WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the EX-Rank Pet Maker Hunters Obsess Over ◈
Chapter 42: Transform
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Yeon Harim stood on the Kawasaki coast, staring at the blood-red fog shrouding the artificial island.
Fully armed, she spoke with grim resolve.
“This must be the most practical and fastest route into Ars Magna.”
An official from Japan's Hunter Management Agency nodded.
“Yes. The boat will follow a preset course, so you won't need to operate it. However, once you arrive at the artificial island, there's a chance the boat will break down because of the fog. Also, unlike the fog that first appeared, we have confirmed that anyone exposed to that red fog for over an hour can no longer leave the fog zone.”
In other words, once they entered, they would be unable to leave the fog zone until the situation was resolved.
Even an S-rank Hunter like her would be unable to find her way through that blood-red fog.
The fact that its effects penetrated even Etherization made it clear this was no ordinary fog.
‘It’s probably some kind of debuff that acts directly on the human mind rather than matter.’
The fog had not even been properly analyzed from outside.
But Yoo Hyun was inside.
Her Etherization ability only held value because of his magical beast pets.
Wolyeong’s guild ranking had shot up because of them, too.
By now, Yoo Hyun was indispensable to both Wolyeong and Yeon Harim.
She had more than enough reason to take the risk.
‘I've got to earn some real points this time... I don't think I'll get another chance if I miss this one.’
He had grown beyond being tied down by something like Wolyeong’s sponsorship. It was only right to consider this her last chance.
A disaster like this would not happen every day.
Yeon Harim turned to the Hunter Management Agency official.
“So when does the boat leave? I'd like to enter as soon as possible.”
“Could you wait a moment? Thankfully, another S-rank Hunter from Korea has volunteered to assist us.”
“What?”
Including herself, Korea had two S-rank Hunters... no, three now that Baek Seola had recently been promoted.
One of them had not been active outside lately, which naturally narrowed the candidate down to one person.
Then a silhouette approached from the distance.
Hunter Baek Seola walked over with two snakes coiled around her, smiling.
“Hunter Yeon Harim is here too, I see?”
That breast monster... no, Baek Seola, was after Yoo Hyun.
While Yeon Harim warily watched Baek Seola, the Agency official gave them one final instruction on what to do inside the artificial island.
“Once you enter the island, there's a high chance you'll encounter Riders. They'll likely act as guides, so please stage a situation where you're in danger.”
Yeon Harim and Baek Seola tilted their heads at the official’s words.
“What do you mean?”
“If you do that, they'll appear. It's the easiest way. Hunters Yeon Harim and Baek Seola both look like fragile women at a glance, so they'll come find you quickly.”
...Neither of them understood what that meant, but Yeon Harim and Baek Seola nodded for now.
* * *
Ars Magna, Hermes Research Institute
Yoo Hyun looked out the window as he vigorously kneaded Haengbok.
“I never thought the fog would cross Tokyo Bay and invade Ars Magna overnight.”
“Pant, pant...”
He had greatly underestimated how quickly the fog would spread.
No, more accurately, it seemed to have spread as if it had targeted Ars Magna with pinpoint precision.
“I never imagined it would cross the sea and affect an artificial island.”
The Magna Riders had to be the reason.
Could the entity beyond the fog have somehow detected that Magna Riders were being created on this artificial island?
Otherwise, there was no way to explain why the fog had swallowed the island as if it had been aiming for it.
Asagiri, Researcher A, opened the laboratory door and stepped out.
“Director, preparations for the procedure are complete.”
“The time has finally come.”
“Pant, pant...”
“But are you really going to do this? Conducting a human experiment right away is a little...”
They clearly did not understand.
“We've already gathered more than enough data on fusing magical beasts and humans, haven't we? With that much data, applying it to my own body is nothing.”
“That may be true, but inserting a magical beast directly into a human body... I've never even heard of something like this.”
“But it’s efficient.”
A guard magical beast could not be far from the person it was meant to protect. Still, even a guard beast could not be kept with you twenty-four hours a day.
So I decided to put a magical beast inside my body.
* * *
A little while after the procedure ended, Chairman Asakura arrived with a Magna Rider.
“Mr. Yoo Hyun, are you all right...? Your complexion...”
“Urgh... I’m fine... The magical beast injected into my veins is settling into my body, so my organs are twisting...”
“That doesn't sound fine at all.”
Chairman Asakura’s face briefly filled with horror, but perhaps he had grown used to my bizarre behavior by now, because he quickly began his report.
“First, the other research institutes have made some progress analyzing the fog. It appears certain that the fog affects the human mind. The mages say this fog is a type of curse that damages a person's very humanity...”
“Are the Magna Riders immune to the fog because they're mixed with magical beasts, meaning their humanity has already been damaged... is that the idea?”
“We consider that the most likely theory. In fact, I had no problems moving through the fog thanks to the magical beast serum you distributed, Mr. Yoo Hyun.”
...Then perhaps the monsters arising inside the fog had originally been human.
For reference, after seeing that the Riders were fine inside the fog, I turned magical beast factors into a serum and distributed it throughout Ars Magna.
Thanks to that, this place remained relatively safe despite being in the fog zone.
‘Hmm... I suppose we’ve figured out how the fog works and how to counter it, at least.’
The problem was how to escape the fog.
Chairman Asakura continued.
“The mages say this fog is a kind of barrier. They believe a barrier of this type must have a structure that acts as its axis.”
I nodded.
“Then we can assume the central axis maintaining the barrier is inside the Double Gate in Saitama Prefecture, since that's where the fog originated.”
“Exactly. In the end, there is only one task we need to accomplish. Clear the S+-rank Double Gate. But to do that, we need a raid force made up of at least S-rank Hunters.”
Chairman Asakura paused to catch his breath, then lowered his head with a gloomy expression.
“But as you know, our plan failed. Japan's two S-rank Hunters are believed to still be trapped inside the Gate, and we were ultimately unable to proceed with the Riders' Enhancement program.”
“It couldn't be helped. The fog came down before we could even select the Riders.”
The Magna Rider Enhancement program required training time.
Unlike the previous Beta model, the Gamma model created this time was selective about its owner.
In truth, that was not uncommon.
The more intelligent and powerful a magical beast was, the more it tended to choose its owner for itself.
Until now, they had distributed B+-rank magical beasts to A-rank tanks, so the beasts had followed them. But these newly made magical beasts were nearly S-rank.
Whether they would acknowledge A-rank tanks as their owners was another matter entirely.
That was why I had originally planned to gather Riders, select people with high compatibility, and slowly train them to adapt.
Chairman Asakura sighed.
“Haah... The magical beasts you made for the S-rank Hunters, and the new magical beasts for the Riders... They’ve all ended up as burdens.”
“I released the new magical beasts into the wild so they could go find their owners.”
Chairman Asakura blinked at my words.
“What...? What do you mean...?”
“And couldn't we just bring the S-rank magical beasts directly to their owners?”
If they were alive inside the Gate, we could go find them ourselves. I had also called in the right people for the job.
“Director, you have visitors!!”
“Mr. Yoo Hyun!!”
* * *
Tokyo
Because of the rapidly spreading fog, most civilians had become trapped inside the fog zone.
They had gathered in groups at schools or shopping malls with abundant supplies, but those places were not free from the fog’s effects either.
Fortunately, the Magna Riders brought in a large quantity of magical beast serum from the artificial island. That significantly reduced the fog’s harmful effects, and it seemed they might somehow endure until rescue arrived from outside.
But...
Those who had stayed hidden alone in their rooms were unable to receive the serum. Entranced by the fog, they began to disappear...
Then, at some point, a massive tower of flesh appeared in Tokyo.
People trembled at the grotesque sight. Riders and other Hunters who had received the serum tried to destroy the tower, but failed because they lacked the firepower.
At last, pus burst out from within the tower, and a horrific giant monster was born.
As if it instinctively sensed the building crowded with people, it began moving in that direction.
Communication devices did not work.
Dragging its pure-white muscular body along, the creature crawled toward a school building, saliva dripping from its mouth.
It had no eyes, yet it knew exactly where it was going.
Its body looked slow, but it was far faster than anyone could have imagined.
The crawling body gradually began to run.
The Hunters attacked it from afar, but could not inflict any meaningful damage.
The fog wrapped around it as though it were protecting the creature.
“...At this rate, everyone will be in danger.”
A passing Magna Rider, Yamada Daichi, thirty-two years old.
He intended to block the creature's advance with his entire body.
“I’ll help too.”
“We need to buy as much time as we can.”
Riders who shared his resolve gathered and formed a line together, but...
“Hngh-!!!”
Kwang-!!!
The moment they collided with the monster, it felt as if his entire body had burst apart.
His vision turned completely white, and when he regained his senses...
He had been thrown into some building, his transformation forcibly canceled.
The Panoplia model around his waist itself had taken severe damage.
Thinking that, he reached down to feel around his waist, but something was wrong.
“Cough...”
He was used to his body being completely wrecked after becoming a Rider, but this time he was in no condition to make jokes.
“Damn it...”
His lower body was rolling around somewhere else.
Glancing outside, it seemed the Riders’ sacrifices had stopped the creature's advance.
The Hunters were buying time, but the evacuation had begun too late. They still needed more time.
But his vision went dark.
“...Thir... sty...”
Why was I doing this again...?
As death approached, memories flashed through his mind.
The past, when he had shut himself away in his room.
He had become an Awakened by chance, but nothing changed.
Other than easily making money at construction sites with an Awakened’s abilities, his life was no different from before.
A faded life where he was not living, only slowly dying.
Then, by chance... he got a belt.
At first, it was simple curiosity.
“Th-thank you for saving me...!”
How long had it been since someone thanked him?
For the first time, he felt as though life had meaning.
“I-I have to get up...”
He could not stop here.
“Slurp...”
The shattered Panoplia model wriggled as if trying to reconnect his lower body. This body, undergoing magical beastification, miraculously fused back together with it.
But the Panoplia model, having fulfilled its role, breathed its last...
“...Thank you.”
Yamada Daichi stroked it once and slowly rose to his feet.
Blood poured down in heavy drops.
His limbs were twisted.
But he could not stop here.
Kwang-!! Bang-!!
Someone was still fighting.
Someone was still calling for help.
He could not feel his lower body. It had only barely been reattached.
But that did not matter.
Even without the belt...
There were people he had to protect.
* * *
“Kuwooooo-!!!”
When the creature swung its arm, the Riders could not withstand it and were thrown away. When it roared, the mages casting spells from afar coughed up blood and collapsed.
Even as they burned their lives away, they could only hold it back for a few seconds.
After rampaging once, the monster drooled as it approached the line of evacuees.
Thud. Thud.
Then a battered figure appeared in front of it and blocked its path.
Step. Step.
“...I don't have a dream.”
His life had been one of simply living without meaning.
When he ran out of money, he would go to a construction site and earn a day's wage with the physical abilities he had easily gained as an Awakened.
There was nothing he wanted to do, nothing he wanted to become.
A meaningless life, no different from a corpse.
He tried not to draw attention, afraid he might make a mistake. He tried not to stand out.
Sacrificing himself to help someone was a foolish act.
It went directly against a living creature's instincts.
He had rationalized it that way, running from the responsibilities and problems right in front of him.
I'm a coward.
I'm just a tumor that lives because it can breathe.
But even someone like him had realized he could do something.
“I don't have a dream. But... I can protect someone else's dream.”
To overcome even a little of his fear, he stood before the monster and shouted a line spoken by the hero of a special-effects show he liked.
His body was sturdier than those of other Awakened.
If he could endure even one more second, someone would survive.
As he stood before the monster in his battered body, something flew toward him.
“Slurp-!”
Something that looked like a small dragon wrapped around his waist.
Click.
Then another type of magical beast flew toward him, and he caught it on reflex.
“...What is this?”
A beetle-type magical beast.
He could feel the resonance between the magical beast at his waist and this one.
Even the monster seemed to sense that resonance, because it stopped moving.
Yamada Daichi looked at the magical beast in his hand and smiled.
Thank you.
For giving my life meaning.
Yamada Daichi vowed that even if hell itself stood in his way, he would save the people.
“Kuwooooooo-!!!”
Thud! Thud!! Thud!!!
The monster began charging toward him.
Yamada Daichi fitted the magical beast into his belt and shouted.
“Transform.”
[ INFERNO FORM! ]
[ TRANSMUTATION! OVERLOAD!! ]
The flames that swallowed him pierced through the blood-red fog and surged high into the sky.
The Author's Words
Thank you for reading today too...!!
This is the last registered chapter.
Footnotes:
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