Chapter 97
Chapter 97
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: Kami, the Incompatible
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Saaaaah…!
The pulled-out red threads tangled together, gradually forming a fuzzy clump and a vague shape.
Its size wasn’t that big.
At most, the size of an adult man’s palm.
“……”
But whether it was trying to prove that good things come in small packages, the amount of mana it devoured was considerable.
An astonishing gluttony.
Having failed to satisfy itself with just my mana, it had started gobbling up the surrounding shadows too.
Devouring shadows.
You might wonder what that even means, but it was happening right in front of my eyes.
Molrang!
Molrang jumped high as usual, but no dark orb formed beneath it.
And it wasn’t limited to Molrang.
The shadows had vanished from me and Seolbaek too.
Kiiing!
At this rare and bizarre sight, Seolbaek stood on high alert, its six tails bristling straight up.
But could you maybe not bristle your claws too?
It kinda hurts when you do that. How about getting off my head instead?
Wooong!
The fuzzy clump that had devoured every shadow began its transformation. A transformation of color. The red hue resembling my mana turned pitch black.
All the while steadily sucking mana from me.
Was it originally this kind of magic beast?
I recalled its rank being listed as ‘?’ due to its rarity…
‘If measured properly, it could even reach A+ rank.’
Of course, the rank might be inflated since I was the one summoning it with effort.
Kiiing!
While Seolbaek, who had jumped down from my head at some point, bounced around me in confusion.
Crack!
A sound like an egg cracking rang out, as the shadow kitten prepared to be born into the world.
First came the legs, streeetch!
Legs… I think? They were so black it was hard to get a sense of their three-dimensional form.
Next, a short tail sprouted, befitting a kitten, swishing gently.
As I watched its form take shape, a sudden thought crossed my mind.
Is a cat truly a king among cats, or just a rascal?
Truly wondrous creatures.
Humans are beings with a curiosity that even dares to blaspheme the gods.
And cats are the existence that leaves even such humans shaking their heads in exasperation.
‘I hope it listens well, at least.’
It made me a bit nervous for no reason.
Nothing was properly known about the ecology of shadow kittens.
Well, they’d have to be properly discovered first before anyone could document their habits.
Like eels, sort of.
They’re popular enough that people devour them endlessly, but no one’s fully unraveled their life cycle.
No, actually.
Far more mysterious than eels.
At least eels have been farmed successfully.
Whereas shadow kittens are magic beasts humanity can’t even dream of raising.
In the end, I’d be the world’s first again.
With an achievement like this, shouldn’t they create a special SS rank or something?
I don’t want to share the table with other S-rank beast tamers.
“Whew…”
I let out a long breath and dusted off my hands.
The summoning process required intense mental focus. Still, the reason stray thoughts crept in was because…
Wooong!
The summoning was essentially complete.
The mana draining from me like from a bottomless jar had suddenly stopped.
Two bright yellow lights appeared above the head that had formed after the tail.
They were its eyes.
Sharp pupils were etched inside the spheres, and finally.
Grrr…!
The shadow kitten, Kami, let out its first cry toward the world.
It’s way blacker than I expected.
Even Dart isn’t this dark.
Grrr!
Kami approached me while purring in a sort of golgolsong. At the same time, another cry echoed.
Kiiing!
Seolbaek bared its teeth, intensifying its alert stance.
Why is it acting like that?
The magic beasts I summoned generally got along.
They were practically the same bloodline, after all. Same parent and all.
There had been fights sometimes, but only to the extent possible among siblings.
Kiiing!
So this reaction was enough to raise questions for me.
Grrr.
Kami, on the other hand, seemed utterly unconcerned.
It just blinked its bright yellow eyes innocently at Seolbaek, then—
‘…Oh?’
Melted straight into the ground. More precisely, into its own shadow.
That’s why they’re so hard to spot.
No countermeasure if it hides like that.
Ssshh…!
The round shadow, about the size of a watermelon rind, began moving slowly. Toward Seolbaek.
Kiiing!
Seolbaek unleashed a burst of mana to try to stop it, but.
Honestly, it was hopeless.
Kami ignored Seolbaek’s interference and pressed forward relentlessly.
Soon, a black spot appeared on Seolbaek’s snowy white body.
‘So it can stick like that, huh.’
It was an incredibly curious sight.
But the victim didn’t seem too pleased.
Kiiing! Kiiing!
Seolbaek started thrashing wildly.
Not content with hopping around the factory, it scattered mana everywhere too.
A full-on freakout.
Meanwhile, the culprit Kami detached from Seolbaek’s body and came to me.
The dark sphere stopped at my feet.
‘…Oh?’
It stealthily climbed up my body.
There was no sensation at all.
If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t have even noticed the approach.
Thus, a black spot formed on my chest. Its surface rippled faintly, then pop!
Kami poked its face out and met my eyes.
Myaaang!
Hmm. Definitely a cat.
Cuteness rivaling Seolbaek’s, plus that willful personality.
The essence of a cat.
But as if wanting to show even more cat-like behavior.
Srrk…!
Something long wriggled up beside Kami’s head.
What’s this? Why is it so long?
1 meter? No, at least 2 meters.
The problem was it didn’t stop there.
Myaaang!
Kami grinned mischievously.
Its pupils weren’t on me—they were staring somewhere behind me.
And then whoosh!
Kami’s tail? Tentacle? Whatever that long thing was, it shot out at high speed.
Soon after, a frantic sound erupted from behind.
Purrr!
Pangpang, fully ensnared by the tentacle, flapped desperately.
‘No way, is it trying to eat Pangpang…?’
Grrr!
Doesn’t seem like it.
Kami wore a blissful expression, its golgolsong unending.
Just playing around.
But Pangpang looks really, really, really scared… mind letting go now?
Purrr!
Only then did Pangpang regain its freedom. Quite startled, it flapped hard and flew out of the factory.
…I’ll have to soothe it later with some tasty bugs.
Anyway, the summoning was a great success.
A bit of chaos, but all roads lead to Seoul, as they say.
Now all that’s left is to check if Kami has real abilities.
Oh, before that.
“Kami, wanna come out for a sec?”
Nyaaang!
Srrk, Kami emerged from the shadow. I pulled out my smartphone and snapped a photo…
It’s so black the focus is off a bit.
Anyway.
Click!
After roughly taking the picture, I logged into Anti-M Gallery anyway.
[World First??][Posted by: WantToRaiseADragon]
(Cute shadow kitten photo)
Taming complete…
GodOfBreeding, you watching?
This method or we’re in deep trouble.
Stay tuned.
-What the heck lolololol
└How’d you even catch a shadow kitten lol
-Summoned it?
└(OP): Heh heh
└No restrictions on summoning or anything?
-First time seeing a photo this clear fr
└Right?!
-GodOfBreeding: (dumbfounded emoticon)
└GodOfBreeding: Dawn just send the signing bonus. Scammer?
└(OP): Just testing the kitten’s performance first…
└GodOfBreeding: Fine, let’s get along from now on?
└(OP): Yep!
Couldn’t resist bragging about the world-first taming.
But at this point, shouldn’t it qualify for a world record?
Molrang, Mini, Dart, Pangpang, Mir, Yongyong, Titan, and now Kami.
That’s eight species I’ve tamed as world firsts, right?
So I casually checked the record…
[Taming World Record: 38 species]
“…Ack.”
38 species is brutal.
Seeing it’s from 1932…
Yeah, figured.
Back when there were barely any tamable beasts, they just cherry-picked the easy ones and raked it in.
Okay. Cleanly give up on the world record.
Time to get to work.
“Kami.”
Nyaaang!
At my command, Kami slipped back into the shadow.
It positioned itself in the center of the factory, then expanded its territory.
Once most of the factory floor was dyed black.
Ssss…!
Over a dozen dark tentacles sprouted from the shadow.
That’s… Black Fuzzy Clump?
Doesn’t look like a fuzzy clump at all.
Maybe Black Fuzzy Clump is just a byproduct.
This is the original. Probably way more effective.
“Seolbaek!”
Next, I called Seolbaek.
With transformation, Kami doubles! Tentacles double! Pudding slime production doubles, obviously!
Kiiing!
But Seolbaek refused fiercely.
Beyond refusal, it bounced kong-kong-kong up the stairs to the rooftop room.
It really hates it.
Guess canines and felines truly can’t mix.
No helping it.
Forcing something it hates isn’t right.
Tsk, swallowing my regret, I picked up a slime ball.
Then poke-poke!
I started impaling them one by one on the tentacles that had grown to my height.