I Became the EX-Rank Pet Maker Hunters Obsess Over - Chapter 54

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Haruto

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

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

Chapter 54: Masquerade

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“Hah... Tsk....”

Speak of the tiger, and it comes running.

I never expected a slut calling herself the Gate Church’s Saintess to show up....

Still, it was strangely ironic. A Saintess dressed in such a slutty outfit somehow made the name Gate Church feel more credible.

I cracked open the reception room door and asked,

“So, what is it?”

“Yoo Hyun, do you believe in God’s miracles?”

I immediately frowned, and the pink-haired Saintess, Celestia, hastily changed her approach.

“God...!! Don’t you want to experience God’s power for yourself? The world is changing rapidly. Faster than you think...!!!”

“...And?”

Pretending to be interested, I opened the door and stepped into the reception room.

Celestia took out a censer and began setting it up.

“You have time now, right? I’ll give you a chance to see the other side of this world and make your choice. This incense will lead your soul to a realm where you can come into contact with Them.”

That was an incredibly suspicious line.

It sounded exactly like something a cultist would say, but... I immediately recognized that the censer she had taken out was no ordinary item.

“An artifact?”

Thanks to Hunter Yoo Dusik supplying artifacts like he was about to strip Treasure Island bare, I had reached the point where I could roughly tell at a glance whether something was an artifact.

“Hehe, as expected, you recognized it.”

Only after I began showing interest did Celestia smile leisurely and start explaining the censer.

“Have you ever considered that the recent Anomalous Gates... no, the very occurrence of Gates in this world could be a divine act? You may find it hard to believe, but Gates truly are the result of gods intervening in this world. And with this censer, you can cross into the same mental dimension as Them.”

I already knew most of it, but I gave an appropriate response.

“I have my doubts. So why exactly did you come looking for me?”

“You could say we’re recruiting talented people for the undertaking ahead. At first, I suspected you might be someone else’s lackey, but... after investigating, I found that you began standing out before They started operating in earnest.”

Celestia activated the censer.

There seemed to be a strange greed in her eyes as she watched me.

“...You may not realize it, but clearing Japan’s Anomalous Gate was an unbelievable achievement. Come, I’ll show you the truth of this world, so come with me. You don’t need to be afraid.”

Ssssss....

Blue smoke began flowing from the censer, filling the reception room.

‘It feels somewhat like Amon’s mist....’

If I inhaled this smoke, I would probably be transported to a mental space like last time.

Still, based on experience, there probably wouldn’t be much of a problem even if I got sucked into a mental space. And in reality, the Ouroboros Core model inside my body would automatically defend me if it sensed danger.

Besides, although this research center was small, security personnel and Hunter escorts were standing by. It was reasonably well protected.

“Now... breathe it in. Don’t resist the flow. Let yourself sink into it.”

So I inhaled the smoke without worry.

“Suuuuuuuuuuuck. Haa.”

“...That doesn’t mean you should inhale that much....”

Ignoring the look she gave me, as if wondering what kind of person I was, I relaxed my body.

Then my consciousness was slowly drawn somewhere else.

* * *

After confirming that Yoo Hyun’s mind had completely moved to another world, Celestia let out a sigh.

“Whew... My Charm trait didn’t work... What is he, exactly...? Is he a eunuch? No, even if he were, my trait should still work. That’s strange....”

She prided herself on having the strongest trait among Charm-type traits, yet this man... showed absolutely no reaction.

“Does he have some kind of mental-defense trait...?”

It stung her pride that he hadn’t wavered even slightly....

“...Fine. It won’t matter much as long as I recruit him.”

With a few lingering doubts, Celestia deeply inhaled the smoke and relaxed her body.

* * *

Yoo Hyun opened his eyes in an endless white space.

“This is...?”

There was nothing here. What was this?

“Did I get scammed...?”

As I seriously considered overloading my mind and destroying this space to escape, pink particles gathered together and formed a human figure.

It was Celestia.

When I looked at her as if demanding an explanation, she spoke.

“This is the starting area. You could think of it as the place you enter when you first log in. Since we used the same censer, we met in the same starting area. Before moving on, we need to prepare to hide our faces.”

“Hide our faces? What, do we make avatars like in a game?”

“Something like that. Since this is a mental space, your essence can easily be exposed. If you carelessly reveal your identity, other factions may keep you in check in reality. And if your mind is destroyed here, you could become a vegetable in reality too. An avatar isn’t optional. It’s essential if you want to prevent others from assessing you.”

So not all Order-aligned factions were on friendly terms....

No, more importantly, I’d heard something I couldn’t overlook.

“Your mind can be destroyed?”

“It isn’t common, but since this is a mental space, influence here is exerted through powerful mental strength. For example, like this.”

Celestia glared at me, and the air seemed to grow strangely heavy.

‘Hmm... but I can barely feel anything.’

In the end, I deliberately relaxed completely and tried to receive the intangible force she was directing at me with my entire body.

Then...

Tremble. Clack.

My teeth began chattering on their own, my flesh trembled, and cold sweat ran down my body.

It felt as though my pupils had dilated and my vital signs had become abnormal.

If this were reality, it felt like my heart might stop.

Thinking about it, this was far nastier than I expected.

Since it was a mental space, I wouldn’t have a heart attack. That made it more dangerous. In reality, I would faint and be done with it, but here, I couldn’t escape by losing consciousness.

This was a space where someone could destroy another person’s mind as brutally as they wished.

‘...This is certainly dangerous. Interesting.’

An environment where the mind couldn’t run away.

Depending on the difference in strength, someone really could become a vegetable....

As I analyzed my own condition, Celestia gathered the murderous energy she had been releasing.

“Hehe... Were you surprised? In a place where one’s essence is exposed, you’re bound to become extremely vulnerable to mental attacks. Alchemist Yoo Hyun, you need to be especially careful. Crafters’ mental strength is likely weaker than that of people who constantly walk the line between life and death.”

“I see... It would definitely be best to hide my identity.”

If I looked like an easy target, I could be attacked like that just now.

It was a virtual space, but people could still feel their lives were threatened. Using this method to intimidate someone might be quite effective.

In any case, revealing my identity would invite interference from other factions in reality, and expose my actions here as well. I absolutely had to hide who I was.

“That should cover the precautions... If you understand, shall we change our appearances?”

Celestia seemed to have an avatar she normally used. Her appearance changed in an instant.

Pure black hair, a white dress reminiscent of a swan, and a mask.

It was completely different from her frivolous appearance in reality. Who would think this elegant woman was that slut?

Celestia brushed back her black hair and spoke.

“Picture another version of yourself in your mind. The first image that comes to mind will be the easiest to transform into.”

The first thing that came to mind...

I applied the image in my mind to my body.

My form gradually wriggled, shrank to the size of a small dog, and took shape.

What appeared was red jelly, as if it had been coated in chili paste.

“Jellykko Buldak Edition.”

For some reason, Celestia looked utterly shocked at my suddenly shrunken form and couldn’t close her mouth.

“...H-how did you do that?”

I moved my Jelly Dog body around and replied,

“You told me to change.”

“...Normally, all you can change in this place is your clothing or body shape...? No, even changing your sex is difficult, but... changing into a life-form that isn’t even human, how....”

Was it really that difficult?

As I tilted my head, Celestia explained the avatar system in more detail.

Even though it was possible to change one’s appearance, there were limits. She had never heard of anyone drastically altering their form like I had.

“...In this space, you can twist your essence and show a false appearance, but you can’t become something entirely disconnected from your essence.... That appearance is too conspicuous, so please change into something else.”

In the end, I returned to my original human form as she said. Then I changed only my clothing, creating an unremarkable avatar with a black suit and a featureless white mask.

“That’s ordinary enough. In fact, an appearance without distinguishing features is better for activity early on. Now, shall we go? Take out a device. That will become your entry key.”

As she said that, Celestia created a smartphone. I followed her lead and created one too.

Then I saw a single button displayed on the phone.

【 Enter 】

“Well, I hear some people use books or crystal balls, but we’re modern people, after all. I’ll see you on the other side.”

She operated her smartphone, and her body was soon swallowed by light and disappeared.

I pressed the Enter button after her, and...

After being enveloped in light, I opened my eyes again.

“A plaza...?”

A large plaza with a fountain came into view.

More people than expected were walking around, gathering in small groups to talk.

The unusual part was that every one of them wore a mask, and for some reason, I couldn’t hear the contents of their conversations at all.

Then someone approached me.

It was Celestia in a white dress.

“What do you think? Of Masquerade, the mental world created by the gods? Ah, you mustn’t use real names here, so call me Tia. I’ll call you Black.”

Well, the Hyun in Yoo Hyun is the character meaning black, so it was straightforward enough. And aside from the featureless white mask, my outfit was all black.

I looked around and said,

“There are more people than I expected.”

There were hundreds of them at a glance. Had this many humans come into contact with the Transcendents’ factions?

“Anomalous Gates have been appearing for quite a while now. I hear that raising local subordinates is advantageous for using causality effectively. More importantly, Black, do you believe in gods?”

“Yes, I do.”

“...That’s unexpected. I thought you treated me like a peddler....”

Having met the God of Jelly Dogs, how could I not believe in gods? And objectively speaking, she was a peddler.

“Coming here doesn’t mean you can meet gods, though. This is the First Tier. The gods exist beyond the Third Tier.”

“Can’t we cross into the Third Tier?”

“Entering requires causality. It also requires causality for the gods to descend. But since the spiritual distance is closer, communication becomes somewhat easier. Ah, as for what causality is...”

I listened to Celestia’s unexpectedly long explanation with one ear and let it out the other while looking around.

Then I noticed something strange.

‘...Hmm?’

She had said everyone was hiding their essence, but....

[ Name 》 Ruslan Ignatov ]

[ Species 》 Human ]

[ Awakened Rank 》 A-rank ]

[ Position 》 Crowd Control Mage ]

[ Combat Tendency 》 Prefers magic that restricts the opponent’s movements. Prefers stable casting from a position where allies form a wall. ]

[ Areas for Improvement 》 When there is a powerful light source, their head reflects the light and also affects allies’ vision─

......

Why could I see the Customer Window here too...?