I Became the EX-Rank Pet Maker Hunters Obsess Over - Chapter 69

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Haruto

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

Chapter 69: Essentium

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Ars Magna’s medium-sized event hall.

Despite the somewhat hastily arranged schedule, a large crowd had gathered.

Among them was Maximilian, a German Magic Beast Alchemist. As the demonstration drew closer, he felt both anticipation and concern.

‘Hmm... What answer will Yoo Hyun have for the current meta...?’

The current trend in magic engineering was receiving crafting methods from other worlds from unknown Transcendent beings. No matter how hard this world’s most brilliant minds worked, they could not surpass the knowledge and technology handed down by an already completed civilization.

It was an environmental shift that had practically robbed magic engineers of their creativity.

Rather than creators of technology, Magic Beast Alchemists were now little more than cogs assembling magical beasts according to provided designs.

Apparently, he was not the only one who felt that way. People working in the magical-beast industry around him voiced their thoughts.

“Tch... I hope it isn’t just another high-rank magical-beast demonstration...”

“Exactly. I want to see new technology, not another new magical beast...”

“Even if new technology comes out, the question is whether it can surpass the finished magical-beast crafting methods provided by the Transcendents.”

Though everyone spoke skeptically, they had surely come hoping that someone would change this stifling meta.

‘It may be difficult for one person to change the meta... But I hope he can at least prove that we can create something better than the technology provided by the Transcendent factions...’

The lights over the audience went out, and Yoo Hyun’s new technology demonstration began.

“Hello. I’m Yoo Hyun. I don’t like dragging out introductions, so I’ll begin the demonstration right away.”

Staff began bringing magical-beast cages and various items onto the stage.

A host assigned to make the event run more smoothly filled the air while Yoo Hyun and the staff prepared the stage.

“I’m curious what kind of technology Director Yoo Hyun, Ars Magna’s pride and joy, has prepared for us. He has amazed the world with revolutionary technology before. Can we expect the same this time?”

Yoo Hyun nodded at the host’s question.

“While developing this technology, I realized that there is no end to the path of magical-beast crafting. I hope the technology I show today inspires more people.”

“Inspiration... Will this new technology also be applicable to nearly all magical-beast production, like Duality or the Buffering Array?”

“No. The technology I’ll be presenting has nothing to do with magical-beast creation. It isn’t related to Design or Cultivation.”

Everyone in the audience tilted their heads at Yoo Hyun’s words, while some alchemists sighed as if they had known it all along.

“So even Yoo Hyun, once called a genius, has given up on Design and Cultivation.”

“I understand. Being told to create something better when an advanced civilization provides finished blueprints is too cruel.”

“Still, it leaves a bitter taste. I never thought Yoo Hyun would give up...”

The Magic Beast Alchemists’ expectations fell sharply.

They had made time to visit just in case, but Yoo Hyun had ultimately failed to change the meta as well.

From now on, they would probably have to rely on the blueprints provided by the Transcendents to create magical beasts.

The staff finished setting up the stage, and the audience looked toward the magical beasts in the cages.

“What are those pathetic magical beasts?”

“I... don’t know?”

“...Isn’t that one about to breathe its last?”

The magical beasts shown at demonstrations were usually powerful creatures that had reached A-rank or S-rank.

After seeing beasts at the very top, the audience was puzzled to suddenly be shown magical beasts around D-rank.

As if he had expected their reaction, Yoo Hyun nodded and picked up the microphone.

“These are the magical beasts that today’s technology will be applied to. I prepared specimens ranging from roughly D-rank to B-rank. They were provided by Hunters actively working in the field.”

The group of Magic Beast Alchemists in the audience quietly exchanged opinions.

“Then is it enhancement technology?”

“If it’s neither Design nor Cultivation, it has to be Enhancement.”

“If it’s Enhancement, that’s a little disappointing...”

“Enhancement doesn’t suit the meta. The magical-beast designs provided by the Transcendents are nearly perfect, with no room for enhancement.”

However, contrary to their expectations, their expressions gradually turned strange as Yoo Hyun continued explaining something they had not anticipated.

“As you all know, a Spirit Mage can form a contract with a spirit through a medium called a Spirit Stone, or create a new spirit. Under certain conditions, it’s also possible to raise a spirit. But have you ever considered this? Why can spirit-entity magical beasts, which are also made using Spirit Stones, not grow?”

The answer was obvious.

Growth was an unexpected variable, while magical-beast designs pursued the most stable form possible.

Magical beasts could not grow because they were designed that way from the outset. Without designing them that way, cultivation itself was impossible.

That was why magical beasts had no growth, only Enhancement through artificial procedures.

Yoo Hyun continued.

“Recently, I reached a new stage of magical beasts through a certain method. Unfortunately, I didn’t fully understand or use that technology myself. But one thing I learned from the experience was that magical beasts, as we have understood them until now, contain far more possibilities.”

People still did not understand what Yoo Hyun meant.

Yoo Hyun smiled faintly, picked up a prepared green crystal, and approached a cage.

“Watch closely. My new technology will expand the possibilities of magical beasts.”

Yoo Hyun approached the wolf-type magical beast in the cage.

The wolf-shaped magical beast was a common, cheap magical beast with no notable features.

Perhaps that was why no one in the audience paid attention to the shabby wolf-type magical beast.

Especially not the Magic Beast Alchemists.

After all...

[ Model Name 》 Rage Wolf ver.7 ]

[ Mana Core Grade 》 D ]

[ Lifespan 》 2 years ]

[ Traits 》 Agile Movement (D) ]

“It’s pathetic...”

“Even the magical beast I made for fun two years ago was better than that.”

“Tch... Its quality is so poor that the mana core is wasted on it.”

It was a completely worthless magical beast.

But Yoo Hyun did not care about their reaction.

The magical beasts he had received were selected specifically because they were outdated.

“Grrr...”

“There, good. Don’t be scared. Try eating it.”

When he held the green crystal out to the wolf, it seemed to sense something and swallowed it.

A brief silence followed.

The wolf showed no reaction, and the audience’s response remained cold.

“Nothing is happening...?”

“Was it an accident?”

“Hmm...”

The others did not seem to notice it...

But the Magic Beast Alchemists could see it clearly.

[ Model Name 》 Rage Wolf ver.7 ]

[ Mana Core Grade 》 D → C ]

[ Lifespan 》 2 years 3 months ]

[ Traits 》 Agile Movement (D → C), Frenzy (C) ]

The unbelievable changes occurring in the magical beast in real time.

The alchemists sprang to their feet!

“That’s impossible!!!”

“What?!!”

The alchemists who could not hold back stood up and shouted.

The ordinary audience members looked at them as if wondering what was wrong, but they soon understood why.

The magical beast’s body began to swell.

The wolf, now twice its former size, began howling as though power overflowed from it.

“Awooooooo!!!!!”

Everyone’s eyes widened at the sudden transformation.

“W-What is that??”

“It’s suddenly bulking up like it got injected with steroids...”

“What in the world...?”

The audience looked to Yoo Hyun, wondering what sorcery this was.

The host also seemed curious and questioned him.

“What happened? If I saw that correctly, you fed it a gem, and it suddenly got bigger!!”

At the host’s shout, Yoo Hyun held up a green gem and spoke.

“This is crystalline essence, a new technology called Essentium. As you can see, it allows magical beasts to grow. Stabilized in crystalline form, it reacts with the mana core inside the body and supplies new essence to that core.”

At that concise explanation, people around him exclaimed and nodded.

“Ooh...”

“As expected... He truly lives up to his name. To think he created technology like that...!!!”

“This isn’t something that can be dismissed as merely impressive, is it? Doesn’t that mean any magical beast can become stronger than it is now with this?”

“If you can increase their size like that, every physical-type magical beast will benefit.”

Yoo Hyun continued his explanation.

“Essentium’s greatest feature is that it naturally causes the essence within it that is most suitable for the mana core to be absorbed, based on the experience accumulated in that core. And as long as the Essentium within the body does not dry up completely, the possibility of growth remains open.”

The alchemists had been raising their hands for some time, looking at Yoo Hyun with desperate expressions.

Yoo Hyun pointed to one of them, and an event staff member handed them a microphone.

“I’m Belzer, an alchemist from Europe. What exactly did I just see? How can essence be made crystalline, and how can it naturally be absorbed into a mana core... I don’t quite understand...”

The Magic Beast Alchemist beside Belzer snatched away the microphone and continued.

“This person finally gets a microphone and wastes it on such nonsense!! That’s not what matters!! Yoo Hyun! If I understand correctly, this technology is a great invention that will destroy every existing standard in the magical-beast industry!!! Can I take it to mean that we no longer need to be bound by high-rank magical beasts? That even a B-rank magical beast could one day reach S-rank... That’s what I’m asking!!!”

Yoo Hyun did not answer immediately.

The venue went quiet.

Most attendees had come from magical-beast alchemy or research fields, or were Hunters deeply interested in magical beasts.

That was why they sensed it.

Depending on Yoo Hyun’s answer, this industry would enter a new phase.

Yoo Hyun quietly opened his mouth.

“It can. The lower the rank, the more time and experience it will require... But it isn’t impossible.”

It was not impossible.

With those words, the limits of magical beasts, whose ranks had effectively been fixed, disappeared.

A brief silence.

Hunters’ hearts began pounding at the thought that they would no longer have to part with the partners they had been with until now. Magic Beast Alchemists’ hearts raced at the possibility that magical beasts they had created could evolve in directions they had never imagined.

Thump. Thump.

Before long, those heartbeats became a great roar that echoed through the demonstration hall.

“Waaaaaah!!!!!!!”

“Fuck, this is it!!! This is technology, this is innovation!!!! I’m so glad I came!!!!”

“Yes, finally...!!! It has finally arrived!!!!! The magical-beast singularity!!!!!”

“Graaah!!! Korong, they say you can grow too!!!!”

The enormous cheers continued to echo through the hall, but Yoo Hyun still had more to say.

“What I just demonstrated was the most basic Alpha Grade Essentium. It is primarily composed of essences that help expand body size and improve essence arrays.”

“The most basic...?”

“...Alpha Grade?”

There was more...?

“And this is Beta Grade Essentium, primarily composed of arrays that awaken an essence’s special abilities and potential.”

Yoo Hyun fed another Essentium to a different magical beast in a cage.

Flames began pouring from the body of the Crimson Bear, which had been a C-rank bear-type magical beast.

Fwoooosh!!!

“W-Whhaaat!!!”

“Insane... Did he even grant it an element?”

“Gasp...!!!”

Yoo Hyun took out another Essentium and fed it to the next magical beast.

“This is Gamma Grade Essentium, composed of essences that promote anomalous evolution beyond its lineage.”

Horns and wings began to grow from the B-rank lizard-type magical beast.

Its form clearly called a dragon to mind.

“Uh...?”

“No, what the hell... Why does more stuff keep coming out...”

“W-Wait, there’s too much information─”

Yoo Hyun took out another Essentium.

“And this is Omega Grade Essentium. It contains arrays that amplify the instability of essence, use it to transform the magical beast into a new species, then stabilize it once again.”

The massive bird-shaped magical beast began shining brightly, becoming a shadow-wreathed Spirit Form that spread darkness in all directions.

Whoooooosh!!!

“Gaaah!!!”

“S-Stop!!!!”

“Gasp-!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Hahahahaha! What a complete mess!!!!”

The bewildered reactions in the hall were broadcast directly to Korea through YouTuber Petite Cream’s stream.

【 Magic Beast Minor Gallery 】

- [ Free ] Fuck, hahaha, it’s become a total mess hahaha

- [ Free ] Holy shit, you can make magical beasts grow in whatever direction you want????????????

- [ Free ] Insane insane insane insane insane insane insane

- [ Free ] No;;; This just makes no fucking sense????????????