SSS-Class Revival Hunter - Chapter 131

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 131: The Wasteland (1)

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“I know it may have been presumptuous of me, but I have taken care of the incident involving my brother-in-law.”

After the commotion died down, we gathered around the dining table. Yoo Soo-Ha's eye was swollen black and blue, while a lump bulged from my head. My master had scolded me and given me a whack...

“To handle such incidents, they should be suppressed early on or buried in time. The latter is usually preferred, but the timing was bad this time. The political sphere was quiet, and brother-in-law’s concert was scheduled in 10 days.”

Raviel skillfully picked pieces from the seasoned cockles with her chopsticks. Swish, swish. Raviel was there, using chopsticks.

She existed.

‘She’s beautiful.’

Ah, I was thankful for the invention of chopsticks. Chopsticks must feel honored to be used by Raviel. Despite the frustration and twist in my gut that a scumbag like Yoo Soo-Ha is referred to as "brother-in-law."

“……My boyfriend.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t stare so intensely.”

Raviel spoke as if troubled.

“Look away. Or bow your head. I’m speaking to your parents right now. I don’t want to show such impropriety in front of my boyfriend's parents.”

“Yes….”

I obediently bowed my head and just ate my meal… What’s with this cockle salad? It’s damn delicious! Was it really prepared by the Guardian Spirit? Does he have a knack for cooking too? My world is shaking....

“Ah. But please stop calling him brother-in-law. That guy doesn’t deserve to be called that by Raviel. Just call him scumbag.”

“You, you brat. You’ve lost your manners since I last saw you, haven’t you?”

“Hmm.”

My master slowly sipped her drink.

“It’s somewhat surprising, Raviel. I understand you’re doing this for Gong-Ja, but as you know, Soo-Ha and Gong-Ja don’t get along well. Was it necessary to use your family’s power to help Soo-Ha?”

“There was no need.”

Raviel spoke calmly.

“I just wanted to show you something.”

“Show us? What do you mean?”

“You both may be underestimating our love. To you, it’s just a fling for a chaebol's daughter. A pleasant memory of high school. An experience in life. Whether it’s in a good or bad sense, you must be thinking that way.”

Raviel’s voice flowed over the dining table.

“But I’m serious. I intend to welcome you as my new family with all seriousness. There’s opposition to our relationship in my family, but I’ll crush all those objections. Dealing with this incident was to show you my capability and determination.”

"......."

“Please grant us permission to marry. Mother. Father.”

My master chuckled wryly.

“...A girl far better than my son deserves has come to him. Thank you. It is a strange thing, seeing my son loved. Still, I did not raise him in vain.”

Master.

“Wow, so now we’re becoming a chaebol's in-laws? Ha, my singing career is over. Over. Hey, sister-in-law! There are singers breaking into China these days. Could you maybe...”

“Soo-Ha, if you cause trouble one more time, I will erase you from the family register. Know that I am prepared to sever the bond between parent and child. No, even that is not enough. Go to the person you assaulted and bow your head. Kneel and obtain their forgiveness. Until they forgive you, I will not recognize you as family.”

“Mom, what!?”

I quietly observed the scene at the table.

"......."

A home.

Parents.

Things I never had.

After officially receiving permission to marry, Raviel left. We even set a date for the meeting of families. The Guardian Spirit even exclaimed, “Haha! I should get a suit tailored for my son! This is happening faster than I thought!”

"......."

My master and the Guardian Spirit’s professions were writers. After Raviel left, the house quieted down, and the sounds of their work gently filled the still living room.

My master wrote with a pencil. With a cup of coffee by her side, she occasionally scribbled a few words on the manuscript, deeply lost in thought. Her profile, immersed in thought, was serene.

The Guardian Spirit wrote on a typewriter. Clack, clack. The low rhythm of the keys echoed through the room. As he wrote, the Guardian Spirit kept scowling like a pissed-off otter. From time to time, he went to the kitchen and mixed himself a cocktail.

"......."

A quiet world.

‘Why?’

Even as I went to school the next morning, I couldn’t understand.

‘Why is this the trauma of the Constellation Killer?’

On the way to school, students in uniforms passed by. They all looked familiar or somehow known.

“Good morning, senior!”

Among them were students who bowed respectfully upon seeing me. Loosely buttoned shirts. Tight trousers. Shortened skirts. Those who seemed rebellious bowed to me.

“Did you sleep well last night!”

“……The Four Demon Lords?”

They were none other than the followers of the Demonic Cult.

A middle-school student, spitting image of Moon Shadow Demon, tilted their head.

“The Four Demon Lords? We're the Four Heavenly Kings of Shinseo Middle and High School, Senior.”

“Crazy……"

In this world, are the Four Demon Lords just delinquents? Am I the leader of these delinquents? Then am I the school thug who dates the chaebol girl and student council president?

This is madness.

“You guys... Why do you act like thugs? Stop it. Study or something. Forget studying, just disband whatever delinquent group or whatever you have.”

“We've been behaving lately! When you started dating the hottest girl in school, you told us to lie low whenever possible! We are lying low! Because of you, Senior, we can't even casually force kids to run bread errands anymore!”

“That’s not what I mean... Never mind. The Four Kings, you say? And you guys, do you really call Raviel the queen? This is crazy.”

“Don’t speak formally, senior! It’s scary!”

The craziness continued even after I entered the classroom.

“Attention. Bow to the teacher!”

The Black Dragon Master was our class president. The neat appearance alone made the Black Dragon Master look every inch a model student.

“Okay. Class president, collect the phones.”

“Yes!”

“Anyone hiding them will face my wrath. Got it?”

And Viper was our homeroom teacher. Looking more like a gangster than any teacher, Viper swaggered atop the platform with a switch in one hand.

‘I’m going nuts.’

The Black Dragon Master walked around the classroom with a storage box. Students voluntarily or reluctantly handed over their phones. Not smartphones, but flip phones or slide phones.

"......."

And the Black Dragon Master just passed by my seat without a word.

Silently.

‘Huh?’

Looking around, I was the only student the Black Dragon Master skipped without a word. Countess (a classmate!) and Paladin (also a classmate!) obediently handed over their phones.

“Uh... class president?”

The title felt unfamiliar on my tongue. Hearing my voice, the Black Dragon Master turned around. Calm black eyes looked at me.

“What is it?”

“You didn’t take my phone… Here.”

I stood and placed my phone in the storage box. Speaking informally to the Black Dragon Master felt deeply uncomfortable. Apparently I was not the only one surprised, because the Black Dragon Master stared at me as though my action was wholly unexpected.

“...Right. Princess Pyeonggang is reforming Fool Ondal.*”

*References the folklore of Princess Pyonggang who was married off to an idiot.

“What?”

“Nothing, forget it.”

The Black Dragon Master shook her head lightly and walked to the front row.

On the podium, Viper the teacher was smirking.

“Look at that. The great Gong-Ja hands over his phone. Kids, take note! You don’t need nagging or a cane to change a person. Just love. When you go to college, earnestly look for your significant other.”

Paladin raised a hand.

“Teacher, Gong-Ja said he’s going to Seoul National University. He told me seriously.”

“Strange, he told me he’s going to Oxford.”

The Countess chuckled.

“The student council president is going abroad for study. He said he’d follow her no matter what.”

“Hmm. So his safe choice is Seoul National University and his ambitious choice is Oxford. Truly Gong-Ja, a man with a different level of standards...”

The students giggled. It seemed the mood in the class was mainly driven by Paladin and Countess, with Countess chuckling.

“Class president, be careful. You might lose your top rank.”

“……Unnecessary meddling.”

The Black Dragon Master replied curtly.

Despite wearing a uniform, everyone had familiar faces, making me feel odd.

No.

Not everyone.

"......."

In the back row. A seat by the window.

There, the student I had encountered yesterday on the rooftop stairway was sitting. The student had a notebook open and was quietly writing something.

‘A classmate, huh.’

The wind blew through the window.

The curtain fluttered.

The child was small enough to be almost hidden by the curtain. Thus, the student appeared and disappeared between the curtains. The thin curtain, like a veil, seemed to distance the child a few steps from the classroom.

“Ah, hello. Everyone…?”

Someone entered the classroom at that moment.

“The first period is math... isn’t it?”

“Yes, teacher.”

“Th-then, let’s start the lesson….”

It was the Apothecary.

‘Nothing surprises me anymore.’

Right. After the Four Demon Lords were crowned and the Flame Emperor turned out to be my own brother, what more could surprise me?

Even Preta and Goldencup formed an idol group and sang with the Flame Emperor. The Apothecary being a math teacher is nothing. Yes, indeed….

The day passed by quickly.

“It’s big bro Gong-Ja!”

“Brother Gong-Ja! Let's play together!”

At lunchtime, as I left the cafeteria, middle school students swarmed around me. Floor 10. The children from [Hide-and-Seek in the Hellfire Mansion].

"......."

“Lately you're only studying! Play with us too!”

“Let’s play soccer, soccer!”

The children, who had been tortured to death despite having committed no sin, were now middle school students, smiling brightly.

I felt a bit suffocated.

“……Sure. Let’s play together.”

In the schoolyard where the high school and middle school stood side by side, I played with the kids.

An old security guard was standing at the school gate. It was NamGung Woon, the Head of the Martial Alliance.

In the afternoon, during the physical education class, I saw elementary school students leaving school beyond the gate. They were the apostles of [The Immortal Missionary of Happiness]. The elementary students paired up in twos and threes, some holding hands with their partners, passing by the ginkgo tree-lined road.

"......."

I don’t know.

I really don’t know.

Even though the last class ended, I didn’t go home. I just sat blankly on a bench in the schoolyard, watching the students leave.

‘Everyone is alive.’

In this world, the Guardian Spirit was not a ghost. He was alive. I could not begin to imagine what sort of novel he wrote... but he lived his life as a writer.

My master, she is also alive.

The children from the mansion are alive.

Even the Flame Emperor, whose rotten personality had not changed, lived as a human being who whined to his parents and got himself thoroughly scolded. Preta too. Even Goldencup.

Among the students leaving school earlier, there were familiar faces. Hunters who were eaten by tentacle monsters as examples for challenging the Holed-Up Head Librarian. Even nameless hunters were alive, passing by on their way home.

‘Is this Leafanta Aegim’s trauma?’

A gentle everyday life, isn’t it?

A happy hypothesis, isn't it?

Which part of this world resembles hell?

“You were here, boyfriend.”

I turned my head.

Raviel approached behind me with a smile.

“Raviel….”

“Your face looks troubled. I was worried something happened because you didn’t answer your phone. It’s not good to unnecessarily worry your lover.”

“Ah."

I hurriedly took out my phone and turned it on. I had forgotten to switch it on after getting it back after school.

“I’m sorry. I was just a little distracted….”

“What could have shaken my boyfriend’s heart? Ideally, apart from me, nothing in this world should cause even a ripple in your heart.”

I leaned my head back slightly. Raviel leaned forward. Separated by the backrest of the bench, we shared a moment of breath.

“Raviel.”

“Hmm.”

“Do you know the names of my parents, by any chance?”

Raviel blinked.

“Of course.”

“Can you tell me now?”

“Mother’s surname is So with BaekHyang being her given name. She has the characters for “White” and “Fragrance” in her name*,”

*‘Baek’ means the color white and “Hyang” means fragrance in korean.

And then.

“Father’s surname is ■ with ■ and ■ in his name."

"......."

Silence.

When Raviel mentioned Guardian Spirit’s name, noise like static covered the sound.

‘Ah.’

Of course.

I did not know Guardian Spirit’s real name.

If this were a dream... it wouldn’t specify facts I didn’t know.

‘As expected.’

Today. During the break.

I flipped through the attendance book placed on the classroom podium.

To see if names like Black Witch or Paladin were written.

But….

Roll No. 1. Kim Gong-Ja

Roll No. 2. ■■■

Roll No. 3. ■■

Roll No. 4. ■■■

Roll No. 5. ■■■

Most names were not written.

Even if I tried to find out, I couldn’t recognize them.

As if someone blackened them out with scribbles.

“……Raviel. It might sound strange, but I’m anxious. You’re a young lady from a wealthy family. Logically, in a school like this, with someone like me, it’s impossible for you to be spending your school days.”

“I find your words unsettling. What are you talking about?”

“Maybe. Just maybe, all of this……"

Buzz buzz.

My phone vibrated.

1 unread message.

Sender: ■■

An ominous feeling overwhelmed me.

“Sorry, Raviel. Just a moment.”

I opened the phone.

A moment later, words appeared on the screen.

Compared to a smartphone, the screen was cramped.

I am the one you murdered.