The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 22

22. My Person (2)

The sound of paper tearing in half made their eyes widen.

“What the!”

“Is this crazy bastard serious?!”

F3 lunged to snatch the contract. Not that he was in any position to judge, being an F-rank and all. I slightly sidestepped the clumsy grasp of the charging brute and extended one leg, tripping F3, who tumbled forward.

The moment his body was halfway down, I grabbed the back of his head and, with a slight twist,

Slammed it against the table! Wow, that glass is sturdy.

“Y-Yoojin!”

A flustered Yoo Myungwoo awkwardly rose from his seat. D also pushed off the sofa, his expression turning fierce.

“This bastard, he wasn’t an F-rank! At best, he’s level 1, maybe an E-rank? I’ll cut off your fingers and make you stamp your print!”

D spat out menacingly. Thanks to the item buffs, I was higher than that, but I didn’t want to deal with cleaning up a corpse, so I was holding back.

I stood up, protectively placing Yoo Myungwoo behind me, and pulled out my phone. D and the others sneered at me.

“It’s too late to report it now—”

“Come on in.”

Thump—!

With a loud crash, the locked steel door buckled inward and fell open.

I was trying to end the call, not make one. I smiled at Kim Sunghan, who stood in the doorway, as I pressed the end call button on my phone with him.

“Could I ask for your help?”

I’d be fine on my own, but I had someone to protect.

That’s why I called Kim Sunghan before ringing the bell. I wanted him to help if things got dangerous, even against ordinary people. A bit of risk to cover up the evidence was better than Yoo Myungwoo getting hurt.

But they’re all Hunters, so much the better.

“He had accomplices!”

D shouted, trying to regain his composure.

“He seems capable, but I—!”

“That face! K-Kim Sunghan? The Haeyeon Guild’s Shield!”

F1 cut off D, pointing with a terrified expression.

“An A-rank, that guy, no, that person is an A-rank!”

A-rank. That one word chilled the atmosphere. D-rank, E, F, F, F—they all panicked, glancing around nervously.

Kim Sunghan, who had seized control of the situation with just his face, twitched an eyebrow.

“Kneel.”

Thud, thud.

Five pairs of knees hit the floor in unison. They listen well. Rank is king, after all.

“How should we handle them?”

Kim Sunghan asked me. Why was he asking me? He was much higher rank than me, he could just handle it himself. Was he too used to receiving direct orders from Yoohyun?

“Well, they say an eye for an eye, don’t they? Let’s give them the same treatment.”

If we let them go, they’d just keep preying on innocent F-ranks like a Venus flytrap. They weren’t worth being lenient with.

I pulled the last S-rank contract from my inventory. It was a waste of over 20 million won [Korean currency, roughly $15,000 USD], but it wasn’t my money, and I could just count it as paying off Yoo Myungwoo’s debt.

“So… that D-rank, what’s your name?”

I knew it from the Seed Leaf [a skill that allows the user to see a person’s potential], but I couldn’t let on.

“…Kim Deoksoo.”

He answered sullenly. He knelt before an A-rank without hesitation, but he didn’t like an F-rank talking down to him. I was the one calling the shots, but he had no tact.

“Kim Deoksoo, you have to answer my questions honestly. If you lie, I’ll cut off your fingers one by one. No need to stamp your print, I’ll just shove them down your throat.”

I held the contract and pen in front of his face.

“Write down your skills and sign.”

“T-this is…”

“An S-rank contract. Write down skills that have an immediate, visible effect. If you lie and your skills get sealed, I’ll cut off your fingers and then you’ll sign the next contract. There are plenty of fingers and toes to cut off, so don’t worry.”

Actually, this was the only one I had, but how would he know my inventory situation?

Kim Deoksoo swallowed hard and wrote down his skills and signed. I should buy some cheaper contracts to keep on hand. This thing is surprisingly useful as a lie detector. Of course, it’s best if I don’t have to use it.

“How many guild members are there in total? Only call the official members.”

“…Eleven.”

Not many for a C-rank guild leader’s guild. But then again, it was a trash guild that preyed on F-ranks, so it wasn’t likely to be large.

“One is the C-rank guild leader, what about the other five?”

“D-ranks.”

“Give me their phone numbers.”

If I let him call them, he might try something, so I used his phone to call them myself. Luckily, I snagged a C-rank healer. I told them that Kim Deoksoo and the others were struggling to hold someone down and that I was a newly contracted F-rank, and they immediately agreed to come.

“Where’s the healer?!”

The C-rank guild leader burst in, only to be

Pow!

“Cough!”

Knocked out by a single punch from Kim Sunghan. Stats are king, indeed.

Soon, the five D-ranks were added, bringing the total to eleven kneeling men. The room was getting cramped.

“Are there any C-rank dungeons we can throw these guys into?”

Their faces paled at my words. With only one C-rank among them, they’d be wiped out in even a low-level C-rank dungeon. But who cares? They’d been doing the same thing to others.

There were over thirty contracts piled up in the safe. Less than half of the people were still in one piece, he said. Crazy bastards.

“I’ll have the guild look into it.”

“I was hoping for a privately owned dungeon, but is it okay to involve the guild?”

If the guild was directly involved instead of it being individual misconduct, it could be criticized. It would be like handing down a sentence and executing it without legal due process.

“We can handle this cleanly enough.”

“Even so, there’s no need to create a potential weakness over something trivial. Hmm, it’d be better to hand them over to the Association instead of the guild.”

Kim Sunghan’s expression became subtle at my words.

“If they insist that it was a legitimate contract, they’ll only end up with a revoked license at best.”

“That’s only if you just report it without taking any action.”

I took the blank contracts from the safe and changed the contracting party from the Hope Resources Guild to the Hunter Association, and the contract term from 10 years to 50 years. Other than that, it was a perfect slave contract.

Oh, and I should change the ratio to 1:9. Giving them nothing at all would be too obvious.

I kindly placed the revised contracts one by one in front of the kneeling men. They looked up at me in confusion. What are you looking at?

“Stamp your prints.”

I tossed them the inkpad. The C-rank’s cheeks trembled with anger or resentment.

“This is a complete scam!”

Pot calling the kettle black.

“I’m introducing you to an easy and comfortable job where all you have to do is pick up money, and you call it a scam? How harsh. The contracting party has only changed from a mere C-rank guild to the Hunter Association, so it’s nothing for the conditions to change a little.”

I was even letting them keep 10%, and they were still greedy.

“Besides, who knows? You might get lucky and end up in a decent guild.”

Of course, they were more likely to be sold to a guild of similar caliber to their own.

They reluctantly pressed their fingers into the inkpad.

“Stamp the revised parts as well as the signature line.”

They had so many contracts piled up, yet they were acting like amateurs.

“I’ll warn you in advance.”

I said, collecting the contracts with neatly stamped fingerprints.

“Don’t make a big deal out of objecting to the contract. When the Association contacts you, just say you agreed quietly. If you don’t, I’ll really find a C-rank dungeon and throw you in.”

I wanted to throw them in right away, but I didn’t have the money yet. C-rank dungeons are expensive. Especially if they’re privately owned.

I took their resident registration numbers, Hunter license numbers, and phone numbers to prevent them from running away. If they did, I could contact Do Hamin to catch them.

Even as we walked outside to the car, Yoo Myungwoo had a dazed expression. He stammered, unsure of what to say, finally managing to speak in a small voice.

“…Thank you.”

If you’re grateful, hurry up and get a skill and repay me with your body.

“I, I don’t know how to repay you… and there’s no real way to repay you, but…”

“Don’t worry about it too much.”

Just contract with Haeyeon Guild later and give me an incentive.

“Don’t worry about it? I…”

Yoo Myungwoo’s voice began to waver with tears. Was he going to cry again? No, don’t cry.

“It’s just a coincidence! We just happened to run into each other! There’s really nothing to worry about! And Kim Sunghan did half of it.”

Yoo Myungwoo stopped crying and laughed.

“You’re a terrible liar.”

No, I think I’m pretty good.

“Of course, I’m grateful to him too, but he wouldn’t have intervened if it weren’t for you. Right?”

“Well, yeah, but…”

From his perspective, he had every reason to be grateful for what I had done, but it wasn’t purely out of goodwill, so my conscience stung a little.

If I didn’t have the Seed Leaf skill and Yoo Myungwoo didn’t have the potential for an SS-rank skill, we would have just passed each other by. Without knowing each other’s faces or names.

“I was really grateful when we met at the Association, and I was really happy just hearing your words. But today, I was really surprised and moved. Yoojin, you’re really…”

Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I shouldn’t hear the rest of that…….

“My hero.”

…Goosebumps crawled down my spine. Wow, how could he say something like that out loud? I’m so embarrassed! Take my Seed Leaf skill! I could use ‘I love you’ without any hesitation.

“…No, not really. It’s not like that…….”

Please don’t look at me with such adoring eyes. There’s nowhere to hide in the car. A hero? What kind of frozen hero am I? I’m so embarrassed. Save me. Should I open the door and jump out? I’m still wearing my gloves, so I probably won’t die.

“You were really cool. Tearing up the contract, slamming the guy who attacked you against the table, and making those guys sign the contract.”

…The man who broke down the steel door with one kick is sitting in the driver’s seat right in front of me, so why are you saying this to me? Shouldn’t you be saying, ‘Wow, Kim Sunghan is so cool, as expected of an A-rank!’?

“Ah, anyway, I get it.”

I quickly changed the subject before I died of shame.

“That, the new Hunter training! It’ll start on Tuesday.”

“You’re really going to let me take it? Honestly, I’m not very confident.”

Yoo Myungwoo said dejectedly. He was already in bad shape, but those guys had further eroded his self-esteem by making him sign the contract.

“No confidence? Hey, I’m an F-rank too.”

Of course, including my skills, I couldn’t be called an F-rank, but Yoo Myungwoo would soon have an SS-rank skill, so let’s just say we’re similar.

“…You’re completely different from me.”

“Different? Look at these gloves. They’re A-rank items that increase your stamina and strength stats. If you just wear these, you can smash that guy’s head too.”

If you have the guts to fight, that is. Unless you get a high mental stat boost, most low-level Hunters can’t even swing their weapons in their first battle and fall into confusion. That’s why new Hunter training is essential.

“Still, I… I don’t think I can ever be like you.”

His voice was so low it was practically dead. I hope he doesn’t say he won’t take the training. You need a license to enter dungeons, and you need to enter dungeons to grow.

I wondered what to do, then took off the Manticore leather gloves. Then, I tossed them to Yoo Myungwoo.

“Huh?”

He looked at the gloves that had fallen into his lap, his eyes widening.

“You can use them for now. I’m not giving them to you, I’m lending them to you.”

“B-but these are A-rank items, right? Aren’t they really expensive?”

“I said I’d lend them to you before.”

“I naturally assumed they were D-rank or lower! I heard that D-rank and below rely on equipment… N-no way!”

I forced the gloves into Yoo Myungwoo’s resisting hands.

“No way? I don’t use them much anyway. It’s hot these days. So, you can use them until the new Hunter training is over.”

He had to face monsters during the Hunter training, and if I left him like this, he might get scared and cause an accident. I have experience, so I don’t need items, but.

Actually, I don’t want to wear them because it’s hot. I should wear a belt instead.

“You’re really…….”

Yoo Myungwoo, clutching the leather gloves tightly, teared up. That gaze, stained with emotion, was very burdensome.

“Yoojin!”

“Wait, don’t cling to me!”

…Damn it, I think I’ll jump out after all.