WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the EX-Rank Pet Maker Hunters Obsess Over ◈
Chapter 29: Eclipse
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Baaang-!!!
The furious middle-aged man slammed the table. Splinters flew as it split cleanly in two.
“Chairman Wang!!! Didn’t you say there was nothing wrong with the Buffering Array!!!”
“...An unforeseen error emerged later than expected...”
“You bastard!!! Do you think I called you here to listen to excuses!!! Are you fucking playing with me right now? Or did you pull this shit just to screw me over?!!!”
Chairman Wang Xiaolong broke out in a cold sweat.
“Th-that’s... I never expected something like this to happen...”
“Ha, another excuse? What are you, a goldfish? Chairman Wang, tell me right now how you plan to solve this.”
“Th-the magical beasts that went on a rampage were mostly C-rank, so if we deploy Hunters to clear the entire magical beast industrial complex, we can handle the situation, but...”
“But? But what? What else is there?”
“...There are still high-rank magical beasts being cultivated in large quantities inside the laboratories and factories...”
At that, the middle-aged man sighed and dragged a hand down his face.
“...Can’t we solve it by cutting off the power from outside or something?”
“...Emergency power will activate, so the magical beasts under cultivation will continue receiving power at least until they reach maturity-”
Bang-!!
The middle-aged man kicked apart the furniture.
“Fuck!! You call that an answer!? Then what, should we fire missiles and wipe the whole place off the map??”
Bombing the entire industrial complex while survivors were still inside...?
Even if that truly were the best option, it was obvious how other countries would see it. The authorities would hold him, the person who had backed Mansu Precision Engineering, fully responsible for damaging the nation’s reputation.
Sensing the middle-aged man’s killing intent, Chairman Wang hurriedly offered a solution.
“W-we should deploy high-rank Hunters, plant explosives in the cultivation facilities, and neutralize them one by one. That’s the surest method... We don’t need to destroy everything. If we destroy only the key control facilities inside the laboratories, we can neutralize most of them...!!!”
“Haa... Fine. That’s probably the most reliable method. But setting that aside, you’ll have to pay for what’s already happened, won’t you?”
Grab-
“W-what do you mean...? Mmff!!”
The middle-aged man grabbed Chairman Wang’s jaw and shoved a hand into his mouth.
Then he gripped one of his molars and tried to pull it out with absurd strength.
Crunch-
Chairman Wang’s eyes rolled back from the tremendous pain of his jawbone twisting.
Splat-
Chairman Wang’s dental implant tore free, shattering his jawbone as it came out.
“Mmph!! Guhk!!!!”
“Don’t worry, you won’t die. I’ve done this more than once, so I know how to control myself. We’ll deploy Hunters according to the operation plan, so Chairman Wang should start thinking about how to save his own skin.”
The middle-aged man took out a handkerchief, wiped his hands, and left the room.
“Ghk... Nghh...”
Chairman Wang writhed on the floor in pain.
‘It can’t end with them resolving this situation.’
If the authorities resolved the crisis without him being able to do anything, even keeping his life would be difficult.
In his desperation, Yoo Hyun came to Chairman Wang’s mind.
The guy who created the Buffering Array might know a solution.
But... would he really help after they tried to steal his technology?
...Even Wang Xiaolong thought that was shameless.
“Fuck... I’m really screwed...”
* * *
【 Korean Hunter Gallery 】
[ Free ] Those Chinese bastards said they were attacked by terrorists, but it was a biohazard outbreak, fuck;;;;
Author: WaitingForDualityPet
A massive biohazard situation broke out, and they tried to cover it up?
Did these bastards really think they could get away with it?
(Video of a hellish scene supposedly filmed in Sichuan Province)
It’s legendary that they tried to hide this... They’re restricting access right now. What a joke of a country...
[ Comments ]
Anon (37.9): Holy shit... That’s basically a Gate Break. Can they even suppress it?
└ LovesMagicBeastsLovesMagicBeastsLovesMagicBeasts: The scale can’t even be measured right now;;; Mansu Precision Engineering still hasn’t released the cultivation records, so nobody knows what else could happen.
└└ Anon (37.9): They still haven’t released the records after things got this bad...?
Mansu Precision Engineering and the Chinese authorities attempted to conceal the incident, but over several days, stories resembling urban legends slowly spread online. People claimed they could hear explosions and monster cries from the Sichuan Magical Beast Industrial Complex.
[ YouTube ] The Truth Behind the Monster Cries Heard at the Magical Beast Industrial Complex?
[ YouTube ] Saw a Strange Figure While Traveling in Sichuan!! What the Hell Was That?
Travel YouTubers’ videos were especially difficult for the Chinese authorities to control, so the strange events unfolding in Sichuan, a famous tourist destination, inevitably spread across the world.
As anxiety surrounding Mansu Precision Engineering rose, its stock began plummeting day after day. Naturally, my stock, which I’d been gradually buying since before the incident, rose every day.
Baek Seola, who had bought a double-inverse Mansu Precision Engineering fund following my lead, stared at her stock app and muttered under her breath.
“Well, I’ll be. What in the world is this? This is for real...? I can’t believe my eyes.”
“...?”
“Ahem. I mean, it’s probably time to take profits. It looks like things could get dangerous soon.”
Did I just hear a folksy regional dialect, or was that my imagination?
“True... This is about the right time. China failed to cover up the biohazard outbreak, after all.”
No one knew when or how Mansu Precision Engineering’s stock would explode.
I’d made enough money off it. Time to take profits.
“So these are... my custom magical beasts?”
Baek Seola looked eagerly at the cases by my feet.
An unusual presence could be felt from the two medium-sized cases.
“Yes. You’ve waited a long time, haven’t you? These are the Eclipse models, the first Duality specimens I created for Hunter Baek Seola.”
When I opened the cases, two magical beasts slipped out.
“Saaah-”
“Saaak-”
They resembled great serpents, floating through the air despite having no wings. As though drawn to one another, they entwined into a spiraling shape.
[ Model Name 》 Eclipse - Solar ]
[ Mana Core Rank 》 B+ ]
[ Lifespan 》 19 years ]
[ Traits 》 Extreme Yang Physique (A+), One Body, One Mind (B+), Energy Infusion (B+), Unstable Structure (F-) ]
[ Model Name 》 Eclipse - Luna ]
[ Mana Core Rank 》 B+ ]
[ Lifespan 》 19 years ]
[ Traits 》 Extreme Yin Physique (A+), One Body, One Mind (B+), Energy Absorption (B+), Unstable Structure (F-) ]
The Eclipse model was divided into the white Solar model and the black Luna model. As their status windows showed, each had a constitution developed to an extreme on one side.
Naturally, such unbalanced abilities drastically shortened a magical beast’s lifespan and greatly reduced its combat ability.
But the Duality magical beast synthesis method compensated for that weakness.
Paired from the Seed stage, Solar and Luna filled in each other’s deficiencies and maintained an exceptionally stable state.
“These are... my pets...”
When Baek Seola reached out, the Eclipse models climbed over her hand and coiled around her arms.
Sliiide-
“Huh...?”
I calmed her down when she startled.
“It’s okay. They aren’t trying to hurt you.”
The two snakes, each as thick as an arm, crawled over Baek Seola’s body, searching for the optimal position.
“Saaak-!”
“Saaah-!”
Then the two magical beasts began resonating, and energy circulated between them.
Hummm-
“...Huh? Mana’s flowing into me. Is this really okay?”
“It’s clean, pure mana without impurities. There’s no problem.”
The energy of the two magical beasts, each possessing an extremely lopsided constitution, circulated and amplified before flowing straight into Hunter Baek Seola.
Power that achieved perfect balance naturally had high compatibility.
As a mage, she would now be able to wield power beyond her usual limits.
“I thought an enhancement-type pet was the only kind that would suit Hunter Baek Seola.”
[ Name 》 Baek Seola ]
[ Species 》 Human ]
[ Awakened Rank 》 A Rank ]
[ Position 》 Versatile Mage ]
[ Combat Tendency 》 Prefers to coordinate the battlefield from the center of the team. Prefers to adapt flexibly according to the situation. ]
[ Areas for Improvement 》 Tends to use ice-element magic, but this is not a major issue. Her technical ability is close to complete. Improving her raw power appears effective. ]
Her Customer Window showed that she was nearly perfect for an A-rank Hunter, so making a pet to cover a weakness like I had for Hunter Yoo Dusik would’ve been pointless.
Whoosh-
Baek Seola raised blue mana flames from her hand and murmured.
“I really can use the mana the magical beasts are infusing without any difficulty controlling it. It even feels like my output itself has increased... My god...”
Of course it had. Her A-rank mana output was now supplemented by the Eclipse models’ mana, which outstripped their rank.
With her mana-control ability, she should be able to handle that power easily.
Baek Seola wrapped both hands around mine and looked up at me.
“...Thank you, President Yoo Hyun. I should show you greater respect, but... I suddenly want to test this power right away. If you’d allow me to properly thank you later over a meal-”
“If you want to test your power, that works out well. Would you like to spar with me?”
Yeon Harim appeared out of nowhere and cut Baek Seola off.
Her sudden arrival genuinely startled me.
“Huh? When did you get here?”
The doorbell hadn’t rung. How did she get inside?
Baek Seola turned to Yeon Harim with a somewhat stiff smile.
“...If Hunter Yeon Harim is willing to help, I’d be glad to.”
“Perfect. We haven’t had much interaction, so we never got the chance to get to know each other, right?”
Well, well... this just got interesting.
If my guess was right, even with the Eclipse models, Hunter Yeon Harim would probably hold a slight advantage because of compatibility...
But I knew nothing about combat, so I had no idea what would happen.
“Follow me.”
* * *
The two Hunters headed to a multipurpose training center to test Awakened abilities, and I eagerly followed along in case it would help with future magical beast production.
The multipurpose training center employees’ eyes widened when they saw Yeon Harim and Baek Seola.
“Hunter Yeon Harim and Hunter Baek Seola... What brings you here?”
For these two to come to the training center together...
“A spar. Are there any available sparring rooms?”
“Ah, yes! There are! I’ll show you to our top-tier training room, so please proceed there!”
Thump. Thump.
Baek Cheolwoong, an employee at the Awakened multipurpose training center, was bursting with excitement inside.
‘Jackpot... Fuck, it’s really Yeon Harim and Baek Seola...!!’
Yeon Harim versus Baek Seola was one of the matchups that always came up in community discussions.
And Baek Cheolwoong could see it in person? Out of nowhere, like this!?
For a Hunter fanatic like Baek Cheolwoong, it was an opportunity sent by the heavens.
‘Thank you... I’ll live a good life...!!!’
For some reason, Yoo Hyun, the alchemist who had recently become a hot topic, was with them too, but Baek Cheolwoong didn’t find it particularly strange. Yoo Hyun was also famous for creating Yeon Harim’s pet, so there was plenty of connection between them.
‘Those snakes wrapped around Baek Seola were probably made by Yoo Hyun too, right?’
Whatever the case, Baek Cheolwoong was thrilled to witness the matchup they had dreamed of.
The two women faced one another in the top-tier training room.
“Yes, the sparring rules are as explained... There is a recovery barrier, but please refrain from inflicting fatal injuries if possible.”
Baek Cheolwoong gave a brief explanation of the sparring guidelines between them...
“Both sides, get ready...! Begin!!”
Kwooooom-!!!!!
“Kyaaaaaaah-!!!!”
The sound of the air exploding was the last thing Baek Cheolwoong heard before their vision turned completely white.
Footnotes:
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