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Sleepy Sunday
Ghost Fafa
New outfit done. A Blue Miko.
âThe S-Ranks that I Raisedâ Translation Ch. 62
Prev ch.
< Preparations Done (2) >
âYou have finally contacted me. Can I look forward to it?â
Suk Hayan, with a gleam in her eyes, sat in the opposite chair. Today too, she had on a long dress that seemed like something you would see in a summer resort. And earrings in the shape of large pineapples were dangling from her ears.
âFirst of all, please look at these.â
I held out the tablet that had the Japanese dungeonsâ data. White fingers flicked through the tablet about two times, and her eyes slowly became bigger.
âThis isâŠâŠâ
The movements of the fingers became faster. The gaze flickering up and down was busy. Not that long of a time passed, and then Suk Hayan lowered the tablet she was holding onto the table. She took a deep and long breath and then opened her mouth.
âData that was definitely investigated; is that right?â
âThat is right. I guarantee it.â
âThis much data in not that long of a time⊠And you definitely made a system and even arranged it.â
âAre there any places that need to be supplemented?â
âYou should not ask me that. I havenât investigated some of even the countryâs dungeons yet. The Hunter Association is not being cooperative yet. Of course, it would be weird to give permission to someone who hasnât even properly prepared anything yet. That was why I was trying to set up a lab.â
âAh right, has Haeyeon Guild contacted you about the problem of the lab?â
Suk Hayan nodded her head.
âMy uncle said that they have the intention to help. But I did not feel disposed to being affiliated to one guild. I donât want the research results to be used too commercially. Of course, I am not saying Haeyeon Guild will do so, but it would be good if the dungeon information could be used by anyone freely, or at minimum, by paying an equal price.â
âThat is a really commendable attitude. I am in agreement. But, if usable results come out, it would be difficult for Suk Hayan-ssi to protect.â
At my words, Suk Hayanâs frowned slightly.
âThat is so. Then would it really be better to collaborate with Haeyeon Guild?â
âThat would not be bad, but I would like to offer a proposal.â
âHan Yoojin-ssi would?â
âYes. You are aware that a monster rearing facility is being made, correct?â
âOf course. I even saw the construction going on, on my way here. Ah, could it be!â
Suk Hayan slapped her hand on the table.
âI saw it on the news! The monster rearing facility that is going up right now and the building next to it will be receiving the protection of five guilds from now on for five years? Could you be offering a place for my lab?â
She was sharp. I didnât need to explain in length.
âYes. That is correct. At minimum, you could have your safety guaranteed for five years. A-Rank Hunters will be stationed there and in case of an emergency, we can receive aid from Haeyeon Guild right next door.â
Of course, once the research results started to come out, that wouldnât be enough.
âS-Rank Hunters really are needed.â
Riette and her brother would really be perfect. They werenât affiliated to a guild and their abilities stood out. For now, we were mutual followers. I was thinking of putting comments on each otherâs accounts a bit and building some closeness for show, and then actually contacting.
âThe best would be highest rank monsters, though.â
Magic beasts were much less likely to be won over by someone else or to betray you, compared to people. And they wouldnât be absent because they needed to attack dungeons. The problem was that for now, it was harder to find a highest rank baby monster than an S-Rank Hunter. It was exactly just two only, right now. Peace and the one coming by boat.
And guilds that could attack S-Rank dungeons wouldnât try to hand over the difficultly found baby monsters, either. If nothing really worked out, should I add the guy who is planned to be used for my protection? For me, I would be surrounded by crowds of kids anyways.
Right now it was just Haeyeon, but when baby monsters started coming in from here and there, even for just them, the guilds would know to thoroughly protect us on their own. Itâs a little awkward to say this about the kids, but they would be something like hostages. No, monster hostages[1]?
âAbove all, it is a place where prominent guilds from, of course the country, but also the world will come looking. I am speaking of Hunters who mostly attack high rank dungeons with relatively lacking data. And since they would be visiting in the position of being the other party involved, it wouldnât be hard to extract information. Of course, I am thinking of assisting for this part as well. Not just that, Suk Hayan-ssi would be able to make connections with high rank Hunters who would need the dungeon research results the most. Depending on how you act, even without my help, the lab could become as big as you want.â
Instead of being at a level of a lab, it could become a separate giant institution.
âOhâŠâŠâ
Suk Hayan froze.
âAh, is that so? I suppose it would be?â
âFirst, if they are S-Rank Hunters, all of them would come looking for you at least once. Especially if they need to entrust highest rank monsters, they have no choice but to come personally, even if only because it is uneasy to not.â
Or, at least, they would send several A-Rank Hunters.
âThatâs, I, truthfully that sort of thing is difficult for me.â
Suk Hayan said hesitantly.
âMy grandfather has a lot of personal connections, so even while earning my degree, I did not have much cause to ask for favors. So bargaining with the research instead of simply presenting to the research society, is a little⊠Though I am good at secluding myself in the lab for a hundred days.â
âYou were good at making an offer to me?â
âOh, rather than an offer, that was bulldozing into you. And I had thought that Han Yoojin-ssi was a research practitioner like me.â
Then again, she just thoughtlessly yelled, âLetâs research together! Letâs collaborate!â.
âPlease do not worry. In the first place, Suk Hayan-ssi cannot handle everything on your own, and it wouldnât be right for you to.â
It was a waste for Suk Hayan to also do trivial things. And for things like related negotiations, a specialist should handle them.
âAnd you are not going to run the lab by yourself, either.â
âYes, yes! Of course. Right, will you look at this?â
Suk Hayan held out and showed her cell phone. There was a photo on the screen. Suk Hayan and five men and women who seemed like foreigners. From people her age to middle-aged, even elderly, it was a diverse group of ages and races.
âThis is D-Mate. It is a dungeon and Awakened People research meeting that is on its 2nd year this year.â
âA research meeting?â
âYes. Of course, I havenât told them about the data that Han Yoojin-ssi will be providing. If it is alright, can I bring my friends over? All of them will be pleased.â
At her words, I looked a little closer at the photo. The elderly person with grayed hair and the middle-aged woman were familiar. They were researchers who were under Dungeon Persons with Suk Hayan. I vaguely remembered them because they had even appeared a few times on TV with Suk Hayan.
âIf they are people Suk Hayan-ssi can trust, then I will welcome them.â
âYou are saying something that is a little burdensome.â
âBurdensome, you say. In the first place, isnât it Suk Hayan-ssiâs lab?â
âStill, there are so many parts you are helping with, so I cannot act however I wish. Right, this one here is Jayden. He has more interest in Awakened People rather than dungeons, so if it is a place where a lot of high rank Hunters would come to, he probably would try to stay here even if he has to pay money? If he hears the news, he wouldnât be able to sleep for three days and two nights and look for Jesus.â
The face of Suk Hayan, who was introducing the other meeting people, was bright like a light was shining. Her voice was cheerful as if she was singing, as well. It seemed like they were a team that got along considerably well.
âIt seems like sheâll do well on her own after I just give some support.â
To think that there was a research meeting. Then again, there was no reason people who were passionate about dungeons and had the ability would just stay still doing nothing all this time.
âPlease take the tablet for now.â
âCould I? Are you not worried about the data being leaked?â
âAt any rate, they are just a part of Japanâs dungeons. And I would like you to research other things before the dungeon formation laws. Things like degree of mana saturation.â
âBut wouldnât the formation laws be the most urgent?â
âThat is true, but just for the time being. There is something I need to check separately.â
There was the matter of Riette, and there was a possibility that the dungeon formation rules would have changed from the original future. I should check when I would meet the system people in a few days.
It would be good if they let me know properly, refreshingly, this time.
When I returned home, I saw Myeongwoo pacing around the living room restlessly. Going around and around the table, he seemed like he was praying around a pagoda[2].
[Sharpening the blades of 10,000 bladed tools(Progress 9,839/10,000)]
Now he didnât even have two hundred left to fill up. It would be finished today.
âYouâre that nervous?â
Myeongwoo stopped walking. Maybe he had slept fitfully last night because his eyes were bloodshot.
ââŠâŠI think I did it too fast. What should I do if a weird D-Rank or lower thing comes out because I did it too fast and too carelessly?â
âThat wouldnât happen.â
I said concisely, and woke Peace and went to my room to bring Chirpie. After putting Chirpie on my head, I picked up Peace. It was a little difficult because both of them tried to cling. Chirpie at least quietly stayed apart for one or two hours if I gave it the magic stone bottle, but Peace didnât do anything like that. He wouldnât ask me to hold him when he was all grown, right?
âBut⊠if a useless one comes out, it really would be disappointing, rightâŠâŠ?â
âEven if that happens, donât be too disappointed.â
Of course, an SS-Rank skill probably would come out, but even if it failed because of the rare chance a system error occurred, there was no change in that Yoo Myeongwoo was an impressive guy. Since he possessed abilities that would let him be successful and live extravagantly right away as long as he took the right direction.
âNo, not me, I meant youâŠâ
Myeongwoo said with a gloomy expression. Hm? Me?
âMe? I mean, I donât have anything to be disappointed about.â
At my words, the gloomy face evolved into an agonized look.
âBecause you donât, expect anything at allâŠ?â
âNo, no. Itâs not that Iâm not expecting anything. Of course I do. If I didnât have some sort of expectation, I probably wouldnât have waited for the last day and tried to go with you? But Myeongwoo, youâre impressive enough to me as you are now, so even if you didnât get a skill at all, there would absolutely be no reason to be disappointed. Not just me, but Yerim also comes to rob the fridge at the drop of a hat.â
One day, she had grabbed me and started with, âYou canât ever start a rumor that Myeongwoo oppa is good at cooking. Even what we have to eat isnât enough,â and went on a cooking review for over one hour. Though I didnât know why she was expressing her appreciation to me instead of Myeongwoo.
âTruthfully, even if you went into the restaurant business instead of being a Hunter, youâd be a hit? A full-fledged restaurant would be busy and tiring, so something like a cafe would be good too. You could use part-timers for the drinks and just make enough snacks or cakes or something and sell them, and in that time, past a line forming, you would also be able to put out franchises one after the other. If you want, I can get a place for you.â
If Myeongwoo got busy, I would be sad, so I was against making a proper restaurant. It would become jam-packed, no doubt.
ââŠâŠIâm thankful for your words, but I donât really want to do that.â
âReally?â
That was a surprise. âŠCould it be he didnât like cooking? There was no indication of that.
âCalm down, and letâs go down for now. We should see to the end.â
âYeah.â
Myeonwoo, who was walking to the door, suddenly stopped walking and turned to look at me.
âWhatever the result is, thanks, seriously. I mean it genuinely. So Yoojin, if youâre not disappointed, then Iâm okay too.â
âI said Iâm not disappointed.â
When I told him again, his expression became brighter.
I went down to the equipment management department with Myeongwoo. Of course, an A-Rank Hunter also accompanied us, and it was while holding Chirpie and somehow Peace. Because he didnât try to come down from my arms. Maybe it was because I had been busy continuously going into dungeons and couldnât pay him attention lately, but he was stubborn for a while so I just took him along.
Thanks to that, the equipment management team peopleâs gazes were strange, but whatever. Should I have put Chirpie on my shoulder instead of my head? But it wouldnât have been able to balance well on my shoulder.
Meanwhile, the workroom that Myeongwoo had been using had changed a lot from when we first came. There were two new big racks, the organization became neat, and even the lighting had been replaced for a brighter one. Even the chair in front of the grinder looked more comfortable and better than the one before.
âIt looks like people paid some attention to you?â
Myeongwoo scratched the back of his head with a bashful face.
âYeah. They said I was working hard. One day, Minsuk ahjussi watched me sharpen knives and told me to join the management team if I wanted to. Saying that I could just put on equipment if I was short on strength.â
If he had seen that, then that was a natural response.
âAs expected, you really are impressive.â
Although it was awkward, him smiling seemed like his anxiety was definitely lessened.
Yoo Myeongwoo sat in front of the grinder. I dragged over the original chair that was pushed into a corner, and also sat down. When the power turned on and the machine started to work,
-Chirp!
Maybe Chirpie was surprised, because it flapped and then rolled and fell onto my lap, on top of Peace. It was briefly upside down, and when it raised its body and tried to dash to the machine, I quickly grabbed it. Was it fascinated by the machine working rather than being surprised?
âStay here quietly.â
During that time, Myeongwoo had been skillfully sharpening knives. The still accurate, fast, and uninterrupted motions were elegant.
[Sharpening the blades of 10,000 bladed tools(Progress 9,843/10,000)]
The number on the opened status window also went up without a break. Peace didnât seem particularly interested, but Chirpie watched the knife sharpening with its beak open wide. Watching that, what was it understanding? Though it was a captivating scene even if you watched it without knowing anything.
Without room to feel it tedious, the number exceeded 9 thousand 9 hundred. Nine hundred ten, twenty, thirty.
He had said that normally he rested after sharpening forty to fifty, but today he didnât stop his hand for even a moment. I did worry that he might ache after doing that, but it should be okay because it was the last day.
And finally,
Clang
The ten thousandth knife fell on top of the pile of knives on the ground.
(Progress 10,000/10,000)
The status windowâs conditions disappeared. I looked at Yoo Myeongwoo whose movements stopped. Outwardly, there was no change. But his gaze was stuck in the middle of the air. He was looking at a message window that I couldnât see.
Did it succeed? Did it pop up properly?
An uncertain uneasiness finally came over me.
ââŠMyeongwoo?â
Say something at least. Just then, I heard a whoosh, the rough sound of a breath being drawn in. Thick tears fell. The machine completely stopped, and the scattered knives on the floor quietly reflected light.
I waited. I didnât need to wait for that long.
The chair scrapped back, and Yoo Myeongwoo rose from his seat. The face that turned to look at me had no trace of tears and was very bright.
It was self-confident.
âYoojin.â
âYeah.â
That guyâs voice was calm. My voice actually shook more.
âI got an SS-Rank skill.â
When I heard that, a smile naturally spread across my face. I had known that it would happen, but a smile came out like I had absolutely no idea. I didnât need to fake happiness, and was actually happy.
âCongrats.â
I didnât speak in length. As if that was enough, that guy also smiled.
[1] the word for âhostageâ (ìžì§) has the word/character for human ìž(äșș) in it, so in this sentence, yj just swapped it for âmonsterâ
[2] in kr, there are these pagoda-like things called í that are usually in buddhist temples, and ppl usually circle around them to pray
âThe S-Ranks that I Raisedâ Translation Ch. 61
Prev ch.
< Preparations Done (1) >
Han Yoohyun and Sung Hyunjae. The two people stared at me. Yoohyun had an expression that said âletâs just talk separatelyâ, and Sung Hyunjae had a gleam in his eyes that said âquickly spill itâ.
While sitting down, I let the silence sit for a moment before opening my mouth.
âIt may be a surprising topic, but what do you think of Awakening Centers?â
âAwakening Centers?â
There were expressions asking why that was suddenly coming up.
âYes. It should be about three months until the announcement. Right now should be the height of the interior facilities construction. If it is possible, could I hear an explanation about the Awakening Center facilities?â
Of course, it wasnât that I didnât know. Just how many times, and how detailedly, did they explain on TV? At my words, the two people exchanged gazes for a moment. The one who opened his mouth was Sung Hyunjae.
âThe core of the Awakening Centers is an A-Rank item, Illusion Maze. Itâs a mind-related item that shows someone an illusion similar to reality. But for mind-related items or types of skills, if your Mental stat is even a little high, it often doesnât work. Even as an E-Rank, apparently you feel a sense of separation. But if the targets are Unawakened People, it can safely and realistically threaten them and make them Awaken.â
The Awakening Centerâs method of Awakening was simple. It showed you an illusion of being attacked by monsters and made you Awaken. It wasnât that there werenât any cases where people received a psychological blow, but it was a comparatively safe and accurate method.
And obviously, most were Awakened with combat skills, possibly combat assistance skills. Since it was Awakening from trying to survive monsters.
âIt takes an average of 17 minutes for one person to Awaken, and there is a limit of 30 minutes since psychological problems can occur. Currently, thereâs a total of five Illusion Mazes that the Association possesses and each one can apply illusions to up to thirty people at once.â
âThen in approximately thirty minutes, one hundred and fifty people could Awaken.â
âIt isnât 100% Awakening, so in actuality, it should be a little less than that, but I heard that theyâre planning on initially increasing the number of Awakened People to a thousand per day, and within half a year, up to three thousand.â
Even if it was just a thousand people per day, if it was ten days, it would be ten thousand, one month, thirty thousand. If it was the same as the futureâs ratio, one out of a hundred of those twenty thousand, two thousand, would qualify to be a Hunter.
On top to that, did the initial thousand people only go for about two days? At peopleâs insistence, it rose to three thousand, even four thousand in an instant. They didnât rest on holidays either. The news headline at that time: The number of Awakened People in the Awakening Centerâs opening first month exceeded hundred thousand!
It meant that in one month, as much as a thousand novice Hunters had poured out. As a person who had been involved in the center of that chaos, I couldnât help but unconsciously frown.
âDonât you think that is too many? Even now, dungeons are being sufficiently and safely managed.â
âEven if you said it was thirty thousand every month, there would only be ten among them with usable combat power. Practically speaking, you canât say itâs a lot.â
âŠâŠThatâs, well. That was right. In that personâs eyes, you had to be at least B-Rank to be usable. Even socially, you had to be C~D-Rank for people to go âoh, youâre a Hunterâ. Even speaking of F-Rank me, I was painted with the stereotype of being F-Rank, so there was no point in saying more.
âEven so, there would be hundreds of people getting Hunter licenses every month. That means that novice low rank Hunters who could go into dungeons would come pouring out.â
If they had mediocre abilities and gave up on being Hunters, then that would be a relief. But the cases where they didnât do so would be a problem. Especially since, for the initial Hunters from the Awakening Center, there were hardly any cases where they gave up. People around them kept on goading them on, and even the TV prattled on that all they had left to do was to succeed.
âThe quality of training would of course fall, and the supply of low rank items would become lacking.â
The Awakening Center Awakening wouldnât come with the registration subsidy, and you had to pay for the basics program, too. At that, it was a week-long boarding program before, but it wouldnât be long before it would decrease to three days, and finally one day.
âI know what hyung is worrying about.â
Yoohyun said. Then Sung Hyunaje also lightly pulled his laced fingers apart and lifted them.
âClumsy Hunters would pour out, and clumsily run to dungeons and die. But Han Yoojin-gun, even we canât do anything about that. Anyone could easily become an Awakened Person. Itâs a cool story.â
It was obviously so. Just seeing how the line that stayed the night for days and days didnât break off, it was a story that everyone would think charming.
âBut then noncommittally restricting that? Of course, for safety, about a hundred per day is an appropriate number. If itâs that amount, about thirty new Hunters would appear per month, so it would be possible to manage them stably. But if a facility that could Awaken at most three thousand restricted it to, not even half, but thirty people per day, the soaring approval ratings would hit rock bottom.â
Approval ratings. Was it a political issue?
âIn the first place, you canât deceive them by saying itâs only possible for only a hundred per day. There are already many Hunters who know the effect of the Illusion Maze item. And even if the Awakening Centers said they would place a restriction, if the Awakening method was revealed publicly, private Awakening Centers would form without a doubt. Itâs been decided that the Association would manage C-Rank and higher mind-related items and skills, but would everyone reliably uphold that? In the end, thereâs no way to stop the outpour of unprepared low rank Hunters.â
âBut if that many people die or get hurt, the social impact will be big. There is also a high possibility of giant guilds being tangled up in it.â
It was like that in reality too.
âWe also know that. Thatâs why weâre planning on putting out a scapegoat.â
Yoohyun said.
A scapegoat. The one that suddenly came to mind was MKC. In the original future, they endured up to three years later, but⊠it seemed like the two of them getting together and whispering was about using MKC as a throwaway card and profiting.
âYoohyun. Originally, Haeyeon Guild and I were dragged into it.â
Of course, Haeyeon didnât go so far as going under, and instead, I remembered that three or so big-ish guilds were beaten up as representatives. Guilds had monopolized easy dungeons, had luckily taken advantageous positions and there wasnât support for latecomers, look at these three guilds swindling low rank Hunters, etc. â they were driven into a corner through the mistakes of several guilds, not the government and Association, and sensational journalists had poured out.
Though I was also busy getting hit by it, so I didnât accurately remember things other than my own matters.
If it was something like MKC, it would become an excellent punching bag.
âAnd even if it wasnât an election problem, it is necessary for the Awakening Center to produce Awakened People.â
Sung Hyunjae said.
âDungeons are being managed safely, but it wonât continue forever. As you know, the proportion of high rank Hunters is extremely low. To make enough high rank Hunters with that low proportion, there is no choice but for many low rank Hunters to appear.â
Continuing, Yoohyun added an explanation.
âWhat the government and the Association want is also the many high rank Hunters. Industries related to dungeon byproducts are quickly being developed. And valuable byproducts usually come from high rank dungeons. But, even for the countryâs high rank dungeons, though the management is done well, attacks canât be done exactly matching the reset time except for the sole highly valuable minority. Since the number of high rank Hunters is lacking. Those remaining dungeons are also a waste, but itâs not far until itâll be possible to bid for foreign dungeons as well. Targeted toward countries that canât properly manage their dungeons and Hunters. So they want to increase the number of high rank Hunters even a little faster.â
Both had faces that showed that they thought it was a slight sacrifice for the future.
Right, well. Only about the first year was a fuss, and then it did get stable. As the number of high rank, mid rank Hunters rose sharply, dungeon industries developed more and more.
Unconsciously, I sighed.
âHyung, donât be so concer-.â
âIf we make people stop on their own from going to the Awakening Centers, and find high rank Awakened People faster than the Awakening Centers. Then, there wouldnât be a problem.â
A strange glint shone slightly in the eyes of Sung Hyunjae, who had seemed like he was listening to a young childâs complaint. On the other hand. Yoohyun was hugely taken aback.
âWait, hyung! What are you trying to do?â
âIt sounds to me as if Han Yoojin-gun is saying he could do something like this.â
âYou have heard correctly.â
Crash!
âHyung!â
That guy Yoohyun kicked his seat and stood up. It seemed like he had guessed what I was going to say. Just looking at his expression, it seemed like he would grab the scruff of my neck and drag me out. I did good to say it where the Seseong Guild Leader was present.
âDonât get worked up and sit down. I was thinking of revealing it anyways.â
âButâŠâŠâ
âSeeing the young masterâs reaction, I feel more and more interest building up.â
It wasnât anything much.
âI am thinking of making a special Awakening Center.â
I said, gesturing at Yoohyun to sit. He glared at me, and then finally sat down again. With his mouth shut tight, it seemed like he was sulking.
âA special Awakening Center?â
âYes. Like what it sounds like, it is an Awakening Center with a specialty for Awakened People with special skills. Since the Associationâs Awakening Center can only do combat-related Awakenings right now.â
ââŠIs that possible?â
âYes. My skill can know an Unawakened Personâs possible Awakening stats and optimized initial skills. Even just knowing the optimized initial skills, it would not be difficult to match them and make the person Awaken.â
ââŠâŠHyung, really.â
Yoohyun grumbled as if groaning. I also didnât think of revealing it, like our promise, but it was because of the situation.
ââŠâŠCan you know without restriction?â
âOf course, without a restriction, from F-Rank to S-Ranks and higher. But, for the skills, I can only see the names and have to guess the effects.â
Sung Hyunjaeâs expression became serious.
âDid you discover Hunter Bak Yerim with that skill too?â
âPlease call it a coincidence before getting the skill. For my trust. Truthfully, is it not coincidence to discover S-Rank Hunters?â
âSo, are you saying youâll stop people from going to normal Awakening Centers with the special Awakening Center?â
âYes. The method is simple. The number of people that the special Awakening Center will be able receive is 100 per day. Adding on to that, it will be known that if you Awaken at the combat specialized normal Awakening Centers, you will not be able to get your original aptitude-based special skills.â
Of course, there was the possibility of getting it as the 10 level skill, depending on how much you worked. But it definitely wouldnât be easy. To raise your levels, you had to go into dungeons, and naturally only combat abilities would become emphasized. So usually, youâd get the 10 level skill as combat-related too.
âThere is enough time left until the opening of the Awakening Centers, so before that, I am thinking of gathering Awakened People with special skills. While I am at it, it would be good if they are people with low stats and high special skills. The majority of Awakened People are F-Rank. If these people had also Awakened normally, they would have become ordinary F-Ranks. But because they Awakened to aptitude-matched special skills, they became C-Rank, B-Rank. It is that kind of story.â
A normal Awakening Center? That is doing something that will bury your hidden talent! Somehow B-Rank, possibly A-Rank, and higher that that too! Please look at this blacksmith with an SS-Rank skill, who was an F-Rank Hunter. Awakened Person, of course you would want to be one. But with a hasty choice, an SS-Rank special skill that is revered worldwide could be lost forever!
Something like this.
âStill, if youâre limiting it to a hundred people, there will be quite some people who wouldnât be able to wait.â
âI am planning on announcing that once the data piles up and a system is made, the number of people admitted to the special Awakening Center will increase. I will just quickly check the skills and other people will do the consultation on the rest. Then, they would have a little more patience.â
Checking a status window was finished within ten seconds. If we computerized and other people took care of the skill analysis and consultation after I entered the data, over one hundred could be checked in one hour. And anyways, there would only be one or two people out of a hundred for special skills that needed consultation.
âIf we only block the initial gathering for now, it would also not overheat from then on. And the Associationâs Awakening Centers will keep restricting the number of people to a thousand. Please tell them to keep to the official public holidays and to stick to the 5 oâclock work ending hour. No, please give them a 10 to 4, with about a two hour lunch time.â
It was a sinecure.
âIn order to do so, youâll have to throw something at the Association too.â
âI am sitting in a place where there is a large transient population. I will find and bring them high rank Hunters. I can also fish out special skills that could have disappeared if they went to the normal Awakening Centers. How appealing is that, even just looking at me? Should I also go abroad on business trips sometimes? If I give this much, it seems like I should get something back.â
Magic beast rearing skill. I didnât actually have it, but if another one like this appeared, it would outshine new S-Ranks. And what about Myeongwoo?
An incredible gem could be hidden among the F-Ranks that would be cursorily Awakened, and would disappear in vain. I would be choosing to suffer and find those for them.
âIf the government and the Association have their heads screwed on right, should they not give a PSA saying âplease visit the special Awakening Center firstâ, instead?â
âThat is also so.â
Sung Hyunjae quietly laughed. Yoohyun gave an earth-shaking sigh.
âGood. There will be rake-offs too. Especially the overseas business trips are alluring.â
âThat is too dangerous.â
Yoohyun frowned and continued speaking. I also thought that going as far as abroad was going too far. While I was speaking, it became excessive.
âPlease be satisfied with dividing the countryâs Awakened Peopleâs information. By taking it by dates.â
âAre you saying to put it up to luck? Anyways, it seems like we have to set a date and discuss it, but I wonder if there is a way to leave out Breaker and Hanshin.â
He was a greedy ahjussi. For me, it would be better to involve both of them.
âAh, and I am thinking of making one of the costs for raising a familiar, be including a sponsorship for low rank Hunters. Of course within the country, but also overseas.â
Both of them had taken aback expressions. It wasnât like I was going to pack up and take money even when I was dead, and I was saying I would be making some welfare instead of the reward I should be getting, so what. Even with just getting proper training and being well equipped with equipment, the people who would die would have their lives saved.
There was no reason to not do something that wasnât hard to do.
âFollow me back too, boss!â
In the middle of the night, the Dokkaebi popped out.
âThis is a present!â
The thing that was held out along with the cheerful voice, was an animal doll for some reason. With red fur, looking similar to a fox, and with a golden horn added⊠Peace?
âThatâs the 30cm normal edition, and mine is the 50cm limited edition!â
Normal edition or limited edition or whatever, exactly what was this? Looking at the tag, it seemed like they had bought it in Japan.
âIs this possiblyâŠâ
âA Peace doll! Isnât it cute?â
âItâs cute, but why did you buy it in Japan? Making dolls as you wish and selling them, is that okay?â
âThey were selling it as a baby Horned Flame Lion doll, but itâs a weak excuse~.â
If you insisted it was a monster doll, then there wasnât anything I could say, but Japanese guys were really⊠Like this, they would make Chirpie dolls and sell them too.
At the Dokkaebiâs nagging to follow back, I went into that guyâs social media account. On the first display, I saw a photo taken wearing a bear doll mask.
ââŠâŠDi*ney Land?â
âI couldnât go to Uni***sal Stu****!â
No wonder, I was thinking they were late; so they had done a ton of sightseeing before coming back, huh.
âIt seems like you had fun.â
âYeah! Of course, I worked hard too!â
The Dokkaebi held out the tablet. Looking at their social media, it seemed like they had done the work in their spare moments in between playing. Still, when I checked, it was full of data. Even the number of dungeons they had investigated was quite a lot. Thatâs right, it was good to do the work you had to do well and play well.
âSo thatâs Chirpie! Sticky rice cake!â
-Chirp!
âThe glutton sticky rice cake thatâs dating a magic stone bottle! Ta-da, look at this!â
-Chirp chirp chirp chirp!!
Hm? Why was Chirpie suddenly making a fuss⊠when I took my eyes off the tablet and turned my head, I saw the Dokkaebi holding out a piece of a magic stone to Chirpie. The color of the magic stone was silver. A-Rank magic stone.
âHey, wait!â
-Cheep!!
As soon as it heard my voice, Chirpie hurriedly took the magic stone piece and swallowed it. That glutton! What were you going to do if you get sick!
âDonât give that to it!â
âWhy? Itâs eating it well. Is boss possibly starving the sticky rice cake?â
-Chirp!
Chirpie cried as if replying, and received and ate the remaining magic stone. That brat. I quickly held Chirpie up and inspected it. There was no change in the status window and it looked fine outwardly, so it was a relief.
âYouâre picking up and eating A-Rank magic stones as an F-Rank? What are you going to do if you get sick?â
-Chirp!
âItâs not chirp. It might be dissatisfying, but Iâm regulating you because Iâm worrying about you. Hm? Monstersâ states arenât properly known, so we have to be as careful as possible. We donât even know the appropriate way to heal you.â
-Cheep!
As expected, it didnât understand even a bit. Thatâs right, what was I expecting from a kid.
âDokkaebi, you too, you canât just go around sprinkling magic stones. And you canât just recklessly give someone elseâs magic beast something to eat. You have to ask and get permission first before you give anything. Okay? Not just for Chirpie, but for other monsters, animals, and kids, too.â
âYou talk like my grandmother.â
Grandmother? What grandmother. Could it be that if the keyword gets applied to this guy, continuing from grandfather, I would become a grandmother?
Anyways, with this, the preparation to reel in Suk Hayan was complete.
Next ch.
âThe S-Ranks that I Raisedâ Translation Ch. 60
Prev ch.
< Pretended to Forget (3) >
âHunter Han Yoojin-nim!â
Bak Hayool shouted with a voice filled with welcome and worry. At the same time, surprise seeped into the expression of those guys on guard.
âI was wondering, but itâs really Han Yoojin?â
âWhy is Han Yoojin here? I thought he was hidden away somewhere you couldnât even see his face by the Haeyeon Guild Leader!â
âFuck, is Han Yoohyun coming here too?â
Those guys were taken aback and scanned the surroundings. Then again, they couldnât have thought that I came by myself. But I was alone.
âDid the Haeyeon Guild Leader really come here too?â
Bak Hayool was excited, with his face smeared with his nosebleed. Did this guy still like Hunters after being hit? That was an illness.
âI am alone.â
âSorry? But-!â
âPlease just close your eyes.â
I stood to the side and used the earringsâ shield skill on Bak Hayool. Bak Hayool yelled something, but I used it to the maximum so even sound was blocked and I couldnât hear him. It was B-Rank shielding so unless I made a mistake, not a single hair on him would get hurt. I shouldnât use the poison, as much as possible.
ââŠHeâs alone?â
Kim Yongjin mumbled, as if he couldnât believe it. He sure had a lot of suspicion.
âIf I wasnât alone, someone probably would have burst out already. You all probably know, but Iâm in a position of getting quite an excessive amount of protection, right?â
There wasnât just one or two people who would be shocked seeing me do this kind of thing here. At my words, those guys were relieved.
âDid that stat F-Rank lose his mind?â
When a D-Rank tried to go over to me, Kim Yongjin stretched out his arm and blocked them.
âWait. There has to be something for him to be that confident. Just from the fact that he followed us here without being caught means itâs not normal.â
âStill, arenât his stats definitely F-Rank? He got certified by the Association.â
âEven if he had a lot of equipment, he wouldnât be at a level of a C-Rank. Heâs a piece of rice cake[1] that rolled over.â
The rice cake was our Chirpie. It really rolled around well, all round and soft.
âFirst of all, should I say Iâm happy to see you? We have a relationship where itâs our first meeting, but itâs not our first meeting.â
At my words, those guys had expressions like asking what nonsense I was saying.
ââŠThough I did see him on TV.â
âNo, we really met for real. Actually, I regressed. I came back to the past. Youâre surprised, right?â
Saying this in front of guys I had killed with my own hands 4 years ago, it really was pleasant. And it was super realistic. Yoohyun came alive so right away, that it was little ambiguous.
âIt was as much as 5 years! Ah, I met you guys 4 years ago. Itâs 1 year from now, and after that I never saw you guys again. Since I killed you. Since I could meet you again, Iâm really pleased. Youâre going to die anyways, so become my bamboo forest[2].â
Letâs just let it out refreshingly.
ââŠâŠWhat, is he crazy?â
âI also know that I look crazy, but if you say it openly, Iâll be hurt. And you guys donât have your heads screwed on right, either. If Iâm fifty steps, you bastards would be five hundred steps. Especially Kim Yongjin, you seriously crazy bastard. I was really regretful because I killed you too comfortably that time.â
That I would get one more chance like this, thank you. If I really thought like that, then I really would seem like a crazy guy. I didnât actually like killing people. But, while living, you couldnât help but lose control at least once, and even though the matter with me disappeared, there was no change in that those guys ruined and would ruin a lot of peopleâs futures.
âStill, thanks to you guys, I came to my senses.â
After the 2nd year, I properly established myself. I couldnât make a fixed team, but around that time, I was able to regularly save Hunters with okay abilities⊠wait. Thinking of, that time was exactly when MKC went under and Haeyeon had entered that empty seat.
Unlike when Awakening Centers appeared and things were chaotic, it was when there was breathing room. And I started to hear less hateful things from Haeyeon. Until the dungeon level of difficulty started to become unruly. âŠWas it that my little brother had placed people around me?
And the time when Yoohyun had personally run into the dungeon that changed rank, was around when Haeyeon had been established as 1st in the country and the guild leader had free time in his own way.
âHm, people really canât be too free.â
If he was busy fighting with other guilds, he wouldnât have had the leisure to do something crazy like running in before the gate closed. Instead, he would have sent one or two A-Rank Hunters at most.
âThat guy really doesnât seem like heâs in his right mind?â
Along with the gazes looking at the crazy guy, I heard whispers. I felt wronged. My mind was clear, in general.
âEven though I donât know lottery ticket numbers, itâs true that I returned to the past. What should I tell you? Is there anything youâre curious about? Should I tell you the S-Rank Hunters that will appear from now on? What about amazing-rank new dungeons? You have a lot of interest in stocks, right? Lee Dongwan, the stocks you just bought are going to become a scrap of tissue within a month.â
This pathetic bastard that still muttered on and on about it one year later.
Anyways.
âItâs good that we met again like this. You guys havenât regressed so you wouldnât know my feelings, but, it actually felt dirty that all the things I suffered through disappeared. So I tried not to think about it. At any rate, the situation changed a lot, and I decided to be well-behaved at first. Above anything else, I didnât⊠I tried not to think about the fact that the people who I was involved with and who had died, were alive and walking around.â
It wasnât just that people I was close to died, either. Thanks to that, I lived. At the same time, I even received their memories. In front of my eyes, the corpse was there, but the memories of that person thinking of me rose up in my mind. For Yoohyun, it was a portion of his whole lifeâs memories, so it came in sparsely, but usually, the memories right before dying came in without fail. If it was just someone I knew to a certain extent, it was still okay.
But, if that was them worrying about me, it was really circumstances that would drive you crazy.
If they were an uselessly good person, so there were only good memories. The auditory hallucinations of my name being called, didnât leave my ears for days and days. If I kept on remembering, it felt like I would die, so I purposely tried to forget.
But now they were all alive. How should I explain that feeling?
Unlike with Yoohyun, I had buried it inside for several years. Unlike with Yoohyun, now they didnât even know me.
Like those guys in front of my eyes.
Should I be happy, or sad, or say that Iâm sorry, or that Iâm thankful? Before that, was it okay to contact them and meet them? It was thanks to you dying that I lived.
I couldnât consult somebody about something like this, and I just went on pretending I had forgotten.
âWhat do you guys think? Some of them were really good people. To the point that I fell into alcohol with a heart that felt it would go halfway crazed.â
Maybe they didnât want to listen to my words anymore, because those guys went into a combat formation. You should reply at least. Grumbling, I took out the curved knife that I got as a reward from the D-Rank dungeon.
âDrive him into the middle and catch him alive!â
Along with Kim Yongjinâs shout, the two Hunters who had shields in front of them moved toward my front. The C-Rank defense Hunter used a skill and quickly moved around to my back. I stretched out a hand and grabbed that guyâs collar and picked him up and hurled him as if throwing him over my shoulder.
Bam!
Then I stabbed the curved knife into the forehead of the shield Hunter on the left and stole the shield and threw it at the guy on the right.
Crack!
âUrgh!â
The hit shield broke, and the Hunter who was holding the shield couldnât endure the strength and tumbled back.
âWhat is this!â
While the D-Rank Hunters were taken aback, Kim Yongjin tried to run away right away. The decision sure was fast.
Thorn Trap.
âArgh!â
Kim Yongjin fell forward, like a frog hit by a rock. I took out the curved knife and cut the leg of the defense Hunter struggling to stand up, and used Thorn Trap on the remaining Hunters.
âAs expected, contacting them would be good? Hm? Yongjin.â
I asked, going toward the trembling Kim Yongjin.
âI remember their phone numbers, but what should I say? Since they donât know me. But, I canât continue like this, pretending I donât know them. Since those people would be alive like you guys. Right now, itâs probably before they Awaken, but when the Awakening Centers form, theyâll become Hunters, and theyâll go into dungeons like you guys. In the middle of that chaotic situation.â
I nicely cut one of Kim Yongjinâs legs and released Thorn Trap.
âArghhh! Uck, you, you, exactly whatâŠ!â
âI donât need to take all responsibility just because I regressed. In the first place, it became things that donât exist. Still, itâs left remaining in my memories. If I keep on pretending I forgot, I really would seem like trash.â
Then what should I do?
I used Thorn Trap on Kim Yongjin again, and took a magic stone powder bottle out of my inventory and scattered enough of it in the surroundings. The monsters nearby werenât all caught. They would quickly come crawling out.
âI hope that we really wonât have reason to meet again.â
I sighed once and turned around. Look at Bak Hayool, that guy. I told him to close his eyes, but he still watched it all and vomited. I went toward him and withdrew the shielding.
âAre you okay?â
ââŠAh, yes. I, am.â
âFirst, letâs leave. Monsters will appear, smelling the blood.â
âYes, yes.â
I turned back to the road we came on, taking Bak Hayool with me.
âIt would have been good if they had listened when Hunter Han Yoojin-nim was persuading them with wordsâŠâ
Around when we reached the cleanly cleared gate, Bak Hayool, who had regained his energy, spoke. I wasnât persuading them. I had unilaterally consulted them. It seemed like it looked like persuasion because he couldnât hear.
âPlease do not pay any mind. Listening to them, they were bad guys who had already harmed many people.â
âReally?â
âYes. And this matter, please keep it a secret. Originally, I am in a position where I shouldnât wander around like this. The hiding skill is also a secret.â
At my words, Bak Hayool had an incredibly excited expression. His recovery was too fast. Did he not feel a sense of reality yet? There were kids like this. Being fine the day of, and then crying and making fuss after two or three days.
âI did not know that Hunter Han Yoojin-nim was that strong! It was as much as two C-Ranks â could it be that you are actually stat B-Rank or higher?â
âIt is not like that. Of course, my abilities are also a secret.â
âYes!â
âYou can keep the secret, right?â
âYes! Of course!â
His words were confident. I sent Bak Hayool a smile that said I would trust him. Of course, I wouldnât actually trust him.
I decided to take Bak Hayool and use him, but I naturally couldnât until I checked what kind of guy he was. In order to do so, I purposely showed him.
The plan had changed slightly, but I was originally thinking of showing him just the hiding and Thorn Trap skills.
If I directly came and helped and even told him about skills that others didnât know, obviously his mouth would be itchy. On top of that, he was a celebrity who met with a lot of people, and spent his time buried in countless words. It was an environment where he would want to thoughtlessly talk about the things he knew.
âIt became a bit more of a dramatic situation than planned, so his lips would also get looser.â
If he couldnât hold it in and spilled, then that was the end of that.
Right now it was that I was inside the impenetrable security of Haeyeon Guild. While coming here, I didnât release the hiding skill at all. I had ridden the bus while continuing to hide my appearance. Besides Bak Hayool, the witnesses would have their mouths shut with death, and whatever he talked about, all would be dismissed as lies.
âIf his lips stay closed, itâs a pass for now, or just end with using him for special skill public relations.â
It was three A-Rank special skills, so at minimum, about one of them would be useful. It would be good if it was worth the hard work.
âI really do not know what to say to express my thanks. I had thought that all Hunters were good people. They are people who protect us so that dungeons do not burst open!â
âŠâŠIt might be that it wouldnât be worth the hard work. Bak Hayool continued speaking, smiling softly.
âCan I call you hyung? You are five years older than I am. I am twenty years old.â
âAh, yes.â
He was the same age as Yoohyun, but why was he this different? Though twenty was still young, but still.
âExchanging contact information-.â
âIt is not possible yet. Please also delete the messages when we get out of the dungeon. It is better to completely erase the evidence related to Awakening brokers.â
We should part after I checked that he deleted the messages. Were they able to be recovered? Though I didnât say that I would directly go to save him.
âFor the time being, you also cannot contact me. If we are caught, it would become bothersome in various ways.â
At my words, Bak Hayool had a face like an abandoned dog.
âFor how long?â
âFor about two weeks. I will just contact you first.â
âI will keep your secret and diligently wait for you. Please definitely contact me. Do not forget me. Please.â
How long did we know each other that he was so eager? It seemed like it would get through right away if I said the keyword.
âI will put up shielding for you, so please wait here quietly. I will finish the dungeon attack and come back.â
âYes, hyung! Please be careful!â
Seeing the bright appearance of him smiling widely and waving both arms, a sigh automatically slipped out. He really wasnât itâŠ
I safely came back and washed and changed clothes. In the meantime, the number of social media followers had passed units of ten thousand. There was also a lot of foreign languages among the comments. I erased the messages between me and Bak Hayool, and uploaded a video of when Peace was young.
There were texts from Yoohyun and Yerim as well.
[Hyung, you have social media?]
[Ahjussiahjussiahjussi!! Please follow me back!]
It looked like Yerim also was on social media.
[yup]
[Tell me your account.]
I sent replies and then fiddled with my cell phone for a while. I slowly pressed the number that I still remembered. It rang for a moment, and soon the call was picked up.
[Hello?]
It was a familiar voice. It was a voice that I wouldnât have heard ever again. I had thought that it became dim in my memories, but it drilled clearly into my ears.
âDeceiving, what deceiving! At any rate, I donât have a team either.â
âItâs okay. Donât pay it any mind, Yoojin. Itâll all pass.â
Even one or two things I had buried away came to mind. I didnât know my memory was this good. It would be awkward to cry anew, so I smiled.
âI apologize. I called the wrong number. âŠHave a good afternoon. Always.[3]â
I hung up.
Then, for now. I should do something about the Awakening Centers that would be set up soon. If that chaos occurred again, I wouldnât be able to leave it be.
[Yoohyun, do you have time? I have something to talk about. Itâs important.]
[Is it urgent? Thereâs a guest here right now.]
[Who?]
For a moment, there wasnât a reply. Then, a text came from an outrageous person.
[Itâs okay with me, so come up and letâs talk.]
It was the Seseong Guild Leader. Then, Yoohyun also sent a text.
[You donât have to come.]
[No Iâll go.]
Since he was a related person. It would be better to have two, rather than one.
[1] ârice cakeâ is used metaphorically to mean sth really good, so a better tl would have been sth like âa piece of goldâ or sth like that, but I left it lit. bc of the following sentence abt chirpie.
[2] ok so not sure what he means here. Namu wiki says that âbamboo forestâ is field-related internet communities where you anonymously complain abt your job, and for college students, itâs an internet community page where you can gossip anonymously abt students at your school; think like yikyak, or my college had a â[redacted, my collegeâs name] confessionsâ facebook page. So from context, maybe heâs saying âbe my secret confessions group since yâall are gonna die and take my secrets to the grave anywaysâ.
[3] this kind of sounds weird in eng, but my dad said that while itâs not sth you usually say, it sounds fine/normal/okay
Oh, new lil-bro. Yoohyun'll get jealous.
âThe S-Ranks that I Raisedâ Translation Ch. 58
Prev ch.
< Pretended to Forget (1) >
A small lake spread out in the middle of green plains.
Lake environments were rich in money-making resources, so they tended to be popular, but that was for C-Rank dungeons and higher. D-Rank and lower also did make more money. But underwater combat was too difficult for low rank Hunters to touch.
If you didnât have related skills, you had to separately prepare equipment or items, so there were cases where people could suffer a loss at any moment instead. Thanks to that, it wasnât hard to bid on this timeâs D-Rank dungeon, too.
âThe viewâs nice.â
A bright blue sky was reflected on the clear surface like a mirror. Every time the wind blew, the grass gently danced around and ripples trembled rhythmically.
Even before the regression when I was busy looking after my own life, I sometimes felt that the dungeonâs scenery was intriguing. Now when I was overflowing with leisure, I took it a step further and had doubts.
Making something like this, and even resetting it each time, as expected, wouldnât you have to be about god level to do something like this?
âThough the system people seemed far from omnipotence.â
Speaking of, today was quiet. Were they busy? Them chattering about nonsense was annoying, but since there wasnât even a greeting, I was little sad.
âWe would probably be able to speak a bit more properly in a few days.â
Letâs just quickly clear the dungeon and leave. This was the third unauthorized outing. If I got caught[1], it wouldnât be strange. I shouldnât drag it out, and quickly finish and return.
I walked up close to the lake. I was using Wall Lizard, so there still wasnât any change to the lake.
âThe usual monster was fish[2] type, right?â
It was a monster that looked similar to an eel and that could act even outside of water to a certain extent.
The items I was going to use today were the Mana increase earrings and mana potions. It was these two. I had no intention of directly going inside the water.
I sat with my knees touching the lakeside, and lowered my hand into the water.
Sticky poison.
The already strong C-Rank poison had double the effect and then doubled again with Veteran. That terrifying poison slowly spread through the water. The flawlessly clear water started to show a faint gray.
âSomehow my conscience is pricked a little.â
It was inside a dungeon, and the opponents were monsters, and it would reliably reset once the attack ends.
But still, I felt like I was doing something I shouldnât do. It is illegal to fish using poisonous substances. It is also unallowed to use electric shocks. Nature love, environment protection.
-Kooukkoouk
It wasnât long before noises similar to a toadâs cry as well as a 3-meter-ish eel burst out of the water.
Splash!
Jump!
The eels jumping out of the water in a row couldnât even open and close their mouths several times before they died in a row. Near where the poison started, the corpses of eels who couldnât even struggle and died instantly, floated up.
The effect was really good. It was so good, I felt like I had become an illegal sewer pipe spewing out toxic waste water.
âIf itâs this much, then this should be good, right?â
I took my hand out of the water and waited a bit. Big and small eels ceaselessly burst out and floated up. It wasnât that big of a lake, but there were quite a lot.
-Keuwouh!
When about more the half the eels died, a blue eel raised its head from the small island in the middle of the lake.
[6th Rank Water Dragon Type â Blue Eel
Current stat rank C
Growth possible stat rank C
Optimized Initial Skills
Water CannonâšCâ© Acquired
Wave Making TailâšCâ© Acquired]
It was a dragon type. Though the species was eel. If it was a 6th rank water dragon type with stat C, it was on the higher side among C-Rank monsters. Still, if it was dragon type, rather than the mana stones, the corpse was more expensive. To lure it towards shore, I released Wall Lizard.
-Keureureu
The Blue Eel discovered me. It was raising its head upright when it moved its fins that had long claws and slipped into the water.
âThatâs right, come.â
I should give the magic stone to Peace and the skin and bones to Myeongwoo. They were too cheap of materials for an SS-Rank skill, but they should be okay for practice.
-Keureuk
The speed of the vigorously swimming Blue Eel gradually became slower.
-KeureuâŠ
Even the color of the scales turned gray. Ah, oh no. The complexion also wasnât good at all. In the end, it couldnât even reach the shore I was on, and.
-Kieek
Burble
âŠIâll pray for your soul.
Along with the sound of the Blue Eel dying, it sank into the water. The poison was strong, but I thought it had been neutralized a lot so it would be okay. I thought about using the tentacles to fish it out, but I just left it. It would be a bit much to use something poisoned.
Then, an escape gate appeared at the lakeside.
Now, what kind of title would come out this time?
âŠâŠUm. The message window wasnât popping up.
ââŠâŠExcuse me, people who made the system?â
Was it a lag? I was thinking that it was pretty quiet â did a communication error occur?
[Impressive achievement! With stat F, attack skills less than F, using less than five items, you have successfully attacked an D-Rank dungeon by yourself!]
Oh, finally the achievement window⊠did pop up, but.
âItâs no news for a long time again.â
When I waited for a while, a message window appeared again.
[Please choose.
Being Durable(S)
Canât Be Found(S)
Swift Footed(S)]
Why suddenly choices? I had never heard of being able to choose an achievement award title. Could it be it was slow because this was being prepared?
âIâm thankful that you gave me choices, but it would be even better if you let me see the explanation windows.â
Still, I could more or less guess, looking at just the title names. They were respectively defense, hiding, agility or instant movement related titles. Were they named simply like that so it would be easy to understand?
âAll three of them are titles that seem like they would be good for my protection.â
I had wanted a double buff for special skills. And for a D-Rank dungeon attack by myself, wasnât it a bit stingy? This time was also S-Rank. I had thought that it would be around SS-Rank level; it was a disappointment.
Anyways, I had to choose one among the three â which should I pick?
âAn S-Rank defense skill would be good too. But if it was a stat increase, then it would be a loss.â
Of course, it would probably raise it a lot, as an S-Rank title, but with my basic stats as F-Rank, it wasnât to the point of being meaningful. My earringsâ shield skill would probably be more useful instead.
âStill, since theyâre purposely picked by the system people, unless theyâre thinking of putting me in a predicament, I think theyâre skill titles.â
If it was an S-Rank defense skill, it would be perfect for a short term fight. But if it went long term, then I would probably just become a hunched turtle. It wasnât like I had a means of attack or anything, and if I was indoors, even if just my room door was locked, I wouldnât be able to move an inch.
âAnyways, except for monsters, there wouldnât be guys trying to kill me, so hiding or agility would probably be better.â
Swift Footed wouldnât be teleportation, looking at the name, and it would be a type that gave instant movement or increased movement speed. Hiding was definitely better than that. Just looking at Wall Lizard, just how usefully and well was I using it?
If it was a hiding skill attached to an S-Rank title, it would be A-Rank at minimum. Still, just in case, should I ask?
âThe Canât Be Found title, is it correct that it comes with an A-Rank or higher hiding skill?â
[Ë~Ë;;;]
Ah, yes. They couldnât tell me.
âIf Swift-Footed is a teleportation skill, please send an emoticon.â
It was quiet. As expected, it wasnât teleportation. Then I should get hiding.
Of the three titles, I chose Canât Be Found.
[Canât Be Found(S)
The F-Rank Hunter that overcame a D-Rank dungeon alone is an expert in hiding?
Hidden Puzzle[3](A)
One More as a Freebie(S)]
It was a title explanation that seemed like they had tried to make it fit the achievement. The other two explanations would probably be similar to this. Hidden Puzzle should be the hiding skill, and what was One More as a Freebie? The name seemed like it was added as a freebie but the rank was S.
âThe other two probably would have been this combination too.â
One more as a freebie as a defense or agility related skill. It was probably something like this.
[Hidden Puzzle(A)
Become a state where it is hard for you to be perceived even if focused on or looked for]
Hidden Puzzle seemed like it wasnât that my appearance itself disappeared, but that it was hard to be recognized, as a skill similar to Wall Lizard. And One More as a Freebie was.
[One More as a Freebie(S)
Sharing one S-Rank or lower title or skill with 1 opponent while in contact
Standby time for reapplication per each skill 15 days
â»Relevant skills exempted]
âŠWow, wait. Was this the main thing? It was possible to share skills and titles? Which were the S-Rank and lower ones again?
âThey paid attention to me complaining that they were baubles.â
I was a little moved.
Letâs see, first of all, the recently acquired S-Rank titles were Miracle and Veteran. Item doubled and attack skill effect doubled. Oh shit.
If it was going to be like this, I shouldâve just chosen the defense skill.
âIt has to be while in contact, so I would probably be able to follow along to a mid rank dungeon at most.â
Since I could use a B-Rank shield skill through the earrings. Hiding was useless in a melee. If it was an A-Rank or higher defense skill, I would be able to follow along to a high rank dungeon too! It was regrettable.
Still, if an S-Rank dungeon burst or something, it could be handled quickly. When the dungeon level of difficulty would start to go up quickly, it wouldnât be far before I would probably have no choice but to make good use of it.
Besides that, Hidden Puzzle, and two pretty useless assistance skills. And the Seed-Leaf skill.
âThe one the system people were aiming for was probably this Seed-Leaf skill. Since it seemed like they wanted me to raise Hunters.â
Standby time for optimized Awakening use: 30 days. Somehow, I might be able to use it three times per month. Since the Freebie skill standby time was 15 days.
But the problem was that the keyword applied targets were limited; the My Brat skill was L-Rank so it was impossible to share. In the end, it was either I wouldnât be able to use it, or it would be relevant to people I applied the keyword to. Seeing how the system people purposely stuck in the Freebie skill, it was likely to be the latter.
Then, the remaining problem was the people to share the skills with.
âI have to keep on hiding the optimized Awakening, so I need people I can trust.â
If this was discovered, it would get really bothersome.
For familiars, there was a demand limited to giant guilds or high rank Hunters. But for optimized Awakening, it was obvious that the Unawakened People in the entire world would crowd around asking me to use it on them.
Truthfully, wouldnât I be an unscratched lottery ticket?
After Awakened People appeared, anyone wouldâve had that kind of thought at least once. But there was a person who could increase the probability of winning and who would scratch the lottery ticket for you? Of course you would want to find them and hand over your lottery ticket.
On top of that, there was even a restriction on the number of times, so it would become a pandemonium that made my head hurt just imagining.
âIf I exclude the high rank Hunters who have to go into dungeon attack every few days, the only immediate one is Myeongwoo.â
There werenât people I needed to optimally Awaken right away, so I should wait a bit and see.
When I returned home, a parcel had arrived in the meantime. It was a newly bought cell phone.
The one I was using was thrown around when I was kidnapped, so a corner had broken, and above all, the camera performance wasnât good.
âNow, Peace. Look here. No, donât come over.â
-Geureureung
If you clung to my leg, I wouldnât be able to take a photo.
âChirpie, did you go into the kitchen again?â
-Chirp chirp!
Because I fed it magic stones in the kitchen, it would crawl there at the drop of a hat and chirp.
âChirpie, come here.â
-Chirp!
âThereâs magic stone powder here.â
When I set the bottle with C-Rank magic stone powder on the table, immediately.
Tap tap tap tap
I heard the sound of small footsteps running over. The baby bird that had reached the bottom of the table started to flap and hop.
-Chirp chirp chirp!
Did you like eating that much? I took a photo of Chirpie trying as hard as it could to go up the table. Should I take a video?
-Chirp!
Chirpie, who was jumping for a long time, suddenly stopped. Then it snapped around to the side. That guyâs eyes landed on Peace, who was sitting at my feet.
-Cheep cheep cheep
Whatever it was thinking, Chirpie went toward Peace. And then.
âOho.â
It started to crawl on top of Peaceâs body. Peace looked up at me as if taken aback.
-Kkioong
âBear with it for a bit.â
That Chirpie wasnât a complete idiot. It was praiseworthy.
-Chirp!
Finally reaching and standing on top of Peaceâs head, Chirpie flapped its small wings and shouted a roar of victory(?). Peace sent a gaze asking me to do something about this irritating tiny thing.
âJust a minute, just a minute.â
Cute. I definitely had to take a photo of this.
-Cheeep, cheeep
After getting on Peaceâs head, Chirpie turned its direction toward the table. It spread its two wings wide with what it thought of as solemnity. The distance was a bit much â would it be okay?
-Chiiirp!
With a burst, it jumped! Then,
Bump bump
It landed precariously on the edge of the table and bounced about two times, and then rolled and stopped. Oh, it succeeded.
-Chirp!
âOur Chirpie, youâve become a little smarter in the meantime.â
It felt like just yesterday when it couldnât differentiate between the TV and the real thing. Though it really was yesterday. I took a picture of it clinging to the magic stone bottle and cheeping, and broke F-Rank magic stones and gave them to it.
-Cheep!!
Huh, it didnât eat immediately and complained. This guyâs food demands were gradually getting more severe.
âYouâre not going to eat? Iâll take it away?â
-Cheep!!
When I stretched my hand toward the magic stones, it quickly ate all of them up and hugged the magic stone bottle again.
âPeace, look at your little sibling. Like that, itâll try to swallow it by the bottle.â
-Kkiang
Peace tapped my leg with his front feet as if saying âitâs not my business so pick me up insteadâ. That was your food, punk.
I left Chirpie to film a romance with the magic stone bottle, and picked up Peace and sat on the sofa. I had already downloaded the social media app.
âIt has really been a long time.â
I hadnât ever done it properly either. I made one following the trend, but I didnât really have anything to post about so I quit soon. I put the profile photo as the photo of Peace and Chirpie that I had just taken a moment ago. How cute. Then, I put up the photos that I took a long time ago of Peace when he was young, the photo of Chirpie rolling on the table, and the one of Chirpie holding the bottle.
Did I have to put things like tags on them?
âHmm, letâs just be laid back about it.â
First, I followed Haeyeon Guild, and then Seseong, Breaker, and Hanshin. I should follow MKC for now, too. And the Hunter Assciation and the market had separate accounts.
While I was looking for those, like that.
2,155 followers
The followers that were 0 had increased in an instant. How was it so fast? The guild accounts had also followed me back in that time. The comments were also continuing to increase.
-Peace!!! Itâs noona!!!! ă ă ă ă ă ă ă ă ă ă ă ă [4]
-Ah hella cyuteă ă ă ă ă ă ă What is that cotton ballă ă ă ă ă ă ă
-no way this really han yoojins account? theres another monster???[5]
-thought it was sticky rice cake want to put it in my mouth!!!!!!!
-crayz[6]âŠâŠ look at when Peace was a babyâŠ.. take meâĄ
Mmhm, my kids were quite cute. In order to not receive suspicion for following Rietteâs account, I should follow about a hundred more people. It was a bit much to just follow Hunters, so should I find a few famous celebrities? Who was popular these days?
I checked the messages I had gotten as I searched through my memory. More than half were questions asking if it really was me. Among them, one that seemed excited stood out to my eyes.
-Hello!! This is Bak Hayool, who met you last time at the broadcasting station! I apologize for suddenly sending a message like this, but I am truly very pleased to see you! Is Chirpie a new monster you have acquired? It is really so cuteă ă ă ă ă
Broadcasting station? Bak Hayool? Who was that? As soon as I went to Bak Hayoolâs account, I remembered right away.
It was the guy who had optimized skills based on his face.
[1] lit. âtail gets stepped onâ from âif tail is long it gets stepped onâ which means âeven if you do bad things without others knowing, eventually, youâll get caughtâ
[2] like the âabnormal birdâ from several chapters ago, this word also means âabnormal fishâ. Once again, as there is no eng equivalent for mythical fishes, Iâm leaving the tl as âfishâ
[3] lit. âfinding hidden imageâ but itâs basically a pictorial puzzle where you look for hidden objects in a cramped picture. Was super tempted to tl it as âwhereâs waldoâ
[4] iâm sure itâs obvious & I think itâs come up in prev ch but ă is a krn letter and itâs used like this to imply tears the way TT is in eng
[5] these 2 sentences were written w no spaces, which is common in krn bc spaces arenât as important as they are in eng, so to give a corresponding eng internet writing feel to that, I put it all in lowercase
[6] used a purposeful misspelling of âcrazyâ but like in a way that if u said it outloud it would probably sound like âcwazyâ
âThe S-Ranks that I Raisedâ Translation Ch. 57
Prev ch.
< One Nightâs Curse and Poison Dragon (2) >
Maybe they were using a type of hiding skill, because I couldnât clearly see their appearance. But the silhouette was definitely a human. And they spoke too.
Was it an S-Rank Hunter who had a hiding skill?
That wasnât in my memories.
I scrutinized the collapsed silhouette and went toward the basket that Chirpie was in. As soon as I picked up Chirpie, who was sleeping without knowing a thing, the silhouette jumped up.
âWow, how thrilling. Darling, what was that? My curse resistance is S-Rank, but I had to put on a de-cursing item to finally pull free?â
It was a womanâs voice. The curse resistance was S-Rank â it was a little awkward for me to say, but she must be a fiend.
According to The Weakâs Premonition, she had stat S-Rank, S-Rank poison skills and curse skills, SS-Rank short-range physical attack skills, an SSS-Rank title⊠What was all this. She really was a Hunter I hadnât heard of or seen. Exactly what kind of title was it that there were three Sâs stuck to it?
Of course, the attack power could be nonexistent like my L-Rank titles, but it seemed like that possibility was low. Because.
[Awakened Person â Riette
Current stat rank S
Possible Awakening stat rank S
Optimized Initial Skills
Eternityâs Severance(SS) Acquired
Knifeâs Path(S) Acquired
Dazzling Aura(S) Acquired
Flowing Cloud(A) Acquired]
Severance, knife, aura. No matter how you looked at it, they were initial skills that had nothing to do with curses or poison. In other words, the poison and curse skills she had were highly likely to be the SSS-Rank titleâs skills.
âWhat could you be looking at, our cutie[1].â
âŠI didnât like the way she spoke at all. With that name too; was she a Westerner?
âSetting aside stats, the skills are no joke. If the ranking competition existed now, she would be in the highest range.
Proximity combat aptitude and poison and curse SSS-Rank title. And she seemed to have a hiding skill too. Seeing how the Lauchtasâ Natural Enemy skill was set off, the SSS-Rank title was also related to curse and poison dragons. It was Dio Valshesis, right? It was a monster I hadnât heard of, but just looking at the name, it didnât seem like a normal fiend[2].
âDarling? Why donât you show me a reaction already or something? Are you frozen from surprise?â
âIf you have business, you should have requested visitation through phone during the day, Riette-ssi.â
âOh my?â
Right after the exclamation full of surprise, the blurred silhouette became clear. Showing her appearance in the darkness, was a beautiful woman with a cheerful smile. A bob that was cut short for activity was a dark black and the two eyes were a clear gold.
Gold eyes. The appearance of high rank Hunters could change strangely, according to their aptitude or skills, but that had too different of a gold quality to be called something that belonged to a human.
âHow could you have known? My name. And darling, wasnât it that you were stat F-Rank with nonexistent attack skills?â
She didnât look an Easterner, but her Korean was proficient. It was probably thanks to the item hanging around her neck. It was a translation item that sometimes came out in S-Rank dungeons.
âIs it not basic for Hunters to hide one or two?â
âItâs not one or two, though? Just a while ago was a curse skill, probably around SS-Rank. And you seem like you have a skill that lets you read another personâs information. Werenât you vigorously reading something?â
As expected, the Seed-Leaf skill was caught right away in front of an S-Rank Hunter. I lowered Chirpie back into the basket and smiled gently.
âIt was a hidden card. That it did not work, made me quite disappointed.â
âIt was just that the match up was bad. That itâs a skill that can incapacitate even an S-Rank curse resistance, is pretty impressive.â
It was doubled again through the Lauchtasâ Natural Enemy. Exactly how many times did it rise again?
âFirst of all, can I assume that you do not have any intention to attack?â
Chirpie was right next to me, and Peace and Myeongwoo were nearby. It was better to avoid a fight as much as possible. And, if the skills were to that extent, even if Yoohyun came, the chance of winning wasnât that high. A proximity aptitude with an S-Rank poison and curse â it was to the point of being evil.
Thankfully, she didnât seem to have the will to fight.
âYes, of course. Above all, our natures really donât match. The curse skill that I sent as soon as I released myself from your curse â did you feel it?â
I didnât feel it. It was an S-Rank curse skill, so did it just disappear because it was too insignificant?
âMy curse resistance skill rank is a little high.â
But pretending I knew, I shrugged my shoulders. She held out both her hands as if answering.
âMy curse skill is condition specialized, so itâs weak to use during combat, but Iâm upset that it didnât get through even a little bit.â
Simple attack curse skills like Blackieâs Thorn Trap were things that monsters usually had, and normal Huntersâ curse skills were condition specialized. Used for inventory sealing or contracts and such, with usage versatility being high⊠wait. Could it be?
ââŠâŠDid you happen to come find me because of ripping the contract?â
âThatâs right! So it was you?â
I mean, did you come just for that? I was dumbfounded. Looking at my expression, Riette quickly added an explanation.
âItâs not just for that reason. I came because I also have a request. In the first place, I didnât even think that you had destroyed the contract. I was thinking about asking you if you knew anything about it, while I was at it. But seeing Han Yoojin-ssiâs abilities⊠the kidnapping incident really must have been a trap for MKC?â
It wasnât. But I put on an expression that said âit could be soâ.
âThat kind of rumor seems to be going around, then?â
âThereâs talk that itâs a matter schemed up by Seseong and Haeyeon collaborating together. Anyways, are you going to keep standing while we talk?â
Riette, who had walked to the bed, raised just one long leg and straddled it. Hey, this woman.
âWhy donât you take off your shoes.â
âAh, right.â
She obediently took off and threw her combat boots. She had cat-patterned socks.
âArenât they cute? I bought them in Dongdaemun[3].â
âAh, yes.â
âDarling, youâre too dry. For things like this, you should know to come up onto the bed on your own.â
Then she lied down diagonally and waved me over. From the window, the moonlight⊠or rather the light from the opposite side building was dim, so the atmosphere was good, but I didnât want to use the bed together with an S-Rank Hunter I didnât know â an SS-Rank proximity cutting skill holder.
I thought it over for a bit and then went to the bed. I didnât lie down and just sat on the opposite side.
âAn illegal contract being shredded â is that not something that you normally do not pay attention to?â
Was an illegal thing illegal without reason? There were cases from time to time when the other person had curse resistance and had prepared tons of de-cursing items before contracting. But even if she had a different primary purpose, to think she was going to purposely check.
At my words, Riette had a bit of a sheepish expression.
âThatâs because it hasnât been long since I started.â
âIt has not been long?â
âThatâs right. I just started the business so I couldnât help but pay attention. I only just got the curse skill ten days ago.â
Ten days? Just that?
âCould I possibly ask how you got it?â
âDarling, youâre grilling too much. When youâre not even coming closer.â
âYou have learned my secret, so let us agree to each keep our mouths shut.â
âSecret? Do you mean the stats and skills? Theyâre things the Haeyeon and Seseong Guild Leaders know anyways.â
âThey do not know.â
At my words, she turned over onto her stomach. The two gold eyes turned big and round.
âThey donât know? Really? Thatâs a surprise.â
âIf it is this extent, is it not a secret worth a trade?â
Although my card was about half fake. But if she found out the truth, she could guess that I had some kind of special skill. So it wasnât that I was giving away a little.
âWhat should I do?â
âI also know that it is a skill that came from a title.â
âWow, you really do have a skill that can check status windows. Darling, youâre too much. Okay. Itâs a title I got after catching an S-Rank dungeon boss monster.â
âA Dio Valshesis?â
âI mean, if you already know everything, why are you asking?â
Riette pouted her lips.
âSSS-Rank title Dio Valshesisâ Twin. Itâs a title that you can get when you catch the twin dragons Dio Valshesis with just your sibling from the same mother. My younger brother is also an S-Rank Hunter.â
As benefiting a high rank, it was title with a difficult condition.
âCould I also hear which dungeon it was?â
âIt was an illegal dungeon from ChinaâŠâ
She slightly wrinkled her forehead and continued speaking.
âIt might be hard to believe, but it disappeared after the attack.â
âIt disappeared?â
ââŠYouâre not surprised? Itâs not a lie.â
âI know. I believe you.â
Twin curse and poison dragons Dio Valshesis. There was no way information about a dungeon with that kind of monster as a boss wouldnât have been revealed in 5 years. So, obviously.
It was a dungeon that should have come out 5 years later.
The dungeon suddenly disappearing was probably because the system administrators took action.
âSo thatâs why there was no information about such an incredible Hunter.â
If she was simply a female proximity attack aptitude Hunter, I had heard of her before. The name was different, but there were a lot of Hunters who didnât use their real names, so she should be the same person. It wasnât like S-Rank Hunters were common, and if their aptitude and gender were the same, then there was no mistake.
In other words, in the original future, Riette didnât get the the Dio Valshesisâ Twin title. Since it was even before the relevant dungeon appeared.
âŠWould there have been similar things to this?
âYou believe me? Really?â
Riette furtively came to my side. Looking at her from close, she really was a beauty. I was captivated by that face for a moment, so I was sitting blankly until an arm stretched out and wrapped around my waist.
âBut darling, itâs a little strange.â
ââŠWhat is?â
She pulled my waist and stuck close. She lightly raised her upper body and touched her nose to my shoulder.
ââŠâŠAre you possibly a dragon type too?â
âI am a human.â
âBut the feeling is⊠same kind? No, rather than that⊠being able to easily knock out something like a Dio Valshesis, hmm, a big shot kind of feeling?â
âŠI was wondering if it was because of Blackieâs skills, but no matter how I looked at it, it seemed to be the effect of the Lauchtasâ Natural Enemy or the Dragon Slayer title. Then again, Blackie also was frightened, so even if Riette felt a strange feeling, it wasnât weird.
âDarling, Iâm getting a little excited.â
ââŠâŠExcuse me?â
âYou smell good, too. Do you use cologne?â
I did use a lot of body wash. Before that, she was clinging too much.
âHow about moving away a little?â
âDarling, youâre really twenty-five, right? Youâre too cold.â
âI am at an age where I can differentiate people as I go at them. At any rate, let us talk some business instead.â
I figured out everything I was curious about, so it would be great if you left already. Riette roughly loosened her arm as if sulking and then sprawled out[4] on the bed.
âYouâre too much. Would it wear down that thing for you to chime in agreeably? At any rate, itâs sad that normal people arenât drawn in.â
ââŠThey are not drawn in?â
âYeah. Theyâre not. Itâs the same as having become about half dragon half human, so the sexual preference also must have changed.â
Is that so. That wasnât right but it was another personâs business.
âPlease just finish up your business and leave. I have to sleep.â
âSo cold. You were cute when I saw you on TV. Speaking of, why is your face the same, darling? It seems like your stats are quite high. Itâs still fine right now, but if itâs the level of getting compensation, normally-.â
âI did not get any.â
Itâs the original.
âThen again, it hasnât been long since you Awakened, right? My business is obvious. I have a baby monster I want to leave to you.â
âIf it is that, please call during the day. You shouldnât not know my contact information.â
All sorts of spam calls came, so could an S-Rank Hunter not find out my phone number? At my words, Riette widened her eyes.
âAre you pretending not to know? The guilds that negotiated with you have fire in their eyes, so how would I be able to directly call? Especially your brother is going around openly threatening people to not think of personally contacting you.â
Was Yoohyun going around doing that?
âThen you can come over directly?â
She bared her teeth in a smile[5].
âItâs just that, if I donât get caught. You saw my skills. Originally, I wasnât planning on showing my face. I hadnât even dreamed that you could see through to an S-Rank Hunterâs status window. I was planning on secretly coming in and checking your intentions and secretly reeling you in.â
Then again, if you had a hiding skill, instead of using a traceable phone call, directly coming to find me was safer.
âSo you want me to raise a baby monster for you?â
âIf I openly leave it with you, itâll come to light that I contacted you; canât you make a way to connect? Thereâs a lot of people who are impatient other than me.â
She was pretending to be cute, going âplease~â.
âDo you have social media?â
âHm?â
âI will be making an account soon. Of course guilds, but even many Hunters use social media, so I will first follow and then contact you. When my social media account is made, please make a related post. And please give me your ID now.â
âAh, I didnât manage it properly though. Hereâs my ID.â
After taking a piece of parchment and a pen from her inventory and writing her ID, she ripped it off and handed it to me.
âThanks, love you~.â
Hearing the prattle that she loves me, suddenly the thought of applying the keyword to Riette too, came up. Because the effect was doubled, it seemed like it would work if I said it even once carelessly. It didnât take long for even Blackie, who I couldnât communicate with, so if it was someone who could understand the love ballad, it would quickly be applied. What should I do? Should I fill one empty S-Rank place and at the same time give her a growth buff sometimes?
If the growth buff was also applied doubled, it did seem like I was giving too much. First, letâs check if the keyword effect would appear.
âDo you happen to have someone you think of as a caregiver? Someone who raised you.â
âHm? No. Not at all. Rather, I raised my younger brother. Speaking of, you raised your younger brother too, right?â
âYeees, wellâŠâ
I did raise him. But looking at the results, I, just, well.
ââŠâŠEven so, he Awakened on his own, and went on his own road on his own.â
On one morning. He was right about to take the CSAT, graduate, and go to college. I had thought that if he did, my work would have been done too.
Ah, I just thought of it. The savings account I put away for tuition. There was no use for it so I had let it sit the whole time, and then I had cancelled it before going to meet the Awakening broker. So that was why my bank balance was bigger than I had thought.
âDarling?â
Somehow that will disappeared and I flopped down on the bed.
âIf you have finished with your business, please leave now. I will sleep now.â
âReally just sleep?â
âYes, I will sleep.â
I just closed my eyes. I felt Riette peeking from above. The gaze looking down, as well as.
âHan Yoojin-ssi, Iâll come to play again.â
ââŠNo thank you.â
âThanks. Sleep well.â
A light feather-like[6] touch brushed against my forehead and then left. There was the sound of shoes being put on, and then the door opening and closing. The Weakâs Premonition that had been noisy the whole time became calm.
It was silent.
I opened my eyes again.
ââŠThe system people really are working.â
On top of blocking the progress, they even erased a dungeon from 5 years later that popped out. Though it was already attacked. It would have been the first attack, so I wondered what rewards they got. Should I have asked that too?
âDuring the 5 years, following the level of difficulty, the rewards also increased. Then again, compared to the title, a decent regression item wouldnât be much.â
Dio Valshesisâ Twin. If it was an SSS-Rank title, it was a rank that hadnât appeared even 5 years later. That I knew of.
She said she had become about half human half dragon, so wouldnât it have been inheriting exactly the Dio Valshesisâ abilities, a type like that? On top of that, it was a twin title, so it was obvious both siblings received it.
âIf just the two of them caught the monster, as well as attacked an illegal dungeon, the siblings probably were acting with just each other without a guild or a team. If it were two S-ranks, it would be more than enough right now. Riette has a proximity attack aptitude, so would the younger brother be assistance, possibly healer? No, if he was an S-Rank healer, there would have been no way it wasnât revealed, so the likelihood of him being assistance would be high.â
It could be a long range aptitude or on the magic side, too.
Anyways, both of them were at the level of being outside of rank, for now. It was one thing that it was a waste to just leave them alone, but it was to the point of being uneasy to do so.
Even so, should I say it was a relief that Riette was in a position to ask me for a favor? But, I couldnât know how far that would go.
âThe keyword effect wouldnât exactly appear for Riette.â
She was a curse and poison dragon type, so the application would be easy, but she didnât have someone she thought of as a caregiver. If so, then as expected, I had to reel in the younger brother.
It was a younger brother raised by that older sister. Even if I didnât see him, I could more or less guess his personality. At the least, he would listen well to his noona.
Since he was the same curse and poison dragon type, the keyword application would happen straight away.
âI should ask her to introduce me to her brother.â
For the social media profile, whose picture should I use, between Peace and Chirpie?
[1] it uses the word for âprettyâ and means âperson who looks or whose behavior is pretty and lovableâ but thereâs no direct word for it in eng. âPrettyâ in krn can be used to describe the way a person acts, in which case it means more like polite/sweet, so I guess something like âsweetieâ could work too. âCutieâ felt like it had the closest nuance, imho, though there is a word for âcutieâ in krn too.
[2] yj uses the krn word for âmonsterâ, which Iâved been tl-ing lately as âfiendâ to differentiate from dungeon monsters (the eng word). Idk if thereâs a special reason heâs using the krn word or if itâs just bc, but putting a footnote just in case
[3] itâs a large commercial district w a lot of shops
[4] lit. âlie down comfortably as the character 性â, i.e. w arms and legs askew/spread out
[5] lit. âbit off a smile at the corners of her mouthâ. It seems like a turn of phrase the author made up but I donât think it means âbit out a smileâ which in eng means âreluctantly/forcefully smileâ, but rather more like âsmile wickedlyâ so I made my best approximation.
[6] lit. âcotton fluff likeâ
Next ch.
âThe S-Ranks that I Raisedâ Translation Ch. 54
Prev ch.
< Chirp (3) >
-Kkiook!
Puuhk!
The Moss Monkey that got its head crushed fell from the tree. At the same time, Chirpie on top of my head flapped its wings.
-Cheep cheep! Cheep cheep!
It was a sign that the monkey killed just now had a magic stone.
I had found two F-Rank magic stones and fed them to it, and afterwards, when I caught monkeys with magic stones, it started to chirp as if asking for them. It seemed like it was feeling the presence of magic stones.
âChirpie, youâre more of a big eater than I had thought.â
With this, it was already the sixth, but it was still flapping, saying it would eat. On top of that, unlike Peace, it didnât even touch meat and only ate magic stones.
-Chirp! Chirp!
âAlright, alright.â
It hadnât even been thirty minutes since you met me. But seeing how it was sticking right to me and even pressing for food, the kid was a bit shameless. Was it too young to distinguish peopleâs individuality[1]? Or was it that it regarded anyone as its parent if they fed it?
Moss Monkeysâ magic stones were usually around below the nape. When I took a knife and cut the skin, above my head, it was really tap dancing.
-Cheep cheep cheep! Cheep!
Ugh, blood splattered. Even though I was careful to the upmost, I couldnât help but get, of course my hand, but also the sleeves to the elbow spotted with blood. I should wash at the pond or something before I go out.
I passed the magic stone over to the beak of Chirpie, who had come down to my shoulder in the meantime. It was small because it was an ordinary F-Rank monster magic stone, but it was still a size that was hard to swallow in one gulp, and yet it went down really well.
-Chirp!
âAre you going to eat more?â
-Chirp!
I didnât know what it was saying, but it didnât sound like it was full. Alright, letâs see how much you can eat.
I thoroughly rummaged through the not that large forest, and caught and killed Moss Monkeys. During a dungeon attack, you didnât need to catch all the of the ordinary monsters. You just had to hunt over half of the entirety and catch the boss monster. But the more you hunted, the little longer the dungeon would be stabilized, so the Association recommended to exterminate as much as possible.
Technology that could accurately tell a dungeonâs saturation state hadnât been developed yet, so in cases where you caught only half and came out, you had to separately report it.
I didnât feel the presence of Moss Monkeys anymore, so I went toward the pond. Chirpie, who had eaten up the magic stones every time they appeared, must have been in a good mood because it was humming softly.
âIf magic stones were normal food, your stomach wouldâve already burst.â
While eating everything I gave it, in the end, it ate an amount that was larger than its body. Even if they were magic stones, they should still pass through the stomach, so it seemed like the absorption was fast.
-Cheep cheep cheep~ cheeeep
âYouâre a glutton, a total glutton.â
This guyâs food costs would be formidable. Even if it was F-Rank, exactly how much was it?
The pond that was at the edge of the forest was considerably big. In the middle of the clear water where lotus-leaf-like things were floating, there was a small green island.
-Gooreureuk
Maybe it had sensed us, because a giant Moss Turtle extended its head. The long canine teeth were considerably threatening.
-Chirp! Chirp! Cheep cheep! Cheep! Chirp!
ââŠMy head is ringing. Calm down.â
As soon as it saw the turtle, Chirpie started to make a commotion. It didnât seem like it was frightened â was it asking me to catch it? Since it pestered me to give it magic stones after catching the monkeys, it seemed like it thought that that turtleâs magic stone was extremely appetizing.
-Cheep cheep cheep!
âOkay, okay.â
I thought that the excited Chirpie would fall off or something, so I lowered it from my head and held it in my arms. In the meantime, the giant turtle cut through the water and slowly came over. If you came over, then I was thankful.
-Koouhh!
âWhat koouhh.â
Swish!
I grabbed the long neck by wrapping a tentacle around it and,
Puuk!
I pulled strongly and flung it out of the pond. The upside down turtle struggled. Not dragging it out, I cut the bent neck with a knife.
-Cheep cheep cheep! Chirp!
âI got it. Just wait a mome-.â
[Surprising achievement! With stat F, attack skills less than F, and using less than three items, you have successfully attacked an F-Rank dungeon by yourself!]
âŠâŠHuh? Suddenly why an achievement message windowâŠ
[S-Rank title âMiracle Rookieâ[2] granted!]
Continuing, a miscellaneous items acquired window popped up. No, before that, what was this?
âMiracle Rookie?â
Was it a title you could get when you solo attacked a dungeon with stats and attack skills F-Rank or lower and using only a few items? The condition really was nasty. How could you get this? They should at least make it so that you can wear a lot of equipment.
Though I got it.
âDid they consider it without the skills and stats from the Repayment skill?â
If someone had special skills like me, or had found a few high stat equipment with attack skills attached, I guess they could get it. Though who would do something weird like that. If you had equipment that could be used to beat a F-Rank dungeon alone, you should make a team and go to a D-Rank dungeon. On top of that, having that kind of ability meant that you were incredibly rich. Equipment costs should be in units of a billion, at minimum.
-Chirp chirp! Chirp chirp!
When I stood blankly, Chirpie went past urging to breaking out of my arms and jumping down. Then, it flapped around and dashed to the giant turtle.
-Chirp!
Ah geez, that glutton. Blood got all over your feathers. First, I cut the turtleâs belly and took out the magic stone. It was a F-Rank, but it was a boss monsterâs magic stone, so it was considerably big. It was about the size of two fingers, so it was impossible for Chirpie to swallow.
-Chirp! Chirp!
âOk, wait. Iâll break it for you.â
-Chirp, cheep!
When I was just holding the magic stone, it grabbed my pant leg by its small beak and stretched it. Why was it so greedy for food? I tsked and showed the magic stone to Chirpie.
âLook, itâs too big.â
-Chirp!
Chirpie, who had happily cried when it saw the magic stone, quickly bit the magic stone. Then,
-Chweep chweep chweep
Letting out gusty noises, it struggled to swallow it no matter what. Hey, would that go in? Why donât you pass a camel through the eye of a needle?
âYouâll die like that. Hand it over.â
In case it would get sick trying to forcefully swallow it, I took the magic stone back. When I did, it froze as if shocked, and then it flopped down and,
-Cheeeeeeeep! Cheeep, cheeeeep!
It looked up at me and started to cry loudly. It was a tone that said that it was upset to death because its food was stolen. It was dumbfounding and it was cute; where did this kind of pig pop out from?
I quickly broke the magic stone and scattered it on the ground. Then, it excitedly pecked and ate as if it hadnât ever cried.
I looked at Chirpie doing that for a moment and then opened the status window. I saw the newly registered title.
[Miracle Rookie(S)
A surprising beginner Hunter who solo attacked an F-Rank dungeon with very weak abilities.
Twice as many dungeon item rewards]
âŠâŠWow, twice as many item rewards. It really was good. It was quite good, but I didnât need to do dungeon attacks.
âTheyâre giving out these bauble[3]-like titles?â
Something like this was amazing[4] only if someone at least A-Rank got it. Especially if you went into an S-Rank dungeon, two S-Rank magic stones would fall out each time and there would be twice as many S-Rank items and if the first attack reward special items also fell out doubled, then it would be an incredible jackpot.
Giving this kind of thing as a title a stat F-Rank can get â were they joking around?
âThough, even if itâs a low rank Hunter, itâs better than nothing.â
Even if I thought about it simply, the income was doubled, and it would be much easier to find a team using this. If you did well, you could follow into even a C-Rank dungeon.
Though as low rank Hunter use, it didnât seem to be S-Rank level.
Would I be able to use it when the Repayment skill was initiated someday?
Outside of that, there werenât a lot of items. Maybe because they were rewards from a solo attack, they were good despite being F-Rank, so it was almost to the level of being D-Rank dungeon attack rewards, but they were common things.
âBut this, if I attack a dungeon of a different rank by myself, would they give me a title as a reward?â
That was immediately captivating. If it was my current ability, I could beat up to a D-Rank by myself. A C-Rank probably would be possible too, but from there, it would get too big so if I went into attack by myself, I wouldnât be able to finish in one or two days. There also wasnât much time left for the Repayment skill, so it would be good to challenge up to a D-Rank safely.
âIâm a little sorry to Peace, but I should say that Iâm going to rest at home for a while andâŠâ
The exclusive entrance pass was the problem. Still, it probably wouldnât be hard to find up to D-Rank. If I couldnât find one, then that was that. First, letâs just try.
âIf youâve finished eating, letâs wash up and go home.â
I washed my hands first and then took off my clothes and dipped them into the water. The blood seeping out spread over the surface and then disappeared. It seemed it would be hard to completely erase it, so itâd probably be better to wash cursorily and then buy new ones on the way and wear them before getting back.
I grabbed Chirpie too and dipped it in the water. When it got wet, it became about a quarter the size. So it was relying on its feathers, huh.
-Chirp cheep!
I wondered if I had wet the baby bird too much, but when the water was shaken off lightly, it became fluffy. Convenient.
Just in case blood drops had splashed onto my face, I washed my face too. When I doused myself with cold water, the inside of my head felt like it became clear.
At the same time the message content that had been pushed back for a bit came to mind.
âDo I have to move more actively?â
I had thought the speed of the dungeonsâ level of difficulty rising and number increasing would definitely be the same as before the regression.
But apparently it wouldnât be.
They said they were delaying the progress, but it seemed like it couldnât help but get faster than before.
âThe familiars could cover it to a certain extent⊠but instead of monsters should I pay attention to people?â
The person who made the system â no, since they said âweâ, it was people â tossing me the quest to fill up with 50 S-Ranks seemed to mean telling me to prepare by raising S-Ranks. Since, if I found and raised Hunters that originally couldnât reach S-Rank and couldnât get special skills, like Yerim, or possibly Myeongwoo, then it would be a huge help for combat power.
Of course, because the optimized Awakening was limited to 30 days, I wouldnât be able to use it often, but besides that, there was something else that I could do.
âSpecial skill Awakening Center.â
It was something I had briefly wondered about making and then stopped.
After checking optimized skills with Seed-Leaf, a facility that prepared that personâs matching environment.
If people who would just get passable combat related skills, were Awakened suited to their aptitudes, it would obviously be helpful in various ways. Even if they happened to not get their optimized skills, if it seemed like a waste, I could apply the keyword and raise them, like with Myeongwoo.
ââŠâŠThe problem is that I only have one body.â
-Chirp
I grumbled as I twisted my clothes to squeeze out the moisture. Fuck, how could I do that many things alone? Raising monsters, checking the aptitudes of people too, Awakening them, applying the keyword to raise their skills too, and also connecting the Dokkaebi and Suk Hayan in my spare time.
Was it âplease work alongside child careâ?
âStill, letting go would be worrying for the future.â
So what if I had a building. If an S-Rank dungeon burst nearby, it would be boom. Just see, if something like a 1st rank dragon type burst out, it would become a sand castle.
I had thought I would be able to live at least the next 5 years without worrying, shit. Why was my life so difficult?
Taktak
I loosely shook the moisture off my clothes and then put them one. I also washed the soles of my shoes. I only put on the sunglasses and the cloth that covered my mouth, and then put Chirpie inside the upside down hat and covered it with the remaining cloth.
âYou definitely canât come out.â
-Chirp!
The sound was similar to a normal chick, so people would probably think I put in a bird. If it was a person you couldnât even see the outer appearance of, youâd think it was a baby of a big type of bird.
I quieted Chirpie, telling it not to come out again, and left through the gate next to the pond.
When I left the dungeon management building, I checked my cell phone first. While inside the dungeon, the phone would have been out of service, and the piled up texts were only from unknown numbers. If it was discovered that I had disappeared, as soon as I had come out of the dungeon, my cell phone probably wouldâve gone wild.
Before going back to Haeyeon Guild, I dropped by a clothes shop and bought new clothes to wear. I purposely picked a slightly loose shirt and put Chirpie inside, and then tried using Lizard Stuck on the Wall toward a sales assistant. Thankfully, the sales assistant couldnât notice, of course me, but also Chirpie.
âChirpie, please stay quiet.â
It just didnât need to make a sound.
Thankfully, after eating even the turtleâs magic stone, maybe its stomach was full, because it was half asleep.
I safely came up to the dorm floor using a similar method as when I was leaving the building. The entranceâs Hunter had put aside the book in the meantime and was knitting of all things. Maybe thanks to the high stat, the speed was really fast.
After reaching my houseâs door and searching the surroundings, I let go of the skill. I took off the hat and sunglasses, and moved Chirpie back to the hat. Now all I had to go was go inside.
ââŠâŠIs it be okay to put a baby bird and a cat together?â
Suddenly a worry came up. Peace was a unicorn subspecies, but he was as close to carnivores and the cat family as a lion, and no matter how you looked at Chirpie, it was a baby bird.
âŠâŠIf I went in like this, wouldnât there be bloodshed? No, in the first place, could I even raise them together? If I taught them not to harm each other, would they understand?
âEven for monsters, they werenât all carnivores, and there should be natural enemies among them.â
So I had to think about things like that if I had to raise several, huh. If Peace clawed at a dragon wing bone in front of Seseongâs future baby dragon, the atmosphere would be strange.
âWhat should I do?â
For now, I didnât think it would be good to go in defenseless. With my current stats, it would be easy to block Peace, but I only had one body. It would be hard coaxing and teaching them, grabbing Chirpie on one side and Peace on the other. Should I call for the entranceâs Hunter for their help?
No, it would be good to get the help of someone acquainted with Peace. When would Yerim return? I was taking out my cell phone wondering if I should contact her, when I felt an approaching S-Rank.
âHyung? You said you were going to sleep because you had a cold so what are you doing standing in front of the door?â
ââŠThen why did you come? I told you not to.â
âI wasnât planning on waking you, just-.â
-Chirp
Chirpie cried. Yoohyun stared at me, the hat that I was holding. Um, I was caught faster than I had expected.
ââŠâŠA chick?â
âI picked it up.â
It wasnât a lie. It was just that the place I picked it up in was a dungeon.
-Chirp chirp
âYou picked it up?â
âSomeone threw it away in a hallway. Or it might have wandered in. Anyways I picked it up.â
âIs it really a chick?â
That little brother had an expression full of suspicion.
âItâs not a normal chickâŠâ
Ah well, I did need to tell him. I lifted the hatâs cloth and showed Chirpie while speaking.
âItâs a baby monster.â
âWhat?â
âF-Rank. Itâs weak. Wouldnât someone have picked it up, unable to kill it, and then couldnât raise it so they threw it away? Anyways, I do raise monsters.â
Like someone who leaves their dog at an abandoned dog shelter or a pet dog cafe. Please do not abandon your pets.
ââŠâŠâ
âJust consider itâs that.â
Yoohyun let out a small sigh. I was the one raising it, so why were you sighing?
âEven if itâs F-Rank, itâs a monster, so get it tamed. Iâll call over someone tomorrow.â
âOkay. Before that, while youâre here, help me persuade Peace.â
âPersuade?â
âIf I just thoughtlessly go in, he might mistakenly think that I brought alive food.â
After roughly explaining the situation, I covered Chirpie with the cloth again and then opened the door. Maybe he had already noticed I had come, because I heard footsteps pacing past the inner door.
âPeace, wer- will you be good?â
I was going to ask him if he was being good, but I quickly changed it.
-Kkiang!
I pretended not to see him jumping, asking to be held, and went to the living room. It would be better for the location to be large.
âOkay, Peace. You canât attack.â
I said, holding the hat and showing it. Peace might have noticed something because he kept on looking at that hat since a while ago. His ears were perked up and his eyes were bright.
âItâs not something to eat, but your dongsaeng, your younger sibling[5].â
I slowly took off the cloth covering Chirpie.
-Chirp!
A white and round head popped up. When it chirped again, Peaceâs eyes widened.
âYour younger sibling-.â
-Keureureu
Hm, as expected, he didnât see it as a younger sibling. In an instant, Peace bared his teeth and jumped up.
But right before the canines could touch the hat,
Tak
Yoohyunâs hand grabbed the scruff of Peaceâs neck. Then.
Hwiik-
He threw him?! What, the hell.
âŠHan Yoohyun this bastard?!
[1] lit. âdistinguish it and meâ where âit and meâ is one word that means âhim and me, or that side and this sideâ. Normally itâs used when talking abt sides of sth, or sth like âdistinguish between friend and foeâ. But in this context I think it means more like chirpie canât differentiate individual autonomy, like how babies & kids are naturally self-centered.
[2]Â the title is in eng transliterated to krn
[3] lit. âchicken ribsâ where one of the metaphorical meanings is âsth that is mostly useless but still a waste to throw awayâ. Thereâs no exactly corresponding word in eng, but âbaubleâ brings into mind âsth pretty but uselessâ so I thought it would be close enough?
[4] this word is used colloquially as slang as amazing/awesome, but it originally means âbig success/winâ so itâs kind of a double meaning? So in the next sentence I tlâd it as âjackpotâ.
[5] unlike krn, eng doesnât repeat words for emphasis that often, unless you use a synonym instead, so in krn, yj said âdongsaengâ twice, but I tlâd it like this
Next ch.
âThe S-Ranks that I Raisedâ Translation Ch. 52
Prev ch.
< Chirp (1) >
It wasnât easy holding back the urge to turn back now at least. It felt like I had become a horror movie character who had to pretend to the end that they couldnât hear the creaking footsteps coming closer from behind.
âIâm still using Lizard Stuck on the Wall.â
Just in case, I had been using it slightly since before we arrived at Seseong Guild. Since Yoohyun, who knew the normal me, could only feel it faintly, no matter how impressive Sung Hyunjae was, he probably wouldnât be able to easily notice. Would he do something like pressing his nose to my body and smelling me, like that little brother?
âAh, Guild Leader!â
Kang Soyoung finally noticed and turned around, so I could turn and look as well. A man who looked a lot younger than his age despite fast approaching forty, was wearing a light attire. The shirt with the sleeve buttons undone had its sleeves rolled up about halfway and he didnât have anything like a tie. He really seemed to have free time, so I really couldnât say âoh, coming all the way when you must be in embroiled in workâ and such to that appearance.
âItâs a relief that you look healthy. I worried a lot.â
Wow, it was a kind expression and tone that caused goosebumps. If I was a little more naive, I might have quickly trusted him and been moved.
âPurposely coming out and inquiring after me, it is to the extent that I feel apologetic.â
I said, filtering out the inner feelings saying that it was burdensome so please go away. At my words, Sung Hyunjae smiled. S-Ranks were all so, but he really was quite good looking. Guys who had everything.
âYou came all the way here, so how could I not come out? Above all, Han Yoojin-gun will raise my-[1].â
âThank you very much for being concerned over me!â
Fuck, Moon Hyuna really, really! Did I have to live hearing this kind of thing! Iâll properly retaliate. Shit, just you wait. If I didnât pay this back, I wasnât human.
Just then, Peace, who had heard me shout, quickly came running over. Then, he looked straight up at the newly appeared person.
-Kkeuoooong
Maybe he had felt some kind of apprehension because he stuck right to my leg. Seeing that appearance, Kang Soyoung gestured toward Sung Hyunjae, saying itâs okay.
âDonât worry, Peace. This is my Guild Leader. He isnât danger⊠uh, scary, um, so⊠heâs a nice⊠not that eitherâŠâŠâ
âŠSo this young lady couldnât lie, huh.
âAnyways heâs a good person!â
It seemed like, as a guild leader, he was indeed a good person. If Peace could completely understand peopleâs words, wouldnât he have stepped back a couple steps? But since he couldnât, he just tilted his head, going âwhat are you talking aboutâ.
âItâs okay. Weâre on the same side right now. So you can go play.â
âThough Iâm planning on us staying that way.â
Sung Hyunjae said at my words, with his voice full of laughter. What planning on staying thatâŠâŠ Did Haeyeon and Seseong happen to join hands? Yoohyunâs attitude today was kind of weird. Even if he was at the height of his youthful vigor, his title was guild leader, so it definitely couldnât have been just Kang Soyoungâs influence. Did they have something like a conference in secret?
âI feel relieved even with just your words.â
âItâs a tone that says you canât trust me.â
âIt is because I have lived to now difficultly, in my own way.â
Even if you excluded the 5 years before the regression, it wasnât a peaceful life. It wasnât just one or two people aiming for the barely few possessions left to the children. The world was quite rough.
âHan Yoohyun, that guy, protecting is good, but you have to properly give information.â
Sung Hyunjae tsked and shook his head. I was thinking that this ahjussi would badmouth Yoohyun, so I was a little agitated, but I held back at âinformationâ.
It was true that Yoohyun really didnât tell me much at all. On top of that, I was the person directly involved in the kidnapping, but afterwards, I didnât know a single thing about how it was being handled. When I asked, he glossed over it saying âhyung doesnât have to worry about it, itâs being handled wellâ.
If I hadnât had regressed and had gotten just a real magic rearing skill, I mightâve been shut up inside, spacing out, thinking that negotiations or whatever, my little brother was taking care of it all, not knowing anything about the situation taking place. Thinking of that, I had slight goosebumps.
âMy brother, does have a frustrating side.â
âThough he doesnât usually.â
âŠâŠDid I have to drink with that little brother once again? I was being tackled day in and day out. I did think that both that guy and I needed a place where we could have a candid conversation.
âIf itâs okay, will you sit for a bit and talk?â
Sung Hyunjae said, seeing me with a bitter expression.
What should I do?
I wasnât planning on continuing to pretend I didnât know anything. It was my goal to be a peaceful landlord, but I did need to exert the minimum effort in order to protect what I had.
But right now, I was staying inside of Haeyeon Guild, where my little brother had eyes and ears everywhere, so I couldnât pull anything. It wouldnât be hard to reel in the futureâs information dealer Do Hamin, but it should be after I had built my nest.
Far from building the building yet, it was even before the demolition, so should I hear a little from the Seseong Guild Leaderâs mouth?
âYes, that would be fine.â
I nodded my head, putting on a smile that said I didnât know anything.
We moved the table at the pergola on one side of the park. Kang Soyoung left, saying that she would bring over some refreshments. Maybe Peace had zero faith in Sung Hyunjae because he didnât play anymore and came up to my lap and sat. Still, there didnât seem to be any sign that he would excessively cling like before. It seemed like coming out for a walk did have an effect.
âThere are parts where I donât really understand Han Yoohyunâs recent behavior.â
Sung Hyunjae said in a characteristic easygoing tone. The kid did get a little weird because of the keyword effect â was it very severe? Still, he let me go outside, and it seemed like he got a little better.
âIt mightâve been different before you got the magic beast rearing skill, but the current Han Yoojin-gun has the power to possess and cultivate your own influence as much as you want. I think that as long as you properly establish yourself, you could become bigger than a decent giant guild. In addition, youâve already gotten the groundwork down through the negotiations last time.â
What was this, he was overestimating me. Though if I wanted, there wasnât anything I couldnât do.
âBut I do not have that big of a greed. And as I said the other day, the demand for familiars will also gradually decrease.â
At my words, Sung Hyunjae gave a small smile.
âDo you really think so?â
ââŠWould it not obviously become so? Outside of something crazy like using high rank familiars as single use.â
âOf course, probably nobody would do something like that. But high rank, highest rank familiars have similar combat prowess to A-Rank, S-Rank Hunters. Instead of as familiars, they could be used as team members, or even an monster combat unit.â
Well, it was indeed so.
âMonster rearing probably would only be permitted within a suppressible range. Even for Seseong, it will be hard to possess more than four or five highest rank familiars.â
Taming wasnât a skill that perfectly controlled monsters like some kind of puppet or robot. Even if you looked at just Peace, even though I had the ownerâs token, he would complain and act unexpectedly.
Tamed monsters didnât harm their owners, and followed them as if regarding them as their groupâs leader. It was just that. If you could perfectly control and manage them, tamers would have been regarded as Hunters that attacked dungeons leading a group of monsters. Instead of a special job that tamed and parcelled out monsters like now.
So, whether they were regular monsters or tamed monsters, the relevant guilds or organizations could only possess a suppressible amount of them, just in case.
âItâs like that now. But, how will it be in the future?â
Sung Hyunjae continued speaking, smiling significantly.
âHan Yoojin-gun. The things called laws, can only exist if there are nations and societies.â
âThat is indeed true.â
âFrom when dungeons first appeared to today, the number and level of difficulty of dungeons have been gradually increasing. Right now, itâs at a point where dungeons can be fully managed with enough breathing room left over. And when Awakening Centers appear a while later, it will get a little easier. But how much longer will that breathing room last? Personally, if itâs long, then 5 years. If itâs about that much, considerably many things will change.â
âŠIt was an accurate prediction. Of course, in even the 5 years later that I knew, the monster rearing limitation law was still the same. But if I thought about it, truthfully then, there was no reason entirely for the law to change. Since the highest rank familiars that would make it do so, didnât exist at all.
The highest rank tamer skill was A-Rank, so even high rank familiars were rare. It was because you had to tame monsters with B-Rank and lower abilities, and then grow them, in order to make high rank familiars. It was about half luck, since not all monsters could grow above their rank.
ââŠâŠThen are you saying that it could become possible to attempt dungeon attacks with just monsters, from now on?â
âNot to that extent; it would probably become mixed. Not as familiars, but as a type of different species of Hunters. And you will become the sole person to continue to stably raise S-Rank and A-Rank Hunters.â
I heard an ominous prediction that said âlike this, wouldnât you be unable to retire for your entire life?â. Why didnât I think of the fact that the laws could change? No, but still, wasnât monsters swarming around outside of dungeons precarious? Of course, it was better than high rank dungeons bursting openâŠâŠ
âHow should I say this, it is becoming burdensome.â
âThereâs still time, so you can slowly take your place. Above all, unless someone with a similar skill appears, your worth is higher than S-Rank Huntersâ. Thereâs no need to be hunched over like now, too. You can act however you want.â
âYou are saying it is fine for me to act however I like?â
âThatâs right. Whatâs anybody going to do if you act a bit high-handedly? Itâs an ability thatâs impossible to replace.â
Sung Hyunjae bent the corners of his eyes, impishly.
âYou can do anything you want. Even if itâs not the guilds from the negotiation, if itâs a guild with the ability to possess high rank familiars, you could call any of them and demand all sorts of things, and they wouldnât be able to say a single protest? Of course within the country, but also overseas. There are already foreign guilds lining up to try to talk to you. Should I give you one of their contact information? Do you want to try calling?â
ââŠâŠNo, that is a little much.â
Contact any guild and demand anything? What was he talking about? It was a power trip that I hadnât even imagined. Was it that a person who had lorded their power before could do it well? I was satisfied plenty with just getting one building.
âYour current position is that level. Try showing even a glimpse of âah, itâs tiring so I canât grow themâ after you take in highest rank monster babies. Immediately there would probably be contact from the line of guild leaders asking if you need anything?â
I mean, in terms of business ethics that was a little⊠This ahjussi didnât have a good personality, as expected. Why was he sitting someone down and goading them to go on various chaotic power trips? Did he think that since sincere rearing and such were also in the negotiations, it wasnât his business?
âThis is something that Han Yoohyun definitely doesnât not know, but despite that, heâs trying to be overly protective like a mother bird brooding baby birds. Itâs an attitude unlike him.â
Sung Hyunjae said in a tone that said even he didnât know up to this much well. Thatâs, the keyword⊠the caregiver was the same person, so it seemed like it was applied double.
âIt might partly be because my stat rank is so low. Even if I am in a position to extensively lord my power, if some crazy guy lunges at me, I could be killed.â
âFor that, it would be solved by keeping a highest rank monster next to you. At any rate, the idea of using Haeyeonâs second highest rank baby monster for your protection is also in the middle of being exchanged.â
âIs that so?â
âHe didnât tell you this either? Itâs planned to be shouldered by MKC, taking responsibility for the kidnapping matter.â
It was a good condition for me, but Yoohyun, this brat, was really completely leaving out the person directly involved. He would probably tell me once it got determined, but still, would it hurt you to give me a hint ahead of time?
âI donât know if this is similar to what Moon Hyuna did.â
Seeing my expression, Sung Hyunjae shrugged his shoulders. She had blocked sound with her skill, so did that mean that what Sung Hyunjae knew was what Moon Hyuna told him herself?
âNo, it is a little different from that. I also feel that my younger brotherâs actions are excessive. Still, he was worrying about me, and he would not be able to interfere if I happen to come out of Haeyeon again, so I was turning my eyes from it.â
âI recommend properly talking it out.â
âYes, I will certainly do so.â
While we were talking about other things, Kang Soyoung returned holding refreshments. Even just looking at how they looked, they were high class and excellent tasting snacks, but they fell a little short compared to what Myeongwoo made for me. Thinking of how he would get busy after getting the Forge skill, I was starting to feel depressed again.
âThis is a little bit of sincerity.â
Sung Hyunjae handed over a small accessory box with a certificate attached to it.
âYou might have heard from Soyoung, but we will soon be indebted to you, so think of it as something meaning please take good care of us.â
Was it a bribe? Seeing the certificate, it was as much as an S-Rank item. It was Mana integer increase with a B-Rank shield skill effect added to it. Wow. It was B-Rank, but to think that it was a skill effect item. Skill effect items were really rare, whether then or now. When I opened the accessory box, it was earrings similar in shape to the Black Fairyâs Earrings that were stolen. It was only different in that the color of the gems were red.
âIt is a little burdensome[2].â
âIt has to be burdensome for there to be an effect. And this.â
Then, what he took out of his inventory was some large wing bone. At the appearance of a well dried wing bone that had a little bit of meat stuck on, Peace pricked up his ears.
âMost high rank carnivorous monsters like dragon bones.â
It was the first time I had heard of that. Without a single bit of hesitation, Peace immediately bit the dragon wing bone that was held out. Seeing him pull it over with his front feet as if he was going to hug it, it seemed like he really liked it.
âŠâŠSung Hyunjae, this ahjussi, he might be a better person than I had thought.
Early in the morning, a message came informing of the success in purchasing an exclusive entrance pass for an F-Rank dungeon 20 minutes away from the Haeyeon Guild building by taxi.
It was a dungeon requested two nights ago. Purposefully adding more money to bid for monopoly for a low value F-Rank dungeon was rare, so there were no competitors.
As soon as I got the message about the completed exclusive entrance pass purchase, I contacted Yoohyun and told him I wasnât going to go out and was going to rest at home. When I told him I felt a bit like I was coming down with a cold, so I was just going to take some medicine and sleep, I had a hard time stopping him from coming to find me. I also told him keep it a secret because it would be annoying if other people knew.
âWhen did I buy these kinds of things?â
I was wondering if I had anything to cover my face, so I had rummaged through the luggage I had stopped unpacking halfway through, until a sun protection hat appeared. It was something that covered everything except the eyes with fabric, so it looked like I definitely wouldnât have my face discovered. Why did I buy it? Was the sunlight last year really hot? Or was there something that needed me to cover my face?
It was a little early, but it was the beginning of summer, so it seemed like it wouldnât look too weird to go around wearing it.
I had packed the gate stone in my inventory, and had enough equipment. Even though they were only integer increases. I also had plenty of potions and I probably wouldnât need to take an emergency food supply. Even if I didnât come out halfway and did an attack, if it was my current rank, it would probably take around one hour.
âIt was a forest environment, right?â
According to the dungeon bid page explanation, inside of the dungeon was a small forest and the monsters that appeared were Moss Monkeys. It was a little difficult if I didnât have a long range attack skill, but I had the 4 meter tentacles, so I would be able to handle it in an instant. The boss monster was a giant turtle that was in a pond at the end of the forest.
With the agile monkeys who swung around trees and the turtle with high defense, for an F-Rank, the level of difficulty was high.
Maybe because of that, there was even a precaution added that they advised an attack with a team including an E-Rank or higher.
If it was possible, should I do an attack and come out? Since, if I monopolized it, there would be some left over even after making up the money used to buy the exclusive entrance pass.
-Geureureureung
When I took the hat and went out to the living room, Peace, who was scratching at the dragonâs wing he got yesterday, came bounding over while making noises. I scritched the region around the horn and then spoke soothingly.
âDad is going to out for a bit, so look after the house well[3]. It wonât take long.â
-Kkioong
âAnd be moderate about breaking the furniture.â
Myeongwoo would probably return in the evening, but just in case, I told him that I was going to leave Peace loose in the living room and take a nap. I told him that if I didnât pick up because I was sleeping, to not come into the house right away and to wait. Even if Peace was good, it was a little uneasy leaving him with a stat F-Rank.
âIâll be back.â
I had worried thinking what I would do if he tried to follow, but Peace didnât go past the inner door and well-behavedly sat down and looked at me. He really was a good boy. There, now I just had to safely get out.
[1] bc krn is sov instead of svo like eng, the verb was left out and instead it was sth like âhyj-gun (to) my child-â but since this has come up numerous times already, Iâm sure the verb was gonna be âraiseâ
[2] just wanted to point out that he means that itâs burdensome bc heâs receiving too much kindness/help, which is a common way to use the word in krn.
[3] this sth commonly said in kr when leaving the house
I like this Sung Hyunjae already. Hope to see him more.
âThe S-Ranks that I Raisedâ Translation Ch. 51
Prev ch.
< A Date First of All (2) >
âIt is too burdensome to supplement with more people just for me. I do not want to needlessly cause an inconvenience.â
Before that, I wanted even less to meet the Seseong Guild Leader Sung Hyunjae. That person himself was unpleasant, but more than anything, my current state was the problem. Yoohyun also said âhyung youâre a little weirdâ, so the possibility of Sung Hyunjae feeling something else was big.
It would be just that if I used Wall Lizard a bit and played innocent, but there was no reason for me to walk right up to him with my own feet.
âA burden! It is not at all.â
Kang Soyoung looked straight at me with her two eyes filled with sincerity. The big eyes were really pretty, too. It really was a face that seemed to embody the word lovableness. Continuing, she yelled in a voice filled with, as expected, sincerity.
âIt is something for the person who will raise my child!â
âŠâŠThere was a time just a while ago when I heard that nonsense. I didnât know I would hear it again.
ââŠIt is a little not right to speak that way. If other people hear, they could misunderstand.â
âIt is okay. Everyone is speaking that way.â
Wow crap, whatâŠâŠ
âEveryone, you sayâŠ?â
Kang Soyoung nodded cutely.
âYes. Hyuna unni, that is, the Breaker Guild Leader, spoke that way several times, and in no time, it spread everywhere.â
Shit, Moon Hyuna! It spread everywhere, just what are you doing! I told you not to speak behind my brotherâs back so youâre going around speaking behind mine! It wasnât completely wrong, so it made me even more mad.
âStill, rather than âchildâ, wouldnât something like âfamiliarâ or âmonsterâ or âmagic beastâ be better?â
âThose do not show enough affection. More than anything, if they are highest rank familiars, they are hard-to-find partners who you will be with for life. I will really pile on love and look after it like my own child. My heart is starting to beat fast already. How lovable would my young dragon be.â
And so even her cheeks became slightly red. It wasnât that I didnât understand those feelings, but still⊠stillâŠâŠ
âSo there is completely no reason to be burdened! Rather, it is alright for you to demand more! Do you happen to have anything you need? Even if I look like this, I have quite a lot of money collected.â
Since she was a giant guild affiliated A-Rank hunter, of course she would have a lot, but if I really demanded more, it felt like I would become a bad guy bullying money from a young kid. She was eleven years younger, no six years younger. At any rate, she was a kid who hadnât even hit twenty. And I didnât have anything I really needed.
âNo, that is fine. I do not have anything I need.â
âThen, I will help you with the walk in the garden, for now.â
âNo, but I cannot bother you with something like this.â
âPlease do not worry. Far from being bothered, everyone will welcome you. If you still worry, I will certainly get permission from Guild Leader.â
And then she took out her cell phone right away. Ugh⊠well anyways, Yoohyun wouldnât give permission so it didnât matter.
ââŠThough I do want to go to a park with Peace.â
It really was dangerous to meet with Sung Hyunjae right now. Letâs go next time, Peace.
âYes, Guild Leader! Yes, yes.â
In the meantime, Kang Soyoung was calling Sung Hyunjae. It was more of an amicable mood than I had thought it would be.
âGuild Leader said that you could come over any time! He said he would also send over people right away.â
Ah, yes. But there was still one more hurdle. I smiled back at Kang Soyoung and took out my cell phone.
âThen I will try to get permission from the Haeyeon Guild Leader. Since I cannot stray from here on my own just because I want to.â
âYes, of course do so.â
I became a little sorry seeing her smile widely. There was no reason my little brother would give permission. When I called, Yoohyun answered soon. I concisely explained the whole story and then asked.
âAs expected, itâs too soon to go out, right? Itâs okay if you say I canât. Iâll understand.â
Now, quickly say that I canât.
[I do think itâs early, but if hyung is okay with it, then you can go.]
âŠâŠExcuse me? Just wait a moment.
âI mean, even though itâs visiting a different guild? I can go?â
[MKC is impossible of course, and it would be a little uneasy too if it was Breaker or Hanshin, but Seseong is okay.]
That little brother said again that it was okay. What, it wasnât the Yoohyun I knew. Did I call the wrong person?
[Anyways, I was worried because I felt like I was confining you inside too much, so go there sometimes to get some fresh air. They decorated it really well.]
âŠAs expected, it didnât seem like he was my brother. He wasnât like this. Why did this person suddenly change? I had only trusted you. Shit, now that I was here, I couldnât say I didnât want to go.
When I glanced at Kang Soyoung, I saw an innocent smile that was asking, even with just the shape of her mouth, âhe is saying it is okay, right?â. Ughh.
ââŠâŠYou wouldnât be feeling uneasy or worried or anything?â
[ThatâsâŠum. No, itâs okay. It should be stifling for hyung too. Itâll be much safer than anywhere else, so donât worry. Iâll call over about two from our side for the road there and back. Rest well and come back.]
âUh⊠yeahâŠâŠâ
The call ended. That little brother had betrayed my trust. My back was all stinging.
ââŠâŠIs Seseong that trustable?â
Or, was it possibly because of Kang Soyoung? Did this brat already feel goodwill toward Kang Soyoung? He wouldnât be selling his hyung in order to look good in front of a woman, right?
âIt is really a relief you received permission! I will prepare for us to leave right away.â
Seeing her genuinely happy appearance, I thought it would be enough to for that little brother to be enamored. Even if it wasnât Yoohyun, what man wouldnât like her? Of course, I couldnât know yet if he really had a thing for her, but there was no smoke without fire[1].
Thatâs right, itâs okay. I just had to be a little careful. Those two seemed to suit each other well. It really did seem like living alone in that large house was lonesome. If itâs like that, just quickly date and marry already. My nibling[2] would probably be cute. They said that for biracial people, there were a lot of cases where they were cute and pretty. It would be good if they looked like Yoohyun.
âYes, I will entrust it to you.â
My younger brother as well.
âWeâve arrived~.â
Kang Soyoung said animatedly. Seseongâs roof garden was on top of the 15-story 2nd new building connected to the main building. When Kang Soyoung opened the glass door, a breeze mixed with smell of grass flowed toward us.
How long was it since I came to this kind of park?
ââŠâŠI donât even remember that well.â
There were times when a dungeonâs environment was a forest or grasslands, but it was different from that. A walk with a light heart. I definitely didnât have that kind of leisure.
âŠNo, that was just an excuse; if I was going do it, I could have done it any time. How much time would it have taken to go to a nearby park? And even if I didnât purposely go find a park, if I wanted to take a walk, I just needed to go outside of my house to do so.
Looking around at the surroundings anew while walking slowly, tilting my head from time to time to look at the sky too. What shapes the clouds were today, how much thicker had the trees along the roads grown now that it was summer â I could read the flyers stuck to the walls, and I could rest my gaze on the ants crawling between the sidewalk blocks.
âWell, I probably wouldnât be able to do that now even if I wanted to.â
It became that I couldnât even dream of going around casually alone. I should just make one of these in my building.
The roof garden was large. It was wide open, but tall trees were densely planted, wrapping around the border, and hid as much as possible the fact that it was on top of a roof. The trail was well made, and at the arranged flowerbeds, there were all kinds of sculptures and fountains, a small greenhouse, etc. â it had everything it should have.
And I couldnât see a single person.
âIt seems like nobody is here.â
âIn order for you to use it comfortably, the entrance has been regulated. It is not that there is nobody at all; there are a few people doing surveillance. Someone could invade from the air, you know?â
It wasnât even a target for localized shooting, so I wondered if there even would be people doing such a thing in broad daylight, but it was thorough.
âPeace, look here. Itâs a patch of grass.â
-Kkoooong
I lowered Peace on top of the grass, but far from running and playing, the young Horned Flame Lion immediately stuck to my leg. The weather was nice and the sunlight was nice and the scenery was nice, but why didnât he seem to have any interest?
âWhy are you like this? You donât like it?â
-Kkiing
âThereâs a butterfly flying around there.â
He pretended not to see the flutteringly dancing yellow butterfly. Seeing how it was like this, I started to worry. Was the trauma more severe than I had thought? Were there psychologists specialized in animals?
âWhat should we do, our Peace?â
When I squatted down and stretched my hand to pet his neck, he tightly grabbed my arm with his front paws. It felt like he was particularly clinging â did he not want to part from me?
âCould it possibly be because he was made to be suddenly apart from me, not because he was kidnapped?â
He was suddenly snatched out of nowhere and was shut in a cage for a long time alone. Since he was sensitive enough to sense an appraisal skill, he could have felt the surrounding situation to a certain extent even if he was asleep.
âThat kind of thing wonât happen now.â
I didnât know how much of my words he would understand, but I first tried to soothe him.
âLook, see the noona next to us? You can tell how strong she is, right? This noona is protecting us.â
âThatâs right, Peace. Iâm here, so itâs okay.â
Kang Soyoung chimed in on cue. Then she bent down and pulled me into her arms a little. At the same time, Peace tensed and his fur stood on end.
-Keuheung!
âItâs okay, Peace. This noona is a good person. Sheâs not trying to harm me.â
âThatâs right, we get along well. See this.â
And then, smack, she pressed her lips to my cheek. Uh, something like this was a little awkward⊠Maybe because she was a foreigner, she was too touchy-feely[3].
-Geureung?
Peace looked at us stuck close together and tilted his head.
âThis noona will protect us, so you donât have to worry and you can play. Itâs okay.â
The tips of the ears covered in red fur bobbed up and down. Peace, who had finally separated from me, started to look around the surroundings. I had heard that the dungeon the Horned Flame Lion came out of was a volcanic region, so it should be the first time in his life seeing this kind of green scenery.
Paak
The still small front paws scratched the grass. The cut grass blades scattered in all directions. He twitched his nose and sniffed the grass smell a little, before turning around once in a circle and looking back up at me.
âYou like it?â
-Kkiang!
He jumped in place and then started to explore the surroundings. He didnât look like he was planning on going far, but if it was this much, I thought he would be fine soon.
âI think it would be fine if you move away now.â
I said toward the Kang Soyoung who was still embracing me. You said there were surveillance people around, so it would be great if you would maintain a proper distance.
âShould I help you up?â
âIt is fine.â
Did I look like I couldnât keep my own body steady? Though relatively, I would probably look like a hatchling tottering around like it could die soon.
I walked on the trail, following the direction that Peace wanted to go. Since a little red body was dashing around in a flowerbed full of hydrangeas, soon lavender petals started to flutter all over the place. It took an instant for a flowerbed to be ruined.
âThat is-.â
âIt is alright!â
As soon as I parted my mouth, Kang Soyoung smiled brightly and spoke.
âPlease do not mind it. There is no problem even if you plow over the entire place. It is just landscaping, so we can just do it again.â
As expected of a giant guild, they sure were generous. Peace was having that much fun, and once the Repayment skill effect ended, we should come often to play.
âIf it is not an inconvenience, could I ask about how long it takes to grow a highest rank familiar? I did not hear the specifics.â
Kang Soyoung asked, carefully.
âIt differs according to the monster, so I also do not know exactly. I think it differs according to type and ranking. And there should be a difference depending on whether they follow the training well. If it is a group of dragons from an S-Rank dungeon, they should be 2nd Rank or 3rd Rank, correct?â
If only one came out, it should be 2nd Rank, but if a nest happened to appear, it would mostly likely be a group. At my words, Kang Soyoung nodded her head.
âYes. Specifically, they are 3rd Rank flying dragon type. They are Thorn Winged Dark Dragons[4], and their stamina and defense are good and their abilities stand out even for flying dragons.â
Flying dragons were comparatively on the weak side among dragon types. But with their flight abilities standing out, they would be even more useful used as a familiar.
âAs much as three thorns this big sprout from their wings; they are really cute.â
ââŠExcuse me?â
Did she just say they were cute? Thorns that were as big as both her arms spread wide?
âThere are scale-like thorns on their tails, and those can be shot out too! They are slightly smaller than my forearm, but covered in a paralyzing poison. They are flying dragons, but they have front legs and back legs, all four of them, so they are even cuter. They are strong and their scales are hard, too. The color of their scales is black, and those glossy things look just like black gems placed in rows and look really pretty.â
Um, truthfully, far from something cute, I could only think of a terrible-looking giant lizard fiend[5] with wings. In addition, it was a tough-looking jet black dragon with thorns sticking up out of it. Her taste was a little unusual.
âEver since I first went in for an attack, I wanted to tame them â to think that I would be able to fulfill my wish. Ever since I learned about the magic beast raising skill, every day felt like I was walking on clouds. Ah, really â could I hug you one more time?â
âYou cannot.â
Since I first met her, I was thinking that the atmosphere stood out; she was really excited. It was this much even now, so when I raised a familiar for her, if I just casually told her once that I love her, the keyword would probably apply right away.
Still, I didnât know how the keyword effect would appear, so it would be better not to do so. Something terrible like being treated like a dad or a mom by my sister-in-law couldnât happen. Letâs be careful speaking.
I was thinking of casually bringing up Yoohyun, when,
[The Weakâs Premonition is sending a warning!]
The premonition skill that had popped up quite a lot of times while coming here, was incited again. Who was it now⊠fuck, it was an S-Rank. He should be busy, so why was he going around appearing here.
[1] lit. âif itâs not lit, would smoke come out of the chimneyâ and one of its meaning is the eng equiv above, which basically means âthere wouldnât be rumors if there wasnât sth true abt itâ
[2] the krn word for nephew/niece is gender neutral so Iâm using this. My city now.
[3] lit. âher skinship was excessiveâ where âskinshipâ is eng transliterated into krn as konglish slang
[4] iâm not quite sure about the âdarkâ as there is no hanja (it is usually 'femaleâ but I donât think thatâs it), but given the context, thatâs what it seems to be
[5] this is (one of) the krn word for âmonsterâ, but I wanted to distinguish it from the âmonsterâ (the eng word transliterated into krn) used to describe the living things in dungeons
Next ch.
Peace is so cute. He want to stay with his dad.
Have a bowl of hot yuanxiao to celebrate the Lantern Festival (â15th Nightâ). [source]
2019 date: February 19
im sorry all i draw is shizun
Extra: Airplaneâs Fortuitous Encounter
A lot of people on the discord were interested in the Airplane extras so I decided to re-translate them to pick up some details the MTL might have missed! The first chapter is up already, I havenât started working on the others and Iâm still working on main story so next update will come⊠whenever.
I just finished setting up this brand-new wordpress site today so please tell me if anything is super broken. That said, enjoy!
MXTX interview
This is a partial translation of an interview given by the author in March 2018, it can be found on her Weibo. There are actually 40 questions in the full interview about all three of her books, her upcoming fourth book and also about herself and her writing in general. Iâve only kept the parts pertaining to Mo Dao Zu Shi for the sake of clarity and because I doubt many people have finished reading all three books. Some parts were a bit confusing, hopefully I got it rightâŠ
Mild spoilers for the main story.
Original interview:Â https://www.weibo.com/6049110380/G7RfoEcj9
Keep reading
MDZS: WangXian, Mine
He looks nothing like Wei Wuxian, but he is everything like Wei Wuxian.
The way he fills the air with chatter, light and teasing, the way he bounces with every step, as though there are springs on his feet. The way he tilts his head to one side before a smile blossoms, glowing brighter, more brilliant, than the ten suns that once scorched this mortal earth.
Sometimes, Lan Wanji lies awake at night, gazing at his beloved, cataloguing every inch of that new body inside his head. Wei Wuxianâs eyes are wider now, his cheeks and hips more rounded, and his hair far coarser and almost untamableâtoo many times have Lan Wanjiâs fingers caught in the tangles, causing yelps that he had to muffle with his mouth and tongue.
Heâs also inches shorter, but Lan Wangji thinks it is the perfect height for him to bury his nose into dark strands and weave his arms around the slim waist. Breathe in the unique scent that is still, somehow, Wei Wuxian. He likes it even more that this Wei Wuxian has to lift his chin up for a kiss, slipping his fingers into Lan Wangjiâs collar as his eyelashes flutter shut in anticipation.
And there are moments when Lan Wangji sees the pain, the anguish, that plagued his beloved before deathâa flicker in those grey eyes that vanish as quickly as they appear, replaced by a silly, boyish grin. Thatâs why he wants the Ghost General gone, why he wants Jiang Wanyin to curb his sharp tongue and unrelenting cruelty. Why his kisses are soft and sweet and full of heart, because the language of action has always come easier to him than words, and he wants Wei Wuxian to know heâs loved, that he deserves all that Lan Wangji can offer.
âWhy are you staring at me?â Wei Wuxian asks, cheeks bulging with a large bite of loquat. He dips his eyelashes, leans in close. âAm I that handsome to you, my Hanguang-Jun?â
Lan Wangji holds back a laugh. Reaches out to brush off juice from the corner of pink lips with his thumb, before bringing it back to his own lips for a taste.
âMm,â he says, mouth tipping upwards at Wei Wuxianâs flush.
He looks nothing like Wei Wuxian, but he is everything like Wei Wuxian.
And that smileâthe smile that holds the worldâfinally belongs to Lan Wangji.
Mo Dao Zu Shi extra: From night to morning
I hadnât planned to translate another chapter but I recently discovered the extra storyăææźăexclusive to the Taiwan physical book and itâs truly a hidden gem.
I also hadnât planned to ever write explicit content. Oh well.
Warning: Graphic sex scene.
It was long past 9 pm and he still had not come back.
The paper lantern on the table was not yet extinguished, Lan Wangji was gazing at its hazy glow without blinking.
Rising after a long while, he walked to the entrance of the Jingshi and opened the wooden door.
He stood still for a moment. He appeared to be on the verge of stepping outside when a suspicious thud sounded from behind.
Keep reading