I Became the EX-Rank Pet Maker Hunters Obsess Over - Chapter 57

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Haruto

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

Chapter 57: First Come, First Served

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When I returned to the real world, I opened my eyes.

In front of me, the pink-haired Saintess dressed like a slut was grinning at me.

“You took a little while.”

“I was looking through the other options on the device before leaving. Since I’m not joining the Gate Church, I thought this might be my only chance to check them out.”

“Ah? You don’t need to worry about that, though.”

I wondered what she meant, but Celestia held out the censer, which had already stopped operating.

Slide.

“I’ll give you this to celebrate us becoming friends.”

“Is that okay?”

The first thing I had planned to do after returning to reality was figure out how to get a censer. I never expected her to hand one over so readily...

Celestia leaned deeply into the sofa as if it were nothing.

“You know after visiting Masquerade that it isn’t difficult for a divine faction to obtain censers. They’re made through a simple consecration ritual, so they can be mass-produced. Of course, it consumes causality, so they aren’t cheap... But we’re friends, so I’ll give you one as a special gift.”

Right. It was an artifact, so creating one would consume causality.

‘...But it feels strange just accepting things.’

She had lost causality by providing the coins for my Symposium entry and this censer.

She'd even kindly explained Masquerade's system to me while we were inside.

Of course, all of that had been an investment to recruit me. Still, since I wasn’t joining the Gate Church, she had yet to gain anything tangible from it.

After thinking for a moment, I spoke.

“Hmm... Then I’ll give you a present too. I’ll make you a handmade Jellykko. Ah, a Jellykko is...”

Before I could finish, Celestia leaned forward.

“What?! You’re saying you’ll make me an Original Numbers Jellykko, the rarest among the Jellykkos that have become an indispensable staple of the Korean Wave craze?”

“Y-yeah...”

What even was an Original Numbers Jellykko?

‘I get the general idea, but... Why does even Celestia, a foreigner, know about it?’

Celestia said excitedly, “What a windfall! I heard Original Numbers Jellykkos have limited production to preserve their rarity. Is that really okay?”

...That wasn’t true, though? What kind of rumors were going around?

Anyway, making one Jellykko did not take much time or cost much.

With a Buffering Array, I could make one within twelve hours even with this institute’s equipment.

“Of course, if you come to Korea, you need Olive Yong! Chicken! Han River ramen! Biyotte! Pretty cafés! Jamsil Tower! COEX Library! And Jellykko!”

...That was disturbingly similar to the Japanese tourist itinerary I had heard from Researcher A, Asagiri Yuto.

Anyway, had Jellykko become big enough to be included in that list?

‘It hasn’t even been that long since sales began... The impact of Jellykkos with their lifespan issue solved is greater than I expected.’

There was a reason Guild Master Cheon Sanha of Cheonseong Group made a fuss about sales every day. They said that even after running the incubators nonstop for days, they could not keep up with demand. If they expanded overseas, they would make another fortune.

I spoke to the excited Celestia.

“How would you like it made?”

“You’ll customize it too?! Then, can you give it little bat wings and a demon tail? Cotton-candy pink for the color!”

A Jellykko Little Demon Edition, then.

That level of physical alteration would be possible with only slight adjustments to the essence array.

“Of course. Come back tomorrow.”

“Ehehehe! Then I’m going to spend all day sightseeing! Honestly, that was the main reason I came to Korea!”

Unlike when she had at least pretended to be a Saintess, she laughed frivolously.

* * *

I returned to the lab with the censer and carefully examined the changes in my body while kneading the real Haengbok, not Air Haengbok.

Squish. Squish.

“This is very interesting...”

“Huff, huff...”

Surprisingly, the 1,200 coins I gained by sniping people at the Symposium had absolutely no effect on reality...!

“Nothing changed even though I gained causality...”

When I muttered that, Amon snorted.

[ Of course not. At your current level, directly handling causality is impossible. It is only used as currency in environments built by Transcendents, such as mental spaces. You have no chance of handling causality directly. ]

“Come here too.”

To recover my exhausted mental energy, I grabbed the Wakppu Jelly Dog and kneaded it mercilessly.

The feel of its bones crunching relieved my stress.

Crack! Squish. Squish.

[ Aaargh! I told you not to knead me!!!!!! ]

After kneading the struggling Amon without mercy for a while, I let it go.

“Whew... But my energy reserve and causality reserve were definitely the same. Doesn’t that clearly mean the second-order energy I possess is related to causality?”

Was the energy I possessed not causality itself?

Amon shook its head.

[ That is because that jelly creature extracts energy from artifacts through an absurd method and processes it... Second-order energy originally refers to forms of energy above mana, the most basic energy. The fact that your energy came to contain causality is solely because of that strange creature. ]

“Huff, huff...”

In the end, Haengbok really was special.

Come to think of it, Haengbok had also received the God of Jelly Dogs’ blessing, just like me. Haengbok was practically an EX-rank Jelly Dog.

“But what is causality in the first place?”

[ Think of it as a resource that can twist reality. If you wield power without that resource, causality’s backlash will strike you hard. That is why Transcendents cannot do anything without causality and obsess over it so much. You may not be able to handle causality directly, but once that power keeps accumulating, you will certainly undergo a change. ]

Hmm... I think I understood. The restrictions on my power were because of this causality business.

I asked Amon, my know-it-all dog, another question.

“I saw someone who was obviously from the Chaos faction in the mental space. Can that happen? Isn’t that a space for the Order faction?”

[ Well, anyone with a censer can enter that space. It would not be strange for a Chaos-aligned subordinate to be there. ]

According to Amon, it was possible that the Chaos faction had people in Masquerade.

In those cases, they were usually sly Transcendents who hid among humans and expanded their influence...

“...Don’t tell me Reptilians exist too?”

[ You mean those lizard bastards? ]

“Gasp...!”

Anyway, whether they were from the Chaos faction or the Order faction, both wanted to swallow human society and make it part of their own forces.

I had confirmed at Masquerade’s Symposium that plenty of Transcendents had already made contact with political and business circles.

To avoid falling behind in this competition between factions, I also needed to build a force of my own.

The Order faction and the Chaos faction were bound to clash.

Chaos would approach humanity as a horrific disaster, like it had in Japan. The Order faction would use that opportunity to increase its believers.

The way the two factions expanded was structured to put them at odds.

“I need to create a guild as soon as possible. I have to protect my people from those treacherous Chaos-aligned Transcendents.”

[ Hm... No matter how I look at you, you are also Chaos... Never mind... ]

I grabbed the nonsense-spouting Amon and kneaded it mercilessly once again.

Crack! Squish. Squish.

[ Aaargh! I told you twice not to knead me!!!!!!!!! ]

* * *

The next day.

“Eeeek! It’s an Original Jellykko!!!!”

“Huff, huff! Huff!”

Saintess Celestia visited the Paju Temporary Research Institute to collect her made-to-order Jellykko.

It was a Little Demon Edition Jellykko with wings and a tail.

[ Name 》 Pending ]

[ Model Name 》 Jellykko MK-4 Little Demon Edition ]

[ Mana Core Rank 》 F+ ]

[ Lifespan 》 2 years ]

[ Traits 》 Jelly Barrier (E+), Levitation (F+), Soft Jelly (F+) ]

Those tiny jelly wings could never make it fly, but I gave it the Levitation trait, allowing it to imitate flight.

Whoosh.

The Jellykko slowly rose into the air.

“I-it flew...!!”

Celestia covered her mouth with both hands in surprise.

Soon, the Little Demon Edition Jellykko began slowly paddling through the air like a dog swimming.

“Huff, huff! Huff!”

Celestia became incredibly excited at the sight of the Jellykko desperately moving its short legs.

“Th-this is crazy! I have to film this!!!”

She began recording, then finally calmed down after a long while.

“Wow, it’s seriously so cute! Long live secret friends!”

“Don’t cling to me dressed like that.”

She tried to hug me to express her joy, but I grabbed her shoulders and tried to push her away.

Click.

At that moment, the reception room door opened, and two Hunters looked at me with faintly mocking expressions.

“...What are you doing, Yoo Hyun?”

“...Boss... Who is that per... nun? Is this cosplay?”

They were Yeon Harim and Baek Seola, the guild masters of the two guilds.

“Hey, we have guests. Get off me.”

“Come on, is that any way to treat a friend?”

The more I pushed her away, the more she clung to me. She might look like this, but she was an S-rank Awakened. Her physical abilities were no joke.

Whatever it looked like to them, their expressions grew colder and colder.

“...”

I grabbed Celestia by the head and shoved her away with all my strength.

“Ugh...?! Wh-what strength...”

Celestia was finally forced away by sheer strength.

“You got your Jellykko, so head back already.”

“Hmm... Fine. See you next time.”

With that, Celestia slipped past the two guild masters and smiled slightly at them.

The two women’s expressions stiffened.

“Yoo Hyun... Who was that woman?”

“...She said she’s the Saintess of the Gate Church. She came to recruit me. That’s why I called you two here. Has anyone come to see either of you?”

The abilities of the two guild masters most favorable toward me were undeniably at the upper end of S-rank. If I were a Transcendent, I would try to recruit them.

As if recalling something, Yeon Harim and Baek Seola spoke.

“Ah, now that you mention it... There have been a lot more strange religious pitches lately. It seems like a lot of Hunters are joining them, especially...”

“Hmm... I felt the same. Recently, a foreigner even came to our guild and said strange things about joining their faction. They said we would understand if we entered the Anomalous Gate in their country ourselves.”

...Fortunately, perhaps because they were Korean and had been prepared for this ahead of time, they seemed to have handled the peddlers well.

I briefly explained the hidden side of the world to them, and they accepted it easily.

It was probably because they had encountered Amon in Japan’s Anomalous Gate.

Baek Seola rested a finger against her chin as she spoke thoughtfully.

“Hmm... Factions of Transcendents... I thought technological progress had been unusual lately. So that was what was happening behind the scenes. To get ahead of others with advanced alien technology and resources, they have no choice but to join a faction.”

“That’s right. In particular, many Order-aligned Transcendents build their power on human faith, so various religious factions will soon emerge.”

“So why did you call us in the end?”

That was obvious.

“I was thinking we could form an Anti-Transcendent Alliance. I believe Transcendents are ultimately invaders. Even if we join the Order faction and drive out the Chaos faction, they will eventually fight among themselves to expand their influence.”

Their methods differed, but humans were ultimately just resources to Order-aligned Transcendents as well.

“Um... If that’s what you want, Yoo Hyun, I’ll join.”

Yeon Harim nodded without much thought, but Baek Seola shook her head.

“Becoming a third faction is dangerous. The Order and Chaos Transcendents will try to eliminate an unpredictable variable first. More importantly, unlike them, we have no way of obtaining information about the hidden world.”

“Ah, don’t worry about that. We’ll build the faction in secret... We won’t do anything publicly until we have gathered enough strength. And...”

I took out the censer.

“There won’t be much of a problem with information warfare either.”

They did not know it, but I was the legendary troll on Masquerade, the factions’ community.

* * *

In the end, both of them agreed to form a faction. I had secured two powerful people for my side.

“The Japanese side is handled too... Now I just need to build my personal force.”

I had also contacted my acquaintances in Japan, one of my footholds. Because of Amon, they already held hostility toward Transcendents, so they agreed to join the alliance.

Japan’s S-rank and the Magna Rider were on my side.

[ ...Hm. Compared to the Transcendents, the benefits you, a mere mortal, can offer are nothing. The longer time passes, the more disadvantageous it will be for you. ]

“Amon, do you know my abilities are currently restricted?”

[ ...What? ]

There were still plenty of functions that had not been unlocked.

“Anyway... Should I work until the country’s largest research complex, which I commissioned from Cheon Sanha, is built?”

I contacted the two guild masters and asked them to post an announcement in Wolyeong and Dongbaek.

[ Anyone who still has not received their custom magical beast pet, come to the Paju Temporary Research Institute. I’ll make them on a first come, first served basis. - Yoo Hyun ]

* * *

Outside the Paju Temporary Research Institute.

The institute had been built in a sparsely populated area because of the nature of magical beast crafting, yet an unusually large crowd had gathered in front of it.

No, “gathered” was not quite right.

More accurately, they were sprawled everywhere.

“Ugh...”

“M-magical beast... pet... Me too...”

“J-Jellykko...”

Hunters groaned as they clutched their injuries amid the wreckage.

Watching the scene, I muttered,

“...This wasn’t what I wanted.”

“Huff, huff...”

[ ... ]

A woman limped toward me through the fallen people.

“B-boss...! It’s me, Kang Sujin! I was with you on that German escort job...! I... I was first... Sob...”