S-Rank is My Side Character (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 4

‘Mm… I’m being charmed…!’

Good. It seemed one of them was completely hooked, and the other was at least partially affected, though not perfectly.

Rude let out a sigh of relief after silently sweating buckets inside.

This skill nearly automatically used a seductive tone, and no matter how much his charm increased, people had different tastes—whether it worked or not was truly a gamble.

“Ah… Ah, I’ll let the child go!! In exchange for…!”

“In exchange for?”

“…You come up here yourself.”

“Only after I see with my own eyes that the kid safely comes down.”

“Hey, hurry up and go down!!”

The guard monsters nodded and untied the rope binding the child. The child ran out beyond the fortress wall with a sullen face.

Before the sniffling child could say anything, Rude spoke—his tone deliberately gentle.

“Run toward the forest behind you. There are no monsters there. Keep going until you find a safe place where people have gathered, and stick close to them. Can you do that?”

The child stopped crying and nodded repeatedly. Rude patted the elementary schooler’s head and muttered softly.

“And whatever you do, don’t look back on your way there. No matter what happens. That’s a promise between you and me, okay?”

Rude held out his pinky toward the child. When the little one hooked their pinky and nodded, Rude smiled and said,

“Th-thank you… Hunter mister. Really, thank you so much!”

“Alright, you’re brave. Now hurry off.”

As he watched the elementary schooler running away backward, Rude’s eyes turned icy cold. He took out his phone to check the time.

“What time is it now…?”

Since he’d originally told that handsome young master he’d finish things in 20 minutes, about 7 minutes remained.

Rude’s motto was: clear the dungeon quickly before his mind-affecting power—which negatively impacted ordinary people—spread further through this game-like dimension.

He opened a portal and instantly ascended onto the fortress wall. The guards, clearly not expecting him to climb up so quickly, gulped audibly upon seeing him.

“Well, I’ve come up like you asked.”

“Th-then… now you’ll give yourself… to us…?”

Crack! With those final words, the guard’s head rolled across the ground. Rude flicked off the blood dripping from the Black Half Scissors and stepped toward the remaining guard.

The atmosphere had changed completely from moments ago. The guard gripped his spear tightly.

“Did you really think you could strut around confidently just because you took a kid hostage, you pathetic bastards?”

“Gah…!”

Rude slightly raised and then lowered his scissors—the guard’s spear crumbled like tissue paper and fell to the ground. The guard stared at Rude.

Their eyes met. In Rude’s dark pupils, the guard saw something writhing.

And froze completely—like an animal encountering its natural predator, utterly powerless. For several seconds, sheer terror flooded the guard’s mind.

This… this was pure evil. Absolute, untainted evil. As if fear itself had taken human form.

His charm, maximized by the honey trap, blended perfectly with this terror. He was horrifying, yet impossible to look away from. Even knowing it would end badly—even knowing he might die—the guard felt an irrational urge to stay right beside him.

Just being near this man felt like it would shatter one’s sanity. Was there anyone in the world capable of enduring someone like him? No… there wasn’t. There couldn’t be!

“Your boss.”

Rude spoke while maintaining eye contact. That alone made cold sweat pour down the terrified guard’s back.

After staring at him for a long moment, Rude continued in a chilling tone.

“Where is he?”

[This is the timeline separator]

“These guys again…”

After eliminating all the guards, Rude entered Stage 3. Seeing numerous hostages tied up in the garden, he frowned.

Bound to the rose vines of what appeared to be a plant-type Stage 3 boss were around five or six office workers.

[The Ruler of Chaos shrugs, saying, “Looks like these folks got snatched while working overtime.”]

‘Exactly. Didn’t we agree not to mess with salarymen pulling all-nighters?’

That was always the problem with stage-based fields containing sentient beings—monsters would capture civilians as hostages, anticipating hunters’ arrival.

[The Ruler of Chaos shrugs again, saying, “Since all the hostages are adults, just speed-run this already.”]

What to do? If not for the hostages, Rude would’ve cleared this in a second and moved straight to the boss room… He was still mulling it over when his eyes met those of the stage boss.

“Hey! Don’t think that seductive look will work on me! I won’t release the hostages or tell you where our Pontiff is!”

The Stage 3 boss—a woman clad in a white dress, pure white hair, and white roses blooming all over her body from dense rose vines beneath her skin—blushed deeply as she glared at Rude.

‘Huh. It’s working on this one too.’

Rude propped his chin with his hand. Apparently, these gate monsters had a thing for guys like him.

Good. It’d be ideal to resolve this quickly without using mind-control skills. Rude resumed his deep, seductive gaze and spoke.

“Can’t you just… untie them for my sake? Hmm? And show me where your Pontiff is.”

“A-ah… don’t look at me like that…”

The Stage 3 boss—the Lady of the White Rose—wrapped her arms around herself and stepped back a few paces. As Rude moved closer, the monster shyly murmured,

“But… but I can’t… I have my faith…”

“You can repent later. I don’t get to see people like you often. Hmm? How about it? Won’t you untie them?”

Rude stepped even closer to the Lady of the White Rose. The monster’s white roses began turning pink as she spoke.

“I… I’ve actually… been waiting for a hunter like you for a very long time…”

The Lady of the White Rose was now entirely flushed pink. Rude gently lifted her chin and said,

“To be honest, so have I.”

“Really?”

“Just kidding.”

Thwack—the Black Half Scissors pierced through the Lady of the White Rose. As Rude twisted and pulled the scissors out, thick sap oozed from the wound.

“Ah… aah…”

The Lady of the White Rose let out a sorrowful moan.

Figuring it was finally over—after all, she was only Rank 4, so it made sense—Rude casually flicked the scissors clean.

Looking up at his indifferent face, the White Rose woman wailed,

“How could you… trample my pure heart like this?!”

‘Huh…?’

Surprised by her unexpectedly lively voice, Rude stared at the monster in confusion. Somehow, the wound from his scissors had already hardened, her body now filled with translucent sap.

The Lady of the White Rose stood up and spread both arms wide. Endless white rose vines erupted from beneath her dress. With a furious shout, the monster cried,

“You… better be ready!!”

[Special Skill – Lady of the White Rose: The Noble Rose’s Battle]

Countless rose vines sprouted from under her dress, wrapping around the hostages and forming a massive canopy over the entire fortress.

“Hey, wait…!”

“Kyaaah! Please save us!”

Glug, glug—something inside the vines surrounding the hostages was being absorbed into the Lady of the White Rose.

“Damn it…!”

Panicked, Rude tried slashing the vines near the hostages with his scissors, but it was useless. Resigned, he swung his scissors through the air.

Whoosh—black illusionary flames touched the rose vines and instantly vanished.

The Lady of the White Rose laughed loudly.

“I’m immune to your illusions and mental manipulation! My father told me so! All illusionists are liars—if you ‘don’t believe,’ their tricks won’t work!”

Damn. Rude gritted his teeth. So she had some resistance to illusion and mental attacks.

Even now, the hostages’ vitality was being rapidly siphoned into the Lady of the White Rose. Each “glug” sound made the monster grow larger.

He had no choice. Rude raised his scissors for a final resort. He needed a higher-level illusion—one powerful enough to dominate this space.

[Trait Activated: ‘Natural Lucid Dreamer’!]

His scissors brimmed with mental energy. If the hostages saw this, their minds would likely suffer damage similar to the people in Stage 2. But that damage was recoverable.

Granted, recovery might take months.

Still, there was no alternative. This truly was a no-win situation.

‘Better for them to lose their minds here than their bodies inside the Gate, right?’

[You should’ve done this from the start. Our Na Ri is way too kind for her own good—it’s going to cause big trouble, the Ruler of Chaos shakes his head.]

Right. Saving that elementary schooler was pure luck. Rude was, after all, of evil alignment. There was no way to clear a dungeon like this without harming others.

He recalled the holy knight’s words—that there was always a best option. But that was just the pleasant-sounding excuse of an idealist.

In the real world, most people—including Na Ri—simply couldn’t follow that “best” path.

So all she could do was what was possible.

Not what she wanted.

That was Shin Bit Na Ri’s life philosophy after 25 years.

Yet today felt even more unsettling than usual—probably because of what that knight said, and the elementary student’s words of thanks.

Rude had never once directly heard words of gratitude due to his mind-control aura. He’d only ever seen people’s reactions online, after rescues were over.

But whatever—it didn’t matter. He was only doing this job for money. He was just… a little unaccustomed to hearing “thank you.”

In this line of work, even the smallest mistake could cost someone their life or draw public condemnation. He felt zero fulfillment from it.

Absolutely, positively. Never!

[You will soon enter the transitional phase. Please relax your body.]

“No matter how good your illusions are, they won’t work on me!! If I don’t believe, they don’t stick!!”

The Lady of the White Rose aggressively extended her rose vines—but jet-black mental energy visibly clung to the stems.

“We’ll see about that.”

Click-click-click! Cameras filled the Gate. Soon, he’d enter their dreams.

After that, this place would become Rude’s domain.

“Do you really think you can disbelieve it?”

Rude spoke to the monster in a cold tone. Black mental energy clung heavily to the rose vines.

He’d already been in a foul mood—and in that moment, deciding to take out his frustration on this monster…

“Mr. Rude!!”

Crack! A sword pierced the ceiling. Golden holy flames blazed from the blade, echoing the holy knight’s beautiful voice from moments earlier.

[Trait Activated: ‘Unquenchable Flame’!]

Whoosh! The unquenchable holy fire instantly spread across the entire ceiling, rapidly incinerating the rose vines. Thud, thud—the vines turned to ash and fell to the ground.

“Yaaah! It burns!!”

The Lady of the White Rose screamed and severed her own rose vines with her hands. The canopy of rose vines instantly turned to ash and vanished.

Thud—Kang I Hyeon descended lightly from above in gleaming white armor, setting the rose vines holding the hostages ablaze with holy fire.

Then Kang I Hyeon retrieved his sword once more.

“Hurry and run away!”

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

Empowered instantly by Kang I Hyeon’s flames, the hostages expressed their gratitude and rushed outside.

His brilliant golden hair shimmered in the holy fire’s glow.

Someone once called him the absolute master of holy power. Others said his mere presence brought others peace.

“…”

Rude stared silently at Kang I Hyeon. His expression slowly twisted. Kang I Hyeon gave him an awkward smile.

“Are you alright?! I wanted to come help earlier, but I was delayed treating the people in Stage 2…”

“Get lost!”

Rude scowled deeply and glared at him. He’d already been unsettled by Kang I Hyeon’s earlier words—and now seeing ‘that guy’s’ face made him utterly disgusted.

‘I struggled so hard to accomplish what I did, while he made it look so effortless…’

Rude clenched his teeth and raised his voice angrily.

“Did you come back just to preach again?! Yeah? To brag that you don’t harm people like I do?!”

“A-ah, no, that’s not it…!”

“I know that better than anyone, so get out. Disappear from my sight right now!”

Kang I Hyeon looked at Rude with an expression of utter exasperation.

“Please, just let me finish what I need to say!”