After exchanging cell phone numbers with Yoo Myeongwoo, a future SS-rank skill owner, we parted ways. Another problem was getting him accepted as a member of Haeyeon Guild. Should I insist to Yoohyun that I could feel something tremendous from Yoo Myeonwoo?

As we returned to the Haeyeon Guild, it seemed like some rumors had spread, as people sent curious glances my way.

“Is that person the Guild Leader’s brother?”

“This is my first time seeing him! But they don’t really look alike.”

“Excuse me, Guild Leader’s hyung! Are you really an F-rank?”

So much chatter. It looked like most of them came out to see me, but it was the weekend so why didn’t they all go home and rest.

“Yes, I'm an F-rank, please step aside.”

Go away, you people. Besides people on duty, all of you should just go home.

Still, as I hadn't caused much trouble at this point in time, there were no hostile stares or insults directed at me.

I started being called trash in earnest only half a year later, after Awakening Centers appeared and I Awakened.

As soon as it was announced that Awakening Centers had opened, several people had come looking for me. They urged me to go there immediately, saying they had high expectations for me as my brother was an S-rank. Tempted and encouraged, I boldly entered the Awakening Center on its opening day, carrying their sponsorship on my back, and Awakened.

And then, well, the result was F-rank, obviously.

There were many reporters there at the time, and there were also a lot of nonsense tabloids like "Is an S-rank's brother also S-rank?!" After that… I got cursed out real bad, got roasted by the media to hell and back, the sponsors who supported me terminated the contracts and I ended up in debt…

Setting the debt aside, even now thinking about the criticism made me feel wronged. Did I ask for those articles to be written? Why are they cursing at me after making up stories on their own? Curse out the damn reporters, not me, damn it.

Thinking about the past from before the regression, tears began to well up, so I quickened my pace. It's so unfair, damn it. Even if I didn’t do anything else, I was going to take revenge on those trash journalists. If it weren’t for those events, my life wouldn't have been half as messed up.

Especially Kim Seungjoon and Park Haeshin. I'll never forget those two. I was going to give a piece of my mind to these sons of bitches who twisted my words in the interviews to stir up trouble.

Grinding my teeth, I went up the elevator. To get to Yoohyun's place, one had to go through a security check on the 10th floor, confirm their identity before the portal room, and only then could one enter through the designated mini portal leading to the destination. It was annoying so I was going to definitely move to the employee lodgings somehow.

‘So where exactly is my room?’

Yesterday, I was watching soccer on a tremendously large TV and ended up falling asleep on the ridiculously comfortable couch instead of my bed. The soccer match was just so boring.

Maybe because athletes had good physical conditions, there were a lot who Awakened as E-rank or higher. In the end, they had to retire one by one, and now just mediocre athletes remained, whether it was soccer, basketball or baseball. As E-rank and above Awakeners were no longer considered ordinary people, they couldn’t participate in matches.

However, an Awakened league for C-ranks and below was going to be formed soon. Lower class Hunters didn’t make as much money as professional athletes so they complained.

‘Just how many rooms are in Yoohyun’s house?’

Taking up half a floor of the building, it was ridiculously spacious. I opened one of the closest doors. It was completely empty inside.

“He probably has mostly empty rooms since he lives alone. What a waste of space.”

Grumbling, I walked along the corridor. It was my first time going this way… Oh.

An indoor garden surrounded by glass walls appeared. Well, it was more like a greenhouse than a garden. Trees were densely packed, and there were lots of plants growing haphazardly—

*Kyaang!*

“Whoa, what the!”

I was following along the glass wall when something like a cat jumped out from between the bushes. A creature with red fur and a tail like a fox’s with a horn attached to its head growled threateningly at me. This glass should be sturdy, right?

“This tiny thing is fierce.”

Was this not a greenhouse but something like a pen? It didn't seem like an ordinary animal, so what could it be?

Just to be sure, I used Promising Sprout on the cat.

[Tier 2 Unicorn subspecies – Horned Flame Lion (Infant)

Current Stat Rank: C

Possible Growth Stat Rank: A~S

Optimized Initial Skills:

Flame Breath (S) Obtained After Growth

Blaze Run (A) Obtained After Growth

Giant Fire (A) Obtained After Growth

Flame Resistance (A) Obtained

※Cannot grow without the assistance of a mature individual]

“…This cat is a Flame Horned Lion?”

I couldn't hide my astonishment as I looked at the growling cat.

Tier 2 Unicorn subspecies, Horned Flame Lion. As a Tier 2 monster, its rank was high, and even though it wasn’t as powerful as dragon species, it still belonged to the higher realm of magical beasts.

With high stats and a fast pace, it was a beast whose skills were strong in destructive power, so if you didn’t prepare elemental resistance items beforehand, even if you were an S-Rank, it was hard to deal with alone.

For Yoohyun, since he had Fire Resistance, it would probably be easy, though.

‘Did he catch it to tame it? Has an Awakener with a Tamer skill already appeared?’

If taming was possible, it would be a perfect beast mount for Yoohyun. No, I suppose nurturing it should also be possible. If it wouldn't grow as it didn't have the assistance of a mature individual, then it would be a waste.

…Would the ‘My Brat’ skill possibly work on monsters too? It didn’t say that it was only for people.

Let's see…

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

The same message appeared when I tried to use it on Kim Sunghan. There was no indication that the skill application was impossible. So monsters could be targets too!

[Under the application of My Brat is the Best (L) the required time for the Horned Flame Lion to reach full growth equals to 15 days.]

Another Message Window popped up. Since the skill could be applied for 3 days once a month, it meant that in 5 months, the cub could become mature.

‘Even after 5 years, Yoohyun definitely didn’t have a beast mount.’

The higher the rank of the dungeon, the larger the inside becomes, so it would be convenient to have a beast mount for faster travel. However, due to the nature of his skills, Yoohyun needed a beast mount with a Fire Resistance of at least A-rank. If he ever got attacked while traveling, the innocent beast mount could get caught beetween his flames.

‘So it seems like he caught a baby Horned Flame Lion but failed to grow it.’

Tamer skills could only tame monsters that were lower rank than the skill itself. Horned Flame Lions were mostly S-rank, so if it wasn’t a baby, it wouldn’t be able to be tamed. But for now it was C-Rank, even a B-Rank tamer could tame it.

Though, the cub wouldn’t grow at this rate.

‘You probably can’t use something this size for a beast mount. It’d be perfect if I could grow it.’

Even ordinary beast mounts were treated as S-rank items when used by tamers. It would be a shame to leave such a perfectly suited beast idle, especially if it's of the Unicorn Species, which is faster and more powerful than ordinary beasts. It's truly top-notch.

But the Keyword was a problem. Would this guy even understand human language?

“Hey, kiddo. Can you understand human speech?”

*Grr! Growl!*

“It seems you don’t.”

*Growl*

Still, giving up was too much of a waste. Was there a way for me to teach it? I've seen many dogs in animal farms that understand human speech.

‘I don’t really know if they have to understand the Keyword, or simply hear it and feel emotional.’

The Keyword itself was somewhat flexible, which was convenient. For example, the old keyword "Cheer up" worked not only with those exact words but also with variations like "Hang in there" or "Stay strong." So, I thought that as long as the general meaning was conveyed, it would be fine. However, even if it only required understanding the overall meaning as I suspected, then it would still be difficult.

How do I even teach a Horned Flame Lion what love is.

‘I should experiment with this little guy to find out.’

Like Pavlov’s dog, if I told it I love it every time I gave it food, there’d be a response. If I taught it that ‘I love you’ equaled ‘food’, and then starved it for a few days and said "I love you"—

*Bam!*

At that moment, a sound like the breaking of a door echoed. It didn't seem like anyone would be breaking into the guild Leader's house, so was it Yoohyun?

Perfect timing. I should tell him I was going to try raising the Horned Flame Lion cub.

“Yoohyun… Oh?”

I was about to call him over to the hallway when I saw his grave expression. His face was stiff with anger. What happend?

“What's wrong? Did something—”

“Hand it over.”

My brother strode over as if growling. What? Hand what over? Did he mean the gift card? Well, the amount of money was quite substantial. …And I've almost used it all up, what should I do now? Would a refund work?

“The Black Poison Bead.”

“…Huh?”

“Hand it over right now.”

It wasn't about the gift card? But how did he know I bought Black Poison Beads? The Hunter Shopping Mall ensured confidentiality. Did payment notifications go out for gift cards too?

“That, why—”

“Just hand it over.”

The demanding voice became harsher. His eyes even glinted with a reddish hue. Thanks to my Fear Resistance, I wasn't exactly scared, but what's gotten into him?

“No, what the—”

“Hyung.”

Just let me talk. You keep cutting me off.

It seemed like he would grab me by the collar if I didn’t do as he says, so I reluctantly took out one Black Poison Bead from my inventory. I was going to solo an F-Rank dungeon with this. Did I have to give him all of them?

“The other ones too.”

Only after I handed over the remaining two did Yoohyun’s expression relax. He threw the Black Poison Beads into his inventory and let out a long sigh.

“Why on earth would you even think of this?”

“…Huh?”

What was he talking about?

“Am I that untrustworthy?”

It seemed like my dongsaeng was talking nonsense. Did he have a fever? This guy with a strong Fire Resistance?

“I don't know what you're talking about, but if we’re talking about being untrustworthy, then isn’t that more me? You’re a trustable sort.”

So reliable that if he made a guarantee, one could take out 100 billion won from the bank. Of course, even if we were brothers we shouldn’t make guarantees.

At my words, Yoohyun’s face contorted greatly. I just told him he was trustworthy, so why was his reaction like that? It would be nice if I had a skill to read my brother's mind.

“Don’t say stuff like that. Hyung, you… were prepared to sacrifice your life for my sake, weren't you?”

…Excuse me? Not the other way around? You died and it was thanks to that that I lived and regressed.

“Well… I don't quite understand what you're saying, but I just—”

“If you ever get held hostage, don't even think about using poison. No matter what happens, I'll save you, so don't even think about dying.”

“Uh, uh?”

Poison? So that’s what he meant!

Well, this guy didn’t know I had Poison Resistance.

The Black Poison Bead was an item that emits a wide-range poison fog. Without Poison Resistance, using it was as good as saying ‘I’m taking you down with me’… It's not strange that he misunderstood.

I smiled reassuringly.

“Hey, I never intended to do that. Why would I die?”

“Hyung…”

He abruptly pulled me into a tight hug. No, don’t. It was a misunderstanding!

“Thank you.”

“No, it's just—”

“But just the thought is enough, so don't worry about me and take care of yourself.”

…I never worried about you, though.

Yoohyun acting like this made it embarrassing to tell the truth so I just vaguely nodded my head. And it was hard to explain why I had such a high rank Poison Resistance skill. Saying something like "Oh, I just happened to gain an L-rank poison resistance skill out of nowhere!" would be suspicious as hell.

“But, Yoohyun. Over there, there’s a red cat-like creature.”

I changed the subject, pulling out of my brother’s embrace. In response, Yoohyun looked towards the greenhouse.

“It’s a baby Horned Flame Lion.”

“Horned Flame Lion?”

“Yeah. It’s your first time hearing about it, right? It came out of an S-rank dungeon we attacked two months ago. There was a baby so I brought it out to use as a beast mount but… even after two months, it hasn’t grown at all.”

Of course it wouldn’t grow. It was a magic beast that couldn’t grow without an adult’s help.

“According to the Tamer who tamed it, it seems there are special conditions for it to grow. But we don't know what those conditions are, and at this rate it’s useless, so I’m planning on getting rid of it.”

“Get rid of it? Are you going to put it up for auction?”

“No. It needs to be killed. I can't risk it falling into someone else's hands and growing, especially one of the Three Great Guilds.”

They were cold-hearted words. Even if it was a monster, if you raised it for two months, wouldn’t you feel some affection for it? It looked pretty cute, too.

“It's a shame. Can't I just raise it instead? Even if it's a baby, it's still stronger than me, isn't it? It could prove useful in case of emergencies.”

“It would be difficult for you to raise it though. Feeding it is expensive.”

“How much is it?”

“It requires one C-rank magic stone per meal.”

…Ten million won? Are you kidding?

____________

Hello, the translator here.

I just wanted to say I have changed the skill name from 'My Little One's The Best' to 'My Brat Is The Best'. I have already corrected the name in earlier chapters, and just wanted to give a heads up for those who might have happened to read the previous version.

Thanks for reading!