S-Class Except Me

Author: rolypoly

Since it was the first day of the opening, there were so many people at the expo.

Various media outlets visited to convey the heat of the scene. Streamers were often seen holding action cams and broadcasting live.

“Everyone! I’ve arrived at the Haniel Expo to see Bobby’s new work in person!”

“There are a lot of Koreans, too.”

Haeun, who managed to buy a balloon, whispered to Seo Dojoon.

Even that person was a streamer that Haeun often saw on YouTube.

“Was the channel name Hunter TV….”

“Is it a famous person?”

“He doesn’t have a lot of subscribers, but he often comes in through the algorithm.”

Haeun pressed down on the fedora she had been using to block the sunlight.

‘Because there’s nothing wrong with being careful.’

There’s no reason for me to be captured on YouTube while I hang out with Seo Dojoon.

However, if there is one thing Haeun should have noticed, it was that it was difficult to expect fewer Koreans to participate in such a globally famous and crowded event.

Furthermore, avoiding Koreans was not the only thing.

「Oh my, honey. I think you’re sexy?」

Some people just flirted with Seo Dojoon’s handsome looks.

「Are you here alone? Do you want to hang out with us?」

Women with cola bottles gave Seo Dojoon a seductive wink. It seems that Haeun is attached like an old tree cicada right next to him, and they can’t see her.

[The Constellation ‘Mutant of the Abyss’ says it should cover Dojoon, not Haeun.]

‘He already covered enough.’

He wore plain clothes and wore sunglasses. Although he didn’t even wear a hat.

So what’s the problem?

“Seo Dojoon-ssi, can you bend down for a moment?”

Seo Dojoon was puzzled and followed Haeun’s words. Haeun reached out and ruffled Seo Dojoon’s hair.

When she pulled all of his hair down so that his forehead wasn’t showing, his impression of a handsome man softened slightly.

Thinking that his hair was softer than she thought, Haeun put the fedora she was wearing on Seo Dojoon’s head. 

“Hmm.”

Somehow, it seems he has become more of a fashion person. 

Haeun, who was worried, took off the sunglasses Seo Dojoon was wearing and put on the childish-shaped sunglasses she bought as a souvenir. 

She put a large teen badge on his shirt and held the helium balloon she was holding in Seo Dojoon’s hand.

“Pft.” 

Haeun held back her laughter. Now, a person who enjoys the expo with his whole body has been born. She thought it would be perfect if he wore a commemorative T-shirt with <I ♡ Haniel> written on it.

“Seo Dojoon-ssi, would you like to change into this?” 

Haeun, who had just bought a commemorative T-shirt from the newsstand, pushed the clothes to Seo Dojoon. Seo Dojoon looked at Haeun with suspicious eyes. 

“If you disappear in the meantime….” 

“I’ll never do that! Hurry up and go. Come on, I’ll stand in front of the bathroom.”

Seo Dojoon was suspicious but eventually received a T-shirt.

Left alone outside the bathroom, Haeun giggled. 

“Ah, that’s funny.”

[The Constellation ‘Mutant of the Abyss’ says Haeun is very into playing with dolls.] 

“No, he look like an American countryman who came to the expo for the first time.”

[The Constellation ‘Mutant of the Abyss’ refutes that isn’t it Haeun who turned the normal Seo Dojoon into a nerd.]

“That’s right. No, but didn’t it suit him well?”

[The Constellation ‘Mutant of the Abyss’ agrees.] 

[He evaluates him as a nerd who came to the city for the first time after studying all his life and came across newspapers.]

Haeun giggled at the honest evaluation. But then, she heard a familiar voice in her ears.

「Grandpa! I want to go over there.」

「If our Soyeon wants to go, we should go.」

Haeun turned her head around. And she immediately raised her eyes fiercely.

Baek Soyeon, in her wheelchair, passed with Baek Doohan, not far away from Haeun. They were smiling cheerfully as they walked towards a large building. 

[The Constellation ‘Mutant of the Abyss’ shouts that Baek Soyeon is over there.] 

Haeun, worried that she might miss Baek Soyeon, whom she met by chance, tried to follow them.

However, someone caught Haeun from behind. Seo Dojoon, who changed his clothes before she knew it, looked down at Haeun with a frown.

“Haeun-ssi, where are you going….” 

Haeun exclaimed urgently.

“Let’s go over there!”

“…Experience Zone?” 

“Hurry up.” 

Haeun entered the building with quick steps. She quickly turned her head to find Baek Soyeon.

She couldn’t come out in front of Baek Soyeon right now, so she didn’t know why her heart was beating so fast. Her instinctive senses told her she shouldn’t miss Baek Soyeon here.

“Found it!” 

Haeun found Baek Soyeon again in front of the simple dungeon experience set that Haeun found Baek Soyeon again.

It was a simple course to experience a space that reproduced the ecosystem of the dungeon by riding a boat floating on the waterway. There are no risk factors at all. Monsters and trees are all models.

Seo Dojoon also found Baek Soyeon. He looked back at Haeun with a betrayed face.

“Haeun, did you mean to come here for this?”

“Shh. be quiet. What if I get caught?”

“Why on earth are you following Baek Soyeon—ugh.”
 

Surprised by Baek Soyeon’s sudden turn around, Haeun grabbed Seo Dojoon and hid behind the stand. Haeun covered Seo Dojoon’s mouth with both hands.

“I will explain later. It’s really important. You can’t get caught.”

“Haeun-ah? What are you doing there?”

“Dad?” 

Coincidentally, Jung Jinho, who was walking around the fair with Haniel’s staff, saw Haeun and approached her. Haeun looked frustrated.

‘Why is everyone suddenly coming in?’

Jung Jinho opened his eyes when he saw the two of them close together. 

“What are you doing now? Don’t get too attached to my daughter.”

“Hunter Jung Jinho, that’s not it….”

“And clothes, what the hell are they? Where do you get those sunglasses….” 

Seo Dojoon suddenly felt embarrassed and took off the sunglasses Haeun had put on him.

Leaving the two men chatting away, Haeun focused her attention on Baek Soyeon. 

In fact, Ha-eun’s current behavior was excessive. She couldn’t even decide what to do when she met Baek Soyeon, but she followed her recklessly. Now, if Haeun steps in front of Baek Soyeon, she might faint again and reject Haeun. 

However, Haeun couldn’t ignore the ominous feeling that continuously stimulated her whole nerves. 

「Welcome! Welcome. Brave friend.」

At the entrance of the experience zone, a man greeted Baek Soyeon and Baek Doohan. He was wearing a deeply pressed safari hat and a red floral printed shirt against a sky-blue background.

The man smiled and asked.

「Who will be the great hero to attack Dungeon today?」

Baek Soyeon, who was sitting in a wheelchair, raised her hand.

「Me!」

「Do you have room for a wheelchair inside? Maybe it’s dangerous…」

「Of course, there is. No need to worry. If you go inside, a guide will come out separately.」

Baek Doohan pushed Baek Soyeon’s wheelchair. Haeun, who was far away, looked at Baek Soyeon as she went inside. The man opened the door. 

At that moment, an eerie energy alerted Haeun’s senses. Haeun hurriedly shouted.

“Don’t go in!”

“Huh?” 

Haeun ran toward the two. However, Baek Soyeon and Baek Doohan were already halfway through the door.

Seo Dojoon and Jung Jinho grabbed Haeun’s hand as she ran out at the same time.

And at that moment.

[SYSTEM: You’ve entered the dungeon]

What?!

Thud—.

Haeun and the party were linked to another space as the door closed. 

*****

The background that is scattered like powder in front of her eyes is not reality, but fantasy. 

It is the past and an extension of dreams. 

Space diagram, flow diagram, and energy diagram. Everything surrounding Haeun was terribly familiar. Because she had already recalled, suffered, and regretted the past countless times. 

And in that past, there were two people.

“W, wake up.” 

It was a frightened voice. A pale golden haze rose from the ground. Like white foam broken by the waves, the ability to lose control overflowed everywhere.

There is a child lying in it, and Haeun is collapsed on her knees.

The young Haeun shook the child’s body with trembling hands. The young child’s face was pale with no color.

“C, can I pull this out?”

She can’t pull it out. The child will die as it is when she pulls it out. 

“Then, uh, what should I do? Ugh.”

Hot tears flowed down the young Haeun’s cheeks.

Her eyes were on the huge claws piercing the child’s belly. Red blood flowed from the child’s pierced body. Sometimes when blood burst out, the child gasped and groaned in agony.

Haeun bit her lower lip while watching the tragedy that had already passed one step away.

Haeun still remembered the proposal the Constellation gave her that day.

[Rather than making them suffer forever, you give them the end]

The young Haeun shakes her head hard, perhaps because she heard the same whisper. Kill, she can’t do that.

However, it was the same that the child would die even if she stayed still.

The dungeon has not yet been attacked, and the gate to escape to the outside will never open unless the raid is completed. She never knows when the rescue team from outside will come.

While her head was white with fear, a single solution to this problem flashed through her mind. It’s not safe, but maybe she can survive.

A golden mirage rose around the young Haeun. The energy spread around Haeun soon filled the interior of the dungeon. It was like a giant vortex.

Feeling like a conductor leading the orchestra, Haeun controlled her abilities.

I couldn’t save you, but I wish someone else could.

The light containing Haeun’s wish was compressed into one on the child’s body. Until the energy that was like a huge sphere at first became smaller and smaller into a dot.

As soon as Haeun opened her fist, the compressed force expanded instantly and exploded. The surroundings were all golden.

When the light disappeared, neither the child who was lying on the floor nor the young Haeun was there.

There are only Haeun, Jung Jinho, and Seo Dojoon.

It’s a reality.

“Haeun-ah! Are you okay?!”

‘Crazy.’

Why does it keep reminding her of the past?

To be careful not to repeat the same thing?

For that purpose, there couldn’t have been a better time than now. Because Haeun was currently in the dungeon.

As soon as Baek Soyeon went over the ordinary entrance, Haeun felt an ominous energy that couldn’t be ignored.

She was trying to stop Baek Soyeon and Baek Doohan before they were dragged away, but instead, she was pushed and caught up with them instantly.

What has become different?

Obviously, the place Baek Soyeon wanted to enter was an ordinary dungeon experience course.

It is a kind of exhibition hall that reproduces the dungeon with a model so that non-Awakened people can experience it indirectly.

However, the environment changed as soon as a man wearing a Hawaiian shirt, which is common on the beach, opened the door.

This wasn’t a sudden gate. Rather, it was closer to being moved to another dungeon.

And what’s more serious is—.

[SYSTEM: View the information about the dungeon you entered]

[Angel’s Silence (S)

Number of people allowed to enter: 6/6

Clear Condition: Gather the tears of God’s Abandoned Archangel to understand his despair. If you don’t understand the despair, you can’t escape.

Reward: Angel’s Blessing (S)

Case of Failure: Death]

‘S-Class???’

What kind S-Class Dungeon are they talking about?