WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The S-Classes That I Raised ◈

Chapter 79: Don't Cause Trouble

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“Peace! You’re the best! Oh, you little cutie! Won’t you come to your big sister? Hm? Hm? Or am I your unni?”

Moon Hyuna hung from the Flame-Horned Lion’s neck, shouting like a thoroughly drunk fool. Even when Peace shook their neck as if annoyed, she did not budge, only laughing loudly.

The air was hazy with clouds of dust. Piles of stone lay scattered around the giant toad’s corpse.

In the middle of it, Han Yoohyun and Park Yerim were looking at each other awkwardly.

The two instinctively disliked each other because their affinities clashed. Yet the moment Han Yujin’s skill took effect, that discomfort vanished completely.

In its place were faint feelings of connection and closeness.

They might have rejected those feelings, but they accepted them naturally because the person linking them was none other than Han Yujin.

It was a kind of sleight of hand.

Both Han Yoohyun and Park Yerim were already used to receiving positive emotions from Han Yujin. They were so accustomed to that natural flow that they failed to notice it had been twisted slightly.

“...Let’s not say anything, okay?”

Park Yerim spoke with a slight frown.

The skill’s effect had faded, but lingering feelings remained. They were beginning to find each other irritating again, yet the pleasant bond of having worked together remained.

For Park Yerim in particular, this was her first time pouring all her strength into a battle against such a powerful enemy. It had been exciting, fun, and thrilling. Even now, standing atop the result beneath her feet, her heart was still pounding so hard that Han Yoohyun, who had been such an eyesore, almost looked cute.

She did not want to admit it, and it made her feel awful.

Han Yoohyun was affected less severely, but he was in a similar situation and gave a sour nod.

Yet the person affected most was neither Moon Hyuna, who had perfectly synchronized with a top-rank mount, nor Han Yoohyun and Park Yerim, who had developed strange feelings toward someone incompatible with them.

It was Seong Hyeonje.

The dead giant toad’s nape had been completely torn apart.

Despite the enormous wound, not a drop of blood-like fluid had flowed out. The wound and everything inside it had been cooked as though boiled.

They were bite marks, as if a gigantic predator the size of Babar, rather than a small human, had ripped into it. Seong Hyeonje stared at them, then lowered his gaze to the young man in his arms.

“Where did something like this come from?”

He murmured quietly, sounding fascinated, as though he had discovered an intriguing new species.

He had long known Han Yujin was useful. But raising mounts and discovering the grades people were destined to awaken at were not fields that required Seong Hyeonje to reach out personally.

The things worth taking were not Han Yujin himself, but the results he produced.

Unless Haeyeon Guild or another guild tried to monopolize him, it was enough to maintain a reasonably good relationship as long as Han Yujin remained neutral. There was no reason to bother a farmer who did his work well on his own. A contract had already been signed, so all he had to do was collect the excellent harvest.

But now, things were different.

A command-type special skill. Except in unusual situations like this one, it was not yet particularly necessary for S-Class Hunters.

But the day it became important was not far off.

Seong Hyeonje knew more quickly and accurately than anyone else that dungeons were becoming more difficult. He also expected cooperation among S-Class Hunters to become essential before long.

When that time came, a command skill that affected even S-Class Hunters would be invaluable. On top of that, the fact that its user had low stats was appealing.

No Hunter welcomed an opponent who could become a threat interfering with them physically or mentally. But Han Yujin was so weak that he was not the slightest bit bothersome. His skill could also be easily broken if strongly resisted.

It was useful without harming sensitive high-rank Hunters, so it was only natural to accept it generously. It was so fitting that it almost seemed deliberately designed that way.

And there was one more thing.

The shared effect that doubled attack skills.

A smile formed on Seong Hyeonje’s lips without his realizing it.

It really was different from merely hearing about it.

No one could fail to find wielding great power appealing. Among all forms of power, martial strength gave the quickest and clearest results, so once someone stepped into it, they could not help being drawn in.

Hunters even had monsters, legal targets upon which they could unleash violence. Great rewards followed as well.

They could wield their inhuman strength to their hearts’ content, crush and trample enemies, and grow ever stronger.

A perfectly controlled, powerful body. Pure mana capable of overwhelming the surroundings. Skills of unimaginable destructive force produced from that foundation. It was only natural that the higher a Hunter’s rank, the greater the sense of liberation and pleasure they felt in battle.

For someone standing at the peak even among such Hunters, the sensation of having his attack skill effects doubled was like a drug. It was different from merely knowing the number was two. The thought of throwing away power he had already tasted and returning to normal was enough to make him angry.

Why did this have to be human? If it had been a dungeon item, he would have obtained it by any means necessary.

“Is my brother all right?”

The other four, including Han Yoohyun, approached.

“He has no injuries, of course. He’s only asleep.”

“That’s a relief. Please give him to me.”

Han Yoohyun naturally held out his hands. Seong Hyeonje frowned without thinking. If he handed Han Yujin over now, there was no telling when the next chance would come. He knew very well how excessively the brat in front of him fussed over his brother. Even if Han Yujin said he was fine, Han Yoohyun would never willingly let him enter a high-grade dungeon.

Should I kill him?

Han Yoohyun, and the others too.

The title doubling attack skill effects was still being shared. Even if he slaughtered the other S-Class Hunters here, the Grade 1 monster’s corpse and its rewards would provide enough excuse and evidence.

Then only MKC and Hanshin Guild would remain in the mount-related contract. MKC would not be able to act properly, and Hanshin could be easily crushed. The blacksmith was not much of a threat yet either.

“I said to give him back.”

Perhaps sensing something dangerous, Han Yoohyun’s expression hardened. Park Yerim, who had been teasing Moon Hyuna with Peace, also fell silent.

Clink.

The Seeker’s Chain curled around Seong Hyeonje as if protecting him. Han Yoohyun’s eyes darkened to a reddish black as he watched it.

“What a frightening look. Are you going to attack, young master?”

“Aren’t you the one picking a fight?”

“You’re saying that now? I’ve been sending signals since yesterday. I was curious how much the young master had grown.”

“I’d like to meet your expectations, but give my brother back first.”

“I don’t want to.”

Seong Hyeonje smiled. How cute, growling like that.

Park Yerim’s seemingly indifferent voice slipped into the taut air.

“If you two fight as you are, mister will end up in about fifty pieces.”

It sounded like a casual rebuke, but her eyes were ice-cold. Beside her, Moon Hyuna spoke brightly on purpose.

“Right. So hand big brother over here and fight. I’ll keep my mouth shut, so you two can have at it. I won’t tattle, promise.”

“Unni, that lie is way too obvious. You’re fully planning to watch the fight and grab some of the leftovers.”

Park Yerim smiled only with her mouth as she took out a mana potion. Moon Hyuna planted the huge spear she had put away in her inventory beside her feet. Peace bared their fangs slightly as well.

Kim Seonghan arrived in the meantime. After taking in the situation, he did not bother asking and simply glared at Seong Hyeonje.

“Hm? Dear Hyeonje, hand over the glass marble. It’d be a shame for it to break at the very end.”

At Moon Hyuna’s words, Seong Hyeonje looked at Han Yujin, more precisely, at his wrist. The cracked, crude bracelet caught his eye. It had been well over ten minutes.

Moon Hyuna was the problem.

The other three, even the Flame-Horned Lion, would not be able to attack properly because they were worried about Han Yujin. But Moon Hyuna was different. The moment she realized the doubled attack skill effect was still active, she would undoubtedly target Han Yujin first.

And if he wanted to keep using him properly afterward, he would need a special item.

That thought cooled his head.

“There are too many eyes and mouths here to watch and talk.”

Speaking as though he was only stopping because being tattled on would be annoying, Seong Hyeonje handed Han Yujin to Han Yoohyun. He put his returned coat back on, looked at the traces of destruction he had made, then immediately turned away. Lingering only held one back.

“Come on, let’s finish this quickly and get out.”

Once the situation settled down, Moon Hyuna waved her hand. Compared to the giant toad, only things the size of tadpoles, no, toad eggs, remained. There was no need to drag things out.

* * *

“I’m sure of it. They were targeting Han Yujin.”

Newbie spoke anxiously.

Beside them, Tree was restoring G-15 Dungeon, the Black Golem City. A spatial distortion had released a monster from five years in the future that had been held back. With so many S-Class Hunters gathered there, an appropriately dangerous one had appeared. If it was not restored quickly, similar incidents might occur in other dungeons too.

“Have they caught on already? What should we do, Honey?”

“That isn’t it, so calm down. They were trying to take Han Yujin, not kill him. And it was inside Honey’s world. It must be true that someone used a spatial movement skill.”

Newbie’s expression brightened briefly at Tree’s words, then darkened again.

“Then could it be them? Those kids trying to be filial?”

“Who knows. It was likely at least an SSS-Class skill, or perhaps an L-Class skill. They should not be able to interfere directly yet, but we should check. There, done!”

Messages appeared over the window that had been dead black.

“Oh, they caught Babar already! That was incredibly fast!”

“You’re right. I thought they would struggle with their current strength. Honey’s contribution was high too. The clear time was fast for a team that included F-Class stats. They must have earned quite a lot of achievement points.”

Dungeon clear and monster hunting rewards were determined according to achievement points. Usually, the system calculated them automatically, but in exceptional cases, the administrators calculated them directly and set the rewards.

Tree tapped their fingers, assigning appropriate rewards to each person.

“And for Honey, ordinary equipment would be useless.”

“Doesn’t Honey seem to need high-grade equipment with flat stat increases?”

“There’s a blacksmith. No need. Instead... this would be better.”

Tree gathered all the reward value into one special item, then closed the window.

* * *

Peep-peep-peep, peep.

A small murmur tickled my ear. When I opened my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling. It looked like I had gotten out of the dungeon, at least.

Peep! Peep!

Peep fluttered beside my head. Yeah, yeah. Stop hitting my face. It hurts.

“Mister!”

“Yujin!”

Yerim and Myeongu. I picked up Peep and sat up. Where was this? It was a fairly large room without any windows. And my clothes... They looked like hospital clothes. Was I in a hospital?

When I turned my head, Myeongu looked close to tears.

“Was I asleep for long?”

“For two whole days! The hospital said you’d be fine, but... No, there were four S-Class Hunters with you, so why couldn’t they protect one person properly?!”

Yerim slowly averted her gaze at Myeongu’s angry shout. I had been tired, but I had not expected to sleep for two straight days. Still, my body seemed fine. My head felt clear, too.

Then the door opened, and Kim Seonghan entered. He beamed when he saw me.

“You’re awake!”

Then he turned his head away, just like Yerim had under Myeongu’s glare.

Myeongu held all the cards, after all. Especially with these two fledgling S-Class Hunters. Yerim, of course, and even Kim Seonghan, despite his considerable experience, probably did not have much S-Class equipment. S-Class equipment was still rare, so S-Class Hunters got priority.

The best way to fully equip themselves quickly was to borrow Myeongu’s strength.

“Don’t do that. There weren’t any problems until the Grade 1 monster suddenly appeared. How could even S-Class Hunters predict and prevent something that abnormal? Everyone worked together well to hunt the Grade 1 monster too.”

They must have finished the clear and gotten out without any further problems afterward, right? Surely they had not started fighting again in the middle of all that.

“What about Blue?”

I asked while petting Peep.

“Blue was being too rowdy, so we couldn’t bring them to the hospital. Blue got a little gloomy because you kept not showing up, mister, but they’re healthy. Eating well, too.”

“Peep started crying all day once the second day began, so we had no choice. We got permission from the hospital and the Association to bring Peep here.”

I see. My Peep missed Daddy.

“Did Yoohyun enter a dungeon?”

“Ah, yes.”

Yerim answered a little awkwardly. She avoided my eyes, clearly hiding something. Come to think of it, why was Kim Seonghan here?

“Wasn’t Seonghan going with him?”

“Ah... Well.”

Kim Seonghan also averted his gaze. What was this?

“What about Peace?”

“Peace went with him too, but...”

Yerim hesitated before continuing.

“The guildmaster and Peace went in alone.”

“...What?”

For a moment, I could not understand. So the two of them, alone...

My heart sank, and the Fear Resistance skill message window appeared.

That crazy bastard. My little brother had really lost his mind.

“...An S-Class dungeon?”

“Yes. Other guild members went in after them, but they were all forced out. Apparently, the atmosphere was really hostile. They said it’s a dungeon that suits him well, so even if it’s difficult, he should make it out safely...”

Even so, it was an S-Class dungeon. Since an S-Class Hunter was mandatory, it was at least mid-tier. And he went in with only Peace? What had Peace done to deserve that? No, it was not as if Peace could be dragged in against their will, but still...

Even if it was somewhere he could handle, S-Class dungeon clears took a long time. If it was just the two of them, they would not even be able to rest properly.

Seriously... Yoohyun, you crazy bastard. If you have a complaint, say it out loud, you little brat.

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