WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The S-Classes That I Raised ◈

Chapter 35: Specialized in Repetitive Tasks

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I froze for a moment, then hurriedly flipped to the next page of the skill window.

[(Pending)(Pending)(Pending)(Pending)(Pending)(Pending)(Pending)(Pending)(Pending)(Pending)(Pending)(Pending)(Pending)(Pending)(Pending)(Pending)(Pending)(Pending)(Pending)(Pending)

(Yu Myeongu-F)(Kim Seonghan-A)(Peace-C)

Skill Growth Targets: Park Yerim, Yu Myeongu]

...Peace? Wait, our Peace? I had never even seen a notification saying Peace had been influenced by the Keyword.

‘Explain. Please, explain. Give me an explanation. If you just give me a detailed instruction manual, I’ll do whatever it takes to fulfill every S-Class requirement you want, so please explain.’

But a thick instruction manual did not descend from the sky in a beam of light to a trumpet fanfare. Shitty system.

Let’s calm down and think this through.

‘First, it’s certain that Peace has been influenced by the Keyword.’

Unless it was a system error.

The title was Perfect Caregiver, the skill was My Kid Is the Best, and the Keyword that had to influence the target was “I love you.”

Until now, I had thought the Keyword took effect when you piled on sweet words before landing the final blow.

But a real caregiver ought to consistently express love for their kid. Not just once in a while.

‘...Could it be that constantly telling Peace I loved them was the proper way to use it?’

There was no way for me to know which method was correct. Still, considering the Caregiver title, it seemed that steadily building affection to influence the target was the answer.

Either way, all that mattered was reaching the goal.

It also seemed that this method did not produce a separate notification when the skill was successfully applied.

‘Still, this proves I can definitely raise monsters.’

I had been worried that the Keyword might not work on Peace, so this was a weight off my mind. The system’s insane demands could be filled with monsters instead.

Of course, getting fifty S-Class monsters would not be easy. First, they had to exist before I could raise them. It was extremely rare for a mid-boss or boss monster in an S-Class dungeon to show up with young in tow. On top of that, I would have to capture them. The difficulty of acquiring them was truly absurd.

‘Even if someone got lucky and caught one, they’d kill it if they found it couldn’t grow. Even five years from now, there’ll barely be any cases of raising a young monster into an adult.’

There had not been absolutely none. In those cases, the conditions had probably happened to line up. They had all been low-grade monsters too, so their growth conditions were likely easier.

‘Unless some guy with a special monster-rearing skill suddenly appears out of nowhere, I’m the only one who can raise high-grade mounts.’

I should negotiate with the giant guilds using this. Guarantee my safety, and I’ll raise one for each of you fairly. For a separate price, of course.

They would prefer that to one group monopolizing everything, so it would not be difficult to coordinate. Then I could definitely ease Yoohyun’s worries too.

Sure, plenty of bastards would drool and say, “Wow, an F-Rank with a money-making skill is just wandering around out there,” but I did not need to worry about small fry. I just had to lie low until I got a magical beast of my own.

They wouldn’t seriously try to kidnap me inside the Haeyeon Guild building.

* * *

Thanks to Peace, I arrived at the guild in a better mood.

Let’s forget about the forty-eight waiting slots for now. Even whoever made this crazy system could not expect me to fill them all in a short time. Why should I even do it in the first place? Until they told me why, I was refusing. I was going on strike.

“Um, Yujin.”

I was about to hurry upstairs and give Peace a kiss when Yu Myeongu, looking half-dead, spoke in a dying voice. What was wrong with them now?

“Your first dungeon was pretty brutal, right? This was an unusual case, so don’t think too much about it. Return your equipment, then go upstairs and rest.”

I’d rest well today and start the grind tomorrow. Sell mana stones and buy bladed tools. Would old ones be better than new ones? Should I search a junkyard?

“No, I... I guess I really am no good.”

They were someone who would have an SS-Class skill after a little hardship. Millions of F-Ranks across the country would throw rocks at them if they heard that.

“In the end, I couldn’t even get a Level 10 skill...”

“I told you not to worry. They said it’s common for them to appear later. Hey, I don’t have a Level 10 skill either.”

“Huh? You too?”

“Yeah. I leveled up when Yoohyun caught that bird bastard. But I didn’t get one.”

Even my reassurance that we were in the same boat did not lift Myeongu’s spirits like usual.

“But you’re completely different from someone like me. Your little brother was really happy. If you can give advice like that, your rank doesn’t matter, right? You’re really special.”

They looked so gloomy that it seemed like they might dig a hole and crawl into it. This was much more serious than usual. What should I do? Get them drunk or something?

“Let’s go upstairs and talk. Upstairs.”

“No, I think it’s about time I left. They said only theory classes are left in rookie training. I could continue those at the Association, right? No, I probably don’t even need to. I really can’t do dungeon raids. I’m so sorry for making you waste your time on someone like me. Still, thank you so much. I’ll never forget this for the rest of my life.”

Yu Myeongu muttered as if delivering last words. This was not just serious. It was really serious. They looked like they would try to commit suicide again if I let them leave like this.

Was it because they had been around S-Classes? I might have been part of the cause too.

Even if I told them now, Actually, you have the talent to get an SS-Class Crafting Skill!, they wouldn’t believe it. It would be hard to believe under normal circumstances, but if I said it now, they might think I was mocking them. It could backfire.

But I had not built enough trust with Myeongu to reveal my skill. They were a good person, but still. I had not even explained everything to my own little brother yet.

“If that’s what you think, I can’t do anything about it.”

I let out a long sigh and continued.

“I’m not going to force you to stay. It’s just... I got some good information, and it’s a shame you won’t be able to use it.”

“...Information?”

“Yeah. Information that could really help you. But seeing how much you’re struggling... I feel bad making you suffer more. It’s a shame, but if you don’t want it, I won’t force it on you. Even a Pyongyang governorship is no good if you don’t want it.”

I kept sighing heavily as I watched Yu Myeongu’s reaction.

“Want to at least hear it before you go? It’s really valuable information. So...”

I lowered my voice and spoke in a whisper.

“You know Seok Hayan, right? The young woman who handled the theory training a few days ago. She’s a genius who got her professor’s certification at such a young age, and she’s really into Awakened research. Her family is influential too, so she has all sorts of important information.”

“R-Really? She does?”

“Yeah. You’re not supposed to tell other people about this, but I got it specially. You can’t say where you heard it from either, okay? You have to keep this to yourself.”

Myeongu hurriedly nodded. Just for you. Only you know. Magical words for hooking people.

“You know weapon-related support skills? Like your Grindstone.”

“Uh... Why?”

“There’s training that can let Awakened with skills like that obtain a very good, special skill.”

“Training to obtain... a special skill?”

“Yeah. Of course, it’s not easy. But if you work hard and finish the training quickly, depending on your luck, you can get an incredible skill.”

“I’m not very lucky...”

“You are. Just finding out about this is incredibly lucky. And it guarantees at least C-Class. A C-Class support skill means you’ll have absolutely no trouble making a living.”

Saying SS-Class would sound too much like a scam, so C-Class seemed right.

“...Really?”

Light returned to Myeongu’s eyes, which had looked like those of a dead fish. Of course. It was real. Just trust me.

“It is difficult, though...”

“How difficult?”

“You know bladed tools? Knives and scissors. You have to sharpen them. Just ten thousand.”

Yu Myeongu’s mouth fell open.

“T-Ten thousand...?”

“Yeah. It sounds hard, right? I don’t want to see you suffer either...”

“Only ten thousand? Really?!”

Myeongu shouted like they were cheering. Their eyes had not merely come back to life. They were burning fiercely. What? Did they like repetitive labor or something?

“...Yeah. That is a lot, though.”

“No, it’s not that many. If I sharpen a hundred a day, I can finish in exactly a hundred days!”

“A hundred a day...?”

In a hundred days? To finish that quickly, even if each one took ten minutes, they would have to do six an hour, work seventeen hours a day, and eat and sleep during the remaining seven hours...

“...Take it slow. Take it slow.”

Enthusiasm was good, but they had to stay alive to use that SS-Class skill.

“Take it slow? Would fifty a day be enough? But that would take more than half a year... I don’t want to impose on you for that long, Yujin...”

“It’s fine. Your food tastes good.”

It was true. Their cooking kept improving, so much that I was looking forward to the future. Did they have a cooking-related skill too?

“So don’t worry about it. You’ll have it harder than me, right? Being shut in all day sharpening knives can’t be easy.”

“Don’t worry. When I was little, I spent an entire vacation working on a model of the Battle of Hansan. I even won an award for it. I’m confident about doing repetitive work at home all day!”

I see. Could this kind of personality be connected to skill aptitude? Once they got the forge, maybe they would mass-produce equipment like a factory.

“Ah, I’ll take the equipment over. You should go upstairs and rest first, Yujin.”

I started to say it was fine, but handed over the equipment. If even a small task made them feel useful, it might lessen their burden a little.

Being too kind was a problem too.

Of course, if they had been the kind of person who greedily accepted everything and never knew gratitude, I would have dumped them first. An SS-Class skill would be worse than useless if they betrayed me. The effect of keyword influence would be useless too without someone to serve as a caregiver model.

I was trying this hard to hold on to Yu Myeongu because they were trustworthy.

“Yujin, thank you so much. I’ll work hard and repay all of this. I promise.”

Myeongu spoke before turning away. If they were that grateful, they could make me a decent piece of equipment later.

With Myeongu’s problem solved, I headed for the dormitory floor with genuinely light steps. Now I just had to wait and harvest the results. It was basically all over. Hooray.

I was going to play around. I was going to be as lazy as I wanted. The house would be spacious, the weather would get hot, and I would run the air conditioner full blast while rolling around with Peace all day. I would not care about that weird status window anymore.

If you want to make me work, descend in person, whoever made this system. And make sure to bring an instruction manual.

Humming happily, I opened the door. Click. What a pleasant sound. I would breeze through the remaining theory classes, then become one with the sofa. Thanks to my dear little brother, I had plenty of mana stones and no money worries. Should I buy more stocks? Or get a car? Right, I had to get my license first.

As I stepped inside, the lights in the entryway flicked on. A smiling man was reflected in the full-length mirror across from the shoe cabinet.

Whoever he was, he sure looked pleasant. He had the face of someone who would live well, playing around and eating comfortably.

But there was someone else behind him, dressed in white mourning clothes...

Something wet grabbed my ankle. Then it pulled hard. Ah, wait, that was cheating!

Crash!

I narrowly twisted aside and fell, barely avoiding smashing my head into the frame of the steel inner door.

Fuck, Goblin. I told you to scare me, not attempt to assassinate me. I am weak. Really weak. Do not underestimate the weakness of an F-Rank.

“Ugh, my back... knees... arms...”

I had saved my head, but the rest of my body had hit everything. Instead of becoming one with the sofa, I was going to become one with the bed.

“I didn’t think you’d fall over that easily!”

“...Apologize first.”

“I’m sorry!”

One point for being an obedient good kid. As I staggered up, a hand reached out from behind and supported me. Ugh, my whole body ached. I made it safely through a dungeon, only to get hurt at my own front door. Was I lucky or unlucky? Did I have any pain-relief patches at home?

When I turned around, I saw Goblin wearing a mask that was bawling its eyes out. They could not have come wearing that from the start, so they must have changed masks in the meantime.

Looking at that ridiculous sight made it impossible to stay angry.

“You came later than I expected.”

At my words, Goblin’s shoulders slumped.

“...I got scolded.”

“You got scolded?”

“I got scolded a lot! They nagged me for two whole days because I signed the contract on my own!”

Poor thing. It seemed Subordinates One and Two were more like custodians. How old were they, anyway? Since no one had said the contract was invalid, they had to be at least fourteen. They were adult-sized, but mentally immature?

“But I bragged that it would be fine because I could win! Weren’t you scared?”

“Before I could be scared, I almost took the road to the afterlife.”

“The moment you first enter your house is when you’re most off guard...”

Goblin spoke dejectedly. I had definitely been off guard. Still, even without counting my resistance skill, the training room had felt scarier. Was it because of Seok Hayan? Her scream had left quite an impression. Sound really was important.

“You still have chances left, so keep trying.”

Though I had no intention of letting them win.

“Okay! I’ll try hard!”

“And go to the pharmacy and buy pain-relief patches.”

“P-Pain-relief patches?”

“Hurry. Right now. Get the good ones.”

“Okay,” Goblin said, then suddenly vanished. It really was convenient. Are you listening, whoever made this system? I could use some spatial movement too, please.

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