WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The S-Classes That I Raised ◈
Chapter 203: Gaze (1)
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“Sets an example for others and has a strong sense of responsibility. Diligent. Exemplary. Calm and diligent. Strongly responsible.”
Most of it said similar things. Excellent grades, no history of causing trouble. Song Taewon had been an outstanding model student.
“Isn’t there way too much information here?”
It was personal information, so I had not thought to look into it before. Then I casually called Do Hamin and asked whether they could investigate one more person. When I said it was Song Taewon, they told me to search online, so I did.
And it all really was there, one thing after another.
Basic personal information, assets, though were those normally public? Career history, schools attended, hometown, family relationships, even all kinds of evaluations. It was detailed enough to make me wonder whether this was really okay. Apparently, it had been disclosed because an S-Class Hunter had become a high-ranking public official, prompting all sorts of discussion.
“He was pretty similar in high school too.”
He had been incredibly tall even then. He looked much younger, but his expression and atmosphere in the photo were similar. ...Wasn't that a bad thing? His high school self did look a little more relaxed, at least.
“There really isn’t a single problem. It’s not a bad thing, but...”
Considering who it was, even that felt a little unsettling. A model life that never stepped outside the lines.
He had had both parents and a younger brother. It seemed he had lived with his grandfather as well. His mother and brother had died in an accident, while his father had died in a dungeon break. I knew he had no family. Since he was still young, I had guessed it had been an accident or illness.
“That must have affected him too.”
There were no details about the accident. Nothing about his dating history or friendships, either. I searched just in case, but there was so much Hunter-related information about Song Taewon that I could not filter it out. Maybe I was just bad at searching. Even if I did find something, would I understand it?
“...I’m not even a counselor.”
It seemed better for him to get actual counseling. I dropped my phone as if throwing it away and sprawled out on the sofa. Peep and Bellare were circling around atop the robot vacuum cleaner. Cute little things.
“This is really difficult.”
I could no longer go after Song Taewon the way I had before. It was not my safety on the line anymore, but Song Taewon’s life.
What if I provoked him wrong and he tried to protect me... Ah, damn it.
“...I kept going on about leashes, and now I’m the one who ended up leashed.”
I really did not know what to do. But I did not want to give up, either. I did not want to see the same ending, or even a similar one.
“Would things be easier if the system and Awakened disappeared altogether? It probably isn’t that simple.”
I considered telling him that there were even greater monsters outside this world. But I could not imagine how he would react. “So there were real monsters elsewhere, and even S-Class Awakened were ordinary humans by comparison!” That would be far too hopeful.
‘Choi Seokwon was beyond any current standard too. Should I subtly ask about what happened then? Or would that just hit a land mine?’
If I asked, it absolutely had to be over the phone. After agonizing over it, I picked up my phone again. Ah, seriously, Manager Song. Should I look into the people around him? Maybe when he was in university...
“...Huh.”
Without thinking, I searched for “Manager Song university.” There should have been even more irrelevant information about Manager Song than Song Taewon. As I was about to search for Song Taewon’s university instead, I spotted a familiar face in the image results.
It was a photo of Song Taewon with young children. When I opened the related post, it said Manager Song had done volunteer work there while he was in university.
- Look at the difference between Manager Song’s hand and the kid’s hand. My heart is fluttering.
- Whoa, where did you get this picture?
└ My friend’s older brother was Manager Song’s classmate, so I got it from him.
- Manager Song looks so at ease back then T_T T_T T_T T_T
Just as the comments said, his face looked much more relaxed. But where was this? Every post on this board was about Manager Song or related to him. There were tons of posts about Song Taewon, and lots of photos too. They were all full of affection...
Ah, so this was what a fan site was like.
There were also posts crying over whether he was overworking himself, or saying they had seen him carpooling to work. In older posts, people were crying over his compact car on every page. I opened an older post with lots of comments, only to find it covered in crying emoticons because he had apparently become a pedestrian now.
Looking at it made me sad too.
“Seriously, why do you live like that?”
He should at least get a newer car. A large one. The Awakened Management Office apparently had work vehicles, but carpooling to commute? Even when going out normally... Though he probably did not have many reasons to go out.
After sighing in solidarity with people whose faces and names I did not know, I bookmarked the site and left.
“A pet, huh.”
Among the site’s posts was a photo of Song Taewon with a police dog. It seemed to have been some kind of event, and he had looked quite gentle in that photo too. Because of that, people were arguing between “Can’t Manager Song have a pet?” and “He’s already busy enough, how would that work?” I looked over at Peep and Bellare.
Peep!
Peep fluttered one wing up. So cute. Having cute little things around really did lift your mood and calm your heart. Wasn’t there something called animal therapy too?
Should I get Manager Song a mount? A cute monster with soft fur that could be petted and had Miniaturization.
‘It might work if I donate it to the country. Should I look into it?’
A puppy would be nice, or a cat... A rabbit might suit him unexpectedly too. Though it would be questionable as a mount. If it were a mount belonging to the state, it would be less of a burden on him too.
...But Yoohyun probably had a site like that too, right? Manager Song’s site had such a nice atmosphere. Should I look for one? There had not been any particular reason for people to curse me lately, so it should be fine as long as I avoided the old posts. We had kept appearing on broadcasts looking close, after all.
A place where only people who liked my Yoohyun gathered. I had never thought much of it before, but after seeing Manager Song’s site, I was curious. They worried about him and cared for him like that... It was really nice.
“Will it come up if I search Han Yoohyun fan site?”
Hmm... No site came up. Then Han Yoohyun fan club. Not that either. Haeyeon Guildmaster fan site, nothing there either.
Could there really be none? That made no sense. My Yoohyun was handsome, cute, and impressive in every way. Seong Hyeonje had fans who put up birthday ads for him, so there was no way Yoohyun had none.
As I wondered how to search for it, my phone rang. It was Yerim.
[Ahjussi! I’ll head straight to the rooftop garden.]
“Okay, yeah. I’ll head out too.”
As I got up to leave, Peep floated after me. Bellare slithered along as well. With Peace gone, they would get into trouble again if I left just the two of them. I brought them both up to the rooftop garden.
Strong sunlight, still too early to call it autumn light, poured down in long rays. Then it was suddenly blocked. Huge wings spread wide as something descended lightly and silently.
What stood before me was a massive griffon.
Its head, all four feet, and tail tip were milky white, while its body and wings bore a soft golden sheen. The adult-form griffon’s especially deep gold beak opened wide.
Kyaaow!
Blue let out a booming cry and looked down at me with sparkling blue eyes. Even fully grown, that mischievous gaze remained the same.
Yesterday afternoon, after seeing Yoohyun off, I applied my skill to Blue and began the final training. Since I had played with Blue often even normally, one sleepless night was enough to finish the growth completely.
[Grade 2 Griffon Species: Golden Gryphon Blue
Current Stat Grade S
Potential Stat Grade A-S
Optimized Initial Skills
Ruler of the Wind (S) acquired
Golden Arrow (A) acquired
Wind Resistance (A) acquired
Sharp Roar (B) acquired]
Blue’s stat grade was S, and all initial skills had been acquired. Blue had grown up wonderfully.
Peep.
Peep, in my arms, opened its beak as if startled by Blue. I thought it was surprised because Blue had suddenly become huge, but then it spread both wings wide and cried out as loudly as it could.
Peeep!
...Was it imitating Blue? Bellare, who had been wrapped around my wrist while watching Peep, raised its neck straight up.
Hissss!
What are you two doing? Blue, no. You do not get to do it too. Dad’s eardrums will burst.
“Blue really grew all the way up!”
Yerim said as she flew down from the direction of the Haeyeon Guild building. Blue happily leaped up, snapping a small tree with a sweep of its tail. ...Just in case, I should use Eunhye a little. B-Class should be enough.
“Blue, you look amazing! You’re so handsome!”
Kyaa, kyaak!
The two hugged each other tightly and bounced around. Please be a little careful. The garden tiles are cracking.
“Blue is so lucky. Growing up so fast! Why can’t I grow faster? Myeongu oppa shot up in height in just three months.”
Yerim complained that although she had gotten taller, it was not by much.
“You’re still a minor. If you awaken before you’re twenty, at most you grow a little faster than normal during your growth period. And Myeongu is an unusual case.”
Based on stats, mid to high-grade Hunters had usually been larger than average even before awakening. Moon Hyuna had originally been nearly 180 centimeters tall, and I remembered that the late Choi Seokwon had been listed as over 180 centimeters on the profile. They grew a little more after awakening, but usually by five centimeters or less. Defense types could sometimes grow ten centimeters or more.
There were people with great physical specs but low stat grades, but once someone reached the level of a professional athlete, they were usually at least E-Class. That was why professional sports had collapsed worldwide. The Awakened League would be formed soon enough, though.
Myeongu, on the other hand, had originally had F-Class stats. Since his growth had already finished, he seemed to have rapidly shot up to match his stats. There had been no case like this before my regression, so I did not know for certain either. There had been cases where stats rose by about one grade, but the growth process itself took years. Noah had been like that too.
“Blue, we’re going into a dungeon together today.”
Kyaow.
“But you said Blue stayed up all night training. Will that be okay?”
“Blue will be fine. You can stay up one night without a problem too, right? Blue probably slept during the morning, and for an A-Class dungeon, Blue can just sleep if tired midway through.”
Blue, who had grown just in time, would join Yerim’s dungeon raid. Until a suitable partner appeared, Blue would mainly raid dungeons with Yerim and Moon Hyuna. I had finished discussing it with Moon Hyuna yesterday.
Since Blue belonged to me, I would receive a certain share of the dungeon raid proceeds. At first, I wondered whether that was necessary, but Moon Hyuna said it was better to make things clear, so we even drew up a contract document.
“Did preparations for the raid go well?”
“We’ve got everything ready. There won’t be anything dangerous anyway, and we’re mostly checking how well the team works together.”
Yerim smiled, saying that there was nothing to worry about with two S-Classes.
“The container truck for Blue to ride in is ready too. Half the container roof can open. There are bars, though.”
Even if they were bars, they were only at the level of a sign saying, Please do not leave. Blue could easily break them.
After checking Blue’s condition, we headed over to Haeyeon Guild. A container truck like Yerim had described was parked in the guild members’ parking lot. When I handed Yerim the Owner’s Token, Blue tilted its head curiously.
“Blue, I’m counting on you!”
When Yerim raised her hand high, Blue gently bumped it with the beak. It was a relief that Blue did not seem uncomfortable with it at all.
There were not many team members yet. One healer, two support types, two defense types, and one attack type, for six people total. Ha Eunha, whom I had seen at the last Ranking Match, was there too. Everyone was older than Yerim.
“Other than the healer, we recruited primarily according to Hunter Park Yerim’s preferences.”
Seok Simyeong said as he approached me. Healers of the right grade were rare, so it was not as if we could be selective.
“I did advise that it would be best to make up the team of female Hunters where possible.”
Moon Hyuna’s words suddenly came to mind.
“I think that would be better too.”
“Most likely. Hunter Park Yerim is especially young, so people can easily underestimate her. Sometimes they act obediently in front of her but do as they please behind her back. Our guild had to weed out quite a few people in the beginning too.”
Seok Simyeong smiled bitterly, saying that because Yoohyun was young, many people had mistakenly thought they, as adults, could become the real power.
“It is still a transitional period. As more time passes, rank will take precedence over age or gender in the Hunter world. Of course, that will bring problems of rank discrimination instead. Even now, discrimination based on rank or type is quite severe.”
Nothing was easy to perfect, he said.
“Isn’t that why we have laws and order? Differences certainly exist, but we should reduce discrimination as much as possible.”
There had been that talk about Kim Minui being support type, but Seok Simyeong seemed rather interested in discrimination against Hunters. ...It left me feeling complicated, considering what I had suffered at his hands.
Before I awakened, I would not have had any reason to become involved with Seok Simyeong. Maybe, when I was struggling so much before my regression, he had known about Yoohyun’s circumstances. Maybe that was why he had deliberately been cold to me. ...I hoped that was all it had been. I had only received some of Yoohyun’s memories, so I did not know everything.
“Shall we set off? No, let’s go!”
Yerim laughed playfully, saying it felt awkward to speak in a commanding tone. Blue entered the container, and I went in too in case Blue became anxious.
“Yerim, why are you going in there too?”
“Blue is my temporary mount, after all. Of course I should look after Blue.”
What a thoughtful thing to say. When I met Newbie this time, I had to remember to ask about mounts for Yerim and Song Taewon. Soon, the container entrance closed and the truck set off.
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