Ch.1616. Let’s Evolve into a New Species

Having four smoke bombs means, in gacha terms, you’ve drawn nothing but trash cards.

However, they can be useful depending on the situation. Like right now!

[Card Inserted]

This creature’s speed is beyond imagination. I figured that by spreading smoke while moving, my body would be concealed first due to the direction of movement, allowing me to approach enemies with minimal exposure.

The result was perfect. Aerial or Oh Juhwan might be able to see me, but the smoke had already blinded everyone else.

Honestly, I was anxious about whether I could defeat the Minotaur. It is an upper A-class entity after all.

“It’s damn strong.”

After the smoke dispersed, I hid in a suitable alley.

It might look like I defeated the Minotaur easily, but I actually used all my strength. I only won because I secured an advantageous position and finished it with a surprise attack. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t have been defeated so easily.

[Monster Defeated!]

-Beast DNA

-Monster Points 1,000

This victory was purely due to the surprise attack. Honestly, even with the advantageous position and surprise attack, I was almost overwhelmed by its strength.

“Everyone fall back! We’re the ‘Luck’ Guild! Students, retreat!”

“Is everyone alright? Leave the injured to the medical team!”

After 20 minutes, guild members began to subdue the monsters.

But thinking about it now, something seems odd.

With teleportation available, should it really take 20 minutes?

Except for the mountain area where I hunted, guilds can quickly travel anywhere in urban areas via teleportation. The average response time is about 10 minutes, and 20 minutes is quite late.

So why 20 minutes? Why am I only noticing this now?

Or maybe I’m overthinking it. Guilds might arrive late depending on their circumstances.

No one questioned it at the time anyway.

“At least we’re safe now. Let’s head—”

“There you are!”

Suddenly, Aerial jumped out from the alley.

She was drenched in sweat and breathing heavily.

“Aerial?”

“Du Jonghyun! Did you see the monster?”

“Monster?”

She must be talking about me, but I obviously have to pretend I don’t know.

“What monster are you talking about?”

Aerial caught her breath after panting heavily.

“Never mind, you don’t need to know. By the way, you were hiding well earlier, why are you here now?”

“Well, I…”

No, to avoid Aerial’s suspicion, it’s better to make up an excuse.

“I wanted to thank you for helping.”

“I only did what was natural. I’ll save many people in the future, so you don’t need to thank me specifically.”

“For someone saying that, your face is quite red. Not used to compliments?”

“That’s because I’m tired! You don’t know anything. How hard it is to fight.”

Aerial gets irritated quickly. Coming back from the future definitely makes it easier to handle her personality.

“Anyway, I came to say thanks. I’ve said it, so I’ll be going now.”

“…”

By the way, how did she track my direction? I just entered a deserted alley. Was she thinking the same thing?

She seems to have sharp instincts. And that’s all there is to it.

“The main flow is the same, but the details are changing.”

Above all, I need to focus on why an A-class monster appeared today.

What could be the reason?

“Is it because I slightly twisted the future? I didn’t do anything significant enough to cause major changes.”

Things change slightly. If so, I can’t be complacent about future events either.

I fingered my cards. The gift from the summoning spirit that became the source of my power, my system.

The adult form is out of reach for now, but I need to keep checking other evolution routes. If I evolve into another adult form, what happens to my main card?

There’s still a lot to figure out.

“Where did all the lower-class students go! Check your smartwatches and gather at the designated location!”

Instructor Oh Juhwan’s voice echoed. I hurriedly joined them.

*

Personnel who have grown at the Academy for three years are scouted by numerous guilds with treatment according to their level.

In sports terms, it’s like entering professional leagues right after high school.

It’s natural given the monster invasions.

Currently, famous guilds worldwide manage students from high school.

“Baseball teams used to manage talented individuals from high school. We’re the same.”

A man with neatly slicked-back hair and glasses manipulated his laptop.

The laptop displayed a list of dozens of students.

When he pressed a button, a list of five names appeared.

[First-Year Prospects]

-Aerial, Gu Sangheon, Geum Dohyun, Han Minwoo, Yu Jina

“As many as five. The first year is abundant.”

He organized the list.

[Priority Recruitment Targets]

-Direct contact permitted

‘I need to attract at least three of these five. That’s how our guild will grow further.’

It’s a kind of preemptive marking. They provide management throughout the three years of school, with financial support and sponsorship.

And after graduation, naturally guide them to join their guild.

A nameplate hung at the end of his desk.

Dokgo Jun.

The strongest Jaeger in South Korea and the guild master of “White Dragon,” the strongest guild.

His desk was surrounded by luxury items, and numerous trophies were displayed on shelves.

“Guild Master Dokgo Jun”

A soft female voice came from beyond the door.

“Come in.”

When the door opened, Secretary Lee Chaerin entered, wearing a short-skirted office look.

“Here’s the report on today’s monster break.”

“Monster break? There were unusually many, weren’t there? Is there a reason to bring this to me specifically?”

Instead of answering, Chaerin forwarded a video file through her smartwatch.

“Didn’t you always say you wanted to personally review and recruit?”

“So, there are records of academy students during the monster break?”

“Yes. It happened during their external class. With about 48 A-class and B-class monsters.”

“Perfect for proper assessment.”

Dokgo Jun clapped his hands in delight.

But he soon cleared his throat at his secretary’s cold expression.

“They must have had quite a battle. The intermediate class and above would have struggled, let alone the lower class.”

“The instructors also joined in.”

“Yes, it would be dangerous otherwise. Oh Juhwan could easily contain about ten of them.”

Chaerin’s eyes widened. Indeed, Oh Juhwan had contained exactly 10 monsters.

“That psycho from the intermediate class, though eccentric, would have herded the monsters together for slaughter. He would have used bait for that, naturally his own students. The advanced class instructor is timid, so he would have handled it conventionally.”

The video Chaerin provided showed exactly what Dokgo Jun had predicted.

‘It’s like he can predict everything just by hearing about the summoning spirits. As expected of the Guild Master.’

Stroking his short chin beard, he examined the first-year members without needing to see much.

“Sigurd, Xiang Yu, Ifrit? Amazing summoning spirits, 5-star at that… Yes, they would have been central. Hmm? Who is this woman?”

Dokgo Jun pointed at Seol Yuhwa.

The video showed her facing off against a Tyrant Elk.

“That’s Seol Yuhwa… She contracted with a 4-star summoning spirit. She’s decent, but I thought she was unsuitable for our recruitment targets…”

“Add her.”

Dokgo Jun said curtly. His eye for talent is absolute in player evaluation.

Chaerin immediately made a mental note.

Dokgo Jun was replaying the video several times.

“Aerial? The summoning spirit’s influence is strong. She’s aggressive and powerful. But she should have clear weaknesses? She’s trying to correct them.”

Dokgo Jun carefully observed Aerial’s attack stance.

“Did she realize it herself? She’s correcting her posture after contracting with a summoning spirit barely 10 days ago. I’ll give her credit for that. She’s an incredible genius.”

As he was watching videos of the first-year prodigies, he noticed something puzzling.

“A Minotaur? That would be terrible for exhausted students. As expected, they rush in desperately and all get knocked out with one hit. They lack experience. They could have stalled for time. Don’t you think?”

“That’s something usually only you would know how to do, Guild Master.”

“Hmm, is that so? But what’s this smoke? Or rather, what monster is emitting this smoke?”

His eyes are more precise than most machines. He had caught a glimpse of a monster’s shadow through the faint smoke.

Chaerin’s expression changed.

“A smoke-emitting monster?”

“Look at this. Smoke is being emitted in the video, and there must be a source, right? It started from the alley on the right in the photo. Its form is faintly visible. Big, about 5-6 meters. After the smoke clears, it’s gone. Isn’t that strange? The Minotaur is gone too. Who could have caught the Minotaur when all those first-year prospects were knocked out?”

“It’s definitely gone. Even before the guild arrived. How could Aerial have done it?”

“Judging by her expression, I can be certain it wasn’t her. Rather, she looks around and runs off somewhere. Something intervened. And then disappeared. Like the smoke that obscured everyone’s vision.”

At this point, Dokgo Jun licked his lips.

Chaerin understood the meaning of that action. It’s something he often does when he discovers something interesting.

‘Just like in bed…’

Dokgo Jun scanned through all the videos his secretary had procured.

“Here it is. Where Aerial went afterward. As expected of Chaerin. You didn’t even need to get this.”

“I thought you might be interested in Aerial.”

Chaerin blushed at the compliment.

“Who is this male student?”

Dokgo Jun pointed at Do Jonghyun. A bottom-tier student among the bottom tier, barely known compared to the geniuses.

But Chaerin knows who he is.

“That’s Do Jonghyun. He’s famous for being the first in academy history to fail to obtain a summoning spirit.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes.”

“Then remove it. It’s meaningless.”

Do Jonghyun was treated as an afterthought here too. That’s normal for most people to think.

“No, something subtle is bothering me.”

At that moment, Dokgo Jun issued another order.

“He’s from the lower class, so why is he in the advanced class area? What about the other lower class students? Chaerin, tell me the lower class guide and their position before the attack.”

“I… I’m sorry. I didn’t manage to get that information.”

Dokgo Jun furrowed his brow, but this was his own excessive demand.

“I apologize. No one would bring such unnecessary information. This is my mistake.”

“Not at all. I’ll try to get it as soon as possible. But is there something strange about this Do Jonghyun?”

“I don’t expect much, but I’m just examining the situation. It’s meaningless. Just my instinct speaking.”

He doesn’t miss even the smallest detail. That’s how, despite seeming superficial, Do Jonghyun entered Dokgo Jun’s radar.

*

In my dormitory, I was handling my main card. Having earned points from the Minotaur, I had accumulated enough for a new evolution.

The evolution route goes from basic form to sub-adult form. Though I haven’t reached it yet, an adult form also exists.

During evolution, various routes exist using acquired DNA, and I can choose which to evolve into.

“But then I shouldn’t be able to evolve into something else.”

Yet my status window clearly shows other entities when evolving from basic form to sub-adult form. What does this mean?

“Can I evolve into something else too?”

[Checking evolution route.]

-Half-human half-beast (sub-adult): Beast Sura (1,000 evolution points required)

The dinosaur Sura evolved based on beast and human forms, and there will be another evolution route accordingly.

For now, it’s a side-grade. Only evolutions in the same sub-adult line are shown.

I’ve confirmed beast (fluid form) and dinosaur (sub-adult), and now I’m shifting my attention to insects.

Creating new possibilities with new DNA.

-Various DNA can create powerful evolutions.

As explained when using this card, I need to open up various evolution routes.

That increases the probability of powerful entities emerging during evolution.

And now I’m trying an experiment to increase that probability.

-Total points: 2050

The points are just right.

“Let’s try an experiment.”

I swiped the card and instantly transformed into a half-dragon Sura. And now it was the beginning of another evolution.

[Half-human half-insect]

-Required points: 1,050

As evolution began, my body was enveloped in light. A different sensation emerged throughout my body, and my appearance was changing.

Main Card

-Species: Insect Name: Half-insect Sura Growth Form: Sub-adult

Characteristics: Forest Protection (All parameters increase by 2 ranks when fighting in forest areas), Paralyzing Venom (Adds paralysis effect to attacks), Detection (Senses the presence of opponents)

Strength: D

Agility: B

Resistance: D

Magic Resistance: C

Energy: C

Magical Power: C

Skills: Needle Attack, Wing Wave, Wind Cutting

Evolution: Insect, Beast-human

A new status window appeared before my eyes with my new form.