WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The S-Classes That I Raised ◈

Chapter 32: Found You! (2)

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‘Still, they’ve sharpened seventeen already.’

They must have sharpened things like scissors, jackknives, or kitchen knives before. They should work a little harder.

‘If they had used their talent to become a blacksmith or some similar craftsman, they would only have needed to meet the basic requirements.’

Since it was an optimized initial skill, they might even have possessed it from the moment they Awakened. Even if the requirements had been eased by My Kid’s effect, would they have sharpened only ten thousand blades if they had found their talent early?

If they had been born before industrialization, it would have been easier to follow that path. They had been born in the wrong era and environment. At least my skill gave them hope of finding their talent, but otherwise, it would have remained buried.

‘...I decided not to use the Keyword on people, but seeing this makes me waver again.’

Should I help if I found special skills that would obviously be buried rather than combat or healer types? If their stat rank was low like Myeongu’s, there would be less trouble later, too. People with C-Class stats or above would do well enough on their own, so I could pretend not to notice them.

It would be an extremely rare case anyway, so there would not be many. If I spotted one, I would reel them in.

“Mister, what about this?”

Yerim held up a gigantic saw as tall as she was. An axe was one thing, but why a saw? Why were they showing a kid something like that?

“Doesn’t it look like it’d cut ice really well?”

“Only freeze them a little, and focus on eating their shadows. Once you enter higher-level dungeons, even using Sigh at maximum power won’t hold them for long.”

“Then should I go with the axe after all? This one looks like it has good Strength stats.”

“You make up for Strength with your gear. Your weapon should suit your skills and build. You learned that in theory class.”

Yerim wore an expression that said, Did I? Had she slept through the lessons?

“Once you get attack skills, your weapon will only play a supporting role anyway. Pick something that feels good in your hand.”

For a combat mage, the main weapon should also prioritize mana stats. A backup weapon needed to be suited for close combat, though. A sword had too short a reach, and a spear would be better than a blunt weapon. It would probably suit her, too.

After advising Yerim, I walked over to Yu Myeongu, who was still hesitating.

“Take that spear and prioritize defense. Just avoid vital spots like you learned yesterday.”

“O-Okay.”

“A low-level monster won’t damage high-rank equipment, so don’t worry and pick something good. You only need to avoid losing it. Lower-rank equipment actually breaks more easily.”

Myeongu looked relieved at my words.

But why was I the one picking equipment for these kids? Where was the training instructor? Why hadn’t they come? This was neglecting their duties.

‘The instructor assigned to train a new S-Class is late. They must be a real slacker.’

Were they some kid with no work experience? They had definitely never served in the military. This was why everyone should serve. Was this not what happened when they exempted people as soon as they reached E-Class? S-Classes should enlist fairly, too. National defense was a fine duty.

Even while grumbling, I gathered equipment and items. As expected of a large guild, they had plenty of good things.

“Do we have to pay for consumables?”

“If you are not a Hunter affiliated with the guild, you do.”

“Yerim, grab this, that, this one, and that red bottle over there for us.”

“Yes, Mister!”

The maintenance room employee’s expression crumpled slightly. What? An S-Class was generously sharing leftovers with us.

Just then, the maintenance room door opened. Finally, the late training instructor had arrived. Let me see who this person was...

“...Yoohyun?”

Why were you here? I had heard you were going to raid a new A-Class dungeon, but that wasn’t today. Had you come into the wrong room?

“Sorry, I’m a little late.”

Yoohyun said it with a bright face.

...Could the young, irresponsible training instructor who had no work experience and had never served in the military possibly be you? My guess had been perfectly right. Maybe I should open a fortune-telling shop.

No, that wasn’t the point. Why was he here?

“Although I find it hard to believe, if you’re here as the instructor for this dungeon raid practice, I’d like to suggest that you find a more diligent and proper way to waste your time.”

The last practice session had taken place inside the guild, so it wouldn’t have been strange for him to stop by briefly. But this was a dungeon raid. Unless he was insane, he wouldn’t take F-Classes into a mid or high-level dungeon, and an S-Class in their third year raiding a low-level dungeon was comedy. Like killing ants with a flamethrower.

My little brother looked hurt.

“It’s been a while since we saw each other. Aren’t you happy to see me?”

What did he mean, it had been a while? It hadn’t even been a few days. We had seen each other during the indoor practice session recently.

“You were the busy one, not me.”

“You’ve barely come home since you took the Horned Lion away. You said you would come often when you left.”

My little brother was acting like a wife scolding her husband for sleeping out. This was all because of the skill, so I had to put up with it.

“Fine. I’ll come by more often.”

“And call sometimes. Does it make sense that I have to hear about my own brother from someone else? Tell me first.”

“You can call me too.”

Did he not have hands or feet? Yoohyun let out a short sigh at my words.

“You got angry and told me not to call. You even blocked me.”

Huh? Had I? It had happened five years ago, so I didn’t remember well. When I took out my phone and checked, there was some symbol next to Yoohyun’s contact information. Was that the blocked-contact symbol? This phone was different from the one I had used before regressing. No wonder he had barely contacted me despite trying to keep me locked up.

“I unblocked you.”

“Thank you.”

Only then did my little brother stop whining. He wasn’t a child. Though twenty was young.

“So you really are the practice instructor?”

“Why? Is that a problem?”

It wasn’t exactly a problem.

“You must have a lot of free time.”

“Not really. But an S-Class guildmaster assisting a new S-Class with her first dungeon raid makes for a pretty good heartwarming story. This is also when public interest in Hunter Park Yerim is at its peak. Most domestic S-Classes can’t be said to get along well, so the PR team suggested we use this opportunity to show a different side.”

As he spoke, Yoohyun looked toward Park Yerim. Yerim looked directly back at him. The glances they exchanged could not possibly be described as friendly.

A different side, my ass. Were they going to package that as, We get along great?

“Who else is going besides you?”

“No one else is going.”

“Why not? You’re not going to be the one looking after and teaching the kids, are you?”

“Team Leader Seok said hyung alone would be enough.”

...That man was making people work without even paying them. I was a rookie Hunter too, so what made him think I would be enough? Had Seok Hayan told him I knew my stuff? I should have acted less like I knew everything.

“Still, I’m a little worried... No, I guess I’m not.”

Even normally, a properly assembled team could clear a low-level dungeon within two days on average. The fastest F-Class clear record was an incredible twenty-three minutes. It depended on the size, but if Yoohyun came along, it would probably take half a day at most. It would basically be a picnic.

“The dungeon we’re raiding is in the lower D-Class range, a rocky area. The monsters only use close-range attacks, so there should be no danger as long as we watch out for falling rocks.”

“So there won’t be any fires.”

For F-Class stats at Level 1, a D-Class dungeon would mean death the moment you set foot inside. If there had been monsters with ranged attacks, I would have been nervous even with protection. But there were none, so it should be fine.

Before regressing, I nearly died after entering an F-Class dungeon as my first dungeon. This time, I was starting in a safe D-Class dungeon. Connections really were everything in this world.

Before heading to the dungeon, reporters who had been called in beforehand got their interviews. Naturally, Myeongu and I were reduced to decorative props while Yoohyun and Yerim acted like they were very close.

If you didn’t know better, they genuinely looked like close senior and junior Hunters. Those hypocrites. ...Not that I was in any position to talk.

The dungeon we were raiding was near Yeouido.

The entrance to a dungeon that had not reached saturation was usually only large enough for one or two people to enter. Since they were so small, undiscovered dungeons still occasionally broke open even now, when management was much better.

When a dungeon entrance was found, defensive facilities were built around it according to its rank. Then Association administrators observed its condition twenty-four hours a day.

If a dungeon entrance appeared inside a building, the unfortunate building had to be demolished. But the compensation was usually satisfactory. Since the compensation came from dungeon profits, the amount was generally greater than the average sale price of the land or building. Of course, there were occasional tragic cases where an unprofitable F-Class dungeon squatted on valuable land and a building.

‘It feels like I’m returning to work after a long vacation.’

I muttered as I looked at the blue gate, stabilized through regular raids. No, it hadn’t been that long. Besides, I had been busy with other things. I had barely rested at all.

I needed more vacation. I wanted to throw down my resignation letter immediately. Did I really have to raid dungeons again after regressing?

Even a lovely song gets tiresome after once or twice. Why would I go through that much miserable hardship again? It wasn’t as if I were a high-rank Hunter with money and fame rolling in, or as if dungeons would start breaking one after another just because I was absent.

Naturally, I should relax. My dream had been to become a rich unemployed person ever since I was young.

“The dungeon gate remains active for one hour after activation.”

Yoohyun explained like the seasoned Hunter he was, with the fledglings standing before him.

“After an hour passes, it remains inactive unless the dungeon is cleared or all Hunters inside are wiped out. In other words, no one can enter or leave. There are emergency escape methods, of course, but items used for escape are extremely rare.”

As he said that, he took out a Gate Stone. It was still rare even five years later, but now it was difficult to even see one. Yet he had one.

“There are only twenty-two in the country at present, and they are single-use. So you must never attempt a dungeon beyond your ability. Even if you discover a dungeon that has reached saturation, do not try to buy time with your life if you can help it.”

Yoohyun said that while looking directly at me. What, punk? I had no intention of doing anything that crazy either.

If someone entered a saturated dungeon, they could delay its Break until every Hunter inside died. But I was F-Class, so I would probably last one minute. There wasn’t much difference whether I jumped in or not. I would just report it to the Association and run. Did he think I was crazy enough to go in?

After going over various other precautions, Yoohyun entered the gate first. Since it was impossible to know what was inside from outside the gate, the strongest person or the person with the best defensive abilities usually entered first.

Of course, entering alone was absolutely forbidden. The basic rule was to form a party and enter one after another, but this was practice. The rookies only had to follow after waiting for the instructor to secure their safety.

“Let’s go in soon.”

About five minutes had passed, so he had probably finished cleaning up.

At my words, Yerim fearlessly stepped into the gate. I pushed in the hesitant Myeongu next, then entered myself.

The first thing I sensed after passing through the gate was a sharp, acrid smell that stung my nose.

Then I saw the open sky, rocky cliffs, and the charred remains of monsters.

I thought it was a place I was sick of, but my heart beat a little faster.

Another world that I could reach with a single step. Unfamiliar air, unfamiliar scenery, and the feeling of isolation once the door closed, when no one else could enter.

It could be escape, or it could be freedom.

Either way, for someone who had been chased by all kinds of things, that moment of crossing through the door was sweet.

‘Of course, blood flew afterward.’

That was enough sentimentality.

Now, I had no debt, nobody called me trash, and I got along with my little brother. Long live regression. Thank you to whoever made the system and sent down the Wish Stone. So what if there were a few typos? But please give detailed skill descriptions. Please.

“This area is safe.”

Han Yoohyun said that without even holding a weapon. Well, against monsters in a lower D-Class dungeon, he could probably wipe them out with a simple skill. But Myeongu and I were different.

“Not much. Just get us to Level 10.”

Let me hitch a ride on the S-Class bus. When I took a spear from my inventory, Myeongu, who had been watching the situation, picked up a weapon too. We both chose long spears. Our equipment focused on defense and Strength, with every intention of picking up whatever was thrown our way.

“Me too! I can help too!”

Yerim said as she swung her rapier. No, you needed to level up yourself.

“Help with what? Even if you hunted yourself to the bone here, you won’t reach Level 10. I told you there is an enormous difference in level experience depending on your stat rank.”

“Did you?”

“You really did sleep through class.”

“...I didn’t sleep. I just thought about other things a little.”

Well, she was at an age when she didn’t want to study. Of course, I didn’t want to study even at thirty.

“The experience required per level differs by about five times between F-Class and S-Class stats. The gap gets even wider as levels increase. In exchange, S-Class stat growth per level is far higher. In terms of efficiency, F-Class is so pitiful it could make you cry.”

So Yerim would gain around five levels at best here. There were slight differences between dungeons, but I had heard that in a lower D-Class dungeon, she could reach about Level 7 only if she took every bit of experience for herself.

Since the experience requirement increased as levels rose, she would need to clear at least two more D-Class dungeons to reach Level 10.

“Let’s start moving.”

Yoohyun said, walking toward the path between the cliffs. Wait, were those mana stones visible amid the piled ash over there?

“Aren’t we collecting the mana stones?”

“Ah... I forgot since I have never picked them up when raiding with a team.”

Yes, of course. To my amazing little brother, D-Class mana stones were probably worth pocket change, but not to me. I had been wondering how I would obtain ten thousand blades, so I could sell these and buy them.

“Yerim, can you keep Sigh’s cold at the minimum and set the wind volume to the maximum, so only the piled ash blows away?”

“I’ll try.”

A freezing wind soon blew in. Since it was a mist-like skill that spread like a sigh, it was not a strong wind. But when she focused on wind volume, it was enough to scatter the ash. Three D-Class mana stones. I would put them to good use.

“It’s okay if I take these, right?”

“Of course.”

I love you, little brother.

“You can use Sigh like this too.”

“It won’t be very useful. Still, it’s good to develop your ability to apply skills. You’ll keep running dungeons from now on, so try using your skills in as many ways as possible, even strange ones. Sometimes, while doing something pointless, you discover a useful application.”

“Yes!”

Come to think of it, was Yoohyun using all his skills well? When I used Sprout before entering the dungeon, he had already acquired all his optimized skills, so there was nothing I could do.

I had expected it since he had three years of experience, but it was still a little disappointing. Once the cooldown ended, should I try random skills at least? Who knew? Something amazing might appear.

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