[ Chick Class Teacher (1) ]
“Isn’t he bigger than the Flame-Horned Lion I saw in the dungeon?”
Yuhyun said, eyeing Peace. Though he’d been a bit distant lately, seeing Peace fully grown seemed to have lifted his spirits.
“Really?”
“Yeah. The size varies depending on the creature’s stats, but I’ve never seen one this big before. Not that I’ve tackled that dungeon more than twice.”
Even monsters of the same rank and species aren’t identical. Their stats and skills differ slightly.
And a bigger size generally meant better stats. Hearing that Peace was exceptional, I couldn’t help but feel proud.
“He’s also gained all the optimized initial skills. Flame Breath, Blazing Charge, Gigantification. He already had Fire Resistance.”
“Impressive. Not all of them get to use all those skills.”
“See? I told you our Peace has grown up so well.”
As I reached out to hug him again, Peace shrank back down, as if he had been waiting for the chance. In an instant, he was back in his smaller form. But this time, his status window was different.
[Second Evolutionary Stage Unicorn Subspecies ? Flame-Horned Lion, Peace
Current Stat Rank: A]
No more “cub” label, and his stat rank was now A instead of C. He still had all his skills. Even though he wasn’t S-rank anymore, he was still reliable, even in his smaller form.
“Come here.”
-Grrr!
Peace jumped into my arms, and Yuhyun looked at me like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“Don’t you think you’re spoiling him a bit? He’s fully grown now.”
“What’s the harm? He wants to be held.”
We’d be apart for days when we go into dungeons, so what’s wrong with him being a little clingy? Besides, even though he looks grown, he’s still young in age. Can’t I still treat him like a kid?
“Give me the owner’s token.”
Yuhyun held out his hand. Of course, it made sense to hand over the taming token, but I still hesitated as I took it out.
“You better treat our Peace well.”
I said, handing the token over from my inventory.
“You’re not planning to take him straight into that S-rank dungeon, are you? Let him sit this one out and practice in A— or B-rank dungeons first. You need to level him up too. I’ll ask Myungwoo to make some equipment for him. Make sure he eats properly in the dungeon, and if he doesn’t listen, be patient with him. He understands pretty well if you explain things. Heal him right away if he gets hurt—he’s never been injured in battle before, so it might shock him.”
“…Hyung.”
“Hmm?”
“Peace is way stronger than you are. You don’t need to worry.”
“How can I not worry? I worry about you too, you know?”
What if the dungeon glitches out and something like that Lautitars shows up again? I swear, system managers, please do your jobs. Yuhyun is still young—if he ran into a top-tier wyrm right now, he might not be able to escape. Five years make a big difference.
I need to speed up his growth, too. No new skills yet—growth comes first. The cooldown for “My Kid Is the Best” is over, so I can use it on him before he enters the S-rank dungeon.
Yuhyun took the token and stored it in his inventory. All the while, Peace stayed nestled quietly in my arms. Nothing really seemed to change.
“Come here.”
At Yuhyun’s command, Peace twitched his ears and hesitated, clearly annoyed, but still obediently walked over to Yuhyun. He gave him a defiant glance before quickly returning to me.
“Well, he listens to you.”
Taming doesn’t give you full control over a monster. It’s more like, ‘I’m the leader, so follow me.’ I was worried, but it seems like Peace will follow Yuhyun’s orders. Maybe that time they spent fighting together in the dungeon built some kind of bond.
Though, their relationship was still more than a little distant.
“Didn’t I tell you to take better care of Peace? You lived in the same building and barely paid any attention to him. Make sure to assign someone to the unicorns who will take care of them after they get their tokens.”
“I know. But there won’t be any issues with Peace. We’ve already come to an agreement of sorts.”
“An agreement?”
“Peace agreed to help out someone who wasn’t reliable by boosting his stats.”
…When did they make such an agreement? Must’ve been during that 30-minute window in the dungeon. Now I’m curious about what they did while I wasn’t there.
“Hello, Mr. Kim Seonghan.”
I greeted him as we entered the upper-rank hunters’ training room. Inside were all sorts of exercise machines. They looked ordinary on the outside, but every piece of equipment was reinforced for durability and to withstand enormous loads. They even had weight-reduction treatments installed on the floors to handle the pressure.
Kim Seonghan stepped down from a shoulder press machine. His well-defined muscles were clearly visible through his thin shirt. I couldn’t help but feel a bit envious. Maybe I should start working out too.
“What brings you here?”
He approached me with a soft smile. I still wasn’t quite used to Kim Seonghan’s kindness. That keyword effect is something else. He had already apologized for misjudging me before the keyword was applied, but still…
“It’s nothing much. I just wanted to thank you for all the help you’ve given me.”
The real reason, of course, was that I wanted to use my “My Kid Is the Best” skill. Last time, I gave him a growth buff before entering the dungeon, but this time, I planned to give him a skill. Either Unyielding Body or Regeneration would be good choices.
As I smiled and activated the skill, a message popped up.
[Target Kim Seonghan has met the minimum requirements for growth.]
…Huh? What’s this?
[With the application of the My Kid Is the Best skill, the target is eligible to grow to S-rank.]
…Wait, what? He can grow to S-rank already?
“Is something wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
Kim Seonghan asked, looking at me with concern as I stood there, dumbfounded.
“Oh, no. I just have something to think about…”
[Target Kim Seonghan has met one of the following growth conditions:
— Defeat an A-rank dungeon boss in a single strike.
— Hunt an S-rank monster solo.
— Participate in the defeat of an SS-rank monster with 10 or fewer hunters.
*Even if none of these conditions are met, the target can still grow to S-rank by meeting the maximum growth requirement.]
Another message appeared after a short pause. The system folks are working real-time today, huh?
‘So, if he meets the growth conditions at the minimum requirement stage, he can immediately rank up. But if he doesn’t meet them, he’ll just grow slowly over time?’
In the original timeline, Kim Seonghan was still A-rank even five years later. Even with a growth buff, it would take three to four years for him to reach S-rank stats. So naturally, we’d have to aim to meet the conditions.
‘But taking out an A-rank dungeon boss in one hit?’
He’s a defensive hunter. Even if he were attack-oriented, it’d be impossible for an A-rank hunter to one-shot an A-rank boss. Soloing an S-rank monster is obviously out of the question.
As for participating in the defeat of an SS-rank monster… well, there aren’t any SS-rank monsters yet.
As far as I know, the highest-level S-rank dungeon bosses are mid-tier S-ranks. Even those lower-rank avian monsters didn’t go beyond 1st tier, if I recall correctly. Liette probably dealt with something around SS-rank, but that was far from the normal route.
‘Should I just give him the skill and wait for an SS-rank monster to appear?’
Who knows when that’ll happen? In the original timeline, it took about three years. Even if one shows up earlier, I’d have to be involved since the My Kid Is the Best skill only lasts three days, and it requires 10 or fewer hunters. How are we supposed to kill a boss within three days? Unless we wait for a dungeon break…
All the options seem difficult.
“Mr. Kim Seonghan, do you have any attack skills?”
“Yes. I have an A-rank close-combat skill. But since I’m defense-oriented, it’s not as strong as you might expect.”
Kim Seonghan, who had been looking down at me with concern, answered.
He has an attack skill. In that case, I could use the Veteran F-Rank title to double his attack skill’s effectiveness.
‘If I give him the title, make sure he’s decked out in S-rank equipment, and get Yerim to buff him, we might just be able to one-shot an A-rank dungeon boss… but that means I’d have to go into an A-rank dungeon.’
And since it’s a close-combat skill, I’d have to stick right next to him. Sure, if we one-shot the boss, I won’t be in any immediate danger, but can I even withstand the force of his movements? It’s probably a pure physical attack, so how much recoil will there be?
Maybe I should wait for an SS-rank monster to show up. Still, Kim Seonghan is a defensive S-rank hunter. Unlike rookie Yerim, he’s experienced and has worked with Yuhyun many times. If the two of them go into a dungeon together, I won’t have much to worry about. It’d be a solid team.
‘But an A-rank dungeon… should I do it?’
In the end, I just chatted with Kim Seonghan for a bit and didn’t use the My Kid Is the Best skill on him.
If it seemed impossible, I could always just give him a new skill, but the situation was so borderline. Going into an A-rank dungeon didn’t seem overly dangerous.
‘I’ve got about five S-ranks I can call on right now.’
There’s Yuhyun, Yerim, Peace, and Liette, if I ask her for help. Moon Hyunah would probably come if I promised to lend her the Griffon. That makes six, counting Liette’s little brother.
Even in a lower A-rank dungeon, I wouldn’t need all six. Four would be enough—two for the dungeon itself, and two to protect me.
‘I just need something to protect me during the boss fight.’
Is there anything like that?
“Yujin.”
As I was racking my brain trying to remember if there was anything useful for this situation, Myungwoo suddenly called out to me.
“Here. Take this.”
“Huh? What is it?”
He handed me a bulky metal bracelet.
[Unnamed Bracelet ? Unfinished
Though incomplete, it holds immense power.]
What the…? I stared at him, waiting for an explanation, and Myungwoo, looking a bit embarrassed, spoke up.
“Remember how you wanted an item that boosts your physical defense? That’s not easy to make.”
“Don’t worry about it too much.”
“This bracelet is one of my experimental pieces, but it’s usable. It’s a one-time-use item that makes you immune to all damage for 10 minutes.”
Internally panicking, I opened the status window. A new skill had appeared.
[Incomplete (Unfinished)]
The skill had no name, no rank, and no description.
“In theory, there’s no limit to the level of attacks it can block. With Ismuar’s help, I confirmed that it can definitely negate S-rank fire-based attacks.”
“Wait, you…”
I was at a loss for words. Why is he always doing things beyond reason? An item that nullifies all damage with no attack rank restrictions? All I wanted was a little more durability for my F-rank body. I would’ve thrown a party if I’d gotten C-rank defenses.
But this? This is terrifying. If I didn’t have Fear Resistance, I might have backed away in terror, saying, “I’m not worthy of this!”
“…Even if it’s a one-time-use item, this is no joke.”
“It’s all thanks to the materials. I can’t make more of them because I don’t have enough.”
“What kind of materials did you use?”
“That’s a secret for now.”
Myungwoo just smiled, saying I’d find out eventually. Could it be L-rank materials? …No way, right?
“Don’t waste expensive materials on this. Save them for something better.”
He just kept smiling, not answering. Damn it, now I’m worried. Still, I trust him to stay within reason. Remember, I’m F-rank!
At any rate, now that I had this bracelet, I could apply the double attack effect to Kim Seonghan. Ten minutes would be more than enough. Only one obstacle remained.
‘Yuhyun, S-rank. S-rank defensive hunter.’
He’d understand if I explained it properly.
“You’re telling me Kim Seonghan can grow to S-rank if he meets the right conditions?”
Yuhyun looked at me incredulously.
“Yeah. He was originally capable of awakening as an S-rank, so he’s met the minimum growth requirement, and the conditions showed up.”
After I explained the growth conditions, Yuhyun’s expression darkened.
“There’s nothing we can do immediately. As expected of an S-rank growth condition, it’s difficult. The most viable option would be defeating an SS-rank monster, but there aren’t any here, so we’d have to search abroad—”
“Yuhyun.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m here, remember?”
I said, pointing to myself. Yuhyun tilted his head in confusion.
“What about you?”
What do you mean, what about me?
“The double attack skill. And I can share it, remember? As long as there’s physical contact. With S-rank gear and Yerim’s buffs, Kim Seonghan should be able to one-shot an A-rank boss.”
Yuhyun took a moment to process my words, then frowned sharply.
“Are you crazy?”
“That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?”
“What would you say to someone with F-rank stats and no combat or defensive skills who wants to enter an A-rank dungeon?”
“Hmm, something like, ‘This guy’s completely lost his mind.’”
Or maybe, ‘What, does he have a death wish? He could die in a D-rank dungeon if he’s looking for a fast way out. This is a waste of money.’
At my response, Yuhyun crossed his arms, looking at me as if to say, “See? I told you so.” But my case is different.
“I have a B-rank barrier skill.”
Thank you, earring.
“And if two experienced S-rank hunters stick right by me, nothing’s going to happen in a lower A-rank dungeon. I’ve already gotten a yes from Moon Hyunah.”
I hadn’t explained all the details, just asked her if she could help me out for a three-day dungeon run, and she’d agreed readily. Unfortunately, Liette wasn’t in the country.
“Yerim has cleared ten dungeons without any accidents, so she’s ready for A-rank. Peace has fully grown too. With you and Kim Seonghan, plus a couple of A-ranks, I think we’ll be fine.”
That’s four S-ranks. It’s such an overpowered lineup for an A-rank dungeon that it’s almost absurd. We’d be wasting resources, but it’s worth it to help another hunter reach S-rank.
“…Fine, but what about the boss? Kim Seonghan’s attack skill is a close-combat one. He has to get a running start and hit the boss. Your F-rank body won’t be able to handle that. Since you have to make physical contact to share skills, you can’t use a regular barrier skill either.”
“For that, I’ve got this.”
I showed him the bracelet, explaining what it did. Yuhyun was speechless. Yeah, I know. Myungwoo’s really something.
We went back and forth for a while, debating whether I should reveal all my skills, whether the effect was too good, whether it was useful, and if I could really pull this off. In the end, I won.
Even though Yerim and Myungwoo called me crazy, and Kim Seonghan initially refused, everything eventually fell into place.
…Why was the preparation harder than the dungeon raid itself?
–TL Notes–
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