The S-Classes That I Raised Chapter 8

< Hunter Association (2) >

The money in the card was as much as a billion. Wow, when I said I needed money, he just threw a billion at me. Is this even okay. You don’t pay gift tax?  S-Ranks are also exempted from gift tax?

Bewildered, I took out the card and walked inside the shopping mall.

The Hunter shopping mall spanned floor 3 to 6 of the Hunter Association building. You could buy C-Rank and lower items on floors 3 and 4, B-Rank items on 5, and Rank on 6. Starting from S-Rank were sold only in auctions.

Thinking that I had plenty of money, I went straight up to floor 6. There were barely any customers on floor 6, and there were employees in neat outfits and straight postures like mannequins, standing in a row.

“Where are the S-Rank-use contracts?”

When I asked the closest standing female employee, she gave me a picturesque pretty and friendly smile.

“I will guide you right away, sir[1]. Will you come over this way?”

The place where the employee guided me to was a reception room surrounded by glass walls. Looking around, there were those kinds of reception rooms here and there.

As I sat down, another female employee brought over a drink.

“It is coffee.”

“Are there coffee beans you enjoy?”

Just Max**[2] would be fine…… But it was an atmosphere that didn’t fit instant coffee.

“Um, please give me orange juice.”

They probably wouldn’t ask about varieties of oranges. Thankfully, the employee just asked if I wanted ice or not, and then directly squeezed the juice out of an orange into an expensive looking glass and handed it over.

‘It’s tasty.’

It must be an expensive orange? While I was sipping the juice, a man who looked to be in his mid-to-late twenties came in and gave me a 90-degree bow.

“I am the manager[3] of the Hunter shopping mall floor 6, Gi Yoonsuh.”

Even saying that contracts are floor 6 items, they should be on the cheaper side but the manager personally came over. The service seemed excessive? The manager wore a sophisticated smile and sat opposite to me.

“People who look for S-Rank-use contracts are rare, so you will have to wait about 10 minutes. I’ve sent staff to the storage immediately, so please excuse us.”

“Ah, yes. It’s okay.”

I nodded my head. Indeed, people who would S-Rank-use contracts would be rare.

Korea’s[4] S-Ranks were all guild leaders, except for one. To be planning to contract with that kind of S-Rank meant that I was either a similar rank to them or had a deep relationship with them. So that’s why the manager directly came rushing out and fawning.

In a few moments, an employee came in, holding a high-class-looking leather case.

“Currently the S-Rank-use contracts that our shopping mall possesses are 5 types. The most popular one is the abilities decreasing contract.”

The manager spoke, taking out a parchment contract out of the case, putting it on the table, and showing it to me.

“This contract contains S-Rank Hunter Clown Doll Manuela Schussler’s S-Rank curse skills so if the terms are violated, all stats will decrease by 20% for one year. It is a powerful contract that cannot be broken out of unless an SS-Rank curse nullifying skill or item is used. In fact, outside of a saint, you cannot break free. The expiration date for the contract is at most 10 years.”

Wait, then did that mean even if I violate the contract, I wouldn’t have any disadvantages? My ‘Curse Resistance’ was L-Grade. An S-Rank curse wouldn’t even tickle me.

‘I’ll be able to use this quite conveniently.’

That kind of thought came to mind, but I erased it right away. Not only would I never be the contract’s target, even if an F-Rank’s stats fell by 20%, that was that. ‘If it was an Association certified contract that decreases the entire stats and skills, or an illegal contract that stakes your life, then I’ll be able to use it,’ I didn’t have that kind of thought.

“There are also contracts that decrease and seal skill ranks. However, to limit S-Ranks and lower in one way, if the other party has an SS-Rank skill, the effectiveness drops. The effects of contracts that permanently decrease stats are excellent but getting the other party Hunter to accept will not be easy.”

Even if they were willing to uphold the contract, they’d probably feel uneasy.

I bought one each of a contract that decreases stats for 1 year and a contract that seals skills for 1 month. In a flash, 50 million won disappeared. Even with that I still had 950 million won left. My dongsaeng really didn’t know how precious money is.

Since it was gifted money, I’d gratefully use it, though.

“Please also show me manincreasing equipment. A type that I can wear normally, not proportional increase but increase in integer amounts.”

For the equipment, the value of proportional increase ones was a lot higher, but they were useless for me. My Mana was just 2. Rather than a 50% increase that the whole world’s rankers would fling themselves at without any thought, a +5 increase that wasn’t even C-Rank was a lot better.

Soon, velvet-covered high-class cases were placed on the table.

“These are all equipment that the Korean Hunter Association affiliated Rank appraiser Bak Jiyeon has placed certificates of authenticity on.”

The manager spoke as he took of the tops of the cases one by one. You could tell the performance of equipment when you put it on, but there were cases where people were cheated through magic or curses. So expensive equipment came with certificates of authenticity.

“This is a red Lumerus[5] ring. It is an Rank accessory that increases the Mana stat by 30.”

Mana was a difficult stat to grow so even a 30 increase was an Rank equipment. With this one ring, there probably wouldn’t be a case where my mana was insufficient.

‘It’s super fancy.’

The red gem in the silver ring was about the size of a quail egg. On top of that, it was framed all around by diamond-like gems.

“This is the bracelet of Auris Hall. As an Rank accessory, it increases the Mana stat by 27.”

A bracelet that was tied together by a walnut-sized blue marble, followed by a necklace with a blindingly sparkling sapphire, and a leather ribbon hair-tie were pushed in front of my eyes one by one. Why were they all like this.

“As you know, for the gender ratio of high-ranking Hunters, there are twice as many men, so simple accessories are sold out quickly.”

Looking at my frowning expression, the manager explained. Even so, this was too much. Even if you say the ring and bracelet didn’t have to do with gender, walking around with that necklace on would be embarrassing.

“This is the black fairy’s earring. As an Rank accessory, it increases the Mana stat by 29. This is the last of the Rank equipment that increases Mana by integers, and the remaining products are all C-Rank or lower.”

Not even B-Rank, but C-Rank. As I thought it over, I looked at the black fairy’s earring. It was a simple earring that was entirely just one black gem as small as a grain of rice. I didn’t want to pierce my ear but this probably wouldn’t be too noticeable.

“How much do the C-Ranks increase?”

Still, I asked just in case.

“The integer increases range from 5 to 6.”

That wouldn’t do. There was too much of a difference. At the very least, I had to use a total of 10.

In the end, I bought the black fairy’s earring. The price was 230 million won. It was cheap for an Rank integral increase. To think that a unit of 100 million[6] was cheap, the world of high-rank Hunters was an entirely different place[7].

Without having to pierce my ear, when I held it to my earlobe, it automatically stuck on. With this, my Mana would go over 30.

Besides that, I also bought gloves that increased Stamina and Strength and a belt that increased Agility,

[Awakened Person Han Yoojin

Title – Dragon Slayer(L), Perfect Caregiver(L)

Level 1

Stamina : 6(+51)  Strength : 4(+20)  Agility : 5(+16)  Mental : 4 Mana : 2(+29)

Equipment

Black fairy’s earring(A), Manticore’s leather gloves(A), Light fabric belt(B)

Skill

Mental Up(E) : the target’s Mental +5%(immediate effect, similar and identical skills cannot be overlaid), Duration time 30min

Agility Up(E) : the target’s Ability +5%(immediate effect, similar and identical skills cannot be overlaid), Duration time 30min]

‘Besides Mana, level 1 average stats are 26.5. The stats are C-Rank.’

The focus on Stamina was imbalanced, but I went up by 3 steps at once, so money was definitely great. Of course, if the level was raised, the rank would drop. That was why proportional increase equipment were a lot more popular.

Even though I got two more equipment, I still had 500 mil left over. I’d thought that if I had a lot of money, I’d be able to quickly spend it well, but surprisingly it wasn’t decreasing easily. Could I spend it outside of the gift card?

I bought a set of 20 low grade mana potions, as well as a set of vitality potions.

‘Now, let’s buy a weapon and armor.’

If the equipment was reliable, I could probably beat an F-Rank low-class dungeon.

“Please also show me integer-increase prioritized dungeon-use equipment.”

Maybe because there were a lot of types, this time, instead of actual products, a catalogue booklet was laid out. Thankfully, there were weapons, but there weren’t many that I could use. Before my regression, the ones I usually used were spears. I had only done simple combat where I buffed others from the back and speared with a spear. Killing the Lauchtas was thanks to my memory in part as well as receiving Yoohyun’s combat skills beforehand.

After agonizing over what to choose, I bought one pair of daggers, a short spear, and light armor. I couldn’t carry these around normally so I put them directly into the inventory. Armor might be fine but if you got caught going around carrying dungeon-use weapons, you’d get fined or receive a penalty. If you racked up a certain amount of penalties, your Hunter qualification would be suspended and if it became a regular instance, you would be stripped of the qualification.

‘Did I buy everything? I don’t have much money left either… oh right, that.’

There was something that was perfectly suited for me.

“Is there a poison fog or an item with a similar effect? Curse-type would also be fine.”

Something that sprays poison all around my surroundings or something that causes vision loss. I have complete nullification so I was going to use it when the need arises.

At my words, an employee brought out a doubly protected black marble.

“S-Rank Hunter Poison King Lun Ruihan’s[8] Black Poison Fog Circle[9]. As long as you don’t have an Rank or higher Poison Resistance skill, according to your Poison Resistance rank, 10 seconds of breathing it in will kill you and 5 seconds will incapacitate. The effective radius is 5 meters and if you use it outside of a dungeon, you will immediately be imprisoned and sentenced with the death penalty.”

Not only was the Poison Resistance skill and item being Rank extremely rare, it was known that S-Rank didn’t even exist. So, even if it was Rank, it was enough to kill an opponent.

“Is there one with a bigger effective radius?”

Instead of 5 meters, if there was one with about 100 meters, I would probably be able to quickly beat C-Rank dungeons that only has proximity attack monsters by myself using my skills and items. Starting from B-Rank, they would be teeming with beasts that could break through 100 meters in under 3 seconds so it was impossible.

“Currently, of the items being sold, this Black Poison Fog Circle has the largest effect compared to effective radius. As poison fog spreads, it weakens so the effective radii are narrow. The further from the opponent you are, the time it takes for them to die gets longer or the poison’s rank falls. In the case of Black Poison Fog Circle, F-Rank monsters at 50 meters die in 10 seconds, are incapacitated in 3 seconds.”

3 seconds at 50 meters. Looked like I could beat an F-Rank dungeon. Though it would result in a large deficit.[10]

“In the case of a random target widespread curse, the effect is weak for the most part. It’s markedly different from a contract where a curse’s characteristic requisite is put in and the target has to directly sign their name. There are types where you can increase the effect by making a sacrificial offering.”

“No thank you.”

It was something I was going to use at a critical time so when would I have time to do something like catch a sacrifice and offer it.

In the end, I scraped together the remaining money and bought 3 Black Poison Fog Circles and stood up. I was taking a step out of the glass door that an employee opened for me.

[Hunter Han Yoojin-nim who was Awakening ranked F-Rank today. Rank Hunter Kim Sunghan-nim is looking for you. When you hear this announcement, please immediately visit the Lost Child Center and contact us.]

An announcement looking for me came out.

Fuck, Kim Sunghan, that bastard, looking for me with an announcement made sense, but why the Lost Child Center. You could’ve just said to come to the main entrance. Cursing inside my head, in case of a second announcement, I quickly went to the Lost Child Center.

That guy Kim Sunghan was standing in front of the Lost Child Center, looking like a thug who came to collect money. Parents who came to look for their children would probably get frightened and turn back.

“Where did you go.”

This guy said while furrowing his brow. That expression and the low heavy voice really made it look like he was going to immediately hit me.

If I didn’t have Fear Resistance, it felt like ‘save me’ would have automatically burst out of me.

“To buy contracts. Did I not tell you?”

“You didn’t.”

“I must have forgotten. I’m sorry.”

At my half-hearted apology, Kim Sunghan’s face became even more menacing. Um, he won’t swing that tightly clenched fist, right? I am your esteemed[11] Guild Leader’s hyung. Please don’t forget.

“Do you have other business to attend to?”

What should I do, it was still long until the sun sets, so should I go to Myeongdong Station to look for Bak Yerim? Or should I go home first. Yoohyun said he would get set up my move but he couldn’t have packed my things already.

“Please go over to my house. My address is-.”

“Even if I went, there is nothing there.”

Are you serious! He moved even without the house’s owner!

“Where was everything moved to? Haeyeon Guild’s employee lodgings?”

“They were moved to the remaining room in Guild Leader’s residence.”

I decline cohabitating with my slightly weird dongsaeng. After gaining independence and living well, to think that I would be grabbed by the scruff of my neck and dragged away by, not my parents, but my dongsaeng. Yoohyun, let’s become at least half as much indifferent to each other as we were before my regression. Hm?[12]

“…Then let’s return to the guild for now. I have to organize my things anyways.”

To get to the car, we were walking to the elevator connecting to the parking lot, when people’s gazes pierced my face. Then I heard the whispers.

“That person is the F-Rank that came following an Rank?”

“I wonder what relationship they have.”

“Kim Sunghan even looked for him through an announcement. There’s definitely something there.”

“Didn’t they say the Lost Child Center? ‘Lost child’ at that age.”

That woman over there, don’t laugh! Did people who weren’t even Awakened People but like to talk about others gather here, they sure had a lot to talk about! All this ‘F-Rank’ ‘F-Rank’ crap was enough to make my ears burn.

‘Then are you all S-Ranks or something?’

Since my Mana was increased, I checked all surrounding people. As expected, everyone my eyes fell on were F-Rank. Well, even C-Ranks were directly brought into guilds, so they wouldn’t be freely wandering about in places like this.

Guilds that had made a name for themselves to a certain extent took in C-Ranks and higher as guild members. Starting from B-Ranks, wherever they went, they were received well, and people were impatient over bringing in one more Rank.

‘This person is F, that person is F, you’re F… huh?’

That man I just passed!

[Awakened Person – Yoo Myeongwoo

Current stat rank F

Possible Awakening stat rank F

Optimized Initial Skills

Gold Forge’s Owner(SS) Acquisition failure

Sharpen a Knife(F) Acquisition failure]

‘Gold Forge’s Owner?!’

[1] 고객님 = customer-nim; it is customary for employees to call customers this, but in eng, employees say sir/madam, hence…

[2] Maxim: a coffee brand, it was originally censored

[3] the word used here is actually ‘person in charge’ but it was getting clunky using that in the subsequent sentences so I changed it to ‘manager’

[4] he says “our nation/country” which is a common way for krns to refer to Korea, but I thought that would sound awkward in eng

[5] there are no such things as capitals & lowercases in krn but this sounded like a name/title and not a real word so I capitalized it

[6] 억 (uhk) = 100 million (won), see ch. 6

[7] actually, he just uses 2 different words for “world” in this sentence, but I thought this sounded less awkward in eng

[8] 런루이한 (pronounced run-roo-ee-han) I can’t tell if there is no space bc this is (possibly) an asian name (all the previous nonasian names were written out in western format, i.e. [first name] [last name], with a space in between) or if this is just one name so I took a gamble. Idk

[9] 흑독무환: 흑 = black, 독 = poison, 무 = fog, 환 = something round. Technically there should be hanja with the name so I don’t cry wondering which of the like 50 hanja each syllable is supposed to mean, but the author really didn’t help me out here. Or maybe people are a lot more proficient at hanja than I thought, or the version I have left it out for some reason idk.

[10] I’m unsure about this sentence, which is ‘대적자가 나겠지만’. It could also mean ‘Though opponents might appear’ which doesn’t really make sense. That meaning is if 대적자 = opponent. The sentence I used is if 대적자 = big deficit (대- = big, great; 적자 = deficit) but that’s not really a compound word that’s used, which is why this is tripping me up.

[11] he doesn’t say ‘esteemed’ really, but he does use formal language, so…

[12] this isn’t a ‘confused’ hm or a ‘thinking’ hm, it’s a ‘yes, you agree?’ hm. I wasn’t sure if it was clear in eng.

Chapter end