The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 53

Creak.

I quietly opened the door and stepped into the hallway. The surveillance cameras on the dormitory floor were still only at the entrance, and my room was inside. Thanks to the hallway’s bend, I could move without being noticed.

I glanced around, pulled my hat down, and activated the ‘Lizard on the Wall’ skill to its maximum.

Originally a D-grade skill with little effect, it was now significantly enhanced. This special skill, concealing one’s appearance, had a whopping four times the effect. Even an A-grade hunter would have difficulty noticing unless they were paying close attention.

Still, just in case, I had experimented last night.

I stood quietly in the corner of the hallway with the ‘Wall Lizard’ skill activated, and none of the A-grade hunters passing through the dormitory recognized me.

‘Yerim went to the Association, so I just need to be careful of my little brother.’

If I get caught, so what? As Seong Hyeonje said, I can be a little more reckless. It’s not like I’m trying to do anything bad, and what’s Yoo Hyeon going to do if he catches me sneaking out? Is he going to try to lock me up like before?

Before the negotiation related to Gi Seungsu, maybe, but now my personal safety was something even the Haeyeon Guild Leader couldn’t control as he pleased. He’ll just nag a bit. Complain that he can’t trust me, be disappointed that I’m hiding something again…….

I should avoid getting caught if possible; it’s annoying.

As I headed towards the elevator, I saw a Haeyeon A-grade hunter sitting on a chair, reading. I quietly stood in the corner, watching her.

The emergency staircase door was locked, and if the elevator moved on its own, it would feel suspicious. So, I had no choice but to wait for the lunchbox delivery person.

I came out just in time for lunch, so it wasn’t long before the elevator came up.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

The cafeteria worker greeted and handed the hunter a lunchbox. In that gap, I quickly got into the elevator.

“I’ll come to collect the lunchbox in two hours. Enjoy your meal.”

The cafeteria worker got back on the elevator. There was a surveillance camera inside the elevator, so when the worker pressed the button for the cafeteria floor, I stretched out my tentacle and slyly pressed the 1st-floor button as well. Fortunately, the elevator’s system was such that pressing the button for a floor also lit up the corresponding internal button, so the worker didn’t seem to think much of it. On the surveillance camera, it would look like the worker pressed the wrong button.

After passing the cafeteria floor, I got off on the 1st floor and saw a closed glass door between the lobby and the connecting hallway. This was the biggest problem. I had no choice but to wait for someone to come in or out.

‘Yoo Hyeon just shouldn’t come out.’

Don’t come, don’t come, go do your work. Besides, if I delayed too long, Yerim might come back. I wished someone would come in or out quickly.

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before a Haeyeon B-grade hunter approached. As soon as the security room opened the glass door, I quickly slipped out. One A-grade was stationed in the security room as well, but perhaps because there were many people coming and going in the lobby, they didn’t notice anything strange.

‘Without a special skill, it would be difficult for even A-grades, let alone S-grades, to sneak in.’

Special skills that conceal one’s appearance were extremely rare. The only publicly known possessor of a perfect stealth skill was the Goblin. Usually, only monsters had it, and Goblins weren’t human either, so it seemed to be a matter of aptitude. Even if they had it, they wouldn’t reveal it unless they had to.

I safely exited the building and walked along the road for about ten minutes. I deactivated the skill between the buildings, bought a pair of sunglasses at a nearby store to completely hide my face, and then caught a taxi.

The F-grade dungeon that I arrived at shortly after was a small building hidden behind another building. It seemed to have originally been a small parking lot. For an F-grade dungeon, which rarely provides proper compensation, to be located inside a building, the building owner was lucky.

I went to the building with the reinforced walls and entered the number I had received in advance on the keypad next to the door and scanned the chip in my hunter’s license. The door opened, and after passing through a short hallway, I saw a gate located in an empty space. They wanted to guarantee secrecy, so they avoided the main area, but the surveillance camera must be working. They would have checked the number of people as well.

The entry and exit records were also kept for a month in case of an emergency. It’s just that others wouldn’t check it.

‘Shall I go in then?’

Even though it’s F-grade, I feel strange going into a dungeon alone. Without lingering for long, I stepped into the blue gate.

– Squeak! Squeak!

The air changed drastically. A strong smell of grass stung the tip of my nose. I could hear the sounds of some kind of beast through the dense foliage.

“Look at the humidity.”

It’s muggy. It’s not a forest; it’s more like a jungle.

I took off my hat, hung the strap around my neck, and put it behind me, and took off my sunglasses. I should be able to handle the monsters here with my bare hands. Should I take out my equipment and put it on? I already had earrings on, so I just put on one more strength-enhancing bracelet. It only increases essence anyway, so it’s not very useful, and I’m too lazy to put on more.

‘Should I get some equipment that increases the rate [referring to the probability of certain events or skill activations]?’

Just in case something similar happens again. There are still only a few keyword application targets, but if I steadily raise monsters and increase their numbers, there will be cases where they suffer unfortunate accidents. I don’t want that to happen, but it’s impossible to avoid it completely.

I have to be prepared.

Rustle.

I felt movement from the lush trees above. Then, a green face suddenly appeared through the leaves.

– Kkiuk! Kkiuk!

It was a Moss Monkey. I used Thorn Trap on the monster that was grabbing a branch and shaking it threateningly.

– Kkik!

The Moss Monkey screamed and fell forward. Since it wasn’t a skill with killing power, it was still alive. Besides, it was caught on a branch and didn’t fall.

As expected, Tentacle is better than Thorn Trap here. The overall height of the trees densely packed around me seemed to exceed 10 meters, but they became thinner as they went up, so the large, heavy monkey could only move around the lower middle where the branches were thick. So, the length was sufficient.

If that doesn’t work, I can just pick up a stone and throw it. Should I try throwing it as a test? I picked up a rolling stone and applied a little poison to it. Then, I threw it with all my might at the monkey that had approached nearby.

Thwack!

With a dull sound, the monkey hanging from the branch fell to the ground. It’s good because my stat grade is high. I wouldn’t be able to knock it down like that with my original strength.

The Moss Monkey soon died, whether because the stone broke its head or because the poison seeped in.

‘Should I look for magic stones or not?’

I don’t want to rummage through corpses. It was a luxury to say that before the regression [time travel], but now it’s annoying. My clothes might get dirty, and I didn’t bring a magic stone detector.

‘I wonder if I’ll get a call soon.’

I opened and closed the status window a few times, but there was no change. In the meantime, another Moss Monkey approached, so I grabbed its neck with a tentacle and broke it.

‘…Surely, “confirmation complete” isn’t really the end, is it?’

I feel like I’d be relieved if they didn’t need me anymore, but I also feel like I’d be annoyed.

It was then. Finally, a message window popped up.

[┖¶ π┣Z □┻Λ ○┣ ┗┃□]

…Yes, wrong? Not wrong? Are you talking about me? It’s not my fault? What nonsense all of a sudden.

Then a new message window popped up. This time it was proper text.

[Wish Stone – Mythic Grade

Gives the user one wish.]

It was the Wish Stone item description window. Why this all of a sudden…….

Wait a minute. There are only two lines. There used to be three lines.

…Shit?

“You said the resurrection of the dead is impossible!”

Wasn’t it?! Did the guy who made the system lie? Is it originally possible? Huh?

“Damn it, I knew it was strange that you could turn back time but couldn’t save just one dead person…….”

I was deceived, deceived.

I was a little angry for a moment, but I calmed down soon after.

Honestly, it’s better in many ways to turn back time now than to save Yoo Hyeon back then. Not just for me, but overall.

The fact that Seok Hayan’s research results are shared fairly will make the world much safer than it was 5 years later. In addition to that, there’s Gi Seungsu, so it was clear that it would be very different from the chaotic original future in a good way.

So, the fact that I was deceived was okay, but.

‘…It’s not my fault.’

The reason I went back to the past is because the guy who made the system tricked me, and it’s not my fault.

Then this, so…….

‘…Does that mean something might go wrong because of the regression?’

There must be a problem that would make me think, oh, is this my fault? That’s why they’re bothering to tell me that. How kind of them.

So what’s the problem?

I waited for a while, but no more message windows popped up. Let’s organize it for now.

I was tricked by the system, hereinafter omitted, and went back to the past. The system knows what happened before the regression like me. And something will go wrong because of the regression.

Are these the three main things?

And to add one more thing, it was certain that the system couldn’t use normal text when delivering messages that were systemically unrelated to me. I knew it from when it was writing vertically.

There are fewer restrictions within the dungeon, but it still seems like it can only deliver indirectly. If it sends a message directly, an error will occur like last time.

Anyway.

“So what’s going to go wrong? Tell me properly!”

I’m so frustrated. Then the message window popped up again.

[☞’≠’☜ ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ._. ]

Just draw a picture. Does that mean you can’t speak because your mouth is blocked?

“Even if a problem occurs like last time, I can handle it now, so just tell me!”

The gate was right in front of me, and I had already used the Wall Lizard skill to the maximum. Unless something like Rauchitas [likely a powerful monster] popped out, I could escape without any problems.

After shouting like that, a while later.

[Oh, my dear, don’t be angry. We know you’re frustrated. Yes, that’s right, we want to tell you everything, but we can’t. Sacrifice is needed for direct conversation. Preparation is also needed. Last time, the newbie— only you had your time turned back. The dungeon is separate. We’re trying to slow down the progress. We’re blocking it. The more interference, the faster it will be discovered. Related information. If it becomes widely known. Danger. Proper. Preparation. One week. Dungeon.]

The messages poured out. Wait a minute, slowly. What?

Only we had our time turned back, and the dungeon is separate. In other words, the difficulty and number of dungeons should have remained the same as they were 5 years later, but they are trying to slow down the progress.

…Does that mean the dungeon difficulty will increase faster than before the regression? Crazy? What’s being discovered? Is there something else?

It takes a week to prepare, and they want me to come to the dungeon again, but the duration of the Boon ends in a week. I told Yoo Hyeon that I wanted to go to the dungeon, so I can ask him, but.

At that moment, the message window shook greatly and began to distort. It seemed like they were forcing themselves to send the message.

Crumble!

“Ugh!”

Then, with a loud noise, even the surrounding scenery flickered hazily like a summer heat haze. This feels like something huge is about to appear.

Fortunately, the gate was still activated, so I could run away immediately without using a gate stone [a consumable item used to open a portal]. I was about to run straight towards the open dungeon gate when,

Thud.

Something white and round fell from the air. The plump rice cake-like thing rolled around and then opened its beak while flipped over.

– Peep!

…What is it, cute.

– Peep!

It cries again. Its short legs lifted in the air are wiggling. Downy feathers like dandelion seeds, black and round bean eyes, and a beak and feet of light yellow… A baby bird? Its size was only about the size of two fists put together, and it looked completely harmless no matter how you looked at it.

– Peep peep!

Flap flap.

…Shit, look at those wings. So tiny. What is that? Is that really what came out? I don’t think so. Didn’t it just fall from a nest in a tree?

With a bewildered heart, I used the Seedling skill.

[□□□□□ – □□□(Infant)

Current Stat Grade F

Potential Stat Grade □

Optimized Initial Skills

□□□□□□ Acquired After Growth

※ □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□]

…It seems like it’s a monster that popped out due to an error. Currently, there was no information that could be known other than that it was F-grade and an infant. However, judging from the number of optimized initial skills, it didn’t seem like an ordinary monster at all. Five?!

Even Peace and Yerim, who have A~S grade potential for awakening, only had three or four. Seeing that there is one square, it doesn’t seem to be SS or higher, so is it S-grade? There’s no guarantee that the number of squares and letters match, though.

‘…What should I do.’

Should I just leave the error monster alone? But killing it, honestly… I felt a lot of resistance.

In the meantime, the baby bird, which had succeeded in getting up, began to waddle through the bushes. Perhaps because I used the Wall Lizard skill, it didn’t seem to know I was there at all. Instead, it discovered the dead Moss Monkey and approached it carelessly.

– Peep peep peep.

While chirping something, it tried to touch the monkey’s corpse with its beak, gasp! It’s poisoned! If it’s Stat F-grade, it’s dangerous just to touch it!

“No!”

– Piya.

I immediately ran over and picked it up, and it froze for a moment, startled, then flapped its small wings diligently.

– Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

“It’s okay, I won’t hurt you.”

I quickly deactivated the Wall Lizard skill and soothed it. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be poisoned. Its black bean eyes blinked, looking up at me.

– Peep!

“Yes, yes. Good job, Peep.”

The body wrapped in my hands was incredibly soft and warm. Cute. What should I do? Should I just take it with me? If it’s this size, I can hide it in my arms and take it with me.

If they ask where I got it… Can’t I just say I picked it up? I don’t know, I’ll insist.

“Shall I give you a magic stone? Do you want to eat it? Is a C-grade magic stone too much for an F-grade stat.”

It might get sick. But I don’t have an F-grade magic stone. No, I do have one. When I raised my head, I saw a Moss Monkey peeking out from the tree above.

I’ll have to catch it without using poison. Wait a little bit, Peep. I’ll prepare your meal.