Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Crack—Metamorphosis
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Crack.
Pitch black.
So dark it felt realistically impossible to get any blacker.
Click!
If I hadn't turned on the warehouse lights, I never would have spotted the thing lurking in the shadows.
"Eek..."
And its size was ridiculously massive.
I had to stretch my arm up as high as it could go just to barely reach the top.
It towered just a bit over the average adult male height.
A black sphere that had appeared out of nowhere in the warehouse overnight.
...I know what this sphere is!
To say I didn't know it would be ridiculous.
It's a familiar face etched firmly in my memory.
I'd seen it every time I fused the pudding slimes.
And sure enough, the ten red threads that once connected them to me had merged into one thick strand.
'But why the sudden fusion?'
Fusion was an essential step in creating Molrangtori.
A miracle achieved through resonance between me and the pudding slimes.
Sure, natural fusions happened all the time even without that...
But ten individuals fusing at once? Unheard of.
If I posted this on a hunter community, I'd get roasted for using AI composites too much.
Anyway.
I had one guess for the sudden fusion.
The horrific nightmare from last night.
'Maybe instead of summoning a monster, it fused the slimes.'
My body's state felt similar to back then, too.
Hair matted and sticky with sweat, and that lingering burning sensation radiating from spots all over my body.
Just like the first time fusion succeeded, when I underwent my "metamorphosis."
'Did I achieve some insane growth again this time?'
It was the most logical conclusion from the circumstances.
Right before sleep, I'd filled my brain with plans to mass-produce Molrangtori like crazy.
They say dreams reflect the desires right before bed, so maybe that desire manifested as a mega-fusion.
"The problem is... hmm. Looks like there isn't one. Phew, relief."
Fortunately, the slimes seemed to have entered a stable fusion state.
I was about to start official sales soon, so I panicked thinking this might cause issues.
Remaking ten pudding slimes would take at least ten days, and no Molrangtori production in the meantime.
"Huu..."
Letting out a sigh of relief, I headed back to my rooftop room and dashed straight into the bathroom.
It was early morning, but summer was starting to peek its head out.
The rooftop warehouse, basking unimpeded in the sunlight, felt like half a steam bath.
Like riding in a jet-black sedan baked under the midday summer sun.
I'd had to keep the windows shut, which made it worse.
If I left them open and the slimes escaped, it'd be a total disaster.
Of course, it wasn't abuse or anything.
Pudding slimes were monsters that lived peacefully even in 150-degree heat.
Splash!
I turned on the shower. Cold water only, naturally.
A real man would.
The moment the temperature hits 25 degrees, cold showers or bust!
Plus, only pristine cold water could properly wash away the remnants of my second metamorphosis.
Splash!
But... why does this feel so tense?
Screw it. Eyes shut, diving in.
"Ugyaaaaah!"
I gave up instantly.
The second the water hit my skin, I let out an unmanly groan and frantically switched to hot water.
"Huaa..."
Nice and steamy.
Steam filled the tiny shower stall, my body melting into the warmth.
Yeah, this is right.
Thinking about it, cold showers would be poison to my slender frame.
"......"
After showering, I stood in front of the mirror, striking various poses.
As I mentioned before, it's my daily self-esteem booster.
Molrang!
Lately, Molrang and Molkang had started mimicking me.
Not sure if they grasped the true meaning of it.
"Ahaha...! What're you doing!"
I burst out laughing at their goofiness, then popped an ice cream in my mouth.
Mint chocolate flavor.
I used to be a hardcore anti-mint-choco guy, but somehow I ended up like this.
Savoring the tangy freshness melting on my tongue, I returned to the warehouse and set up camp.
"I wonder... when it'll finish."
Even after an hour, the black sphere hadn't budged.
Normal fusions wrapped up in three or four hours at most, but this one might be different.
With ten mixed together at once, unexpected variables were likely.
So I planned to stick around until the fusion ended.
Production for today was already a bust anyway.
Lazing around browsing communities sounded great, but preparing for any fusion mishaps was smarter.
**
"Scanner range is sufficient, right?"
Hwayeon Guild Master Choi Seonghan asked, puffing out thick cigarette smoke.
"Yes, sir. More than enough to cover all of Seoul."
His dedicated secretary approached.
In the secretary's hand was a tablet. The broad screen displayed a blue area stretching beyond Seoul into parts of Gyeonggi Province.
The state-of-the-art mana scanner developed by Hwayeon's research team.
Guilds owning gates were required to install them.
For the low-probability event of a monster escape.
With so many gates nesting inside cities, it was an absolute necessity.
The scanner detected only living monsters, so no worries about tracking mana-infused materials.
Sizzle.
"Contact? Any luck?"
Seonghan stubbed out his cigarette. The secretary deftly handed him a fresh one.
High-end cigarettes made for Awakeners.
One of Hwayeon's flagship products.
Currently, Hwayeon dominated the Awakener cigarette market.
Flood the market with cheap ones to crush competitors, then gradually raise prices.
That built their de facto monopoly.
The bloom of true efficiency.
"Unfortunately, no response. As you instructed, I upped the offer to 10 billion, but nothing came back."
"I see... Any word on contact with other guilds?"
"None at all. Seems like he's handling it solo for now."
"Tch."
That was basically the answer.
10 billion was the max Hwayeon could offer an individual.
Pushing higher wouldn't sway him.
The Inventory developer had chosen to go independent.
Opting for the hard road on purpose.
"Samples collected?"
"Yes. From three Inventories gathered from guild members, we extracted tiny amounts of mana excluding the pudding slime variety."
The secretary pulled a glass vial from his pocket.
Smaller than a palm, it swirled with white liquid inside.
"White? Interesting."
White meant a blank canvas, pure white.
Easily linkable to any mana.
A fact recently uncovered by Hwayeon's researchers studying the "Dummy" monster.
The Dummy, capable of mimicking any form, had white mana.
"Did they use a Dummy for fusion?"
"No. After several tests, we confirmed it doesn't match Dummy mana."
"So, another monster?"
"We... haven't identified it yet."
The secretary bowed his head, but Seonghan didn't mind.
They'd figure it out from here.
Sizzle!
Seonghan lit the cigarette dangling from his lips and ordered the secretary.
"Load it into the scanner now."
Normally, you'd insert mana stones collected from the gate.
To track escapees from that gate.
But inputting specific monster mana allowed targeting just that monster.
So Seonghan planned to use the scanner to hunt the unknown monster... or perhaps human.
If it was a monster, they could study Inventory in depth using it.
If, by very low odds, the owner was truly human, they could unmask the secretive developer.
"Understood."
The secretary bowed and exited the office.
"Huu..."
Seonghan puffed thick smoke again, lost in thought.
Just wait a bit.
I'll find you right away.
If they secured full rights to Inventory.
Hwayeon topping Korea's guilds wouldn't be a distant dream.
**
Crack.
Finally, cracks spread across the sphere.
It happened as the glaring sunlight had softened considerably.
I'd been worrying if I'd have to pull an all-nighter, but looks like I wouldn't.
Crack!
As always, the sphere shattered like an eggshell.
Crack!
After about ten minutes of fierce struggle.
Craaaack!
The thing finally saw the light of day.
"Uh............ hi...?"
What emerged was, as expected, a pudding slime.
But... way, way bigger.
Thump thump!
Weird.
Even fusing two at a time hadn't changed the size before.
Did it start from the third? Or just because it's ten combined?
Either way, it far exceeded my expectations.
'Too big. Way too big.'
Almost the same size as the shattered sphere.
Thump thump!
Every hop made the whole warehouse—and rooftop—shake.
And it was a perfectly ordinary pudding slime.
Thump thump!
Meaning, like Molrang, it craved my affection.
Thump thump!
Whoa...! Hold up!
If something that size tries to hug me, I'm done for—flattened!