"Is he dead?"
Seo Elena lightly nudged the Beast King with the tip of her shoe.
The massive creature remained motionless, collapsed deep within the crater created during the battle earlier. Its body was covered in wounds left behind by Han Jinhyuk, faint traces of divine energy still burning across its skin.
"No," Jinhyuk replied calmly. "It's still alive. I have a few questions to ask it first."
Han Jinhyuk, Seo Elena, and Choi Minwoo stood around the unconscious Beast King while the two men secured thick mana-sealing restraints around its body to prevent it from waking prematurely.
『 The Shiniest Gem 』
Just put the thing inside your inventory.
Elena blinked in surprised.
"...I can do that?"
The words slipped out naturally, causing both men to turn toward her immediately.
Minwoo lowered his voice and leaned slightly toward Jinhyuk.
"Is Noona talking to her constellations?"
Jinhyuk gave a quiet nod, already used to it by now. Meanwhile, another voice echoed inside Elena's mind.
『 Above The Broken World 』
Who knows? Even I have never attempted putting a living creature inside a subspace before.
"That's not exactly reassuring..."
Still, Elena looked back at the unconscious Beast King thoughtfully before clapping her hands together lightly.
"Okay, let's try it. Hyuk-ah, can you help me for a second?"
Minwoo tilted his head curiously. "Noona, what are you trying to do?"
"Oh, I'm just going to store him inside my inventory," she answered casually. "I don't know if it'll work, but my constellation told me to try."
"...Eh?"
Minwoo stared at her. "You have a subspace?!" Then he paused before narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "Noona... are you seriously a low-rank hunter?"
"Oh, that?" Elena answered absentmindedly. "I recently became an L-rank, but I'm still a support class though, so—"
Silence fell instantly as Minwoo's jaw slowly dropped. Even Jinhyuk's expression stiffened faintly as both men stared at the storage portal floating beside her.
Elena blinked at their reactions.
...I guess they didn't know yet. Don't they have abilities that allow them to see my stats?
To her, however, it didn't feel particularly shocking. Compared to the abilities she once possessed in her dreams, or perhaps memories, this level of power still felt insignificant.
Back then, she had been far stronger.
Compared to the person she used to be, carrying the title of L-rank almost felt undeserved.
Just as Han Jinhyuk was about to ask a question, everyone present in the dungeon received a notification.
『 Quest Complete! 』
『 The Former Aberrant has been defeated. 』
You have successfully aided Hunter Han Jinhyuk in subjugating the creature known as the "Beast King."
Rewards Acquired:
‣ Deeper Understanding of Aberrants
‣ Memory Synchronization: +10%
‣ Unnamed Pet (Inventory)
『Time Left until understanding Aberrant : 1:54:07 』
Elena looked at the system notification and wondered what the Unnamed pet was, so she opened her inventory and right above the Beast King were in red 'Unnamed pet'
"Uh... guys?" Elena called out hesitantly.
Both men had been busy checking the rewards and notifications floating before them, only turning toward her after hearing the strange tone in her voice.
"I think..." Elena paused awkwardly before pointing toward the unconscious Beast King. "...the Beast King is my pet now."
『 The Shiniest Gem 』
PUAHAHAHA.
『 Above The Broken World 』
Pfft.
"What? Can you bring him out?" Jinhyuk asked in confusion.
Just as she normally retrieved items from her system inventory, she reached inside the glowing interface and pulled something out.
A small figure suddenly plopped onto the floor with a soft thud, landing directly on its butt.
"Ugh—!"
The Beast King looked up furiously, tiny arms flailing as he glared at them.
Unlike his original monstrous form, however, he now looked more like a miniature doll than a terrifying calamity capable of destroying cities. His sharp claws had shrunk into tiny paws, his face were smaller, and basically its entire body had become absurdly compact.
Honestly, it looked adorable...?
"You damned human!" the Beast King shouted, his tiny voice lacking any intimidation whatsoever. "What have you done to me?! Release me immediately!"
Elena immediately crouched in front of him, eyes sparkling with fascination.
"You're so cute," she gasped before poking his cheek carefully with one finger. "Are you really the Beast King?"
The tiny creature's face twisted in outrage.
"Cute?! CUTE?!"
But Elena was already completely enchanted.
Jinhyuk could practically see imaginary flowers blooming around her as she continued poking the Beast King everywhere, from his squishy cheeks to the tiny body.
It only made him angrier.
"Stop touching me, you insolent child!"
Unfortunately for him, in his current chibi-sized form, his furious yelling sounded more adorable than threatening.
"I am the great Beast King of €?%£#! How dare a mere human treat me this way?!"
Elena blinked before tilting her head slightly.
"What did you just say? I couldn't understand that word."
The Beast King scoffed arrogantly despite dangling helplessly in his tiny form.
"Obviously, it was spoken in the language of my race. How could lowly humans possibly comprehend such a grand language?"
Jinhyuk, who had been silently observing the exchange until now, finally stepped forward. Without hesitation, he grabbed the chibi-like Beast King by the scruff of his neck and lifted him into the air.
The tiny creature immediately started kicking furiously.
"Put me down, you insolent—"
"What do you know about the Outsiders?" Jinhyuk asked coldly.
The Beast King paused briefly before clicking his tongue.
"No clue what you're talking about."
"He used to be an Outsider," Elena reminded casually. "Tell him what you know, Mars."
『Your Unnamed Pet has now been set to 'Mars'.』
"What kind of terrible name is that?!" Mars exploded, thrashing wildly in Jinhyuk's grip. "I am a king! A KING!"
Jinhyuk flicked him directly on the forehead.
Smack.
"Gah—!"
Mars instantly went still, clutching his forehead in disbelief.
His eyes widened with humiliation.
In this weakened form, he was far more vulnerable than before. The fact that a mere flick from a human affected him this much was utterly incomprehensible to him.
He was the great Beast King. A transcendent existence feared across dimensions. Yet now he was being carried around like some cheap toy while suffering pain from a human touched by the System.
It made his blood boil.
But, for some strange reason, whenever he looked toward Elena, a faint sense of instinctive loyalty surfaced within him against his will.
"Whatever! I refuse to answer such an impudent human!"
The Beast King let out one final growl before disappearing back into Elena's inventory space.
A strange silence followed.
Seo Elena slowly turned toward Han Jinhyuk. "Hyuk-ah... you're searching for answers about the Outsiders?"
Jinhyuk nodded immediately. "Do you know something about them?"
"Kind of." Elena scratched her cheek awkwardly. "The system gave me information as a reward. It said that if I helped defeat the Beast King, I'd gain a deeper understanding of the Outsiders."
His expression shifted instantly.
"Information about the Outsiders?" he repeated quietly before suddenly grabbing her shoulders. "That's your reward?"
"Y-yeah!"
Elena nearly stumbled from the intensity in his gaze.
"I don't know everything yet," she added quickly. "The system said the understanding process will finish in about an hour."
Jinhyuk fell silent for a moment, clearly deep in thought.
Then, after a brief pause, he finally released her shoulders and nodded once.
"...Fine. We'll leave first."
As he spoke, he reached into his inventory and pulled out a familiar black mask.
Elena blinked. It was the same mask she had seen him wear during the auction event.
Ah. Right. He entered the dungeon using his other identity.
Curious, she glanced toward Minwoo, only to discover him pulling out his own mask as well.
...Is this some kind of trend nowadays?
As if noticing her confusion, Jinhyuk spoke while fastening the mask over his face.
"It becomes troublesome if the public discovers our identities," he explained calmly. "You can't move around freely anymore. Reporters follow you everywhere."
Minwoo shuddered dramatically beside him. "Seriously, they're worse than stalkers sometimes."
"...Ah."
Elena nodded slowly.
That was actually very understandable.