Since there was still quite a bit of time until evening, I decided to go to the Korean Hunter Association for now.

‘I guess it's better to just receive an F-grade.’

I intended to reveal only the basic skills and hide the titles and their abilities. Having an L-grade, or even an S-grade defense skill wouldn't hurt, but having L~S-grade support skills for an F-stat was not only excessive but also dangerous.

Especially, if the owner of skills usable outside dungeons, like My Brat Is The Best or Promising Sprout, couldn't protect themselves. It was no different from putting up an advertisement saying, 'Catch me if you can.'

They could kidnap me, and then use the skills through threats and torture.

If it was a support skill that needed to be used during battle, there was a possibility of both sides dying, so it was better to form a party normally. But for non-combat support skills usable outside dungeons, it was possible to capture the user and make them obey like slaves without spending money.

In fact, there were a lot of victims of such schemes out there.

‘That’s why I hid the title of Caregiver.’

I would have been able to raise my Hunter rating easily if I told the association about it, but I was too afraid to do so. I thought I couldn’t be protected because I believed I had lost the backing of my brother.

What should I do this time?

‘I guess it's better to reveal everything to Yoohyun, and be protected while helping the guild with skills?’

Dragon Slayer is hard to explain, so I should only talk about the Perfect Caregiver. I think that even with just The Promising Sprout skill I could do a job good enough to call myself an older brother. If I recruit a talented rookie, not only will the guild not kick me out, but they might even give me a prominent position.

I opened the door with these delightful thoughts, and my eyes met with another’s.

“Uh…”

A burly man, easily surpassing 190 cm in height, leaned against the corridor wall in front of the door. He looked at me with a gruff expression.

Kim Sunghan, an A-rank Awakened.

He was one of Yoohyun’s faithful right-hand men, and a battle hunter specialized in defense. Due to his high loyalty to Yoohyun, he had always regarded me as a thorn in his side. Judging by his expression, it seemed like nothing had changed.

But why was he here? It wasn't like he was just passing by, standing there with his back turned completely.

"Um… hello?"

Kim Sunghan completely ignored my greeting. What's going on? This didn’t happen before. Previously, after getting scolded by Yoohyun, I got angry and after shouting for him to mind his own business I just stormed out.

“I have some business to attend to briefly. Excuse me.”

Then I tried to pass by.

“That’s not possible.”

A deep voice stopped me. It didn’t just end with words, but he even caught my arm.

“The guild leader has ordered me to keep you from going out.”

“…Pardon?”

Why? Did he think I was going to visit another Awakening broker again? Can't he trust his own brother? Well, even I wouldn't trust myself, but still.

“I won't cause any trouble. I'll just go out for a moment and come right back. It'll only take an hour.”

Since the Hunter Association is a 10-minute taxi ride from here, and it's a weekday with fewer people, I should be able to complete the hunter registration within an hour. But the hand that grabbed my arm did not budge.

“Go straight into the room, please.”

“No, really, just for a second…”

As our eyes locked, my voice involuntarily quitened. Just then.

[The pressure has been nullified!]

The Fear Resistance skill effect has been activated. But really, what's the use of having this skill? It's not like it's going to make a difference just because I'm not scared. It's truly useless.

“Alright. I’m going in, going in.”

There's no point in trying to reason with an A-rank; it's not like they're flexible enough to talk with a flea like me. Oh, by the way, what are his skills?

Kim Sunghan’s eyes narrowed as I turned around again. Dude. Staring won’t do anything. The status window popped up when I used Promising Sprout.

[Awakened – Kim Sunghan

Current Stat Rank: A

Possible Awakening Stat Rank: A~S

Optimized Initial Skills:

Indomitable Body (S) Failed to Obtain

Regenerative Power (S) Failed to Obtain

Shield of the Earth (A) Obtained]

What a waste! I almost shouted out loud. You’ve got two S-Level Skills that could be obtained and your maximum stat level is S! If I recall, Kim Sunghan’s initial skills were the Shield and Footprints of the Earth. Footprints of the Earth was also A-grade, but it seemed it wasn't an optimized skill.

‘Wow, that’s too bad. Can’t a man who’s already Awakened be Reawakened? Kim Sunghan’s Optimization Awakening!’

[The target has not been influenced by the Keyword.]

Oh right, the Keyword.

[Target that has already been Awakened cannot undergo the Optimal Awakening.]

Message windows appeared one after another. As expected, it's not possible. Well, what can you do…

[While using Brat’s The Best (L) the caregiver can concentrate the growth buff on a desired skill, enabling the Influenced target to acquire new skills, including unobtained optimized ones.]

Wow! I can focus the growth buff on a chosen skill? Damn, this system seriously lacks proper explanations. It seems there are hidden effects discovered belatedly, and there are even skills that seem to have additional effects without any messages popping up…?

Anyway, the fact that I can acquire an unobtained S-grade skill is amazing… Amazing… It's amazing, but…

‘Damn, the Keyword.’

I looked up at Kim Sunghan. A rough man with a formidable presence, more than 20 centimeters taller than me, sending a rude gaze that asks, 'What are you doing standing there instead of going in?'

Yeah, I can’t. I’ll never do it.

I went into the room, smiling as if nothing had happened.

Then I inwardly shouted to myself.

‘Change the Keyword!!’

Reset it, please, reset! I want to regress again. By just one day. No, just one hour.

Although I turned away, saying I wouldn't do it, it's a waste, a waste, damn it, so damn wasteful!

‘It would be helpful if the number of S-classes in the guild increased by even one. Yeah, I’ll explain it to Yoohyun first and…’

Muttering under my breath, I felt like I was missing something… Something about the Keyword? Something about telling others about my skills?

An ominous premonition struck the back of my head.

Let’s settle the situation calmly. Currently, I am…

‘…I’m locked up.’

I’m trapped. Not by just anyone, but by an A-rank Awakened standing guard at the door. It's too much to prevent me from going out just in case I cause trouble. Even a C-rank or D-rank would have been enough to stop me.

‘Yoohyun, you…’

What are you thinking? Something like this has never happened before the regression.

I walked around the room and then sat on the bed.

‘If this situation right now is just to protect me…’

I recalled Yoohyun telling me to immediately delete the broker's contact and making it so that he couldn't be reached. Things seemed odd from that point on.

Even though I am weaker than him, I’m still his older brother. I’m an adult and as long as I don't cling to being a hunter, I can live alone well enough. Moreover, unlike before the regression, we can communicate well now, so there was no need to confine me like this.

In the first place, Yoohyun doesn’t have the right to lock me up, does he?

I rolled my head around and pulled out my cell phone. I’ll ask him directly.

At the end of a short beep, Yoohyun answered the phone.

“Uh, it’s nothing much. I was going to go out for a while, but Kim Sunghan blocked me. Was it your order?”

[Where are you going?]

The Hunter Association… I guess I’d better not say that for now.

“Just home.”

[Why home?]

“Do I need a reason to go back to my own house? I will come back in the evening.”

The voice over the cell phone paused for a moment, but it started again lower than before.

[That’s a little different from what Sunghan said.]

“Uh, what?”

[He said you’d be back in an hour.]

“No, that’s because he was blocking me. It meant I wouldn't be going anywhere special.

Why is he being so sensitive? The unease in my chest grew a bit bigger.

[If you don’t have anything special to do, just stay put. As for the house… how about joining the guild, too?]

“What?”

[You don’t really need to live separately. It’s not like the world is safe these days. There’s no dungeon near hyung’s house, but you don’t know when and where it might happen, and what if it suddenly erupts?]

No, the next 5 years are safe.

[I’ll get you ready for the move.]

“Move? Hey!”

[I have to go out, so I will not be able to reach you until evening. If you need anything, tell Sunghan.]

“No, wait a minute! Yoohyun!”

The call was cut off. I looked at my phone with a sense of disappointment and bewilderment simultaneously.

‘Is this also one of the side effects of returning to the past?’

I think my brother’s personality has changed. Why is this kid acting like this?

‘The title of Perfect Caregiver, I shouldn’t reveal it.’

Right now I’m still known as an Unawakened. If I reveal that I have exceptionally useful support skills, I might not be able to take a single step outside the door. …Although, I can't go outside right now either.

Damn, for now, I need to hide it and keep an eye out.

‘If Yoohyun keeps acting strangely, I’ll have to build my own faction.’

Thanks to the Perfect Caregiver title it seems possible.

First of all, I have to visit future A~S-class individuals I know of and Awaken them. It would be best if they were on the younger side. I'll persuade the kids well, make them Awaken, and…

‘…Isn't this basically a scam or human trafficking?’

Well, I’m not getting paid for it, and I’ll really Awaken them!

To prevent the awakened individuals from betraying me, I'll have to draft a contract. Something like protecting me as my subordinate hunter for a year without revealing the awakening secret should be enough as terms. I'd like to say, "protect me for a lifetime!" but there were no contract items that could bind S-class awakened individuals for an extended period of time. The longest was ten years.

By collecting A~S-class individuals like this and using growth skills as bait to make them stay, a sizable guild will be formed in no time.

‘Or maybe, in the middle, it would be okay to merge with the Hayeon Guild.’

If I bring a lot of A and S ranks, Yoohyun will have to acknowledge me. He wouldn't try to imprison me again, right? I will have people protecting me, so I won’t be easily captured.

Alright, then the first awakened individual to catch…

Park Yerim, the Ice Witch, who will become an A-class awakened three years from now, seems like a good choice. She quickly stood out even among A-ranks, so who knows, she might even have the potential for an S-class awakening.

‘She was living in Seoul, right? I remember seeing an interview where I learned she had lost her parents to a dungeon shock and was living with relatives who ran a meat restaurant near Myeong-dong Station. Her age would be now… fifteen?’

…She’s a girl in middle school. Saying the Keyword to a middle school student…

I solemnly swear on the sky that I, a person twice her age, have no ill intentions towards a minor! If a person in their thirties has any strange thoughts about a minor, they should immediately fall on a sword! This is just groundwork for awakening!