WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ The S-Classes That I Raised ◈

Chapter 63: All Set (3)

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I went straight home. There were too many people just one door away to discuss it properly in the workshop.

- Cheep!

Peep landed on the table and stared intently at Myeongu. I didn't know why, but the little thing seemed deeply impressed. What could possibly be going through that tiny head?

“It’s getting pretty late. What do you want for dinner?”

Myeongu spoke as casually as if he had never seen an SS-Class skill.

That didn't mean he was the same as before, though.

The anxious look that used to appear at the slightest thing had vanished completely. His expression was brighter, and there was an ease in both his manner and voice.

He looked the same on the outside, but it was as if he had become an entirely different person. It made sense, but still.

“Is dinner really the issue right now?”

Holding Peace in my arms, I sat on the sofa and grumbled. Why wasn't he explaining his skill? I had only seen the name, so of course I was curious. I thought he'd rush home and excitedly tell me all about it, but he was being far too calm.

“Sit down and explain it.”

At my urging, Myeongu smiled with satisfaction. That bastard wasn't deliberately making me wait, was he?

“Sorry. You must've been really curious.”

That apology didn't contain even an ant's speck of sincerity.

He sat beside me on the sofa.

“The skill is called Master of the Golden Forge. Like I said, it’s an SS-Class skill.”

“A forge? Based on the name, it sounds like a special Crafting Skill. Is that right?”

“Yeah.”

Myeongu nodded proudly. So it really was a Crafting Skill. The name had made it one hundred percent obvious, but I had still worried that something weird might come out.

“It lets me make items, just like the name says. Weapons and armor, of course, but I can even make accessories as long as they contain even a little metal.”

He could make anything containing metal. It was even more incredible than I had expected.

Myeongu shifted his gaze through the air, apparently opening the skill description window.

“There’s no limit on the grade of items I can make.”

“There’s no limit?!”

Wasn't that completely broken? It was an SS-Class skill, so I thought it could only make items up to SS-Class at best.

“There’s no limit, but I think I can only make low-grade items at my current level. There’s something called proficiency.”

“Proficiency?”

“Yeah. It says that the higher my proficiency level, the more likely I am to make high-grade items. The grade of the materials is important too. There’s a Crafting Encyclopedia for Beginner Blacksmiths, but it only covers items up to A-Class. It says, ‘Use this for reference only, and demonstrate your own abilities in earnest item crafting.’”

There was no grade limit on crafted items, but the Awakened’s own ability seemed to matter greatly. The acquisition condition made him grind, and now it was all grinding from here on out too.

But.

“...That skill description window sounds pretty detailed.”

The explanation was long even from what I had heard, and what was this Crafting Encyclopedia? Wasn't it being far too helpful?

“I know. It’s detailed, unlike Grindstone. Is it because it’s an SS-Class skill?”

...I suddenly wanted to show him my L-Class skills with their single-line descriptions. Hey, System? Isn't this blatant discrimination? The resistance skills were one thing, but wasn't the explanation for My Kid Is the Best seriously lacking?

“As far as I know, skill grade and description length don't have much to do with each other.”

Just look at Yoohyun. Blue Willow Leaves was explained in one line: Creates countless willow leaves to confuse enemies.

“Then is it because it’s a special skill? The basic description alone is five pages. The Crafting Encyclopedia has over three hundred pages.”

Wow. This was seriously unfair. The System made me clutch the back of my neck and pound my chest because of its stingy skill descriptions, but it gave Myeongu an entire book?

The System bastards pretended to be interested in me, but was Myeongu their real target? Had I only been needed to help him acquire an SS-Class Crafting Skill? They had been needlessly acting friendly, too. This was a complete betrayal!

“...Well, detailed explanations are good.”

“And there was a bundle of materials in my inventory, too.”

What, what? Hey, System bastards! You're making the favoritism way too obvious! You're just handing him everything.

Myeongu took a pouch out of his inventory. It was small enough to serve as a side bag.

At least they hadn't given him that much.

“It’s called a Subspace Pouch.”

“...Subspace?”

“It can hold up to one ton. Amazing, right?”

Myeongu sounded impressed. One ton in something that small... Was it like an auxiliary inventory? Spatial items did exist, but it was the first I had heard of one.

“Look. This is a Thousand-Year Unicorn Horn, an S-Class material. This one is called a Fragment of a Hidden Star, and it’s an SS-Class ore. It’s too precious to use right now. They all seem to be S-Class or higher.”

“That’s... incredible...”

It was good that high-grade materials had fallen into his lap for free. It was good, but... No, this was a good thing. It was better than not getting them. If he had a ton of S-Class or higher materials, he could build proficiency and quickly produce S-Class items or better. It was a good thing.

A good thing, but the System bastards still annoyed me. Wasn't their favoritism ridiculously excessive?

- Cheep-cheep!

Peep suddenly rushed toward Myeongu from atop the table, then tumbled onto the floor. No, it seemed to be aiming for the pouch more than Myeongu.

“Does it have mana stones in it, by any chance?”

“Mana stones? Let me see...”

Myeongu rummaged through the pouch and took out something resembling a transparent crystal. It was a gem slightly larger than a child’s head.

- Cheep! Cheep-cheep! Cheep! Cheep-cheep! Cheep-cheep-cheep!!!

“Put it back, quickly!”

“O-Okay.”

When the gem disappeared, Peep, which had been going wild, collapsed onto the floor in a daze. It looked as though it had lost a nation, not merely suffered disappointment. It was amazing that eyes as small as beans could hold such complicated emotions.

- Cheep...

“Peep, come here.”

- Cheep... cheep...

Oh, this little thing. When I picked it up, it went limp like a cotton doll soaked in water.

“What was that, anyway?”

“Just an SS-Class mana stone.”

I had heard SS-Class mana stones were white. Was transparent simply considered white? I had never seen one in person, so I didn't know.

“Peep, give up your greed. I gave you a D-Class mana stone today, too.”

- Cheeeep...

“I’ll raise the grade of your mana stones once you get a little bigger.”

Assuming it grew properly, that was.

Perhaps because of an error, Peep had failed to be tamed. I had been able to apply the Keyword, but it was still displayed as □□ in the status window. Naturally, I couldn't see its growth conditions, and My Kid Is the Best wouldn't work on it like a taming skill either.

Well, there wouldn't be much of a problem even if it remained F-Class. It wasn't like I couldn't afford to feed it. Of course, if it tried to eat SS-Class mana stones like it had just now, even the richest person in the world would go bankrupt.

“Oh, my stats went up too.”

Myeongu said this as he put the pouch back into his inventory.

“Your stats? Even though you didn't level up? And neither your skill nor title has a stat increase effect?”

“Yeah. They went up when I got the skill, without any of that.”

Stat grade was determined by the numerical value relative to one’s level. If his stats had risen without his level rising, that meant his grade had increased.

“...Let me calculate it. What is your average stat, excluding mana?”

“The average is... around 21?”

Twenty-one meant, relative to his level...

“You’re E-Class. A high E-Class, too.”

He was close to D-Class. The sort of level that had a high chance of reaching D-Class depending on growth. This was the first time I had heard of acquiring a skill raising someone’s stat grade.

“Then am I E-Class now?”

Myeongu asked brightly. Why did this guy have so many exceptions?

“Only your stats are E-Class. Your Hunter grade will probably be at least B-Class. Once your proficiency increases, you'll easily be recognized as A-Class. S-Class will be difficult, though, since the basic requirement is being capable of participating in S-Class dungeon raids.”

It was an unfair condition. It practically meant that only combat-oriented people could become S-Class.

Anyway.

“What do you want to do, Myeongu?”

It was time to think about the future.

“At present, you are the only person with an item-crafting skill. On top of that, it’s an SS-Class skill with no limit on the grade of crafted items. You could be called completely unrivaled in the Hunter world.”

“I feel embarrassed hearing you say that.”

Myeongu looked awkward.

“It’s simply the truth. S-Class and higher items are rare. Even when clearing an S-Class dungeon, you usually get S-Class byproducts, including mana stones. Proper items don't come out often. Weapons and armor are especially scarce. Unless you get a first-clear bonus, they’re difficult to even see.”

“They only come out during the first clear?”

“They can come out during regular clears too, but that is usually the case. So far, only fifteen S-Class weapons have appeared in Korea, and there are no SS-Class weapons at all.”

Seong Hyeonje’s weapon was supposedly SS-Class, but its origin was unknown. Five years later, SS-Class equipment would become much more common. The number and difficulty of S-Class dungeons would increase. Even then, though, there would be fewer than thirty known SS-Class weapons. The last news report I saw had announced the twenty-eighth SS-Class weapon. There were somewhat more armor pieces, and a few hundred smaller pieces of equipment, but still.

“If you can make S-Class weapons reliably, it'll be easy for you to establish yourself. You won't be irreplaceable, but you'll still be scarce enough. If you can make SS-Class weapons, you'll receive even more attention than I do. Mounts are ultimately support, but weapons improve a Hunter’s own abilities.”

Unless they were an unusual case like Kang Soyoung, if someone had to choose between a mount and a weapon, everyone would choose the latter. It reduced dungeon-clear times and made them stronger and safer. There was no need to think long about it.

“And if you somehow make a weapon of SSS-Class or above, Yu Myeongu, you will become the only person who can raise an S-Class Hunter’s grade.”

On average, if a Hunter wore a full set of equipment two or more grades above their own, their effective Hunter grade could be considered one step higher. But there was a limit to how much equipment could supplement someone’s grade. Even if an F-Class wore nothing but S-Class equipment, their limit was around the upper end of D-Class. The same applied to other grades.

A B-Class wearing a full set of S-Class equipment could reach A-Class level. An A-Class wearing a full set of SS-Class equipment could theoretically achieve S-Class abilities.

That was as far as it went.

No SSS-Class equipment had ever appeared.

“No one in the world will be able to challenge your standing. Every S-Class Hunter will be desperate for you. If you are chosen by Yu Myeongu, you could become the strongest Hunter in the world. The first Hunter in history with SS-Class abilities! Isn't that amazing? Isn't that incredible? You would be the best.”

The more I talked, the more I understood why they might shower Myeongu with special treatment. Since crafted items had no grade limit, L-Class items could appear. There was even the Wish Stone, a Mythic-grade item.

Mythic-grade equipment. Rather than mere SSS-Class, perhaps it could create Hunters with L-Class abilities. The increase in Hunter grade relative to equipment grade had only been theoretical from S-Class onward, after all.

“Aren't you exaggerating?”

“I’m telling you, it’s objective fact. But I don't think you can strike out on your own immediately. Safety is the top priority, and then there is the problem of obtaining materials. You'll need a lot of practice to build proficiency.”

He could buy materials, craft items, and sell them. But the time spent buying and selling would be a waste. At first, he would only make low-grade items, and low-grade items didn't sell as well as expected. Lower-grade Hunters had relatively little purchasing power. There weren't that many Hunters yet, either, since the Awakening Center had not been established.

So it would be much more efficient to receive support, get a huge amount of materials, and make a huge number of practice items.

“The easiest path is joining a major guild. Once they confirm your skill, they'll spare no support, and you'll be able to grow quickly. They'll take care of everything else too. You can just craft items without worrying about trivial matters.”

That might be better for Myeongu. It would be easier on both his body and mind.

“But if you don't want to belong to a guild and want to open an independent item workshop without interference, I can help you. No, I want to invest in you.”

This was no longer me helping him as I had before. Yu Myeongu could go anywhere and be welcomed.

“Invest?”

“Yeah. You know I’m leaving Haeyeon soon. So... I’m asking if you would come with me. It’s only a suggestion, so you don't need to feel pressured. Being part of a guild would definitely be easier.”

If possible, I hoped Myeongu would not join any particular guild. If he did, there was no way that guild would not try to monopolize the items he made, especially equipment of S-Class or higher. If dungeon difficulty and numbers rose slowly over five years like before, that would be one thing. In the current situation, a monopoly would not be good. More than anything, there was a high chance they would try to regulate the number of items produced. Keeping the supply below a certain level made it easier to maintain a premium.

“If you do join a guild, choose Haeyeon if you can. At least for my sake.”

If it was Haeyeon Guild, I could interfere somehow. I could put provisions in the contract banning excessive monopolies and production limits.

“If I become independent, even with your help, Yujin, I’ll have a lot to handle myself.”

Myeongu spoke calmly.

“Most likely. All I can provide is a safe place, materials, funding, and connections to Hunters who will come looking for me. Still, once you make a few high-grade items, word will spread quickly. If you make something S-Class or higher, you’ll have the upper hand, so you can do whatever you want... Though that itself might be tiring.”

Having famous Hunters lining up and controlling them with items as leverage required the right temperament. If he was timid, the situation itself would be stressful. And if he came across as easy to push around, there would definitely be empty-headed idiots who looked down on him and acted arrogant.

Maybe I should just tell him to join Haeyeon Guild.

“Just choose whatever is most comfortable for you.”

He had already suffered enough emotionally. I couldn't tell him to suffer more.

“Honestly, I never expected to get such a good skill.”

Myeongu scratched the back of his head as he continued.

“But based on what you’re saying, if I just work hard, I can become bigger than a major guild. Right?”

“Of course.”

“Then there’s no need to think about it for long. Being stupid and shut up at home once was enough.”

As he rose to his feet while saying that, something in my chest pricked for no reason. I had kept him from going outside much, but he wasn't blaming me, right? He was talking about the kidnapping, right?

“If something like that happens again, then...”

He did not finish the sentence, merely smiling.

“Want to see my forge?”

“...What?”

I could actually come see it?

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