WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The S-Classes That I Raised ◈

Chapter 44: Let's Not Talk Behind People's Backs

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That smug grin on her face was irritating. No intention of driving a wedge between us, my ass.

Then Moon Hyuna’s phone rang.

“Oh, sounds like your little brother got wind of it.”

She held up the phone to show me. The screen read, “Crazy Bastard 2.”

“Crazy Bastard Original is obviously that old man Seong Hyeonje.”

“...Aren’t you going to answer?”

“Want to?”

I took the phone she offered and pressed the call button.

[Moon Hyuna, you-]

“Yoohyun.”

I heard a short intake of breath.

[...Hyung?]

“Yeah, it’s me.”

[...Where’s the Breaker Guildmaster?]

“She’s right beside me, grinning from ear to ear.”

“Not quite that much.”

Moon Hyuna grumbled.

[Are you okay? Did that woman say anything strange?]

“She was talking behind your back.”

[...What did she say?]

“To sum it up, she said you aren’t normal. But don’t worry about it. Honestly, you’re both cut from the same cloth, so it’s hardly news.”

[...What? Huh?]

Yoohyun’s voice was full of confusion. Moon Hyuna’s eyes also went round. I smiled at the sight.

You think you’re the only one who can talk behind someone’s back? I can do it too. Well, since the person in question was right here, I guess it was talking to her face.

“Want me to tell you an old story? It happened a year ago. More precisely, in the spring a year ago. Around five in the afternoon on April 2, at a CS convenience store in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province-”

“Mr. Han Yujin!”

Moon Hyuna shouted and snatched the phone away, turning it off. Her cheeks were slightly red.

“Ah, no, surely not, but...”

“It sounds like you know this story too, Guildmaster Moon.”

“Almost no one should know about it...”

“Not no one. I happened to hear it. I’ll keep whose mouth it came from a secret.”

The embarrassing and crazy thing Moon Hyuna wanted to hide would later be used as a card to damage her reputation. It was a secret everyone would learn eventually, but not yet.

It really had been an unforgettable story.

“...Fuck. I can’t even kill you to keep you quiet.”

Her eyes rolled toward me, filled with killing intent.

But she could not touch me. We had already signed the contract. Unless she wanted to take on five of us, including the Association, she had no choice but to endure it.

Since she was the one who needed mounts most, she would also find it regrettable to touch me over something like this. Without me, she would not get a high-grade mount for another two years.

“That’s what you get for talking behind my little brother’s back. If you talk behind someone’s back, people will talk behind yours too.”

I smiled sweetly, my eyes crinkling, and Moon Hyuna’s brows twitched upward in irritation.

Then her phone rang again. Yoohyun must have been calling back.

“Aren’t you answering?”

“...You’ll keep your mouth shut?”

“It’s a loss for me, but I don’t want to hear more bad things about my little brother either. Let’s both keep quiet.”

“Fine.”

I answered and gave Yoohyun a vague explanation. Moon Hyuna took back her phone and gave a large shrug.

“You’re no pushover, Mr. Han Yujin. I never dreamed that story would come up. I can trust you, right?”

“Of course.”

“If it gets out, I’ll be humiliated, lose face, and want to hide for about half a year. That’s all. But I’ll definitely kill the bastard who blabbed.”

Her voice was calm, but I could clearly feel that she meant every word. Especially the part about killing them. So even her patience had limits.

“Don’t worry. Ms. Moon Hyuna is my beloved customer. It would be a problem for me too if you hid for half a year, so why would I do that?”

“You sure know how to talk. Is there anything else?”

As if there wasn’t. I might look like this, but I never missed a Hunter-related program. I was an avid viewer.

I knew a lot, but if I carelessly ran my mouth, it would become troublesome. Unlike the killing-intent-filled S-Class in front of me, plenty of people would not hold back at all. That was why I kept quiet.

I would stay quiet as long as no one bothered me first.

“Would you believe me if I said there wasn’t?”

“Ah, right. You’re Crazy Bastard 2’s big brother. I thought you were a little more innocent than him, but I really did something stupid. I’ll remember that well.”

...Innocent? Had I been acting that way? I thought the negotiation had gone well.

“...I suppose you underestimated me quite a bit.”

Moon Hyuna snorted at my words.

“Of course I did. Think about it. An F-ranker who just Awakened and still can’t shake off the air of an ordinary person calls Han Yoohyun mild-mannered. That’s basically advertising, ‘I’m a complete newbie who knows nothing about the Hunter world.’”

Ugh, I could see how it would look that way. Officially, I was a rookie who had not even been Awakened for a month. In reality, I had the longest Hunter career of everyone gathered there, but who could possibly guess that?

To them, I must have looked like a quasi-ordinary person saying his little brother was gentle by ordinary people’s standards. Of course they would not merely underestimate me. They would think, Wow, this easy kid has a useful skill. Maybe I should prod him a little.

Like Moon Hyuna had just done.

“No wonder even people who aren’t the type were strangely kind to me.”

A sigh escaped me.

“Surely not everyone is going to be as troublesome as you, Ms. Moon?”

“Why the Ms.? Call me big sis. It makes us feel less distant.”

Moon Hyuna, who had regained her composure, propped up her chin and smiled brightly. Excuse me, but I had lived over thirty years in total.

“I’m desperate because of the mounts. The others probably won’t leave you alone either, though. Good luck, like younger brother, like older brother.”

I should not take a single step outside the guild building for a while.

“But it looks like the young master really treasures his big brother.”

“What?”

“The Haeyeon Guildmaster hardly ever makes personal contact. Not just with me, but with other guildmasters too. Even the numbers he has saved are from Haeyeon’s secretary’s office. Calls go through there. Other guilds are similar because of security, but still.”

Moon Hyuna said it was the first time he had contacted her himself so quickly.

“Even among fellow S-Class Hunters, you don’t contact each other?”

“The young master doesn’t. It’s not like other S-Class Hunters are close either. How should I put it? Han Yoohyun seems especially uninterested in other people. He didn’t have friends in school, did he?”

Moon Hyuna grinned. No, that was...

“He was popular! He brought home lots of chocolates on Valentine’s Day, and he got lots of presents on his birthday too.”

“Wasn’t that just because of his looks? Did he ever bring friends home?”

...No, he had not. This was one thing I could not make excuses for. Still, maybe he just had not wanted to bring anyone home.

Seeing me search my memories, Moon Hyuna clicked her tongue and flicked her fingers. I felt the surrounding air shift. Then the voices of the people who had been blocked off came flooding back in.

“Uncle!”

Yerim ran over and shot Moon Hyuna a sidelong glare.

“Didn’t you promise you wouldn’t mess with him?”

Had they made that promise? Well, Yoohyun would not have simply said okay.

“Did I mess with him? We only talked.”

Moon Hyuna raised both hands. She certainly had not laid a hand on me.

“Ah, seriously, unni!”

“Oh? You want to fight?”

Moon Hyuna sprang to her feet and wrapped an arm around Yerim’s neck, pulling the huffing girl into a hug.

“You’ll smudge my makeup!”

“You’re prettier without it at your age~”

Those two got along better than I expected. What if Yerim really joined Breaker three years later? That place would fall apart later on. Of course, there was no guarantee the future would be the same.

...Should I bring Moon Hyuna over instead?

I did not like her, but she was also too valuable a Hunter to let personal feelings bury her.

‘Applying the Keyword would not be that hard.’

There was the fact that it would not be awkward to use the Keyword between us, as members of the opposite sex. More importantly, Moon Hyuna was the S-Class who would come looking for me most often in the future. Her interest in mounts was enormous, so while I raised monsters for her, she would likely stop by regularly to check on them.

She had even come to see me on purpose today.

So with joking talk about love and a suitable amount of kindness, I thought I could slowly apply the Keyword.

The problem was the Keyword’s additional effect.

‘It’s unlikely there’s no one she thinks of as a Caregiver.’

Unlike Yu Myeongu, who had been neglected, Moon Hyuna had been an athlete who competed in world championships. She must have received care from her parents, as well as coaches, trainers, and seniors.

If it was related to sports, I would be grateful. Dad would be fine too. If it was Mom, well... I could handle Moon Hyuna calling me Mom. She was an older woman, so she would probably find it playful.

If I gained her trust through the Keyword’s effect, then gave a well-placed push once Breaker’s internal problems started growing, I could bring her over.

‘I don’t want to be close to her, but there’s no downside to putting her in Haeyeon. Her ability is certain, and she would work well with Yerim too.’

At present, the standard S-Class dungeon raid team consisted of one S-Class Hunter and several A-Class Hunters. But as dungeon difficulty rose later, teams with two or more S-Class Hunters would appear. Yoohyun and Yerim had opposing attributes, so they could not work as a team, but Yerim and Moon Hyuna would fit together well.

A powerful single-strike attack and an area-of-effect skill specialized in holding enemies down. Yerim even had an area-of-effect buff.

If they got in sync, they would make an excellent pair.

‘Now that I picture it, I really like the idea.’

Right. She would be Yerim’s partner, not mine anyway. I could do my guardian duty properly and work to reel her in.

Once I reached that conclusion, watching the two play together felt rather pleasant. Please continue getting along well.

* * *

The filming ended smoothly.

There was nothing particularly difficult about it. I explained Peace, answered questions, threw a ball, and had its bite strength and reaction speed checked. That was about it.

They asked me to show that I cherished and loved Peace, but that was truly easy. Our Peace was lovable by nature.

It was fortunate that Peace was my little brother’s mount. If I had to send Peace far away, I would have been lonely. Outside dungeon raids, I could keep Peace with me, right?

“Uncle, are you drinking another mana potion?”

After filming ended, I set Peace down for a moment and took out a mana potion. Yerim approached and asked.

“Want one too? It’s orange-flavored.”

“It only smells like oranges. It barely has any sweetness and is sour. The apple flavor is bland and gross too.”

I thought they were tolerable. It was not like I drank them for the taste.

I opened the cap and downed it in one gulp. Yerim looked at me worriedly.

“This is already your third one today. Is it okay to drink them so freely? Is there no recommended daily amount?”

“What recommended daily amount? It’s just for recovering from mental fatigue.”

I could not tell her I lacked mana from using the Sprout skill.

No matter how hard I looked, I did not see a status window worth picking up. There were so many people that I had only checked the letters at a glance, but the highest rank among either skills or stats was C.

‘The camera director could obtain what looks like a C-rank special skill, but...’

Putting aside applying the Keyword, an optimization I could use only once a month was too precious. I had to save it as much as possible, since an A-rank or higher candidate could appear anywhere at any time.

Why had the Awakening Center been made for combat specialization? If it Awakened a variety of aptitudes, I would not have to regret it. Should I set up a private Awakening Center myself? Since I could see optimized initial skills, I could create an environment suited to each person... Hm... No, it was still too large a scale for me to handle alone.

‘But I feel guilty just leaving the Awakening Center alone.’

It had a lot of problems. The Hunter Association itself had plenty of problems to begin with.

“Uncle! Why are you spacing out again?”

Yerim jumped up and shouted.

“You said it was for mental fatigue, but you’re spacing out right after drinking it too. Aren’t you sick? I heard being tired all the time could be a serious illness...”

She became flustered by her own words, even turning pale. What serious illness? I would still be healthy five years later. Getting injured while raiding dungeons could not be helped, but my insides were fine.

“I can get lost in thought for a moment. Peace, come here.”

“But your stats are F! Shouldn’t you get a health checkup? When was the last time you got examined?”

An F-ranker might be weak, but I was still just an ordinary person. Compared to an S-Class, I might as well be paper.

“I don’t remember, but I’m fine. Hey, hey! Who are you calling?”

“The Guildmaster. So you can get a full health examination-”

“No! I’m really fine!”

I did not want to go to a hospital! If it was a full examination, I would even need an endoscopy. What if I said something ridiculous? I could do it awake instead of under sedation, but it would be difficult.

“Uncle Kim Seonghan worries about your health all the time too. Take better care of yourself.”

Yerim grumbled as she put her phone away at my protests. No, that man only did that because he thought I was a seventy-year-old.

“Hello. Could we take a picture with you?”

Then two pretty girls who looked like celebrities approached us. Both were FF-rank.

“Yes, go ahead.”

“We can’t touch him, right?”

“It would be better not to, just in case.”

No matter how gentle and well-behaved Peace was, a monster was still a monster. It could only appear on the broadcast because the Association gave special permission and Hunters such as Yerim and Moon Hyuna accompanied us. I could not bring it outside alone. It was still illegal.

Though laws on traveling with tamed monsters would likely change faster than before because of Peace.

“May I take one too?”

After seeing the two girls take photos, another person approached. Then the number of people gathering around us began to grow one by one.

Had these people wanted to take pictures but only been watching for a chance? Peace would probably never come out again, so I might as well let them.

“Peace is so cute!”

“Do you have social media or anything?”

Social media, huh. Should I try it? I had some photos and videos of Peace. Especially the pictures from before it grew up. It felt wasteful to keep them to myself. It was cute now too, but it had been even cuter when it was small.

“Not yet, but I’ll think about it.”

“Please make one!”

Sure, sure. I also thought I should let the world know how cute my kid was.

Then people at the back of the crowd began to murmur. A gap opened, and a man walked through it. At the same time, Yerim and I, along with everyone nearby, found our gazes fixed on him.

Wow, seriously...

“He’s ridiculously handsome.”

...Yerim, watch your language. But he really was ridiculously handsome.

And his potential Awakening stats were B-rank, with A-rank skills.

[Non-Awakened: Park Hayul

Potential Awakening Stat Rank B

Optimized Initial Skills

Impossible to Look Away (A)

Just Looking Makes You Feel at Ease (A)

Icing on the Cake (A)]

Triple A skills. And their names all sounded like special skills somehow.

They also seemed related to his looks.

So being handsome was a talent too. With a face like that, even if he Awakened S-rank stats, there might be no change. Stat adjustments did not make someone handsome. They balanced things out, and there was a limit. If someone’s features were already in perfect balance, there was nothing more to add. That was why some people showed barely any change even after Awakening.

“Excuse me, could I get your autograph?”

Park Hayul blushed as he spoke to Yerim. He was probably a celebrity, but the positions had reversed.

“...My autograph?”

“Yes! I really admire and like Hunters! This is my first time seeing an S-Class Hunter in person. I really wanted to go when you went to the Association for your ranking, but I couldn’t because of my schedule. Then I heard you were filming here, so I rushed over.”

Park Hayul could not hide his excitement as he respectfully held out an autograph book. There were people like that. People who romanticized Hunters and acted like fans chasing celebrities. S-Class Hunters in particular tended to be good-looking, so their fanbases had grown thicker over time.

But it was ironic that someone more handsome than an S-Class was acting that way. Once he Awakened, he would be at least B-rank too.

‘Optimized Awakening would be impossible, though.’

They were clearly skills he could never obtain through the Awakening Center. If things went wrong, his stats could be B-rank while his skills were ruined, leaving him half-baked.

Still, trying to reel him in felt rather... questionable. I did not want to say the Keyword to that face even if it killed me.

He was a handsome celebrity, so he would probably eat well and live well on his own. I should not get involved.

“I’m filming a movie right now. If it’s all right, could I send you an invitation to the premiere? You don’t have to come, of course! I just wanted to send you an invitation along with a small gift...”

“Oh, sure. Send it to Haeyeon Guild.”

“Thank you!”

He had it bad. But a movie shoot? I unconsciously tilted my head.

I did not remember seeing such a handsome actor. At this time, I had been far removed from cultural life, so I might not have watched the movie he was filming. Still, with a face like that, he should have continued appearing in various media afterward. It was not a face one could easily forget.

So why did I not remember him? Had he retired early?

“Mr. Han Yujin!”

After getting Yerim’s autograph, Park Hayul turned his intense gaze on me.

“Please give me your autograph too! Could I possibly get a paw print from Peace?”

“...Only an autograph.”

I should give him the autograph and send him away quickly. I would never meet him again anyway.

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