WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the EX-Rank Pet Maker Hunters Obsess Over ◈
Chapter 7: Yeon Harim
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The woman’s screams had died down, and the storm-like consultation in Yoo Hyun’s pet shop had come to an end.
Despite the commotion moments ago, a heavy silence hung in the air.
“......”
“......”
...I’d gone too hard on her from the moment we met, all under the guise of a consultation.
No, honestly, I’d only told her the facts, but it had still ended up feeling like I’d beaten her up.
‘...Did I screw up too badly...?’
Her reaction was completely different from Hunter Lee Yujin’s.
Hunter Lee Yujin had been fascinated and delighted, as though she had come in for a fortune reading. Hunter Yeon Harim, on the other hand, looked as though every word I said was landing like a heavy blow.
The difference probably was not a matter of personality...
‘The difference in their careers and ranks as Awakened.’
Hunter Lee Yujin was only C-rank and had not been Awakened for long, so each thing I said helped her realize problems she had not even noticed or find room to improve.
Hunter Yeon Harim had already identified the issues I mentioned to some extent. She probably reacted that way because she had not been able to fix them despite knowing about them for so long.
A wall that could not be overcome through effort alone.
‘...Maybe because she’s A-rank, she’s spent quite a lot of time reflecting on herself.’
A-rank Hunters who had hit their growth limit were not that rare in Hunter society. If anything, most first-generation Hunters had reached their limits.
Hunter Yeon Harim’s case was perfectly ordinary.
Anyway... Listing information based on my Customer Window could be an act of violence to some people.
After being out of it for a while, Yeon Harim seemed to gather herself. She brushed back her flowing hair and spoke.
“Ahem... I’ve made a spectacle of myself.”
She looked elegant and dignified, nothing like someone who had nearly cried moments earlier.
A Guild Master really was different.
“...I’m the one who should apologize.”
I had not expected her reaction to be this intense.
She had practically had a fit when I mentioned “Hunter Baek Seola,” in particular.
‘...Was she more conscious of Hunter Baek Seola than I thought...?’
Baek Seola was Dongbaek’s Guild Master and an A-rank Hunter.
People framed Yeon Harim and Baek Seola as rivals, but they did not have much overlap, so I assumed Yeon Harim would not care that much. Apparently, I was wrong.
‘Still... Their rivalry has been falling apart lately in a lot of ways...’
Even on the Korean Hunter Gallery yesterday...
【 Korean Hunter Gallery 】
[Poll] Dongbaek’s Baek Seola vs. Wolyeong’s Yeon Harim, Matchup Zone
Posted by: CluckCluck
This is a matchup between Korea’s leading beautiful Hunters. Vote, go go.
(Poll Results)
Yeon Harim 29%
Baek Seola 66%
Draw 5%
[Comments]
Anonymous (175.223): Baek Seola’s skill pouches are way bigger. Bwaaa lol
└ BoogieBugeokseu: Hey, hey. Even if you’re anonymous, watch it. You’ll regret it in real life.
JejejeT: Hmm... They do get framed as rivals a lot, but judging by guild rankings and performance, Baek Seola has been in better form recently.
Anonymous (211.235): Wow, look at that vote percentage. Yeon Harim got totally crushed lol
└ YeonhaYeonha: Honestly, I think even that 29% was fan votes. Our Harim isn’t on that level.
‘...Yeah, if Hunter Yeon Harim is the type to search her own name on community sites, that must be rough.’
There were not just one or two posts like that.
The community was practically treating Yeon Harim < Baek Seola as an established fact.
That was probably why Baek Seola, another A-rank Hunter and Guild Master, was Yeon Harim’s trigger.
I understood.
I really had done something cruel by bringing up Baek Seola...
‘Hunter Yeon Harim looks kind of pitiful from this angle, too...’
She probably had not wanted the rivalry in the first place. The media had simply pushed it because they were both beautiful A-rank Hunters and Guild Masters.
The public had set up a rivalry between two beautiful Hunters, but reality was not so easy.
An unwanted rivalry... The gap widening as time passed...
And then came the position of perpetual second place... Yeon Harim could be called a Bean.
And then came the position of perpetual second place... Yeon Harim could be called a Bean.
‘Bean Harim...’
The nickname fit so perfectly that I shed a tear inwardly.
Drip.
I looked at Hunter Yeon Harim with pity in my eyes, but perhaps the shock of the consultation had not fully faded. She could not meet my gaze.
“...Alchemist Yoo Hyun. Your insight really is incredible... Just as I’d heard. I can’t believe you identified such detailed information about me through consultation alone.”
“...Well... It’s my specialty.”
Yeon Harim hesitated at my answer, as though thinking something over, then spoke.
“...Then... Could I also buy a custom pet?”
My consultation must have left quite an impression, because she seemed interested in commissioning a custom pet.
‘A custom pet for an A-rank Hunter...’
With my current incubator’s mana-control performance, I could not cultivate magical beasts with mana cores above D-rank.
The used incubator I had ordered recently would let me go up to C-rank once it arrived at the shop, but Hunter Yeon Harim was A-rank.
A C-rank magical beast normally would not be much help to an A-rank Hunter, but...
‘It’s different with my abilities.’
The EX-rank Magic Beast Alchemist trait went beyond common sense.
The enhanced form of an E-rank Rune Turtle had endured repeated attacks from a B-rank special species, and the D-rank Sylphid had contributed immensely to dealing with C-rank fodder monsters.
Then even a C-rank magical beast I made could perform beyond its rank and help an A-rank Hunter.
‘And the most important thing isn’t rank. It’s covering Hunter Yeon Harim’s weaknesses.’
A rank was only a rank.
In my opinion, a pet’s value was decided less by its mana core rank than by how well it matched its owner.
Even a C-rank pet could outperform any equipment if it filled an A-rank Hunter’s shortcomings and made her strengths even more distinct.
Before taking on the custom-pet commission, though...
There was one question I had to ask.
“Hunter Yeon Harim. You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”
“...What? What do you mean...?”
She was playing innocent, but I was sure she was hiding something.
The Customer Window I had checked for Yeon Harim looked like this.
[ Name 》 Yeon Harim ]
[ Species 》 Human ]
[ Awakened Rank 》 A-rank ]
[ Position 》 Melee damage dealer and sub-tank ]
[ Combat Tendency 》 Prefers counters that turn an opponent’s attacks against them. Prefers hit-and-run attacks, striking briefly before retreating. ]
[ Areas for Improvement 》 Tends to put too much force into attacks, resulting in poor balance. Physical enhancement is weak compared to mana capacity. Appears to need an exceptional supporter to compensate for her lower weight class. ]
Her position was that of a damage bruiser... Yet her combat style centered on counters and hit-and-run tactics.
Of course, hit-and-run was a good tactic.
A damage bruiser could use hit-and-run tactics.
But Yeon Harim mainly fought through counters.
Did that not mean she countered even if it meant taking aggro away from the tank? I guessed that was why sub-tank showed up in her position.
What was this sense of discord?
‘Hmm... She’s definitely outstanding, but her direction feels vague somehow...’
There was something fundamentally wrong with her status window.
Using the consultation so far and her Customer Window, I made an inference.
‘Let’s think this through...’
She tended to throw off her center of gravity by forcing too much power out.
Why was that?
It was obvious.
‘Because she lacks offensive power.’
That was why she had a counter-focused combat style that used her opponent’s strength against them.
Then why the hit-and-run tactics?
‘...Because she’s squishy.’
Normally, the tank handled aggro, so melee damage dealers usually planted themselves and dealt damage, right?
Even if the tank made a mistake and aggro shifted, a melee damage dealer’s defense made it easy to hold out until the tank pulled aggro back.
So unless they were retreating because of area damage, it was not normal to strike briefly and pull back all the time.
In other words, Hunter Yeon Harim lacked damage and was physically weak, which had resulted in that distorted combat style.
But something was strange.
She was A-rank with plenty of experience, yet her physical enhancement was weak?
‘...She’s making up for her lacking stats entirely through combat instincts.’
A few possible causes came to mind, but the most likely one was...
“Hunter Yeon Harim. You have another trait, don’t you?”
“......!!”
She flinched in surprise at my words.
“As I thought...”
“H-how did you figure that out too?”
She looked even more shocked than she had during the consultation based on the Customer Window.
“I’ve noticed that Hunters with multiple traits sometimes have a lower ceiling for each ability than Hunters with only one trait.”
Was it a matter of constitution?
There were statistics showing that because their bodies had multiple Mana Circuits, their abilities grew more slowly than those of people with a single trait and had lower ceilings.
Ah, of course, having more traits was always an advantage.
The ceiling was lower when comparing a single trait on its own, but once you considered the synergy between traits, Hunters with more traits had a higher overall ceiling.
“Hunter Yeon Harim, you probably have another trait besides physical enhancement, which is a basic ability for melee damage dealers.”
Hunters had stronger physical abilities than ordinary people.
Among Hunters, melee classes had even stronger bodies because of their traits.
The fact that her abilities did not match her A-rank status meant her power was being diverted elsewhere.
“......”
“Hunter Yeon Harim, I need to know what that trait is if I’m going to make you a custom pet.”
Hunter Yeon Harim said nothing.
‘...Could it be a necromancer-type trait with the worst public image?’
Awakened people occasionally manifested traits that were ethically problematic... Surely Hunter Yeon Harim was not one of them?
“...Hunter Yeon Harim? Well, if you really can’t tell me, we can skip it.”
After thinking for a long time, she finally spoke.
“...If you make the pet.”
“...?”
“If you make me a custom pet, it can definitely solve the problem, right?”
...How was I supposed to solve it when I did not even know what the problem was?
Still, she looked as though she had made some sort of decision, so I told her the best thing I could.
“I promise you’ll see a definite improvement from before once you have the pet.”
That seemed to settle her resolve.
“Ha... I never thought I’d show even this much to someone I met for the first time today. The CCTV can see us here, so come farther inside.”
I followed her toward a blind spot in the CCTV coverage.
“Like you said, I have another trait. But... it’s a trait I can’t show in front of other people. I’ll only show you for a moment, so don’t look below my neck. The moment you look away from my eyes, I’ll stab you.”
‘...Wow, that’s intense.’
What could it possibly be?
“...If you don’t want to show me that badly, you could explain it in words.”
“No. It’s best if you see the phenomenon with your own eyes.”
That was true. There was a clear difference between hearing an explanation and seeing it yourself.
In the corner of the shop, hidden from the CCTV, I stared at Hunter Yeon Harim as though we were having a staring contest, and she used her ability.
Her body began to shine like a prism, then turned translucent...
Swish-
Something sounded like cloth sliding to the floor.
I broke out in a cold sweat at the sound.
“...Don’t tell me.”
“...That’s right. My clothes come off when I enter this state.”
I fought desperately against my eyes wanting to drop as I asked,
“...Is there no special equipment that doesn’t come off?”
“...Unfortunately, there isn’t any equipment yet that can keep up with this phenomenon.”
Her body... Well, I was only looking at her face, but... Looking closely, this was not simply turning incorporeal.
‘...Hmm, this is...’
“It’s Etherization, isn’t it?”
“...You know about it?”
Of course I did. It had properties similar to the Aether Cat model that had recently become a hot topic on overseas alchemist forums.
“...That definitely is a problem current equipment can’t cover.”
Ether was still almost entirely unresearched.
One thing that had been discovered was that Ether possessed highly unusual properties. In its normal state, it was barely affected by the material world.
‘I never thought a person could undergo Etherization...’
In any case, I had found a clue thanks to it.
After finishing my observation of her trait, I turned away from her and said,
“...By the way, something just occurred to me.”
“What is it?”
“How did you fix yourself to the terrestrial coordinate system?”
I had always wondered how incorporeal life forms unaffected by gravity avoided getting flung into outer space.
* * *
Yeon Harim dragged her heavy feet back to the guild building.
“Ha... One consultation completely drained me... That insight, too... He’s definitely not ordinary...”
Yeon Harim wanted to clock out and rest as soon as possible.
When she returned to the guild building, her secretary Cynthia came out to meet her.
“You’re back? How did the contract go?”
“Oh, right... The contract...”
She had definitely gone there because of the contract, but the conversation had veered somewhere strange along the way.
Especially after Baek Seola came up...
Cynthia questioned her response as though she could not believe it.
“No... Then what exactly did you do there that you’re only getting back now? And why are your clothes such a mess? I clearly got you completely set up before you left!!”
“While we were talking, he said he’d make me a custom pet... Then somehow I ended up naked... No... I need to clock out and rest...”
“......”
Cynthia’s brain stopped for a moment at Yeon Harim’s unfiltered, jumbled words.
“...What?”
Footnotes:
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