WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the EX-Rank Pet Maker Hunters Obsess Over ◈
Chapter 43: Entering the Gate
──────
Fwoooosh-!!!
The refugees, fleeing in panic from the sudden pillar of fire, reflexively turned around.
The blood-red fog scattered in the flames, and their blurred vision brightened.
“W-What is that!?”
“What’s happening now?”
“That’s...!!”
The massive beast stopped before the towering pillar of fire.
An intense heat wave blew away the fog in every direction.
Fwoooosh-!!
A Rider wreathed in blazing flames walked out from within it.
[ Model Name 》 Panoplia - Gamma ]
[ Mana Core Rank 》 A+ ]
[ Lifespan 》 22 years ]
[ Traits 》 Fusion-Type Exoskeleton (A+), Overclock (A+), Invasive Parasite (A), Gene Fusion (A) ]
[ Model Name 》 Inferno Core ]
[ Mana Core Rank 》 A+ ]
[ Lifespan 》 19 years ]
[ Traits 》 Hellfire (A+), Mana Accumulation (A+), Mana Amplification (A), Gene Fusion (A) ]
Yamada Daichi looked down at his body.
A red suit wreathed in flames.
An enormous amount of mana boiling like magma.
He could even feel his shattered body restoring itself in an instant.
Then he realized it.
He was no longer human.
“Gwoooaaaar-!!!”
The beast roared and brought its arm down on Yamada.
It was a single blow that had turned even A-rank tanks into pulp.
The refugees squeezed their eyes shut at the horror about to unfold, but...
Baaang-!!!
The Rider withstood the attack with one arm.
His physical durability and strength were on a completely different level from the other Riders.
“Hup-!!!”
He forced the beast’s arm back through sheer strength, then swung a kick in a wide arc. Flames traced a crescent through the beast’s arm, severing it.
Fwoosh-!!!
Thud-!!
The beast howled in pain as its arm fell away.
“Gwoooaaaargh-!!!!”
“Looks like you can’t bring out the same level of defense without the fog protecting you.”
Without turning around, the Rider operated the magical beast on his belt.
[ ONE, TWO, THREE, IGNITION ]
Fwoooosh-!!
Blue flames burst from his entire body.
Everything nearby began to melt from heat that dwarfed what came before.
The instant he seemed to take a step toward the beast, the world was washed white.
Riiiiing-
A piercing whine filled their ears. As the light flooding the world faded and their vision gradually returned, the refugees saw...
A massive circular hole, as though it had been cleanly carved from the beast’s body, and the Rider’s back beyond it.
Blue flames melted the ground along the path he had crossed.
Thuuud-!!!
Most of its body had been obliterated by that overwhelming firepower. The beast fell, and silence filled the area.
Yamada’s transformation ended after his finishing move consumed a huge amount of mana.
The form revealed beneath it was not human.
More than half of his body had changed.
The left side looked charred black like a lump of coal, with lava seeming to flow through it like veins.
Even from far away, Yamada could feel the refugees’ gazes.
For a moment, all kinds of thoughts about how they might react flashed through his mind.
But it didn’t matter.
‘This is the path I chose.’
As Yamada turned to leave...
“Thank you, Magna Rider!!”
Someone among the refugees called out their thanks.
Yamada smiled faintly and left.
As he moved, he thought about it.
As long as the fog zone remained, monsters like that would keep appearing.
To end this disaster, they had to close the Gate.
‘I can’t let any more people die.’
The sound of a motorcycle engine cut through the fog.
* * *
Korea’s S-rank Hunters, Yeon Harim and Baek Seola, arrived on the artificial island. Yoo Hyun administered magical beast serum to them.
For a while, they should be unaffected by the fog.
I explained the plan to the two of them.
We would enter the Double Gate, the source of the fog, find the two isolated S-rank Hunters, deliver my magical beasts to them, then work together to clear the Gate.
It was a simple plan, but also a gamble.
Japan’s two S-rank Hunters might already be dead.
I had also considered making new magical beasts at the research institute, but the fog affected machinery too.
I couldn’t rule out the chance of an error occurring during the magical beast Cultivation process.
If something went wrong while cultivating a new S-rank magical beast, it would become a huge headache.
In the end, I decided to gamble on Yeon Harim and Baek Seola’s combat power, as well as the chance that the S-rank Hunters were still alive.
Before leaving Ars Magna, I bowed to them.
“I’m sorry for getting both of you caught up in something this dangerous...”
Yeon Harim waved her hands.
“No, Hunters run into this kind of thing every now and then. I owe you too, Yoo Hyun, so you don’t need to feel burdened.”
Baek Seola elegantly brushed back her hair and smiled as if it were nothing.
“Hunter Yeon Harim is right. Besides, given the relationship between President Yoo Hyun and me, you don’t need to bow over a request like this.”
“That’s right. Yoo Hyun and I talk every night, and we’ve even shown each other our bare skin. Don’t be so distant with me.”
Baek Seola’s expression stiffened at Yeon Harim’s words.
“...Every night? Bare skin...?”
Yeon Harim looked at Baek Seola with a derisive smile, then turned to Yoo Hyun.
“...But are you coming too, Yoo Hyun?”
“Yes. The S-rank magical beasts need their initial setup.”
Holding two pet cages, Yoo Hyun decided to follow them.
* * *
With help from the Riders stationed in Ars Magna, we traveled through the fog for quite some time and arrived before the Double Gate in Saitama Prefecture.
A massive Gate pouring out blood-red fog.
The atmosphere was anything but normal.
Baek Seola spoke to me with concern.
“President Yoo Hyun? It could be genuinely dangerous beyond this point. Even if you’re an Awakened, you have a non-combat class. Honestly, I don’t recommend going any farther.”
“I prepared magical beasts for protection, so I won’t hold you back.”
“Alright. Then stay right by my side, no matter what.”
Baduk and Omok¹, the Eclipse models coiled around her body, let out sharp hisses.
They probably meant for me to trust only them.
‘But what’s with those names? Like some country mutts...’
Anyway, my actions might seem reckless, but if these two failed, everyone in the fog zone would die anyway.
‘And I don’t know what condition the two Japanese Hunters are in after being severely affected by the fog. I have to go with them.’
I didn’t know how much help I would be, but at least I wouldn’t hold them back...
Probably.
One last time, I checked my alchemy kit in my bag.
“Hmm... This should do it.”
I made sure to bring the cages containing the S-rank magical beasts in suspended animation.
Finally, I put Haengbok, the most important Jellykko, into a tote-style pouch. Haengbok stuck its face out of the pouch, panting.
I tightened the drawstring so Haengbok wouldn’t fall out.
“Pant, pant...”
Yeon Harim took out her sword and swung it a few times as if checking it, then approached me.
“I’m ready.”
“I’m ready too.”
“Pant, pant...”
And so, we entered the Gate.
* * *
Thirty minutes after entering the Gate.
The inside was thick with blood-red fog, and the monsters were more vicious than usual.
They showed no caution at all. It even looked as though some unknown mutation had occurred.
“Kieeeek-!!!”
“Kyaaaah-!!!”
Could those be called berserk states?
This was already an S+-rank Gate, so its difficulty was considerable, but Yeon Harim and Baek Seola took down the monsters with ease.
Yeon Harim’s trait was outrageously powerful, while Baek Seola boasted tremendous raw power thanks to the first magical beast ever made using Duality.
Baek Seola used ice magic to inflict wide-area damage and hinder the monsters. Then Yeon Harim, wrapped in lightning, finished off any monster that exposed an opening in a single strike.
They didn’t seem to get along very well, but their synergy was surprisingly good.
‘No, more importantly, they were this strong...?’
With Ars Magna’s latest equipment too, they were seriously no joke...
Crackle-!!
“Kiek...”
Thud-!
I stared at the growing pile of monster corpses and swallowed hard.
“...Sniff. Mutated monster corpses... I want to take them back and extract their essence...”
“Pant, pant...”
Haengbok panted as though it agreed.
Still, I summoned superhuman willpower, looked away from the corpses, and stuck close to Baek Seola as we moved.
Even if mutated monster corpses were highly unusual materials, collecting them in a situation like this would be insane.
But the S-rank fog mutants kept flashing through my mind.
“Huff... huff... Ah, I seriously can’t take it anymore!!”
“...President Yoo Hyun, I think you’re a little too close...”
“Hunter Baek Seola, if I lose control and lunge at you, please make sure to stop me.”
For some reason, Baek Seola’s face reddened. She silently nodded.
After advancing for another hour or so, we arrived before a Gate within the Gate.
Its form was strange.
“This is... a Gate?”
A sinister Gate stood within a square doorframe made of bone and flesh.
Even Yeon Harim and Baek Seola, who had seen countless Gates, were taken aback by its grotesque appearance.
“I’ve never seen a Gate like this before...”
“My goodness...”
We hadn’t found any Japanese Hunters nearby as we advanced this far.
We could search more, but after making this much noise, the fact that no hidden Hunters had signaled us meant they were probably not in this area.
Or they were already dead.
But retreating was not an option. Yeon Harim entered the Gate first, then came back out.
“There was fog inside, and unfamiliar structures... No, they weren’t exactly buildings. How should I put it? They were unpleasant structures made of flesh and bone, with a similar feel to that door.”
I nodded.
“As expected, this isn’t an ordinary Gate. The structures inside that Gate must be the source of the fog.”
The core of the barrier the mages had mentioned.
If we destroyed that, this situation would end too.
And so, we entered the grotesque Gate.
[ Found... you.... ]
* * *
The moment I entered the Gate, an indescribable voice echoed through my mind. When I opened my eyes, I was at a bizarre altar, not the place Yeon Harim had described.
Pitch-black darkness blocked every direction. Only a faint light from one corner of the ceiling illuminated the old altar, where dust floated in the air.
“...Where am I?”
I had clearly been separated from the other two. Something must have interfered while we were moving through the Gate.
Sliiide-
Then, from the darkness beyond the altar, something crawled out. It looked like a human body that had been opened up and twisted apart.
[ Mortal... who interfered... with the Prophecy... the Lord... has judged your... worth highly.... ]
I couldn’t hide my shock at that horrific sight. I clutched my head with both hands and shouted.
“My God... A talking... monster?”
[ ......Feel... fear.... ]
Craaack-
Its body split open, and it suddenly put on an organ recital.
Flesh wrapped around its organs rose like tentacles and squirmed. It was quite grotesque.
Something about the sight seemed to contaminate the viewer’s mind. A corner of my brain throbbed faintly, but I felt a far greater fascination.
“You have a concept of fear too...? Wow... What is this? Does it have reproductive organs too? What organ is this? But wouldn’t leaving yourself open like this make you vulnerable to external stimuli or infection?”
[ ...... ]
Even for a monster, my reaction must have been rude. It closed its body back up.
“Ah...”
[ Your mind... is not... sound... It does not... matter... Receive... the baptism.... ]
It spread its eight arms made of bone and pressed its palms together before the altar like a priest. Soon, fog rippled out from beyond the darkness like tentacles and approached me.
Swoooosh-
[ Receive... the baptism... Melt the organs... beneath your shell... Break the framework... of bones that imprisoned you... Destroy the boundaries of the self... Your veins shall seek one another... and stretch long─ ]
The more it chanted that incomprehensible spell, the thicker the fog became as it drew closer to me.
As though the ritual was nearing its end, the creature swayed wildly from side to side like it had been possessed.
[ Open your body... Receive... His breath.... ]
[ Open... open... open... open.... ]
Then Yoo Hyun slowly raised his arm.
“It’s opening.”
Craaack-
His arm began to split open, and red eyes flickered from within.
Jolt-
The creature stopped its ritual as though startled.
[ ......It... isn’t supposed... to open... yet...? ]
Author’s Note
‘Biblion’ has sponsored 60 coins!! May you receive the blessing of the Jelly Dog!! Bouncy and squishy~!!
Some readers are worried that, since this Japanese Rider part has grown long, the novel might turn into a Rider series. Please think of Rider transformation magical beasts as only one of the many types of magical beasts the protagonist will create...!
I definitely think this author got a little too carried away with the Rider elements this time...!
I’ll do my best not to drag things out, even if other genres occasionally get mixed in as magical beast crafting expands. Please be generous with me...!!
Thank you for reading today too!!
Footnotes:
¹ Baduk and Omok are both Korean board games. Baduk is also a common Korean dog name, which supplies the country-mutt joke.
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