WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ The S-Classes That I Raised ◈

Chapter 26: OFF (2)

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“Uh, how may I help you...?”

The young employee standing near the entrance, barely in his twenties, froze stiff at the sight of Kim Seonghan. Well, his face was scary to run into in a dim place like this.

“Do you know Kim Minui?”

Kim Seonghan asked in a low, interrogative voice. At this rate, he would make the kid cry. He was completely terrified.

“K-Kim Minui... Ah, Minui-hyung? Yes! I was contacted!”

Apparently, Kim Minui had said he would put in a good word, since this was a place he frequented. The employee relaxed and forced a smile.

“So you’re Minui-hyung’s seniors. Please come in! We’ve saved you a quiet table!”

Somehow, it felt like we were being led to a private room. There were no rooms, of course. It was just a secluded table in the corner. The location was nice, but I liked the partitions around it most.

I felt like hiding in every possible way.

“I’ll bring you our most popular items right away! For drinks, imported beer? We have liquor too. Ballantine’s 17 Year Old is our best one. We only stock a few bottles since it doesn’t sell much.”

The employee had completely recovered his energy and chattered away. Kids these days had no fear.

Kim Seonghan, sitting across from me, looked at me as though telling me to order. I picked up the menu on the table, then carefully set it back down. There were too many drinks and dishes. My usual was just soju.

“Please bring us a reasonable amount of beer and soju.”

You decide what was reasonable. And make it good.

“Yes, hyung!”

The employee gave us a sharp salute and hurried away.

The lively music was accompanied by loud chatter and laughter. On the way in, I had noticed a long bar and a small stage. Was this half club or something? So this was where kids these days hung out.

The drinks and food arrived while I was looking around. That was fast. Assorted fried food, fruit, army stew, snacks, and more covered the table. This was chicken... salad? Why was there salad?

“Please call me anytime if you need anything!”

I could get full just from the food. I took a light drink of beer and picked at the dishes. These fries were good. They were well seasoned, covered in plenty of sweet cheese sauce, and perfectly greasy, salty, and sweet.

“I would like to apologize once again for misunderstanding you.”

Kim Seonghan spoke with a serious expression, serious voice, and serious manner, all while a bright, cheerful pop song declaring that the singer was the prettiest played in the background.

This really was not the right atmosphere. I wanted to get drunk quickly.

“I did act in a way that could cause a misunderstanding. The awakening broker incident too.”

It had not been a misunderstanding, but he kept calling it one, so I would let it be one.

I answered vaguely and speared some chicken salad with my fork. Wow, this chicken salad was good. What was this sauce? It was spicy enough to make me crave beer. The meat was moist and chewy too. They must have used thigh meat. Boneless chicken had to be thigh meat. Student Minui really knew his good restaurants.

“Wasn’t there another reason behind that as well? You’re not someone who would be fooled by a swindler.”

Kim Seonghan said with certainty. I wouldn’t be fooled now, at least. This was going to create a plot hole. How was I supposed to get around it?

“Well, I was personally curious about awakening brokers. I’m rather interested in Awakened and dungeons. I’ve also done quite a bit of research and studying on my own.”

In the future.

“Team Leader Seok also said that you’re very knowledgeable about Hunters, Mr. Han Yujin. Still, it was dangerous behavior.”

“I knew Yoohyun wouldn’t let it go. Just as expected, I was caught and dragged away immediately. A little sooner than expected, actually.”

Kim Seonghan emptied his beer and smiled.

“You seem to act quite calculatingly, Mr. Han Yujin.”

No, I was the incarnation of impulse. Even my regression had been impulsive. If I had cooled my head and acted logically, I would’ve just become the strongest and lived well while clearing out every dangerous dungeon.

“Until you found Miss Park Yerim, I thought it was simply luck. But earning her trust, dealing with potential trouble in advance, and neatly finishing a contract with Team Leader Seok are not things that can be done through luck alone.”

“No, luck has helped quite a lot.”

If you regressed by luck, you could do it too, Mr. Seonghan. Oh, your skill had to cooperate too. Still, even getting that skill had been half luck.

Luck really was the best.

“And when you went to save your friend, honestly, I was moved. You weren’t even longtime friends. Yet you accepted danger for an old friend you happened to meet again. It made me think you were someone I could trust with my back.”

“Th-That is going too far...”

I saved them because they could get an SS-Rank skill. Being treated like someone who had selflessly done something purely righteous despite being full of ulterior motives was embarrassing enough to give me goosebumps. Yu Myeongu, Seok Simyeong, and now this. Misunderstandings just kept piling up, but there was no way to clear them up.

To hide my awkwardness, I emptied my glass in one gulp. I hoped the alcohol would hit me soon. There was nothing worth expecting from me.

“Saving my friend was just an impulse. Like helping someone who collapses in the street. It was that sort of reflexive action.”

“Even if it was impulsive, helping someone who has collapsed in the street and pulling someone off the tracks when a train is coming are entirely different matters.”

“...It wasn’t that dangerous since you were there, Mr. Seonghan.”

Enough already. My face was going to turn red before I was even drunk.

I should change the subject. What could we talk about? Things that were popular these days? ...Come to think of it, I couldn’t remember what was popular at all. There should have been a new release in the X-Ble series. Had Monster Taming 4 come out this year? When had that hit variety show featuring only Awakened celebrities begun airing?

“Have you heard of Hunter Starting Today?”

“...Pardon?”

“No, never mind.”

I guessed it hadn’t started yet. Hunter Starting Today had been fun. High-Rank Hunters even appeared as guests. I had applied when they were recruiting contestants for their low-Rank Hunter special too.

I didn’t get in, though.

“Mr. Seonghan, you were one of the first Awakened too, right?”

I knew nothing about current events, so I turned the conversation toward Hunters, the topic I knew best. I should spend a while glued to the TV and computer.

“Yes. More than half of all current Awakened, including myself, Awakened during the first Dungeon Shock.”

When dungeons first appeared in the world, everyone had only cautiously watched them with equal parts wariness and curiosity, like primitive humans discovering fire. Then overfilled dungeons began bursting open one after another.

Fortunately, the early dungeons were only F- and E-Rank. The only monsters pouring into the outside world were ones with little mana, which could be dealt with reasonably well even using ordinary weapons.

However, unarmed civilians found even F-Rank monsters difficult to face. There should have been tremendous casualties, but the actual damage was surprisingly small.

It was because many of the people attacked by monsters Awakened.

An initial skill varied according to the circumstances of one’s Awakening. Most early Awakened who felt their lives were in danger gained attack or defense skills as their initial skills. Although most were only F- or E-Rank, they were far more useful against low-Rank monsters than ordinary blades that they were not even accustomed to handling.

Once even a small number of mid- and high-Rank Awakened appeared, the situation quickly settled down. Even so, Korea alone had millions injured and tens of thousands dead.

“The place where I was at the time was a rural village, so it was even more dangerous. Most of the residents were elderly, making it difficult for them to Awaken. Even if they did, their stats were low.”

Kim Seonghan said this as he emptied his glass again. As he said, when a dungeon burst in an area with a severely aging population, the damage could become so great that there were no survivors at all.

“Fortunately, I Awakened as an A-Rank and was able to reduce the damage.”

“You must be a complete hero in that village, Mr. Kim Seonghan.”

“The village elders still contact me now and then. They send me all sorts of things too.”

He smiled a little shyly.

“It was great fortune that I happened to be at my grandfather’s house for the weekend, as I had taken leave. Otherwise... I would never have seen my grandfather again.”

“You must have been close with your grandfather.”

“He raised me.”

“Ah... Then your parents...?”

“They are alive. But after their divorce, my mother remarried, and my father went abroad and only sent child support. After I became an adult, I lost contact with him completely. I suspect he made a new family as well. Thanks to that, both their faces have grown hazy in my memory.”

I see. Why did so few people have uncomplicated family situations?

Kim Seonghan’s case was different from Yoohyun’s, but quite a few early Awakened had broken families. Awakening back then meant being attacked by a monster... and since it happened over the weekend, many had been with their families.

Even aside from that, it had been an unprecedented disaster with millions injured. There were many wounds, and many people whose wounds had still not healed.

“My grandfather, who was like a parent to me, also passed away from illness last year. The guildmaster and Team Leader Seok helped me greatly then. They even invited a healer who specialized in caring for the sick from overseas.”

“I see.”

Healers could not cure disease, but they excelled at restoring vitality and reducing pain. Unlike narcotic painkillers, skills had no side effects. Their biggest drawback was the cost.

As stories piled up one after another, empty bottles piled up too. Strangely, though, I was not getting drunk. It was not completely absent. I had stopped at that frustrating point where I almost felt pleasantly tipsy.

“You seem to be a stronger drinker than you look.”

Kim Seonghan said.

No, I wasn’t. My tolerance was low. Five years later, my level had risen and my stats increased my alcohol tolerance too, but I was Level 1 now. My face should have been flushed after a single bottle of soju. So why was I fine?

“...It’s going down well today.”

I replied with a puzzled tilt of my head. Why wasn’t I getting drunk? Of course, I had not planned to get completely wasted. It would be a problem if I said something stupid and revealed the truth about my skill.

Still, I needed a little alcohol in me to make it easier to say the Keyword. There was no way I could say it sober.

“It’s better not to get too drunk. My drinking habits are the embarrassing kind.”

Still, I laid the groundwork.

“Do you cry?”

“Oh, that wouldn’t be embarrassing. My drinking habit is... confessing my feelings to anyone.”

I did not even need to act to look awkward.

“I’ve even confessed while drunk and gotten slapped.”

Of course, that had never actually happened... I had confessed sober and in my right mind, then gotten slapped. I still did not understand why they had to slap me when they could have rejected me with words. Did they hate me that much?

“That must have been troublesome. One of my university classmates used to grab anyone and try to kiss them when drunk. There were victims everywhere during pre-entrance training.”

...What was pre-entrance training? It couldn’t mean a preliminary military unit.

I was too embarrassed to ask, so I just took a sip of soju and laughed it off. Should I try going to university too? I had plenty of time, so I could study and take the college entrance exam...

‘Even without getting drunk, I’m having ridiculous thoughts.’

University, my ass. But seriously, why wasn’t I drunk? Normally, I would have blacked out already. Come to think of it, the beer I drank last night had not affected me much either. I thought it was because I had only drunk half a can.

What was the problem? I was not wearing any items except the earrings that raised mana, and my skills... Could it be because of a skill?

‘Is Poison Resistance the culprit?’

That was the only suspicious skill. Did it count alcohol above a certain level as poison and block it? Alcohol was addictive and bad for your body in excess, but it was not poison.

...If Poison Resistance was the reason, did that mean I could not get drunk anymore? Was I saying goodbye forever to that pleasant, light buzz? Was this insane?

“You don’t look well. Have you had too much to drink after all?”

“Oh, no. I just remembered something... a little worrying.”

My alcohol! My chicken and beer! The Awakened League was coming soon, and it was incredibly fun. Was I supposed to watch that chaos completely sober?

‘Damn it, why does it have to be a passive skill? Can I not turn it off? I’ve never heard of passive skills being turned off, but...’

They did not consume mana, so people normally did not even think about turning them off. They probably could not be turned off in the first place. A passive skill was called passive for a reason.

‘Still, it would be nice if I could turn it on and off. Is there really no way, even just this once? I don’t want to pretend to be drunk while sober and say the Keyword. Poison Resistance skill, turn off. Poison Resistance skill, off.’

Just as I thought, it would not work...

[Poison Resistance (L) skill has been cancelled.]

Clatter! The glass slipped from my hand and fell. I registered the sight in slow motion.

“Mr. Han Yujin? Are you all right?”

No, I was not all right... Damn it... I had done something stupid. I hadn’t thought it would actually turn off.

Like a full dam bursting, the alcohol flooded in all at once. Fuck, it felt like I had swallowed a ball of fire... I needed to use the skill again...

‘The skill name... what was it...?’

What was it again...?

Then I blacked out.

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