The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 462: I’m a Fan! (2)

The team that succeeded in capturing the Gold Hamster was an alliance of two guilds, Burn Cave and Mud Bull. Mud Bull was a mid–sized guild in Central Africa that handled the purchase of the Gold Hamster dungeon entry pass and the guiding. Burn Cave was a large American guild, and not only were the dungeon strategy team’s main combat Hunters theirs, the Tamer belonged to them as well.

However, Chloe Alger did not belong to either guild. The report said she was hired as a freelance Hunter.

They’d sent over names and affiliations now that they had arrived in Korea, but the first report I received had been anonymized. The Gold Hamster was a ticket to a Monster Mounts Breeding Facility contract. Naturally, there would be those who tried to steal it.

“Currently, the Hunters who have arrived are the Burn Cave guildmaster and guild members, plus a freelance Hunter — one S–rank, five A–ranks, and three B–ranks.”

Chief Song said. His gaze dipped to my shoes, then rose again.

“Even excluding the heels, Mr. Han Yujin’s height has suddenly–”

“Oh, come on, Chief Song. Read the room!”

Moon Hyunah cut off Song Taewon’s words.

“You’re supposed to pretend not to notice things like that.”

“…Excuse me?”

Chief Song looked baffled, glancing between me and Ms. Hyunah. Well, um. Chief Song… might not know, but…

“If you’ve grown about three centimeters within a week, it’s likely due to a stat rank increase, so confirmation is necessary. There’s no need to hide–”

“They’re height–increasing insoles, height–increasing!”

My nape burned with embarrassment. I knew the S–ranks who saw me often would notice, but I thought they’d just let it pass quietly.

“If I add just a little, with the shoes I can get over 180… It’s just, they’re all around two meters and built, you know? Especially the Americans — no joke.”

Among America’s high–rank Hunters, there were tons who’d already been 190 cm and over 100 kg even before awakening. There was even that time a dungeon burst near a stadium and two football teams — famed for their physicality — awakened en masse. As a result, the average height of high–rank Hunters in the U.S. was around two meters.

A whole crowd with more than a head on me… and there was someone I personally liked, too, so I wanted to look a little less small. And when negotiating a Monster Mounts rearing contract, if I’m too tiny they might look down on me.

“Ah… I see. I did think your gait looked a bit unnatural.”

Chief Song gave a small nod, looking like he finally understood.

“My apologies.”

“No, it’s fine. Ha ha…”

…Maybe I should just take them out.

“It was because of your height?”

Once I got past Chief Song, my little brother tilted his head. He looked like he couldn’t comprehend why I’d care about my height.

“I thought it was a support insert to help you walk more comfortably.”

“…They’re for height.”

Yuhyun, you could live your whole life without ever knowing such things. Hunters wouldn’t use insoles that hinder movement anyway. Yerim whispered, “Cheer up, Mister,” under her breath. Usually, I don’t have many complaints. It’s just that American Hunters are all too big; by the standards of non–awakened people or lower–rank Hunters, I’m not small at all.

“If you’re too small, you might get underestimated. Mr. Seong Hyunjae, care to add something?”

I spoke while taking off my shoes. If it felt unnatural, better not to wear them.

“If you’re worried about being looked down on, it might be better to grow a beard.”

“Huh? A beard?”

“You’ll look a bit older.”

At Seong Hyunjae’s words, Ms. Hyunah nodded.

“That makes sense. Right now, at best you look like a high schooler.”

“I’m t–twenty–five, you know?”

“They’re all bigger and look older over there. People change a lot in their late teens. Even Liette looks a good five years older than you.”

I thought that was just a difference in vibe. Should I stick on a fake beard or something.

“Burn Cave might feel threatened, so not everyone here can accompany Mr. Han Yujin.”

Chief Song said to the S–ranks. Even excluding the public official Song Taewon — how many people is this. They’ve got only one S–rank, and we’ve got four.

“He’s my brother.”

Yuhyun’s eyes said he was obviously included.

“I’m here to meet an acquaintance.”

“I’m familiar with that guild as well.”

“Would a small, young me really be a threat?”

“I’m in middle school — I’m fifteen,” Yerim said, feigning frailty. Chief Song swallowed a sigh.

“First… I’ll ask the Burn Cave guild. If they refuse, please accept it.”

He took out his phone and walked toward the window. If they refused — though they probably couldn’t, unless they were only entrusting a single mount. As expected, Chief Song soon nodded.

“Only one person may stay by Mr. Han Yujin’s side. Everyone else, please keep your distance.”

“Let’s draw lots fair and square!”

Yerim glared at Yuhyun as she spoke. She’d lost rock–paper–scissors in a losing streak. In the most recent match, we’d even allowed skill usage… Yerim used Mist, Yuhyun used acceleration, they blocked vision with water droplets and evaporated them to fog and blocked it again — chaos. In the end, they played rock–paper–scissors blindfolded, and the winner was still Yuhyun.

It was thanks to Iryn acting as Yuhyun’s eyes. When Yerim found out late, she fumed and swore to get even once my spirit was born.

“…Please each draw one.”

To be fair, Chief Song wrapped four wooden sticks in his hand and presented them. The one who drew the marked tip was none other than Moon Hyunah.

“I’m absurdly lucky with this kind of thing!”

“Hyung…”

Yuhyun pouted, and Yerim looked extremely disappointed.

“We’re just keeping our distance. Why are you all like this.”

It’s not like they were being sent away. And this isn’t even that big a deal.

“I worry my partner might be swept away by his first love.”

“Ah, it’s not first love.”

“Strange. Only a week ago you were blushing in my arms.”

“Ms. Hyunah!”

“It’s my fault for having such a popular partner.”

“What can we do, our Director Han is so cute. Let’s go have a drink.”

I was so dumbfounded my eyes, nose, mouth, and ears all felt blocked. Are you the ones to talk! If we’re ranking by popularity, you lot would be in the top tiers fighting for the crown.

Anyway, Ms. Hyunah would stay by my side, and the other four split up — Yuhyun with Chief Song, and Yerim with Seong Hyunjae — to keep watch from both sides. Nothing should happen, but you never know.

And before long—

‘…This is no joke.’

Big guys filed in one after another. It really looked like their average height breezed past 2 meters. Wow, look at those thick necks. Those shoulders. Especially the man in front looked almost unreal. His frame looked twice, no, three times mine.

“Hyung, focus.”

Ms. Hyunah whispered. I mean, still — he’s a giant. I’m surrounded by tall, well–built people daily, but this was hard to get used to. He was not only tall but broad, to the point I doubted he could pass straight through a normal home doorway. He’d probably get stuck. You’d need a house twice as big. Big doors, high ceilings, big sofa, big dining table, big bed. A king–size bed would look like a single.

“I’m Jason Bron, Guildmaster of Burn Cave.”

“…I’m Han Yujin, Director of the Dodam Breeding Facility.”

Jason extended his hand. Naturally, his hand was big. When he stood in front of me, I couldn’t see anyone else at all. I even had to tilt my head back to see Jason’s face.

“Thank you for coming such a long way. First, shall we sit…”

Do we have chairs he can sit on? This lounge was designated for high–rank Hunters, so things were big, but he was out of spec. Wow, this guy could’ve easily overpowered a lower–rank Hunter even as a non–awakened. Did he get even bigger after awakening? He must’ve been two meters even before.

While I stared blankly for a moment, Jason greeted Moon Hyunah as well. He also acknowledged Chief Song and Seong Hyunjae, and greeted Yuhyun and Yerim. Meeting Chief Song as well as Seong Hyunjae, huh. One hundred percent because of Seong Hyunjae.

“So, you said you wanted to take a look at the breeding facility?”

I forced myself to recall the Burn Cave guild’s visit schedule I’d been told in advance. But the giant in front of me kept disrupting my thoughts. My view was all chest. Maybe a 40–centimeter difference? It really was kid and adult level.

“Yes. We also brought a young monster to entrust to Director Han.”

Jason smiled broadly. That hadn’t been in the message — so they’d hidden it. Well, they could get it stolen… With shoulders as wide as an ocean, even his head looked small.

“First, we need to draw up the contract. You received the baseline terms, yes? Since I requested the Gold Hamster this time, I plan to minimize additional conditions. You’ll also need to sign the safety contract besides the rearing contract — it’s a facility where ordinary staff and young monsters stay. And I myself am F–rank.”

Thankfully my mouth kept producing words smoothly. Once we moved to a prepared table and sat down, the others besides Jason finally came into view properly. The Hunters standing a bit back were big too, but after seeing Jason, they looked comparatively normal.

And at the very end stood a familiar face. Chloe Alger. Seated beside me, Moon Hyunah gave her a small wave. Chloe smiled and wiggled her fingers back.

Wow, she really came.

“Director Han?”

“Ah, yes. Here — first, the safety contract.”

I handed Jason the contract I’d prepared. I shouldn’t make it too obvious. We were basically strangers, after all. Even so, my eyes kept sneaking sideways. He was as tall and built as the man beside him. His close–cropped hair was different from how he looked on TV.

“And this is the Monster Mounts rearing contract. What kind of monster will you be entrusting?”

“A black bear. Regrettably not S–rank, but a powerful A–rank dungeon boss on par with lower S–rank.”

Oh, I think I’ve seen that on TV. While Jason checked the contracts, I snuck another glance to the side. Ah, we made eye contact. The man next to Chloe whispered something quietly. What did he say?

“They’re saying Director Han is really small.”

Ms. Hyunah relayed it to me. W–well, with Ms. Hyunah at my side and a giant in front of me, I’d look smaller than usual.

“I’m also hearing, ‘Is he really twenty–five?’ ‘Isn’t he fifteen?’”

Fifteen is a bit much… I’m still taller than Yerim for now. But compared to Jason… I can’t protest even if they call me an elementary schooler.

“…If you put me by myself, I’m not that small.”

“True. I was nervous watching you shake hands.”

I’m perfectly normal, thank you. Jason signed the contract and smiled at me.

“It seems you’re interested in Hunter Chloe Alger.”

“Eh? Ah, well. I happened to see her online.”

There weren’t Korean subtitles yet, but there were Hunter–related broadcasts. Once Ms. Hyunah told me, I looked them up right away. Since filming inside dungeons isn’t allowed, they’re mainly about dungeon breaks now. Things like how to respond when a dungeon bursts, how to read monster traces to gauge tendencies, and how to avoid them.

She mostly did those survival–focused broadcasts before regression, too.

“I found it very informative. It seemed useful even for non–awakened people.”

“Yes. That’s why we hired Hunter Chloe Alger. To understand the Gold Hamster’s habits and behavior in order to capture it.”

Jason said she’d been a big help.

“Watching those broadcasts made me want to tell Hunter Chloe Alger some things — or maybe I should say, I wanted to help.”

When I turned my head, Chloe was staring at me. Ah, embarrassing. Calm down — if I look too excited after a few videos, it’ll be weird.

“Chloe! Director Han has something he wants to say.”

Moon Hyunah raised her hand and called Chloe over. Wait, wait. Chloe strode over in long steps.

“Ah, so — we’re developing equipment that allows filming inside dungeons. It’s already in the testing stage. Since you broadcast, I thought you might be interested…”

“In Korea?”

Chloe sounded a bit surprised.

“Already in testing — that’s fast.”

There was a place in the U.S. working on something similar too. Before regression, that came out there first.

“Since the purpose of your broadcast seems good, um, we’d like to provide the equipment from our side. It’ll be good publicity, too. You’ve got a lot of subscribers.”

“You flatter me. It just looks that way because the population is large.”

Her cheerful smile was exactly the same as before regression. I really wanted to meet her once… Not as desperately as back then, but still, I was happy. She still seemed like a good person. A high–rank Hunter taking the time to make broadcasts that help the weak — most just stop at directly slaying monsters, but she helps people do something for themselves.

So I wanted to chip in — not just because of personal fondness.

Chloe gladly accepted my offer. We stood to head to the Association first before going to the breeding facility.

‘What should I do about keywords.’

I didn’t particularly intend to apply a keyword to Chloe, but if I could get her an optimization skill, it’d help. For now, maybe I should just check how many optimization skills she’s got. Taking advantage of the way Ms. Hyunah and Jason’s bodies almost covered me, I quietly used Promising Talent on Chloe.

[Awakened – Chloe Alger

Current Stat Grade S

Awakening–capable Stat Grade A–S]

…Huh? Wait, she wasn’t A–rank?