Blood Cat

Blood Cat

The gate that had devoured Kim Jewan and his party echoed loudly.

The purple light it had been emitting gradually shifted colors—first to blue, then finally to green. Watching this transformation, Park Mingyun let out an impressed sigh.

“Wow… it really does change.”

When a gate’s rank changes, it emits an unusually strong magical wavelength. The Association calls such gates “special gates” and dispatches staff immediately upon discovery.

Special gates are unpredictable—they might shift rank again suddenly or experience a gate break at any moment.

Because of this, it’s only natural that the Association takes the lead in managing them.

‘I was annoyed having to rush out right after returning…’

Seeing a special gate for the first time, Park Mingyun’s heart swelled with excitement. He had awakened with mediocre talent and worked for the Association for nearly ten years.

Special gates are so rare that among the staff, being dispatched to one is regarded as a badge of honor despite the risks.

This would probably be a story he’d tell for the next decade. Lost in such thoughts, Park Mingyun kept his eyes on the gate. There was no record in the Association’s app of any raid being recruited or underway.

But someone inside must have acted to cause the rank change.

Gates outside residential areas, especially low-rank ones, were poorly managed. Among Hunters, an unspoken rule existed that whoever arrived first claimed the gate, and no one complained.

After all, it was just an F-Rank gate. Still, there was some worry—there was no guarantee of the safety of the Hunters inside.

The Association was quickly gathering personnel, but recruiting Hunters capable of handling a C-Rank special gate took considerable time.

Some guilds were likely observing and eyeing the situation, but the Association preferred not to rely on them.

‘We discovered it first. We’ll handle this.’

For the Association’s authority and reputation, they couldn’t let a guild steal the credit. Besides, Park Mingyun’s image of guilds was not good.

Selfish groups caring only for their own safety and profit, indifferent to saving lives—that was his perception.

Of course, not all guilds were like that, but most were, undeniably.

Screech!

At that moment, a car slid to a stop near the gate, leaving tire marks. Judging by the elegant vehicle, Park Mingyun instantly knew who was inside.

‘A guild. At least mid-tier or higher.’

Click. The doors unlocked cleanly, and two men stepped out—one from the driver’s seat, one from the back. Both wore neat suits, and notably, both carried swords at their waists.

Confidently arriving without prior notice, wielding swords professionally—there was only one guild like that in Korea.

“The Swordmaster Guild, what brings you here?”

Known as the ‘Mukho Knights,’ this guild specialized in swordsmanship. Among those awakened with sword-related abilities, several shared the ‘Mukho’ trait.

Thus, the Swordmaster Guild was a major Korean guild centered around Mukho users. Not all members were Mukho, but the core was.

“Haha, don’t you already know? I hear you’re quite experienced with Hunters at the Association.”

The Swordmaster Guild’s cheeky reply made Park Mingyun grit his teeth. The gate was under the Association’s jurisdiction, yet they brazenly showed up like this.

Still, they had some grounds to claim authority, such as…

“We’re here only to support in case the Association fails the raid.”

From the public’s perspective, safety was paramount, so this sounded reasonable.

However, it was also a blatant provocation—implying that if the Association failed, they would immediately take over the raid rights.

Park Mingyun clenched his fists, calming himself. There was no need to argue every word.

Success in the raid would prove everything.

In a few hours, the raid team would arrive. That’s when the real battle would begin.

==

What defines death? Some say it’s complete cessation of life. Others consider a vegetative state as death.

In both past and present, completely destroying the Blood Cat is theoretically impossible. But as mentioned, rendering it into an equivalent state might count as death.

Swish. Mukyeon sliced through the air without resistance, entering the Blood Cat’s body. Activating Mukyeon’s ability inside the blood-formed creature, I injected the ‘muk’ (a special substance).

A normal or original Blood Cat would separate the muk completely from its blood, but this one did not.

The Blood Cat’s body absorbed the muk like a sponge. After injecting it, I placed my hand on its body and activated crafting.

[Crafting: Transformation]

Centering on the muk left by Mukyeon, I compressed the Blood Cat’s core and all the blood spread across the chamber into a single point. Naturally, my current mana was far from sufficient.

Even compressing it by half would be fortunate. Thankfully, my mana core was beyond safe limits and could be pushed.

The rising heat from the mana core felt like my whole body was burning. My breath grew short, and a nosebleed trickled down.

Crack! The blood sucked in at a terrifying speed created wind pressure, causing my hair to flutter. From now on, it was a battle of concentration.

As all the blood was drawn in, the tendrils Saelin had blocked with telekinesis returned, and the Blood Cat’s resistance began.

“Koff!”

Some mana refluxed from the Blood Cat’s resistance, causing it to spit out blood. But I had prepared for this with Mukyeon’s muk.

Spreading the muk throughout, I slowed the Blood Cat’s resistance. As it weakened, I began compressing it again.

Closing my eyes, I sensed the target. This was a new branch of blacksmithing skills I had learned by tapping on the sword rather than crafting. Communing with the target, I took a step closer to perfecting the work.

Then suddenly, a system message appeared.

[You have begun a delicate and perfect work by communing with the target!]

[We are moved by your growth and new direction.]

[Skill ‘Artisan’s Technique’ has been created.]

As the message appeared, I felt myself swept away to a strange place. Opening my eyes, I found myself surrounded by pitch darkness.

Clearing the confusing message, I slowly looked around. Above was an immeasurable darkness; below, so black I doubted I was even standing on solid ground.

Every step forward was cautious, fearing a fall.

After some time, a small shape appeared ahead. It seemed to be the first living thing I’d seen here, though I wasn’t sure if it was friend or foe.

I couldn’t just avoid it, so I cautiously approached. The shape gradually became clearer.

It looked like an ordinary cute cat. Covered in red fur and eyes reminiscent of the Blood Cat, but absurdly small.

-Meow.

About the size of a typical pet cat, it approached me without hesitation. I showed a moment’s caution, then relaxed.

The cat rubbed against my leg. I bent slightly and gently stroked its head.

The cat looked content, then pulled away at the right moment, narrowing its eyes and looking up at me with a pleading, affectionate voice.

-More! More, please!

Stunned by the unimaginable sight of a talking cat, I was left speechless.