Chapter 20
Magitech Expo Day 6
Two Hunters checking for danger at every turn came into view.
Clack—
Hunter Kang Sujin opened the way as if confirming that it was safe.
“Please go ahead, Mr. Yoo Hyun.”
“Team Leader Kang, I think it would be a good idea to request support from the guild. There are too many blind spots for just the two of us.”
“……Er, you Dongbaek folks? We’re escorting him too, you know….”
Hunters Kang Sujin and Seong Taesik of Dongbaek were now escorting me with treatment worthy of an almost-VVIP.
Having unveiled new technologies in not only Design but also Cultivation and claimed the double crown, I seemed to have become an even more important figure in their eyes than before.
At this rate, they might even volunteer to become my court food tasters.
‘I still have one more to go….’
…If I even take the triple crown, what will happen to these people?
Treatment worthy of a VVVIP?
I can’t even imagine it.
“Boss, what’s the Enhancement competition like?”
Unlike the two who were making such a fuss, Hunter Lee Yujin, who had taken up a position beside me, asked, apparently curious about how this competition would proceed.
“Enhancement is… hmm… a field where both theory and practice are important. And also… I understand it’s been extremely grotesque.”
“Grotesque?”
“Enhancement usually involves surgical procedures in most cases.”
For example, in the case of Rodin, the ‘Rune Turtle’ Hunter Yoo Dusik had taken with him, I hollowed out the creature’s shell for the enhancement. Though we call it a shell, a turtle’s shell is actually an evolved form of its ribs.
I carved out its bones, drew circuits on them, and even made and attached a magic stone socket. Like cyberware.
In other words, the Enhancement competition was basically a contest to remove an existing body part and insert a basic implant…!
Since it involved modifying the body of a living creature at the alchemist’s whim, it had provoked even more backlash than the Cultivation competition and had even been suspended for a while.
…That was probably because Enhancement didn’t always succeed.
“Ugh, that definitely sounds gross….”
“Still, they’ve improved that aspect recently, so these days they generally use magic beasts in forms that provoke little public backlash when selecting competition subjects.”
“Like what?”
“An elemental body like your Sylphid model, Hunter Yujin… Or perhaps a magic beast like a slime?”
Slimes had already been chosen as the enhancement target two years ago, though, so it wouldn’t be one this year.
‘Tsk… If it were a slime, I’d really be confident….’
*
Yoo Hyun’s contestants’ waiting room.
Outside, two Dongbaek Hunters stood guard at the door, while the two from Wolyeong guarded me from inside.
I’d thought it was excessive, but since they said they were looking after my safety, I accepted it gratefully.
‘But I wish they’d let me go to the bathroom alone….’
With little time left before the competition began, Hunter Yoo Dusik brought up a light topic.
“Wow… It’s finally the last competition! Boss, are you on track to win again this time?”
“Hmm… Since I’m participating in the competition, I have to win, at least. I’m planning to take the triple crown.”
“As expected…!!”
Hunter Yoo Dusik clenched his fist.
Beside him, Hunter Lee Yujin asked me, apparently curious.
“Boss, then are you going straight back after this competition ends?”
“No? I’ll do some sightseeing at my leisure before heading back.”
It would be advantageous for me to enter Korea as late as possible and keep everyone there on tenterhooks. Besides, there was still some time left in the Magitech Expo schedule, so there was no reason to return early.
But why was she suddenly asking that?
“Because someone could register your technology for copyright first or something!! What was it…? Don’t you need to get a patent quickly? Register the recipe? Something like that?”
Click—
Hunter Kang Sujin suddenly appeared after opening the door, shook her head, and spoke to Hunter Lee Yujin with pity in her eyes.
“Haa… What a truly foolish thing to say.”
“What!? I’m honestly worried! No, more importantly, shouldn’t you be guarding the door? Why did you suddenly come in? Were you secretly eavesdropping!?”
“Hmm, it’s for your safety, in case something happens inside. Mr. Yoo Hyun is precious, after all. More importantly, Hunter Lee Yujin’s remark was an insult to Mr. Yoo Hyun’s technology. Truly foolish.”
“No, what does that….”
Hunter Lee Yujin looked at me.
Her face seemed to ask, Did I really ask a foolish question?
‘Hmm….’
…To be honest, I had more or less the same impression as Hunter Kang Sujin, if only slightly.
After all, even a layperson could see that Hunter Lee Yujin’s remark was awfully short-sighted.
‘To copy my technology outright and claim the copyright….’
I could certainly see how someone unfamiliar with technology might worry about that.
But still… Copying the technology I unveiled at the competition in a short time and getting a patent?
Would that realistically be possible?
For starters, if there had been anyone capable of copying my technology just by looking at an outline, the magic beast industry wouldn’t have remained at this level for over ten years in the first place.
“Hunter Lee Yujin, you don’t need to worry. There’s no alchemist who could copy the technology I unveiled in a short time just by looking at the blueprint or outline.”
It would be possible to copy the blueprint I presented at the competition exactly.
Anyone with enough observation and time could honestly copy a blueprint or array exactly as it was.
But could they apply that technology unchanged to ‘a different magic beast’?
Who knows?
‘Duality’ was, in essence, merely the blueprint for the specimens I had unveiled, and it was a newly opened tech tree that no one else could reproduce.
Even the judges at this competition would have to spend months researching Duality instead of everything else.
Even at the fastest, it would take at least three months of research… No, unless I interpreted the core technology of Duality for them, there was a good chance it would take much longer.
Then what about the ‘buffer-type array’?
I had designed the buffer-type array with a certain degree of versatility, but even that would take a major corporation one or two months to research if I didn’t explain it.
In other words, Hunter Lee Yujin’s remark was essentially asking, “Can someone patent another person’s finished product without understanding its mechanism at all?”
Well, I don’t know whether there have actually been successful cases, but at least in the magic beast industry, such clumsy theft wouldn’t work.
To register my technology with the International Alchemy Association, it had to pass the Technology Standards Committee’s technical verification. Could someone who had clumsily imitated the technology pass that verification?
Magic beast technology only becomes valuable when it possesses a certain degree of versatility and compatibility.
A technology applicable to only a single specimen was no different from that specimen’s individual trait.
In other words, whether Duality or the buffer-type array, it would be impossible to copy either in a short time unless I interpreted the technology for them.
What if someone copied Duality and the buffer-type array exactly as they appeared in the competition and claimed the technologies as their own?
The moment it was revealed that they couldn’t apply my technology to other magic beasts, they would bear the full backlash.
Technology theft was a serious crime, enough to get one expelled from the industry.
“Anyway, for these reasons, there’s no problem with leaving them unattended for about a month.”
“Uh… I-I see… I really underestimated the industry….”
“It’s fine. Anyone could make that mistake.”
There was no way Hunter Lee Yujin would know this when she wasn’t even in research.
*
The Day 6 Enhancement Division competition at the Magitech Expo began.
[ The magic beast we have prepared this time is a C-Rank elemental body powered by a Magic Core. It was provided by one of our judges, Ms. Louise von Berg. Thank you. ]
An elemental body made by Louise…
Even if it had been a coincidence, she had an exceptionally deep understanding of elemental and energy-based magic beasts, enough to create the Ether Cat, a magic beast with highly unusual properties.
The elemental body she had provided was indeed remarkably complete.
“Hooh, Louise’s pretty good…?”
Exclamations of admiration erupted from those around me as well.
“Oh… As expected of a young genius. Such completeness….”
“Louise… She’s still young, but she’s no ordinary talent….”
[ Model Name 》 ELM-G-03 ]
[ Magic Core Rank 》 C ]
[ Lifespan 》 8 years ]
[ Traits 》 Intermediate Elemental Body (B) Energy Amplification (C) ]
A trait that surpassed the Magic Core’s rank. This only manifested when a magic beast’s level of completion was truly high.
‘And on top of that… ‘Dual Traits’….’
It seemed the hint I had sent her via DM when her research appeared to be stalled while I was in Korea had allowed her to succeed immediately.
When I looked at her, Louise lowered her head and avoided my eyes.
‘Why is she acting like that…?’
After creating a magic beast of this caliber, she could afford to be a little more confident…
But anyway… This competition had become quite interesting.
The high level of the magic beast to be enhanced made my fingers itch to get started for the first time in a while.
I observed Louise’s elemental body piece by piece, as if disassembling it.
*
“Hey, Louise, what’s wrong? Does your stomach hurt?”
Maximilian was worried about Louise, who had her head bowed deeply.
Judging by their appearances, she was nearly young enough to be his granddaughter, so he couldn’t help worrying about her.
However, Louise’s health was perfectly fine.
Louise’s face flushed as she clenched both hands tightly on her knees.
Squeeze—
“……Ngh.”
She was embarrassed.
Showing her magic beast to that genius.
Looking at Yoo Hyun’s behavior so far… Her habitual claims about possessing intelligence comparable to his were nothing more than clowning around.
Embarrassed? Ashamed? No, that wasn’t it…
‘…Humiliated.’
Never once had she felt even the slightest shame over her magic beasts before…
‘Ugh… Why does this feel so disappointing? Now that I think about it, I could have designed the array a little better… I could have put together the essence combinations more precisely, too….’
Regret at not having done better came crashing over her now.
She had hurriedly and recklessly submitted her magic beast because her online friend Yoo Hyun was participating in the competition… and now she regretted it needlessly.
She had only wanted to show off the magic beast she had created thanks to his help…
‘I shouldn’t have been so stubborn…!!’
The thought that Yoo Hyun was a genius who could stand beside her had been nothing more than her own delusion.
He was a genius even among geniuses.
What did Yoo Hyun think when he saw her magic beast?
Would he laugh at how low-level it was? Would he find her ridiculous for only managing to make this despite receiving so many hints?
‘…I made trash….’
The negative thoughts that had long been crushing her from within began to spill out.
The praise showered on her as a young genius. The past she had spent striving every moment to achieve better results. But even a talented person couldn’t produce good results every single time.
To avoid failure. To succeed more often.
Even while in the prime of her growth, she had skipped meals and sleep and devoted herself to alchemy.
As a result, her body had failed to develop properly.
She had hypnotized herself by calling herself a genius no one could ever approach, simply to endure all that suffering.
I’m a mad scientist. I’m a girl who loves alchemy-love-love-love.
But that self-gaslighting shattered when she met a true genius.
“……I’m tired.”
The word slipped out before she realized it.
Just as the pressure that had built up over years began to slowly fracture her mind.
Flash—!!!
Light burst from Yoo Hyun’s enhancement table.
“Ooooooh!! Yoo Hyun’s doing something!!!”
“What is he trying to show us this time!! What is it now!!!”
“Kraaaagh!!! What the hell did he just do!!!! I didn’t see it!!!!!”
[ Aaaaagh, my eyes—!!!! ]
Yoo Hyun’s enhancement technique was revealed to the world.