artist. But that’s not really believing the con artist.’
They’re believing in themselves, in the truth they’ve convinced themselves of.
So he shouldn’t push. He needed to make them realize it themselves.
“Choi Gangim. Three years ago, an Elixir came up at auction. Do you know how much it sold for?”
Shake, shake.
Chae Mujin didn’t answer immediately. He simply held up one finger.
“A hint. Try to guess.”
A quiz show had begun, uninvited.
One of Han Taewoo’s oblivious guild members spoke up.
“One trillion won?”
“Wrong.”
“One trillion is too high. One hundred billion!”
“Over one trillion won.”
“Three hundred billion!”
Han Taewoo rebuked his subordinate.
“You idiot! He only held up one finger. That means the first digit has to be one. Ten trillion! An Elixir costs ten trillion won per bottle!”
Watching Han Taewoo speak with such confidence, Chae Mujin couldn’t even smile.
“That’s your level. A sum so vast you wouldn’t dare dream of it, yet you still crave it. But an Elixir isn’t that cheap.”
“What? Then how much is it?”
“Could it be… one hundred trillion?”
One hundred trillion won. A figure so enormous that most had only read about it, never actually encountered it.
The sum was too massive for them to even react.
“…It sold for one hundred trillion?!”
“Insane! A single potion selling for one hundred trillion? That doesn’t make sense!”
“One hundred trillion? How many five-thousand-won bills is that? I can’t even imagine it!”
Chae Mujin watched Choi Gangim. As expected, his expression showed he didn’t know. He swallowed hard.
“When did I say one hundred trillion?”
Silence fell instantly. Everyone stared at Chae Mujin in disbelief.
“One quadrillion. Three years ago, the Elixir at auction sold for one quadrillion won.”
……
“O… one quadrillion…?”
Even one hundred trillion was an incomprehensible sum, and now they were told it was ten times that.
One quadrillion. With that money, what could be done? How vast was it? They couldn’t begin to fathom it.
“Th… that can’t be right! You’re telling me someone spent one quadrillion to save one person?!”
“To save someone like you? Absolutely not. But a CEO of a major conglomerate?”
……!
“W… what?”
A single person flashed through the minds of every hunter present.
Lee Yongjae, chairman of Oseong, one of Korea’s largest conglomerates.
Rumors had circulated that he’d stepped back from management due to age and would soon hand over the group to his children.
But he’d suddenly returned to the chairman’s seat, demonstrating renewed vigor.
With the relentless drive and boldness of his youth, he’d begun personally overseeing every major development project across the entire group.
No one understood Lee Yongjae’s sudden return to power. But the twenty-two people in this room now understood why.
The power of the Elixir.
Having consumed a one-quadrillion-won miracle elixir, Lee Yongjae had literally obtained a second life.
“Th… that can’t possibly be true. What fiction are you spinning here?”
Han Taewoo denied it, but Chae Mujin didn’t even look at him.
“Unlike Potions, an Elixir can be used by ordinary people, not just Hunters. That makes it far more valuable. So here’s the question: if it’s a healing remedy, why use an Elixir instead of a Potion?”
Choi Gangim, asked the question, said nothing.
Chae Mujin hadn’t really expected an answer.
“Potions were banned from distribution ten years ago. They accelerate Mana Addiction and sharply increase the likelihood of Dungeon Psychosis. Of course, you can still obtain them if you try hard enough… but con artists want obedient marks, not time bombs that could explode at any moment.”
His breath misted as he spoke.
Hunters, once awakened, grow numb to temperature and forget the seasons—but breath like this reminds them that winter has arrived.
And Han Taewoo, sweating despite the chill.
The terror of being completely seen through, the fury—it burned his body hot.
Then Choi Gangim began writing on a memo pad. Chae Mujin, Han Taewoo, and the twenty hunters he’d brought all felt curiosity surge.
What was he writing? They guessed it might be something bitter—deceived, angry, cursed words.
Whoosh.
Choi Gangim showed the finished writing to Chae Mujin. Han Taewoo, standing behind Chae Mujin, could also see what was written.
—I understand that the probability of Guild Master Han Taewoo having used an Elixir is extremely low. However, if he truly did use one, if he’s genuinely wronged, then as long as there exists any possibility of that, I cannot avoid giving him the compensation he deserves.
He would not bend his resolve. He promised to repay Han Taewoo, no matter what.
Was it foolishness, or stubborn pride?
Chae Mujin did not grow excited. He did not try to persuade.
He quietly stepped aside, and Choi Gangim bowed his head and headed toward Han Taewoo.
* * *
Rationally, I already know. That Han Taewoo didn’t use an Elixir.
Yet a debt is a debt. All this time, I’ve worked tirelessly to repay it.
I explored dungeons as ordered, tanked in dangerous situations, bought time.
But the Guild Master was never satisfied. In the end, he made one final proposal.
“You ever heard of the Lotto Dungeon? Go there, bring back treasure. Then we’re even.”
“Yes.”
And that’s where I met Chae Mujin. Someone who knew me. He said he’d come to recruit me, and suddenly offered to help.
I was suspicious, but he helped me sincerely. Risking his own life.
Thanks to him, I survived. Before I lost myself entirely.
That was worth more than an A-Rank Skill Book and a Legend-Rank Shield.
‘I’m sorry, Mujin. I want to settle things with Han Taewoo myself.’
So I brushed aside Chae Mujin’s attempts to stop me and followed Han Taewoo.
“Heh heh, Gangim. You really brought back treasure from the Lotto Dungeon? Show me, come on.”
I tried to write an answer on the memo pad, but he snatched my pen.
“What are you doing? You’re not going to keep up this weird act in front of me, right? Cut the nonsense and speak.”
I can speak. If I need to. Just twenty characters max.
But I didn’t want to spend them on this moment right now.
I tried to communicate with hand gestures. I pointed to my throat and made an X with my arms.
“Bullshit. Your throat looks fine to me. You just don’t want to talk to me, right? Huh? Invoking some right to silence, did Chae Mujin tell you to do that?”
I shook my head.
Mujin understood, but the Guild Master didn’t.
“What are you trying to say? Speak!”
I pointed, asking for the pen back.
The Guild Master sighed heavily and threw the pen at me.
“Fine. Write, then.”
A guild member came in while I was writing.
“Guild Master. Chae Mujin has left.”
“Yeah? I figured when he started spouting nonsense about an Elixir being worth a quadrillion won.”
The news that Mujin had left. I understand. I’m frustrated with myself too.
I should just live comfortably, so why do I insist on walking this hard path?
Not even a speck of resentment. Rather, I feel sorry.
Because he risked his life to recruit someone like me.
I held out the finished paper. The Guild Master read it right there.
“The Skill Book I got as treasure, I’ve already used. The Legend-Rank Shield is Soulbound, so I can’t transfer it. Instead, I’m offering all the items I got from defeating the Boss.”
I set Purification Arrows and Holy Water on the table. I don’t know the value of the arrows, but I know lower-grade Holy Water goes for at least one hundred million per bottle.
Four lower-grade Holy Water, four mid-grade Holy Water. If I sell all of it, it should fetch at least one billion, so the Guild Master should be satisfied.
“You joking? You’re taking the most important Skill Book and Legend equipment for yourself? What’s that supposed to mean?”
The Guild Master shot to his feet, his neck reddening, his face flushing crimson.
“Soulbound only comes off when the wearer dies.”
“That’s correct, Guild Master.”
The guild member’s eyes fixed on me.
The Guild Master whispered something to that guild member.
“Tell all the kids to come in.”
We could all hear it anyway. Why whisper? It’s hard to understand.
All twenty guild members crowded into the narrow office. The Guild Master folded his arms and spoke.
“Gangim. You did well bringing back those items from the Lotto Dungeon. But here’s the thing—you took the most important Skill Book and Legend equipment for yourself.”
―I’m sorry. But I believe I’ve repaid the debt sufficiently. I’d like to leave the guild.
“Leave the guild? Without my permission?”
Rip.
The Guild Master tore up the memo pad and stood. The other guild members stared down at me with cold eyes.
“An A-Rank Skill Book and a Legend-Rank Shield. You could’ve gotten at least one quadrillion, and that was supposed to be mine. So you’re going to work for me until you’ve earned one quadrillion.”
Without the memo pad, I shook my head to show refusal.
By my usual temperament, I should have been blazing with anger.
“Hmm… You don’t want to? Understood.”
Surprisingly, he nodded in agreement.
“Come to think of it, I never even offered you a glass of water after you worked so hard. I’m sorry. Seokgu, go grab a drink. The best one we have.”
“The best one, sir?”
“Yeah, you got it.”
Seokgu was my senior in the guild. He came back with a drink from the next room and handed it to me.
“You must be exhausted.”
It was the first warm comfort I’d ever heard from him. Usually ninety percent of what he said was insults.
I looked down at the drink. The cap wasn’t even open. But why did something feel off?
“Drink up, and we’ll continue the conversation. Seokgu, go get a memo pad too.”
“Roger.”
He said he’d give me another memo pad, so I couldn’t just leave coldly.
I popped the cap and drank the whole thing. My throat was parched anyway.
Clink.
I set down the empty bottle and bowed respectfully to thank them—
Thud.
My legs gave way before I’d even straightened. My head crashed into the table.
As panic seized me, I heard the Guild Master’s voice.
“Gangim. What, you think this is some social club? You think you can just waltz in and waltz out whenever you please?”
My body wouldn’t obey. My consciousness was sinking rapidly below sleep, and I fought to cling to it.
Wriggle.
“Seokgu, that was the strongest one we have, right?”
“Potent enough to knock out an Ogre.”
“Good thing we didn’t try to restrain him by force. That could’ve gone badly.”
I couldn’t believe it. Slipping me a sedative? What had I done to deserve this?
I had no will to fight. I wanted to resolve this through conversation.
Even if they’d struck first, I wouldn’t have fought back.
It had always been this way. Because I trusted them.
That they’d saved me. That they’d spent a precious Elixir to bring me back to life.
Even holding the possibility that I’d been deceived, I believed in them.
‘These people never believed in me from start to finish.’
And yet I believed in them, from start to finish.
Strangely, I felt no resentment toward them.
‘It was all my choice.’
It was my mistake.
My misjudgment.
A punishment I deserve to bear.
Then one person came to mind.
‘I’m sorry, Mujin.’
He’d saved me in the Lotto Dungeon and made it clear that these people were con artists. Yet I’d turned my back on him and sided with Han Taewoo, and now I’d ended up like this.
‘I have nothing to say for myself.’
I was relieved that he’d left. I didn’t have to show him this foolish side of me.
Just as I was about to let go of the thread of consciousness I’d been clinging to—
Crash!
The entire door exploded inward. Through blurring vision, I saw someone walking in.
It was Mujin.
A torrent of emotions washed over me.
Surprise, shame, and joy.
In my heart, I’d told myself I understood if Chae Mujin was disappointed and left—but seeing him return made my heart ache so badly I thought it would tear.
* * *
Losing Han Taewoo’s lackeys was easier than breaking a goblin’s wrist. We drove a little, and the tail vanished immediately.
I called right away. Kim Minwoo, the information manager—a person extremely well-versed in all things related to Hunters.
“Kim Minwoo. Know a guy named Han Taewoo?”
―Triple Gold’s Guild Master Han Taewoo? Yeah, I know of him. You recruiting?”
“Not that. What kind of guy is he?”
―A garbage scammer who preys on naive Hunters. He usually lures Hunters into danger by rushing mobs, then plays hero rescuing them. After that, he extorts them for compensation.
They say trends cycle, and this was a con so ancient it might’ve been fashionable a thousand years ago.
―And get this—I just found out he’s also selling Elixirs. Fakes, obviously.
“That’s ridiculous. Why hasn’t the Hunter Association cracked down on a guy like this?”
Kim Minwoo was a Hunternet administrator, and Hunternet was managed by the Hunter Association. In other words, the Association definitely knew about Han Taewoo’s crimes.
―The Association’s stretched thin dealing with Villains. Can’t handle petty criminals too.
“Got it. Thanks for your work.”
―There’s no hard evidence, but I can find witnesses to his scams if you’d like. Want me to?”
“Pass… Actually, yes. Do it.”
―Yessir, my lord.
After getting the intel from Kim Minwoo, I infiltrated that bastard’s office.
Infiltration was easy thanks to the Death Stalker’s invisibility bonus.
What I was looking for wasn’t Choi Gangim. It was the fake Elixir Han Taewoo supposedly manufactured and sold.
Then I found a suspicious storage room.
‘Why is there a freezer in the warehouse?’
Sure enough, when I opened it, pink glass bottles filled the space.
―Elixir (Genuine)
……
Nothing to say.
I pocketed a few bottles.
Choi Gangim had said: As long as there’s any possibility it’s an Elixir, I must repay the debt.
‘If I show him this, Gangim won’t argue.’
But what if, even seeing these fake Elixirs, he insisted on repaying the debt anyway?
‘That would actually impress me.’
To become S-Rank, you have to be insane. Anyone bound by common sense will never reach S-Rank.
Finding Choi Gangim was easy. The guild members suddenly moved somewhere, so I followed.
I watched through the window and overheard their conversation. When he drank the sedative-laced beverage and fell asleep—
Crash!
I kicked the door open and burst in.
Han Taewoo and his thugs looked startled at first.
But their expressions quickly turned vicious.
Even in a situation like this, conversation is necessary. But I don’t need my mouth for this.
“Let’s talk with our fists.”
These bastards understand that kind of conversation better.

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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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