The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 189

“I think I should visit Hunter Kang Soyoung later this afternoon… would that be alright?”

Noah asked hesitantly as he entered the building. Now that he thought about it, today was Kang Soyoung’s birthday. After yesterday’s cruise ship incident, the Guild Leader and even Sesung itself must have received disciplinary action. Just like last year, the birthday atmosphere probably won’t be great.

“Yes, of course, it’s fine. There are plenty of other Hunters, so don’t worry.”

Yerim is out, but Yoohyun is in the building next door, and Sung Han is here too.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay, Noah? I think Riette will be there; won’t it be awkward?”

“It’s hard to have a proper gathering because of yesterday’s incident. We decided to meet separately. Most of Hunter Kang Soyoung’s acquaintances are high-ranking Hunters, so we plan to visit at different times.”

Ah, that’s true. Yerim and Moon Hyuna also seemed close to Kang Soyoung, so they’ll probably go to wish her a happy birthday. If they did, that would already be four S-Rank Hunters. Gathering like that right after yesterday’s incident would be more than just awkward; it would upset Song, the Chief Manager.

…But meeting up separately, isn’t that kind of like a date? I reflexively stared at Noah. Those two do look good together. Even though Noah is putting up a wall, the fact that he’s going to see her on her birthday means he doesn’t dislike her that much.

‘More than anything, Soyoung likes him.’

I ran into Kang Soyoung occasionally because of Comet, but honestly, she didn’t seem interested in Yoohyun… As his brother, it’s heartbreaking, but it made me wonder if the rumors from before the regression were just tabloid gossip. Yoohyun doesn’t bring up Kang Soyoung either.

“Noah, you look cute—no, handsome—in anything, but try to dress neatly if possible.”

“Yes? Yes.”

“Birthdays call for bouquets of flowers.”

“…Flowers?”

“You would definitely look good holding a big bouquet of flowers.”

A big bouquet of red roses, big enough to fill your arms. That would really suit you. And a white suit… is that too much? That’s more for a wedding or engagement, or at least a proposal.

I urged him to go and get ready quickly, telling him he could get help from Haeyeon, and then got on the elevator alone. I tried calling Myungwoo, but he didn’t answer, probably because his phone was damaged by the flood.

The residence at the top of the building couldn’t be reached directly by elevator. You had to go through a security checkpoint in the middle and transfer. The top three floors had been remodeled into a house, but it was only half-filled.

Myungwoo’s house was part of the top floor and wasn’t very big. He had a separate workshop and the Golden Blacksmith that he could enter at any time, so he had asked for only a large kitchen, saying that anything bigger would be cumbersome.

‘Should I ring the bell?’

I hesitated in front of the door. I knew the password, but he didn’t seem to be in a good mood, so I felt awkward barging in. But ringing the bell now seemed strange too. While I was hesitating, the door opened.

“What are you doing, not coming in?”

“Oh? No.”

He didn’t seem any different than usual. I took Piyo from my head and went inside. I had to be careful because magic stones and magic stone powder were often lying around in Myungwoo’s house.

Sunlight streamed into the living room, which was large for the size of the house. As soon as I sat on the sofa, Piyo started flapping its wings.

-Piyo Piyo!

“No, you just ate.”

-Bbeep! Piyo!

It was flapping its wings towards the magic stone on the table, like a child gesturing for something. The sight of its small wings flapping with all its might was so cute that I almost gave in. But I couldn’t. That’s an A-Rank magic stone, Piyo.

“Here, eat this and be patient.”

I gave it a piece of D-Rank magic stone from my inventory. It still couldn’t take its eyes off the table, but it quieted down for a moment.

“About yesterday.”

I started to speak, watching Myungwoo’s expression as he brought snacks.

“Did the other Hunters bother you a lot at the smithy?”

“Not really.”

The dish contained thinly sliced jerky and dried fruit. It looked similar to sliced apples, but the flesh was red. It didn’t look like a persimmon either; what was it?

“It’s fruit from the dungeon. It’s been tested and is safe to eat, so I made it. This can go into your inventory.”

“The jerky too?”

“Not that. There are edible monsters, but…”

The higher the rank, the more likely they are to be poisonous, but lower-ranked monsters were often just plain delicious. Although there was still a lot of aversion to it, they would later be sold as high-end ingredients. Since they could be stored in the inventory, they were also widely used as food for dungeon raids.

Even now, the water used during dungeon raids was mainly sourced from the dungeon. Including the cost of the bottle, it was 10,000 won [approximately $7.50 USD] for a 500ml bottle at the market. Considering the cost of transporting the water in bottles that were byproducts of the dungeon, as well as the cost of testing and Healer purification, it was considered cheap.

“This is delicious.”

Everything Myungwoo gave me was delicious, but this was just dried fruit, and it was still delicious. The jerky was also tender and tasted like well-cooked meat. It was incomparable to anything I had ever eaten. It was on a completely different level.

“But Noah said—not that he was tattling—but he was worried about you and said you seemed upset.”

Myungwoo stopped eating the jerky and turned to me. His expression was as heavy as his voice as he leaned back on the sofa and met my gaze.

“I regret creating the Grace.”

“…Huh?”

“I created the Grace to protect you, Yoojin, not to have you throw away your own safety.”

“That’s……”

“If you didn’t have the Grace, you wouldn’t have stepped forward and would have fled to the smithy.”

That’s true. I would have definitely fled. I wouldn’t be reckless enough to act without the means to protect myself.

“I can’t be happy about protecting other people while leaving the person I want to protect outside. Especially if it’s because of an item I made.”

“It’s definitely not your fault!”

I said hastily.

“I receive so much help from you. Besides, you made it the way I asked you to. Honestly, I’ve relied on the Grace and taken risks several times. But if I didn’t have the items you made, Myungwoo, it would have been difficult for me to be sitting here safely right now.”

Even if I had lived quietly, Diarma, the King of the Cursed Poison Dragon Species, wouldn’t have left me alone. He already knew how important I was to Yoohyun. Eventually, something similar would have happened, and it would have been impossible to defeat the Dragonkin without the damage nullification item.

“I know that, but…”

Myungwoo sighed softly.

“Why does it have to be you, Yoojin?”

“…Huh?”

“I can’t help but think that. You could just be safely protected inside the breeding facility. There are many people, including me, who want that, and it’s definitely possible.”

“That’s because, I……”

There are things I need to get back. And… Because I received something. My skills, most of the skills I have now…….

“…I told you. The dungeon difficulty will increase, and we need to prepare for that. And if possible, I’ll just raise monsters too.”

“I really wish you would.”

Myungwoo seemed like he wanted to say something more, but he stopped and closed his mouth after looking at my expression. A brief silence followed. I suppressed the thoughts that were trying to surface in my mind and said lightly, as if it were nothing.

“Would you like to go to the dungeon for a while if there’s nothing else going on?”

I was also curious about how the volleyball [a sentient magical item] was preparing things, and there were things I wanted to ask. And I thought it would be good for Myungwoo to meet the volleyball at least once. I had roughly explained the system related to Ismual and the smithy, but the feeling would be different from seeing it in person.

Hae Pa Ri’s words that the blacksmith might be a rescue target also bothered me. It would be good to find out for sure.

“A low-level dungeon… just a moment.”

I contacted Haeyeon and asked if there were any low-level dungeons under their management that we could enter immediately. If it was a dungeon under the Guild’s management, we could enter immediately without bidding.

They said there was one E-Rank dungeon, so I asked them to prepare for the raid, and soon after, I received a call. It was my brother.

[Are you going into a dungeon?]

“Yeah. With Myungwoo. And to meet that volleyball.”

Since it was an E-Rank dungeon, it would be fine with just the two of us, but just in case, Noah couldn’t go. Yerim couldn’t go either. Naturally, Sung Hyunjae came to mind next. I should leave him out now, but he keeps butting in. If it were before, I might have called Sung Hyunjae and told him to put out a dungeon. He would have prepared everything and even come to pick me up with just a word.

I can’t change overnight, so he’ll probably keep coming to mind for a while.

“I was thinking of taking Peace and Blue. Bellare would be… fine too. Two would be enough.”

Bellare is still young and surprisingly fast, so if he gets excited and runs wild, Myungwoo could get hurt. Myungwoo doesn’t have poison resistance. Even if I can detoxify him right away, it’s better not to create a dangerous situation.

[Should I go too?]

“It’s okay. Aren’t you working on something related to MKC [presumably a company or project] right now? You said you tested the item too.”

[That’s true, but.]

“I’ll be back before dinner. Don’t worry too much.”

Yoohyun hesitated for a moment before answering that he understood. He didn’t say ‘you can’t’ like before, but he still seemed worried. Well, I feel the same way.

Soon, Haeyeon contacted me and said they would prepare the dungeon and vehicle. A van with plenty of space for luggage came since Blue was coming too. This is fine for now, but we might need a cargo truck when they get bigger.

‘Should I get a vehicle and driver too?’

I could probably do that by contracting with Haeyeon. I should sign a proper contract instead of just calling and asking like I do now.

Before that, I’ll need an accountant and bookkeeper too. Right now, my assets aren’t even properly recorded in my head. And how is the breeding facility registration going? I left it to Haeyeon…….

‘I can’t do everything myself; I need people, people.’

While waiting for the dungeon preparations to be completed, I told Do Hamin that I wanted to find some people. Unfortunately, Do Hamin couldn’t find anyone with his abilities because he hadn’t had his phone long enough, so he said he would connect me with a reliable private investigator he knew.

I would need to hire more people besides that. It would be difficult to find trustworthy people right away, but.

I entered the E-Rank dungeon building and knocked on the gate three times. As soon as I went inside, Blue jumped up.

-Kyawoo!

He seemed startled by the snow under his feet, then waved his front paws at the snowflakes falling in the air. His surprise was short-lived, and he became as excited as a puppy seeing snow for the first time. Peace, who was standing next to me, shook his tail as if he were sighing at Blue. He seemed to be looking down on him.

“Aren’t you cold?”

“I’m fine with this much.”

Myungwoo said without putting on the coat I had prepared.

“But this place… is a bit unique.”

“It’s not a typical dungeon.”

“No, not that.”

Myungwoo narrowed his eyes and looked around.

“…To create something like this.”

“Huh?”

“It’s like… a building or an item. I can’t figure it all out, but to think you can make it this far.”

What is he talking about? Just then, the volleyball bounced over. Blue found the white ball and happily pounced on it, only to be bounced away.

-Kyak!

[Honey! The Blacksmith is here today too! Hello!]

The volleyball approached Myungwoo and spun around.

“This is……”

[I’m the newbie! I made this place!]

“Ah, I see.”

Myungwoo said politely.

“Your skills are amazing.”

[Right? The seniors are amazed at how well I do this.]

The newbie said as if he were shrugging his shoulders if he had any. I had heard before that he had prepared this place for me, but listening to their conversation made me see the surrounding scenery in a new light. It’s just a snowy forest, but he made it. To be exact, that volleyball must have created this space itself.

‘We make sets for filming too, but…’

Is it like a transcendent upgrade version of that…? But how did Myungwoo realize it was made at a glance?

[Hey Honey, what’s going on? It’s not the agreed-upon period yet.]

The newbie said, blocking my way. He seemed as dejected as a subcontractor being pressured. When you look at it, that volleyball is unique. He’s much stronger and higher up than me, but compared to the other unfilial children, he has a more human feel.

…Except when I talked about Yoohyun.

“There’s something I want to ask. About the magic stone in my chest. Sung Hyunjae, part of the Chain’s fragment went in, but is it really having no effect?”

The volleyball tilted his head as if he was puzzled at my question.

[Yes. It’s only a very small part. It usually can’t have any effect. If the Chain is human, that is.]