The S-Classes That I Raised

At Shishio's command, the Amaterasu Guild members moved quickly. The person most delighted by my plan turned out to be none other than Kiyoshi, the advisor and de facto leader of Amaterasu. We'd met once before. He had been trying his best to stop his guild leader from going too far while standing beside Shishio.

He must've had a hard time this time, too.

"Thank you so much, Mister Han!"

Kiyoshi expressed his joy, saying things would go smoothly thanks to me. I felt a small pang of guilt.

"Well, I benefit too, after all."

"I did try to talk him out of it, warning that the Amaterasu Guild might be the only ones left holding the bag... but it was no use."

Well, he does have the kind of personality that won't hear anything else once he's made up his mind.

"You're working hard. But how did you end up..."

...taking care of a big, overgrown child? At my question, Kiyoshi lowered his voice to answer.

"This is still the better option."

"Ah, I see."

He must mean that having Amaterasu sit at the top is the best-case scenario. Just how bad were the other two S-Rank Hunters? That's kind of sad.

'Would it be better to have this person around?'

I looked over the middle-aged man with a seemingly good impression. At first, I only planned to take the dungeon and leave, so I hadn't investigated those around Shishio. But now, it might be better to keep someone competent nearby. If he ever tried to wriggle out of the contract later, I could always deal with him then. More importantly—

[Shishio (S)]

Shishio was also on the completed influence list. I didn't think "Shishio" was his real name, but that's how he was listed. Maybe the name gets registered based on what I call and perceive him as?

I was curious about how he was recognized. I'd spouted some "love" nonsense about four times, so it was probably based on what I said last. He suddenly started looking after me, even mentioned I don't eat much. It's the opposite of a guardian's behavior, but maybe he's just kind of fragile? Most people would look weak compared to Shishio, but still—Yuhyun and Yerim also try to look after me, so who knows.

"I'll make sure to tell the Guild Leader of Amaterasu to listen to what you say, Mister Kiyoshi."

"Pardon? Ah, thank you, but I doubt he'll actually listen."

"Well, with everything that happened this time, I'm sure he won't ignore you like before. I'll give you my contact info, so if anything happens, feel free to reach out. Surprisingly enough, I hit it off with the Guild Leader, so we decided to keep in touch from now on."

At least for the next month, he should behave. Judging by his attitude, he seemed to have had a pretty good relationship with his guardian. Kiyoshi looked a little puzzled but took my contact info. Please work hard to help your guild flourish again.

Everything went smoothly. The two S-Rank Hunters who had teamed up to crush Amaterasu were captured in no time. No need for a crowd—Shishio blocked them physically, and Yerim froze them. That was it.

Then, the two S-Rank Hunters were bound, made to kneel, and a list of the cooperating guilds was waved around as the broadcast began.

The broadcast said exactly what I'd told them to. That Korea's Haeyeon Guild Leader had defeated five SS-Rank monsters that pushed the Japanese archipelago to the brink of destruction, showering him with praise. Reference footage was shown too.

"Amazing! There's not a single trace of the city left!"

"Everything has melted! It's an incredible sight~"

The footage, of course, only showed the aftermath of the battle. Still, it was impressive. The comparison between the old city photos and the current devastation naturally drew gasps of awe.

Then the story came out: two S-Rank Hunters had attacked the Haeyeon Guild Leader, who had just saved Japan. Curses erupted from all corners. They were pre-arranged guests, but they got passionately angry, making it feel real.

But is it really okay to run a broadcast like this? It's kind of like a variety show.

Yuhyun didn't even pretend to testify—he looked completely irritated and uninterested—so I stepped up in his place.

"We have once again confirmed that the Amaterasu Guild Leader is someone trustworthy. He showed the perfect attitude as the leader of Japan's top guild."

It hurt a little to blatantly lie like this on TV. But just a flick of my tongue and I'd earn one, two, three, four S-Rank items... and plenty of reward money. I'm going to deck Yerim out in S-Rank gear this time.

I shook hands with Shishio and ended the broadcast with a big smile, declaring that we would continue our trust and friendship going forward. And finally—

"Can I really pick whatever I want?"

Yerim asked, her voice full of excitement. Her face was so bright and radiant it felt like it was literally glowing.

"Of course! What S-Rank gear isn't here? Take everything."

"Mister, you're the best! Guild Leader, you're the best right now too! I mean, I could've taken down an SS-Rank monster solo too if I'd had the buffs!"

Laid out before us was a display of all kinds of gear. Everything was A-Rank or higher. Not only from Amaterasu, but almost all items from the mid-to-large guilds on the list had been brought here.

Only the core equipment currently in use by each guild was excluded. If you take every single tool away, their future profits vanish too. You've got to at least leave them a pickaxe if you want them to go gathering.

"There weren't as many S-Rank items as I thought. Just those three weapons. But you already have a weapon, so focus on other gear, Yerim."

"Okay!"

Even those three weren't spares—each had an original owner. No one lets S-Rank gear sit around collecting dust.

"There's only this one longsword. What do you think?"

He held up a sword in a standard longsword style. The blade was over a meter long, with a silvery-white base and a faint black tint to it. The guard, grip, and pommel were all completely black. It had a simple design with almost no ornamentation.

"The Sword of the Silance River. Let's see... It has increased penetration and a partial paralysis effect. The paralysis is B-Rank, so it probably won't work well on the monsters you usually fight. But the options aren't bad."

It wasn't a particularly great weapon for S-Rank. Once I get back to Korea, I should go straight to a newbie and demand they hand over a sword.

Yuhyun accepted the sword and gave it a few light swings.

"It's not bad for immediate use. Better than most A-Ranks."

He checked the weight and balance, spun it once, and stored it in his inventory.

"Other than that, what I've got is better."

"Well, of course. Since the main gear in active use was excluded, the quality is just so-so. Just see if there's anything worth passing to your guild members. If better stuff comes along later, you can grab it then."

"Mister, just like I said yesterday, I should pick based on magic options and compatibility with my skills, right?"

Yerim asked while holding up a bracelet.

"Yeah. For now. But once you've got all the best gear for yourself, you'll need backup equipment depending on the situation. Every dungeon has its own characteristics, and you can't always choose where you go. Various resistance items are the absolute basics."

Yuhyun might have to fight underwater, and Yerim could end up in a desert. So, they needed at least some gear to prepare for battles that didn't suit them. Yerim could still stick to her attribute for now, but eventually, she'd be raiding new dungeons with no prior info.

"I'd like higher-grade gear for detox or healing... but there's nothing here."

"Hang on... Hmm, even the list only has B-Rank stuff. They said the A-Ranks were necessary for raids in dungeons with Japan-related attributes."

"High-grade resistance gear seems pretty rare."

"Yeah, that's generally true."

Even A-Rank was uncommon, and S-Rank was practically nonexistent. As far as I remembered, there still weren't any S-Rank poison resistance items.

"Myungwoo, is it really hard to make S-Rank detox or healing gear?"

I did have some, but I couldn't go into every dungeon with them, so it'd be great if the kids could each carry one. Myungwoo turned toward me as he examined the displayed items.

"The materials are the main issue."

"Materials?"

"Yeah. You remember I said yesterday that each magic stone has its own traits, right? If you bring those traits out properly, they become skills attached to the item. But it's rare for a stone to only have one trait."

He took out a magic stone and continued explaining.

"This one has traits for Defense Boost, Flame Resistance, Physical Regeneration, Poison Resistance, and Instant Acceleration. It's S-Rank. Now, if we could make gear where all those traits became S-Rank skills, that'd be amazing. But unfortunately, that's impossible. Even extracting just one of them as an S-Rank skill is hard. It's like trying to fit five traits into a single S-Rank container."

"If they're all in there, then... oh, it's like there's not enough quantity of each trait to make an S-Rank skill? Like if you need 100 points worth of one trait to make an S-Rank, but they're each taking up 20 points or so?"

"Exactly. Though in reality, the distribution isn't that even. For this stone, Defense Boost is about 60, and Physical Regeneration is around 35. If I made gear from it, it'd probably come out as Defense Boost A-Rank and Physical Regeneration C-Rank. And that's if the submaterials are a perfect match and the process goes well. Usually, you'd only get something like Defense Boost B-Rank."

So to make an S-Rank poison resistance item, we'd need an SS-Rank stone with a high concentration of the poison resistance trait. No wonder they're so rare.

"You're kind of an expert now, Myungwoo."

"I am an expert. The one and only."

"It's only been a few months, but you talk like a scholar who's been studying dungeon items for ten years."

"That's a bit embarrassing. Anyway, that's why I've been testing ways to combine magic stones and other materials. If it works well, it looks like it'll be possible to create S-Rank gear from S-Rank materials."

"Wow, that means you could start producing S-Rank gear regularly. S-Rank stones show up pretty often."

"We're not there yet, not even close. I still need to try it with SS-Rank stones."

That means SS-Rank gear might be possible too. I'm looking forward to it. Myungwoo picked up a few pieces of equipment and disappeared—probably off to drop them at the forge.

Yerim kept bringing various items over to show me, and Yuhyun carefully looked through the selection as well. There was quite a bit of gear for monster mounts, so we even summoned Peace to try some on. Yerim got excited saying she was going to find something for Blue too. But Noah didn't seem very motivated.

"Noah, aren't you going to pick something?"

"Myungwoo hyung is going to modify some appropriate gear for me. So I can use it while transformed. I already have equipment for my human form."

"That's great. Gear usable in your transformed state must be rare."

"Yes. I'm really thankful."

Noah blinked his pale gray eyes as he looked down at the equipment laid nearby.

"I think Myungwoo hyung is truly amazing. One-of-a-kind, someone who can't be replaced by anyone else in the world."

"Right? No one else could do what he does. Even if more item-makers appear in the future, it'll be hard to even come close to him, let alone surpass him."

He had natural talent and skills to begin with, and now he even had a solid sponsor. At my words, Noah gave a small nod. Somehow, he looked a little forlorn. I wish he'd # Nоvеlight # cheer up. Should I recommend counseling? Come to think of it, he's basically been suffering from domestic abuse for a long time... There were supposed to be counselors specializing in Hunters.

'But where the hell did Seong Hyunjae go?'

Moon Hyunah was also nowhere to be seen. Did they suddenly have something to do together? The phone I'd left in the dungeon building had been shattered, so I couldn't get in touch. It was bothering me for no reason. I was about to ask the Amaterasu Guild to try locating them when the door suddenly burst open.

"I'm not too late, right?" Tеxt асquirеd frоm М|V|LЕМР&YR.

It was Moon Hyunah. Just in case, I peeked behind her, but no one else followed.

"There's not much here for me to take, so I'll just grab a few gifts for the kids."

As the guild leader of a major guild, she was in the same position as Yuhyun—there was nothing among the gear worth swapping out.

"You didn't happen to see the Sesung Guild Leader, did you?"

At my question, Moon Hyunah nodded and walked up to me.

"I did. That man left."

"...Excuse me?"

"He took off earlier. He's probably already heading toward the East Sea by now."

What the hell? I felt both stunned and dumbfounded. Left? Alone? Well, I guess something urgent could've come up. Not like he had any reason to tell me. It'd actually be weirder if the Sesung Guild Leader reported every move to an outsider.

Still... just left? Without a word?

"He said to give this to you."

Moon Hyunah pulled something out of her inventory. It was a decorative item with thread wrapped around a circular frame and feathers hanging from it.

"...What is this?"

"A dreamcatcher!"

Yerim shouted, teleporting over.

"So pretty!"

"Dreamcatcher? What's that?"

"If you hang it up, it's supposed to block nightmares and help you have good dreams."

"...Oh, come on."

I frowned without meaning to. Yerim tilted her head, confused, and both Yuhyun and Noah walked over.

"It's nothing, just..."

What was I supposed to say? It was one of those feelings too complicated to explain. I swallowed down the lump rising in my throat and stuffed the so-called dreamcatcher into my inventory.

"He didn't say anything else? How did he seem?"

"He's been in a bad mood for a while now. I've never seen him show it so clearly, though."

"That was a bad mood? I thought he was just trying to act cool."

Yerim tilted her head.

"I was unsure at first too. Usually, if he's upset, he just deals with it head-on."

"Right. He either shuts the person down on the spot or at least throws out a warning."

Noah agreed with Moon Hyunah. Hearing them say that made me feel even weirder. Don't tell me he left because it was too hard to hold himself back around me. That's fine. That's really fine. But why leave a gift before going? I wish he'd just gotten angry instead.

"Don't think too much about it, hyung. If you think it might be because of you, just be careful. Best not to meet for a while."

"...No need to be careful, really."

He even backed off himself so he wouldn't cause any trouble.

"Forget about the guy who left and finish picking what you need. Let's get home. I miss Korean air so much I could cry."

Let's just go home. Head back first. Then we'll see what comes next.

Unlike when we arrived, the airport on the way out was quiet. Understandable, since the damage from the monsters hadn't been fully dealt with yet. The Amaterasu Guild was busy with cleanup, so only Shishio and a few others came to see us off.

"Don't know when we'll see each other again, but take care. Let me know if something good happens."

Like getting your hands on an SS-Rank item, for example. At my words, Shishio nodded and scratched at his shaggy hair.

"A lot happened in a short time."

He looked at Peace, who was curled up in my arms, then lifted his gaze again. The way he looked at Peace was full of lingering attachment. Peace let out a low growl, clearly displeased.

"I wasn't sure whether to say this or not."

"If you're unsure, better not to say it."

"You remind me of someone."

Oh no, hold on. Don't tell me he means a guardian. I was curious but also didn't want to hear it. His expression was... a bit too wistful.

"My mother was small and fra—"

"Goodbye! Thank you! Let's never meet again!"

Yup, it was exactly what I thought. I acted like I hadn't heard and immediately turned around to board the plane. Why that, of all things! I am never coming to Japan again!