The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 567: Survey

The large turkey dish in the Christmas carols looked incredibly delicious. The glossy brown meat drenched in sauce, the white plate decorated with a circle of various vegetables and fruits. The whole leg, as big as a forearm, looked so appetizing.

However, actual turkey meat was dry. Most food is tastiest in one’s imagination. And my situation was similar to that dry turkey.

A turkey being fattened up ahead of Christmas. Even if it knew its future and starved itself, there was no way a party would be held without the main dish. It would just mean a less fatty roast turkey and a cheaper price tag waiting for it.

‘Are these gold coins my price tag?’

Gold coins jingled inside my inventory. Even if Chatterbox said he was raising me to devour me, I couldn’t refuse in my current state. First, I had to be fattened up. Starving would only be my loss. One needs to eat well to have the strength to escape at the last moment.

“Yuhyun, Hyung was actually a turkey.”

Yuhyun blinked at the silly nonsense.

“…By any chance, do you want to become a turkey?”

“My brother, you are so kind.”

To seriously consider a statement that made one wonder if it was a joke or if there was something wrong with my head.

“Let’s eat turkey at Christmas too.”

Whether it tastes good or not. Still, if cooked well, it should be delicious. Even if it falls short of fantasy.

“Although the turkey was fattened to be eaten, we should still eat it.”

“Mister, they say they do a turkey pardoning ceremony on Thanksgiving too.”

Yerim approached and said, perhaps having heard my nonsense.

“Instead of going on the table, they get to live peacefully on a farm for the rest of their lives.”

“Chatterbox opened the party too late.”

He should have started in early November, not the end. Thanksgiving had already passed.

“Still, a turkey must be stronger than a chicken.”

“They say they are very fierce.”

“That’s good.”

Meaning, go headbutt them.

“Was there… some problem with a turkey?”

Yuhyun said, trying his best to understand my nonsense somehow. I felt grateful and proud of my brother, so I lightly hugged Yuhyun and patted him. Hyung will become the world’s strongest turkey. Or at least a turkey that runs away well.

Over there, a turkey comrade appeared. Though he was about ten times flashier than me. Come to think of it, I think it was around Thanksgiving when Chief Song tried to arrest Seong Hyunjae. Crescent Moon almost lost her diligently fattened turkey twice. You should learn from Crescent Moon, who doesn’t touch her food until it is perfectly fattened, you Chatterbox bastard.

“Hello, Guild Leader of Sesung.”

Hmm, as expected, he doesn’t suit being a turkey. Let’s call him a peacock. It seems people eat peacocks too. A plump… this doesn’t fit either, but anyway, a peacock just on the verge of being sufficiently fattened. Seong Hyunjae, meeting my eyes, looked puzzled.

“That is a strange look.”

“Because your tail feathers are so colorful. Oh my, so bright.”

It seemed even Seong Hyunjae couldn’t quite understand what I was saying this time. Though he seemed to notice I was comparing him to a peacock. Yuhyun, Yerim, and Gyeol were looking at me worriedly, so I should stop here.

Except for reconfirming the fact that Chatterbox was a crazy bastard, we had a fairly enjoyable break time. We went sightseeing and bought gifts. The items we bought were sent straight to Korea. I wanted to bring them personally, but since I didn’t know what would happen. The possibility that I wouldn’t have the leeway to carry gifts was quite high.

I also had video calls with Chirp, the other baby monsters, the Breeding Facility, and the people at the building. It seemed Myungwoo hadn’t returned from Japan yet. They said he was hard to contact too. Was he with Rookie? That Rookie punk better not try anything funny.

Aside from Chirp occasionally going missing, they said Belare, Horang, Little Song, Sorok, Mar, and the others were all doing well. According to the Breeding Facility staff, they received calls not only from Yerim and Hyunah but also from Chief Song. As expected, once he takes on a responsibility, he takes good care of it.

‘Why is that Hamin guy saying “cats are out”?’

Don’t even think about meeting Geumdong ever again; saying he’ll send photos and videos. I don’t need them. Before that, the skill, you punk.

Among the people in Korea, the most excited was naturally Seok Gimyeong, and the most agitated person was Seok Hayan. It was hard calming down Hayan, who was practically begging to let her meet Chatterbox. That, you see, is not the work of an ordinary human. I’m telling you, he didn’t use the dungeon through modern research.

Seok Gimyeong praised me until his mouth went dry, saying I was doing well, but he also seemed subtly guarded against the possibility of Dodam standing on its own. While it’s good for Dodam’s influence to grow, that would only be the case when it is on the same side as Haeyeon, like one body.

“Over here! Over here!”

“Please lift your head!”

“What is the Fairy Dragon’s expected growth rank!”

As we went out to the lobby to get into the waiting car, the people who had been waiting clamored. The guards quickly blocked a few who tried to cross the cordon. I smiled skillfully at the cameras. Wouldn’t I be able to smile passably well even without Fear Resistance now? Not that I plan to turn off the skill, though.

“The Best F–Rank!”

“Let’s win!”

There were people like that.

“Hunters are all scammers! Reveal the truth!”

There were people like this.

“Dungeons prove that the Earth is a flat dome!”

And people like… huh? Well, the inside of a dungeon does have limits, like it’s covered by a transparent dome. Anyway, all sorts of voices could be heard. I waved appropriately and got into the car. Since the schedule was by team, I was alone again in the spacious car. I felt like I’d grab the back of my neck if Chatterbox popped out, so I turned on a personal stream. He probably wouldn’t pop out during a broadcast. Since he’s pretending to be an ordinary non–awakened chaebol.

“Hello, everyone~”

└ Director Han Hi!

└ We waited!

└ Can’t you ask Haeyeon Guild Leader to turn on his broadcast? Or at least PeaceT_TT_T I’ll just watch quietlyT_TT_T

That guy Yuhyun kept it off even though Seok Gimyeong asked him so earnestly to pay a bit more attention to broadcasting. I sent a text to Yuhyun asking him to turn on at least the Peace broadcast if it was okay. A reply came back immediately saying he understood.

└ Thx Thx Thx Thx Thx

└ Talking about Hyung as soon as Haeyeon Guild Leader turns on the broadcast? LOL As expected of SB

“SB?”

What is that?

└ Super Brother Complex LOL

└ Super BroCon LOL

…What are they doing to my brother? As I inadvertently frowned, other nicknames came up in the chat window.

└ There’s BF too, to match with SF

└ BroCon Flame LOL

└ Wasn’t it Blue Black Fire?

Really… they really have no sense. No matter how I thought about it, I felt my naming skills were above the global average. Since we are brothers, it seems they ended up like that to match my nickname, but it’s weird. Rather, I mean, um… I don’t know English words very well.

└ Then is Song Taewon PS?

└ Probably ES since it’s Song, so SES

└ Seong Hyunjae SS

└ Super Seong?

└ It’s Sesung

Is there a rule that it must match with two alphabet letters? More importantly, what’s with the color for BroCon? Rather, Super Flame… becomes the same as me. Fire is F too. How did we both end up F? My stats are F and my brother’s attribute is F.

“Isn’t there anything a bit cooler? My brother likes me a lot, but he caught over ten S–Rank Hunters, including the police!”

└ Your brother loves Hyung too much LOL

└ Super Police Commissioner

Throw away that ‘Super’ already.

└ Genocide

└ Killing Fire

└ KF

└ C!

└ Korea Flame

It was a spectacle. Anyway, why do they keep saying BroCon? How much have they seen us? During this party, Yuhyun… um… was it more so because of what happened yesterday? Because that Chatterbox bastard came and went at night, I was feeling a bit down, so he did take care of me a lot. Seok Gimyeong would be pleased.

In the meantime, the car stopped. Following the guidance, I entered the building.

‘…An exam hall?’

I saw desks and chairs lined up in rows. Yerim, who had arrived first, waved her hand, shouting, “Mister, over here!”

“Please end the broadcast for a moment.”

What is this? Are we even taking a written exam now? As I sat in an empty seat near Yerim, Yerim picked up her desk and chair and stuck next to me.

“Are we taking a test? I feel like we should sit apart.”

“If they tell us to separate, we can move then. Gasp, I can’t read English very well! Will they translate it into Korean?”

Seats filled up one by one, and Yuhyun also brought his desk and chair to my other side. Peace sat in the seat next to Yuhyun. Liette and Kang Soyeong stuck right next to Noah, who was sitting in front of me. Noah let out a small sigh.

— Ooiik!

Gyeol pulled his desk with all his might to drag it near us. His wings flapped pitifully, but the desk didn’t move easily. In his Fairy Dragon form, he was weaker than in his human form. I was about to get up to help, but Seong Hyunjae lightly pushed Gyeol’s desk with one hand. Gyeol, sitting on top of the desk, thumped his tail as if vexed. Still, he takes good care of him.

Sitting a little distance away from us, Hyunah was next to Chief Song. I couldn’t hear well, but it seemed they were having a conversation. I also saw Evelyn sitting elegantly in a seat towards the back.

“Hello, everyone.”

Once all the party participants were seated, Chatterbox walked up onto the stage.

“I hope you had a pleasant break.”

Today, he wasn’t in a flashy suit. He was dressed in a calm shirt and pants, wearing something like a belt on his forearm. Are we really taking a written exam?

“Since the last game, viewers have sent in various opinions.”

Snap, with the sound of a finger snap, viewer opinions appeared on the screen in the auditorium.

“From simple impressions to desired programs. As a result of synthesizing those countless words!”

The screen changed, and I appeared, aiming a gun at Song Taewon in the rain. Aaaargh! Don’t suddenly show stuff like that! I was just barely forgetting it!

“Combat! As expected, the most people wanted a fight between Hunters. Although it is a competition method that doesn’t suit a party, I thought it wouldn’t be bad to proceed with a simple duel.”

I’m screwed. But at the same time, I felt there must be some trick to it. Chatterbox had no reason to specifically put me at a disadvantage. Or is this a ‘hit rock bottom for once since you kept winning’ thing? Like a carrot and stick approach.

“One–on–one. A single match. Please fill out the questionnaire handed out to determine your opponent.”

Questionnaires were placed on the desks. Please answer only regarding party participants. 1. Person you want to fight. 2. Person you are most interested in. 3. Person you do not want to fight. 4. Person you are least interested in. 5. Person you want to travel with. Huh? 6. Person you want to have a conversation with. 7. Person you want to kill. No, this is a bit… Most of the fifteen questions were about choosing participants.

“Han Yuhyun wrote Hyung for everything again! Even number 4 is ‘someone other than Hyung’.”

Yerim said, boldly peeking at Yuhyun’s questionnaire. Yuhyun ignored Yerim. A tablet was placed in front of Peace. Peace pressed my photo repeatedly with his front paw. Peace, you’re not supposed to find Dad. A tablet was given to Gyeol as well.

“Who did you write, Mister?”

“You shouldn’t look.”

“I’ll show you one of mine. I wrote Sesung Mister for number 1. I’ve been wanting to fight him properly for once!”

“I wrote…”

Yuhyun looked at me with expectant eyes.

“For me, of course, it’s Yuhyun.”

“Ey, be honest.”

“It’s true. Number 3 is Gyeol.”

“Right, I should write Gyeol too! Maybe if it was Peace, I could, but how can I fight Gyeol? Number 7 is… there’s no one here. Excuse me! Can I leave it blank if there isn’t anyone?”

“Of course you can.”

Chatterbox answered. I didn’t particularly have anyone for number 7 either. Yerim, having quickly finished filling out the questionnaire, folded hers neatly to hide it and started snooping around.

“Gyeol, can I see? Is your number 1 Sesung Mister too? What about Sesung Mister? Oh, as expected, Mister and Chief Song have a high share! Is there anyone you’re not interested in?”

“It is difficult to say I have no interest if I am writing their name.”

“Mister, Sesung Mister says he wants to fight me!”

Yerim shouted proudly. That’s unexpected. No, come to think of it, Seong Hyunjae had never properly fought Yerim yet. Besides, the current me wasn’t worth fighting anyway. If he had to choose from this group, Yerim would indeed suit Seong Hyunjae’s taste. Since she is at least new.

“Now, please submit your questionnaires.”

About thirty minutes later, the assistants collected the questionnaires. While we waited, simple refreshments were served.

“Who did you write, Hyunah unni? Number 1?”

“Secret.”

“Ey. Chief Song was mostly blank. What about Noah oppa?”

“It is a secret for me as well.”

Yerim pouted, saying it was no fun.

“Since I have traveled with Chief Song Taewon several times, I would like to have a pleasant time with Han Yujin–gun as well.”

“Someone is saying something conscienceless again. That wasn’t travel, it was forced business trips.”

Moon Hyunah clicked her tongue as she spoke. Song Taewon quietly drank his tea. A moment later, Chatterbox appeared again.

“Based on the survey results and the honest hearts of the participants. Let us move!”

As soon as Chatterbox finished speaking, the surrounding scenery changed instantly. The broadcast was still off. If I was up against a very disadvantageous opponent, it might be better not to broadcast. So, confirm the opponent first.

Someone appeared in front of me.

“First of all, hi.”

Lifting one hand slightly, Han Yujin greeted Han Yujin.