S-Classes That I Raised to Devour - Chapter 78

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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 78. An Impulse Without Regret (2)
The Cheon I-hwa of the present was vastly different from the Cheon I-hwa of her past life.
Not a different person entirely. She was undoubtedly the same woman I knew.
Yet she had changed. Originally, she wasn’t this talkative, nor was she impulsive.
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
“So asking you to become the head of the Secret Inspection Agency is something you dislike enough to ignore?”
“It doesn’t seem to be something we agreed upon.”
“Agreement isn’t necessary. I’m the one with decision-making authority.”
I thought she’d misspoken and offered her a chance to take it back.
But she kept trying to prove otherwise.
“I didn’t want to say this much, but weren’t you speaking impulsively?”
“Yes, it was impulsive. But I have no regrets. You have more than enough qualification to be the head of the Secret Inspection Agency.”
…….
Bold. She descended from the pavilion and stood barefoot before me.
“I think you’ll learn what kind of place the Secret Inspection Agency is from those two. So I won’t explain it to you.”
“Yes, I understand.”
I’d heard about it from Yeoul and Minji, but I’d already known before that.
Actually, I knew more about it than you do, Cheon I-hwa.
So there’s no way I’m joining the Secret Inspection Agency. Not even if you give me the position of head.
Just as I was about to refuse, Cheon I-hwa cut off my words.
“Why do you dislike it?”
Had she read my true feelings, or merely my expression?
Either way, what Cheon I-hwa said was sincere. It must have been impulsive at first.
But now she meant it.
Whatever the reason she wants to make me head of the Secret Inspection Agency, my mind won’t change.
The reason is clear.
“I’m not the type to work under anyone.”
“The Secret Inspection Agency is independent……”
“Perhaps that’s how it started.”
……?
“But in the end, it won’t be.”
This isn’t advice. It’s experience from living through the future.
So I can’t explain it, and I shouldn’t.
“What could you possibly know……”
“So I’m not suited to be head of the Secret Inspection Agency. What kind of head is one who knows nothing?”
I have nothing more to say. She falls silent, and this time I truly turn to leave.
Tinkle.
The soundless chime of her bell ringing.
‘Sigh.’
Hearing that sound, my feet stopped automatically. Without turning around, I can see her expression.
She who had such pride had bent it so low, and now held her silence with such grace.
‘Just this once. Just once more.’
Affection knows no bounds, as they say. I turn back to her and whisper near her ear.
“If I were the Hunter Association director or the Association chairman, I would plant Hunters loyal only to me within the Secret Inspection Agency.”
……?
“The head makes the final decisions, but it’s also the head’s duty to hear out their subordinates’ opinions.”
……!
“One last thing.”
I lightly stroked her cheek.
From the moment we first met, I couldn’t stop noticing it—her dry skin beneath the makeup.
“Take some nutritional supplements. Hunters are human too, after all.”
With that, I left. There should be no more meetings with her now.
‘She understood everything I said. To truly operate the Secret Inspection Agency as an independent organization, she’ll need to root out the spies first—the ones planted by the Hunter Association director and the Association chairman.’
Of course, the Hunter Association director is her mentor, and the Association chairman is her father.
But this age is cruel. She is merely their chess piece.
A piece moved by trust built on relationships.
The Cheon I-hwa of the past life never realized this, but in this life, I gave her the hint.
‘But can she do it?’
I shook my head. I had not even the slightest desire to meddle further.
‘It’s someone else’s life, after all.’
And yet.
‘I hope she succeeds.’
I harbored no wish for her to suffer.
* * *
After Chae Mujin left, Cheon I-hwa stood motionless in that spot like a block of stone.
Iljin Sunim did not call out to her.
‘Hehe, an Awakening achieved. My congratulations.’
Iljin Sunim knew well enough that this had nothing to do with the efficacy of Mist Herb Tea.
Rising from her seat, Iljin Sunim assumed a watchful stance.
To ensure no one else would interrupt Cheon I-hwa’s Awakening in their ignorance.
Meanwhile, in Cheon I-hwa’s mind, thoughts spiraled endlessly, one upon another.
‘Everything is beginning to make sense.’
Since becoming head of the Secret Inspection Agency, she had been plagued by an inexplicable unease.
At first, she believed it stemmed from the pressure of leading the Secret Inspection Agency and job-related stress.
Her mentor Lim Hye-rin and her father Cheon Moo-jong had said the same.
‘Your training is insufficient. From today, meditate in Headstand Meditation.’
‘Come sit here. I’ll brew you some Mist Herb Tea.’
But no matter how much time passed, the unease never faded.
Then just moments ago, listening to Chae Mujin’s words, she understood. The source of her unease.
‘Why did I naturally assume my mentor and father were on my side?’
From the beginning, when the Secret Inspection Agency was founded, the organization was not empty.
Two members already existed—individuals recommended and recruited by the Hunter Association director and the Association chairman respectively.
They had been very favorable toward her. They were talented and good-natured teammates, so there was no reason to harbor ill will or dislike toward them.
‘But if what Chae Mujin said is true—if they truly serve the Hunter Association director and the Association chairman……’
Then the Secret Inspection Agency is not independent. It’s merely a blade wielded for the Hunter Association and the Association.
She would have been completely ignorant and believed it was right.
‘Is this just paranoia born of stress?’
No. This is rational deduction.
There was evidence for it.
‘It’s been too easy.’
Relations with the two existing members are too smooth. No troubles at all.
But with the Secret Inspection Agency members recruited afterward, there are problems—large and small.
Some are exceptionally capable but difficult in temperament. Others haven’t yet earned true trust.
‘Good ability and good character—that’s what’s strange.’
Just look at Chae Mujin. How capable must he be to dare refuse the position of head of the Secret Inspection Agency?
In front of her, no less.
‘I have to remove those two.’
But no matter how hard she racked her brain, there was no justification. No grounds to cast them out.
Lost in thought, Cheon I-hwa suddenly wondered: if Chae Mujin were head of the Secret Inspection Agency, how would he solve this?
‘I’m the head now. Why would I need justification?’
The answer came instantly.
The current head of the Secret Inspection Agency is me, Cheon I-hwa. If I say I dislike them and want them gone, who could object?
‘The Hunter Association director and the Association chairman might protest.’
But now was the only moment. The Hunter Association director and the Association chairman were too busy with the Magical Girl crisis to pay full attention.
Even if they tried to pressure her, they couldn’t focus their full strength.
Shiver.
For a moment, Cheon I-hwa felt a chill run down her spine.
‘Chae Mujin, how far ahead did you see?’
Merely hearing the purpose of the Secret Inspection Agency, he intuited the existence of spies, and recognized that now—with the Magical Girl crisis consuming all attention—was the perfect moment to remove them.
‘What do you mean you don’t fit the role? You’d actually be perfect as head.’
A hollow laugh escaped her. Chae Mujin wasn’t ignorant at all—he knew far too much.
‘And what was that about? Stroking my cheek like that, when you’ve been avoiding me……’
In that touch, she felt something that reminded her of her mother—a person now existing only in memory. It was a warm, tender touch born of genuine concern.
She picked up her phone. She started to call her personal aide, then hesitated. A cold premonition struck her.
This person had granted every request she’d made for the past ten years.
Yet in the end, she was also someone the Association chairman had placed with her.
Cheon I-hwa called a different aide. One she had personally recruited a year ago.
―I’ve answered, Cheon I-hwa.
“Ho-yeon. Please procure some nutritional supplements for me.”
―I’ll prepare them at once.
Until now, she’d only assigned Ho-yeon trivial errands.
“And call an emergency assembly of all Secret Inspection Agency personnel.”
―Pardon? Ah, I’ll relay that to Director Kim Seon-tae.
“When did I ever ask you to relay my orders through Director Kim?”
Silence hung over the phone line. Cheon I-hwa smiled faintly before speaking again.
“Consider this your chance to prove you’re more capable than Director Kim Seon-tae.”
And so the true independence of the Secret Inspection Agency began quietly, methodically.
Even Chae Mujin could not have foreseen it then.
That the Secret Inspection Agency, now fully independent, would become a force shaking not just South Korea, but the world itself.
* * *
I didn’t return to the office immediately.
I had failed to recruit the violence Healer I’d originally sought—Iljin Sunim.
Failure means gaining nothing. I couldn’t return to the office empty-handed.
“I do have backup candidates……”
I hadn’t assumed I’d fail to recruit Iljin Sunim. I’d simply searched for other Healers who might be better.
As a result, I’d narrowed down a few Healers who—even if not necessarily better—seemed worth meeting.
But I couldn’t seek them out right now.
‘One I only know by name and face, and the other hasn’t undergone Awakening yet.’
I’d made a joint request to the HR and intelligence teams to identify both people based solely on their distinguishing features.
So Chae Mujin was not heading out to recruit another Healer.
‘I should work on the Elixir I’ve been putting off.’
I felt no urgency to seek out an uncertain Healer or scramble to find another right now.
‘That would just be a stopgap. Not the Healer I actually want.’
I had zero intention of haphazardly plugging some Healer into the first generation as a temporary fix.
So it was better to set aside the rush and instead attend to another important matter I’d been postponing.
After leaving the city, I continued driving until I arrived at Chilbo Mountain in Suwon.
Unlike its thriving past, it now stood as a Level 2 Danger Zone with a sealed barrier wall.
I stepped out of the car and looked up at the wall.
Whoosh.
I jumped once, caught the edge of the barrier, and vaulted over. With monsters potentially lurking, I walked forward with a loaded pistol in hand.
Climbing the mountain carefully, I arrived at a small temple.
Knock-knock.
I rapped lightly on the gate.
“Is anyone here?”
No answer came from inside. Just as I was about to knock again.
―Do you have fish eyes for pupils?
A hoarse old man’s voice from above the gate.
I turned my head to see a camera making a “zing” sound.
―Press the doorbell, I said.
Only then did I notice the doorbell affixed beside the gate.
“Oh.”
Just as I reached to press it as instructed, the old man erupted again.
―Why are you pressing that? The door’s open. Either come in or get lost.
His gruff manner and shouting personality don’t inspire confidence. But then again, I’m not here to judge his character.
The moment I stepped inside, the pungent smell of herbal medicine wafted over.
‘I’ve found the right place.’
Elixirs don’t simply materialize like items. They’re made directly by people, like herbal medicine.
Those who craft Elixirs are called Elixir Masters, and all the most capable ones in South Korea were already affiliated elsewhere.
‘The best ones are all working under Cheon Moo-jong.’
If I asked him, he might lend me an Elixir Master.
‘But if the Association chairman sees my Elixir, his eyes would pop right out of his head.’
So I sought out a retired Elixir Master.
Right on cue, that Elixir Master approached, his face thoroughly irritated.
They say that when people age, wrinkles form—and you can tell from those wrinkles alone whether they spent their lives smiling or frowning.
This old man’s face screamed that he was prone to anger.
“What kind of business is this?”
Despite his cantankerous attitude, I politely extended my business card. He was worthy of such courtesy.
“Chae Mujin, CEO of Hunter Management Arc.”
“What brings you here?”
Given his obvious irritation, I wasted no time—I withdrew something from the Shadow Bag.
From Lize’s vault, I’d taken three items in total.
A Venometric Amulet, a Shadow Bag. And the third and final one.
[Relic—Ten-Thousand Year Mandrake]
•A parasitic plant species. A Ten-Thousand Year Mandrake that has absorbed and condensed ground energy and magical power over ten thousand years.
Upon seeing the Ten-Thousand Year Mandrake, the old man’s drowsy expression sharpened in an instant.

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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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