WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ The S-Classes That I Raised ◈

Chapter 22: My Person (2)

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Riiip!

The paper tore in half, and their eyes widened.

“What the hell?!”

“You crazy bastard!”

F-Class #3 lunged to snatch the contract away. I wasn't in any position to talk, but what did an F-Class think they were doing? I shifted slightly aside to avoid the hand of the bulky man charging at me, then stuck out one leg.

F-Class #3 tripped over it and pitched forward.

When their body had tilted halfway down, I grabbed the back of their head and twisted slightly.

Bang!

I slammed it into the table. Wow, sturdy glass.

“Y-Yujin!”

Yu Myeongu rose halfway from the sofa in a panic. The D-Class also sprang up, their expression turning ugly.

“So you weren't really F-Class! Even then, you're probably only Level 1, maybe E-Class at best. Fuck, I'll cut off your fingers and make you leave a thumbprint!”

The D-Class spat out the threat. I was stronger than that thanks to my equipment, but I hadn't put much force into it because cleaning up bodies was annoying.

I stood, shielding Yu Myeongu behind me, and took out my phone. The D-Class and the others sneered at me.

“Calling the police now is too la-”

“Come in.”

Clang!

With a deafening crash, the locked iron door bent halfway in and fell off.

I had been about to end the call, not make one. I pressed the button to hang up on Kim Seonghan and smiled at Kim Seonghan, who was standing in the doorway.

“Could I ask you for a favor?”

I could handle this alone, but I had someone to protect.

That was why I had called Kim Seonghan before pressing the doorbell. I had planned to ask for help if things looked dangerous, even if they were only dealing with ordinary people. Better to take a little risk and destroy the evidence and silence them than let Yu Myeongu come to harm, after all.

But they were all Hunters, so I could only be grateful.

“You had backup!”

The D-Class shouted as if trying to bolster their courage.

“He looks decent enough, but I’m-!”

“That face! I-Isn't that Kim Seonghan? Haeyeon Guild's shield!”

F-Class #1 cut them off, pointing with a terrified expression.

“A-Class! That guy, no, sir, is A-Class!”

A-Class. At those words, the atmosphere turned icy. The D-Class, E-Class, and three F-Classes all looked around in alarm.

Having seized control of the room with his face alone, Kim Seonghan's eyebrow twitched.

“Get on your knees.”

Thud. Thud.

Five pairs of knees hit the floor at once. They listened well. Rank really was everything.

“How should I handle them?”

Kim Seonghan asked me.

Why was he asking me that? He was far higher rank than I was, so he could handle it himself. Maybe he was used to only taking direct orders from Yoohyun.

“Hmm. In a situation like this, people usually say an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Why don't we treat them the same way?”

If I let them go, they would keep swallowing innocent F-Classes whole like a Venus flytrap. They weren't worth forgiving.

I took the one remaining S-rank Contract Scroll from my inventory. It was a shame to use something worth over twenty million won, but it wasn't money I had paid myself. I could consider it repayment for Yu Myeongu's debt.

“So... you, the D-Class. What's your name?”

I already knew from using Sprout, but I couldn't let on.

“...Kim Deoksu.”

They answered reluctantly. They had immediately dropped to their knees before an A-Class, but apparently didn't like an F-Class speaking casually to them. I was the one holding the reins here, yet they had no sense at all.

“Kim Deoksu, you will answer my questions honestly. If you lie, I'll cut off one finger at a time. You don't need to leave a thumbprint. Should I stuff them down your throat instead?”

I held the contract and pen in front of them.

“Write down your skills and sign.”

“Th-This is...”

“An S-rank Contract Scroll. Naturally, write down skills with effects that are immediately obvious. If you lie and get your skills sealed, I'll cut off your fingers, then make you sign the next contract. Don't worry. I have enough of them, in all sorts of varieties, to cut off every last toe too.”

Actually, this was the only one I had, but how would they know the state of my inventory?

Kim Deoksu swallowed dryly, wrote down their skills, and signed. I should buy a few cheaper contract scrolls too. They were surprisingly useful as lie detectors. Of course, it would be best never to need them.

“How many guild members are there in total? Call only the official members.”

“...Eleven.”

That was not many for a guild led by a C-Class. Then again, this was a trash guild that preyed on F-Classes, so it couldn't possibly be large.

“One is the C-Class guildmaster. What about the other five?”

“D-Class.”

“Give me their numbers.”

They might try something if I made them call directly, so I used their phone myself. I dangled bait by saying they had gotten lucky and caught a healer with a C-Class skill, Kim Deoksu's group was barely holding them, and I was a newly contracted F-Class. They immediately said they would come.

“Where's the healer?!”

Not long afterward, the C-Class guildmaster burst in.

Wham!

“Urgh!”

One punch from Kim Seonghan sent them crashing down. Stats really were king.

The five D-Classes followed, and all eleven grown adults ended up lined up on their knees. The room had gotten cramped.

“Do you know of a C-Class dungeon we can throw these people into?”

Their faces went pale at my words. They only had one C-Class, so even a lower C-Class dungeon would likely leave them mourning their dead. But why should I care? They had done the same thing to others.

There were over thirty contracts piled inside the safe. They said fewer than half of those people still had all four limbs intact. Crazy bastards.

“I'll contact the guild and have them look into it.”

“I'd prefer a privately owned dungeon. Is it all right if the guild gets involved?”

If a guild acted directly instead of this being personal misconduct, there could be grounds for criticism. It would look like they were passing judgment and carrying out executions as they pleased instead of punishing them through the law.

“We can handle something like this cleanly.”

“Even so, there's no need to create a possible weakness over something so minor. Hmm, it would be better to hand them over to the Association instead.”

Kim Seonghan's expression turned strange at my words.

“If they insist that the contracts were made legally, it will end with no more than revocation of their licenses.”

“That would only be the case if we reported them without taking any measures.”

I brought out the blank contracts from the safe and changed Hope Recycling Guild to the Hunter Association, and the ten-year term to fifty years. Without needing to touch anything else, they were perfect slave contracts.

No, I should change the split to one-to-nine too. Giving them nothing at all would be too obvious.

I kindly placed the altered contracts one by one in front of the people kneeling there. They looked up at me in confusion. What were they looking at?

“Leave your thumbprints.”

I tossed them the ink pad. The C-Class's cheeks trembled, whether from anger or indignation.

“This is completely fraudulent!”

Talk about spitting on your own face.

“I'm introducing you to easy, comfortable work where all you have to do is pick up profitable things, and you're calling it fraud? The contracting party has changed from a mere C-Class guild to no less than the Hunter Association, so a change in terms like that is nothing.”

I was even letting them take ten percent. They were awfully greedy.

“Besides, who knows? If you're lucky, you might get into a respectable guild.”

Though they were more likely to be sold to a guild about as bad as theirs.

When contracts like these entered the Association, they would usually be listed as products on an online marketplace. Buying and selling people was naturally illegal, but buying and selling contracts was not a problem as long as both parties agreed. At least, where Hunters were concerned.

They pressed their fingers into the ink pad despite their resentment.

“Leave prints on the altered sections too, not just the signature line.”

They had all those contracts stacked up and still acted like amateurs.

“Let me warn you in advance.”

As I collected the neatly thumbprinted contracts, I continued.

“Don't make a fuss by challenging the contracts and turning this into something bigger. When the Association contacts you, quietly say you agreed. Otherwise, I'll really find a C-Class dungeon and throw you in.”

I wanted to throw them in right away, but I still didn't have the money. C-Class dungeons were expensive, especially privately owned ones.

To keep them from running, I took their resident registration numbers, Hunter license numbers, and phone numbers. If they ran, I could contact Do Hamin and have them caught.

Even as we got into the car outside, Yu Myeongu still looked dazed. Their mouth opened and closed as if they didn't know what to say before they finally managed a quiet voice.

“...Thank you.”

If they were grateful, they should hurry up and get that skill, then pay me back in kind.

“I-I don't know how I could repay you... I don't really have any way to repay you...”

“Don't worry about it so much.”

Just sign with Haeyeon Guild later and give me an incentive bonus.

“Don't worry about it? I...”

A sob entered Yu Myeongu's voice. Don't tell me they were going to cry again. No, don't cry.

“It was just a coincidence! We just happened to run into each other! Really, there's nothing to worry about! Besides, Mr. Kim Seonghan did half of it.”

Yu Myeongu stopped sniffling and laughed.

“You're really bad at lying.”

No, I thought I was pretty good at it.

“Of course I'm grateful to him too, but he wouldn't have stepped in if it weren't for you. Right?”

“Well, that's true, but.”

From their perspective, it made sense to be grateful for what I had done, but since it hadn't been pure goodwill, my conscience stung just a little.

If I hadn't had the Sprout skill, and Yu Myeongu hadn't had aptitude for an SS-rank skill, we would have simply passed each other by.

Without knowing each other's faces or names.

“I was truly grateful when we met at the Association too. Even just hearing what you said made me so happy. But today, I was truly surprised and moved. Yujin, you really...”

Wait. Wait a second. I didn't think I should hear what came next...

“You're my hero.”

...A wave of goosebumps ran down my spine. Wow, how could they say something like that out loud? I was embarrassed for them! Take my My Kid skill instead! I could throw around something like “I love you” without the slightest hesitation.

“...No, not really. I'm not...”

Could they please not look at me with such adoration? There was nowhere to hide inside the car. What hero? I was dying of embarrassment. Someone save me. Should I open the door and jump out? I still had my gloves on, so I probably wouldn't die.

“You were really cool. Tearing up the contract, slamming that man who came at you into the table, and making those people sign the contracts too.”

...The man who had smashed through an iron door with one kick was sitting in the driver's seat right in front of us, so why were they saying this to me? Shouldn't they be saying, “Wow, Mr. Kim Seonghan, you're amazing. Just what you'd expect from an A-Class!”?

“A-Anyway, I get it.”

I hurriedly changed the subject before I died of shame.

“Um, about the rookie Hunter training! It'll start on Tuesday.”

“I really get to take it? Honestly, I'm not very confident.”

Yu Myeongu said glumly. They had already been in bad shape, but those people must have shredded their self-esteem further while making them sign the contract.

“What's not to be confident about? Hey, I'm F-Class too.”

Of course, I couldn't really call myself F-Class when skills were included, but Yu Myeongu would get an SS-rank skill soon enough, so it was close enough.

“...You're completely different from me.”

“How are we different? See these gloves? They're an A-Class item that raises your vitality and strength stats. If you put these on, you could smash that guy's head in too.”

Assuming they had the nerve to fight, that was. Unless they received a boost from a high Mental Strength stat, ordinary low-rank Hunters often panicked during their first battle without even swinging their weapons once. That was why rookie training was essential.

“Still... I don't think I could ever do what you do.”

Their voice had sunk so low it was practically dead. They weren't going to say they didn't want training, were they? They needed a license to enter dungeons, and they needed to enter dungeons to grow.

After considering it, I took off the Manticore's Leather Gloves and tossed them to Yu Myeongu.

“Huh?”

They stared wide-eyed at the gloves that had fallen onto their lap.

“Use them for a while. I'm lending them to you, not giving them to you.”

“B-But you said these were an A-Class item? Aren't they really expensive?”

“I said I'd lend them to you before.”

“I obviously thought they were D-Class or lower! They say D-Class and below get by with equipment... N-No, I can't!”

I forcibly closed their hand around the gloves as they tried to refuse.

“What do you mean, you can't? I barely use these anyway. It's hot these days. So wear them at least until rookie training ends.”

They would have to face monsters during Hunter training, and if I left them like this, they might freeze up and cause an accident. I had experience, so I would be fine without items.

And it really was too hot to wear them. I'd use a belt instead.

“Just as I thought, you really are...”

Yu Myeongu clutched the leather gloves tightly, tears welling up in their eyes. That gaze, overflowing with emotion, was incredibly burdensome.

“Yujin!”

“Wait, don't cling to me!”

...Fuck, maybe I really should jump out after all.

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