The S-Classes That I Raised – Chapter 250

Chapter 250: Real and Fake (4)

What the hell is this?

[Special Main Quest! Protect Sigma!!]

Seong Hyunjae, who had been silent all this time, suddenly sent a quest. No, wait—if it’s a main quest, does that mean it wasn’t Seong Hyunjae who sent it? A new sender?

More importantly, protect him? I should be running away instead.

If I had Grace, maybe it’d be possible, but what good would a C-rank trying to protect an SS-rank do other than get in the way?

Still, I was about to check the quest details when one of Solemnise’ S-rank guards approached. He was probably the one who had shouted about the monster earlier.

“Report.”

Sigma spoke first. The S-rank opened his mouth to respond—then abruptly shut it.

Both Sigma and I waited for his answer. Completely off guard.

We really had no idea.

The S-rank took a step closer to Sigma—

Screeeeech—

A piercing noise rang out, and a gust of wind swept through the hallway.

A hand shoved me toward the wall.

Blood splattered.

Sigma kicked the S-rank hard, sending him flying to the end of the hallway. The S-rank screamed.

“You monster! What did you do to Lord Sigma?!”

…What?

Sigma furrowed his brow. Blood was seeping from a deep wound slashed across his chest.

“Healing—!”

“It’s dangerous.”

Clang!

Chains shot out, blocking the S-rank’s attack.

What the hell? Did he go crazy all of a sudden? That’s his superior!

“The monster is probably the culprit! We need to get out of here first!”

There was no way he had suddenly lost it and started accusing Sigma of doing something to Sigma. That meant it was likely the work of a monster with mental-type abilities.

I quickly pulled out a potion to give Sigma emergency treatment, then tried to run down the hall.

But Sigma took a different route.

“This way.”

“What?”

He grabbed my waist and swung his chain at the wall.

With a thunderous crash, the wall crumbled, leaving a massive hole.

I guess this was faster… but still.

This wasn’t even his building, yet he had no hesitation tearing it apart.

Without a moment’s pause, Sigma jumped out, still carrying me.

—Kiiiik, Kiiii!

A sharp screech echoed from above.

A massive bird with gray feathers loomed over us, its wings blotting out the sky.

Clatter.

The chains struck the ground ahead of their master, anchoring themselves at an angle. Sigma landed smoothly atop them.

“Hyung!”

Yuhyun’s voice rang out.

Blue willow leaves spread across the sky, scattering in all directions.

Since we were right by the mana hall, he was using his skills freely. The leaves distracted the giant bird, obstructing its vision and breaking its concentration.

“Can you put me down now?”

“Why? You’re mine.”

“What are you talking about, Hyung?”

Yuhyun, stepping across the willow leaves toward us, asked sharply.

It was embarrassing to admit that I had confidently gone off alone only to trigger a contract penalty.

I could just use a Grace item to fix it, but—

“Uh, well, I kind of… broke the contract conditions…”

“That’s fine. I’ll just kill him.”

Yuhyun said cheerfully.

Hey, can we not jump straight to murder, little brother?

“I’ll just use a Grace item—urk!”

Boom!

A bullet narrowly missed Sigma and me, shattering the ground beneath us.

Debris and dust flew everywhere.

Yuhyun frowned in annoyance as more bullets rained down, deflecting them effortlessly with the tip of his sword.

“That S-rank… wasn’t he from Solemnise?”

“He suddenly called him a monster and attacked. Probably under the influence of a mental or illusion skill—hey! Let me go! I’m not running away, I can’t run away right now!”

If you won’t put me down, at least hold me properly! All this shaking is making me dizzy!

Annoyed, Yuhyun unleashed a wave of dark blue flames, intercepting the oncoming bullets.

Then, without hesitation, he launched the fire directly toward the S-rank’s position.

With a deafening roar, part of the building was obliterated, engulfed in scorching flames.

At this rate, the remaining Defense Bureau buildings were going to collapse too.

“Give him to me.”

Yuhyun’s voice was cold.

“No.”

Sigma replied just as coldly.

“…What are you two doing?”

Moon Hyunah appeared at some point, standing at a distance with her arms crossed, watching like a spectator.

Above us, the monster shrieked.

Shouldn’t we be dealing with that first?

It’s SS-rank, you know.

Hello?

“Okay, let’s just put me down first, yeah? Sigma? You can’t even use a Grace item right now anyway.”

“He’s my brother. Let go of him.”

“C-rank belongs to me. You should be the one to back off.”

“Wow, Hyung, you’re really popular~ Fight, fight!”

…Instead of stopping them, you’re encouraging them?

Put that alcohol away.

Where the hell did you even get snacks?

“Can we all calm down and handle the monster first?”

“Let him go first.”

“This is Achates, so it’s his responsibility.”

“If you two fight, I’ll take care of it.”

Oh, for god’s sake.

Don’t tell me the protect Sigma quest meant protect him from my little brother.

If this were just a sub-quest, I’d ignore the reward and ditch it.

But it was a main quest.

Sighing, I finally opened the quest window I hadn’t had time to check.

[Special Main Quest! Protect Sigma!!]

To you, Sigma is real.

Recognized by the only true existence in this world, Sigma is now rejected by the fakes. As an adult, it is your duty to take responsibility and protect him!

At the very least, keep him alive~ ^▽^

Reward: Key to Dungeon Conquest.

…Seriously?!

I couldn’t immediately make sense of the quest description and had to reread it.

The only real one…?

Was that referring to me? Since I was the only one who had entered this world in my original body?

So, because I recognized Sigma, he became real? That didn’t make any sense.

Though, since it said “to you,” maybe it didn’t mean he was completely real in an absolute sense.

“Rejected by the fakes”…?

Was that why the Solemnise S-rank guard attacked Sigma, calling him a monster?

And the quest reward was a dungeon key, meaning I couldn’t just ignore it.

…Why aren’t there clear conditions?

How long was I supposed to protect him? Until all the discs were set up?

Whether it was Seong Hyunjae or some new system administrator, they should’ve written it properly!

Well, at least the difficulty wasn’t too high—I just had to keep him alive. Not like killing an SS-rank guard was easy anyway.

“Yuhyun! Don’t kill Sigma!”

Yuhyun, who had been aiming for Sigma’s arm to free me, scowled.

“Why?”

“We need him alive to clear the dungeon.”

“Alive is enough?”

“Uh, well… preferably in one piece.”

“Got it. I’ll just cut off an arm, then.”

The moment he finished speaking, his thin blade lashed out like a whip.

The sunlight glinted off its unpredictable trajectory, but Sigma’s chains intercepted it.

Wait, losing an arm isn’t exactly being in one piece, is it?

“Yuhyun, calm down—ugh, Hyunah! Hyunahaa!”

Don’t just stand there watching—help me! You’re the oldest here! I don’t know Lambda’s exact age, but still, come on!

Neither of them had used their skills—probably because I was here—but just the clash of chains and sword was enough to make my ears ring, and the residual heat stung my eyes.

Hearing me call for help, Moon Hyunah burst into laughter.

She had zero intention of stepping in.

At that moment, the giant bird, which had been circling overhead without attacking, suddenly flapped its wings hard and—

—Kiiiiiik!

With a piercing screech, it dived straight toward Sigma.

Sigma glanced up at it before swiftly leaping back to avoid the attack.

CRASH!

The bird’s beak speared into the ground, and its talons scraped wildly, sending dust flying everywhere.

Yuhyun, now blocked by the creature, soared upward, stepping onto the floating willow leaves.

“Annoying.”

A faintly irritated voice accompanied the sharp flick of his wrist.

A wire, gleaming with a black sheen—higher-grade than mine—whipped forward and wrapped around the monster’s neck.

Landing on its back, Yuhyun pulled hard, the tendons in his exposed wrist tightening as the creature thrashed.

—Kiieeek, Kiii!

Its wings spread wide as if to take off, struggling against the force twisting its body unnaturally.

But before it could escape, Yuhyun’s sword pierced deep into its throat.

Crack.

The flexible blade speared through the monster like a lance, triggering a small explosion.

The bird, its throat more than half destroyed, convulsed before finally going still.

Yuhyun, ensuring minimal collateral damage so I wouldn’t get caught in it, turned his icy gaze back to Sigma.

Sigma met it without backing down.

Was there anything in the points shop that could force two people to get along? Maybe I should just get them drunk together.

“There! That’s him!”

A group of Solemnise guards came rushing in, all armed and glaring directly at Sigma.

Though there were other city guards nearby, the Solemnise ones were particularly hostile.

Did they think the real Sigma had been attacked by the monster they were seeing?

“The monster is dead, though.”

Sigma muttered quietly.

For the first time, a faint trace of confusion crossed his face.

Even he seemed startled by his subordinates suddenly turning against him.

“For now, we should retreat. Hyunah, could you hold them off?”

I really didn’t want to kill the Solemnise guards.

Moon Hyunah nodded and swung her spear.

A powerful gust of wind tore through the air, kicking up dust and debris to block the Solemnise guards’ path.

“Yuhyun, I’ll explain everything. Just follow me.”

Yuhyun frowned but nodded.

Before the dust settled, Sigma moved swiftly, heading back inside a building.

Yuhyun followed closely behind him.

“Alpha, that man—!”

An Achates guard, who had been helping evacuate civilians, shouted in alarm.

Apparently, Sigma didn’t look normal to the people of this city either.

Unlike the Solemnise guards, they weren’t attacking immediately, but their wary eyes followed him.

“I’ll handle it. Evacuate the building and issue an emergency alert for the city.”

“A-ah, yes!”

The guard quickly nodded and ran off.

As we moved, anyone who caught sight of Sigma reacted with visible shock, staring as if they had encountered something ominous.

They could’ve at least explained what’s happening properly.

Did my acceptance of Sigma as “real” suddenly cause this?

I couldn’t wrap my head around it.

Even if a fake became real, why would it trigger this kind of reaction?

Sigma moved quickly, ascending the building until we arrived at his personal quarters.

Did he assume the Solemnise guards wouldn’t search here?

Once inside, Sigma finally put me down.

Ugh, my back…

“Use the Grace item first.”

Yuhyun said, shutting the door behind him.

“I can’t use it right now.”

Yuhyun looked displeased but didn’t press the issue. He was quick to pick up on things—if he pushed too much, Sigma might try to interfere.

As he scanned the room and stepped toward me, he suddenly froze. His red eyes widened in shock.

“…What is that?”

There was a slight tremor in his voice.

What could he have possibly—oh.

My doppelgänger doll was sitting neatly on a chair by the window in the spacious living room.

For the love of God, someone get rid of that thing already.

“That is Han Yujin. It’s yours now.”

Sigma stated.

“…Hyung, I really think killing him is the best option.”

Yuhyun gritted his teeth.

Hahaha.

I ignored them both and accepted a bottle of Medesang 21st Anniversary Champagne—a reward I had previously left unclaimed.

A golden-hued bottle of champagne now sat in my hand.

“For now, both of you, sit down. You can keep fighting after you listen to the explanation.”

Sigma sat on the couch without hesitation, but Yuhyun remained still, his eyes fixed on the doll, frowning.

Slowly, he approached.

His fingers hesitated in the air, barely grazing the doll before pulling back.

“It’s a doppelgänger doll. We have them in our world too.”

“…I’ve heard of them. Can I touch it?”

Why are you asking me?

I mean, technically, it was mine, but…

I gave a small nod, and Yuhyun tapped the doll, only to grimace. Then, as if curious, he smoothed a hand over it again.

Was he fascinated by it?

“Anyway… It seems that because I recognized Sigma as ‘real,’ a problem has arisen.”

I poured the champagne into a glass as I spoke.

It smelled nice.

“I don’t fully understand it, but it looks like people in this world are starting to feel a sense of rejection toward Sigma. The Solemnise guards even think he attacked himself.”

Sigma’s golden eyes flickered slightly as he blinked.

“So, I’ve… been replaced by a being from your world?”

“I don’t know for sure. But it seems to be connected to me, so… I apologize.”

“Why are you apologizing, Hyung? This world is just a temporary construct inside a dungeon. Once we leave, it’ll either disappear or reset.”

Yuhyun said coolly.

“Well, yes, but for now, the people here are still living, thinking, and feeling.”

I sighed.

“Hyunah also considers this world real and treats it as such. More importantly, Yuhyun, what are you doing?”

“I just wanted to see how similar it is.”

…Fair enough.

I turned back to Sigma.

“For now, I think it’s best if we send the Solemnise guards away. If it’s alright with you, can we announce that the monster who attacked Sigma was taken care of by Alpha?”

“…Do as you wish.”

Sigma replied quietly.

His expression remained composed, but he couldn’t possibly feel fine about this.

Dammit.

Even if this world would be reset or erased, as Yuhyun had said, the whole situation left a bad taste in my mouth.

At the very least, while I was still here, I should take responsibility.

“In that case, Sigma… If you leave Solemnise, calling you ‘Sigma’ might not be appropriate anymore. Would you mind telling me your real name?”

“I don’t remember. But…”

He paused for a moment, as if lost in thought.

Then, he spoke.

“…They used to call me Little Moon.”

–TL Notes–
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