Chapter 11
[ Public Opinion Watch ] “Better Than People” The Story of a Magic Beast That Saved a Child from a Truck Is Being ‘Shared Endlessly’ on Social Media
[ YouTube ] I Personally Tried Touching the Hot-Topic ‘Jellykko Model’!!
[ Society ] The Positive Function of Magic Beast Pets? The Ability of a ‘Jelly-Type Magic Beast’ That Rescued a Child from an Uncontrollable Truck Is Making Headlines
The video of the household pet magic beast Jellykko saving a child was a hot topic for a while… and my hole-in-the-wall shop was packed with customers from all over the country.
The shop was certainly enjoying a huge boom, but…
There was one major problem.
[ Jellykko Sold Out ]
“Boss, when will the next Jellykkos be restocked?”
“……Next Monday….”
No matter how many times I ran the incubators, it still wasn't enough.
Even with the one incubator I had been using and the two new ones I had purchased, for a total of three running at full capacity, supply couldn't keep up with demand.
Even an F-Rank Jellykko required at least forty-eight hours of incubation.
If I had also needed to perform the enhancement myself, it would have taken even longer.
[ Model Name 》 Jellykko MK - 1 》 Jellykko MK - 2 ]
[ Magic Core Rank 》 F+ ]
[ Lifespan 》 1 year ]
[ Traits 》 Jelly Barrier (E+) ]
Fortunately, I had improved the MK - 1 design and created the MK - 2 model, so I could skip the enhancement process.
Anyway, all the Jellykkos I had piled up had already sold out…
People were still lining up in front of the shop for the opening rush and the like, but I had no Jellykkos left to sell.
It felt strange seeing the pet-shop cages completely empty, since it was the first time that had happened since I opened the shop.
“Amazing… Boss, your pet shop really made it big!”
“Pant, pant….”
Kim Jia, a regular customer, kneaded the spotted Jelly Dog Happy as she exclaimed in admiration.
Happy was now the only Jellykko left in the shop.
“By the way, Boss, you're a celebrity now, aren't you? Recently, even YouTubers and reporters came looking for you.”
“I know….”
I had become a celebrity despite never expecting to, known as the boss who made the Super Jelly Dog…
Anyway, contrary to my expectations that becoming famous would cause trouble, nothing had happened to me personally.
I looked down at my smartphone.
[ Yeon Harim ] : The fallout wasn't as bad as expected…? No Hunters came looking for you, right?
[ Me ] : Surprisingly, not a single Hunter has come.
‘……Was it all just a legendary fuss?’
There wasn't much of a reaction in the community, either.
【 Korean Hunter Gallery 】
- [ Free ] Jellykko isn't for combat, right?
- [ Free ] Yeah, it's strictly a pet magic beast lol I heard its magic core rank is F-Rank, too lol
- [ Free ] But if an F-Rank stopped a traffic accident, isn't that impressive?
- [ Free ] Jellykko is a masterpiece, but it's not something to make a huge fuss over lol There are lots of household magic beasts at this level overseas lol
Well, as you can see, it wasn't being mentioned very much.
I had wondered whether this incident would expose my abilities to the public, but I had merely become the young man who made the Jelly Dog.
[ Yeon Harim ] : Come to think of it, the impressive parts about Mr. Yoo Hyun are his absurd insight and unrealistic design speed, so I suppose they're difficult to truly appreciate without experiencing them firsthand… Most of the magic beasts Mr. Yoo Hyun has created are low-rank magic beasts, too.
‘Low-rank magic beasts.’
That was a significant factor.
My magic beasts were certainly outstanding, but were they absolutely untouchable? Not really.
Low-rank magic beasts were easy to make.
If a major corporation at the cutting edge of the magic beast pet industry poured in enough manpower, capital, and time, it could produce low-rank magic beasts comparable to mine.
Of course, even then, their performance would be inferior to that of magic beasts created with my EX-Rank trait…
The important thing was that they weren't completely incapable of competing with me.
As for how corporations could possibly compete with an EX-Rank ability…
I hadn't shown the upper limit of my ability so far.
I was confident that once I became more familiar with my ability, obtained better equipment, and used better materials, I would be able to create magic beasts so incredible that my current creations couldn't even compare.
Anyway, as long as the Moonshadow Guild didn't fully reveal information about the pets to the outside world, the risk of my identity being exposed was extremely low.
[ Yeon Harim ] : I suppose the public has concluded that I grew stronger after realizing how to use my ability, rather than because of a pet.
The Ceraunos model was C+ Rank.
Strictly speaking, unless its user was Yeon Harim, it wasn't actually that powerful of a pet.
Of course, if you examined it piece by piece, it possessed absurd specifications… but as a single unit, the reality was that it was weaker than an A-Rank magic beast from a high-end brand.
Because magic beast regulations had been so strict in Korea, people tended to underestimate pets, but there were plenty of highly useful top-tier pets overseas.
‘In any case, it certainly seemed that no one had figured out who I really was.’
The collaboration with the Moonshadow Guild would finally begin the day after tomorrow, and fortunately, it seemed nothing would happen before then.
Ding—
“You're Mr. Yoo Hyun, the owner of Happy Pet Shop, correct? I'm from Dongbaek.”
No, I was wrong.
*
I seated a well-dressed man who looked like he knew how to get things done at a table inside the shop and spoke.
“Dongbaek… That's Hunter Baek Seol-ah's guild, isn't it? Why have you come looking for me? My shop doesn't specialize in combat pets.”
I first tried to determine his intentions, since I couldn't be certain yet that my identity had been discovered.
The man in the suit spoke solemnly.
“Moonshadow's Gamma Team and its Guild Master, Hunter Yeon Harim, have recently achieved excellent results in Gates. The change was dramatic, to say the least.”
“Hunter Yeon Harim has certainly been doing well lately.”
“And we detected evidence that they had contacted you, Mr. Yoo Hyun. We even found traces that related records had been deleted.”
……So the inevitable had finally arrived.
It made sense. If a top-ranked guild seriously investigated me, reaching me would be incredibly easy.
The suited man's sharp gaze was fixed on me.
“Our Guild Master suspects that you may have had some… positive influence on them.”
“Positive influence… As you know, they did all buy pets. Docile ones like the Rune Turtle.”
Well, if they had investigated me, they already knew that much, so there was no need to hide it.
“Our Guild Master suspects that you aren't… merely a Magic Beast Alchemist, Mr. Yoo Hyun. Especially in the case of Hunter Yeon Harim.”
After pausing for a breath, the man continued.
“Contrary to what the public knows, could it be that you provided her with some kind of decisive assistance?”
“……Me? But I'm a Magic Beast Alchemist who only recently became C-Rank. Even so, it would be a stretch to say I influenced Korea's greatest female Hunter….”
“That's true… It may be somewhat rude, but to be honest, I still doubt your abilities….”
“Hmm….”
When I gave him a look asking why he had come, he smiled awkwardly and said,
“Our Guild Master's eye for people is quite accurate. I think that's enough for today. This is my business card. The Dongbaek Guild is very interested in you, Mr. Yoo Hyun, so if you would come visit us—”
“I have no intention of visiting.”
“If you prove your abilities, we'll offer you better terms than Moonshadow—”
“No, that's not what I mean.”
Moonshadow's Guild Master, Hunter Yeon Harim, had come herself when it was time to discuss the contract…
Wouldn't Dongbaek's Guild Master have to come personally, too?
They were supposed to be rivals, so it would look strange if I bowed and scraped only to Dongbaek… Hunter Yeon Harim might take offense.
*
The top floor of Dongbaek's guild building
“……You want me to come in person…?”
“Yes. He seemed to think he had something to rely on, despite being the owner of a mere small pet shop. Or perhaps he simply wasn't thinking.”
Baek Seol-ah smiled leisurely as she listened to the report.
“Interesting.”
If he had reacted that way, he might have already signed a contract with Moonshadow.
‘Then… that means his abilities have already been verified, at least.’
Baek Seol-ah became even more certain that her instincts had been correct.
‘The public says Yeon Harim learned how to use a new ability after years of training… but is that really what happened?’
For someone to finally make proper use of a trait after years without progress… there was a high probability that outside intervention had been involved.
Yeon Harim wasn't the only one who had run into a wall. Baek Seol-ah had as well, so she knew how difficult this problem was to solve….
“So he isn't merely a Magic Beast Alchemist… Very well. I suppose I should visit him myself.”
Baek Seol-ah swept back her silver hair with a relaxed smile.
*
[ Yeon Harim ] : Dongbaek contacted yooou!? Dongbaek!? Dongbaek!!? You're not actually going to sign a contract, are you!!? You're going to make a custom-made pet for that country bumpkin Baek Seol-ah???????
“Wow… Look at that reaction….”
[ Me ] : Calm down… It's not certain yet whether I'll sign a contract.
Contact from a new guild.
This wasn't a bad thing for me. It was also an opportunity to raise my standing another notch.
If I secured a sponsorship contract with Dongbaek after Moonshadow, wouldn't my safety become even more secure?
Of course, Hunter Yeon Harim would be displeased, but it wasn't an exclusive contract in the first place. Since it was a sponsorship arrangement, there shouldn't be any particular problem.
The higher a magic beast's rank, the more its production costs increased exponentially, so the more sources of money I had, the better.
Besides, starting from B-Rank, magic beasts approached the high-end level.
From that point on, they would be enough of a sensation to attract the attention of the Hunter industry, so I needed to raise my standing in advance to avoid trouble later.
*
The next day, at Yoo Hyun's pet shop
A beautiful woman who reminded me of a white aristocrat was sitting across from me at the table.
Could someone really be this pale…? Seeing her in person, her beauty was definitely unreal.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Yoo Hyun?”
Her voice was relaxed and dignified. Perhaps I could describe it as an elegance different from Yeon Harim's.
It was clear that she hadn't earned the nickname “aristocrat” for nothing.
“Hello, Hunter Baek Seol-ah.”
“This meeting was arranged rather suddenly, so I don't have much time… I'll ask you directly, so I hope you'll understand. The fact that Moonshadow's Gamma Team and Guild Master Yeon Harim have been achieving excellent results lately is thanks to you, isn't it?”
……She couldn't have been any more direct from the very beginning.
“And if that were the case?”
“I knew it… Then, could you help me, too?”
“Do you mean you'd like to purchase a pet?”
“Hmm… If my guess is correct, a pet is closer to a means…? Your pet-making skills are certainly excellent, but they aren't everything you can do. There's something else… something more….”
I was slightly surprised by her words.
‘What was with that sharp intuition…?’
She couldn't have had much reliable information, yet she had extraordinarily good instincts.
‘I see… So this was the person who had once stood at the pinnacle of female Hunters….’
For some reason, I suddenly found myself wanting to have her as an ally.
Perhaps I should say that she seemed like the sort of person who would be troublesome as an enemy?
She had approached me in a relatively gentlemanly manner, and Dongbaek seemed suitable to become my partner, so I judged it favorably.
Therefore, it would probably be best for me to show her a little of my abilities in order to secure the contract.
“Hunter Baek Seol-ah. Would you like to have a brief consultation? It's something I do before creating a custom-made pet.”
“A consultation…? Interesting. All right. Let's see what you can do, Mr. Yoo Hyun.”
And so the consultation began…
Baek Seol-ah continued the consultation with a relaxed smile, but her gaze gradually began to waver.
‘W-What…?’
It had clearly begun with light questions, but she gradually started to feel as though every aspect of her was being exposed.
“After hearing you out, it's clear. Hunter Baek Seol-ah, you're probably agonizing over what else you can do to become stronger. Technically, you're already close to perfect.”
The consultation that had branched out from Yoo Hyun's casual questions soon began stabbing mercilessly at her core.
“You didn't mention it, but you recently made a major mistake because you were impatient, didn't you…?”
“H-How did you….”
“After talking with you, I realized that you're human, too, Hunter Baek Seol-ah. You seem to have been under a lot of stress lately… And since you deliberately left out only certain details, I inferred that something like that had probably happened.”
“C-Can you really infer all that from just that!?”
What…? It didn't seem like she had given him much information, yet he had pieced together the shapes of the remaining pieces from the few puzzle pieces he had…?
It was truly absurd insight. He was accurately identifying not only her combat-related problems, but her psychological ones as well.
Thump—Thump—
Baek Seol-ah's heart gradually began to pound.
“C-Could it be that you conduct consultations like this for other people, too…?”
“Exactly… Figuring out their condition and creating a pet optimized for it. That's what I do best.”
“…Then… you solved Hunter Yeon Harim's trait, too…?”
“That, too… I solved it.”
Baek Seol-ah felt a shiver run through her at his words.
‘This was it… This was why Yeon Harim suddenly grew so strong…!!’
Just as she had expected, Yoo Hyun wasn't merely a Magic Beast Alchemist. He possessed absurd insight, along with the pet-making ability to support it…!!
If she recruited this man, Dongbaek would surely enter a golden age.
And she, too… could become stronger.
What had his insight seen in her?
What part of her was he trying to supplement, and what kind of pet would he create for that purpose?
Her anticipation surged.
‘……Soon, I'll be able to become as strong as Hunter Yeon Harim… No, even stronger, right?’
If she borrowed this man's power, reclaiming first place among female Hunters would certainly be possible.
With that expectation in mind, Baek Seol-ah continued the consultation even more seriously.
And a short while later…
“…What…? You can't accept my commission…?”
Baek Seol-ah wore a stunned expression.