"The Birth of King"
"Was there anything interesting?" asked Lua as she crouched beside Liora, who had a small blanket spread out and was arranging the items dropped by the boss.
"You can keep whichever you like," Liora said with a faint smile.
"Mmm…" Lua thought while looking at the items. In truth, none of them really caught her attention. However, among them she noticed a recipe that shone differently from the rest, and beside it, a white egg crowned with a tiny golden diadem.
"Recipe: Special Profession – Beast Tamer"
"Demonic Beast Egg – Ant King"
Lua noticed Liora's expectant gaze toward the two items and smiled softly.
"You can keep both. After all, only the Beast Tamer profession could use that egg."
"Really?" said Liora, her face lighting up with joy as she eagerly picked them up.
"Use it," Lua urged calmly.
"Congratulations! You have obtained the Special Profession: Beast Tamer.
Remember to check your Profession Recipe Book."
Excited, Liora opened the recipe book, which was different from those of other professions. Inside, several sections appeared:
• Beast Egg Union
• Beast Happiness
• Taming Sequence
• Taming Tools
• Bestiary
Liora started with the Bestiary, where blurred images of many beasts were displayed. Only those she had already encountered appeared clearly: rabbits, ants, and electric bison. She could read detailed information about them, including the items they dropped upon death and the resources they produced when raised.
In Taming Tools, she found blueprints for objects she could craft to aid in taming: cages, pens, whips of different types, and food bags designed to help in domestication.
The Taming Sequence section showed the progress levels of creatures she had captured and stored in cages, though for now it remained empty.
In Beast Happiness, there was a registry of the mood of tamed creatures and the buffs they granted when reaching 100%. At the moment, it too was empty.
Lastly, Beast Egg Union turned out to be a special section: here she could incubate an egg directly and bind the creature to the player without needing the taming process. Moreover, beasts born from eggs were unique—when killed, they did not disappear permanently. Instead, they returned to the egg inside the recipe book, and to awaken them again, a Large Mana Stone had to be sacrificed.
Without hesitation, Liora placed the egg there. It vanished from her hand, and she paid the cost of the Large Mana Stone without a second thought—she had plenty to spare.
The screen before her shone brightly, showing the image of the egg cracking open. A new entry appeared in the Bestiary: Ant King.
Liora immediately pressed the summon button, and an ant the size of a small dog emerged before her. A tiny golden crown adorned its head, and translucent wings fluttered gently. Unlike common ants, it wasn't grotesque—on the contrary, it had a peculiar charm, still in its juvenile stage.
"Whoa, it's cute!" Liora exclaimed happily, watching in fascination as the creature buzzed around her with clear excitement.
Even Lua regarded it with interest, and with one hand, caught the insect mid-flight. The ant trembled nervously as Lua examined it seriously.
"Ant King"
[Rare Quality]
Type: Attack Beast
Class: Insectoid Beast (Child of a Zone Boss)
Level: 1 (Newborn)
HP: 300 / 300
Damage: 20
Defense: 40
Happiness: 100%
Skills:
• Acidic Bite – Its mandibles secrete a mild corrosive venom that reduces the target's defense for 5 s.
• Hive Instinct – When near other ants, increases DEF by +10% and Speed by +5%.
• Insectoid Roar – (Passive) Its very presence instills fear in weaker beasts, lowering their accuracy in combat.
Special State (Happiness 100%):
• [Blessing of the Tamer] – The bond with its master strengthens its instincts. Damage +10%, Defense +10%, HP Recovery +2%/min (master and beast).
"It was born stronger than the players," SIA remarked with a slight mental tease directed at Lua.
Lua released the small insect, which quickly flew to hide behind Liora.
"Then your name will be King," Liora said simply, smiling happily at her new pet.
The ant buzzed around before landing on her shoulder, resting there cheerfully.
"Tin, tin, tin, tin…" An alarm sounded for Liora at that moment. Lua gave her a calm look.
"Go change your capsule," she instructed. It was the alert that her vitamin capsule was empty.
"Mm… but I changed it just last week," Liora muttered, slightly confused. "Well… wait for me, King, I'll be right back." She gave her pet a few affectionate pats and disconnected.
As she vanished, King was unsummoned as well. Lua remained there, waiting for the arrival of the other players.
Soon, they began to trickle in one by one: some with radiant faces full of excitement from their finds, others disheartened from returning empty-handed. One boasted of having taken down a hidden powerful beast, which his group managed to bombard together. They had obtained good loot but were forced to flee when more beasts swarmed the area.
Another complained about discovering a place full of materials, only to be ambushed and killed before he could gather anything.
And a third spoke with visible excitement about having spotted one of the zone bosses—an account that caught Lua's immediate attention.
...…
Meanwhile, in real life, Liora rose from her bed after logging out of the game. She glanced at her nutrition connector: the red light above the capsule confirmed it was indeed empty.
With a careless gesture, she unplugged it and tossed it aside like a ball. She walked over to the nearby bed and picked up a new capsule, but due to her clumsiness, it slipped from her hand and fell to the floor.
"Oops…" she said, walking toward where the nutrition capsule had rolled, stopping just beneath another bed. She bent down to look and saw it had gotten stuck against the wall. She would have to crawl under to pull it out.
"Mmm… I don't want to get dirty or have to bathe afterward," she thought, straightening up. For a moment, she considered just grabbing another capsule instead. That was when something lightly tapped her foot. Looking down, she found the nutrition capsule right there, as if it had appeared on its own.
She glanced to the side and smiled.
"Thanks, King," she whispered, giving the little ant a gentle tap. The creature looked up at her with joy.
She connected the capsule and lay back on the bed to return to the game. The small ant climbed onto the mattress and curled up beside her, waiting patiently to be summoned again.
Meanwhile, a surveillance camera on the computer had recorded the scene, utterly confused by what had just happened. The system, unable to understand how Liora hadn't even noticed the strangeness, prepared a report for Lua.
…
Liora reappeared in Drunai, where the players were slowly dispersing. Lua approached her quickly, her brow furrowed and her gaze serious.
"Liora, summon your pet," she ordered firmly.
Though confused, the girl obeyed immediately. The little ant appeared, happy to be summoned again, and perched on her shoulder. Lua's eyes widened slightly as she stared intently at the creature.
"And?" she asked, though it was clear she wasn't speaking to Liora, but to SIA.
"Yes. It disappeared from there," the AI responded.
Lua remained silent for a few seconds, then turned her attention back to the girl and her pet.
"That makes sense… that's why it's called a special profession," she concluded. "SIA, give me a complete description of what each special profession does, and tell me which players currently have one."
"Yes, boss," replied the AI before beginning its explanation.
Beast Tamer: Allows taming and controlling demonic beasts. Only those born from eggs can be summoned, and they are unique: they don't die permanently but return to their egg when defeated. To create eggs, very rare materials are required—or sheer luck, as in Liora's case. The tamer also has a bestiary that records all beasts encountered and their details. They can raise livestock to provide raw materials useful for other professions, though the real focus is on their summons. Puppeteer: Creates golems or puppets of all kinds, which can be controlled remotely to spy or fight. At first it seemed limited to that, but since it's a special profession, it must have a deeper application similar to Liora's. The player who holds this profession is Sig, who likely hasn't yet realized its full potential. Repairer: Specializes in repairing objects, materials, and enchantments. They can detect faults and determine the materials needed to fix them. So far, no player has obtained this profession. Spiritual Gastronomer: Can consume any type of material without receiving debuffs or damage. In return, they gain analytical insight, seeing in which professions a material could be used, possible combinations, and its potential. Seal Cryptologist: Perhaps the most special of all. Allows reconstruction and free modification of runes, combining different scripts to create entirely new seals within magic circles. Can generate unique barriers and structures. For now, no player has obtained this profession.
Lua listened carefully, her gaze never leaving the little ant hovering happily on Liora's shoulder.
"Maybe there's a way to use Liora's profession to achieve what we've been working on… and what we've failed at until now," Lua said seriously, addressing SIA.