[ Specialized in Repetitive Tasks ]
I froze for a moment, then quickly flipped to the next page of the skill window.
[(Available)(Available)(Available)(Available)(Available)(Available)(Available)(Available)(Available)(Available)(Available)(Available)(Available)(Available)(Available)(Available)(Available)(Available)(Available)(Available)
(Yu Myungwoo — F)(Kim Seonghan — A)(Peace — C)
Skill growth targets: Park Yerim, Yu Myungwoo]
…Peace? Wait a minute, our Peace? But I never saw a message saying he’d been influenced by the keyword.
‘Just explain this to me. Please, just explain it. If you give me a detailed user manual, I’ll do whatever it takes to get all the S-classes you want, but please, I’m begging you, just explain it.’
But a thick user manual didn’t descend from the heavens with trumpets blaring in the background. This system is such a piece of crap.
Okay, calm down and think rationally.
‘First of all, it’s clear that Peace has been affected by the keyword.’
Unless this is a system error.
My title is Perfect Nurturer, the skill name is My Kid Is The Best, and the keyword for this influence is “I love you.”
Until now, I thought the keyword was just something you say as a finisher after a bunch of empty compliments.
But if you were truly a proper nurturer, it would be right to consistently express your love for your kid. Not just once in a while, but all the time.
‘…Could it be that constantly telling Peace I love him was actually the correct way to use the skill?’
There’s no way for me to know which method is correct. But thinking about the title Nurturer, consistently building affection seemed to be the right answer.
Either way, as long as I reach the goal, it doesn’t matter how I get there.
‘At least this confirms that I can raise monsters with this.’
I was a little worried that the keyword might not work on Peace, but now I can rest easy. Even the system’s crazy demands can be met by substituting monsters.
Of course, it’s not easy to raise 50 S-class monsters. You have to have them first to raise them. And it’s extremely rare for a dungeon mid-boss or boss monster to show up with offspring. Not to mention, you’d have to capture them, which makes acquiring them insanely difficult.
‘Even if someone managed to catch one, they’d probably just kill it if it couldn’t grow. Up until five years from now, there were almost no cases of baby monsters being raised to adulthood.’
It wasn’t impossible, just very rare. Those cases probably met the conditions by chance. And since all of them were lower-tier monsters, their growth conditions were likely easier.
‘Unless someone with a specialized monster-rearing skill appears out of nowhere, it looks like I’m the only one who can raise high-level mounts.’
I should negotiate with the large guilds using this. If you guarantee my safety, I’ll raise a mount for each of you, equally. Of course, there will be a fee.
It’s better this way than having one place monopolize everything, so negotiations shouldn’t be too difficult. That way, I can also put my little brother’s worries to rest.
Sure, there will be plenty of people drooling over me, thinking, “Wow, an F-class with a profitable skill just lying around,” but I don’t have to worry about small fry. I just need to keep a low profile until I get my own exclusive beast.
No one would actually try to kidnap me from the Haeyeon Guild building.
Feeling better thanks to Peace, I arrived at the guild.
Let’s forget about those forty-eight empty slots for now. Even the psycho who made this system wouldn’t expect them to be filled in a short period of time. And why should I do it anyway? Until I know why, I’m refusing. I’m on strike.
“Hey, Yujin.”
Just as I was about to go upstairs and give Peace a kiss, Yu Myungwoo, looking like death itself, spoke up in a dying voice. What’s up with him now?
“Yeah, the first dungeon was a bit intense, huh? But today was just a rare case, so don’t worry too much. Let’s return the gear and head up to rest.”
You can rest today and start the grind tomorrow. I’ll sell off some mana stones and buy some blades to sharpen. Secondhand ones would probably be better than new. Should I go dig around at a junk shop?
“No, it’s just… I really am useless.”
The guy who’ll get an SS-grade skill if he just toughs it out a bit said this. If he says that, there’ll be hundreds of thousands of FF-grades throwing rocks at him.
“In the end, I didn’t even get a 10-level skill…”
“I told you not to worry. It’s common for skills to appear later on. Hey, I don’t have a 10-level skill either.”
“Huh? You don’t?”
“Yeah. I leveled up when Yuhyun caught that new monster, but I didn’t get anything.”
Same here, dude. Yu Myungwoo wasn’t reassured even by my attempt to console him.
“But you’re totally different from a guy like me. Your little brother was really happy. If you have someone like him to give you advice, who cares about grades? You’re really special.”
The way he said that, looking like he wanted to dig a hole and bury himself, was just plain depressing. He was a lot worse off than usual. What should I do? Should I get him drunk or something?
“Let’s just go upstairs and talk, okay? Upstairs.”
“No, I think it’s time for me to leave. There’s only theory classes left in the newbie training anyway, right? I can finish those at the association. Not that I need them. I just don’t think I can do this dungeon clearing stuff. I feel bad for wasting everyone’s time. But really, thank you. I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me.”
Yu Myungwoo mumbled like he was saying his last words. He was in a seriously bad state. If I let him go like this, he’d probably try to off himself again.
Was it because of being around S-classes? Or maybe I’m partly to blame too.
Telling him now that he has the talent to get an SS-grade crafting skill probably wouldn’t convince him. It was hard to believe even on a normal day, and saying it now might just sound like I was mocking him.
But revealing my skills was too risky, even if he was a good guy. I haven’t even fully explained things to my own brother yet.
“If that’s how you feel, I guess there’s nothing I can do.”
I sighed deeply and continued.
“I wasn’t planning to force you to stay. It’s just… I learned some really useful information, and it’s a shame I won’t be able to share it with you.”
There’s some seriously good intel. Jackpot-level intel.
“…Information?”
“Yeah. Something that could really help you. But seeing how hard this is on you… I feel bad making you go through more. It’s a shame, but if you don’t want to, I won’t push it. They say even if the King of Pyeongyang himself invites you, it’s no good if you’re unwilling.”
I sighed dramatically and watched Yu Myungwoo closely.
“Want to at least hear about it before you go? This is seriously valuable info. I mean…”
I lowered my voice and whispered.
“You know Seok Hayan, right? The lady who handled the theory class a few days ago. She’s a genius, certified as a professor at her young age, and she’s totally into research on awakened beings. Plus, she comes from a powerful family and has all kinds of crucial information.”
“Re-really? She does?”
“Yeah. I managed to get something out of her that I wasn’t supposed to share. You can’t tell anyone, okay? This has to stay between us.”
Yu Myungwoo nodded eagerly. This is the magic phrase: “Only you, and you alone.”
“You know those auxiliary skills related to weapons? Like your Sharpen Blades skill.”
“Uh… Yeah, what about it?”
“There’s a special training method for awakened beings with those skills that lets them acquire an exceptionally valuable, special skill.”
“A special skill… training method?”
“Yep. It’s not easy, of course. But if you put in the effort and finish the training quickly, depending on luck, you could end up with an amazing skill.”
“I don’t have much luck…”
“No, you’re lucky just to know about this. And the minimum you’re guaranteed is a C-grade. A C-grade auxiliary skill would mean no problem making a living!”
SS-grade sounds too much like a scam, so C-grade is just about right.
“…Really?”
The light returned to Yu Myungwoo’s eyes, which had looked like dead fish eyes. That’s right. Just trust me.
“It’s tough, though…”
“How tough?”
“You know blades, right? Like knives or scissors. You have to sharpen a thousand of them. Exactly ten thousand.”
Yu Myungwoo’s jaw dropped.
“T-ten thousand…?”
“Yeah. But if that sounds too hard, I’m not going to make you do it—”
“Just ten thousand? Really?!”
Yu Myungwoo shouted with glee. His eyes were not only alive again; they were burning with determination. What the heck? Do you like grinding or something?
“Well… It’s not exactly a small number.”
“No, it’s not that many. If I sharpen a hundred a day, I’ll be done in a hundred days!”
“A hundred a day…?”
In ten days? To finish that quickly, even if each one takes ten minutes, you’d have to do six per hour, work seventeen hours a day, and do all your eating and sleeping in the remaining seven hours…
“…Take it slow. Take it slow.”
It’s great to be enthusiastic, but you need to stay alive to use an SS-grade skill.
“Slow? So, like fifty a day? But that would take over half a year… I’d feel bad relying on you for that long…”
“It’s fine. You cook good meals.”
Seriously, you do. Your cooking’s getting better, and I’m looking forward to your future dishes. Does he have a skill related to cooking?
“So don’t worry about it. It’ll probably be tougher on you, spending all day cooped up, sharpening knives. That’s no easy feat.”
“Don’t worry. I once spent an entire vacation building a model of the Hansan Island Battle. I even won an award for it. I’m confident in my ability to do repetitive tasks at home!”
Well, there you go. Could this personality trait be related to his skill potential? Maybe once he gets that golden forge, he’ll start mass-producing equipment like it’s a factory.
“Oh, I’ll go and get the gear myself. Yujin, you can go up and rest first.”
I thought about telling him it was okay, but I let him handle the gear. If it made him feel less burdened, even a little, then it was worth it.
Being too nice can be a problem.
Still, if he were the kind of guy who just took what was given and didn’t know how to be grateful, I would’ve ditched him first. An SS-grade skill is useless if the person goes and betrays you. Plus, the keyword influence effect is useless without a nurturing model.
The reason I’m going to these lengths is because I trust Yu Myungwoo’s character.
“Yujin, really, thank you. I’ll work hard and make sure to repay you. I promise.”
Yu Myungwoo said before turning away. If you’re that thankful, make me some quality equipment later.
With the matter of Yu Myungwoo settled, I headed toward the dormitory with a spring in my step. Now, all I have to do is wait for the harvest. Almost everything’s wrapped up, hooray.
Time to relax~ and slack off as much as possible~. The house is spacious, and the weather’s getting warmer, so I’ll crank up the AC and lounge around with Peace all day. I’m going to ignore the weird status window that’s been acting up.
If you want me to work, come down in person, system creator. And don’t forget to bring the manual.
I opened the door with a hum. The click of the lock sounded so nice. I’ll breeze through the rest of the theory classes and become one with the sofa. Thanks to my dear little brother, I’ve got plenty of mana stones, so I don’t need to worry about money. Should I buy more stocks? Or maybe get a car? Oh, right, I need to get a license first.
As I stepped inside, the light in the entryway flicked on. In the full-length mirror opposite the shoe cabinet, I saw a man with a smiling face.
Whoever he is, he has a friendly face. Looks like he’ll live a good life of leisure.
But behind him, there was a figure in a white dress…
A cold, clammy hand grabbed my ankle. Then it yanked hard. Wait, this is cheating—!
Thud!
I barely managed to dodge to the side, almost smashing my head on the steel door frame.
Damn it, you damn goblin! I told you to scare me, not try to assassinate me. I’m weak. I’m really weak. Don’t underestimate an F-grade’s frailty.
“Ow, my back… my knees… my arm…”
I saved my head but hit everything else. Now it looks like I’ll be stuck in bed instead of on the couch.
“I didn’t think you’d fall so easily!”
“…Apologize first.”
“Sorry!”
Obedient, polite child, you earn 1 extra point. As I struggled to stand, a hand reached out to help me up. Ugh, my whole body’s aching. I made it through the dungeon unscathed, only to get injured in my own doorway. Am I lucky or unlucky? I wonder if I have a pain relief patch at home.
When I turned around, I saw Goblin wearing a mask, crying her eyes out. No way she was wearing that thing from the start, so she must’ve swapped it out just now.
Seeing that ridiculous sight, my anger subsided.
“You’re here later than I expected.”
At my words, Goblin’s shoulders slumped.
“…I got scolded.”
“You got scolded?”
“I got scolded a lot! They nagged me for two days straight for signing a contract on my own!”
Oh no. I guess subordinates 1 and 2 are more like guardians. How old is this kid, anyway? If the contract hasn’t been declared void, she must be at least 14. Judging by her height, she’s an adult, but mentally, she’s still immature.
“I said it’s fine since I can win! Weren’t you scared?”
“Rather than scared, I almost ended up on the path to the afterlife.”
“Usually, when someone just comes home, that’s when they’re most off guard…”
Goblin muttered dejectedly. True, I was off guard. But even without the resistance skill, the training room was scarier, I think. Was it because of Seok Hayan? The screams were pretty impactful. Sound effects really do matter.
“You still have a chance, so do your best.”
Not that I plan on losing.
“Okay! I’ll try my hardest!”
“And go get me a pain relief patch.”
“A-a pain relief patch?”
“Hurry up. Right now. The most effective one.”
“Got it”
Goblin said before vanishing with a sniffle. Convenient, isn’t it? Can you hear me, system creator? I’d like to teleport too, please.
–TL Notes–
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