The S-Classes That I Raised Chapter 64 - Sunbae-nim?

Chapter 64: Sunbae-nim?

“It’s a skill, but the way you’re talking makes it seem like there’s an actual thing?”

“There is.”

“......There is?”

It wasn’t like fire or ice bursting out, so what, a forge cos out? This was also the first ti I’ve heard of such a skill.

“Specifically, it’s written that you can go into the subspace that the Gold Forge is in.”

“Wow......”

Wow. What was that. That was too different from the style of skills I knew.

‘Instead of a skill, it seems closer to an item.’

Like the S-Rank trap item Gingerbread House[1] or SS-Rank defense item Darkroom of Silence. They were special items that ca out a long ti later. But I hadn’t heard of or seen a skill that could make sothing like a building. Skills were fundantally intangible abilities. It pulled in and gathered energy or elents to make simple forms, but to think it was a forge. Did it have everything like a brazier and an anvil? Did that make any sense?

“How do you go in?”

I asked, rising from my seat.

“Just.”

Myeongwoo held his hand out towards . To go in, did you just go in? First, I put Peace in his pen, and lowered Chirpie to the sofa.

I was a little suspicious about the safety, but that was why I wanted more and more to follow in at least once. There was still a little left in the application ti for the Last Repaynt.

“You can take anybody inside?”

“If I want.”

“Then you could use it as a hiding place. Could you store sothing like ergency food supplies?”

I said, grabbing the held out hand. If the subspace that the Forge was in was safe, it would beco an excellent refuge in possible scenarios.

The feeling of going through a dungeon gate suddenly ca over , and in front of my eyes, the scenery changed.

It was indoors where sunlight was shining through a large window. The very first thing I saw was a wavering fire inside of a large kiln. The fire with a tint of gold was, far from burning on firewood, burning by itself without a single straw.

Unsuited to its na, the walls were entangled with tree trunks and roots. The thick sll of wood and fire hung in the air. I saw a place where a hamr, large tongs, and other tools I didn’t know the nas of, were hung.

It was an old, old-style forge. In the middle, on top of a large anvil, there was a bouquet of flowers and one mo sheet. Out of the blue.

“...Exactly what could that bouquet be.”

“I wonder.”

Myeongwoo went toward the anvil and picked up the mo. I wondered what it said, but it wasn’t Korean letters, and it wasn’t hanja[2] or the roman alphabet[3] either. They were letters I had never seen before in my life.

“I think this was sent to .”

“To you, Myeongwoo? You can read it?”

“Yeah... Welco, successor. May there be the blessing of molten iron and flas in your future. Is what is says.”

As expected, it was an item, not a skill. Seeing how it said successor or whatever, it seed like so unknown sunbae-nim had prepared it for him.

“It seems like it’s saying I’m the successor, but then does that an there was soone who had gotten the Gold Forge’s Owner skill before ?”

Myeongwoo asked, tilting his head.

“Maybe. It’s only been barely 3 years since Awakened People appeared, so instead of simple sunbae-hoobae, saying successor and such should be hard. And there hasn’t been any produced equipnt in the anti. At the least, you should be the first in the world we live in.”

As I spoke, the system administrators ca to mind. Would the person who had the past Gold Forge’s Owner skill be among them? And they had prepared various items for the next generation skill holder, like this? Was sothing like that possible?

‘Who exactly are those people? The things to ask keep on increasing.’

Just then, Myeongwoo turned the mo over to the backside.

“There’s sothing written here too... Ismual[4]?”

Whoosh!

“Step back!”

The kiln’s fire abruptly shot up. I quickly tried to stand in front of Myeongwoo, but that Myeongwoo, far from stepping back, stood in front instead.

“Yoojin, you stand back! Right now your stat rank is lower.”

...Well, it was still in the middle of the Last Repaynt application. But I couldn’t say that.

“......I have a shielding skill item. The one the Seseong Guild Leader gave .”

Though I was thinking of using it for Myeongwoo-.

“You were going to use that on anyways.”

...When did he get so sharp. But right now, my stats were over B-Rank and I didn’t exactly need B-Rank shielding......

“No, it wasn’t like that. It wasn’t not like that either... Before that, look at that!”

I changed the subject and pointed to the towering fire. While we weren’t looking, it had ford into a shape similar to a person. It shifted between a round child’s and a tall adult’s height several tis, before settling in a middle appearance.

Then it completely turned into an appearance like a human.

It was an appearance produced by fire, so it wasn’t a real human no matter how you looked at it. Was that also an item?

“I greet you, owner.”[5]

...It talked?!

“It talks?!”

Myeongwoo was also surprised. It was my first ti seeing a different species? that talked. Excluding the system people. Since I hadn’t personally seen those people.

“I am the elental[6] born from the creator’s last breath, Ismual.”

“......There are things like elentals?”

“......I don’t know either.”

At Myeongwoo’s question, I shook my head from side to side. Did elentals really exist? Elentals like salamanders and sylphs appeared in things like gas and novels, and I had never heard of them existing in reality. And of course, there weren’t Awakened People who had things like elental summoning skills.

But suddenly, an elental. What was that.

While we were taken aback, the self-styled elental Ismual looked down at us with emotionless gold eyes. Was it a living being?

‘Would the Seed-Leaf skill work?’

In order to check, I used the skill. But... the status window didn’t appear. Instead, the information popped up in my mind.

‘...Fire elental, super strong, and handles flas. It’s in a state where it’s done growing. The contractor is the person next to . What is this?’

The words weren’t written on a rectangular window, and I directly felt the information. And compared to the written ones, it was ambiguous. If it was this strong of a feeling, then what was the rank? It seed like it would be A at least. The sensitivity for the skills wasn’t good. I couldn’t tell, outside of that it could freely handle fire. And, force didn’t seem to work on it.

What was it? Did a system error occur?

Taken aback, I tried to open my status window. But nothing appeared this ti too. On top of that, I couldn’t feel what my state was, and the information didn’t co to mind. Neither the rank, level, skill, or title. I didn’t know anything.

It felt like I had suddenly been thrown into a closed room with the lights off.

“......Myeongwoo, can you open your status window?”

“Status window?”

Myeongwoo stopped for a mont, before his eyes widened shortly.

“I-it’s not popping up? Awakening cancellation can happen too?!”

“No, it doesn’t work for either. But it seems like skills work. And the stats are probably the sa. Just... the system windows don’t pop up, I think. The inventory...... checking the contents is impossible, but I can take out and put things back in.”

I took out the magic stone powder bottle and then put it back in. Originally, you could also see the contents list, but right now, that didn’t pop up either.

“If it’s not that our skills disappeared, it’s a relief. Is it that this space weird?”

“It seems so.”

Was it free of the system’s influence because it was a subspace? ...But wasn’t Awakening itself a part of the system? If things like the window didn’t co up but abilities were the sa, then, did that an it was different from a ga-like system and Awakening?

......My thoughts were getting complicated.

“Please tell your na, owner.”

Ismual, who was quietly floating in the air, opened its mouth. No, its mouth was shut and just the voice ca out.

“Is it talking about my na? Yoo Myeongwoo.”

“Yoo Myeongwoo-nim. Will you receive the basics training prepared by the creator?”

“Basics training?”

“Yes. If you have already prepared enough proficiency as a blacksmith through basic practice, then it is not necessary. But if you have just entered the road of production, fast growth is possible.”

I didn’t know who it was, but they seed like a kind person who considered a lot about their successor. Did I not have a sunbae like that?

“Then I’ll definitely receive it.”

At Myeongwoo’s reply, Ismual’s gaze moved to .

“My flas are safe only for the contractor. If your resistance to heat is not high, there is the danger of burns or death.”

Was the workroom okay? It was made of wood.

“I’ll go out.”

“Okay. Ah, take this too.”

Myeonwoo lifted the bouquet and held it out. If it was left here, it would probably get burned. Shortly after, I returned to my original location, the living room.

-Chirp!

Chirpie, who was quietly sitting on the sofa, flapped and stood up, noticing [7]. Across the glass wall, Peace also waved his tail. Seeing the kids’ reaction, it seed like ti in the subspace and here flowed similarly.

‘...I want to go into a dungeon right away and interrogate them.’

If I went now, an emoticon saying that they couldn’t talk would probably be sent. Still, there weren’t a lot of days left.

‘Before that, I have to make Yoohyun stop sulking.’

After yesterday, he didn’t even pick up the phone. It could’ve been because he was busy, but it was probably because he was mad at . Should I give him flowers or sothing?

“What flowers are these?”

I looked down at the bouquet I was holding in my hands. It consisted of five big flowers, more than ten mid-sized flowers, and small flowers too. They were all flowers I had never seen before.

I didn’t know flower kinds well, but they didn’t seem to be flowers from this world. Especially the big flowers were faintly sparkling. Among the small flowers, the gold ones felt hard and cold like tal. When I tore off a petal, it wasn’t real tal either. From ti to ti, the flowers, which were similar to orchids[8], on their own... moved.

They were clearly not normal flowers, but an explanation window didn’t pop up like with dungeon byproducts.

They were really pretty, though.

“Is it okay to mix it with ice?”

After getting so frappe and coming over, Yerim looked at the cup in front of and asked. The cup with ice had a mana potion poured into it.

“Wouldn’t it not matter?”

“Looking at the color, it looks like orange flavor. Isn’t it about ti you got sick of it?”

“I am sick of it.”

Was there any way I could not be sick of it? Originally it was okay enough to eat, not tasty, and since I was trying to drink it like water, it was slowly getting harder.

I held back a sigh and looked around the surroundings.

In order to look for B-Rank and higher special initial skill holders, I had borrowed an entire 1-story cafe by a street that had a lot of people coming and going. Besides Yerim, there were one A-Rank Hunter and three B-Rank Hunters. One of the B-Rank Hunters said they had had a part-ti job at a cafe before, and was making all sorts of beverages.

“......Should I try mixing a mana potion into coffee?”

“It seems like it would taste super bad. Instead, pour real orange juice into it. To make it thick.”

“I’m sick of the flavor of orange... Apple, too.”

“Then what about asking for a custom mana potion?”

“That’s a good idea.”

It would be expensive, but like this, even if I drank only two to three days more, past being sick of it, I felt like I would throw it up.

“Should I plaster on equipnt prioritizing Mana[9]? I have too little mana itself, so I have to drink it too often.”

But doing sothing like that was also annoying. On top of that, it was sumr. Grumbling, I turned my gaze back to the window. I saw passersby coming and going, passing the street. The goal was B-Rank and higher special skill holders. Of course, I couldn’t miss A-Rank and higher stat holders either.

But I couldn’t discover even one yet.

“C-Rank again. Nice to Hear Eloquence.”

“Ah, it’s that person, right? They’re a teacher at EVS Middle; they’re famous. Their lectures are definitely easy to listen to. Apparently a ton of cram schools sought after them.”

It seed like they had found their aptitude.

“Surprisingly, there’s quite a lot of people up to C-Rank. Aren’t there more D-Ranks?”

“Yeah. E-Rank and higher is almost half the people.”

At my words, Yerim tilted her head.

“If the skills are E-Rank and higher, they would get Hunter licenses, but it’s said that the ratio of Hunters among Awakened People is about 1%.”

“That’s...... because the Awakened People until now mostly have combat related skills?”

I couldn’t be sure with what I briefly looked around at in the morning, but people’s aptitudes were mostly not combat. All this while, I had just passed by lower than C-Ranks without much thought, so I hadn’t purposely calculated the ratio, but when I thought about it, it was actually a reasonable result.

It might have been different if it was about a hundred years ago, but currently, how many people would there be with a talent for fighting? And it wasn’t like our country was still continuing the civil war, and was on the peaceful side for over fifty years. And there was no reason to handle a proper weapon outside of the army. Unless they were athletes that did archery, kendo, shooting, etc., it ended with hobbies. And they weren’t common hobbies either.

“If more than half of people had talents that were higher than normal, how much would the ratio for talents related to combat be among them? I think it wouldn’t be a lot.”

“Then again, just looking at jobs, it’s the minority.”

Yerim nodded her head.

“Since they were forcefully Awakened as combat-related, there was no choice for most to be FF. For stat F, it’s well known that modern people’s exercise is lacking.”

If F-Ranks were subdivided into plus/minus, there would have been nurous F minuses.

“I’m realizing it anew, but there really were a lot of people in the world who totally didn’t know their own worth and buried it.”

If the C-Rank initial skill holder who just passed, had just gone to the Awakening Center, sothing like an F~E-Rank combat assistance skill probably would have co out.

“That office worker over there, it seems like a skill related to singing, but it’s C-Rank. Last ti when we went to the broadcasting station, I saw a few singers who are said to have good singing abilities, and one of them had an initial skill that was the sa as that one.”

“Really?”

Yerim excitedly looked at the man I was pointing to.

“Shouldn’t we go over there and tell him? To debut!”

“Isn’t it hard for celebrities with just being good at singing?”

“Still, it would be better than living without knowing.”

Yerim gulped down the frappe and stared at with a suddenly worried gleam in her eyes.

“But. If there are this many E-Ranks and higher, wouldn’t it be harder for ahjussi? You’ll have to help 50 out of a hundred people.”

“Ah... That’s true.”

I also hadn’t thought of that.

[1] lit. ‘snack/cookie’s house’ or ‘house of cookies/snacks’ but I think this is what it’s referencing

[2] he says ‘hanja’ instead of ‘Chinese’. Hanja is chn characters, but specifically those borrowed from chn and incorporated into krn with krn pronunciation, though they are p much exactly the sa as trad chn, unlike jpn kanji. It’s probably to contrast the fact that he said it wasn’t 한글 (hangul, aka krn alphabet), which wasn’t created until the 15th c and widespread until after that, so before that, hanja was used for writing. I think the nuance here is that the note might have been in ‘krn’ (speech-wise) but if it was, it wasn’t written in either hangul, hanja, or ‘alphabet’ (see footnote [3]). Either that, or he simply ant that it wasn’t written in chn characters, not that it wasn’t in the chn language itself.

[3] here he says the eng word ‘alphabet’ transliterated into krn, so I’m assuming he ans roman letters

[4] idk, it’s ‘ee-seu-moo-ah-reu’

[5] speaking w extrely respectful honorifics (obviously, since it’s talking to its owner-nim, but I took out the -nim), and it’s more ‘[this is] the first ti eting you’ but I thought this sounded more respectful(?)/formal in eng

[6] this word literally ans ‘spirit’. According to namu wiki, it’s rarely used normally, and is used when tl-ing from other languages; it’s the word for ‘elental’ in 4-elents dia (air, fire, earth, water), and spirits in animism, and things like jinn and fairies, and in modern krn, the first two def mixed are generally what cos to mind to readers. I didn’t know which to tl it as, ‘elental’ or ‘spirit’, bc idk anything abt ‘elentals’, but I googled it and wiki ntioned sylphs and salamanders so I guess it’s ‘elental’.

[7] he actually says ‘pretending to notice ’ but in this context, that’s a cute/cheeky way of saying chirpie ‘noticed’ bc chirpie is a chick and a baby besides so who knows if it knows anything at all, but it’s acting like it noticed yj

[8] the krn dict and the krn-eng dict gave different def? All the krn-eng dict said was that it’s a Phaelenopsis, but the krn dict said it was a dialect word for ‘the perennials of orchids’ but then listed just Oberonia japonica, but the pic in the dict looked completely different to the pics of Oberonia japonica on google. And then when I googled the na, one of the sites said it was Galearis cyclochila. So I’m confused. Anyways!! It’s a flower. It’s a type of orchid.

[9] fyi the word for the stat is actually ‘magic power/strength’, and the ‘mana’ in the next sent is the eng(?) word transliterated into krn. When it’s talking abt the stat, I usually capitalize it to differentiate