The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 32

32. Found It! (2)

‘Still managed seventeen.’

I guess he must have sharpened scissors, jackknives, or kitchen knives. Should have sharpened them more diligently.

‘If he had used his talent to become a blacksmith or a similar craftsman, he could have met the basic requirements.’

Since it was an early optimization skill, he might have acquired the skill at the same time as his Awakening. Even if my baby skill effect relaxed the conditions, if he had used his talent earlier, would he have only had to sharpen ten thousand knives?

It would have been easier to go that route if he had been born before industrialization, but he was born in the wrong era and environment. Fortunately, thanks to my skill, there’s still hope for him to find his talent, but otherwise, it would have been buried.

‘…I decided not to use keywords on people, but seeing this makes me waver again.’

Should I just help him if I see a special skill that’s bound to be buried, instead of combat or healer types? If his stat grade is low like Myungwoo, there will be fewer problems later. If his stats are C-grade or higher, he’ll live well enough on his own, so I can pretend not to notice.

Since it’s an extremely rare case and there won’t be many, let’s snatch them up when they catch my eye.

“Uncle, how about this?”

Yerim asked, holding up a giant saw as tall as herself. An axe, and now a saw? Why are they showing a kid stuff like that?

“Doesn’t it look like it would cut ice well?”

“Just freeze it a little and use it mainly for Shadow Eating. After all, even if you use Lament to the max in an upper-level dungeon, it won’t hold them for long.”

“Then would an axe be better? This one seems to have good Strength stats.”

“You should supplement Strength with equipment and use a weapon that suits your skills and physique. You heard it in the theory class.”

Yerim looked like she was thinking, ‘Did I?’ Did you doze off during the lesson?

“Anyway, once you get an attack skill, the weapon is just an aid, so grab something that fits well in your hand.”

For a battle mage, a weapon with mainly magic stats would be good. You should prepare for close combat as a backup. A sword has a short reach, and a spear would be better than a blunt weapon. It would suit her well too.

After giving Yerim advice, I approached Yoo Myungwoo, who was still hesitating.

“Grab that spear over there and focus on defense. Just avoid the vital points as you learned yesterday.”

“O-okay.”

“Don’t worry about damaging high-grade equipment against low-level monsters, just pick something good, as long as you don’t lose it. Low-grade equipment breaks more easily.”

Myungwoo was relieved by my words.

But why am I picking out equipment for these kids? Where’s the education officer? Why aren’t they here? Negligence of duty.

‘The S-class rookie education officer is late, of all people. He’s slacking off.’

Is he a young guy with no social experience? He must be unfulfilled in military service. That’s why people need to go to the army. They exempt you if you just reach E-grade, so this is what happens. Let’s make S-grades go to the army fairly too. The duty of national defense is great.

While grumbling, I gathered equipment and items. As expected of a large guild, they have a lot of good stuff.

“Do I have to pay for consumables?”

“You have to pay if you’re not a guild hunter.”

“Yerim~ bring us this, that, this one, and that red bottle over there.”

“Yes, Uncle!”

The expression on the face of the maintenance room staff slightly crumpled. What, why, what? The S-class is going to share some leftovers.

At that moment, the maintenance room door opened. Finally, the tardy education officer is here. Let’s see who it is…

“…Yoohyun?”

Why are you here? I heard you were going to attack a new A-grade dungeon, but not today? Did you come to the wrong place?

“Sorry, am I a bit late?”

Yoohyun said with a refreshing face.

…Don’t tell me the young and slacking education officer with no social experience and no military service is you. My predictions are really spot on. I could open a fortune-telling shop.

No, wait. Why is he here?

“I know it’s ridiculous, but if you’re here as the dungeon attack practice instructor, I’d like to recommend you find a more diligent and correct way to waste your time.”

The last practice was within the guild, so it wasn’t strange for you to stop by, but this time it’s a dungeon attack. You wouldn’t take F-grades to a mid- or high-level dungeon unless you’re crazy, and an S-grade with three years of experience attacking a low-level dungeon is a comedy. Is it like using a flamethrower to kill ants?

My brother gave me a disappointed look at my words.

“You’re not even happy to see me after a long time?”

What’s new? And it hasn’t been that many days. I saw you during the indoor practice the other day.

“You were busy, not me.”

“You’ve barely come home since you went with Pulasaca. You said you’d come often when you left.”

My brother was acting like a wife nagging her husband who’s been staying out. It’s all because of the skill, so I have to be patient.

“Okay. I’ll come home often.”

“Call me sometimes too. Is it right that I have to hear about my own brother’s work from someone else? Tell me beforehand.”

“You can call me.”

Do you not have hands or feet? Yoohyun sighed briefly at my words.

“You got angry when I called. You even blocked me.”

Huh? Did I? It was five years ago, so I don’t remember well. When I took out my phone to check, there was a mark next to Yoohyun’s contact information. Is this a block mark? It’s different from the phone I used before the regression. No wonder you even tried to lock me up but never contacted me.

“I unblocked you.”

“Thanks.”

Only then did my brother’s whining stop. He’s not even a kid. Well, twenty is young, but still.

“So are you really the practice instructor?”

“Why, can’t I be?”

There’s no reason you can’t, but…

“Looks like you’re free.”

“It’s not that, but it’s a pretty good story that the guild leader, an S-grade, is assisting a new S-grade’s first dungeon attack. It’s also a time when there’s a lot of interest in Hunter Park Yerim. Most domestic S-grades can’t say they have good relationships, so the PR team recommended we show a new image this time.”

Yoohyun looked at Park Yerim. Yerim also looked straight back at him. The gazes they exchanged couldn’t be described as friendly.

A new image, my ass. Are they going to package that as ‘we have a good relationship’?

“Who else is going besides you?”

“No one.”

“Why not? Taking care of and teaching the kids isn’t something you should be doing.”

“Team Leader Seok said that just having Hyung [older brother] is enough?”

…That guy doesn’t even pay a salary and uses people like crazy. I’m a rookie hunter too, what makes him think it’s enough? Did Seok Hayan snitch that I’m a know-it-all? I should have pretended to know less.

“Well, I’m a little worried… but I guess not.”

Originally, a low-level dungeon attack would be completed in an average of two days if the team was properly equipped. The fastest F-grade attack record was a whopping 23 minutes. It depends on the size, but if Yoohyun comes along, it’ll take half a day at most. It’ll just be like going on a picnic.

“The dungeon to attack is a lower D-grade rocky area. There are only close-range attack monsters, so there’s no danger, just be careful of falling rocks.”

“There won’t be any fires.”

A D-grade is a level where a level 1 F-stat would die as soon as they stepped in. It would be dangerous if there were long-range attack monsters, even if they were protected, but it’s okay since there aren’t any.

Before the regression, I almost died going into an F-grade dungeon for the first time, but this time I’m starting with a safe D-grade. As expected, connections are the best in the world.

Before heading to the dungeon, the reporters who had been called in advance took interviews. Of course, Myungwoo and I were just there for show, and Yoohyun and Yerim pretended to be very close.

If you didn’t know, you’d think they were really friendly seniors and juniors. Disgusting. …Not that I’m in a position to talk.

The dungeon to attack was near Yeouido.

The entrance to an un-saturated dungeon was usually the size of one or two people. Because it was so small, undiscovered dungeons would occasionally burst out even with the good management now.

When a dungeon entrance is discovered, defense facilities are built around the entrance according to the grade. And managers from the association observe the situation 24 hours a day.

If a dungeon entrance appears inside a building, the existing building has to be demolished, but the compensation is satisfactory. The compensation is paid from the dungeon’s profits, so it’s usually higher than the average selling price of the building or land. Of course, there are rare and heartbreaking situations where an F-grade dungeon with no profitability squats on prime land and buildings.

‘I feel like I’m returning to work after a long vacation.’

I muttered, looking at the stabilized blue gate where regular attacks were taking place. No, it wasn’t that long. Besides, I was busy with other things. I didn’t rest much.

I needed more vacation. I wanted to throw my resignation letter right away. Why do I have to attack dungeons again even after regressing?

Flowery songs are only good once or twice, why do I have to go through all that hardship again? It’s not like I’m a high-level hunter with money and fame rolling in, and it’s not like dungeons will burst out one after another if I’m gone.

Of course, I should play. My dream since I was young was to be a rich unemployed person.

“The dungeon gate remains active for one hour after activation.”

Yoohyun explained to the rookies like an experienced hunter.

“After one hour, the inactive state continues unless the dungeon is cleared or the hunters inside are annihilated. That means you can’t go in or out. Of course, there are emergency escape methods, but items for escape are extremely rare.”

He took out a gate stone. It was rare even five years later, but it’s hard to even see one now. He has one.

“There are only twenty-two in the country right now, and they’re disposable. So you should never challenge a dungeon that exceeds your abilities. Even if you find a saturated dungeon, try not to think about buying time with your life.”

Yoohyun looked straight at me as he said that. What, man. I have no intention of doing anything crazy like that.

If you enter a saturated dungeon, you can postpone the break until the hunter who entered dies. But I’m F-grade, so I’d last about a minute. There’s not much difference whether I jump in or not, so I should just report it to the association and run away. Why would I go in if I’m crazy?

After listing various other precautions, Yoohyun entered the gate first. Since you can’t know what the situation is inside the gate from the outside, the strongest or most defensive person usually enters first.

Of course, entering alone is strictly forbidden, and it’s basic to form a group and enter in succession, but this is practice. The rookies just had to wait for the education officer to secure safety and then follow.

“Let’s go in now.”

It’s been about five minutes, so he must have finished clearing it out.

At my words, Yerim stepped into the gate without fear. Then I pushed in the hesitating Myungwoo and entered myself.

The first thing I felt as soon as I crossed the gate was a pungent smell that stung my nose.

Then, the open sky, the rocky cliffs, and the remains of the monsters that had been burned were visible.

I thought it was a tiresome place, but my heart fluttered slightly.

Another world that you can reach just by taking one step. Unfamiliar air, unfamiliar scenery, that sense of isolation where no one can enter once the door is closed.

It could be an escape, or it could be liberation.

Either way, that moment of crossing the door was sweet to me, who was being chased by all sorts of things.

‘Of course, there was bloodshed after that.’

That’s enough sentimentality.

I have no debt now, I don’t hear trash talk, and I have a good relationship with my brother. Regression, hooray. Thank you to the person who made the system that gave me the wish stone. What if there are some typos? But please give me a detailed explanation of the skills. Please.

“This area is safe.”

Han Yoohyun said, not even holding a weapon. Well, he could sweep away D-grade low-level dungeon monsters with just a simple skill. But not Myungwoo and I.

“I’m not asking for much, just level 10.”

Let’s ride the S-grade bus. When I took out a spear from the inventory, Myungwoo, who was watching, also took out a weapon. We both chose long spears. The equipment options were mainly defense and strength, with the intention of picking up whatever was thrown at us.

“Me too, I can help too!”

Yerim said, brandishing her rapier. No, you need to raise your level.

“Help with what? You can’t even reach level 10 even if you hunt like crazy here. I told you there’s a huge difference in level experience depending on the stat grade.”

“Did you?”

“You really dozed off during class.”

“…I didn’t sleep, I just thought about other things a little.”

Well, it’s an age when you don’t want to study. Of course, I don’t like studying even when I’m thirty.

“The experience required per level differs by about five times between stat grades F and S. The difference gets even bigger as the level goes up. Instead, the stat growth per level is much higher for S-grades. If you consider efficiency, F-grades are so pitiful that it brings tears to my eyes.”

So Yerim will only gain about 5 levels here at best. There are slight differences depending on the dungeon, but if it’s a lower D-grade, you can only reach about level 7 if you monopolize it.

Since the amount of experience required increases as the level goes up, you’ll have to clear two more D-grades to reach level 10.

“Let’s move on.”

Yoohyun said, moving his steps to the path between the cliffs. Wait a minute, isn’t that mana stone visible through the ashes piled up there?

“Aren’t you going to pick up the mana stones?”

“Ah… I forgot because I’ve never picked them up when attacking as a team.”

Yes, I’m sure. D-grade mana stones are probably pocket change to my talented brother, but not to me. I was wondering how to get ten thousand knives anyway, I’ll pick that up and sell it to buy them.

“Yerim, can you adjust Lament’s cold air to the minimum and the airflow to the maximum so that it only blows away the accumulated ashes?”

“I’ll try.”

Soon, a chilly wind blew. The name itself is Lament, and it’s a fog-like form, so it wasn’t a strong wind, but focusing on the airflow was enough to blow away the ashes. Three D-grade mana stones. Thank you.

“Can I take them?”

“Of course.”

I love you, brother.

“You can use Lament in this way too.”

“It won’t be very useful? But it’s good to develop your application skills. You’ll be attacking dungeons continuously in the future, so use your skills in as many ways as possible, even in strange ways. You might discover a useful use while doing useless things.”

“Yes!”

Come to think of it, is Yoohyun using his skills well? I used the seedling before entering the dungeon and found that he had acquired all the optimization skills, so there was nothing for me to touch.

I thought he would since he has three years of experience, but I was a little disappointed. Should I spin a random skill when the cooldown is up? Who knows, maybe something amazing will come out.