Chapter 191: Edible Escape Quartet
A blue portal rose above the warp device.
A moment later, Necro Puppet Master emerged from beyond it.
［Hmm? Perfect Corpse, you arrived first.］
［I wanted to greet my second master quickly, so I came first.］
【Pururu】─Came first~ That way of speaking seriously doesn’t suit you at all.
【Mysticism】─😋
【Yumi】─It’s a cute way of speaking, totally opposite to his intimidating appearance.
【Luna-chan】─Gap moe!
Necro Puppet Master glanced at Perfect Corpse, then shifted his gaze to me.
［Gauntlet, have you greeted Perfect Corpse?］
“I just exchanged a few words. He hasn’t been here long, so I haven’t heard a detailed introduction yet.”
［I see. Then, I’ll provide a proper introduction.］
Puppet Master slightly curled his lips into a smile and gestured toward Perfect Corpse.
［This one is Perfect Corpse. Among all the puppets I’ve created so far, he is the most perfect entity. I can confidently say that he is stronger than even Nyara Nepenthis over there, let alone myself.］
［Oh my.］
【Mysticism】─😮 SS-rank strongest!
【Pururu】─Calling it a perfect corpse lmao 😂
The strongest among the puppets.
Nyara Nepenthis's expression changed upon hearing those words.
Until now, she had looked at Perfect Corpse as if he were a mere bug, but now, she was gazing at him with apparent interest.
【Bubble Bubble】─He spent a whole day making it, and in the end, he really created the strongest SS-rank puppet.
【Rizenova】─Now that he’s made a satisfying puppet, I suppose he can comfortably mass-produce puppets to become residents of the underwater village.
Necro Puppet Master continued speaking.
［And Gauntlet, I was keeping this a secret to surprise you, but actually, Perfect Corpse also possesses an explorer’s memories.］
“Huh? He has an explorer’s memories?”
［That’s right. While collecting corpses underwater last time, I happened to find a skeleton. It seems that it belonged to an ancient explorer.］
“That’s some good luck.”
It was definitely good news.
But it wasn’t something too shocking.
Whether it was an explorer who couldn’t revive after death,
or a tamed monster from the past,
they could all be reborn as Necro Puppet Master’s puppets without any special restrictions.
Just like how Min Hyeong-seok was reborn as Neo Hyeong-seok.
The reason was simple.
Puppets weren’t a resurrection.
They were new lifeforms created with the memories engraved in the corpse.
“So, what kind of traits did the explorer’s remains have that were used to make Perfect Corpse?”
［I’ll be the one to tell you that!］
As we were talking,
Perfect Corpse suddenly butted in.
【Bubble Bubble】─I’ve been thinking this for a while, but why is he so lively? It’s unsettling.
【Hwang Mir】─I also can’t get used to it. His personality doesn’t match his appearance at all. 😂
【Yumi】─But isn’t it better for him to be lively? If he were the quiet type, he’d be too scary to even look at.
【Mysticism】─🤭 That’s true.
［The trait I had was *The Assisted One*! The same trait as my second master!］
“You had *The Assisted One* trait?”
［That’s right! Which means I’m basically your senior, second master!］
“What senior? You only have the memories of an ancient explorer.”
［Haya···.］
“Anyway, having the memories of an explorer with *The Assisted One* trait… This is going to be really helpful.”
［Haya! I’ll try my best to be of help! Since the explorer’s remains were so old, not all memories are intact, but as time passes, more and more details will come back, so don’t worry!］
Perfect Corpse flailed his arms exaggeratedly as he spoke, then returned to discussing the habits of the Pig King, which he had mentioned earlier.
Apparently, the explorer whose remains were used in Perfect Corpse had been ambushed and eaten by the very Pig King he had tamed while exploring the ocean floor.
It wasn’t a betrayal.
That Pig King had cherished the explorer, but due to twisted affection and its species' instincts, it had ended up eating him.
The fact that Pig Kings had such instincts was something the explorer only realized as he was dying.
【Mysticism】─😨
【Pururu】─That species is absolutely insane. You really shouldn’t just tame any monster recklessly. It could be dangerous.
【Bubble Bubble】─But since Gauntlet’s seals are all undone now, it shouldn’t be a problem unless it’s SSS-rank.
Taming the wrong monster could be dangerous.
That’s why taming abilities should be used cautiously.
If possible, it was best to research a monster’s tendencies beforehand.
Those were Perfect Corpse’s additional words.
I waved my hand lightly as I spoke.
“Even if I tame the wrong one, it’s not like I’ll get eaten. I’m way stronger than the Pig Kings.”
［I know that my second master is strong. But what if you get ambushed?］
“I hardly ever get ambushed. Even if I do, there’s no way someone weaker than me could damage my body.”
In other words,
I just had to be careful when taming SSS-rank monsters.
Now that my seals were undone and my physical strength had fully returned.
After gathering information about the Pig King, we spent some time eating the snacks Merino had prepared while listening to Perfect Corpse recount memories from the explorer and any useful monster-related knowledge he had.
Oh, and one extra piece of information.
Perfect Corpse’s body was made of mud, categorizing him as a slime-type creature.
No wonder his appearance was so oddly freeform.
The assistants seemed to be bothered by Perfect Corpse’s grotesque appearance, as they were sending questions to Necro Puppet Master through chat.
Since Puppet Master had been delegated taming authority, he could read the chat without needing to use mind-reading.
【Pururu】─Hey, Puppet Master. But why does that puppet look like *that*? Even for a slime-type monster, isn’t that just too much?
【Hwang Mir】─For real, I feel a little bad saying this, but it looks unfinished.
［I used too many corpses to create a being with a variety of abilities and memories, so I couldn’t pay attention to the exterior.］
【Mysticism】─😶
【Yumi】─Still, you could’ve put in a little more effort.
【Luna-chan】─Puppet-chan. But more importantly, why does Perfect Corpse talk like that?
【Bubble Bubble】─Ah, I wanted to ask that too. Did you set his speech pattern?
［I didn’t. It seems he was heavily influenced by Merino Ula.］
【Luna-chan】─He was influenced by Merino-chan?
【Hwang Mir】─Why was he influenced by Merino?
［To create the perfect puppet corpse this time, I synthesized numerous bodies—only the highest-quality ones. Among them were horns and fur I received from Merino. Of course, I didn’t take them by force. I asked politely, so don’t misunderstand.］
【Luna-chan】─Ah, so that’s why he speaks in such a cute way.
【Bubble Bubble】─I did think his speech sounded oddly familiar.
【Mysticism】─Yangyang~ Yayaya~ 🤭
【Rizenova】─So even the horns and fur of Lady Merino are considered corpses to Lord Necro. Well, they did come off her body.
【Pururu】─Why the hell did you put in Merino’s horns and fur?
【Yumi】─Well, Merino does have superior genes. Even though she’s F-rank, her abilities are outstanding.
【Hwang Mir】─Wait, hold on.
【Hwang Mir】─Doesn’t that mean Perfect Corpse also has Merino’s memories?
［That’s right. Since too many bodies were used in the synthesis, the memories aren’t perfectly intact, but Merino’s memories should be clear. Her horns and fur made up a significant portion.］
【Hwang Mir】─Oh shit.
【Pururu】─Damn.
【Mysticism】─😠 Fake Merino! Our Merino isn’t that hideous!
［And there was something I didn’t mention because it wasn’t important—Perfect Corpse can change his appearance if he wants to. The current form is his default, but he can transform into something resembling the original explorer, Merino Ula, or other bodies used in his creation. He can even temporarily shift into an entirely new form.］
【Mysticism】─😡😡😡 Never transform into Merino!
While the assistants were chatting with Puppet Master,
I received all the necessary information from Perfect Corpse.
Then, without further delay, I left the forward base to tame some edible monsters.
***
Time passed, and soon the day was coming to an end.
Today, I had traveled across various regions of the Ancient Labyrinth and tamed a total of four monsters.
Pig King.
Laser Leaf.
Neo Chicken.
Poison Octopus.
Of course, I didn’t tame creatures that lived in groups.
Instead, I sought out those that had been ostracized by their own kind, unable to fit into their groups and living alone.
I didn’t care about their personality,
how useless their abilities were,
or if they were simply rejects of their species.
I tamed them without even investigating why they were outcast.
After all, if they weren’t living in groups, that meant they were less likely to have strong bonds with their own kind.
Unfortunately,
I didn’t come across any other species I hadn’t tamed before, such as the Blood Orangutan or Skull Angel.
Well, it wasn’t urgent. If I got the chance later, I could tame them then.
Anyway,
after taming them, I spent some time talking with them and checking their reactions. Fortunately, none of the four seemed to have any attachment to their kind.
Thinking I was lucky,
I decided to station the four newly tamed monsters at the forward base.
I also asked Melody Fox to come to the forward base whenever others were exploring and spend time with them.
It was for their growth.
Because after taming them, I realized they were all a bit… off.
“Melody, from tomorrow, you’ll come here with Merino.”
［Kyuaa, kyukyakyakya.］
Merino Ula was already coming to the forward base to help with cooking.
So Melody Fox could just come along.
Since they’d be traveling through a warp portal, there wouldn’t be any danger.
Still, to be safe, I assigned Kinogine Arachne, Blood Jellyfish Princess, and Black Magma Slime as their escorts.
From now on, they’d be a team of five.
After assigning Melody her new role, before heading back to the hotel with the monsters, I took another good look at the four I had tamed today.
［Guul. I want to eat grass.］
A strict herbivore.
A vegetarian Pig King with a leaner physique compared to others of its kind.
［Grass? Have some of mine. Hhhng.］
A Laser Leaf that gets pleasure from others eating its leaves and lacks the ability to shoot lasers.
［Woof woof!］
A Neo Chicken that doesn’t cluck like a rooster but barks like a dog.
［The air here is nice.］
A Poison Octopus that can’t use poison.
More precisely, an octopus with no poison in its body at all.
Also, unlike others of its kind, it only had three tentacles.
These were the four I tamed today.
“A bunch of weird little guys just got added…”
【Pururu】─Hmm…
【Pururu】─It feels like you specifically tamed the dumbest ones.
【Pururu】─I didn’t realize it when you tamed them one by one, but seeing them together like this… It’s a disaster. Did you decide to become a trash collector, Geon?
【Hwang Mir】─A vegetarian pig, a Laser Leaf that can’t shoot lasers, a barking chicken, and a Poison Octopus without poison…
【Hwang Mir】─I feel dizzy.
【Hwang Mir】─How did you manage to pick only those kinds of monsters?
【Bubble Bubble】─If Gauntlet hadn’t tamed them, they probably wouldn’t have survived much longer. They’re all outcasts in their species.
【Yumi】─But they all seem kind.
【Luna-chan】─Yeah! Even if they’re a little lacking, as long as they’re nice, that’s all that matters! >.<
【Rizenova】─They’re like the "Edible Escape Quartet."
【Mysticism】─😋 The "Edible Exemption Four!"
【Hwang Mir】─Nah, they’re just the "Hopeless Four."
It didn’t matter if they were rejects.
I knew they were flawed, so I planned to use Melody Fox’s buffs to support them.
They were inferior now, but with buffs and growth, they’d be fine.
［Oink oink. Grass is delicious.］
［Eat a lot. Heh heh.］
［Woof woof. Grrr.］
［Why do I have three legs? Oh, wait… I always had three.］
【Pururu】─Lmao, it’s really a gathering of idiots.
【Pururu】─Wait, am I allowed to say that?
【Hwang Mir】─Yes.
【Mysticism】─😠 No.
【Pururu】─Got it.
【Mysticism】─😉
【Pururu】─Lmao, it’s really a gathering of idiots.
【Mysticism】─?
…Well, as long as they were docile and had no attachment to their kind, that was all that mattered.
Even if they seemed weird, they were still S-rank.