029. Have a Safe Trip Home
“Well, this is useless.”
Some time had passed since the meal ended.
Assistant Manager Kim Seongju muttered while staring at his smartphone, which had completely lost its normal functions.
“At this point, it’s just a regular camera.”
He wanted to contact the Association and ask for advice about the curse on Rako.
But as expected, neither mobile data nor phone calls worked.
Kim Seongju sighed deeply and turned his gaze away.
Not far from him, Yang Suho was managing the fish farm’s Fantasy Creatures together with two Spirit Beasts.
Feeding them.
Managing the water quality.
Recording the size of the farmed creatures.
Kim Seongju knew almost nothing about aquaculture.
But even he could tell that Yang Suho was doing nothing especially different from what ordinary fish farms did.
When you think about it, aquaculture is basically farming done in the sea.
Kim Seongju came from a rural family in the mountains of Gangwon Province that grew dureup shoots.
It was an ordinary coastal countryside life with almost nothing worth separately recording.
The only unusual thing was that an otter and an osprey were working beside him.
If you only look at it like this, he’s just a young man who returned to the countryside and lives an unusual daily life.
Kim Seongju’s eyes glowed strongly again.
The true appearance of the peaceful area slowly came into view.
High-Resolution Search.
The main Skill of his Rogue Class, also sometimes called Fixer.
“Hoo.”
He sighed.
The end of the sigh trembled slightly.
Because he could clearly see the power and potential possessed by the Spirit Beasts, Daldal and Orlan.
SSR-Rank Partners... There is a huge difference even compared to SR-Rank Phantasmal Beasts. It’s almost ridiculous that beings with power like this are walking around looking so cute.
After the two types of Gates began appearing around the world, countless creatures never before seen on Earth began to appear.
Tamers were a rare Class capable of controlling those creatures and turning them into their own power.
When people imagined a Tamer’s Partner, they naturally imagined strange and mysterious monsters.
After all, those monsters had come from unknown dimensions beyond the Gates.
But the SSR-Rank Partners known as Spirit Beasts, which had begun appearing in the world at some point, were completely different even in appearance.
Every Spirit Beast revealed so far looks like an animal or plant familiar to us. To an ordinary person, they simply look like normal Earth creatures.
Their appearance was not the only difference.
The way Spirit Beasts met their human Partners was also completely different from lower-ranking Partners.
The normal method involved Tamers defeating or persuading monsters that emerged from Gates, then making them Partners.
Spirit Beasts were different.
They approached the person they had chosen as their Partner on their own.
Then they used unimaginable authority to create Protect Zones around their human Partners and seal off and protect the surrounding area.
What were they protecting their Partners from?
They can talk. I wish they would simply explain everything clearly.
Ever since Awakened Associations around the world became aware of the sudden appearance of Spirit Beasts, they had focused intensely on discovering what their existence meant.
Even now, however, very little had been discovered.
Most Spirit Beasts and their Partners...
Had chosen to avoid people.
They separated themselves from society and quietly lived in their own worlds.
Yang Suho, who actually responds to contact and even permits meetings, is an extremely unusual case.
They had the forms of familiar animals.
They selected their own Partners.
They approached those Partners after receiving a request or command from something.
They refused to reveal exactly what that request was.
Sometimes even to their own Partners.
Using their own power, or the power of that something, they created large Areas around their Partners and refused entry to anyone who failed to meet certain conditions.
All of it...
To protect themselves and those around them from something.
It’s not like we know absolutely nothing.
Kim Seongju’s eyes glowed yellow.
He could see the Special Protect Area extending much farther around the fish farm than he had expected.
And the type of wavelength creating this Special Protect Area...
Closely resembled a Gate.
However, unlike Gates that immediately released monsters after appearing, this power felt far more sacred and powerful.
It could not yet be clearly explained through science.
But he could definitely sense it through his five senses.
Kim Seongju touched the thin notebook marked:
TOP SECRET, EXTERNAL DISCLOSURE PROHIBITED.
If I put all this together, it feels like there should be one simple and obvious answer. But I just can’t reach it.
Kim Seongju frowned while staring at the drawing inside his notebook.
The red symbol glowing on the head of the Sea Otter Spirit Beast Rako.
He still did not know its exact meaning or identity.
But he did know one thing.
That symbol had been discovered on hostile beings from beyond Gates.
And mainly on intelligent individuals possessing immense power.
Who could so easily place a curse on a Spirit Beast Partner stronger than most Awakened?
For what purpose?
Why?
Damn it. This is beyond what I can handle.
Kim Seongju shook his head.
Then he quickly walked toward Yang Suho and asked.
“Is there anything else I can help with?”
Domestication and farming of Fantasy Creatures.
An achievement with no previous record anywhere in Korea, or even the world.
Kim Seongju naturally assumed Yang Suho would hide the secret if one existed.
But Yang Suho openly revealed it.
He even freely allowed photographs.
‘It seems Fantasy Creature farming is only possible under the blessing of a Spirit Beast. Either a person with a deep relationship to a Spirit Beast, or someone inside a Spirit Beast’s Area. That’s what the Status Window information says.’
Kim Seongju took photos of the fish farm.
He helped Yang Suho feed the fish inside the tanks.
At the same time, his eyes quietly glowed.
Farming Requirement: Environment directly receiving the blessing of a Spirit Beast, or a person with a close relationship to a Spirit Beast.
Farming qualification cannot be transferred.
Ordinary farming of second-generation individuals produced through farming is also impossible.
Using his Search ability, Kim Seongju read the detailed information of the Dragon Palace Rockfish.
