The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 517

515. Give Me More (1)

“Can’t even clean up before sleeping soundly.”

Items were scattered all over the waiting room floor. Used Bellare’s poison, broken swords, and spent bullets had all reverted to their original forms. They were genuine items, not dummies that had lost their function as dungeon items. I briefly turned off poison resistance and put the Bellare poison bottles into my inventory first.

“How did he manage to lie down in that exact spot?”

Was he actually awake and just pretending to sleep? Just then, a system message window popped up in front of me.

[Winner: Han Yoojin]

Yeah, I won. Then, three gold coins clinked and fell. Huh? I didn’t hear about this.

[The winning team receives additional benefits when attending the party. Additional benefits are stackable.]

“…I don’t know what it is, but thanks for giving it to me.”

Wait, if it’s like this, couldn’t four people team up, win, and lose on purpose?

[There are no restrictions on team composition, but you cannot fight the same opponent again. It is also impossible to take the same invitation twice.]

I guess not. But there were more hunters on this island with invitations. I shouldn’t be greedy and just take what’s appropriate.

The system message disappeared, and a door like a dungeon entrance opened on one wall. I picked up the three gold coins, put them in my inventory, and approached Sung Hyunjae.

“Time to wake up.”

I spoke to him, but there was no response. Was he in a deep sleep? Just in case, I squatted next to Sung Hyunjae and put my finger under his nose. He was breathing fine.

“Why aren’t you waking up? Are you still B-rank?”

I grabbed Sung Hyunjae’s cheek and pulled it. It was definitely softer than before. Even if he was S-rank, his skin wouldn’t be as hard as iron unless he concentrated his magic to strengthen it, but there was still a difference. A non-awakened person’s skin is easily squished or pulled, but someone of a higher rank has a higher density, so to speak. I had to put more force into my finger to grab his cheek. It seemed to be due to the difference in the amount of magic they inherently possessed.

“Hey, Sung Hyunjae.”

I grabbed both cheeks and pulled them. For someone in his late thirties, his skin was good. Of course, not as good as Yoohyun, Yerim, or Noah, but still. Even S-ranks have age differences. Still, he could give most twenty-year-olds a run for their money.

“Was he like this before awakening? Or did his skin get better after awakening? Did he have acne during puberty? Yoohyun’s skin was clear too. Sung Hyunjae and puberty is a bit funny. But he must have gone through it once.”

Childhood and adolescence. Was the young *moseup* [appearance] I saw in the old lake dungeon real?

“Still, being at least B-rank means marks don’t stay easily. Is it a little red? Honestly, you must have been cute when you were young. Just look at Gyeol. Your hair is faded now, so maybe it was pink? Diarma and the Dragonkin didn’t have a hint of pink.”

Of course, neither did I. Is my liking for pink actually a trace of a past I can’t remember? It suits you when you’re young, but pink hair when you’re thirty or forty… No, in that world, pink hair might have been as common as black hair. Maybe there were even blue and green hair.

“All I know is this Sung Hyunjae here. But once upon a time, there was the first Sung Hyunjae and the second Sung Hyunjae…”

I stopped speaking. Putting a number in front of the same person felt strange.

“They’re all the same Sung Hyunjae, so 1 and 2 is a bit much. If I had to divide them, the number should be attached to the place.”

That’s right. Just Sung Hyunjae.

“Sung Hyunjae of the first world. Sung Hyunjae of the second world. Or, yeah. Sung Hyunjae of the world with many lakes. Sung Hyunjae of the world with two suns. Sung Hyunjae of the world with blue clouds. Sung Hyunjae of the world with delicious cake. Sung Hyunjae of the world who learned to fish. Sung Hyunjae of the world where the festival was fun. I don’t know, and you don’t know, but those worlds might have existed.”

And here.

“Here, there are too many. It hasn’t even been a year. So—oh my gosh!”

Our eyes met. When did he wake up?

“That hurts a bit.”

“It’s just F-rank, what are you talking about? You got shot with a gun.”

I strongly pulled Sung Hyunjae’s cheek one last time and let go. There was a faint red mark left.

“Let’s pack up our things and leave.”

“Did Han Yoojin win? There’s a message saying the winning team gets benefits.”

“Of course, I won. This is mine, this is mine, and this too—”

“I think that was mine.”

“People can make mistakes.”

“That glove too.”

“Ah, people can make mistakes! It’s confusing when you spread everything out like this. Why are you sneaking away with the spatula again? Wait, where did the laundry basket go?”

“It was good for holding yarn, so I unconsciously put it in whole. We’re short on potions.”

“You must have miscounted.”

“Chocolate flavor—”

“I don’t know, I don’t know. I didn’t see anything.”

We finished packing up and went out the door.

—Dad!

Gyeol shouted happily and clung to me.

—Are you okay? You didn’t get hit, did you?

“I’m fine, I’m perfectly fine.”

I did get hit a lot, though. Yoohyun approached me, and Chief Song…

“…”

Slightly avoided my gaze. Sung Hyunjae watched our reactions with shining eyes, as if not wanting to miss a thing.

“Oh, Yoohyun, you were okay, right?”

“Yeah. I woke up in the waiting room, and the exit was open. What happened, hyung?”

“I just fought.”

“But Chief Song was avoiding my eyes. Did something really happen?”

Yoohyun said suspiciously. Well, um… Looking back, it was a bit embarrassing. I’m glad I killed Sung Hyunjae. To others, it must have looked like a real brawl.

“We talked a bit… and I won.”

“I wanted to watch, but Han Yoojin shot me in the head.”

“Hyung shot me in the chest. And I bit hyung.”

…Why are you saying that like it’s something to be proud of?

“I should have bitten too, I regret it. How was it for our Chief Song Taewon?”

“…”

Chief Song avoided Sung Hyunjae’s gaze. Sung Hyunjae grinned and approached Song Taewon.

“It must have been unbelievably good.”

“Don’t harass Chief Song. I hit him with a bicycle, okay?”

Yoohyun and Sung Hyunjae both looked like they wished they had seen it. More importantly, what time is it? Just in case, I checked the time and there was still some time before the announcement of the growth information for the ride-type monsters. But it wasn’t much.

“Sung Hyunjae-ssi, how long will it take to return to normal?”

“In this state… I should be fine by late tonight or tomorrow morning. At least enough to not be easily defeated by any S-rank.”

“Then I can’t leave you alone, so today, um.”

I met Chief Song’s eyes. His dark pupils definitely rolled to the side. That *moseup* [appearance] felt much more lively than usual for Chief Song. He’s someone who always suppresses his emotions. Even now, his expression was stiff, but there was a hint of shyness, embarrassment, or helplessness, a sense of unease.

It’s a bit cute to see someone who’s never like that acting like this.

“…I’ll stay with him for now.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

“Hunter Hwangrim seems to have left the island, so it’s fine.”

“No, I mean the Sesung Guild Leader. He’s going to be a huge pain. He’ll try to pry.”

He still has an expression that says he’s dying to know how we fought. Even Yoohyun seemed curious.

“I’m used to it, so it’s fine.”

“I’ll be good, so don’t worry.”

Hwangrim, or rather, without that soil, Chief Song is the best person to leave Sung Hyunjae with.

“Then let’s talk about Hwangrim and the Transcendent behind him tonight after the schedule is over. I’ll also tell them to look for Hwangrim’s contact information.”

It seemed like the person named Richard Hwang wasn’t a complete fabrication, so it should be easy to find him. At the very least, he would have spread around a phone number for his tobacco deals. He might have even exchanged business cards.

I repeatedly told Sung Hyunjae to stay put and left the room.

—Dad, did you shoot that guy with a gun?

“Yeah. Dad shot him.”

—Did Dad win everything?

“I won everything.”

Gyeol flapped his wings excitedly.

—Gyeol wants to learn how to shoot too.

“That sounds good. You just need magic for a gun.”

Even I could use the wildcat gun to inflict damage on mid- to high-level hunters. Although it wasn’t easy to hit someone at the high level.

“I want to learn too. Hyung, teach me.”

“Huh? It would be better to invite an expert than me. I’m really just at a basic level.”

“I like hyung. Knowing just the basics is enough.”

Well, there would hardly be any need to use guns instead of items like this anyway. On the way to the conference room to prepare for the schedule, I ran into Yerim. Yerim suddenly asked Yoohyun.

“Did you kill Hwangrim?”

“No.”

“What? I was forced to leave because you said the *ahjussi* [middle-aged man] would be worried if I was there!”

So that’s why Yerim wasn’t around. If Hwangrim had just come outside, Yoohyun might have taken his head off without me even having a chance to stop him.

“Then did he escape? Unharmed?”

“Probably. Instead, hyung killed me.”

Yoohyun said proudly, Yerim’s eyes widened, and Gyeol added.

—Dad killed Chief Song too.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but leave me out! *Ahjussi*, I don’t want to die either.”

“It’s not real, there’s a competition using Chatterbox invitations.”

I briefly explained the invitation duel to Yerim. However, I left out the story about Chief Song and the puppeteer. She’ll hear about it tonight.

“I want to do it too!”

“Yeah, yeah. Yerim, you need to get additional benefits too.”

It was the most disadvantageous condition for Yerim among us, but a gun is a gun even in the hands of a fifteen-year-old. And this time, we need to prepare even more thoroughly.

* * *

I was quite tired, so I took a short break and finished preparing for the presentation. Most of the hunters were aiming for the growth information of the ride-type monsters, so even the people who had left the island returned in time. Sishio was among them. Sishio, who was seated in the front row as a person who assisted the host, smiled brightly when he saw me. Yeah, yeah.

‘Please don’t say anything weird.’

If he said nonsense here, it would spread around the world in an instant. I also put on a new suit and tied a bow tie around Peace’s neck. Standing was the norm on the platform, but I was given a comfortable chair. As I sat down, gazes gathered.

Most of those gazes were serious. There were hardly any eyes that lightly ignored me like before. A slight smile formed. It seemed like it would be okay to turn off fear resistance. Of course, there was no need to do that on purpose.

“Let’s start simply first. Peace.”

—Kkiang.

Peace, who had been sitting at my feet, jumped onto my lap. I stroked Peace’s chin and continued.

“The most famous ride-type monster in Dodam Breeding Center, the Grade 2 Unicorn subspecies Flame Horned Lion. The growth condition for this monster, which can grow up to Grade S, is the assistance of an adult.”

I revealed it coolly. But the expressions of the listeners became lukewarm.

“Then does that mean only Director Han Yoojin can grow it?”

“Yes. There are many cases like this. The higher the grade, the more difficult the growth conditions become.”

I operated the remote control in my hand. The screen behind me turned on, and a large image of a pair of black and white unicorns appeared. Images and videos of their growth from infancy to adulthood passed by in order.

“Grade 3 Unicorn species Shadow Unicorn. As a Grade A ride-type monster, its speed is as good as a Grade S. Considering the original purpose of ride-type monsters, it might be better than most Grade S monsters.”

The screen changed again, and a plain appeared. It was a photo taken with a dungeon filming item under development.

“The growth condition for Shadow Unicorns is to stay in a dungeon inhabited by Unicorn species monsters.”

Vitality returned to people’s faces. It wasn’t an easy condition, but it wasn’t a particularly difficult one either. They just needed to accompany the baby monster whenever they attacked a dungeon where Unicorn species monsters appeared. Some people hurriedly sent texts, and some even picked up their phones and went outside.

The value of Shadow Unicorn babies and Unicorn species dungeons will definitely rise.

And then the *moseup* [appearance] of the Golden Griffin appeared on the screen. It was Blue powerfully flying. A Grade S monster. Moreover, it was a flying species, and its speed and combat power were not lacking in any way. Because Peace had attribute restrictions, there would be far more hunters coveting Blue. Even now, everyone’s eyes changed.

“From here on out.”

I smiled and continued.

“It’s paid information. To give you a hint, the difficulty is low compared to the grade.”

A short silence flowed.

“What do you want!”

A hasty hunter jumped up and shouted. Other hunters also stirred. I’m going to get addicted to wielding Grade S monsters like this.

“The more you secure the information, the more advantageous it will be. First, I will sell it to three people under the condition of confidentiality, and then release it for free on the breeding center’s website a month later.”

What was needed for the growth of the Golden Griffin was the meat of mana beast demons. And it had to be a high grade. Guilds that quickly bought the dungeon management rights where mana beast demon bosses appeared would inevitably become more advantageous. Even if they secretly won the bid, it wouldn’t be long before they were caught.

“Bidding will be conducted privately. Please write it down on the paper everyone is handing out and put it in the box. In addition, we plan to release one Grade A monster breeding information for free tomorrow, so please attend a lot~”

Originally, I was planning to finish it today. But there was a reason to keep people’s attention for a little longer. Of course.

“Our team is me and the Haeyeon Guild Leader.”

After the Golden Griffin breeding information auction ended, I called in the hunter who had reacted greatly to the Chatterbox mark. Then I made a secret contract and told them about the invitation duel. The opposing hunter looked back and forth between me and Yoohyun with a puzzled expression.

“Director Han Yoojin, you’re going to participate.”

“Yes. Actually, my younger brother is enough on his own. I’m just a bonus to get additional benefits.”

The expressions of the two hunters in front of us frowned. They seemed upset that we were looking down on them. I sat on a large box and put on sunglasses.

“If you’re interested, take out your invitations.”

“Of course, we will.”

Two invitations placed side by side on the table glowed.