WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The S-Classes That I Raised ◈
Chapter 68: Blue (1)
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[Don’t worry. There’s nothing for me to overdo □.]
[Stop □ killing that kid already and □ go.]
[Get some □□ rest, okay?]
[Still □, you couldn’t raise your level at □ all.]
[□ No! Peace!]
[What □ nonsense are you □□ talking about now? No.]
[Okay □. Even if you sneak out, tell □□ me. I won’t have any reason to go □□ out for a while anyway.]
Red eyes without whites rapidly scanned the text floating in the window. More notification windows popped up one after another in between.
[Awakened Nared Pasamuha has met the conditions for a level 10 skill.]
[First clear of I-25 Dungeon.]
[Special clear B-2 achieved in I-3 Dungeon.]
Newbie moved the tips of their divided tentacles, checking Nared Pasamuha’s aptitude information while processing the first-clear and special-clear rewards.
There was nothing unusual about the rewards, so the system handled them immediately upon acceptance. But the level 10 skill had to be selected and assigned directly from among those suited to the Awakened’s aptitude and current condition.
In the meantime, Han Yujin’s chat window disappeared. He had left the dungeon.
After taking care of a few more tasks, Newbie swayed their long, broad fins and headed to the lounge.
On a white chair that looked as though a moon crater had been hollowed out, Waterdrop, once the source of water for an entire world, was stroking a broken antler. The antler, seemingly made of translucent crystal, gave off a faint light.
“I was worried.”
Newbie gathered their fins beneath them and sat down with a sigh.
“We can only see parts of Honey’s words, so we don’t even know exactly what happened. The atmosphere was really bad, too. I’m glad it seems to have ended well this time, but isn’t Honey’s little brother still rather dangerous?”
Waterdrop smiled vaguely at Newbie’s words.
“The appearance of a Perfect Caregiver is unprecedented, so it is difficult for us to predict anything as well. Still, he already gave his life to save Honey once. If we handle him well, I think he’ll become the most dependable custodian.”
Newbie’s expression did not brighten at those words. Instead, the furrow between their brows deepened.
“I think the classic hero type is more reassuring after all. And systems based on oracles are easier to manage than games. Of course, worlds that have advanced as far as virtual reality are the least work.”
“Once they reach virtual reality, they’re at the edge of a cliff.”
“Exactly! That’s why I like demon lord and hero stories best! It’s fun playing god, too. Next time, I want to be the god of chicken and beer. Food in those worlds tends to be bland, you know. Fried chicken, seasoned chicken, soy sauce chicken, scallion chicken, fire chicken...”
Newbie, who had been listing types of chicken, suddenly looked at Waterdrop as though something had occurred to them.
“But what about the blacksmith? Doesn’t he have potential too? Honestly, I feel uneasy and guilty about Honey, so can’t we change targets?”
“It’s different from Mr. Shalos’s case. That man had already been a blacksmith for centuries, but Yu Myeongu hasn’t even made a single hoe. He’ll grow quickly thanks to Mr. Shalos’s gift, but it’ll still take at least thirty years for him to make myth-grade equipment. We don’t have enough time.”
Waterdrop spun the antler in their hand and continued.
“If Honey fails, we’ll take the blacksmith to the next world. All he needs is time.”
“And Honey?”
“We would like to take Honey too, but would Honey accept? With that title?”
“Th-then... he’d refuse. And if we forced him to come, it would become far too dangerous...”
The tips of Newbie’s long, fluttering ears drooped. Just then...
“This team is only a matter of time now, right? Congratulations, congratulations!”
A translucent, ghostlike woman suddenly appeared. Laughing cheerfully, the ghost stretched her neck toward Newbie.
“But why does our youngest look so gloomy?”
“The skill makes me uneasy.”
“I heard. It certainly is unusual. But that kid will probably think it’s fortunate too.”
“Do you think so?”
“Of course! It’s much better than having no possibility at all. More importantly, our youngest will be shedding that newbie label before long at this rate, won’t you?”
Newbie clapped their fins together.
“That’s right! Oh, I’ll decorate Honey’s room. How should I do it? I heard Christmas is what people in that world like best! A huge tree, reindeer, a red old man!”
“Yes, yes. Given our circumstances, we should enjoy ourselves. We can’t go around looking miserable. Shall we raise a toast in advance?”
A glass filled with clear liquor appeared in the ghost’s hand. She lightly lifted it and smiled.
“To the imprisoned bastards!”
* * *
“So once a skill has been applied, they can still grow through training even normally.”
[Time Required for Adult Metamorphosis (71:01)]
After enthusiastically playing fetch for about thirty minutes, the time had decreased by around twenty minutes. The efficiency was much lower. Still, if I paid attention for two or three hours a day, I could probably finish growth that would have taken two months in about one month.
That said...
‘Let’s not add more work. Let’s not add more work.’
Unless it was truly urgent, I’d pretend I didn’t know. If word got out, I’d be plagued by requests and politicking to pay more attention to their kids. There’d probably be envelopes of cash slipped among the children’s toys.
Still, should I tell Yoohyun? I didn’t want him to lose it again because I’d hidden something from him.
“You weren’t like this when you were little. Hunter work must be bad for your emotional development after all. Peace, you mustn’t change.”
Yip!
“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t grow at all.”
I hadn’t realized Peace had already grown into a subadult. Wait, then had Peace’s cage actually been unnecessary? Since it was designed to withstand up to C-Class strength, Peace should have been able to break out once Peace reached B-Class. Yet Peace had stayed quietly confined.
“Our Peace is so well-behaved.”
Grrr.
At least I wouldn’t have to worry as much about Peace attacking Peep now.
Since I was already in the training room, I played with Peace a little more before going upstairs. When I opened the front door, I heard the TV.
Had Myeongu come home early for once?
But there was no one in the living room.
Other than Peep.
“...Peep?”
Cheep!
Peep, who was sitting on the sofa with the remote beside it, turned toward me. No way. Had Peep turned on the TV? And how had it climbed onto the sofa? Looking around, I saw the basket where I had put Peep turned upside down beneath the sofa.
Had it flipped that over and used it as a step? No way.
“...My kid was actually a genius.”
Look at that. It was even operating the remote with its foot. Should I get it on TV? Wasn’t there some sort of program for discovering gifted animals?
“Our Peep watches TV all by itself. What were you watching? Was it fun?”
Cheep cheep cheep! Cheep cheep!
It seemed to be explaining something, but naturally, I couldn’t understand. Wasn’t there an item that translated monster language somewhere?
“Yes, yes. You’re so smart.”
I set Peace down on the sofa and took a mana stone out of my inventory.
“It’s a mana stone from the boss of a D-Class dungeon Uncle Yoohyun caught.”
Since it was from a high-ranking D-Class dungeon, it was rather large. It was probably close to an ordinary C-Class mana stone. Naturally, I thought Peep would love it, but...
Cheep.
For some reason, Peep showed little reaction.
“...Peep? You’re not sick, are you?”
I’d heard that one of the first signs of an animal being unwell was refusing food. Could monsters go to an animal hospital too?
“You really aren’t going to eat...”
Cheep!
Oh, it was eating. As if it had never been indifferent, it fiercely pecked up mana stone fragments with its tiny beak.
Cheep cheep cheep!
Then it flapped happily before...
Cheep!
Thump!
It slipped off the sofa. Even with the basket beside it, it immediately began hopping to get back onto the sofa.
...Did eating mana stones make it a little dumber?
* * *
The ship carrying the three young monsters purchased by Haeyeon Guild reached Incheon Port. There was one top-grade monster and two high-grade monsters.
Until the monsters were loaded onto the ship, they had been worth no more than rare pets. Pets whose upkeep was far too expensive for their price, at that. Even wealthy people who collected rare animals usually purchased only low to mid-grade monsters, since high-grade monsters were difficult to manage without high-grade Hunters stationed around them.
But now, the situation had changed completely. Giant guilds around the world had their eyes on top-grade young monsters in particular, so Haeyeon Hunters were spread throughout the docks before the ship had even docked. Aside from the two teams currently clearing dungeons, it looked like everyone had come out.
“Shouldn’t Haeyeon increase its number of Hunters too?”
I stood at the dock and looked out at the sea. The wind carried a strong salty scent. It had been a while since I had seen the sea outside a dungeon. There had never been much reason to come. I’d been living too harshly.
“Yerim will have to start clearing S-Class dungeons before long too. Then we’ll need to form a new S-Class team.”
Besides, we couldn’t remain a small elite forever. There had been room to spare before I regressed, but not now.
The number of dungeons under our management would gradually increase, and our current personnel wouldn’t be able to handle them. We’d need to recruit broadly, from A-Class Hunters down through B-Class and C-Class.
“We’ll start increasing our numbers soon.”
Yoohyun, who had been looking in the same direction as me, spoke.
“Hunter Park Yerim will put her own team together.”
“On her own? The guild won’t arrange it for her?”
“That’s how S-Class teams usually work. The S-Class Hunter has to find their own teammates. I did too. If the guild interferes for no reason, it becomes harder to form a proper team.”
“Unaffiliated A-Class Hunters aren’t exactly common, and pulling them away from another team or guild wouldn’t be easy either. Our Yerim is going to have a hard time.”
Should I quietly point out any A-Classes I found to Yerim first? If someone had A-Class combat aptitude, Yerim could take them into a dungeon herself and awaken them without waiting for the Awakening Center to open. Combat skills were easy enough to awaken in ways optimized for them.
Or MKC could collapse completely, and we could bring over their A-Class Hunters. That would work too. Please collapse sooner this time.
“Oh, Hyung. Take this.”
Yoohyun took a necklace out of his inventory and held it out to me.
“What is that?”
I recognized the shape and pattern of the small metal ornament hanging from the chain the moment I saw it, but I pretended not to know. It was still an extremely rare item.
“It’s a translation item. The rearing facility will open soon, and people will come from overseas too, so you’ll need it.”
“You said you were blocking people from trying to contact me, but you’re giving me something like this too...”
I was touched. My little brother really had changed. How admirable. I should have tried to communicate with him properly sooner.
“Where did you hear that?”
“I picked it up when I went to the Association before.”
More precisely, I had heard it from Riette.
“Thanks. I’ll put it to good use.”
I’d been thinking I needed to get one anyway.
“Big bro, long time no see!”
A familiar voice called out then. When I turned, Moon Hyuna, guildmaster of Breaker Guild, was striding toward us on long legs. Her beaming face held the lively energy of a mischievous boy.
“Did the kids arrive safely?”
“The ship has just docked. There has been no unusual contact, so I expect everything is fine.”
Yoohyun answered. Moon Hyuna glanced at him, then spun around and came to stand beside me.
“Nothing happen while I was gone?”
“Nothing.”
I had only snuck into a few dungeons, acquired a few titles, killed a few people, and nearly been imprisoned by my little brother. It had been a fairly eventful few days. Still, everything had been resolved well, so it was fine.
Things like that happened in life. People regressed too, after all.
“If three arrive at once, will at least one be left over?”
“None will be left.”
Yoohyun answered firmly.
“I wasn’t asking my little brother.”
“You have no authority, Hyung.”
“How cold. Still, the top-grade one will go to Big Bro, right? That was the agreement.”
Had they decided that already? Moon Hyuna hooked her arm around mine and pressed closer. It was hot already, so she should stop clinging to me.
“What do you think, Big Bro? Lend it to me now and then. It would be a waste not to bring a top-grade monster into a dungeon a few times. It would be good for both of us if you let it clear dungeons with me so it can gain experience too. Right?”
She had a point. Honestly, it would be a waste to keep it by my side all the time. Clearing dungeons was essential for raising its level, too.
“That’s true, but there’s no need to send it specifically to Breaker Guild.”
“Why not? Han Yoohyun, Park Yerim, and even that bastard Seong Hyeonje are all picky about their element. But I’m not. It just needs to be fast and sturdy.”
“Are mounts only for S-Class Hunters? S-Class raid team members need mounts too if they’re to clear dungeons quickly.”
It would be difficult for everyone, even A-Class Hunters, to receive one each right now, though perhaps not much later.
“Besides, it can be used as a substitute for an S-Class Hunter rather than as a mount.”
Moon Hyuna’s expression turned sulky at my words.
“Stop being so difficult and lend it to me just once. I’m dying of curiosity about how much of a difference an attack makes when it’s strengthened by a top-grade mount’s charge. At least let me test it!”
It was common for high-grade combat Hunters to obsess over raising their abilities, but was she curious enough to come here and plead in person?
“I’ll lend it to you once or twice. But it won’t be free.”
“Of course! I’m not that shameless. More than anything, how could I be careless when dealing with our Big Bro? Just say the word.”
Yoohyun, who had been on a call, ended it and spoke.
“They said the monsters have just been unloaded.”
“Really?”
At last, I would get to see them. I wondered what they would be like.
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