WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Haruto

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◈ I Became the EX-Rank Pet Maker Hunters Obsess Over ◈

Chapter 17: Magical Beast Cultivation Division

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Day Two of the Magic Engineering Expo

I spent the day wandering around the Messe Frankfurt Magic Engineering Expo, checking out cutting-edge magic-engineering technology.

As expected of an expo with participants from all over the world, it was packed with fascinating booths. There was always something to see.

Naturally, some booths displayed technology related to magical beasts.

Whenever I encountered cutting-edge magical-beast technology, though, I couldn't help feeling bitter.

"Hmm... Seeing this really reminds me that Korea is still a backwater when it comes to magical beasts."

Back when I worked at the research institute, we had been competitive in our specialized fields, at least...

In the end, magical-beast regulations caused the institute to collapse, and all my team members scattered across the world.

'Well, everyone seems to be doing fine...'

It was only natural, but after yesterday's competition, I was suddenly flooded with messages from people I knew.

[Team Leader]: Hyun, what the hell is this...? Is that really you? What happened? When I said you used to be on my team, our entire research institute went crazy!!

[Me]: I came across a nice, juicy stroke of fortune, Team Leader.

[Team Leader]: What does that even mean...? Anyway, give me a call if you ever think about coming to Japan. Though if you wanted to come, you'd have done it a long time ago... Anyway, I'm glad you're doing well, Hyun.

Something along those lines.

Of course, I also received messages from all sorts of organizations, including the Korean Hunters Association and the Alchemists Association.

But I deliberately didn't respond to any of them.

I had a general idea of Korea's situation. That was exactly why I ignored them.

I could already guess what they wanted, and considering what I planned to do next, it would be advantageous to make it seem like I had no attachment to Korea.

I had no intention of being held back by regulations again like I had been at the research institute. I needed to make it clear that I held the upper hand over those who wanted me.

My standing might still seem uncertain for now, but with every day that passed at the expo, it would grow. The people who wanted me would become increasingly desperate.

"Wow, Boss, look at this! It's supposed to be next-generation material-processing technology! It looks like it can be used to make arrows as well as armor! This is insane..."

Since the people accompanying me were Hunters by trade, they remained alert to their surroundings while still taking a considerable interest in the booths.

At the booth Lee Yujin pointed to, a large machine was breaking down monster materials in real time.

I walked over and read the sign explaining the technology.

"Let's see... High-density compression technology for monster materials through ultrasonic mana decomposition...?"

According to the overview, monster hide and bones were dissolved with ultrasound and a special solvent, then compressed into a material as light as a feather and far harder than steel...

Yet I intuitively realized that this method was inefficient and muttered without thinking.

"Hmm... This seems like it would destroy the material's properties instead..."

A man who appeared to be a booth representative approached me.

"What do you mean by that...?"

"Ah, I misspoke. Please ignore me."

"No, I know who you are. You're Yoo Hyun, the Korean genius alchemist who created the 'Duality' school of thought on the first day of the expo, aren't you? I'd really like to hear your opinion."

Apparently, I had become fairly famous in that short time...

My escort Hunters had been blocking countless people who wanted to shake my hand since earlier.

Anyway, I thought he had come over to confront me because I seemed to be dismissing their technology. Did he really just want my opinion?

Hmm...

"......This is material from an A-rank monster, correct?"

"Yes, that's right. As you can see, while it comes from an A-rank monster, these materials are generally low-value and aren't used for Hunter equipment. We've transformed them into far superior materials with our own processing method."

Even among A-rank monsters, some had strangely fragile hide or soft bones. Such materials could be worth less than materials from B-rank monsters...

This technology seemed intended to make use of those materials.

I looked over the finished sample.

"Hmm..."

The broken-down and compressed sample had certainly been processed into something convincing.

Was it truly harder than steel and lighter than a feather, as the description claimed? That was exaggeration...

Objectively speaking, though, it was definitely a light, sturdy material.

But...

"The mana array has been completely ruined by the overly harsh process. If you process it this way, it can't compete with mainstream A-rank monster materials."

"Ahaha, we never intended to compete with mainstream A-rank monster materials in the first place. This technology focuses on recycling unusable materials."

"Ah, is that so? I thought you were trying to break down and compress obscure A-rank monster materials, then rebuild their mana arrays. Compressing soft materials into something hard while strengthening their mana arrays... If that had been your goal, it would have surpassed mainstream A-rank materials."

"Y-yes...? Wh-what do you mean...?"

"If you recreate the material's properties, the mana array will naturally follow... Well, it's not important. If recycling is the goal, that's more than enough."

"Uh, w-wait a moment!! Please explain that part in more detail! Mr. Yoo!!"

Having lost interest, I turned and left. He shouted after me, but saying any more would only put me at a disadvantage.

"Wow... Boss, what did you say to him? Why's he acting like that?"

"From what I heard, it sounded like you were discussing some kind of technology..."

My escorts seemed curious about what we had discussed.

"It's nothing."

I waved it off.

'What a shame... It seems like it could be decent technology with just a few adjustments...'

Hunters didn't wear equipment made from monster materials or special metals for no reason.

Special materials obtained from Gates contained mana.

Equipment infused with mana could possess special abilities beyond simply having greater cutting power and durability than ordinary equipment.

Yet that technology ground mana-infused materials to pulp, severing all their mana arrays.

It might look as though the mana remained and the material had become stronger, but it had thrown away all the material's inherent potential.

An A-rank monster had soft bones and hide? There was a high chance its mana arrays had formed into an exceptionally sturdy configuration.

The problem was that these sturdy arrays often stopped functioning properly after the monster died. That was why the bones and hide of such monsters were sold cheaply compared to other A-rank materials.

That was all because there was no technology capable of restoring mana arrays...

Then I suddenly realized I was entertaining an absurd thought.

"......That's scary."

Without realizing it, I had been thinking of technology that didn't yet exist as though I could implement it whenever I wanted.

No, if I was getting this feeling, I could probably really do it.

I quickly pushed the thought from my mind. Something beyond human intellect seemed to be encroaching on it.

'No, wait... Then if I stockpiled unusable materials...'

No... Forget it. I needed to stop thinking about this.

Come to think of it, this ability... It seemed versatile enough to be applied not just to magical beasts, but to living creatures as a whole.

* * *

As I made my way through the booths, I couldn't stop admiring what I saw.

"Wow, this core technology really is incredible... Should I actually live in Germany?"

They could produce mana cores at this level of purity...

They were overwhelmingly more refined than the mana cores from Lionel, the value-for-money brand I often used.

It was a bold, sophisticated technology that minimized the unavoidable losses that occurred when processing monster mana cores for magical beast pets.

There was a reason people said Germany's technology was the best in the world.

Just looking at the cores had me excited...

"If I make a Jellykko with this, I could give it an initial lifespan of two years!!"

"Boss... Are you still going to make Jellykkos...?"

A reporter who had been waiting for a chance to interview Yoo Hyun while avoiding the Hunter guards was utterly shocked by what Yoo Hyun had just said.

"G-gasp!!!! The possibility of naturalization...!!!"

[Breaking] "Should I Actually Live in Germany?" Yoo Hyun Expresses Admiration for German Technology. Could He Seek Naturalization?

[Exclusive] 'Duality' Developer Yoo Hyun Caught Up in Overseas Defection and Emigration Rumors... "Will the Nation Lose Its Talent?"

[Editorial] Will We Drive the Pioneer of K-Magical Beast Technology Into Emigration... The Disaster Caused by Blind Political Regulations

[Issue] "A Criminal at Home, a God of Magical Beast Alchemy Abroad"... Politicians Supporting Magical Beast Regulations Panic Over Yoo Hyun's Possible Emigration

[Focus] "Please Abandon Korea"... Netizens Even Begin Supporting Yoo Hyun's Emigration!

As the possibility of Yoo Hyun emigrating, once dismissed as unlikely, began to surface, Korea entered another phase.

【 Korean Hunter Gallery 】

- [Free] An article just came out saying Yoo Hyun might get naturalized in Germany?

- [Free] Might? Isn't it practically guaranteed?? Why would he bother coming back to Korea??

- [Free] Nah, if it were me, I'd go to America. The world's top dog would keep you nice and cozy.

- [Free] You never know when Korea will slap more regulations on him again lol. If he's going to live as a Magic Beast Alchemist, another country is the right choice.

- [Free] For real. If he comes back to Korea, he'll probably end up making Jellykkos again someday;;;

- [Free] I am curious about a Duality Jellykko, though...

- [Free] Forget that, wouldn't China kidnap him if he stayed in Korea? They've kept failing to make S-rank magical beasts, so things have been brutal over there lately;;;

With every word Yoo Hyun said, Korea was holding a daily dopamine festival...

【 Magical Beast Pet Minor Gallery 】

- [Free] Ah...!! Great Yoo Hyun!! Thanks to you, every day is fun!!!

- [Free] Honestly, I just want our gallery master to let his talent bloom overseas lol. I hope he makes some amazing magical beasts...

- [Free] Proof) I raise three Jellykkos lol. There were none for sale, so I barely managed to get existing owners to give them up.

- [Free] The Cultivation competition is finally tomorrow. Upvote if you're already excited lololol

- [Free] I'm looking forward to this more than the World Cup final, seriously.

Finally... The Cultivation Division competition would begin tomorrow, on day three.

* * *

At last, day three of the Magic Engineering Expo arrived, the day the 'Cultivation' Division competition was scheduled to take place.

Many people had taken notice of Yoo Hyun after his overwhelming performance in Design, but no one believed he would demonstrate the same ability in Cultivation.

Design was theory. Cultivation was practice.

Both were fundamental abilities for a Magic Beast Alchemist, but they were classified as entirely different disciplines.

Directly handling mana, injecting essence extracted from materials into a mana core, adjusting its arrays, and creating a magical beast's initial form, a 'Seed,' was a delicate task with a completely different nature from Design.

There was a reason Magic Beast Alchemists who specialized in Cultivation existed separately.

People didn't say Design took brains and Cultivation took hands for nothing.

To cultivate the Seed of a high-rank magical beast, one had to manipulate arrays with mana control so delicate that even top Hunters would click their tongues in disbelief.

On top of that, the magical-beast design for cultivation in this competition was so viciously difficult that even the judges clicked their tongues.

"Hmm, it doesn't look like Mr. Yoo will be able to shine this time."

"Probably not... It's a different field from Design."

"Perhaps because of the attention on the magical-beast market, this Cultivation competition's difficulty is no joke."

Top-tier Design ability and Cultivation ability...

To possess both was as absurd as being an archmage and a swordmaster at the same time, so even the judges didn't have high expectations─

[The sub-trait ‘Evolution Lord’s Dexterity’ is activated.]

"J-Jesus!!! Is that really a human being!!!?"

"Insane...! What the hell am I looking at...!!"

"Oh, my God...!! What is he doing to that tiny, adorable Seed!?"

Footnotes:

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