WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ The S-Classes That I Raised ◈
Chapter 191: Director (1)
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“Back Mountain Seagull is definitely skilled. They mostly look for missing family members and children, and they’ve received help from me now and then. Kids carry phones around a lot these days, after all. They investigate other people too, but from what I’ve seen, they seem like a wealthy person treating it as a hobby.”
Do Hamin spoke as they pushed up their glasses with a fingertip.
“So there’s little chance they’ll sell the information. More importantly, they owe me plenty. They’d be the one to regret it if we cut ties.”
If I entrusted an investigation into the people I was looking for to just anyone, there was a high chance it would lead to gossip later. I had added a few decoys, but I still wanted someone discreet to handle it.
“They’re really trustworthy?”
“At least they haven’t sold my information. We’ve worked together long enough that they know about my skill.”
Since Do Hamin before my regression had never cursed out this Seagull person, it seemed they had not betrayed them until the end. Then I could trust them.
“Please tell them to investigate as thoroughly as possible. Broadly, from various angles.”
Even people I had already encountered could change depending on their present circumstances. They might be bound by affection and manipulated, or secretly threatened. Some had even fallen into traps precisely because they were good people and chosen betrayal.
So it was essential to give them a safe environment and trust so that would not happen. If they believed they had a well-paying job with good benefits and lifelong stability, they would not abandon trust, if only for their own peace of mind rather than the company’s sake. Unless they were excessively greedy or twisted, that was. Even an average person would usually choose comfortable security without hurting their conscience rather than take a foolish risk.
I should watch for dangers around them, remove them if necessary, then place them in a cozy nest. ...There might be quite a lot of work, though. It was a startup for now.
“By the way, when is the Gold Hamster coming?”
“Ah, apparently an overseas guild made a taming attempt this time. They made a team of only high-grade Hunters, but they couldn’t control their strength and ended up killing it.”
Do Hamin’s mouth fell open in shock.
“Our Goldie!”
...Wasn’t that name a little old-fashioned?
“It’s a boss monster in a dungeon that will keep being cleared, so don’t worry too much. Before it’s tamed, it’s practically just a harmful animal.”
“Still...”
“They’ll probably succeed on the second clear. It’ll take some time because of the dungeon reset.”
Lower-grade dungeons tended to have shorter reset times, so it would not take long. Would that become our first overseas guild mount request? I had heard several overseas guilds had already acquired baby monsters, so they would probably entrust them to us right away.
Blue would likely finish growing once I reapplied My Kid soon, and I needed to raise Comet and the unicorns quickly too. Bellare had already finished receiving the Keyword.
‘Once Blue is fully grown, will it be all right to keep her in the garden?’
We already received occasional complaints, and she would become more than twice as large. Far more people would find her intimidating. Maybe I should make a separate adult monster rearing facility near the high-grade Hunter training center. There were hardly any homes nearby and plenty of mountains, so they could roam freely. With Blue’s personality, she would probably get along well with the Hunters visiting the training center too.
Of course, the best option would be for her to find a partner and go clear dungeons together. Or gain a Juvenile Transformation skill like Peace.
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Do Hamin rose from their seat, then turned around and shouted.
“Minui! I told you to stop bothering Jjiksuni!”
“Suni sent a signal that they wanted to come out!”
“What did you just hide? You gave it Drops again, didn’t you!”
Why was Minui acting like a part-time worker here when nobody had even asked? Rumor had it that keeping hamsters was becoming popular among Hunters who visited the building. Even Seok Hayan seemed to have adopted one.
Do Hamin had even taken over another vacant room next door, saying they needed to provide boarding for adopters while they cleared dungeons. Since Do Hamin brought in as many hamsters abandoned through online rehoming listings as they could manage, there was nothing wrong with finding them homes.
“Ease up on the threats that Hunters who cannot take responsibility for one hamster will not receive mounts or Myeongu’s equipment.”
“Threats? I’ve never forced one on anyone! If they stepped forward saying they wanted to raise one, taking responsibility is the bare minimum. It’s not like these little ones live very long!”
Come to think of it, it might be a good way to judge someone’s character.
“You have records of every Hunter who adopted one, right?”
“Of course. Every time they come in for boarding, I record the hamsters’ condition and how the Hunters treat them.”
“...That is a little scary.”
Still, Hunters who received good evaluations would be relatively trustworthy, wouldn’t they? I should refer to Do Hamin’s records when hiring Hunters for the rearing facility.
I had left the legal issues regarding the rearing facility to Seok Simyeong, so I went to Haeyeon Guild to meet him. When I hinted that I wanted to operate the monster rearing facility independently, Seok Simyeong seemed unexpectedly pleased. I had thought he would want to combine it with Haeyeon Guild.
“People favor their own, after all.”
“...Pardon?”
“It is better to have two baskets for your eggs. Officially, the rearing facility is registered as a Mount Rearing Facility for now.”
“Not as a monster facility?”
“There are already numerous facilities around the world that simply raise monsters. Also, now that even Breaker Guild has entrusted an S-Class monster to you, I recommend seriously working on changing the image. Unlike dungeon monsters, they should be seen as helpful and approachable to humans. Apparently, Japan has released several pieces of character merchandise as well.”
Seok Simyeong said that putting out official character goods would be a good approach. The Peace plush had been cute.
“But above all, you need business cards first.”
Seok Simyeong took out his phone and grinned.
“Han Yujin, Director of the Mount Rearing Facility. There is a company that specializes in making paper products from dungeon byproducts. They should be ready by tomorrow.”
Being called Director felt a little burdensome. Hearing the specific title suddenly made my shoulders feel heavy. Was that why he said I needed business cards first?
“You will need several civilian employees as well.”
“I have a few people in mind. Though I’ll need to find specialists separately.”
“Haeyeon Guild will continue supporting you for a while, so don’t hire in a rush. Make sure to determine whether they are trustworthy. And Director Han Yujin must begin managing himself in earnest too.”
“Me? Ah, I do need someone to manage my overall styling.”
“That is important too, of course, but I mean Han Yujin himself needs managing.”
Seok Simyeong pointed to his own face.
“Your appearance.”
...Did I need to?
“Fortunately, your skin is clear, and there is not much that needs work. But you need to pay attention if you wish to maintain that. It would help your image if your complexion became clearer and brighter too.”
“...Personally, I prefer a darker complexion. I mean, looking healthier.”
“It does not suit you.”
Seok Simyeong said firmly.
“The same goes for your body. Get help from professionals and maintain it in good shape. What matters is not beauty or ugliness. It is whether you manage yourself or not. Visual information is the first thing that catches someone’s eye when meeting them. People instinctively make assumptions about another person’s personality, circumstances, and abilities from their appearance.”
He was not wrong, but I was already starting to feel tired. I seemed to remember planning to take it easy after regressing. Of course, compared to before, both my body and mind were taking it easy.
“You said you are meeting the Sesung Guildmaster the day after tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“Haeyeon Guild will support you for now, but you will need to acquire a dedicated vehicle and attendants as well. Since you are in the Hunter industry, a specially manufactured vehicle made with dungeon byproducts is standard. Your attendants must include at least two high-grade Hunters. Hunter Noah would certainly make an excellent visual impression, but it will be difficult for him to accompany you all the time, so you need to hire backups.”
“Ah... yes.”
“You need not look so tired. Once you have an administrative office, they will take care of it. Still, you must know a certain amount about these matters to judge whether your staff are handling things properly. It would be troublesome to be led around without knowing anything, would it not?”
He was absolutely right. But why did I keep thinking of Director Song Taewon? Perhaps we were comrades in overwork...
“Yoohyun is fortunate to have you, Team Leader Seok.”
Thanks to him, my brother must have suffered less. Seok Simyeong smiled a little awkwardly at my words.
“The Guildmaster would not have had much trouble no matter who was by his side. He possessed real power.”
“Still, it must have been more comfortable in many ways to have someone trustworthy early on. May I ask how you came to help Yoohyun?”
I had been curious for a while. Before awakening, Yoohyun had been an ordinary high school student. Unlike the other S-Class Hunters, adults who already had social foundations, his starting point had been different from the outset. The enormous guilds established by those S-Class Hunters had also received help from major corporations, aside from Seong Hyeonje’s.
“To put it simply, I approached him first. A great change had come to the world, and I could not simply sit still and watch. Before that, I met all the other S-Class Hunters as well.”
“Why did you choose Yoohyun among them?”
“The first reason was naturally potential. The Sesung Guildmaster did not need help, and the other S-Class Hunters were already half-established. If I was going to try, I needed to think big. And... another reason was Han Yujin.”
“Me?”
It was unexpected. Yoohyun had acted as though he had cut ties with me, so why was I coming up here? Surely it was not because Yoohyun had the decisiveness to cut off even his own brother.
“He clearly possessed strength greater than any other Hunter, and he did not hesitate to wield it, but he seemed lonely. It did not seem possible from his usual demeanor. Yet sometimes he would stare blankly at his phone or become lost in thought.”
Remembering the Yoohyun of the past, Seok Simyeong smiled bitterly.
“So I thought he was worth helping. At the time, I believed it was simply the Guildmaster’s childish side. It kept down the sense of unease that he seemed unlike the rest of humanity. It showed that even someone like him could feel lonely, worry about something, become anxious, and sometimes even seem sad. Because he showed that he could waver, establishing and maintaining the guild was not so difficult. It is hard to create a healthy organization through fear alone.”
Because there was at least a small emotion people could empathize with, because that seemingly perfect young man showed a small opening that revealed he truly needed others, Seok Simyeong said they had been able to unite more closely.
“It is gratifying when someone remarkable needs your help. And he was young, too. The Guildmaster’s age was a weakness, but it also became a strength. That is why there were even more people who harbored negative feelings toward you, Han Yujin. They saw you as one of the reasons the Guildmaster suffered.”
Seok Simyeong lowered his head toward me.
“For that, I sincerely apologize.”
“No, Team Leader Seok. You did not know, and you were thinking of Yoohyun.”
And up to this point, it had not been that bad. It had grown truly hostile after I awakened. ...Since I remembered everything, I honestly still felt uncomfortable about it. Even so, it had been for Yoohyun’s sake.
Thinking of it that way brought a smile to my face.
“I should be the one thanking you for taking such good care of my little brother.”
“Could anyone do so as well as you? These days, the Guildmaster looks happy to anyone who sees him.”
“Does he?”
“In the half day Han Yujin has been by his side, I have seen the Guildmaster smile far more than I did over the previous three years. I am truly glad the two of you reconciled. I do not know how you endured three whole years.”
Seok Simyeong looked pleased, but my smile instead faded.
It had been eight years, more than twice that long. Eight years.
“...There must have been many difficult times.”
“It was not easy. But he has ultimately established himself like this, has he not? And now Director Han Yujin will become a dependable source of strength as well.”
“...Yes. I look forward to working with you from now on too.”
“The feeling is mutual. Of course, I do not imagine Director Han would ever fail to look after the Guildmaster.”
Saying he trusted me, he rose from his seat.
“It is lunchtime. Let us have something simple and continue talking.”
“Yes.”
We decided to use the guild cafeteria rather than go outside. On the way there, we discussed various matters concerning cooperation with Haeyeon Guild.
“By the way, Director Song Taewon seems quite busy, does he not?”
I wanted to ask about the situation in detail, but he had not answered my calls. Even today, I had not received a reply. He had said it would not be too difficult since there had been no civilian casualties.
“He must be busy checking on the overseas S-Class Hunters returning home.”
“Ah, I see.”
He had to monitor the participants of Seong Hyeonje’s birthday party too. Could they not just hold it overseas next time? Let Song Taewon get some rest.
“Uncle!”
Just then, Yerim came hopping toward us. Yoohyun was with her.
“You were at Haeyeon Guild? We were going home for lunch!”
“I was just going to eat here. With Team Leader Seok...”
...Seok Simyeong, who had been beside me, had vanished at some point. What was that about?
“Then I’ll come too!”
Yerim clung to my arm. Yoohyun, who had approached at some point, attached himself to my other side.
“You two always put me in the middle.”
“It bothers me to be close to another S-Class.”
Yerim nodded at Yoohyun’s words.
“It is unguarded contact, you know. That bothers me quite a bit too. It is fine if it is someone trustworthy, though. Hyuna is fine, and the Guildmaster... well, he is not that bad lately, but...”
“I hate everyone except you, hyung.”
Yoohyun said it flatly, and Yerim’s expression immediately twisted.
“Ah, seriously. Han Yoohyun, seriously.”
“Yerim, put that finger down.”
I understood that she was upset, but she still could not make that gesture.
“Park Yerim might be fine with other people, but I only have you, hyung.”
“Blegh. I am going to get indigestion before we even eat.”
Haha, well.
“I am hungry. Let us go eat.”
It was a cafeteria used by other people too, so they should not fight there.
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