S-Classes That I Raised to Devour - Chapter 82

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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 82. The Manager’s Anguish (2)
What terrifies people about Dungeons is uncertainty.
Just like now—the entrance could be suspended in midair instead of on solid ground.
And what lies below it could very well be the sea.
Glub.
Kim Yeoul struggled desperately to swim back to the surface, but her body wouldn’t obey.
The impact of hitting the water after falling from the sky was the problem.
As if her entire body had been dashed against solid ground, the breath knocked from her lungs, the air expelled from her chest in one violent rush, every muscle in her body hardening like stone.
‘I can’t—breathe—’
Just as her consciousness began to drift from the surface, someone seized her by the nape of the neck and pulled her up. It was Chae Mujin.
“Gasp!”
“Easy. I’ve got you. You’re not going under.”
At Chae Mujin’s words, Kim Yeoul stopped thrashing. True to his promise, she sank no further into the sea.
Only then did the blue sky and endless ocean come into focus.
Lee Minji and Choi Gang-im, their faces barely above the splashing waves, came into view.
But the most striking figure was Brian, standing upright on the water’s surface.
Kim Yeoul hung her head low like a scolded puppy. She’d expected a rebuke.
“Brian, could you hold Yeoul for a moment?”
“You got it.”
Brian seized the back of Yeoul’s neck and lifted her up, leaving her suspended and swaying above the sea in his grip.
Then Brian’s eyes widened sharply.
Chae Mujin, who had been underwater, was now walking up onto the surface—just as he was.
“You’re like an onion, Representative Chae. Layers upon layers with no end in sight.”
The method of standing on water is simple: create a platform of mana beneath your feet.
Simple in theory, but extraordinarily difficult in practice. Especially on irregular, undulating surfaces like the open sea.
This technique is called Water Walking, and by Brian’s knowledge, no one had mastered it in their twenties until now.
Chae Mujin retrieved a paddle-equipped boat from his Shadow Bag.
Without needing explanation, everyone scrambled aboard.
“Gasp, gasp… cough!”
Kim Yeoul, her lungs full of seawater, retched it up over the side of the boat. Chae Mujin rubbed her back.
“Cough, I’m sorry, Manager.”
“You can swim, but you didn’t know how to enter the water properly. We’ll work on that after we leave the Dungeon.”
“Yes…”
“Alright, does anyone here know how to paddle?”
Who would have used a paddle unless it was a hobby? Even Brian shook his head.
Chae Mujin taught Lee Minji and Choi Gang-im how to paddle, then pulled out a map.
It was one he’d received from Kang In-yong, the British Alchemist.
「Artifact―Daesugyeong Map」
•A map created by the dwarf artisan Dwarph Elder and elven magic. It shows your current location and island positions in real-time within the Daesugyeong region.
An Artifact-grade item, no less—thanks to this map, he could tell where his party had spawned, where their destination lay, and the direction and distance to it.
“We’ll head straight in the direction I’m looking. First we’ll get a proper boat from the island where the Dwarph Elder lives.”
And so their roles were assigned.
Chae Mujin as captain, setting the direction and observing the waters ahead.
Choi Gang-im and Lee Minji, with the highest Strength stats, handled the paddling.
Brian, the most experienced and observant of the party, scanned the sides and sky, while Kim Yeoul kept watch on the rear.
In Daesugyeong, monsters existed both in the sea and sky. Even an A-Rank Hunter couldn’t afford carelessness.
How long they traveled this way.
Chae Mujin called out.
“Land ahead. Don’t let your guard down till the end. Proximity to shore doesn’t mean monsters won’t appear.”
At his words, the 1st Generation Hunters, whose vigilance had begun to slacken, straightened their spines.
* * *
Though they reached the island without encountering monsters, the 1st Generation Hunters were utterly exhausted.
Lee Minji and Choi Gang-im, who’d paddled without rest for two hours straight, felt half-dead; yet Kim Yeoul, even while suffering from seasickness, hadn’t neglected her rear watch.
“We’ll leave the boat here as a precaution. Just follow me.”
“Are there monsters?”
“Something more dangerous than monsters. A non-human race called Dwarph.”
“Dwarph? I’ve heard of dwarves.”
Minji had meant it as wordplay, but Chae Mujin nodded.
“Right. Half-breeds between humans and Dwarph are dwarves.”
“Ah!”
“They’re not antisocial, but they’re an extremely wary race, so don’t do anything rash. I’ll handle everything.”
Chae Mujin had everyone stow their weapons. For Choi Gang-im, he kept only the Wrist Shield in inventory.
The party, departing from the shore, halted the moment they entered the vegetation.
“They saw us land. They’re coming this way.”
True to Chae Mujin’s words, the undergrowth soon rustled, and a Dwarph appeared.
Squat and thickly built like the dwarves of legend, covered in coarse fur, resembling a gorilla more than a human.
Yet they wore proper armor and weapons—ornate perhaps not, but masterpieces of extreme practicality crafted by artisans.
Chae Mujin turned back and addressed his party.
“Under no circumstances must you startle them.”
The 1st Generation Hunters nodded tensely, and Chae Mujin called out to the Dwarph.
“We mean you no harm. We’ve come because we need a boat.”
Of course, the Dwarph couldn’t understand Korean. But gesture combined with language transcends boundaries anywhere—even in another world.
“Uh? Uhm!”
One Dwarph thrust a spear forward threateningly. Lee Minji flinched, but Kim Yeoul grabbed her arm to hold her back.
Chae Mujin held his palms open and drew something from his Shadow Bag.
The party watched curiously to see what he would produce. The Dwarph, equally curious, watched as well—
“In exchange for building us a boat, I offer you this.”
What Chae Mujin produced was fish.
Mackerel—that iconic fish available anywhere in Korea.
Most consumed by Koreans, yet paradoxically, the kind imported from Norway.
Everyone in the party was dumbfounded.
‘Surrounded by ocean on all sides—there’s no way they’d like fish.’
Brian especially found it absurd.
He knew about Daesugyeong, and he knew of the Dwarph. What they coveted was gold and gems.
‘Fish? Chae Mujin, are you out of your mind?’
Even Brian’s logic said the same: surrounded by ocean, there was no way the Dwarph would desire fish.
“Uh?! Uhuh?!”
Yet the Dwarph, upon seeing the mackerel, began hopping excitedly and seized the fish.
Chae Mujin stepped back, allowing them to examine the mackerel at leisure.
Sniff-sniff, poke-poke.
They smelled it, prodded it with their fingers, then took a massive bite.
“Uhm! Uhmuhm!”
The Dwarph who’d tasted the raw mackerel pounded its chest in excitement. The others began gesturing for their share.
The first Dwarph, shaking its head vigorously, swallowed the remaining mackerel in one gulp.
Chae Mujin produced another bundle of mackerel and spoke.
“Deal?”
Bribery. It existed wherever society existed, and nothing worked better than it.
* * *
The Dwarph, despite their gorilla-like appearance that suggested primitive living, inhabited a village no different from a medieval one.
In fact, far more advanced than old-fashioned medieval settlements.
The ground was paved with neat stone paths, and fortifications against foreign invasion—ballistas, trebuchets, watchtowers—all stood ready.
Chae Mujin’s party was led to a quite large and imposing structure.
There they met an elderly Dwarph—one so ancient he could scarcely move without his walking staff.
Yet Chae Mujin showed him no disrespect.
‘Age means survival,’ he thought.
In a world overrun with monsters, the most dangerous thing to underestimate was old age.
Chae Mujin, leading by example, knelt on one knee and bowed respectfully.
The others awkwardly followed suit, and the elder Dwarph smiled and spoke.
“Uh?”
The Dwarph uttered a guttural sound, in which subtle pitch variations seemed to comprise a language.
Rather than attempting to understand the language itself, Chae Mujin reasoned from context.
‘Probably asking why we’re here.’
He showed the map to explain their purpose.
“We wish to reach that island. We need a sturdy boat.”
He pointed to their destination with one hand, and with the other formed the shape of a boat.
Though words failed, the elder Dwarph’s intelligence bridged the gap, and he nodded.
Tap-tap.
The elder Dwarph tapped his wrist. A golden bracelet adorned it, and he gestured for them to hand it over.
‘So the price is gold,’ Chae Mujin thought.
Even in modern times, strategy guides for dealing with Dwarph existed. By orthodox calculations, a medium-sized ship required fifty kilograms of gold.
Obtaining that would cost roughly eight billion won, yet Chae Mujin had spent only ten million. On seafood.
He stepped back and displayed fresh fish and shellfish from his Shadow Bag.
“Uh?!”
The elder Dwarph let out a surprisingly loud cry upon seeing the fish.
Like the Dwarph they’d met in the forest, he examined the fish carefully and even tasted it.
Nod.
Satisfied with just one bite, the elder Dwarph gestured how much Chae Mujin possessed.
Chae Mujin withdrew fish boxes from his Shadow Bag—one, two… and displayed five.
“Is this sufficient?”
“Uhm-uhm!”
The elder Dwarph nodded vigorously and extended his hand.
It was the Dwarph gesture of agreement—a sign he would treat them as guests.
Chae Mujin grasped the hand briefly and shook, and thus the deal was sealed.
“Uh-uh, uh-uh-uh, uh-uh.”
The elder Dwarph gestured behind him. A soldier Dwarph presented necklaces to the party.
As they received the necklaces, their eyes widened.
「Equipment―Dwarph Interpreter Necklace」
Rarity Grade: Rare
Quality Grade: F
A traditional necklace of the Dwarph. Guests wearing this signify friendship with the Dwarph.
•Dwarph-exclusive: Translation magic activated
The moment they donned the necklaces, the elder Dwarph spoke.
“Travelers. Can you now understand our tongue?”
“Yes. And can you understand our speech?”
“Hah-hah, it sounds a bit odd, but I have no trouble comprehending.”
“I’m unfamiliar with Dwarph titles. Would you tell me your station?”
“You’re the most courteous outsider I’ve ever encountered. I am the Elder of this community.”
“So you are the Elder. When might the boat be ready?”
“Hmm.”
The Dwarph Elder pondered, then spoke.
“Three months, if we build anew.”
Three months’ residence was physically impossible. Chae Mujin found the hint in the Elder’s phrasing.
“In any case, we cannot return with the boat. Lending it to us would be enough.”
“You realize the island you seek is terribly dangerous?”
“Yes. We are prepared.”
“To pass safely through the island guarded by the Kraken and escape unscathed, we’d need to modify our vessel.”
The Elder paused, then continued.
“The modifications will take a week.”
“A week…”
It wasn’t an impossible timeframe. But Chae Mujin understood—the week the Elder mentioned wasn’t his absolute best.
Swish.
One more fish box emerged from the Shadow Bag.
The Dwarph Elder made a helpless expression.
“So there were more than five! I welcome as much of that small, fresh fish as you have. I’ll have the boat ready in four days.”
“And additionally—”
Chae Mujin produced the seventh fish box.
“Could I also hire crew? I will prioritize their safety above all else.”
Even a good boat needed hands to move it, and his party numbered only five. Without enough crew, the finest vessel would be useless.
“A true bargainer, aren’t you, outsider! I agree!”
The other members listened to every word of their conversation.
The 1st Generation Hunters merely marveled at Chae Mujin’s negotiating skill, but Brian did not.
He wasn’t amazed—he was astonished.
‘Negotiating with the notoriously difficult Dwarph so smoothly?’
If Chae Mujin had attempted to acquire what he wanted with gold, he’d have needed thirty billion won’s worth at minimum.
Yet he’d settled it with seven boxes of seafood.
‘Even at premium quality, would it have cost more than ten million won?’
It wasn’t merely about saving money. The fact that the Dwarph had offered the Interpreter Necklace unprompted meant he’d earned their favor too.
‘How did you know the Dwarph would like fish, Chae Mujin!’
Many Hunters had attempted amicable dealings with the Dwarph, but the consensus had always been that gold offered the best value.
Yet Chae Mujin had shattered that formula. With something far cheaper than gold.
‘Who could have imagined that Dwarph living on an island surrounded by sea would love fish?’
Brian’s gaze narrowed as he watched Chae Mujin.
‘His experience and skill don’t match his age. Is it possible—?’
As they were being led to their quarters after concluding the deal with the Dwarph Elder.
Brian casually dropped a question.
“Representative Chae, are you a Returner?”

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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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