Radioactive Leak (6)
Thanks to the effects of Myungkyungjisu (Clarity of Mind), I observed the expanding territory in real time with a sharpened consciousness.
Finding the Kellican's nest wasn't difficult. I had already pinpointed its exact location while flying toward the Kori Nuclear Power Plant.
'There it is.'
As the territory expanded, it quickly began to swallow up the apartment complex.
At the same time, I saw the monsters entering the area suddenly freeze in place.
[A hostile entity to the Homebound Sovereign has been detected.]
Normally, the fate of any monster that entered the safe zone was already determined.
The moment they harbored any hostility toward me, their heads would explode, and they'd be instantly purged.
But-
'Suppress, don't kill!'
From the battle with the vampires and facing the progenitor, I had learned how to control my power.
I realized I could consciously control the system's force, not just react instinctively.
[Suppressing.]
And the effect was clear.
Every monster in the apartment complex, including the Ratmen I was targeting, was subdued-without dying.
On the other hand, monsters entering newly included areas that I wasn't paying attention to—
[A hostile entity to the Homebound Sovereign has been detected.]
[Eliminating.]
-were instantly wiped out, turned into experience points and settlement funds.
Thanks to that, the Kellicans who had made their nests in the apartment complex with the Ratmen were spared.
[An entity that meets the conditions to be accepted as a citizen has been detected.]
[Would you like to grant citizenship?]
After confirming the newly included people in the expanded area and completing the process of granting citizenship, the pain in my body gradually subsided.
And with that, the effect of Myungkyungjisu came to an end.
"Hoo..."
When I opened my eyes, Seo Ye-jin was beside me, watching with a worried expression.
Myungkyungjisu was like an out-of-body experience-separating clear consciousness from the pain-feeling body. The body still had to endure the pain, which is why I was drenched in cold sweat and kept making a painful expression during the territory expansion. That's why Seo Ye-jin was so concerned.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. I'm okay now."
I spoke to Ye-jin as she wiped the cold sweat from my forehead with her sleeve.
"Ye-jin."
"Yeah?"
"Let's move right away."
There was no need to assign a guard to escort my father anymore.
'Open Dongdaemun.'
Dongdaemun (the East Gate) opened, connecting to the apartment complex's underground parking lot.
"Let's go."
I took Seo Ye-jin's hand and walked into Dongdaemun.
I could still see clearly using the Absolute Sovereign's Eye, but to Seo Ye-jin, only the area illuminated by the light pouring out of the open gate would be visible.
Flash-
Using the Sovereign's Dignity skill, I supplied power to the underground parking lot and turned on the lights, revealing its half-ruined state.
And then-
"Oppa... what is this?"
What filled the underground parking lot were rats-or rather, Ratmen.
Dozens, maybe hundreds of Ratmen stood frozen in place, like they had been taxidermied.
"How about it? Think you can tame these guys?"
As Seo Ye-jin scanned the frozen Ratmen―
[Citizen Seo Ye-jin's Trust Level has increased.]
[Citizen Seo Ye-jin's Loyalty Level has increased.]
[Citizen Seo Ye-jin's Loyalty has reached 100.]
[Citizen Seo Ye-jin is already registered as a retainer.]
[Retainer capacity has been expanded.]
'Huh?'
Seo Ye-jin's loyalty, which had been stuck at 99, finally hit 100.
Maybe we'd grown too close in a human way—her trust and loyalty had been stagnant. But this incident seemed to have broken through that wall.
Swallowing nervously, Seo Ye-jin spoke.
"I'll... give it a try."
She cautiously approached the nearest Ratman and pulled something square from her pocket.
It was a tiny cube-shaped piece of cheese.
As soon as she unwrapped the cheese, the frozen Ratman reacted. Though its body remained stiff, its eyes shifted and locked onto the cheese in her hand.
Flustered, Seo Ye-jin glanced at me and asked carefully:
"Um... Oppa? Could you... maybe let this one move?"
"You sure you can handle it?"
She checked the Ratman's response once more and nodded.
"I think I'll be okay."
፡፡
By the way, why are you suddenly being all formal with me?"
"When did I—?"
"Even now."
When I pressed her, Seo Ye-jin rolled her eyes, then muttered in a small voice:
"It's just... seeing you like this kinda makes you feel like a different person..."
"Speak comfortably. Like you normally do."
"... Yes, I mean, yeah."
"Good. Then, are you ready?"
"...Yeah."
Seo Yejin looked at the ratman standing frozen in front of her.
[Ratman (Lv. 17)]
There was no sense of hostility or threatening aura from it.
That's because from the very first moment it encountered Seo Yejin, it had seemed subdued.
Even before any proper taming began, it already looked as though it was submitting to her.
'Doesn't seem like there'll be any trouble...'
Still, just in case, I summoned the Invisible Hand and cautiously released the Ratman from its restrained state.
Then-
"Eek!"
Freed from its restraints, the Ratman immediately bit Seo Yejin's hand.
Just as I was about to crush the Ratman's head with the Invisible Hand-
"Oppa! I'm okay! Please wait!"
Seo Yejin hastily stopped me after seeing the sharp look in my eyes.
I asked,
"Is your hand okay? Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine. Just a bit startled."
After a moment of surprise, Seo Yejin gently patted the Ratman on the head as it fumbled with her hand still in its mouth.
"Good boy. Good."
A faint light flickered from Seo Yejin's hand as she stroked the Ratman.
And at the same time—
"From now on, your name is Alpha-1. Got it?"
[Tamed Ratman (Lv. 20)]
The description and level of the Ratman, as seen through the Eye of the Absolute, changed.
'Its level increased by about 3!'
Seo Yejin closed her eyes.
She seemed to be trying to communicate with the Ratman she just tamed.
A little while later—
Seo Yejin, having successfully tamed the Ratman, looked at me with a bright smile.
"Success!"
"Well done."
Seo Yejin quickly went on to tame more Ratmen.
"You're Alpha-33 now.'
Watching her assign names to each Ratman, I couldn't help but ask—
"Yejin."
"Yes?"
"Do you usually name things like that?"
"Yeah. It makes them easier to call."
"I see... But what does 'Alpha' mean?"
"Doesn't it make it easier to distinguish them from regular rats this way?"
It was when she had successfully tamed up to Alpha-189.
'That's...'
There was still a part of the underground parking lot shrouded in darkness, with the lights yet to be turned on.
That was because all the ceiling lights had been completely destroyed.
Amidst the quiet darkness, a massive creature was watching us.
[Queen Ratman (Lv. 43)]
'...Queen?'
The description made me tilt my head in confusion.
Because what I saw through the Eye of the Absolute was a body brimming with muscle-nothing about it screamed "queen."
'It looks more like a king than a queen!'
Name aside, it was huge.
'That level's high.'
Level 43.
Even in this world overflowing with monsters, those over level 40 were rare.
Unless they were something special like a high-tier vampire, such monsters were usually bosses of specific regions. So it made sense they weren't
common.
'At this level, it's more than enough!'
If Seo Yejin could tame this thing, we'd be able to enter the radiation-contaminated Wolsung Base without too much trouble.
"Yejin. Think you can handle this one?"
After staring up at the Queen Ratman for a while, Seo Yejin replied in a trembling voice,
"...I'm not sure."
She was clearly overwhelmed by its size and presence.
On top of that, the Queen Ratman's aura was intense.
Unlike the regular Ratmen, its gaze was still unbroken.
Even in a fully restrained state, its willpower hadn't been shattered.
With its blazing eyes, it felt like it would lunge at us the moment it was freed.
"I'll try."
"Alright, let's give it a shot."
It was too valuable to give up on.
If we could just manage to subdue this one properly, we might really be able to resolve the radiation crisis.
'I need to break its will first. Release it.'
At that moment-
Hooong—
As expected, the bastard attacked us right away.
Its sharp claws targeted us, but I deflected the attack using an invisible hand.
KWAANG!
A loud boom echoed through the underground parking lot.
Squeak!
Squeak!
From Alpha-1 to Alpha-189, all tamed by Seo Yejin, moved frantically to protect her.
Seeing their movement, the Queen Ratman let out a roar filled with fury.
-KRRRAAAARGH!
It felt like a dinosaur was roaring right in front of me, but I didn't feel particularly threatened.
This was my domain.
My home turf.
'Enlarge.'
Crack!
The invisible hand extending from my body began to grow in size, completely destroying the ceiling of the underground parking garage.
Then, I infused the invisible hand with dark energy.
The dark energy condensed into the invisible hand, revealing its true form.
Fwoosh-
The massive hand, engulfed in black flames, looked like a monster's hand straight from the depths of hell.
Everyone fell silent for a moment at its overwhelming presence.
Even the Queen Ratman, who had been rampaging like a beast, was frozen in place.
Within that silence, the black palm moved-and crushed the massive Queen Ratman's head downward.
KWAARRRGH-
Without even putting up a fight, the Queen Ratman was slammed into the ground by the black hand.
Her huge head left a crater in the concrete floor, and I finally looked down at the creature whose eyes were now below mine.
'Now if I tell Yejin to try using her power...'
It was at that moment.
[Citizen Seo Yejin's trust level has increased.]
[Citizen Seo Yejin's trust has reached 100.]
[You have acquired 'Enhancement'.]
Seo Yejin's trust level, which had been stuck at 99, finally hit 100.
'Enhancement?'
A skill that enhances the mice Seo Yejin has personally tamed.
But in my case, I didn't have any tamed creatures.
Still, it was easy to figure out how to use this skill.
I looked at Seo Yejin and focused.
'Enhance.'
In that moment-
Fwoosh-
Dark energy began to billow from Seo Yejin's entire body.
"Huh?"
At the same time, I could feel her presence become significantly more powerful.
With a dazed expression, she looked at me and spoke.
"Oppa, what... what is this..."
I spoke gently to the confused girl.
"Wanna try it now?"
As I stepped back from the Queen Ratman's face, Seo Yejin firmly pressed her lips together and slowly nodded.
Then she walked slowly toward the Ratman.
With the invisible hand no longer holding it down, the creature was completely free.
And yet, even with Seo Yejin right in front of it, it couldn't move properly.
Seo Yejin gently began to stroke the burn-scarred side of the Ratman's face.
In that moment-
[Tamed Queen Ratman (Lv. 43)]
She had successfully tamed the creature.
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]