Chapter 184
Chapter 184
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 184
Chapter Title: Episode 60. Campus Social Service 10/10 (2)
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The three great taboos of magitech engineering.
They were forbidden arts that had been most actively researched in the Shin Giwon era, centered around East Asia, only to vanish into history under the International Transcendent Alliance's taboo declaration right after their "fatal flaw" was exposed.
Artificial bioforming.
In other words, chimera creation.
On the way into Warehouse 8, they ran into a few military personnel, announced themselves as social service volunteers, and were let in. Those who recognized Yoo Ji-tae—apparently tipped off by Ichimon—stepped aside in surprise.
"Hey. I've got a question."
Yoo Yeoreum asked. She'd been glaring at the service documents the whole way, sensing something off.
"What."
"I get that chimeras are taboo. But when did they become taboo? And why? The textbook doesn't say."
"What does the textbook say?"
"I thought back on it. No details on chimeras, just a ton of warnings. Like, this shit's super taboo. Don't even think about it. Show interest and you're dead. That kinda thing?"
He nodded. Probably something like that.
"Why's it like that?"
"Where do magic and artifacts come from?"
"Huh? What're you talking about?"
"Where do the tech and powers that make up transcendents originate?"
"Well.... Rifts? Dungeons?"
"Right. Every magical, magitech, or transcendent item and material humans use on Earth comes from outside the rifts."
"Yeah. So?"
"Where do dungeons appear?"
"Where do dungeons appear? Dungeons just...."
Yoo Yeoreum, who wasn't slow on the uptake, trailed off as realization dawned.
"...Pop up anywhere."
"Exactly."
"So transcendent magic tools and gear? Anyone can get them?"
That was right. Monsters always emerged from rifts, but not every rift spawned monsters.
A tiny rift in a room might just happen to be a sanctuary protecting a sword from some otherworld royalty. And the girl who found it could be a poor kid living alone with her grandma on the Kyoto mountainside.
That was the case for Minamoto Ai, rank 13 worldwide, vice-captain of the special forces guarding the Japanese royal family.
Her moniker "Sword of the Royal House" carried that double meaning.
"Chimeras are the same."
In quite a few otherworldly realms, human experimentation and synthesis formed a pillar of magitech. Items from those places crossed over via rifts now and then.
"But is it that dangerous?"
"Doesn't seem to be any in Ascalifa?"
"Hmm. There might be.... But I don't really know much about that stuff."
"Normally, it wouldn't be dangerous at all."
Mana was the manifestation of will.
From what he'd seen, most otherworlds brimmed with ambient mana.
That mana aided the workings of providence. It sustained existence and extinguished the mortal. A force ensuring all flowed in accordance with fate—and when applied to magitech, it made for an incredibly effective failsafe.
"The dead should stay dead, right?"
"Yeah."
"But magitech has tons of ways to keep the dead from dying."
"Like? Chimeras...?"
"Yeah. That's one method. Constantly swapping out aging, failing body parts to keep going. But in otherworlds, the ambient mana interferes. It enforces providence, blocking eternal life."
By then, Yoo Yeoreum pieced it together. Recalling what she'd learned in those boring Shin Giwon classes, a weird feeling crept in.
Earth's atmosphere had extremely thin mana....
The little that existed was just leakage from rift gaps. Compared to other dimensions—even dungeon interiors—Earth's ambient mana was minuscule.
"So chimeras are dangerous because they don't age and die?"
If immortality was guaranteed for whatever reason, how many problems would spawn from that? Yoo Yeoreum pondered but couldn't easily grasp the danger.
"Hmm.... What's the problem with someone living forever?"
"You know Vice Principal Ma Nam-jun?"
"Huh? Yeah. That ugly bastard."
Yoo Yeoreum pictured the middle-aged man with snake-like dark circles under his eyes.
She didn't know he was a calamity-grade demon, but her dragon instincts recoiled anyway.
Yoo Ji-tae decided to explain lightly.
"Don't go blabbing about this."
"Huh? About what?"
"The Ma Nam-jun at the Admin Office is a fake."
"What?"
"And there are about 30 fakes scattered worldwide."
"......?"
Yoo Yeoreum's eyes went wide, and she froze in place.
"Then where's the real one?"
"...Just know that much. One spirit animates the bodies, but there are multiple bodies. No direct communication, but Earth's comms tech is abnormally advanced. A few finger taps, and they share info."
Yoo Yeoreum imagined a Ma Nam-jun group chat.
Ma Nam-jun 1, 2, 3.... Exchanging KakaoTalks? Thinking of those creepy bastards messaging made her laugh for some reason.
"That's funny?"
"Why would I care if others laugh? ...Kidding, I won't mess around today. So?"
"Think about it. In Earth's unique environment, how dangerous could chimeras get?"
"Hmm......"
But she drew a blank after that.
"No idea...."
Hurt pride made her lips pout.
"Oh, but wait, BM handled chimeras fine, right?"
BM?
A name he hadn't thought about in a while.
Come to think of it, BM had vanished into the underground labyrinth months ago. Per Clone 1, no sign of return since. Probably hopping S-rank dungeons, gathering materials.
"BM uses chimeras without issues? That's how he hit rank 2, right?"
"No issues. BM's one of the world's top chimera experts. The Alliance pruned anything problematic."
"Right, he's Alliance. So ultimately, they can control it? If controllable, what's so dangerous?"
What made it so dangerous?
"The answer's probably right ahead."
The regressor let that stand as his reply.
By then, they'd reached Section 42 of Warehouse 8. Boxes of plastic, wood, metal, and more lined up by storage type, stacked to the 50-foot ceiling.
Inside the police line set by the leads, shattered boxes littered the area. Warehouse staff waited there.
"Hey. Can I look around?"
"Go ahead."
As he crossed his arms silently, Yoo Yeoreum approached.
"Don't get too close."
A warehouse worker's warning. Yoo Yeoreum nodded vaguely and inspected the broken boxes. Bite marks everywhere, like gnawed by something heavy. Dark bloodstains too.
"Hmm.... But how do I know what to catch? First time hunting...."
Muttering to herself.
She glanced his way slyly.
He considered. Red dragons hated needing help, so she wanted a hint.
"Hurry up. It's filthy; can't stay long."
His mutter too.
"What's filthy. Oh...."
But Yoo Yeoreum caught the hint instantly. Nothing visibly dirty. So invisible filth? Closing her eyes, her far superior Red clan senses sharpened, mana-infused.
"...Ugh, fuck."
She clamped her nose in horror.
"Fucking stench lingers."
"What kind."
"Like shit. Fucking gross.... Rats shat everywhere."
Mana-laced odor. Meant to disrupt tracking spirits' sense of direction.
Seemed to affect even inexperienced hatchlings. As Yoo Yeoreum scanned puzzled, Yoo Ji-tae tossed a casual question.
"Sashimi for lunch?"
"Smelling shit and you talk lunch? Makes me drool."
"You eat sashimi?"
"We had it together. But I don't like it raw. Need tons of chogochujang."
"If the chogochujang fades?"
"Then it's meh. Fishy smell hits.... Oh....?"
Yoo Yeoreum's eyes widened. Realization.
Normal spirits would flee such a stench quickly, senses overwhelmed. But dragons were different. Yoo Yeoreum endured, adapted—and finally caught the hidden 'rat' scent beneath.
She strode to the warehouse far side, climbed the steel stairs to the mezzanine, and pointed at the lightweight ceiling beams.
"Must've come this way. Hey!"
"Yes?"
"Can I go up?"
"Uh, well.... Hold on."
As the worker turned to call, Yoo Yeoreum hopped onto the steel frame and walked the thin beams. By the time he confirmed by phone, she was gone.
Suddenly, they stood on the warehouse roof outside.
"Connects from inside there."
"Trail cuts off."
"Hmm.... Trail's gone, but that's the way. For sure."
"Basis?"
"None. Just my gut. But certain."
Yoo Ji-tae met her hazy gaze evenly.
Sloppy.
Relying on gut was inefficient, high miss rate. Worse if habitual. Time to fix the kid's bad habit.
"Don't rely on certainty."
"Why? My gut's spot on? Not as good as Yoo Bom's, but mine's sharp."
"That's the problem. Who tracks by gut."
"What. Why not? Can't use gut?"
"They teach that in class?"
"No?"
"Then why do what you weren't taught."
"Why!? Gotta follow the book? Wasn't taught, but that's the way!"
"Wrong, and you waste time. Trail might vanish."
"Won't be wrong. It's there! Check it!"
"Inefficient and dumb."
"It ain't!"
"Yoo Yeoreum."
"Quit nagging!"
Offended or hurt, she shrieked and glared.
"Fine, quit pushing me...."
Yoo Yeoreum sulked stubbornly. No intent to bully, Yoo Ji-tae followed meekly.
He wasn't thrilled. Probably nothing there. Gut-finding next trace in this vast space? Ridiculous.
But... Yoo Yeoreum was spot on. On the warehouse ceiling, tiny footprints dusted the trapped grime. Clear 'trail.' She shot back a smug 'See?' look.
Gloom gone.
"Oh my♥ Teacher Yoo Ji-tae!"
"......"
"Look at this...! I found it! Huh? What's this cute little on the dust? Yeoreum doesn't knooow~!"
"......"
"Leads all cute that way tooo...♥ What's this?"
"......"
"What."
"Footprints...."
"Aah~! Right! Whose footprints? Feet like thiiiis~?"
"...Rat."
"Rat? Ra? Whaaat?"
"...Rat."
"G? Gee? Squeak~! Eek~ Squeak squeak~."
Yoo Yeoreum clung, mimicking a rat, tormenting him.
Sick of it, the regressor turned away.
"So Yeoreum wrong or right?"
"...Right."
"Praise?"
"...Good job."
"More?"
"...Your gut was right."
"More more?"
"But luck hits once or twice, bad habit if—"
"Fuck! Who asked for lecture?!"
"......"
"Praise! More!"
In the end, Yoo Ji-tae spent 30 seconds praising Yoo Yeoreum.
Her face beamed triumphantly.
"Hmph.... Try nagging again."
Scoffing, but pleased. They followed the prints to the northern woods.
Rummaging, they found a square patch of uneven bushes. Underground passage below. An artifact erasing traces hid it at a glance.
"Finally."
About an hour's success. Rats clearly came from warehouse to here. Stashed loot inside. If a rat-master, they'd be here too.
"What shitty dogs did this."
As Yoo Yeoreum reached for the 'basement door.'
"Yoo Yeoreum. Stop."
"Huh? Why?"
"Step back."
Yoo Ji-tae's face was grave.
As usual.
"Why? They're down there?"
So Yoo Yeoreum casually grabbed and lifted the basement door. Yoo Ji-tae lunged, snagged her waist, and yanked far back.
Kwaaaaang—!
Massive explosion from the basement, flames erupting. Yoo Yeoreum, flung rolling, eyes wide in shock. Yoo Ji-tae shoved killing intent inside.
Mechanical trigger—she'd missed it. But the chain flames were mana-based. To burn 'something' within.
Flames died fast. Mana was will's manifestation. His killing intent crushed that will.
"What? What!?"
Black smoke billowed. Yoo Yeoreum rushed over. 'Told you not to open.' Yoo Ji-tae flicked her forehead. 'Ow!' Brief yelp.
Peering into the basement, Yoo Yeoreum's smile vanished.
Never seen anything so revolting.
Her voice sank low.
"......What is that?"