S-Class Except Me

“I’m sorry, Noona. I didn’t mean to deceive you. He really did come and said.” 

“Sehyunie, aren’t you lying when you said you didn’t know where is Guild Leader Hwang Soomin until now?” 

“No, I really didn’t know that either.”

“Oh, are you looking for me? I’m sorry.” 

It’s a leisurely reaction for someone who ate the boss monster in the dungeon <The Mansion of Nebiros> and ran away. Hwang Soomin apologized with a face that he really didn’t know.

“I’ve been a bit busy lately. And today, if Miss Haeun says it’s difficult to make time, I was just going to go back~ Sehyun is just following orders as a guild member, so please don’t scold him too much.”

Like his first appearance, he is a man who does whatever he wants. Haeun sighed and touched her forehead.

The three decided to move first.

She wanted to go to a cafe, but it was impossible. They are Jung Haeun, Jung Sehyun, and Hwang Soomin. If it were these people, everyone would pay close attention to them. Besides, isn’t there a big dog too?

In addition, Haeun, who had questions for Hwang Soomin, needed to find a place where there were no people.

“Uhm, what about there? It looks fine.” 

The place Hwang Soomin suggested was the middle school where Haeun, Jung Eunwoo, and Jung Sehyun attended. On the weekends, the schoolyard was open to alleviate parking difficulties for nearby residents, so they could enter.

Three people sat facing each other on a bench set up under a wisteria tree. The excited dog panted in the wide-open area. Hwang Soomin untied the dog’s leash. 

“You can’t go far.”

Woof! 

The Golden Retriever barked as if he knew and ran excitedly across the wide playground. He seems to be enjoying his freedom by digging the soil with his feet. It was a freedom that was possible because there was no one in the schoolyard. 

Haeun looked around the school carefully.

It’s been a long time since she has been here, but nothing has changed. The indoor gym where gymnastics was taught in the past still remains. She doesn’t know if the gymnastics club still exists, but when Haeun was young, there were quite a few sports clubs running at this school.

However, Haeun’s eyes were dry as she looked around the school. 

Haeun was sensitive when she was in middle school, and her sensitivity was at its highest when the topics of family and hunter came up.

Above all, after the ‘gym gate incident’ occurred, there were quite a few days when she didn’t attend due to the aftereffects of the accident.

It was during the third year of middle school that she was about to move on to high school, so she moved with various pretexts such as high school uniforms and entrance exams.

Eventually, she moved back to this neighborhood.

‘Still, I didn’t expect to come to school.’

To put it bluntly, she thinks she had more bad memories in middle school. And on the contrary, it seems that she was happier in high school, when she lived hiding the fact of her awakening and the existence of the Hunter family.

Haeun frowned at the memories that came to mind.

“Miss Haeun.”

“Yes.”

“Did you know? Many of the elementary school grounds were actually cemeteries before.”

Hwang Soomin brought up a rather random story to Haeun.

Isn’t this a ghost story so common that any Korean student can say that he was educated in an elementary school that used to be a cemetery in the past? Haeun replied coldly.

“That’s a lie.”

“I’m not lying. That’s really the case. “

“…Really?”

“Yes. Only bright souls can control the ghosts of the dead. The sound of children’s laughter is that power. There may have been reasons why cemeteries are cheap, but there are definitely spiritual reasons.”

She got goosebumps on her arms. It seemed that the person she was talking to was a necromancer who ruled over the dead.

“By the way…”

Hwang Soomin glanced around as if someone was overhearing their conversation. Then he leaned over to Haeun and secretly whispered to her.

“I think it’s the same here.”

“Really?!”

“No, I’m kidding.”

“Whoa.”

Haeun, who had been fooled for a moment, frowned. Hwang Soomin smiled as he seemed to be having fun.

Jung Sehyun seemed calm as if he was familiar with the eccentricities of his guild leader. Are these people the future of the Dawn Guild? The future of the Dawn Guild must be very bright.

Hwang Soomin shook his head.

“I was joking because Miss Haeun’s expression looked so serious~.”

“That’s enough. More than that, why did you run away by yourself? Thanks to that, I almost got framed.”

As the dungeon’s boss monster belonged to Hwang Soomin, the owner of the dungeon, which was running fine, changed. In other words, it was now a completely new dungeon.

If the system window had not informed that all these changes that day were due to the actions of Hunter Hwang Soomin, Haeun would have been left without a hitch.

To Haeun’s displeasure, Hwang Soomin answered as if it was not a big deal.

“I couldn’t help it because it suddenly lost connection. It seemed like my clicker died that day.”

“Undead is dying?”

“As the dungeon changed, the existence itself disappeared. Somehow, the new owner doesn’t seem to like the undead. Ah~ That’s why I had a hard time. If it bounces off suddenly, my body hurts.”

‘It’s not normal even now,’ Hwang Soomin said in pain, looking completely normal.

Ignoring his fake illness, Haeun continued by asking what she was worried about.

“Then what about Nebiros? Nebiros didn’t disappear,  right?”

“He’s doing well. The devil is an exception.”

“Did Guild Leader Hwang Soomin know that dungeons change when you make a boss monster into a follower?”

“I’ve tried it before. Boss monsters are at least the strongest monsters in that dungeon, so it’s a waste to just throw them away like garbage, right? But that’s what consumes a lot of my mana.  It takes a lot of mana to maintain it. That’s why I don’t do it often.”

“No, if you knew, you should have told me in advance….”

So, she should have thought about it before making a decision. Boss monsters don’t die forever, they come back to life when the dungeon is reset. It may be necessary to wait until it resets, but it is not urgent and there is no reason not to wait.

Hwang Soomin shrugged at Haeun’s dissatisfaction.

“But Miss Haeun was in a situation where you needed Nebiros, right?”

“That’s true, but…”

“It’s a boss monster in a B-class dungeon, so I decided it would be okay to have it as a member of my group. I also had a chance to get help from Miss Haeun. So don’t regret the past~” 

Jung Sehyun, who had been listening quietly at that time, suddenly interrupted.

“Guild leader, I think you need to regret it.”

“Why is our Sehyun suddenly upset?”

“Did you see the 13 billion won damage compensation complaint from the Ahyeon Guild?”

“Ah, I saw it. I met Guild Leader Seo Dojoon today. And it’s not 13 billion, but 15 billion.”

“What? Why?!”

“It suddenly increased, but I don’t know why.”

Jung Sehyun touched his forehead as if he was dizzy. His originally white face had turned pale.

More than that, 15 billion? It was enough money to buy at least one building Haeun wanted.

It was a pity for her younger brother Jung Sehyun, a member of the Dawn Guild, but Haeun thought it was a blessing because Seo Dojoon’s arrow wasn’t directed at her.

“By the way, Miss Haeun. I heard a funny story in the dungeon that day.”

Haeun turned her head. Her eyes met Hwang Soomin’s.

“What is a ‘Constellation’?”

Unlike the raised corners of the mouth, the eyes behind the glasses weren’t smiling at all. For a moment, she was so shocked that her heart sank.

How does Hunter Hwang Soomin know about the Constellation?

In fact, there was nothing about the need to keep the existence of the Constellation a secret or that Haeun was banned from doing so.

It’s just that up until now, Haeun had been hiding the fact of her awakening, and after she had come out, she didn’t have to say anything about it. 

And Haeun’s intention not to speak about the existence of the Constellation has not changed even now.

Of course, if the other person, like Baek Soyeon, has experienced the Constellation, Haeun also has an intention to bring up her own story.

But what if they don’t? When there is nothing to be gained, is there a need to step forward and provide information? There was no doubt that things would just be troublesome.

Even though she was getting attention as an EX-Class, she didn’t want to be called around because she knew the source of her power or the unknown world.

Haeun, who has decided the direction, pretended to be innocent for now.

“A constellation? What is it?”

“Surely, didn’t you ask Nebiros like this? ‘Noodle, the Constellation gave them?’.”

“No way, did you overhear it?”

“Please don’t forget that Miss Haeun visited the place where my click was originally.”

Haeun frowned. It’s not wrong, but how could Haeun know if Hwang Soomin’s family was there?

“The dungeon’s boss monster mentioned a ‘constellation’, and Miss Haeun seemed to know about it.”

“….”

“Can’t you tell me what it is?”

Haeun swallowed her saliva. Now even Jung Sehyun was paying attention and waiting for Haeun’s answer.

Haeun realized that she had no way out.

At least ignorance won’t solve it. Since Hwang Soomin was in a state where he was strongly convinced of what he had heard, he would cling to it more tenaciously if she only answered that she didn’t know here.

In the end, Haeun decided to confide in only a little bit of what she knew. Of course, with a little bit of truth and lies.