1. EX-Rank
1. EX-Rank
An era where a minority of humans awakened to act as Hunters and clear gates.
Not long ago, I too became part of that minority and awakened, but my ability was far too pitiful.
【 Beast Alchemist 》E-rank 】
"......Ah, E-rank."
Alchemist... and a minor field that creates magical beasts at that.
Magical beast was a term referring to magical creatures created using monster materials.
Simply put, a Beast Alchemist could be called a so-called chimera alchemist.
"Haa...."
Not crafting equipment, nor making drugs for buffing or healing... evaluated in Hunter society as the commercially most useless field, that was the Beast Alchemist.
"I'm ruined...."
In awakening, where they jokingly say getting even a C-rank changes your life, not only did I get an E-rank, but I also got the most useless ability.
However, perhaps because Hunter society had become so stagnant, the surrounding atmosphere began to flow strangely.
[Comprehensive] 'Continent's Sword Master' Cheonrin, Final Announcement of Giving Up SS-rank Gate Raid...! "I felt the limits of humans"
[Issue] Japan Solo Ranker Asagiri Ren Confesses "Hit a wall"... What is the next spec-up means for rankers?
[Breaking News] "S-rank gate raids also hit a wall"... End of explosive growth for rankers worldwide, has a 'stagnation period' arrived?
[Breaking News] US Hunter Analysis Community "Key to next-generation spec-up is magical beast pets?"
[Special] China targeting monopoly on magical beast pet market? 'Beast Alchemist' quantity offensive begins
[Stock Market] "The pet meta is finally here!" Magical beast pet stocks surge to upper limit for 5 consecutive days
【 Korea Hunter Gallery 】
[ Free ] No crazy Chinese Sword Empress gave up on SS-rank?
Author: Heongeteoi123
Is SS-rank impossible even for the world's strongest dealer lineup?
Asagiri Ren was whining about his growth being blocked too
Have Hunters really reached the limit of spec-up now?
[ Comments ]
YY (110.70) : Rumors are circulating that the SS-rank gate is for 5 people, but even with Cheonrin, their damage output was severely lacking
└ Heongeteoi123 (Author) : Insane... If an SS-rank break happens, it'll really be an all-time disaster;;;
└ YY (39.7) : But they haven't even cleared S-rank, what kind of move is charging into SS-rank?
└└ YY (211.235) : Since the SS-rank gate is in Beijing, doesn't the Chinese government want to clear it out quickly...?
10 years after gates appeared and people awakened... it became difficult for most first-generation Hunters and rankers to grow any further.
It wasn't impossible, but as their levels got higher, just like old-school RPGs, the growth speed became excessively slow.
Thus, it wasn't all that strange for everyone to turn their eyes to new means of spec-up besides equipment and buffs.
Anyway, benefiting from this trend, I managed to get a job at a newly established magical beast research lab.
[ Considering the test results you sent and Yoo Hyun-nim's traits, the newly established magical beast research team expressed great interest. ]
I had just thrown around resumes thinking of trying out being a porter...
But out of nowhere, I was hired by the magical beast research team.
"This actually worked...?"
*
Half a year passed after I got hired at the research lab.
Since I had graduated from a major with zero relation to biotechnology, I was a bit worried, but...
The trait of Beast Alchemist fundamentally increased intuition in the field of alchemy and provided basic guidelines, allowing even an outsider like me to easily adapt to the work.
Although our ranks differed, most of the researchers were people with traits similar to mine, so being able to converse smoothly with one another also greatly helped me settle down here.
On the way to work heading to the Magical Biotechnology Research Lab.
Wiiing-
As soon as the automatic doors opened and I walked inside the lab, I sensed something strange.
'What is it...? Did the culture experiment fail again? No... Isn't the schedule still a long way off?'
Sensing the serious atmosphere, I quietly approached the Team Leader and asked.
"Team Leader-nim, the atmosphere is kind of bad today, what's wrong? Did the KKO model we were culturing last time cause trouble again?"
"Haa... It's not that, Hyun-ah...."
No matter how hard the research was, Team Leader-nim, who used to serve as the team's mood maker while spamming unfunny dad jokes, had a face like a corpse.
I get the feeling that this is absolutely no ordinary matter.
"Then don't tell me... did a combat magical beast go wild and blow up a cage again... or... gasp... did it escape the research lab...?"
"Ha... It'd be a relief if a magical beast destroyed the lab and ran away... since we could just catch it again. It's not that, Hyun-ah... You saw the government regulations on the news this morning, right...? Because of that, the investors pulled out in the end... Maybe because it's election season, they threw a fit again! Again!! Anyway, magical creatures are the easiest targets... Fucking bastards...."
"What...? Just a few weeks ago, they were talking about pushing government support, saying magical beast pets would be essential for improving next-generation Hunters' abilities from now on...."
I blinked at Team Leader-nim's words.
10 years ago, gates were created through the Cataclysm, and the power and knowledge of another world flowed into the modern world.
Naturally, immense chaos arrived in the early stages of gate outbreaks. From monsters invading cities to criminals possessing power transcending humans...
However, humanity, having experienced great chaos, rebuilt quickly and achieved a civilization even more advanced than before thanks to the gates.
Among those, Magical Biotechnology was a discipline that created creatures using monster corpses inside gates; because it had ethical issues regarding giving birth to life forms, it was a field where noise was always heard in this regard.
Until now, to calm the gate crisis, such aspects weren't made into a big issue, but now that society had stabilized and people slowly became comfortable, the ethical issues of magical beast pets ultimately floated to the surface.
Especially because Korea was sensitive to such ethical issues... coupled with the election season, the bomb had finally gone off.
'No, come to think of it, what was bound to happen just happened....'
As a result of jumping into practical work myself. Fundamentally, magical beasts are like bio-robots that move according to programming. But viewed from an outsider's perspective, creating a chimera is an act of challenging the domain of God.
'...In fact, it really is creating life....'
There was no room for excuse. Even if a soul didn't exist, it engaged in life activities.
Furthermore, because it used materials from gate monsters—humanity's enemies—there were many aspects that could feel extremely unpleasant in modern society.
Anyway, with the company disintegrating like that, I became unemployed in an instant.
Of course, high-ranked Team Leader-nim and other researchers were approached by scouts from foreign research labs and were re-employed right away.
Because overseas, they still considered this pet business a valid industry that could put them ahead of other countries.
[ Team Leader-nim ] : Hey, Hyun-ah, you come over to Japan too. I'll make a spot for you.
[ Me ] : Thank you for the offer, Team Leader-nim. I'm thinking of taking this chance to open a pet shop.
'...Let's think positively. Thanks to this, I became a free man, so I'll try doing what I wanted to do.'
Let's use this opportunity to set up a shop of my own that I've wanted to run all this time.
*
Another half a year passed like that.
I gathered the money I had saved so far, pulled out loans, and set up a small magical beast pet shop in Gaepo-dong, Gangnam-gu.
How a salaryman like me opened a shop in a place with expensive land value like Gangnam-gu... was thanks to the fact that this neighborhood unfortunately had a criminal record of having multiple A-rank gates open here, so the land value dropped quite a bit.
'Still damn expensive, though....'
Although monthly rent went out insanely fast, I deliberately settled here.
Because magical beast pets somehow had an image of being raised a lot by the wealthy as a hobby.
Moreover, I had actually confirmed it with statistical data, so my settling on this land could be called an extremely rational decision.
However, contrary to my predictions, the shop was completely devoid of customers.
There were only small magical beasts packed inside cages, with not a single customer.
Ddal-lang-
"Ajeossi, I came to look around today too. I can watch, right?"
A girl who energetically walked into the shop around 6 PM.
She was one of the regulars who steadily visited the shop.
Though she didn't help with sales at all.
"I told you I'm not an ajeossi... Jia, how old are you again?"
"High school senior this year."
Come to think of it, from a student's perspective... I really am an ajeossi...
"Business is bad today too?"
"Well, what can I do when something like that popped up next door."
As if someone had the exact same thought as me, a magical beast pet shop of incomparable scale opened right next door.
With such a resplendent brand store right there, there was no reason for customers to bother coming to a hole-in-the-wall shop like this.
"Still, Jellicoes are only here."
"Hek-hek...."
Jia spoke as she looked at the slime creature inside the cage.
A slime puppy full of distinctive spots on its body.
"This one's cute, but it seems nobody wants to buy him? Hasn't it been 2 months already?"
"......Domestic magical creatures have short lifespans due to regulations, you know... He's a grandpa now, so no one will take him."
"I see...."
The slime puppy Jellico that I designed and created using my accumulated know-how after setting up shop.
It wasn't that I intended to make such a creature from the start.
'No, it has teeth? If our kid passes by here and gets hurt, will you take responsibility?'
'What? You're using a low-grade mana core as the nucleus? A chimera made from monster materials on a monster's mana core...! Isn't that just a monster!? What? It's not a combat pet? No, nono! If civil complaints come in, will you take responsibility!?'
That damn responsibility, responsibility.
Because South Korea had particularly severe regulations on magical creatures, the materials I could use as a private magical creature pet shop owner were extremely limited.
Naturally, they were right. If this technology was misused, massive damage would occur.
That's why I had to create harmless creatures weak enough that even children could subdue them, without any means of attack...
In the end, the only materials I could use were things like slimes.
Since it used a nucleus crafted by processing a lowest-grade mana core, its lifespan was also very short.
Regrettably, that Jellico's remaining lifespan was at most one month.
Designed using a lowest-grade mana core, Jellico's lifespan was 4 months.
Since it had entered its 3rd month since I brought it into this world, it could be called old age.
Lately, its activity had noticeably decreased, so it would soon cease life functions.
"Hek-hek...."
I took the fellow out of the cage.
"Ajeossi?"
"This fellow won't be sold anyway, so I'm just going to take him home."
Even if meeting a good owner and spending a happy life was difficult, as its creator, I should at least let it live the rest of its remaining life freely.
...Even if this slime didn't have a soul.
I brought the Jellico from the cage home.
*
"Hek-hek...."
Haengbok, who was born speckled due to my unskilled crafting abilities.
Jia named him. When I tried to name him Spotty, she said I couldn't?
Originally a Jellico that should have been born in a solid color, large and small spots appeared all over its body due to my mistake. Because of that, it wasn't chosen by customers for reasons such as looking filthy.
"Hek-hek...."
"Ehyu... Yeah, let's get along well."
For a month, I went on walks often, and although I didn't know if its sense of taste was properly implemented, I fed it high-end feed and snacks in my own way.
I think I played with it enough and showered it with enough love in my own way.
And one month later.
Finally, that day arrived. Haengbok's 4th month after birth, and the point where it reached the limit of life activity by design.
"Hek... hek...."
Its breathing was small and irregular. A feeling like a flashlight with empty batteries flickering on and off.
"It'll be hard to make it past today... I'm sorry that I lack ability...."
I rubbed the back of Haengbok, whose breath was gradually fading.
In the end, I made this jelly dog to make a living, but...
The pet I wanted to make was something a bit more... a presence that could be called a life companion.
Not a life that sets so vainly like this.
"Hek... hek...."
Keeping Haengbok, who refused to leave my side, next to me, I fell asleep.
That night.
Beyond a fog-filled path, a voice of something rang out.
[ Where are you going, foolish dog! This isn't a walking course! ]
[ Hek-hek...! ]
[ What...? What do you mean? There's a jelly dog here? Heo-eok...!!! What the...!! It's real!! ]
'...What is this...?'
A bipedal black Jellico was holding a leash on a blue Jellico and walking it. Even more, the black one was speaking human language.
At that abnormal sight, I quickly realized that this was a dream.
'......Ah, this is a random nonsensical dream.'
Was the shock of Haengbok the Jellico's life activities stopping bigger than I thought...?
Is the black-bodied one something like a Grim Reaper for Jellicoes?
'......What a weird dream to have.'
[ Dream? Well, that's true since this is the boundary. More importantly, human, are you this jelly dog's master? ]
The Jelly Grim Reaper spoke, pointing at Haengbok who had appeared out of nowhere.
"Hek-hek...."
Feeling the lack of perception typical inside a dream, I didn't feel anything strange and answered that voice.
'...I'm the person who created that dog.'
[ Hooo... I see? To create a jelly dog, you must have quite the talent yourself. Out of curiosity, I will ask: do you intend to keep creating existences like this in the future? ]
......I couldn't answer the Grim Reaper's words right away.
'No, it's fine... I'm not going to do it anymore. My ability is lacking, and I can't even take responsibility, so I don't know what I'm doing creating magical creatures....'
A failing shop. Magical beasts scheduled to be disposed of because they couldn't find owners.
'Thinking back on it now, it was the worst... The only comfort is that these fellows don't have souls.'
[ Hm? Souls do exist. That's why we came. And this jelly dog is thankful to you. Surely you must have been a good master. ]
"Hek-hek...."
...What...?
Before I could recall what that meant, the blue Jellico circled around me and sniffed.
[ Hek-hek.... ]
[ It seems this blue foolish dog has taken a liking to you. You are very lucky. It says it will intervene while bearing the loss to causality. ]
'What does that mean?'
[ There is no time left, human. This is my gift, so accept it. It will awaken your talent. I will come to harvest this jelly dog's soul next time. ]
The black Jellico pulled out a gray bio-mass from somewhere and threw it at me.
At that moment,
Ddiring-!
【 Acquired Evolution Monarch's Biological Database #001. 】
[ Acquired a large amount of experimental data. ]
[ Trait rank increases! ]
[ Trait rank increases! ]
[ Trait rank increases! ]
[ Trait rank increases! ]
[ Trait rank increases! ]
......
【 Beast Alchemist 》 E → EX-rank 】
[ Due to excessive fluctuations in causality, some functions are locked. ]
*
Jjaek-jjaek...
Breaking out in a cold sweat, I opened my eyes in bed.
"Wow... that really was a weird dream. Huh...?"
As I came to my senses, I felt something licking my face.
Halt-halt-
Turning my head, a spotted slime puppy was licking my face.
"Hek-hek...."
"Eh... Haengbok?"
Surely its mana core lifespan ran out and its life activities should have stopped...?
Furthermore, Haengbok's activity, which had been like a flickering candle, didn't look much different from when it was newborn.
...Don't tell me...?
I somehow tried to recall the contents of the fading dream.
The black Jelly Grim Reaper and the blue Jellico.
On top of that, the system message that popped up at the end.
If that dream was real, the beings I saw in the dream were clearly transcendental existences.
"No... don't tell me... the God of Jelly Dogs really paid a visit?"
Thinking it was absurd, I opened my status window.
【 Beast Alchemist 》 E......
"...Yeah, as expected, it's still E-rank─"
【 Beast Alchemist 》 EX-rank 】
"Uh-uh...?"
I doubted my two eyes at the information window that popped up.
What was the highest rank for Hunter traits again...?