The S-Classes That I Raised - Chapter 457: I’m Hospitalized (4)

“I’ve finally gained access to search engines and dictionaries too.”

Unable to move from my spot on the bed, I watched as Hyun-ah gave me a worried look, as if she thought I might name the horned fox now that I couldn’t get up. But I had Yerim’s tip in mind.

“They said it helps to refer to names others recommend and look up word meanings.”

When Gyeol got his name, Seong Hyunjae helped as a consultant too. I powered on the tablet PC Yerim had handed me to play when bored. A few games were installed—mostly simple puzzle games.

“I play this one sometimes too.”

“This one? Candy Shop PONG!?”

“I use it to kill time while waiting at the board or hunter association.”

Curious, I launched it. A colorful candy shop appeared, with subtitles narrating the story: the elderly shop owner planned to close, but a dog and cat volunteered to run the shop instead. Then a fearsome Ginger Chocolate Dragon stole all the candy, and the dog and cat followed its foul trail.

“The dog crafts candy bombs, and the cat uses trained mice to gather ingredients.”

“When you level up you can make Taffy Machine Guns and Sweet Potato Jerky Missiles too.”

“Taffy I get, but why sweet potatoes? They’re not candy.”

“Because the dog likes them?”

Made sense. During sweet potato season, our dogs would get plump and end up at the hospital. I opened a browser window to search for pretty fox names… there probably weren’t any, so I looked up pretty cat names instead.

“Luna, Coco, Pepper, Milky.”

Cute, but didn’t suit the horned fox.

“They said it helps to look up word meanings. He’s a fox, so… fox…”

Fox. In hanja it’s “ho.” There are many dialects: hoye, hosu, yeongu, yeongi, migu, yusu, hokwae, gaeyeo, yakkwi…

“Hoyeo? Hosu? Hoya? Not Hogu. Horong, Horang.”

“Horong or Horang sound cute. Horang might cause confusion though.”

“Still okay, isn’t it?”

I said, watching Peace sprawled on the sofa and the horned fox mimicking his pose below, glancing up at him.

“Peace is the horned lion, and he’s the horned fox. But his name would be Horang.”

Lion and tiger go together. At least their names would match.

“How about it, Horang-ah. Rang-ah.”

The horned fox kept glancing only at Peace. He probably didn’t recognize it as his name yet.

“People really do grow up.”

“It’s quite an improvement,” Hyun-ah marvelled. Was it really that different? Honestly, Ppiyak and Horang felt similar to me.

“Leafnil will struggle to enter dungeons for a while, so I ought to name him. Buffalo is headed toward Haeyeon’s care, so they’ll name it themselves. Pegasus went to Evelyn. And Bellare—takes its name from Minerva.”

At my words, Hyun-ah made a strange face.

“One of its nicknames is Medusa though.”

“Oh, because of the eyes? It doesn’t petrify, though.”

Didn’t Medusa turn things to stone? If that were a skill, dungeon raids would be easy.

“Stop slithering backward. Revealing special skills is sensitive. ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) Why? Pegasus was born of Medusa.”

“Really?”

“And Medusa was cursed by Athena, Minerva. The shield used to kill her was Athena’s too. So Pegasus named Athena… it’s kind of underhanded.”

Turns out the name carried more complexity than I thought. No wonder Seong Hyunjae called it mischievous.

“Is it really that underhanded? They could’ve just used a goddess’s name.”

Hardly a strange deity—war goddess, no less.

“Hyun-ah seems to really dislike Evelyn.”

“I said we don’t match. It’s about temperament. Seong Hyunjae is black-hearted, but Miller’s temperament is more of a persistent gray.”

A rather unpleasant type, Hyun-ah waved her hand.

“In Sesung, Soyeong’s the puppy amidst the jackals.”

Hearing “puppy” I pictured a huge golden retriever. The image did differ greatly from the others.

“I like good kids. Like Soyeong or Chief Han.”

“Why me?”

I hadn’t exactly lived a saintly life.

“What do you mean? Chief Han is good.”

Hyun-ah rose from her chair and flopped onto the bed beside me, draping an arm over my shoulder. The changeling lying across my lap tilted its head in confusion.

“She’s cute too.”

“How old do you think I am!”

Inside, I’m thirty. I should explain that to Hyun-ah properly. She’d probably shrug it off, though.

“Sometimes I want to scoop you up and run off. What do you think, Chief Han? Want to come with me?”

“No, I don’t think—”

Hyun-ah laughed with narrowed eyes.

“If you keep this up, I’ll start to think you’re mine.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“Yerim’s fine, but the problem is you and your brother.”

…Exactly what problem? Gyeol rose and thumped his tail. Peace hopped down and approached too. Then the doorbell rang. I didn’t need to see to know who it was.

I opened the door with the remote. Seong Hyunjae entered, holding a chocolate drink… huh? What is that, chocolate soy milk? Gyeol let out a plaintive whine and cuddled up to my side.

“Oops, did I come too early, being oblivious?”

Dropping the soy milk on the table, Seong Hyunjae said. Oblivious…?

“I must have interrupted a pleasant moment.”

Hyun-ah pulled me closer and murmured. No, just a moment.

“I was naming the fox!”

“You’ve improved a lot, but let’s agree I name our child, honey.”

Her soft whisper made my ears tingle.

“You already named Sorok yourself!”

“I have to think of a name for the second one too, right?”

That… is about the monsters, but I know that. Seong Hyunjae approached the bed and Gyeol whimpered again. Peace even hopped onto the bed and sat at my feet.

“As a partner, I can’t lose. How about we plan for the second one too?”

“What? When did we get a firstborn? Comet?”

“Comet’s Soyeong’s darling. Our firstborn is—”

“No way!”

Gyeol squealed and Hyun-ah laughed heartily.

“I thought some random drake showed up.”

“They’re not related to Gyeol at all!”

“Chief Han’s popularity is a problem. So, who’s Chief Han’s favorite?”

“…Huh?”

“You know, your ideal type. Someone two meters tall, maybe.”

I’m not two meters tall. And ideal type…

“I just like someone who likes me.”

“What? That’s all? Anyone? Really?”

“Not just anyone. Honestly, hard to date or marry given my circumstances.”

No riches or ulterior motives—pure affection only.

“For now, at least until Yerim grows up, and Yuhyun might need to stay with me. Plus, there are monsters, and it’s dangerous.”

I’ve been kidnapped multiple times already. I accept it as the one involved, but if roles were reversed I’d be furious… I suddenly felt sorry for the kids.

“How many would willingly accept all that?”

“But Chief Han doesn’t actually love them, does she?”

“I don’t, but they’d accept all my flaws. Naturally I’d fall in love.”

Who could not love such a person? I’d inevitably fall for her. Hyun-ah gazed at me earnestly.

“Better keep an eye on Yerim and your brother too.”

“Pardon?”

“If some weirdo targets them, you might have to give them up and cry alone.”

“That won’t happen. I have no time to date.”

“I love you, Chief Han.”

Hyun-ah said solemnly. My heart skipped.

“Seriously, stop joking like that. Peace, come here.”

Squirming from Hyun-ah’s arms, I scooped up Peace and petted him.

“If you weren’t joking, would you come to me? Hmm?”

“If it weren’t a joke… but it is.”

Hyun-ah’s a wonderful person, but too much flattery leads to silly thoughts. She said to like whoever likes me, and honestly I’d like someone I can rely on. It’d feel secure.

Sometimes I want protection too. I’m grown, but maybe I became independent too early. Occasionally, at least.

Hyun-ah is trustworthy and could support me. Yerim likes her, and Yuhyun would be fine with her… But it’s obviously just teasing.

“You’ll become familiar with Han Yujin’s face.”

Seong Hyunjae teased that it was pitiful. Hyun-ah sat up and spoke gently.

“Why assume it’s a joke? You’re truly a charming person. So, like whoever Yujin likes. It’s okay. As you said, whoever you like will surely love you back.”

“…No way that’d happen.”

“Have confidence!”

Hyun-ah lightly tapped my back.

“And if it goes wrong once or twice, so what? There are countless people who’d like you!”

—I do love Dad too.

“I love you, Han Yujin.”

—No, that’s not it. Stop.

It was embarrassing. I cleared my throat a few times.

“Well then, Hyun-ah, you should go?”

“That person’s here, so I’ll leave.”

—Auntie, can you stay longer? Instead of them?

The changeling looked at her imploringly. Why “auntie”? Maybe he thinks “aunt” means any older woman.

“Oh dear, you like Auntie? Seong Hyunjae’s surprisingly unpopular with the kids.”

“Soyeong liked her immediately.”

“She was just mistaken.”

“Even at last year’s Children’s Day event—”

“Gift bombardment!”

Although Hyun-ah denies it, kids do like handsome people. He’s big, so they might be scared though.

“Oh, among the hunters coming into the Hamsten House, there’s someone I know.”

“Really?”

“Not well, but I’ve run into her in Western regions sometimes. Hunter Chloe Alger—she’s exceptional. Fun to watch.”

…Whoa.

“Hunter Chloe Alger? She’s like two meters tall?”

“You know her?”

My hand smoothed my cheek. It wasn’t rough.

“Has my skin suffered? I can’t adjust to Chinese water… I had surgery too.”

“Huh? It’s fine.”

“I should’ve used the face pack Yerim gave me. When is she arriving? With makeup it’ll be okay, right?”

“Chief Han?”

“Han Yujin?”

Hyun-ah and Seong Hyunjae looked at me in confusion.

“Was Chief Han’s ideal type really someone two meters tall?”

“If you round up, she just missed two meters?”

“I’m just a fan! We’ve never met. It’s like a celebrity on screen.”

“She does livestreams, but no Korean subtitles yet. How did you become a fan?”

I’d seen her on TV before regression, not livestream. Hyun-ah tilted her head, and Seong Hyunjae gave a knowing look.

He told me she’d arrive in a few days for monster processing, then Hyun-ah left. Maybe I should start training now. Exercise… but the leg. I need to stay still, at least upper body or abs. I’m not very out of shape, but still.

“You really liked her, didn’t you.”

I rubbed my stomach. Seong Hyunjae pulled a pen from his inventory.

“She was my favorite show. Dungeon survival stuff. It was fun, but especially because she treated low-rank hunters as equals—friendly, guiding them through dungeons. Even if it was for broadcast.”

It had been comforting. When low-rank hunters described dungeons I often ran, she’d sincerely praise their tips. As a top-rank hunter she could’ve bulldozed through, but she earnestly explored mid-rank dungeon survival methods with them.

“When she visited Korea, she had a special inviting lower-rank hunters. I applied too. Got rejected though.”

I was sick of livestreams then, but wanted to meet her. Now that she’s coming to Korea, maybe for filming equipment? You can’t record inside dungeons yet. I’ll mention it when we meet.

Seong Hyunjae wrote in the empty space on my cast:

[Always stay healthy – a fan of Han Yujin]

What is that. Ridiculously appropriate.

“Fan my foot.”

“You’ve given me so much joy, after all. I cherish it, so it’s fair to call me a fan.”

He pulled out a photocard again asking for my autograph. No way, really.

“More importantly, nothing strange happened? Only a day’s passed—no weird approaches?”

“No, of course not.”

I eyed Seong Hyunjae’s face. He didn’t seem to lie, but expressions can be faked.

“If there’s anything, tell me honestly. Even for a while.”

Hearing about the chatterboxes targeting me made me uneasy, truly. Though he promised nothing’s up, the unease lingered.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by readnovel.co