S-Classes That I Raised to Devour - Chapter 96
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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 96. The Madman in This Dimension Is Me (4)
In his previous life, Chae Mujin had felt helplessness before the Moon.
A helplessness so absolute that victory was impossible. The certainty that even with thousands upon thousands of chances to try again, he would never win.
He had once been certain that nothing could inflict a helplessness more profound than the Moon—but he was wrong.
This silver-haired man with those abyssal violet eyes offered a wholly different dimension of helplessness.
Yet the man himself spoke as casually as a neighbor calling out a greeting.
“What were you all doing here?”
A light question.
But Chae Mujin understood. His answer would determine whether he lived or died.
“We were following this path, trying to return to our original world.”
“Is that so? Work hard at it.”
“Wait, please. You weren’t intending it, but you’ve been our savior. I’d like to repay the debt somehow.”
“I like being repaid. What will you give me?”
At least he had stopped the man from leaving.
Chae Mujin’s mind raced. What could he possibly offer this man to spark his interest?
‘He’s definitely a Transcendent Being. Even a heap of Legend-rank equipment wouldn’t impress him.’
But what about food from another world? Something utterly impossible to obtain in the medieval ages? He pulled it from the Shadow Bag.
“Coke.”
Not cheap canned cola. Traditional-style Coke in a glass bottle, its chill preserved just short of freezing.
“What is this?”
“It’s a beverage. In our world, there’s hardly anyone who dislikes this drink.”
“The black color with bubbles rising… it looks like a torture device.”
“It’s absolutely nothing of the sort.”
He hadn’t brought a bottle opener. With no choice, he used the Light Sword to pop the cap.
Pop!
‘Sorry, Light Sword. But I need to survive too.’
Opening a Coke bottle with Legend-rank equipment—what a thing to do.
But there was no time for self-reproach. He poured two glasses and drank first.
“Ahhh!”
The tingle and refreshing bite, the strange sweetness weaving between them—an exclamation that burst forth unbidden. This was no exaggeration whatsoever.
“Hmm, so that’s what it’s like?”
At last he picked up the glass. He swirled it as if tasting wine, then took a single sip.
“Huh?”
His head tilted slightly, his brow furrowed, and he fixed Chae Mujin with a stare.
Had it not suited his taste? Had Chae Mujin made the wrong choice in trying to draw his attention?
Gulp.
He drank again, and this time his stare was far more intense. Chae Mujin broke into a cold sweat.
The man drained the rest in one go, then spoke.
“Not bad. This Coke.”
Chae Mujin exhaled the breath he’d been holding.
But the real problem was just beginning.
“Would you care for more, by any chance?”
“I’ll drink it if you have it. Otherwise, no matter.”
“What I have now is all of it.”
Without a lie, he drew the remaining Cokes from the Shadow Bag. Eleven bottles total.
“You carry quite a bit around.”
“Ha, had I known I’d meet someone of your standing, I’d have brought thousands of bottles.”
He made light conversation. A deep breath. Judging by the man’s bearing, he absolutely despised roundabout words.
“My name is Chae Mujin, and this is Rabbit. Do you happen to know how we might return to our original dimension, Earth?”
It was a question that took considerable courage to ask, but the answer came very short and direct.
“I don’t know.”
“Ah…”
“But someone does.”
“…!”
“Still, you couldn’t meet them even if I told you.”
“…”
“And if you did meet them, they’d ignore you.”
Though he prided himself on having nerves of steel, the man’s relentless psychological assault made his heart ache.
And that wasn’t even the end.
“Kalcon didn’t tell you? The moment you came here, you were done. You died. Wanting to return to the original world is the same as asking to be brought back to life.”
He knew it was grim. Yet it wasn’t entirely bleak—not now that he’d met this man.
‘This is actually fortunate.’
The man’s words rang true. If so, simply walking along the path was merely dying slowly—nothing more and nothing less.
But now he understood the futility of it. And he’d encountered a man who understood that futility.
The best move he could make from here was simple.
“Thank you for telling me. While you’re helping, help me more.”
Dignity and pride mattered little. There was no surer method than asking for help.
* * *
The silver-haired man whose name Chae Mujin did not know picked up the Coke. Chae Mujin pulled out every food item from Earth that was in the Shadow Bag.
Cup Ramen, protein bars, pudding—and more.
Some might exist in the world the man came from, but others certainly did not.
“I thought your mouth might grow weary with only a beverage, so I brought these out.”
“What’s this?”
“Cup Ramen—it’s a noodle dish, like pasta. But this is pasta with broth, you might say.”
“Pasta with broth? Even imagining it seems odd.”
“Odd things are interesting, aren’t they?”
“A fair point. Make some for me.”
The command was as natural as breathing. Yet the man possessed more than enough force and authority to back it up.
Chae Mujin moved without hesitation. He set up the Portable Gas Burner and put a pot of water on to boil.
“Artifacts that produce fire are common, but this one burns hot and stays steady. Not bad.”
“You’re welcome to take it if you wish.”
“Importing items from another dimension violates Dimensional Law. Who are you trying to mess with?”
“My apologies.”
After a quick apology, he poured the boiling water into the Cup Ramen and placed wooden chopsticks across the top.
“Is this some kind of ritual?”
“No. They’re just resting on top so the lid doesn’t let the heat escape.”
“I see.”
“In three minutes, the meal will be ready.”
In the real world, he would have watched something on his phone during those three minutes, passing them leisurely. Here, that wasn’t an option.
With nowhere else to look, he simply stared at the Cup Ramen, though he felt an intense gaze bearing down on him.
Snap.
The man suddenly snapped his fingers.
Time stopped.
How did he remain conscious while time had frozen? It must have been deliberate—the will of the man before him.
“It’s a coincidence, but it’s not.”
“…?”
“I came to the Land of Oblivion by coincidence, but meeting you wasn’t coincidence.”
He couldn’t understand. But what came next confused him even more.
“You feel like kindred spirit. I’m far better-looking and far stronger, so I was curious why I’d feel that way… You’re a Regressor, aren’t you?”
“…!”
“Shocked? Don’t worry. Your friend can’t hear me. I stopped time. Here, there’s only you and me.”
The man had done nothing to him, yet he had instantly identified Chae Mujin as a Regressor.
“We Regressors unconsciously draw to each other. Now it all makes sense.”
“You’re also a Regressor…?”
“I am. Like you, my memories and experiences were preserved intact. How rare that phenomenon is—you probably can’t fathom it. You don’t need to try. One day, whether you want to or not, you’ll understand.”
“So you’re my senior as a Regressor?”
“Senior Regressor? Ha, ha, ha! It seems like maybe being entertaining is a condition for becoming a Regressor.”
Snap.
He snapped his fingers again, and time flowed forward once more.
“Your name was Chae Mujin, right? You’re not fated to die here. That’s why you met me.”
“…To be honest, I don’t believe in destiny.”
“Funny thing about that—I don’t either. That’s why I like to mess with destiny, stirring up trouble. When I see those guys up there getting frustrated, it’s so entertaining. Keke, keke.”
A man who enjoyed defying destiny and causing chaos—and he happened to be the only lifeline that could save him.
Chae Mujin didn’t know whether to consider himself fortunate or doomed.
“Chae Mujin. Destiny exists. But it can be changed. For instance, I could have left you behind instead of saving you.”
“…”
“Of course, destiny doesn’t take it lying down. It manipulates causality to ensure I save you—just as it’s made you appealing to me right now.”
“Are you saying… you’ll save me?”
“Don’t you want to know what happens if I don’t save you? I’m curious.”
Chae Mujin understood now. The man before him was no ordinary Transcendent Being. He was a curious Transcendent Being.
Put kindly, he was curious. But his curiosity, once set loose, would be as fragile as a frog struck by a pebble—and Chae Mujin’s life hung in that balance.
The three minutes had passed. The noodles were perfectly cooked. Tasting the rich broth and tender noodles, the man smiled with obvious satisfaction and spoke as if pronouncing judgment.
“Out of boredom, tell me—what kind of place is Earth?”
And so an unknown Transcendent Being joined their party.
* * *
He, whose name remained unrevealed, asked what Earth was like.
“People are much the same no matter where they live. The difference is, we came from a civilization where science had advanced far. Concepts like Monsters, Magical Power, and Awakeners have only existed for roughly a century.”
“You’re mistaken.”
“About what?”
“Magical Power doesn’t just appear one day. Our universe is ^%$#@.”
Suddenly, noise consumed the rest of his words, rendering them inaudible.
When Chae Mujin didn’t respond, the man spoke again.
“You didn’t hear what I said, did you?”
“You meant to make it sound strange, didn’t you?”
“You’re not yet qualified to hear it. It’s strange, though—for that quality, you’re far too weak.”
By “that,” he meant being a Regressor. He was grateful the man acknowledged Rabbit’s presence, but it stung.
“…My specialty is support, not combat.”
“I gathered. But even accounting for that, you’re weak.”
“Yes, you’re right.”
What objection could he make to a monster who had erased that massive Kraken with a single arrow? He simply nodded quietly.
“But you have potential. You could reach seven-star Prime.”
“I see your world divides strength by stars. On Earth, we rank from F-rank to S-rank.”
“What rank are you on Earth?”
“B-rank.”
“Is that high?”
“It’s not low.”
“You’d be about three-star Knight in our world.”
“Is that high?”
“Rare in a village, common in a city.”
Despite his pride as a top-tier Hunter, hearing “common” deflated him.
“How high is seven-star Prime?”
“It’s the final realm humans can reach.”
“Are you seven-star?”
“You keep calling me Transcendent Being. I have a name, you know?”
“You haven’t told me…”
“My name is ■■■.”
“If you’re not joking, I… I couldn’t hear it.”
“The gods of Earth are so finicky. They won’t even let me share my name without invoking causality. You’re going to have a rough time.”
The tone was comprehensible, but the content was not.
A world only he knew. Chae Mujin didn’t strain to understand. As the man said, it wasn’t something thought could unlock.
“If I may, when will we arrive?”
“We’ve already arrived.”
“…Pardon?”
“There’s nowhere we need to go. The entire Land of Oblivion is it itself.”
“…”
“Hey, King of Oblivion! I know you’re watching. Come out, or do you want to take one hit first?”
Whoosh.
He raised his hand. And from above his head, arrows materialized—those same arrows that had killed the Kraken in a single shot.
But not just one. Light Arrows, dense as a constellation, accumulated in numbers too vast to even estimate.
With a single casual gesture, the man created an apocalypse of annihilation that blotted out the sky.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
The earth shook as though an earthquake had struck, and the ground itself began to warp.
Countless eyes clustered and formed the shape of eyes. Noses and mouths twisted grotesquely into enormous facial features, erupting from the ground. The desolate expanse transformed in an instant into a bizarre garden of flesh.
He was the King of Oblivion.
The sovereign of this place, the Land of Oblivion itself.
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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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