RCMT-Chapter 2

Ch.2 The Regression Of Calamity-Level Monster Tamer

30 years since the Tower appeared.

3 years since Gates began occurring.

And.

‘It’s also been 3 years since I awakened as a Player…’

In that time, countless Players threw themselves into the Tower.

But I didn’t.

‘Rather, I lived hiding the fact that I had awakened.’

I couldn’t get involved in the dangerous Tower while leaving my single mother behind.

Instead, I devoted myself to working hard at my job.

My profession was animal keeper.

It was a job so well-suited to my aptitude that I thought it was my calling, but my luck was bad.

Magic Beasts emerged from Gates occurring all over Earth, causing various businesses to rise and fall. Naturally, zoos had to rapidly walk the path of decline.

People around me recommended I change jobs, but I loved my work, so I stuck with it to the end despite the meager pay.

But an individual couldn’t stop the great tide, and eventually I was laid off and had to return home.

‘That’s probably why I was even more stubborn about being a Tamer…’

The public’s evaluation of Tamers could be summed up in one word: ‘shit.’ No, they were regarded as trash among trash that couldn’t even become fertilizer.

You could tell just by entering the start page of ‘Tower Net,’ the deep web that only Players could access.

[Must-Read for Noobs Who Chose the God-Tier(?) Class ‘Tamer’]

First, you need to start by acknowledging that you idiots who chose Tamer are morons. Why am I cursing from the start? Because you need to accept this to move to the next step.

When the System sends you to Magic Beasts barehanded without a single Skill under the pretext of ‘taming,’ you go ‘Well, I’m a Tamer, so that’s possible…’

When your bank balance slowly melts away for intimacy work with Magic Beasts, “Well, I’m a Tamer, so that’s possible…”

You absolutely must maintain this mental victory. Otherwise, it’s a profession you simply can’t do.

└ There’s no sucker who’d still choose Tamer after reading this, right?

└ Is it really that bad? I just changed jobs to Tamer. How many degrees is the Han River water these days…

└ This comment smells like a deceased person.

└ You’d be a thousand times better off playing Thief, which has a glass body but insane DPS.

In fact, it was true that Tamer had high entry barriers, just like the post on Tower Net said.

However.

‘It’s revealed after 30 years that it’s a profession with that much potential. Thanks to me.’

A peculiar profession with a higher peak than any other and a lower floor than any other.

That was ‘Tamer.’

[Please select a Class.]

―Warrior

―Thief

―Monk

―Archer

―Wizard

―Cleric

―Tamer

‘So this time, it’s definitely Tamer too.’

The System window I had put off for 3 years appeared as I became conscious of it.

I chose the last option without a moment’s hesitation.

[Changing jobs to Tamer.]

[Acquiring Skill, Taming Lv.1(F).]

[5 Bonus Stats granted.]

My thoughts were long, but the time was fleeting.

Just as I finished changing jobs, the Gray Wolf that had been looking around noticed mine and Mother’s presence.

The situation became even more urgent.

I took out a paring knife from the shopping basket and stuck it in my waistband.

“My dear lady, don’t go anywhere and stay right here!”

Having completed the job change, the fact that I had returned to life sank in, and I could treat Mother casually like before.

“What are you talking about—”

“If you move, I’ll really get angry?!”

“Hey! Si-woo—”

Tadat―

Leaving her cry behind, I kicked off the asphalt ground. In that time, the Gray Wolves that had been one had increased to three.

One of those three had a fluttering silver mane.

‘…Huh? Did that guy appear back then too?’

A Special Entity.

An entity born only when difficult conditions are met, with racial value more than double. Typically, only one Special Entity among many survives to become a Gate Boss.

‘Anyway, if it’s like this, I’m changing plans.’

Originally, I was going to beat them all to death.

But as the situation changed, so must the response.

‘Cutting open the belly of a golden goose is something only idiots do.’

I wiped the drool flowing from my lips and rushed in.

Now the distance between them and me was only 5m.

They bared their white fangs at me. And before leaping, they lowered their bodies like springs.

“Kang―!“

The two regular entities rushed at me first.

‘It’s been a while since I had a brawl like this?’

The absolute majority consider a Tamer’s individual combat power to be terrible. To some extent, it’s true.

After all, a Tamer’s main force is the tamed Magic Beasts.

‘Of course, someone who only grows that way can never escape being a ‘trash’ Tamer.’

A Tamer’s biggest weakness is the Player themselves.

That’s why basic self-defense techniques are fundamental.

Of course, the standard for ‘basic’ differs from person to person.

My standard?

‘Very demanding.’

Kaiju Tamer, Kang Si-woo.

People who know nothing mistakenly think I only suck honey while leading Kaiju-like Magic Beasts around, but those who know, know.

―Si-woo, you won. I stake my name on it. Great warrior. Acknowledged.

―Hehe… You, by any chance, are you interested in swords? If you just promise to carry on our sect’s lineage, I’ll specially teach you the secret sword technique…

―Monster-like bastard… Huh? Hey, there’s no way I cursed at our heaven-like leader, right? Even though I handled this ‘baby’ for the first time today, I could hit all ten shots out of ten, right?

‘Kaiju’ doesn’t necessarily mean Magic Beasts, but has the dual meaning of referring to ‘me,’ Kang Si-woo.

‘Focus, focus.’

Erasing the stray thoughts that briefly surfaced, I saw the Gray Wolves rushing toward me with nimble movements.

They would bare their teeth at me even if it meant dying.

Wolf species Magic Beasts are thoroughly hierarchical animals.

Seeing such creatures reminded me of a skill I used to use often in the past.

‘Should I try learning that first?’

The System superficially advocates freedom.

Therefore, you can create or imitate skills if the conditions are met.

‘If’ the conditions are met.

[Investing all 5 Bonus Stats in Agility.]

I changed direction with movement that suddenly became faster like a bug. My body was naturally facing the white fangs.

‘Focus. If I get bitten, I die immediately.’

Currently, my Stamina Stat was no different from an ordinary person’s.

Yet there was no hesitation in my movements.

‘Following instinct rather than reason…’

Rather, boldly throwing my body into the shadow of death.

When you plunge into such pitch-black darkness, only then do certain things become visible.

‘…Here!’

A single ray of light.

Toward the only escape route for survival, I took a step. Then a System message rang in my ears.

[The user’s steps contain enlightenment.]

[Converting enlightenment into a Skill.]

[The user’s qualifications are insufficient to learn the Skill.]

‘Shut up and hurry up and give me the skill.’

As if responding to my urging, the System replied quickly in a dry voice.

[Downgrading the Skill rank.]

[Acquiring Skill, ‘Wolf Step Lv.1(D)’.]

Seureureuk―

At that moment, I deflected their attacks by a hair’s breadth.

Then a huge opening appeared.

I could have killed both, but I lightly swung my hand blade to strike their weak points.

‘I can’t kill them if I want to Tame the Special Entity.’

Wolf species have particularly strong bonds.

So they become lifelong enemies with beings who killed their companions, meaning Tamers trying to Tame them must never kill their kin.

Tuk.

They fainted without even making a yelp sound.

‘…Next.’

I immediately ran toward the Special Entity.

Wolf Step and suppression, and encountering the Special Entity.

All of this happened in one breath.

“……”

“……”

Our gazes met.

But in its eyes was fighting spirit rather than confusion.

“Right, if it’s the one I chose, it should be like this.”

Geureureureu―!

As if responding to my words, it oozed fighting spirit while dripping phear.

In a fight between ‘animal’ and ‘animal,’ momentum is really important.

If you’re scared, you lose.

This is truth.

‘Of course, to me, that guy just looks like a child.’

I tried to counter its momentum by clenching my fist.

To be precise, I tried to release my momentum.

At that moment, a System message appeared as if reacting to this.

[Talent, ‘Beast’s □□(?)’ activates.]

[Remaining cooldown time 72:00:00]

‘…Huh?’

“Kkaegaeng! Kkaegaegaeng―!“

[Magic Beast, ‘Freki’ reestablishes the hierarchy with the user in shock.]

[‘Freki’ acknowledges the user as its leader.]

[‘Freki’ changes to a 100% Tameable state.]

“…Eh??”

I was slightly flustered by the sudden development.

But I’m a man who doesn’t miss opportunities.

Even while dazed, I didn’t forget to use the skill.

[Using Skill, Taming Lv.1(F).]

[Successfully taming Gray Wolf, ‘Freki’!]

[User’s Level increases by 5.]

[Taming Lv.1(F) rises to Lv.3.]

[Magic Beast Information]

Name: Freki

Type: Gray Wolf―(Special Entity)

Rank: E(Conditional Growth Type)

Level: 10

Loyalty: 80

Skills: Two Are One Lv.1(S―), Wolf Pack Max(B)

‘It seems my Talent has completely changed…’

It’s true I was trying to Tame him.

But I didn’t know it would flow this smoothly.

Moreover, the phrases appearing in his information window are all unusual.

‘An E-Rank Magic Beast with an S-Rank Skill?’

Though the clause ‘conditional’ is attached, the word growth type is also written. Meaning that guy’s limit isn’t E-Rank.

In fact, Magic Beasts with hidden abilities can be discovered quite often. Most just pass by without knowing.

Discovering and uncovering that is the true ability of a Tamer.

‘Of course, I’m lucky. This guy is a special case even among those.’

Whether it’s a gift celebrating my Regression, a windfall rolled in as soon as I returned.

I let out a hearty laugh seeing the guy naturally rolling over and acting cute in every way.

“Aren’t you embarrassed with your subordinates watching? Besides, you…”

Freki.

The System was clearly specifying its name.

‘A Named Monster.’

Not all Special Entities have names.

Only ‘Gate Bosses’ are granted names.

And Gate Bosses don’t come out of Gates unless it’s for a good reason.

Gate Bosses are the pillars supporting Gates.

That’s why Gates are cleared when you conquer them.

‘Then why did this guy come out? No, setting that aside, why is the Gate still fine even though he came out? And even if it’s a low-level Gate, does it make sense to Tame a boss this easily…’

My thoughts led to more thoughts.

But soon I cut that chain.

“Ah, I don’t know! Anyway, I Tamed this guy from the start, so it’s a sweet starting point. Let’s focus on that for now.”

If my thoughts get longer here, doubts turn into worries.

Have doubts, but don’t worry.

One of my mottos.

[The second Wave arrives.]

[Remaining Magic Beasts: 6]

Right on cue, the second Wave began.

“Right, let’s deal with the immediate task first.”

I distributed the 15 points I gained from leveling up evenly across my Stats.

This gave me ability values of Strength 4, Agility 10, Stamina 7, Magic Power 7.

With this much, I couldn’t lose to Gray Wolves even if I tried.

But even so, I have no intention of running around sweating profusely myself.

‘What’s good about being a Tamer? Even if it sucks at first, later on, you can suck honey, right?’

I spoke while refreshingly scratching his belly.

“Freki.”

At my quiet word, he sprang up and stared at the Gate.

Seureuk―

Soon six Gray Wolves burst out from within the Gate.

“Kang―!“

Freki barked lowly at them.

Then the six Magic Beasts, as if they’d never bared their teeth, gently wagged their tails and followed behind Freki.

[Freki’s pack grows.]

[Freki’s Level increases by 1.]

[Freki’s Loyalty increases by 10.]

[Skill, Wolf Pack becomes stronger.]

‘Keu, this is true auto-hunting!’

I have no intention of power-leveling here.

Just obtaining Freki was already more than enough.

So the immediate goal is to quickly clean up this place and safely return home.

‘There are three Waves remaining now.’

However, Waves from Gate Breaks occur a total of five times.

Though I have a hunch about why the Gate hasn’t disappeared despite Taming Freki, I didn’t bother grasping at that thread of thought.

“Anyway, I need to put these guys back in the Gate and quietly leave.”

I can’t lead all these guys around.

The Guild or government will take care of the cleanup.

I plan to leisurely leave with just the prime catch, Freki.

[The third Wave arrives.]

9 Gray Wolves.

[The fourth Wave arrives.]

12 Gray Wolves.

Anyway, Waves kept arriving at short intervals after that.

But each time, Freki’s pack just kept growing.

“It’s sweet, so sweet. I hope I can just keep sucking honey like this from now on. Right, Freki?”

“Kang!“

[Freki’s pack grows.]

[Freki’s Level becomes 15.]

[Freki’s Loyalty becomes 100.]

[Skill, Wolf Pack becomes stronger.]

‘Should I start preparing to put them away?’

Before I knew it, Freki’s pack had become a sizeable group totaling 30.

Now I just had to put a period on it and disappear gracefully.

Anyway, people had long since scattered and fled, and the only people remaining here were me and Mother, who couldn’t escape from worry about her son.

“Now I just need to block the last Wave and go back—”

“Geureureureu…“

The moment I spoke while stroking Freki’s silver mane that had somehow gotten close, he revealed strong hostility.

Simultaneously, the Gate spewed out several Magic Beasts.

It was the last Wave.

[The fifth Wave arrives.]

[Remaining Magic Beasts: 15]

The Magic Beasts that burst through the Gate weren’t the same Gray Wolves as before.

“…!?”

Giant wolves as if their entire bodies were soaked in enemy blood.

‘…Blood Wolves?’

Not even Red Wolves but their superior entities—fifteen Blood Wolves appeared.

[The Wave difficulty has risen sharply.]

[User’s Level is low.]

[Recommends forming a party of at least 5 people to conquer.]

‘I don’t know what kind of shitty situation this is either, but…’

I’ve experienced countless such unexpected variables before and overcame them all. So this time is just the same situation as then.

In other words, should I say I’ve been too dirtied to be surprised by each of these things?

I looked at Mother who was watching from far away.

As if you also noticed the situation had changed, you were stamping your feet.

“Ms. Park! Absolutely don’t move, just stand there and watch—!”

I waved one hand widely to reassure her.

I should take this opportunity to show you how strong and reliable your son is.

In the meantime, the Blood Wolf pack stealthily approached and began drawing a circle around the Gray Wolves.

I looked at such creatures with a fishy smile.

The System is warning that they’re creatures I can’t catch at my Level, but to me…

“They’re just shit-red mutts smeared with hot pepper paste.”

Just mobs 1.