WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ The S-Classes That I Raised ◈

Chapter 84: Big Sis, Could You… (1)

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‘With one exception, I’ve now met every S-Class Hunter in Korea.’

I poured instant coffee into an expensive-looking cup and added water. I preferred paper cups, but it was better to cut down on disposable items.

‘Why hasn’t the last one contacted me?’

MKC probably wasn’t in any position to contact me, and according to Song Taewon, Hanshin also seemed unable to approach me.

Was the last person, Sudam’s Yoon Gyeongsu, in a similar situation? I had scattered such tempting bait, yet an S-Class guildmaster in Korea, not overseas, had stayed this quiet. There had to be a reason.

‘What should I do about Manager Song Taewon?’

He seemed like a good person, but he was also a troublesome opponent from my perspective. This was the first time I’d seen this brand of instant coffee. It was good, if a little sweet.

‘It would be a waste to let him die, but if he remains alive and well...’

He would become the greatest obstacle to Haeyeon swallowing the Hunter Association. The beginning of the Association’s decline, despite having the state behind it, had been Song Taewon’s death.

With no S-Class Hunter and dungeon difficulty rising, the Association had naturally weakened. It had even been forced to hand over the S-Class dungeons it managed to large guilds. Then Sesung disappeared, and Haeyeon, which steadily absorbed the vacant space, eventually devoured it.

‘That was why Yoohyun came under suspicion too.’

Sesung suddenly leaving Korea shortly after Song Taewon’s death had made people most suspicious of Seong Hyeonje. Still, Haeyeon had looked suspicious under the circumstances as well.

‘Song Taewon isn’t the type to say, “I’ll compromise reasonably,” and he’ll clearly keep clashing with guilds in the future.’

Should I try applying a Keyword? But he wasn’t someone I could casually throw a joke at. If I said something half-heartedly, he would probably give me such a serious answer that I’d never say it again.

I still had time. Maybe I should wait and see a little longer.

I needed to collect the keys and pack my things, so I decided to return to Haeyeon Guild first. Of course, I needed to erase the handprint on my throat before then. It would be troublesome if anyone noticed.

‘A mirror... Where was the bathroom again?’

I thought I’d seen it beside the lobby. I took out a potion and headed there. There was no one in the building right now except at the rearing facility, so...

“Mr. Han Yujin?”

It was Kang Soyoung. She held a five-tier cat tower in one hand and five large shopping bags in the other. I’d forgotten about her. I reflexively covered my throat, but...

Thud.

The cat tower, followed by the shopping bags, fell to the floor. In the blink of an eye, Kang Soyoung was right in front of me. She pushed aside the hand covering my throat and pulled out her phone.

“What happened? Where are our guildmaster and Yerim?”

“I sent them ahead.”

“Yerim aside, why would the guildmaster do that?”

Kang Soyoung tilted her head and took a picture of me with her phone.

“Why are you taking a picture...?”

“I need to file a complaint. I also need to report this to the guildmaster.”

“I’m fine! Please don’t call him! It was nothing, really.”

“Then why are there handprints on your throat?”

“This is because Manager Song Taewon was worried about me, in his own way...”

Kang Soyoung’s expression became strange. Even I thought that sounded insane.

Anyway, I managed to persuade her not to say anything. I made her delete the picture, too. Kang Soyoung kept giving me a lukewarm look as she escorted me back to my dorm room.

No one was home. The kids had moved to the rearing facility, Yoohyun had taken Peace, and Myeongu was holed up in the forge.

It had been a long time since the place had been this quiet. A home really was better with someone in it. Was that why people kept pets?

I wrote Preparing to move on the whiteboard in the living room. Since Myeongu spent more than half the day in the forge and phones didn’t work in the pocket dimension, we communicated business this way. He came out to check it about once every hour or two.

‘Most of the unpacked boxes are still here.’

We already had all the necessities, so there hadn’t been much need to unpack. Once we moved, I should sort through everything and throw out what needed throwing out.

I packed my belongings into boxes and brought them into the living room. I got an icebox and emptied the refrigerator too. It was right next door, but it was summer. I also gathered the kids’ belongings, which had gradually multiplied.

Myeongu appeared while I was doing that, accompanied by a wave of heat from whatever he’d been working on.

“Did you finish packing?”

“Yeah. More or less. Now I just need someone to move it.”

“You don’t need that.”

Myeongu took out a cord from his inventory. The cord looked as though it had been made by twisting strands of metallic silver. It lengthened and wound itself around the boxes. Then everything inside the cord floated into the air.

He’d made another strange thing.

“I can put it into the forge like this, then take it out again when we get there.”

“Ah, so you can use it that way too.”

What a cheat. Wait, could this be used in connection with dungeons? We could put people in the forge beforehand and enter with more people than the limit allowed. Or keep low-stat healers inside, then take them out when it was safe to receive treatment.

“Can you put people in there too?”

I asked Myeongu after he carried the luggage into the forge and came back out.

“No, unfortunately not. Apparently, living creatures are automatically expelled when I’m not there.”

What a shame. If Myeongu reached A-Class stats, we could make useful use of healers, special support staff, and low-stat Hunters even in high-grade dungeons.

Then again, he was already busy enough just making equipment.

Kim Seonghan had the mini portal key and the key to the inner door. With Yoohyun absent, he was effectively the acting guildmaster as a new S-Class Hunter and one of Haeyeon’s original members.

After collecting the keys, I went to see Seok Simyeong to process my resignation, only to find Yerim glaring with fire in her eyes for some reason.

“Mister, you can’t do this! You promised you wouldn’t go anywhere else!”

Right, I had. Seok Simyeong was nodding vigorously behind Yerim too.

“It’s the building next door. Are you done with class?”

“It’s break time. Even if it’s the building next door! If you resign, you’ll really be leaving. Can’t you just stay? You said you wanted to keep the dorm room as a spare too.”

“But is that really okay?”

“It is.”

Seok Simyeong immediately answered.

“You have not performed duties as a regular employee anyway. Haeyeon has many Hunter employees, so there is no restriction against outside work for hunter license holders.”

“Keep your promise, Mister! At least until my contract ends!”

Yerim nearly seemed ready to grab me by the collar as she shouted, her eyes blazing. I couldn’t refuse after she put it that way. A promise was a promise.

In the end, I decided to keep my regular employee contract with Haeyeon unchanged. No, Yerim insisted that there was no telling when or how she might run off again, so it ended up being extended to three years. It was only my name on paper anyway.

Back at the rearing facility, I finally stepped into my new home. The front gate keys might be in the guildmasters’ hands, but still. I’d been told that if someone broke down the front door or tried to open it without a key, a signal would be sent to every guild. I should think of it as something like a multi-unit house.

“Nice place.”

It was supposedly much smaller than the first floor, but the first floor had simply been too large. This place was ridiculously spacious too. Perhaps because of flying magical beasts, the ceiling was two stories high. There was even an open loft with only a railing, which looked perfect for Blue, who liked high places.

Besides the living room for people, there was a separate room for monsters, practically the size of a small playground. It had no windows for safety reasons, but one wall was covered with a special glass screen displaying a live view of the rooftop garden outside. The other window-shaped screens did the same. Apparently, lighting close to natural daylight adjusted itself like a real window according to the time and weather.

The kitchen area was partitioned off and fitted with a sturdy door at my request. Blue would no longer be able to raid the refrigerator.

- Kyaa! Kyaa!

Despite being moved somewhere unfamiliar again after only one day, Blue was delighted without the slightest hesitation. She flew straight up to the loft railing and cried out loudly. It was nice not having to worry about noise.

- Cheep.

Peep, who had gained another ankle band because of Comet, ran to the screen showing the garden and sat down. Peep seemed to like the view quite a bit. I should take Peep outside tomorrow.

The hatchling dragon was still asleep, so I set its nest down on the table.

“You said you already moved, right, Myeongu?”

I asked as Myeongu helped unpack.

Yu Myeongu’s new home was the residential area on the top floor of the building. It wasn’t a particularly tall building, but it was essentially a penthouse. Since the resident was who he was, they had apparently poured money into that place as well. Seok Hayan and her team also lived and worked there.

“Yeah. That place was done up nicely too. It’s so big that it feels empty living there alone... Honestly, it’s a little lonely.”

Was that why he’d kept staying in the dorm room?

“Come visit whenever you’re bored. Want a key?”

Myeongu’s face immediately brightened.

“I’d love that! But aren’t you only giving them to the guildmasters you made contracts with?”

“I have one extra. There’s no one but you I’d give it to. Honestly, you’re the most reliable person I know.”

My little brother was the guildmaster, so whenever a dungeon appeared, he would naturally take care of Haeyeon’s share. Would Yerim complain if she found out I’d given Myeongu a key?

I gave him a mini portal key as well as a key to the front door. Myeongu accepted the keys as though they were treasure and put them into his inventory.

“Ah, if you have time, could you make some equipment that mainly increases mental strength? It would be even better if mana were added as a secondary stat. High-grade equipment with flat stat increases is too rare.”

“Of course. But mana and then mental strength? What about your other stats?”

“My other stats are already enough as they are.”

Enough for when I trained the kids. Baby monsters only had C-Class stats at most. But mental strength and mana required high skill grades, and the targets would likely be S-Class Hunters...

I didn’t know when I would use the teacher skill again, but I needed to raise them as much as possible if I wanted to avoid ending up in the hospital. Besides, perhaps the side effects of Fear Resistance would be less severe with higher mental strength.

I considered turning off Fear Resistance while I was at it, but then I thought of my little brother and gave up. With Fear Resistance, I was only moderately worried and angry. Without it, I wouldn’t be able to focus on anything. Yoohyun was one thing, but Peace had barely any experience yet. Seriously, that bastard Yoohyun.

“Mana, mental strength. All right. Once I finish what I’m working on now, I’ll make it right away.”

“What are you making?”

“It’s still a secret.”

Myeongu grinned. I remembered that even making an S-Class spear hadn’t taken him very long. Was he already planning to make something SS-Class?

Once we had mostly finished sorting the luggage, Myeongu returned to the forge. If he left from here, he would come out at our old home again. Was he not planning to visit his own place at all?

Then, a text arrived on my phone.

[Hi honey my little brother Korea tomorrow:)]

It was Riette. She also sent a contact number that I assumed belonged to her younger brother. She had complained that Yoohyun stopped her from contacting me privately, so why was she texting me now? Then again, she had personally given me a translation item, so there was no way he was still stopping her. The rearing facility was complete too.

‘Will visitors from overseas start arriving soon?’

It would be nice if some S-Class Hunters who were good candidates for Keywords came. They had said I could take my time, but I wanted to fill all fifty slots quickly and be free.

* * *

Crash, bang!

- Screee! Hiss!

‘What was that?!’

A tremendous noise woke me from sleep. I opened my eyes wide and checked the time. It had just passed midnight. Peep was sleeping peacefully, so was it Blue? That kid always slept as soon as the sun went down. What was going on?

Thump!

Oh, what a mess. I hurried outside and climbed up to the loft Blue used as a bed. The baby griffon was sound asleep amid the pile of cushions she had torn to shreds, utterly unaware of the world. Her neatly folded wings rose and fell with each soft breath.

If it wasn’t Blue, then could it be...?

- Squeak, scree!

Comet. Since Comet showed no sign of waking up, I had put the hatchling dragon in a glass enclosure in one corner of the monster living room. I went downstairs and turned on the lights.

- Screee! Hiss!

Flap!

The hatchling dragon, which had been flying about wildly, landed on my head and wrapped the tip of its tail around my ear. I hadn’t locked the door, but I had closed it. Could Comet open doors too?

“Comet!”

At my call, Comet slid down my neck and shoulder and clung to my arm. The two eyes staring at me while it huffed were so, so clear and bright. Nothing like they had been during the day.

“You... are nocturnal.”

- Screee!

I was doomed.

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