I Became the EX-Rank Pet Maker Hunters Obsess Over - Chapter 20

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Haruto

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

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

Chapter 20: Magical Beast Enhancement Division

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Day 6 of the Magic Engineering Expo

Two Hunters checked for danger at every point along the way.

Step.

Once she had confirmed it was safe, Hunter Kang Sujin cleared the way.

“Please go ahead, Mr. Yoo Hyun.”

“Team Leader Kang, I think it’d be best to request support from the guild. There are too many blind spots for just the two of us.”

“...The Dongbaek people? Wolyeong is escorting him too, though...”

Kang Sujin and Seong Taesik of Dongbaek were now escorting me with treatment fit for a VVIP.

I had claimed a double crown by unveiling new technology in both Design and Cultivation, so I seemed to have become even more important to them than before.

At this rate, they might volunteer to become my food tasters too.

‘There’s still one event left...’

...What would happen to these people if I won a triple crown?

VVVIP treatment?

I couldn’t even imagine it.

“Boss, what’s the Enhancement competition like?”

Unlike the two making such a fuss, Hunter Lee Yujin, who stood beside me, asked with obvious curiosity about how this event worked.

“Enhancement is... well... both theory and practical skill are important. And from what I understand, it can get pretty grotesque.”

“Grotesque?”

“Enhancement usually involves surgical procedures.”

Take Rodin, Hunter Yoo Dusik’s Rune Turtle, for example. To enhance it, I carved into its shell. It might be called a shell, but a turtle’s shell is actually an evolved form of its ribs.

I carved into its bones, drew circuits, and even made and attached magic-stone sockets. Like cyberware.

In other words, an Enhancement competition was practically a contest where contestants removed parts of an existing body and inserted basic implants...!

Since it involved alchemists modifying living creatures’ bodies however they pleased, it drew even greater backlash than the Cultivation competition and was suspended for a while.

...Enhancement didn’t always succeed, after all.

“Ugh, that does sound disgusting...”

“They’ve improved that aspect lately, though. These days, the magical beasts selected for the competition are usually ones that provoke less public backlash.”

“Like what?”

“Spirit entities like Hunter Yujin’s Sylphid model... or magical beasts like slimes?”

A slime had already been used as an enhancement subject two years ago, so it probably wouldn’t be one this year.

‘Tch... I’d be really confident if it were a slime...’

* * *

Yoo Hyun’s contestant waiting room.

Dongbaek’s two Hunters guarded the door outside, while Wolyeong’s two Hunters protected me inside the room.

I thought they were overreacting, but they said they wanted to keep me safe, so I gladly accepted.

‘Though I wish they’d at least let me use the bathroom alone...’

With little time remaining before the competition began, Hunter Yoo Dusik brought up a light topic.

“Wow... It’s finally the last competition! Are you going to win this one too, Boss?”

“Hmm... If I’m competing, I have to win. I’m planning to achieve a triple crown.”

“As expected...!!”

Hunter Yoo Dusik clenched his fist.

Hunter Lee Yujin, sitting beside him, looked at me curiously.

“Boss, are you going straight home after this competition?”

“No. I’ll take my time sightseeing before I head back.”

It would benefit me to make Korea sweat for as long as possible before returning. The Magic Engineering Expo still had some events left anyway, so there was no reason to rush back.

But why was she suddenly asking that?

“Someone might register the copyright for your technology before you do! What was it... Shouldn’t you hurry and file a patent? Register the recipe? Something like that?”

Click.

Hunter Kang Sujin suddenly opened the door, shook her head, and looked at Hunter Lee Yujin with pity.

“Haah... What a foolish thing to say.”

“What!? It’s a legitimate concern! More importantly, weren’t you supposed to be guarding the door? Why did you suddenly come in? Don’t tell me you were secretly eavesdropping!?”

“Hm. An accident could occur inside, so it’s for safety. Mr. Yoo Hyun is precious, after all. More importantly, Hunter Lee Yujin’s remark insults Mr. Yoo Hyun’s technology. It really is foolish.”

“What are you talking about...”

Hunter Lee Yujin looked at me.

Her expression clearly asked, Did I really ask such a stupid question?

‘Hmm...’

...To be honest, I felt a little like Hunter Kang Sujin did.

Even for someone outside the field, Hunter Lee Yujin’s thinking had been rather shortsighted.

‘Copying my technology and claiming the copyright as their own...’

Still, I could understand why someone who knew nothing about the technology would worry.

But really... copying the technology I revealed at the competition and filing a patent in such a short time?

Was that realistically possible?

If there were someone capable of reproducing my technology just by looking at an overview, the magical-beast industry wouldn’t have remained at this level for more than ten years.

“Hunter Lee Yujin, you don’t need to worry. There’s no alchemist who could reproduce the technology I revealed in a short time just by looking at the blueprints or overview.”

They could probably copy the exact blueprint I displayed at the competition.

Honestly, anyone with enough time and observational skill could copy a blueprint or mana array exactly.

But could they apply that technology to a different magical beast?

Who knew?

Duality was, in effect, only the blueprint for the individual I had revealed. It was a newly opened branch of technology, so nobody else could reproduce it.

Even this competition’s judges would have to set everything else aside and study Duality for months.

At the absolute fastest, it would take at least three months of research... No, unless I explained Duality’s core technology, it would likely take much longer.

And what about the Buffering Array?

I had made the Buffering Array somewhat versatile by design, but even then, a major corporation would need one or two months of research without my explanation.

In other words, Hunter Lee Yujin’s question was like asking whether someone could patent another person’s finished product without understanding its mechanism at all.

I didn’t know whether anyone had ever succeeded at that in practice, but such clumsy theft wouldn’t work in the magical-beast industry.

To register my technology with the International Alchemy Association, it had to pass technical verification by the Technology Standardization Committee. Could someone who had only poorly imitated the technology pass that verification?

Magical-beast technology only had value when it could be used with a degree of versatility and compatibility.

Technology applicable to just one individual was no different from that individual’s trait.

So whether it was Duality or the Buffering Array, no one could reproduce it in a short time unless I explained the technology.

What if someone copied Duality and the Buffering Array exactly as they appeared in the competition and claimed the technology was theirs?

The moment it became clear they couldn’t apply it to other magical beasts, the backlash would hit them full force.

Stealing technology was a serious enough crime to get someone expelled from the industry.

“Anyway, for those reasons, there’s no problem leaving it alone for about a month.”

“Uh... I see... I took the industry too lightly...”

“No, it’s understandable.”

Hunter Lee Yujin wasn’t a researcher. There was no reason for her to know about any of this.

* * *

The Enhancement Division competition on Day 6 of the Magic Engineering Expo began.

[ The magical beast we have prepared this time is a spirit entity with a C-rank mana core. It was provided by one of our judges, Ms. Luise von Berg. Thank you. ]

A spirit entity made by Luise...

She had created the Aether Cat, a magical beast with highly unusual properties, even if it had been by chance. Her understanding of spirit entity and energy-based magical beasts was exceptionally deep.

The spirit entity provided for the competition was exceptionally well made.

“Ooh, Luise is pretty good...?”

Exclamations broke out around me as well.

“Oh... As expected of a young genius, such a high level of completion...”

“Luise... She’s still young, but she’s no ordinary talent...”

[ Model Name 》 ELM-G-03 ]

[ Mana Core Rank 》 C ]

[ Lifespan 》 8 years ]

[ Traits 》 Intermediate Spirit Body (B), Energy Amplification (C) ]

A trait that exceeded its rank. This only manifested when a magical beast’s level of completion was truly high.

‘And it has Dual Traits, too...’

Her research seemed to have hit a wall when I was in Korea, so I gave her a few hints through DMs. It looked like she had succeeded right away.

When I looked at her, Luise lowered her head and avoided my gaze.

‘What’s with her...?’

She had created a magical beast this impressive. She could have been a little more confident...

Well, anyway... This competition had gotten pretty interesting.

The magical beast selected for Enhancement was of such a high level that my hands were itching for the first time in a while.

I examined Luise’s spirit entity one part at a time, as though I were taking it apart.

* * *

“Hey, Luise, what’s wrong? Does your stomach hurt?”

Maximilian worried over Luise, who had her head lowered.

Luise looked almost young enough to be Maximilian’s granddaughter, so Maximilian couldn’t help keeping an eye on her.

But Luise was in perfectly good health.

Her face red, Luise tightly clasped both hands in her lap.

Squeeze.

“...Nngh.”

She was embarrassed.

Embarrassed to show her magical beast to that genius.

Considering everything Yoo Hyun had shown so far... all the things she habitually said about possessing an intellect capable of rivaling his were no more than clownish posturing.

Embarrassed? Ashamed? No, that wasn’t it...

‘...It’s humiliating.’

She had never once felt even the slightest shame about her magical beasts before...

‘Ugh... Why do I regret this so much? Thinking about it now, I could’ve made the array better... I could’ve created a more refined essence combination, too...’

Regret flooded her, telling her she should have done better.

When she heard that Yoo Hyun, her online friend, was entering the competition, she recklessly rushed to submit her magical beast...

She had only wanted to show off the magical beast she had created thanks to his help...

‘I was so stubborn for no reason...!!’

She alone had mistaken Yoo Hyun for a genius who could stand alongside her.

He was a genius even among geniuses.

What did Yoo Hyun think as he looked at her magical beast?

Would he laugh at how low-level it was? Would he think her ridiculous, wondering if this was all she could make after he had given her so many hints?

‘...I made garbage...’

The negative thoughts that had long been suppressed inside her began to spill out.

Praise poured down on her as a young genius. In the past, she had worked every moment to produce better results. But even someone as talented as she was couldn’t achieve good results every time.

To avoid failure. To succeed more often.

Even while she was still growing, she skipped meals and gave up sleep as she threw herself into alchemy.

That was why her body had never developed properly.

To endure all that pain, she hypnotized herself into believing that she was a genius no one could ever match.

I’m a mad scientist. I’m an alchemy-love-love-love girl.

But even that self-gaslighting shattered when she encountered a real genius.

“...I’m tired.”

The words slipped out without her realizing.

The pressure that had built up over years slowly began to crack her mind.

Flash-!!!

Light burst from Yoo Hyun’s Enhancement table.

“Ooooooh!! Yoo Hyun’s doing something!!!”