WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The S-Classes That I Raised ◈

Chapter 5: My Younger Brother Is Strange (3)

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I still had plenty of time before dinner, so I decided to visit the Korean Hunter Association first.

‘It’d be better to just register as F-rank.’

I planned to reveal only my basic skills and hide my titles and their additional skills. Unless I had at least an S-rank defensive skill, preferably L-rank, L to S-rank support skills were more than excessive for someone with F-rank stats. They were poison.

Especially if someone with skills usable outside dungeons, like My Kid Is the Best and A Promising Sapling, lacked the ability to protect themselves, it was no different from putting up a billboard that said, Come and get me.

All anyone had to do was kidnap them, then threaten and torture them into using their skills.

If it was a support skill that had to be used during battle, they might take an “if I die, you die too” approach, so forming a normal party would be better. But if it was a support skill unrelated to combat that could be used outside dungeons, there was no need to spend money. They could just capture the person and work them like a slave.

There had been plenty of victims, too.

‘That’s why I hid the Caregiver title.’

I could have raised my Hunter rank immediately by telling the Association, but I’d been too scared. Back then, I believed my brother and I had fallen out, so I thought I had no one to protect me.

What should I do this time?

‘Wouldn’t it be better to tell Yoohyun everything, help with guild work using my skills, and receive his protection?’

Dragon Slayer would be hard to explain, so I’d leave that out and only tell him about Perfect Caregiver. A Promising Sapling alone would let me be a proper big brother. If I brought in promising rookies in droves, the guild would give me a position instead of throwing me out this time.

Lost in that pleasant fantasy, I opened the door.

Then our eyes met.

“Uh…”

A huge man, easily over 190 centimeters tall and built like a tank, was leaning against the hallway wall outside my door. He stared at me with an impassive expression.

A-rank Awakened Kim Seonghan.

He was one of Han Yoohyun, the Haeyeon Guild Master’s, most loyal subordinates, a combat Hunter specialized in defense. His loyalty to Yoohyun was so great that he’d always considered me an eyesore.

…Judging by his expression, he still did.

But why was he here? He clearly wasn’t just passing by. He was standing there with his back against the wall.

“Um… hello?”

Kim Seonghan ignored my greeting completely.

What? This hadn’t happened before. After getting irritated by Yoohyun’s nagging, I’d stormed out while yelling that I’d handle things myself and to stay out of it.

“I have somewhere to be for a moment. Take care.”

I tried to walk past him.

“You can’t.”

His deep voice stopped me. Not just his voice, either. His hand shot out and gripped my arm.

“The Guild Master ordered me to make sure you don’t leave.”

“…What?”

Why? Did he think I was going to look for an Awakening broker again? Didn’t he trust his brother?

…Well, I wouldn’t trust me either.

“I’m not planning to cause trouble. I’ll just go out briefly and come right back. An hour is all I need.”

The Hunter Association was only ten minutes away by taxi, and there would be fewer people on a weekday. I should be able to finish registering as a Hunter within an hour.

But the hand gripping my arm did not budge.

“Please return to your room quietly.”

“No, really, it’ll only take a moment…”

His gaze grew increasingly fierce, and my voice naturally got quieter.

Then, at that moment:

[Intimidation is nullified!]

The effect of my Fear Resistance skill activated.

But what good was that? If I acted tough just because I wasn’t afraid, I’d only get beaten up. What a useless skill.

“Fine. I’ll go back in.”

I shook off Kim Seonghan’s hand and turned around. In front of an A-rank, I was no more than a flea, and he wasn’t flexible enough to reason with.

Wait, should I try using my skill on him?

When I turned back, Kim Seonghan’s brow furrowed.

What’s your problem? Stare all you want. It won’t work on me.

As I activated A Promising Sapling, a status window appeared.

[Awakened: Kim Seonghan

Current stat rank: A

Potential stat rank upon Awakening: A to S

Optimized starting skills

Indomitable Body (S): Failed to acquire

Regeneration (S): Failed to acquire

Earth Shield (A): Acquired]

What a waste!

I nearly shouted out loud. His potential stats went up to S-rank, and he had two S-rank skills he could have acquired! As I remembered, Kim Seonghan’s starting skills were Earth Shield and Stomp. Stomp was A-rank too, but apparently it hadn’t been optimal.

‘Damn, what a waste. Can someone who has already Awakened not Awaken again? Kim Seonghan, optimized Awakening!’

[The target’s keyword influence is incomplete.]

Right, the keyword.

[Targets who have completed Awakening cannot undergo optimized Awakening.]

Another message immediately followed.

So it really wasn’t possible. Nothing I could do…

[By applying My Kid Is the Best (L) to focus growth on a single skill, it is possible to acquire new skills, including optimized skills previously failed to acquire.]

What?

You could focus growth on one skill? This damn system was always ridiculously vague with its explanations. There had been more than one or two hidden effects I only discovered later. Some skills even seemed to have additional effects without any message appearing at all.

Anyway, being able to obtain failed S-rank skills was incredible… incredible…

But…

‘Fuck, the keyword.’

I looked up at Kim Seonghan.

The rugged man was looking at me as though asking why I hadn’t gone back inside yet. He was at least twenty centimeters taller than me, with a build that would make even an ordinary gangster instinctively call him boss.

Yeah. No way.

Absolutely not.

I smiled like nothing had happened and went back into the room.

Then I screamed inwardly.

‘Change the keyword!’

Couldn’t I reset it? Reset it! I wanted to go back in time one more time. Just one day. No, just one hour.

I’d turned away because I refused to do it, but what a waste. Such an awful waste!

‘One more S-rank in the guild would be a huge help. Right, I should explain it to Yoohyun first and get his cooperation…’

I trailed off.

Something felt like it was missing.

…What would happen if I explained the keyword? If I came clean about the skill?

A dreadful thought smacked me across the back of the head.

Let’s calmly assess the situation. Right now, I was…

‘…Being imprisoned.’

I was trapped. An A-rank Awakened was standing guard outside the door. That was far too extreme for simply preventing me from going out to cause trouble. Even a C-rank, no, a D-rank would have been more than enough to stop me.

‘Yoohyun, you…’

What was he thinking? Before my regression, he had never gone this far.

After pacing circles around the room, I sat on the edge of the bed.

‘What if he’s doing this to protect me?’

I remembered how Yoohyun had said he would make me delete the broker’s contact information immediately and make sure the broker couldn’t receive any calls. Things had seemed a little strange even then.

No matter how absurdly weaker I was than him, I was still his older brother. I was already an adult, and if I didn’t obsess over becoming a Hunter, I could live perfectly well on my own. Besides, unlike before my regression, we could actually communicate.

There was no reason for him to lock me up like this.

To begin with, Yoohyun had neither the right nor the justification to confine me.

After turning the matter over in my head, I took out my phone. I might as well ask directly.

After a short ring, Yoohyun answered.

“Hey, it’s nothing major. I was about to head out for a moment, but Mr. Kim Seonghan is stopping me. He says it was your order?”

[Where were you trying to go?]

The Hunter Association…

It would be better not to tell him that right now.

“Just home.”

[Why home?]

“Do I need a reason to go to my own home? I’ll come back this evening.”

The voice on the other end fell silent for a moment before returning, lower than before.

[That’s a little different from what Kim told me.]

“Uh, yeah?”

[He said you told him you’d return within an hour.]

“No, that was only because he stopped me. I meant I wasn’t going anywhere in particular.”

Why was he being so sensitive? The unease in my chest grew a little stronger.

[If you don’t have anything pressing to do, just stay there. While we’re at it, why don’t you move into the guild too?]

“What?”

[There’s no need for us to live separately. The world isn’t exactly safe these days. There may not be any dungeons near your home, but you never know when or where one might appear. What if it ruptures?]

No, it would be safe for another five years.

[I’ll have preparations for your move made immediately.]

“A move? Hey!”

[I have to head out, so it’ll be hard to contact me until dinner. If you need anything, tell Kim Seonghan.]

“No, wait! Yoohyun!”

The call ended.

I stared at my phone, feeling both hollow and dumbfounded.

‘Could this also be a side effect of going back in time?’

My younger brother’s personality seemed to have changed. What was wrong with this bastard?

‘Maybe I shouldn’t reveal the Perfect Caregiver title.’

He thought I was an ordinary person who hadn’t Awakened, and he was already acting like this. If I told him I had incredibly useful support skills, he might not let me take a single step outside the room.

…Though I couldn’t leave now, either.

Damn it. For now, I would hide it and watch his reaction.

‘If Yoohyun keeps acting strange, I’ll build my own power base.’

Perfect Caregiver alone would make it possible.

First, I would find people who would become A to S-rank Awakened in the future and help them Awaken. It would be better if they were young.

I would persuade some kids, lure them in by saying I’d make them Awakened…

‘…This makes me either a complete con artist or a human trafficker.’

I-I mean, I wouldn’t charge them money, and I’d actually make them Awaken!

To ensure the kids didn’t betray me after Awakening, I would need contracts. Something like, “You will not reveal the secret of your Awakening and will protect me as Hunters affiliated with me for one year.”

Honestly, I wanted to say, “Protect me forever!” But there were no contract items that could bind S-rank Awakened for a long time. The longest only lasted ten years.

If I gathered a bunch of A to S-ranks and kept them around by dangling growth skills in front of them, I’d have a large guild in no time.

‘Or I could merge with the Haeyeon Guild later. That would work too.’

If I brought several A to S-ranks with me, Yoohyun would acknowledge me. Surely he wouldn’t try to lock me up again? I’d have people protecting me, so I wouldn’t be caught so easily, either.

All right. Then the first Awakened I would reel in was…

Park Yerim, the Ice Witch, who would become an A-rank Awakened in three years. She had made a name for herself quickly even among A-ranks, so perhaps she might be capable of Awakening as an S-rank.

‘She definitely lived in Seoul. I remember reading an interview saying that she lost her parents in the Dungeon Shock and lived with a relative who ran a meat restaurant near Myeongdong Station. Her age right now was… fifteen?’

…She was a middle school girl.

The keyword…

I swear to heaven that I have absolutely no improper thoughts toward a child half my age! Any thirty-year-old bastard who had strange thoughts about a minor should put a knife in his mouth and drop dead! This was merely groundwork for her Awakening!

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