WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ The S-Classes That I Raised ◈
Chapter 4: My Younger Brother Is Strange (2)
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I’d gone back to the past. Shouldn’t it have become something that never happened?
‘Are things from before I came back still affecting me?’
Was that why the Caregiver title had changed too?
Before checking the titles, I looked over the rest of my stats.
[Level 1
Vitality: 6 Strength: 4 Agility: 5 Mental Strength: 4 Magic Power: 2]
Hmm, these were unchanged. F-rank, with average Level 1 stats below 5, excluding Magic Power.
An Awakened’s stat rank was determined by their average stats at the same level, excluding Magic Power, which grew painfully slowly.
Stat rank sometimes changed with growth, but usually it could only rise one rank, maybe two at best. Greater growth was impossible. A cat could not grow into a tiger.
[Skills
Mental Strength Up (E): Target’s Mental Strength +5% (immediate effect, cannot stack with similar or identical skills), duration: 30 minutes
Agility Up (E): Target’s Agility +5% (immediate effect, cannot stack with similar or identical skills), duration: 30 minutes]
My basic skills were similar to before, too. I had Strength Up instead of Mental Strength Up back then, probably because the circumstances of my awakening had changed.
They were basic buff skills, E-rank, one step above the bottom. Still, they were decent enough to grow to D-rank if raised well.
‘Not that I managed to raise mine.’
Even with F-rank stats, D-rank skills could raise an Awakened to E-rank. That was why someone with F-rank stats occasionally became B-rank through skill power alone. About one in fifty million, maybe?
There was exactly one Awakened in the world with F-rank stats who had reached A-rank thanks to an SS-rank skill. Saint Emily Spence, who could save anyone as long as they still had breath in them. She was an incredible old lady, and many people had argued she should be S-rank.
But she could not help clear S-rank dungeons, so she remained A-rank. S-rank dungeons were too dangerous to clear while protecting someone with F-rank stats.
‘I’ll barely qualify for a Hunter license again this time.’
There were a lot of Awakened in the world. They had already been common, but six months later, after Awakening Centers were established, it became a world where the grandfather next door, the kid next door, and the man behind your house were all Awakened.
But ninety-nine out of every hundred Awakened had F-rank stats and F-rank skills. In other words, they were just ordinary people.
F-rank skills could not grow, so their rank could not be raised either.
That was why Hunter licenses were only issued when either stats or skills were E-rank or above. There were many Awakened, but few Hunters.
‘Now then, the titles...’
I swallowed dryly without meaning to. Not A or S, but L. I had two Legendary titles.
Though my stats had not changed at all for titles like that.
‘Is Dragon Slayer a skill title too?’
Titles were divided into skill titles and stat titles.
Stat titles literally raised stats, while skill titles came with bonus skills.
An L-rank stat title would have raised my stats to at least B-rank. What a shame.
‘If my stats were at least B-rank, Yoohyun wouldn’t try so hard to protect me. I’ll have to hope for the skills.’
Come on, defensive skill. Come on, defensive skill.
Praying, I opened the Dragon Slayer title information window.
[Dragon Slayer (L)
Proof of a hero who single-handedly hunted a first-class dragon species, Raucitas.
Title Bonus Skills
Poison Resistance (L)
Curse Resistance (L)
Fear Resistance (L)
Raucitas’s Natural Enemy (SS)]
Four bonus skills from the start! As expected of a Legendary title. S-rank titles usually started with two or three, A-rank titles with two, and anything below that with one. Also, titles B-rank and above could grow, gaining additional bonus skills.
‘All the skills are related to Raucitas. So if you slay a fire dragon, you gain Fire Resistance, and if you slay an ice dragon, you gain Freeze Resistance?’
Raucitas was a dragon species infamous for poison and curses.
The resistance skills were obvious from their names, but I checked them anyway.
[Poison Resistance (L): Complete immunity to poison of Legendary rank or below.]
[Curse Resistance (L): Complete immunity to curses of Legendary rank or below.]
[Fear Resistance (L): Nullifies intimidation of Legendary rank or below.]
They were not just good. They were downright broken skills.
That was, if I had been an A-rank or higher Hunter who fought on the front lines.
‘What am I supposed to do with these?’
There were dungeons that dealt poison and curse damage with almost no physical attacks. But you still needed actual strength to kill the monsters. Besides, physical attacks usually followed. Even if I were immune to Raucitas’s poison and curses, I would be neatly shredded by the tip of one claw without the agility or physical defense to back it up.
‘On the other hand, an S-rank Hunter with this title would be unstoppable.’
It was literally pearls on a pig’s neck. Oink.
After letting out a deep sigh, I checked the final skill, SS-rank Raucitas’s Natural Enemy.
[Raucitas’s Natural Enemy (SS): All skill effects are doubled against Raucitas and similar dragon species.]
A dud! A complete dud!
All I had were immunity and buff skills. Even doubled, I would just become a snack in front of a giant lizard! The same went for similar dragon species. Even the weakest fifth-class dragon species was beyond the level an F-rank could mess with, precisely because it was still a dragon.
‘Damn it, what a waste! If this had gone to an S-rank instead of me! Is there any way to give it to Yoohyun?’
If that brat got double effects on his ridiculously good skills, he could beat Raucitas to a pulp!
“Ugh, ugh...”
It was so wasteful I could cry, and my stomach was twisting itself into knots. What a waste!
After pounding the ground for a while, I calmed down and looked at my status window again.
‘Perfect Caregiver should at least be useful.’
Right. I had decided to live quietly anyway. Instead of crawling into dungeons for no reason, I would just live while giving out growth buffs.
[Perfect Caregiver (L)
Proof of a Caregiver who raised an outstandingly powerful individual on a global scale. It is all the more perfect because the Caregiver’s past abilities are at least 100% greater than the current abilities of the one in their care.]
...What?
Hold on, what was that title description?
The first part was the same as the description for my old Caregiver title. Proof of a Caregiver who raised an outstandingly powerful individual on a global scale. But Perfect Caregiver had one more line.
‘The one in my care’s abilities plus 100%... Could that be what I got after Yoohyun died? Did what happened then turn my title into Perfect Caregiver?’
Something that had happened in the past, but also in a future that no longer existed, was affecting the present. Thinking about it made me feel strange. Was this okay? What if there were other side effects besides the title?
‘Still, it really deserves to be called Legendary.’
The requirements for earning it were insanely difficult.
Not only did you have to raise a globally powerful person, at least an S-rank, but you had to have been twice as strong as that S-rank in the past.
‘I got it through the cheat of returning to the past, but normally, some absurdly overpowered SSS-rank would have to raise an S-rank.’
Even if you got a doubled buff after the person in your care died, it would not be the past, so the conditions would not be met. Maybe it would be possible if you raised another S-rank afterward, but was that easy? As far as I knew, I was the only person with a Caregiver title earned from raising an S-rank.
Though there might have been someone else like me who had hidden it.
‘So what about the skills...?’
How had they changed? I lowered my gaze slightly and checked the bonus skills.
[My Kid Is the Best (L)
Final Grace (L)
My Kid Is So Amazing (SS)
A Promising Sapling (S)]
There were four skills, the same as Dragon Slayer, but their ranks were lower. Two L-ranks, one SS-rank, and one S-rank. Of course, that was still incredible, but compared to another L-rank title, it fell a little short.
‘Still, this is much more useful to me.’
Feeling pleased, I opened the information window for My Kid Is the Best first. What a terrible skill name.
[My Kid Is the Best (L): Growth speed of a target influenced after hearing the keyword +100%.
Duration: 3 days
Can be used on a target already influenced without the keyword.
Cannot stack on the same target.
Cooldown for reuse on the same target: 30 days
Keyword: I love you.
※ Cannot be applied if the target is aware of the keyword’s effect.
Completed keyword influence targets (1)
Han Yoohyun (S)]
Great. Everything was great, except...
‘What the hell is with that keyword?!’
It had definitely been “Cheer up” before! Was it because I told Yoohyun I loved him? Because that brat had been influenced by those words?
Damn it!
‘How am I supposed to use this?!’
With family, or at least an adult woman, it might be manageable. But what if it was a man? Or a child? I would end up in handcuffs trying to raise a minor Awakened!
And it was not like simply blurting out “I love you” to anyone would work. If the influence conditions were the same as my old skill, I would have to spend some time with the target. Talk to them, listen to their interests, share an emotional connection, then pick the right moment to say the keyword.
Or confess while saving their life in an extreme situation or something.
Confess. Right, it would look like a confession. Hahaha.
‘...I’ll just use it on Yoohyun.’
It was a waste, but it could not be helped. Thankfully, I only had to say the keyword once to influence someone.
...Since it was only once, would I use it while pretending to be crazy if I found someone truly worth raising? Ugh.
Lost in thought, I opened the information window for Final Grace.
[Final Grace (L): When a target influenced by the keyword dies, the target’s skills and abilities are transferred at double efficiency.
Duration: 7 days]
It was the superior version of my old skill, Final Recompense. Seven days was fairly long, but it was still a one-use skill, so why was it L-rank?
‘This one stays sealed.’
It would be better if I never had to use it, and it was a skill I could not tell anyone about.
Think about it. Who would welcome a skill that let you take the abilities of the dead? People would feel uncomfortable traveling with me, constantly wondering if I would stab them in the back and survive at their expense in a dangerous situation.
That was why I had never told anyone about it before I returned.
Next, I checked My Kid Is So Amazing. This one had a terrible name too.
[My Kid Is So Amazing (SS): When the keyword-influenced target is encouraged with the keyword before five or more sapient beings capable of understanding the keyword, the target’s stats and skill effects increase by the number of sapient beings present, as a percentage. Maximum 100%.
Duration: 30 minutes
Cooldown: 10 days
※ Cannot be applied if the target or nearby sapient beings are aware of the keyword’s effect.]
Keyword. That damned keyword.
I examined every part of the skill information window, but there was no separately stated keyword. Which meant...
‘This time I have to make a public confession?!’
Fuck, I could not even use this on Yoohyun!
The skill itself was good. Really good. Gather a hundred spectators and use it, and you got a twofold boost.
But why did it have to be a love confession? Was this trying to make me die of embarrassment?
‘And with a duration of thirty minutes, I’d have to be right next to them.’
Once I calmed down and thought about it, this was a skill I could not properly use anyway. My Kid Is the Best lasted three days, so I could use it before someone entered a dungeon. But My Kid Is So Amazing would wear off before they even got halfway through a dungeon, let alone reached the boss fight, if I used it outside.
There were dungeon entry limits, too. Maybe I could only use it when a dungeon break happened.
‘Sigh, another pie in the sky.’
I really wanted to give it to someone else. It would be perfect for a buffer or healer with B-rank stats or higher. Preferably someone shameless.
A skill that raised all stats and skill effects at once was A-rank even at only +10%, because skills that raised stats were common, but skills that raised skill effects were rare. S-rank dungeons usually had entry limits of around thirty people, so a full party would mean a +30% boost. It would be hugely helpful during a boss fight. What a damn waste.
Another skill, after Final Grace, that I could not properly use. A sigh escaped me.
‘The ranks are good, but most of them are duds.’
Without much expectation, I checked the final skill, A Promising Sapling.
[A Promising Sapling (S): Can identify an unawakened person’s projected awakening rank and awaken keyword-influenced targets with aptitude optimization.
Aptitude-optimized awakening cooldown: 30 days.]
...Huh? Wait a second.
‘This is incredible.’
Just being able to see someone’s projected awakening rank was amazing. It meant I could recruit prospective S-rank and A-rank Awakened ahead of time. But aptitude-optimized awakening was even more incredible.
About three years later, it would be discovered that abilities after awakening changed according to the circumstances of the awakening. For example, if someone awakened while at risk of drowning, they gained water-related skills. If they awakened while at risk of falling to their death, they gained flight-related skills. Someone awakened while farming and gained plant-control skills, while someone awakened while dealing with abusive customers at a call center and gained hypnosis skills.
Even in my case, awakening under different circumstances had changed some of my titles and skills.
There were even research findings that awakening circumstances affected awakening rank. Even if someone had the aptitude to awaken at A-rank at most, the theory was that poor awakening circumstances could result in an awakening at B-rank or lower.
But how could you adjust awakening circumstances to suit someone? Even five years from now, optimizing awakening circumstances would be impossible.
Yet A Promising Sapling could produce an optimized awakening.
‘The highest possible rank for their aptitude and the best possible skills!’
It meant I could pick up the best rookie once a month.
Wow, this was truly the best. It was amazing enough to deserve L-rank...
‘...Is this another keyword too?’
Ah, seriously. This is so damn awful! Seriously, I...
...Still, I had to use it. Sob.
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