Chapter 1
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: From Maker to Summoner
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Maker Hunter, Academy 2nd Year Kang Ihyeon. Failures to break through lowest-grade designated zones: 30 exceeded.
Future survival probability judged as 'Extremely Low'.
Incorporate Kang Ihyeon into the 'Straggler Special Management Program' until progress in achievements is shown.
Those who give up on conquering rifts.
Those so utterly lacking in skill that it's better to just throw in the towel.
In our line of work, we call them 'stragglers'.
A hunter who can't even properly explore the lowest-level rifts is doomed to await 'final disposition' like a prisoner on death row.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"
Yeah, I knew that better than anyone here.
But in the end, I couldn't escape this fate. I crumpled the paper I'd received and hurled it to the floor.
"Hey, you okay?"
"It's not like you're going off to die or anything—why the long face?"
"Yeah, just grow stronger later and come back. Don't worry too much."
The half-hearted comforts from my classmates buzzed in my ears.
It made my stomach turn. I wanted to tell them the truth.
What the hell do you even know?
"...Yeah, thanks. I'll figure something out."
But I couldn't say it.
These guys had no idea what awaited a straggler waiting for final disposition.
The game infamous for its brutally difficult gameplay and hopeless storyline—but the very one that had hooked me: Dominant Evil.
That's where I was right now. Inside that game.
Honestly, when I first got hit by that bus plastered with game ads and ended up isekai'd here for such a ridiculous reason, I thought it wasn't so bad.
Sure, the game's world was a dark tale of humanity's desperate struggle against monsters after being driven into rifts, but I figured I could grow faster than anyone.
Reality had other plans.
There were no player bonuses. Just failure after failure.
And this was the result.
'Straggler Special Management Program'.
In the game, it was basically character deletion. Once dragged there, a character never came back.
It was a program that tossed hunters with slim survival odds off a cliff to forcibly ramp up their survival instincts.
Like sending a level 1 into a level 10 hunting ground.
'I can't give up yet.'
I gritted my teeth.
There had to be a way. No, there had to be!
"Kang Ihyeon."
A cold voice came from behind me.
It was Instructor Cheon Da-eun.
Famed as a master of ice magic, she was an elite instructor with a personality as sharp and frigid as her spells.
"...Instructor. You're here."
"You're early. So why haven't you started training yet? I've told you before—you have no options but training. Do you want to start with some motivation?"
"Sorry. I'll get ready right away!"
Her role was overseeing the academy's straggler program.
Specifically, helping straggler students pass the national Straggler Reorganization Exam held every three months.
'Though in reality, most end up getting final disposition anyway.'
Straggler Management Program.
Pretty words for endless training and real combat.
Just accelerated to push them to their limits.
I loosely stretched and slowly dropped into a defensive stance, bending at the waist.
Training with the instructor was always packed with live combat, so I had to brace for magic that could strike at any moment.
"Begin."
Just like right now!
The moment she shut her mouth, the air in the training hall plummeted in temperature, a biting chill prickling my skin.
A sharp wave of mana brushed past, and tiny, translucent ice crystals soon encircled her.
The instructor's specialty: freezing magic.
'Here it comes.'
With a calm flick of her hand, ice spears vibrated in the air.
Experience from several sessions told me this.
It was the precursor before the spears rained down on me.
I ducked and dodged reflexively.
Pababak—!
Pabababak—!
The spears thudded into the spot I'd just stood, above my head, and into the training hall walls the instant she snapped her fingers.
The instructor had dialed back the power—no fatalities even if they hit—but...
It hurt. Hurt like hell!
And for some reason, I knew that all too well...
'Ugh!'
Another spear incoming.
I leaped to the opposite side without missing the timing.
But as always, terrain magic followed the spears.
A few steps in, a sinister chill seeped through my soles, throwing my balance for a split second.
A thin layer of ice had already formed on the floor.
"What did I tell you about dealing with ice?"
"Use the slip to your advantage...!"
I twisted my body, sliding across the ice just as I'd drilled countless times. But another ice spear filled my vision right away.
'Fast!'
Thuk!
I raised my arm to block. The sensation of ice tearing skin was vivid.
The embedded chunk shattered into pieces like a snowball smashed against the wall.
"Kuhk!"
In real combat, that would've been a piercing wound...
"Your reaction speed is still lacking. That said, it's 15 seconds better than yesterday."
"Haa, haa... R-really?"
"Though you'd have to add 'pathetic' to that."
Her training methods were unfair to me by design.
Maker Hunters grew by crafting weapons suited to themselves.
If my crafting skills had just met the bare minimum, I probably wouldn't need this combat training...
"Kang Ihyeon."
"Yes, Instructor."
"Let me be frank. At your current level, you'll fail the month-end Straggler Reorganization Exam for sure."
"...I know."
"Do you grasp what that means? Low survival odds. In other words, death. There's only one way for a trainee hunter to escape this cycle: rack up proficiency levels to earn points."
She extended her index finger as she spoke.
"I've handled you for two days now, and I can tell. Your talent is rock bottom. Even training barely raises your proficiency. The only way you'll survive is by crossing the line between life and death in real combat!"
"......"
Easier said than done.
To enter rifts, you need strength.
Points go into attack skills.
But I'm a Maker Hunter.
Even if I beat the odds, survived, and got points—what future would that buy me?
I clenched my fist tight.
Truth be told, the last way to pass this damned Straggler Reorganization Exam wasn't some straightforward grind.
A way for the powerless to tackle rifts right now.
A way to devour experience whole.
Now it was down to relying on someone else's mercy, wasn't it...?
"Your physical stats are a notch above average, but your threat detection instincts sharpen by the day. If you diligently train at home too—"
"...Instructor."
"What?"
"W-what if, just if, you partied with me? Then I could tackle rifts and level up too. So please, I—!"
"Enough."
In that instant, the instructor's eyes sharpened.
"Then let me ask: if you hired me, what pay could you offer? What resources?"
"Huh? Th-that's..."
"Right. You're barely scraping by on scholarship money—you couldn't afford it. If it were that easy, why hasn't it happened already? Am I convenient?"
"......"
I had nothing to say.
"If you're a hunter, learn to stand alone. Say that again, and I won't teach you anymore."
Her firm words left me biting my lip, head bowed.
I'd expected this, but hearing it stung worse.
"...Sorry, Instructor."
"I don't get why you're doing things you need to apologize for."
The instructor turned coldly and ended the session.
I trudged back to my dorm room.
I hadn't wanted to beg like that, but self-loathing still crashed over me.
"Why awaken as a Maker Hunter if you can't even craft properly? Why give me talent in crafting at all?"
Was my only path left really just giving up—or being given up on?
"...Fuck no, that can't be."
Dominant Evil basics.
Hunters had skill levels instead of just character levels. Higher-level skills or diverse skills meant superiority in survival.
Theoretically, any hunter could gain skills through sheer repetition. Like the training with the instructor just now.
My crafting skill was level 3.
Raised purely through basic crafting.
I'd already been working on proficiency before training even started.
"Actually, Instructor, there's one more thing I'm sorry about. I've been crafting something behind your back."
In one corner of my dorm room, something covered by a white cloth.
I carefully pulled it back, revealing Instructor Cheon Da-eun's stunning figure.
A 1:1 scale full-body doll, an exact likeness of Instructor Cheon Da-eun!
'How has this stayed hidden so long?'
For the past six months, since my possession, I'd obsessed over crafting this doll modeled after her like a madman.
The reason was simple.
To raise my crafting skill proficiency.
I'd never played the Maker route in-game, but I'd skimmed community guides, so I knew efficient growth paths.
Endless low-grade items? Tedious grind.
One high-grade art piece? Way better for proficiency.
'Why her? Her looks and figure were perfect modeling material, and she's the one I could observe closest at the academy.'
Creating from nothing? My skills crawled at that.
But perfectly mimicking what existed? That was my knack.
Two hours a day, sometimes three.
Every day after training, I breathed life into the instructor doll.
Six months of pouring my soul into it. Now it was time to reap the results.
"Ooh..."
Black hair flowed smoothly to her shoulders, her porcelain-pale skin gleaming softly.
The doll looked like she was sleeping, capturing even her stern endurance and resolute will with exquisite detail...
I made it, but damn, it was impressive.
"If I can keep making stuff like this, maybe I can become a proper Maker Hunter someday?"
If only I had enough time left...
I let out a deep sigh, then slapped my cheeks with both palms to steel myself.
One thing remained.
Smooth out the fine cracks on the surface and perfectly blend the background with the doll into one masterpiece.
I carefully refined the seams, adjusting the delicate balance.
"Done...!"
The moment I gazed at the completed doll, I knew instinctively.
This was the pinnacle of everything I'd ever made.
And—
A faint light bloomed from my fingertips!
Clone Creation
⚡ Classification/Grade:Summon / Mythic (Lv. 1)
📜 Description:Precisely mimic an observed target to create a clone with identical specs to the original.
🔗 Clone Specs:Degraded version of original (80%). Absorb 50% of clone's earned EXP and proficiency.
"Th-this is..."
A mythic-grade summon skill: Clone Creation.
A skill name even I'd never heard of in my life!