The S-Classes That I Raised - Chapter 546: Delrose (2)
“Did he go looking for Uncle? How did he disappear again? Ah, could he be hiding in the drawer?” Park Yerim whispered so no one else could hear. Han Yuhyun simply shook his head.
“If it were him, he’d head to the island alone rather than hide. He might even get a reward for arriving safely.”
“I can help! You don’t think we’re untrustworthy, do you?”
Han Yuhyun ignored her as if it weren’t worth replying. Han Yujin would never doubt his brother; if anything, he’d slipped away to avoid assistance. Park Yerim lowered her voice further.
“Even with an A-rank stealth buff, we’d have noticed him if he tried to fool us. How did he do it?”
Han Yujin’s stealth was A-rank, but with the Wildcat Jacket buff, even S-ranks might miss it—yet neither Han Yuhyun’s mana sense nor Park Yerim’s magical talent could be evaded so perfectly. Han Yuhyun had no doubt of that.
Hunters receiving the message began glancing their way. Park Yerim dropped her voice so only Han Yuhyun could hear.
“I think Peace followed him. Can’t we call him back with the owner’s token?”
“No. You know that.”
An owner’s token only sways followers, not compels them completely.
“And Peace knows exactly what I want.”
Protecting Han Yujin was Peace’s top priority, just as it was Yujin’s. Their goals matched, so Peace acted freely.
Bang!
The door to the stairwell was flung open roughly. Song Taewon scanned the area and approached at a quick pace.
“Where is Han Yujin?”
“He vanished,” Park Yerim whispered. Song Taewon’s face darkened.
“Don’t worry too much. He’s… Uncle, after all. It’d have been better if he’d come with us, but—”
“If he’d come with us, every hunter in the party would have attacked him. That’s why he disappeared alone. In a live broadcast, seeing an S-rank hunter destroy the city for personal gain wouldn’t look good.”
Even if the organizer took responsibility, the public would only see S-ranks running rampant. It could tarnish Han Yujin’s reputation.
“Then, Uncle—um, Hyun-ah unnie and Noah oppa have arrived on the island. They left as soon as they got the message, but once you go in, you can’t come back out. They each got one gold piece for being first.”
Park Yerim checked her phone.
“Soyeong unnie also left immediately on a bike with Riet unnie. She asked if there was anything she could do to help.”
“It’d be best if Hunter Riet remained on the island. Hunter Seong Hyunjae—”
Mid-sentence, Song Taewon turned. Seong Hyunjae was walking toward them, a silver fairy dragon perched on his shoulder. He surveyed the hunters, then headed for the hotel entrance. Simultaneously…
Clang!
The Sovereign’s Sword arced through the air, cracking the floor black like a drawn line. Sparks flew at Seong Hyunjae’s shoe. He glanced at the fissure, then nonchalantly stepped over it. Then…
Rattle, a chill mist sprayed out and the revolving door froze solid.
“Where are you rushing off to?”
“I appreciate the enthusiasm, but you two aren’t my type. I do try to maintain social boundaries.”
When he said children weren’t his type, Park Yerim raised an eyebrow.
“You’re not mine either! Face-wise I’d pick Han Yuhyun over you—scratch that! There’s Noah oppa too! Anyway, I just want to talk.”
“My date with Han Yujin takes priority, so I hope you understand.”
“I have just as little conscience as you on my ID, Uncle! You did promise, though.”
“There’s an aquarium in New York too.”
As Seong Hyunjae tried to move again, Song Taewon grabbed his arm.
“Please wait.”
“Try a more polite approach. If it were you, I might be swayed.”
As he spoke, light sparked from Seong Hyunjae’s fingertips. Electric currents rippled across the frozen floor, then crash—the glass revolving door shattered. As Seong Hyunjae prepared to leave, Han Gyeol tugged on his ear.
“Don’t go after Dad!”
Gyeol whispered, head buried close, but Seong Hyunjae pressed on. Reporters outside fired flashbulbs.
“Hunter Han Yujin!”
“SF!”
They shouted his name, urging him to claim first place. Then startled cries broke out.
“Get back!”
“Move!”
“Raise shields!”
Hunters waiting among the reporters cast defensive skills. People hurried behind shields, and vroom—a bike roared into the hotel entrance.
“Korean hunters! Where did you hide the F-ranks?”
A hunter leapt off the bike and, using its momentum, kicked it. The massive bike flew toward Seong Hyunjae like a missile. But he stood his ground. Instead, Song Taewon intercepted it.
With a raised leg, Song Taewon drove down on the bike, cleaving it like a giant cutter. It split in two, wrecking on the ground. At the same time, Park Yerim froze it to prevent fire.
“Perfect timing! Yes!”
“……”
“You said you’d go with Song! There are reporters everywhere!”
Song Taewon ignored Park Yerim’s grumbling about “American style.” Meanwhile, Han Yuhyun leapt off the Willow Leaf and swung his sword at the charging hunter. The hunter dodged, but a long slash across his chest appeared. Han Yuhyun stood firm, flicked his wrist, and the black sword transformed into a fine blade. It arced down, landing inches from the hunter’s feet. He could have split him in two but held back. The sword retracted and Han Yuhyun turned away without a word.
“It seems he doesn’t want this to escalate, so I’ll cooperate.”
“Me too. Should we freeze Mr. Seong first?”
“I thought this little lady was on my side.”
“Thank you, Hunter Han Yuhyun, Hunter Park Yerim. Hunter Seong Hyunjae, please assist as well, for now.”
Song Taewon lowered his voice.
“I think it’d be best if Han Yujin pretended to remain in the hotel.”
“I’ll slip out quietly, holding a fake doll. We’ll lure them to the park lake, freeze them all, then head to the island.”
At Park Yerim’s suggestion that any fight there wouldn’t matter, Song Taewon nodded. Park Yerim glanced at the reporters filming beyond the shield, then returned inside.
“I’ll block the entrance!”
Park Yerim pointed, and Han Yuhyun’s sword flew. Water surged up and an immense ice wall encircled the hotel.
The Wildcat set. It had taken many points to assemble the full set, so I’d left the last two pieces in my inventory. Since only I could use them, I hesitated to spend points. When I ended up attending Chatterbox’s party alone, I asked a newbie if the items were worth using.
They went off with the gun, jacket, and shoes and soon returned.
[These are transcendent-related items!]
White-tailed Delowz. Once an ordinary cat, it became transcendent after devouring a dragon. The Wildcat series were items Seong Hyunjae obtained from a transcendent in a Japanese dungeon. …So “wildcat” turned out to be a cat. The jacket’s skill was named “Cat,” so suspicions arose. It made sense why the remaining set suddenly appeared—it was the reward for Seong Hyunjae capturing Delowz.
[The stats for the gloves and belt aren’t confirmed yet. These aren’t original items—they’re symbolic items that appear when Honey enters the Delowz-related world with the items I gave her, made based on named transcendent beings…]
The newbie’s lengthy explanation concluded that since the system hadn’t registered them, they couldn’t verify exact stats. But transcendent items seemed worth the points. Being rental-bound, their point cost was low for their rank.
Thus, I acquired the last Wildcat pieces.
[Spotted Wildcat Gloves ? S-rank
Black half-gloves with white-trim removed. Infused with a fierce beast’s power.
Sharp Claws (A) – Fingernails sharpen, increasing attack speed
※Rented-bound to Han Yujin]
These black half-gloves had a combat skill. Since Sharp Claws was A-rank and only boosted speed, the claws weren’t very powerful even at double effect—more of a speed assist. For top hunters it’d be great; for me, nearly worthless—until {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} I realized the attack speed buff applied to any weapon.
‘It means I can wield others’ weapons and still get the buff.’
The gloves doubled any attack skill’s effect while boosting weapon speed.
[Spotted Wildcat Belt ? S-rank
A soft, slender belt. Infused with a nimble beast’s power.
Flexibility (A) – Body becomes more flexible, enhancing jumping and landing
※Rented-bound to Han Yujin]
This black belt with a white buckle enhanced physical abilities. Normally such secondary skills scale to the wearer, but for me, even A-rank-level enhancement felt huge compared to S-ranks.
I was satisfied with both items. When I equipped all five, the set effect activated.
[You have equipped all the gear of the Young White-Tailed Delowz.]
[“The Dragon-Swallowing Cat” reacts to the “Dragon Slayer” title!]
[Set Skill ? White-Tail Delowz (A), Dragon Expert (F)]
[Dragon Expert detects wearer’s affiliated dragons!]
[Dragon Expert skill rank increases to C!]
Because they’d slain the same dragon, the Dragon Slayer title triggered a new set skill and upgraded Dragon Expert. Affiliated dragons likely meant Noah, Comet, Mar—and maybe Yirin and Han Gyeol.
[Dragon Expert (C) – Gain information on dragon species: slay, eat, raise, etc.]
[White-Tail Delowz (A) – Perfectly transform into Delowz from young to transcendent. Stats unchanged. Can use Delowz’s skills per rank.]
Both felt underwhelming. Dragon Expert could help against dragons, but I rarely did raids. And transforming into Delowz…
‘…What’s the point if my stats stay the same?’
At F-rank, it’d still feel paper-thin. A young Delowz was…
‘…Just a cat.’
I recalled before leaving for America, gazing up at tall buildings. Between them, the sky was shards of blue. Lowering my head, I saw two small front paws. The spotted gloves made the paws white. The black jacket covered my body, the white gun became my tail, and then the boots…
I examined the cat pads—normally pink, but when I used the sleek suction skill…
‘…’
They sparkled gold. Opposite of the boots. The spotted belt’s black hid it, but the buckle and belly fur were white spots. When I’d transformed at home before, I panicked and reverted immediately, so I hadn’t looked closely.
‘Seong Hyunjae’s tail was pure white—so does the transcendent become a giant white cat?’
Anyway, thanks to this I slipped out of the hotel safely. When Yerim found me, I thought I’d been discovered, but with perfect transformation, even S-ranks didn’t recognize me.
‘I haven’t told the kids about this.’
So… it was embarrassing to reveal the set skill. Especially afraid Yerim would find out. At home they’d probably beg me to stay a cat. She’d put a ribbon on me, dress me up, and soon I’d have more cat clothes than human ones—lace, frills, every color.
I had to keep it hidden as long as possible. No catching me.
Recalling my Manhattan map, I turned into an alley. As Delowz, I couldn’t use active skills—perfect transformation changed my mana flow. Passive skills like poison resistance and item skills still worked, thankfully.
‘I wish I could stealth.’
But no harm—just a cat. Eloquence remained. The Wildcat set felt like part of me; other clothes and my phone seemed stored safely. After reverting at home, I was still dressed. Eloquence became a necklace. Other items went into inventory.
In short:
‘…Don’t think about it.’
Animals don’t wear clothes; fur is their clothing. Yeah, no more detailed thoughts.
I just needed to get far from the hotel, revert to human, hide my face, hail a taxi, and… reach the island before the deadline. No one said “be on time.”
As long as I don’t get caught—
–Rrrr, rrrr.
A low feline sound reached me. There must be stray cats in New York, of course. But why angry?
–Rrrr, nyah!
Suddenly something dark leapt before me. A large tabby cat. Greeting seemed wrong—its ears were flattened and its tail puffed… Wait.
‘Is this… territory invasion?’
I was a strange cat to it. The tabby glared unhappily. An intruder ignoring warnings. How were my ears and tail? Um, excuse me, I don’t speak cat…
–Nya, myah…
I tried a clumsy sound; the tabby flicked its ears and bared its mouth.
–Hiss!
It growled. Another cat peeked from a crack. No, hey—I don’t want to fight, I just want to pass. I lifted a paw.
–?! Rrrr!
The tabby swung its paw too. Oops, wait. I surrender, I surrender. I flipped onto my back, exposing my belly, and looked away. See, I don’t want to fight—have a meal.
The tabby advanced, still growling. Should I fight a cat? As I considered fleeing…
…!
The tabby and the other cats abruptly shrieked and bolted. Puzzled, I tried to rise when a red-furred paw pressed on my belly.
–Meow!
Peace?
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