The S-Classes That I Raised

The root fruit, an ingredient for the stamina potion, had been sent to D&L Bio through the Haeyeon Guild. There were three potion production facilities in Korea, but Haeyeon had barely any stake in any of them.

One belonged to the government, and the other two had shared ownership between the Hunter Association, Sesung, MKC, and Breaker. When MKC collapsed, Haeyeon managed to gain a foothold, but it wasn't enough to have any real influence.

So, they had decided to create an entirely new potion production facility from scratch.

"Yes, stamina potions can be made with just low-rank healers. As long as their Purification skill is D-rank or higher. The rest of the facility can be set up like any other potion lab."

[That level of requirement isn't difficult. The hardest part of potion production is securing healers.]

Said Song Eunjin, the head of the D&L Bio research lab.

To create a life potion, you needed healers who matched the potion's grade. Healing, Purification, and Detoxification—these three skills were essential, and if a healer had additional skills in the same category, that was even better.

So, many awakened individuals with low stats but high-grade healer skills were drawn to potion labs. It was a safe and profitable path.

Still, awakened healers with all three essential skills at a high level were rare, so not just anyone could establish a potion lab.

On the other hand, mana potions only required refined magic stones, so they were closer to mass production. But their price was practically the same as that of magic stones.

"For now, please create the prototype as quickly as possible. We'll be importing more materials from Japan soon."

The Lion King seemed cooperative enough, so dungeon management should go smoothly. He even asked yesterday if we'd arrived safely.

...It still felt unpleasant in a lot of ways, but I decided not to dwell on it. I didn't hear anything. Right before boarding the plane, I heard nothing at all.

[A new type of potion, huh? I'm looking forward to the response.]

"It's bound to be a hit."

And for a while, it would be a monopoly. Not that I had any plans to exploit it—but guilds around the world would be keeping a close eye on it, for sure.

'Wish we could get other dungeons with stamina potion ingredients to appear sooner.'

Even if we ran them every time they reset, demand would still likely exceed supply. I should ask Rookie.

After ending the call with a word of thanks, I let out a long yawn and pulled one of the root fruits out of my inventory.

Had I slept for about two hours? My body was tired, but I just couldn't fall asleep. If I couldn't again tonight, I might need to get a sleep aid prescription or something.

'The dungeon's scheduled for the afternoon.'

Yuhyun had gone to the guild in the morning with Yerim. Even though he'd said, I'm taking a break because I'm tired from hunting SS-class monsters, the national stir made it impossible for him not to show up as the guild leader. He'd come home later than expected yesterday, too.

I chewed up the fruit, swallowed, and glanced at my phone again.

Since last night to this morning, I'd received tons of messages. Mostly from the Haeyeon side, but there were also visit requests from Japan, the Association, and Seok Hayan. But nothing from Seong Hyunjae. Was he that mad? Honestly, if that were the case, it'd be easier to deal with.

"He could at least say whether he's alive or dead."

Should I contact Soyeong?

It had only been a day. Still, with stamina potion production underway, we needed to discuss it. Or maybe I should just eat it all by myself. Grumbling to myself, I got up from my seat.

"Peace, let's go to the building."

-Kyaang!

The moment I called, Peace came bouncing over. Chirp and Belare were watching TV on the couch.

Belare... I do need to raise her. Once she's fully grown, Liette will probably take her away. If I have to send her off, I should find Chirp a new friend before then.

"You two stay here and keep an eye on the house. No causing trouble."

-Ppyak!

-Shiit!

They're great at responding.

I stepped out of the Breeding Facility building, but Noah wasn't in sight today. He hadn't said he was going anywhere—was he still in the house?

I crossed over to the building with Peace and headed for Seok Hayan's lab. I had Peace wait outside and went in alone, finding the zombies slumped over as usual.

The windows were covered with blackout curtains, and aside from a few lit lamps, the place was dim.

"...Hayan?"

"Gyaah! Professor!"

Seok Hayan, who had been slumped over her desk, bolted upright with a shriek. After glancing around and spotting me, she gave a sheepish smile.

"I was dreaming about grad school. Welcome, Director Haaan—yaawn—n."

She yawned in the middle of her greeting, looking thoroughly exhausted. They said the field tests for the Gate detection and analysis device were nearly complete, so there shouldn't have been much overwork lately. This сhаptеr wаs mаdе pоssiblе by thе соmmunity аt МV|LЕМ|РYR.

"Here, have this."

I handed her a small piece of the root fruit. Seok Hayan immediately popped it into her mouth, and her eyes widened.

"That woke me right up! What is this, Lord? Do you have more? It's the most effective thing I've ever had!"

"You're not supposed to overuse it. More importantly, what's going on?"

"Ah, right."

Seok Hayan furrowed her brows and led me into a separate reception room. There, too, a zombie-like assistant was draped over the couch, so she woke them up and sent them out.

"The dungeon gates are acting weird."

"Sorry?"

"The detectors are functioning perfectly, but the results are strange."

...Could it be related to the rampage caused by that jellyfish bastard? My expression turned serious as well.

"Please explain in detail."

"Really? Okay, first, let me show you the charts—"

"In terms I can actually understand."

Seok Hayan, who had been briefly excited, now looked sullen. No, really—even if she explained it, I wouldn't understand.

"The saturation rate of dungeons has significantly slowed."

"Sorry? The saturation rate?"

"Yes. In simple terms, dungeon breaks are now much less likely to happen. There's still not enough data for accuracy, but based on our investigations over the past day or two, it's ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ about three times slower. For example, a dungeon that used to need to be cleared once a month now only needs to be cleared once every three months."

...That can't be. So that means—

"So even if we neglect dungeon management a bit, it's okay? In other words, it's safer now?"

"Exactly. For now, at least. We don't know yet whether the reset rate has slowed too, but the saturation rate has definitely dropped. I stayed up all night running the numbers."

I stared blankly at Seok Hayan's face for a moment. What in the world was going on?

'Could it be because of the Changeling?'

Maybe Korea being specially protected had caused this shift in dungeon conditions. Then what about overseas dungeons?

"...Please conduct a more thorough investigation."

"Of course. We've already started gathering data from dungeon gates throughout Seoul."

If dungeons were truly stabilizing, that would be good news. I'd better get a precise confirmation from Rookie first.

"By the way, you know the Guild Leader of Breaker, right?"

"Of course. He's visited several times. But I turned him down. Trust with investors is important, after all. You can't go leaking data."

"...Wait, are you saying Hyunah asked for data?"

"No, not at all. She only said she hoped we might work together in the future."

"Please accept that offer."

Seok Hayan tilted her head in confusion.

"With Breaker?"

"With Moon Hyunah... not Breaker."

A short silence followed. Then Seok Hayan slowly spoke.

"Guild Leader Moon Hyunah plans to go independent, doesn't she?"

"You know?"

"This is a research institute for dungeons and Hunters, remember? Plus, thanks to Myungwoo, lots of high-rank Hunters come through here, so rumors are always flying around. Oh, and the café—there's talk about turning it into a Hunter meeting space. Expand it a bit and add a few soundproof rooms."

Like an information exchange hub?

Do Hamin used to run a place like that before—or was it after the regression? Anyway, it was similar. It catered mostly to low-rank Hunters, but even so, they had ears, and important info made the rounds.

"That's not a bad idea. And since Minui owns the café, there won't be many incidents."

She was at least a quasi-S-class Hunter, so entitled jerks wouldn't likely show up. The worst headache for Do Hamin had always been fights between Hunters. Especially if a mid-rank Hunter caused a scene, he'd have to close shop for the day.

'He really hated when I showed up.'

He said I attracted too much trouble. But when he had decent info, he'd always slip it to me anyway.

No way Kim Minui came up with that suggestion—had to be Do Hamin. Maybe he'd end up doing something similar again. It gave me a strange feeling.

"I personally like and support Guild Leader Moon Hyunah, but... do you think she'll succeed?"

"It won't be easy. Breaker's backed by a major conglomerate, one of the top in Korea and well-known overseas too. They'll try to cling even harder now, especially after MKC collapsed."

Of course, they wouldn't want to let her go. I'd heard MKC's sponsors were now trying to form their own Hunter guild. Managing an S-class dungeon required an S-class Hunter, so even after being turned down repeatedly, they kept approaching Yerim—and even tried to get to Noah.

But I was keeping a close eye to make sure they never got their hands on an S-class Hunter.

If they managed to form a guild with only A-rank and below, they'd start lobbying for the right to manage S-class dungeons through mid-tier guilds. It would be their chance to outsource what they couldn't do themselves—and no way I'd let that happen.

If they tried recruiting overseas S-classes, I planned to step in using Monster Mounts or even ask Myungwoo for help to sabotage them.

Not that any S-class Hunter would willingly go settle in territory already dominated by massive guilds. Unless they were a criminal or something.

"I wanted to help Guild Leader Moon Hyunah more directly, but she declined. She also asked that I keep your cooperation with her entirely separate from me."

"Well, that makes sense. Even on our side, things like that still happen now and then."

Without any need for further explanation, Seok Hayan nodded, already understanding. How did she get it so quickly?

"If you meet with Guild Leader Moon Hyunah directly, you'll see—she's got plenty of info your research team would be interested in."

"Information? Hearing you vouch for it is enough to make my heart race. By the way, any word from the Goblin?"

She changed topics.

"The domestic and Japanese data were enough for measuring and detecting dungeon gates, but to establish the rules of dungeon formation and interior environments, we need much more data."

"I'm curious too, but unless she contacts me first, there's nothing I can do. And with how things are in China right now..."

This monster outbreak had occurred simultaneously worldwide. Japan suffered the worst damage, while Korea took the least. The situation varied by country—some saw only low— and mid-tier monsters, while others saw up to S-class emerge.

At my words, Seok Hayan furrowed her brows deeply and began fiddling with her glasses.

"Why did monsters suddenly start appearing naturally outside of dungeons? If this happens again, it'll be a disaster."

"W-Well... I'm sure it'll be okay now. Probably."

I knew the reason, but explaining it was... difficult.

After leaving the lab, I had lunch with Myungwoo, who'd spent the night being hounded by the forge team. Apparently, while I was gone for just a few days, one of the mini manas exploded. He laughed, saying they had tried something new.

"You need to adjust how you perceive mana?"

"Yeah. I'm heading into a dungeon later, so maybe tomorrow or after that, could you take a look?"

The Young Chaos had adjusted my mana imprint, but said it would still be good to have a sensory control item.

My body... was just too fragile for the quality of my imprint. I mean, I think I'm sturdier than your average adult male, but still.

Myungwoo nodded, saying anytime was fine. Once he saw the imprint, that smiling face of his would probably twist in an instant.

"Oh, and here. The grade is low, though."

I pulled out some E-rank and D-rank firearms. One was a pistol, the other a rifle.

The point shop hadn't changed, so I could still purchase items. The weapons in my inventory were too high-grade, so it was better to buy low-grade guns for disassembly or testing.

"They look like normal guns. Do they use mana instead of bullets?"

"They can fire purely mana bullets, but you can also use regular ammo. In that case, the performance changes depending on the bullet type."

"Hmm, they'd definitely be useful for lower-ranked Hunters. But the cost of mana potions and ammo could be an issue. I bet they consume more than regular weapons."

"I plan to support that to some extent."

Now that overseas money would be pouring in, no point in letting it pile up. Better to spend it when it matters.

Until it was time to meet up with Yuhyun, I spent some time at the Breeding Facility checking on the kids. Contrary to how it felt to me, I hadn't been away long, so everything was fine. Blue, of course, and even Comet were out on patrol to locate any remaining monsters.

"Your dad still hasn't even named you."

-Meeeh.

The Volcanic Black Lamb swished its short tail. At the very least, it needed a name if I wanted to help it grow. Is Chief Song really not going to take him? I already got approval from Haeyeon and everything. Maybe I really do need to get him drunk and have him sign a contract.

"Sorok, you look like you've gained weight. You haven't been lying around the whole time, right?"

-Biyaaaang.

"You still need to move around. Let's see..."

I checked Sorok's care log. His food intake was steadily increasing. Naturally, as he grew bigger, he'd eat more—but he'd been refusing to exercise at all. Barely moved once a day. While I was forcing Sorok to walk a lap, my phone rang. My little brother.

"Please have Sorok do a lap around here."

"Sure. He really doesn't want to move, though."

I left Sorok in the care of the handler and headed out with Peace. The destination wasn't far—a nearby E-rank dungeon. I got permission from the team scheduled to clear it and took it over.

"Be careful, hyung. It's not like we haven't had incidents."

"...Yeah, I got nothing to say to that."

There really weren't many times I'd gone into a dungeon without something going wrong. I awkwardly knocked on the gate.

Yuhyun stepped inside first, and I followed in with Peace.

"Huh..."

A dark swamp stretched out before us. Drooping branches and thick vines filled the view. Had Rookie's preferences changed?

"Looks like they redecorated. Rookie? Mister Rookie? Volleyball?"

Yuhyun, calmly scanning the surroundings, spoke up.

"This is an E-rank dungeon."

"What?"

"The dungeon we took over. Since the rank was low, we only skimmed the info. It said it was a swamp area. And over there."

Yuhyun snapped a drooping branch and flung it toward a bush.

-Kek!

A toad the size of a human head leapt up, pierced clean through by the branch.

"Same monsters too."

"Wait a minute, then..."

That means we're not in Rookie's dungeon. I looked around in a panic. No way—why are you ghosting me again, rookie?