WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ The S-Classes That I Raised ◈

Chapter 7: The Hunter Association (1)

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Before going to find Park Yerim, I headed to the Hunter Association to register as an Awakened and buy a contract item.

The Korean Hunter Association.

It had begun as a government-established Awakened registration office, then became an association with the backing of the three major guilds. Hunter Associations overseas had been formed through similar processes. It was currently a national institution, with the government holding 51 percent of the shares, the three major guilds 30 percent, and other guilds 19 percent. But five years later, the guilds would grow stronger and take most of the shares.

More precisely, Haeyeon Guild had taken them.

‘The more I think about it, Yoohyun wasn't right in the head even before I regressed.’

Why would the owner of such an incredible guild risk his life to save one useless older brother? I just couldn't understand it.

Still, thanks to Yoohyun, I survived, regressed, and gained two L-rank titles. I supposed I had to put up with Yoohyun's crazy behavior. What else could I do?

Maybe because it was the weekend, the Awakened registration waiting room at the Hunter Association was fairly crowded. Most Awakened were what people called double Fs, with both their skills and stats at F-rank. They couldn't work as hunters, but they still came to register.

The government gave out subsidies to encourage Awakened registration. You received one million won just for registering, so unless your money was rotting away, everyone came to the Association.

I took a ticket from the machine and sat down. Looking at my number, I figured it would take a while.

“Hey, isn't that A-rank hunter Kim Seonghan?”

“Huh? It really is.”

The people in the waiting room recognized Kim Seonghan, who had come with me, and began whispering. An A-rank hunter's fame couldn't compare to an S-rank's, but Kim Seonghan's face and name were well known. Half of it was because of Yoohyun, and the other half was because of Kim Seonghan's accomplishments during the A-rank dungeon break at Dongdaegu Station.

A dungeon break occurred when the number of monsters inside a dungeon increased excessively. It was a dangerous event in which monsters came swarming out of a dungeon, but it was rare these days because dungeons were well managed. Known dungeons almost never broke, though it occasionally happened when a newly formed dungeon was discovered late.

“Then why are they standing over there?”

“They came in with that person earlier.”

The crowd's attention shifted to me, sitting beside Kim Seonghan.

“They're making an A-rank stand while only they sit.”

“Are they someone important? It looks like Kim Seonghan is guarding them. Did Kim Seonghan come as an escort?”

“They have a waiting ticket, so they must not have registered as an Awakened yet. If an A-rank came along with them, they must be a big deal. Could Haeyeon Guild be getting a new S-rank today?”

Nope. I was slated to be F-rank. I looked up at Kim Seonghan and spoke quietly.

“Why don't you sit down?”

“No.”

“Could you just sit?”

“It's easier to respond to an emergency while standing.”

What emergency could happen inside the Hunter Association? Especially when the only people here were rookies who had come to register as Awakened.

‘Maybe I should check whether there are any promising newcomers.’

Using A Promising Sapling, I checked the man who had been talking nonstop.

[Awakened: Shin Minho

Current Stat Rank: F

Potential Stat Rank Upon Awakening: F to E

Optimized Starting Skills

Failed to acquire Fast Feet (E)

Acquired Jumping (E)

Acquired Throwing (F)]

His potential awakening stat rank had dropped by one stage, and he had failed to gain all his optimized starting skills. Still, he had an E-rank skill, so he would qualify as a hunter.

‘Ugh.’

After checking two more double Fs, a brief pain throbbed through my head and vanished. It was a signal that I had used half my mana.

‘Six uses is the limit for A Promising Sapling's status-checking ability.’

Of course it was. My Magic Power was only 2.

Life force and mana did not appear in the status window. It would have been convenient if they were shown as red and blue bars like in a game, but they weren't. You could only estimate them from your physical condition.

You could roughly tell someone's life force by looking at them. Fine, half-dead, nearly dead. Mana was the problem. Even five years later, there was no way to check how much mana remained. However, using half your mana gave you a brief headache, and having less than ten percent left made you lose consciousness.

At least passive skills like Poison Resistance normally didn't consume mana.

‘Optimized Awakening and My Kid Is the Best will consume more mana than checking statuses.’

My Kid Is the Best was L-rank, so it would probably devour mana at an absurd rate. It had functioned like a passive skill for Yoohyun because of the effect from receiving the title for the first time, but if I used it now, the skill might fail and I could pass out.

‘I should raise my level a little first.’

That meant going into a dungeon, but if Yoohyun found out, he'd pitch a fit and stop me. Should I sneak in?

“Numbers 56 through 65, please come in.”

The people who had arrived before me rose in a group and followed an Association employee inside. Only after another group went in did my turn come.

Inside, rows of desks with dividers had been set up. An employee handed everyone a sheet of paper. The Awakened registration application included spaces for personal information, stats, and skills. Once you filled it out and they verified there were no lies, your Awakened rank was assigned.

I picked up the pen on the desk and began filling in the blanks. I wrote only my stats and basic skills, leaving out my titles. Stats could be measured immediately, but there was no technology to measure skills or titles, so they couldn't be verified if you hid them.

There were hunters with related skills, but they were rare. Besides, carelessly looking into someone else's skill window was a good way to start a fight. It was a sensitive matter among hunters.

‘People might exaggerate their information, but hardly anyone would deliberately write down less.’

Unless they were an unusual case like me, why would anyone intentionally receive a lower rank? The treatment changed drastically with every rank. C-ranks and above also received all kinds of benefits.

“Is that person the new S-rank?”

“Haeyeon Guild's new S-rank that A-rank Kim Seonghan brought in?”

No. No, I wasn't, you idiots. How long had it been? How had a simple guess already become accepted fact? Hey, where are you rushing off to call? Huh? That Association employee coming over looks pretty high-ranking. They couldn't be here because of me, could they?

“Hello. I am Seok Gimyeong, head of the Hunter Association's Awakened Registration Department.”

The department head dipped their head toward me. Fuck, no. Don't greet me.

“If you don't mind, may I take a moment to look over your completed application?”

“…Here.”

I was already starting to feel embarrassed, but I handed over the application. After seeing my single-digit stats and E-rank skills, Department Head Seok Gimyeong's brow furrowed slightly. Hey, I had five L-rank skills.

“…Hmm. That will do. Off you go.”

The moment the department head checked my application, the polite speech disappeared. The courteous attitude had vanished as though it had never existed. Disgusting. I had experienced it often before regressing, but it was still disgusting.

“What? They aren't S-rank?”

“Seeing that person's attitude, apparently not.”

“Then why were they pretending to be S-rank?”

I never did that, you bastards! You were the ones who jumped to conclusions. What did you mean, pretending?

‘This reminds me of those trash reporters who wrote fiction about Yoohyun and me.’

Ugh. Just remembering it made my stomach hurt. Those bastards had contributed about thirty percent to my inferiority complex. Every article praising Yoohyun always made sure to compare him to his useless older brother.

Under the stinging gazes, I submitted my application and headed to the low-rank ability assessment room.

“Are you wearing or carrying any items?”

The assessment room employee asked in a businesslike tone.

“No.”

“Please step onto the measuring device.”

I stepped onto the round, disc-shaped device as instructed. The device, made using materials from dungeon items, glowed faintly before the results appeared.

“Stamina 6, Strength 4, Agility 5, Mental Strength 4, and Magic Power 2.”

Accurate.

“You have E-rank Mental Strength Up and E-rank Agility Up. Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Please use your skills on the assistant.”

An assistant came forward to verify the buff skills. I was worried I wouldn't have enough mana, but fortunately, I didn't pass out while using them. I needed to buy a few mana potions.

After the assessment was complete, I went into a photo booth and had my picture taken. The photo data, including passport-sized photographs and full-body images taken from the front and back, was immediately saved to the Association database. After waiting a little longer, I heard my number called and approached the license issuance desk.

“Han Yujin, you are an F-rank Awakened and meet the requirements for a hunter license. Your hunter license will be issued, and dungeon entry permitted, after you complete the basic program for new hunters. Would you like to apply for the program?”

“I'll apply for an exemption using Haeyeon Guild's guarantee letter.”

New hunters who had already joined, or were scheduled to join, a guild could skip the basic program with a guild's guarantee. Training for newcomers within a guild was much better, after all.

I handed the Haeyeon Guild guarantee letter to the employee. After checking it, the employee's fingers moved busily over the keyboard.

“Please provide the account number for your subsidy. It must be under your name.”

“Baegil Bank, 995-04-109982.”

I had gained one million won in free money. Long live the Association.

Since I had a guild guarantee, my hunter license was issued immediately. The license was the same size as an ID card, with a passport photo, serial number, rank, and name printed on it. After taking it, I asked the employee a question.

“Is there a way to go directly to the Hunter Shopping Mall from here?”

If I went outside, the watcher would tail me around and be a nuisance. There was no need for them to follow me inside the Association too.

“You can use the elevator at the end of the corridor on the right.”

“Thank you.”

As the employee had said, when I took the elevator up, there was a side door leading directly into the shopping mall. Near the door was an ATM.

‘Should I check how much Yoohyun gave me?’

I took a card from my wallet and walked over to the ATM. It was a gift card exclusively for the Hunter Shopping Mall. When I said I needed money to buy a contract item, Yoohyun had handed it to me, saying there should be enough on it.

It was a little embarrassing to live off my younger brother's allowance, but hunter items were all expensive. My poor wallet couldn't afford them.

I could pay it back by finding hunters with good abilities.

‘An A-rank contract item costs four or five million won, so maybe Yoohyun put in around ten million?’

I wanted to buy one for an S-rank if possible, but I had no idea how much it cost. It had to cost at least twice as much as an A-rank one. I also needed mana potions, so should I buy an A-rank one for now?

I inserted the card into the machine and checked the balance. A number appeared on the screen.

[Balance: 1,000,000,000 won]

…How many zeroes was that?

‘Yoohyun, you crazy bastard.’

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