Crafting Gear From Monster Genes

The Silver Badge was a fairly high rank. It was halfway between the lowest and the highest, though no one considered the Iron Badge to be bad, since it was regarded as the default one.

But the Iron Badge wasn’t a great achievement either. A Hunter could only hope to find a good team starting with the Bronze Badge.

Thus, a newcomer who arrived at the Hunter Hub for the first time and already had the Silver Badge was cause for a headline.

"S-Silver Badge?" The woman stammered, staring at it in disbelief.

"Yes. That was Grad Lakozda’s decision. I don’t support it, if anyone else still cares about my opinion, but it’s already been decided."

The woman nodded, taking Kreyn’s badge and running it through the scanner.

"I see. It’s been a while since we’ve had one like this. So, Kreyn Scard, correct?" she clarified.

Kreyn nodded, feeling the stares of those around him.

"Yes."

"If you had to choose, would you prefer to be in attack, defense, or support?"

"Hmm?" Kreyn gave her a questioning look. He was confused.

In response, the woman waved her hand, and three simple holograms appeared above the counter: a Circle, a Square, and a Triangle.

"We understand that every Hunter has different abilities, but still, most fall into one of these three categories. As you can see, the filter is quite broad."

"Circle is support, Square is defense, and Triangle is attack?" He tapped his chin.

She nodded. "Yes. Your answer should depend on both your abilities and your desired role."

This gave Kreyn pause.

This system was similar to the one in many of the video games he’d played, only greatly simplified. Just three roles, and that wasn’t nearly enough to accommodate all the Hunters.

’Hmm. I do make gear, but I make it for myself, not for others, at least not for free. The circle definitely isn’t right for me. The barrier from my hands is a defense, but is that enough to choose the square?’

Then, Kreyn shook his head.

’No, that’s not what I’m thinking about. It’s not just what I can do that matters, but what I want. I need genes. I need to hunt monsters, which means I have to be the one who kills them!’

Suddenly, Kreyn’s eyes grew colder as he pointed to the triangle.

"I’ll be the one to attack."

The woman was about to accept his answer, but Ophelia intervened.

"Wait! You’re a blacksmith!"

She exclaimed, not yet realizing what a mistake she had made.

"You should stay in the back, support the team, and wait for an opportunity to use your abilities effectively!"

"And? What makes you say that?"

Kreyn stared at her, his frown deepening.

"Tell that to Prima, who was number two, and the Renegade I threw off the cliff."

Ophelia was speechless. She didn’t expect Kreyn to respond like that.

But soon, something happened that made her face go pale.

"Did you hear that...?" someone whispered from afar.

"Yeah, a rookie with a Silver Badge."

"Tsk, does it even matter? He’s a blacksmith, there are so few of them!" someone said from the other side of the hall.

The other Hunter shook his head. "No, you’re all wrong. He fought a Renegade and survived. That’s what matters."

"What’s his name? Kreyn Scard? We need to find out more about him!"

Ophelia touched her temples as she realized it was already too late to change anything.

"Agh, I should have thought of that. Can you finish his registration quickly?"

"Why? What’s the problem?" Kreyn asked.

Ophelia blinked. "Don’t you get it? When someone gets that much attention, you can always expect trouble!"

Kreyn shrugged and looked at the woman.

"Can we continue?"

She smiled awkwardly and nodded.

"S-Sure. So you’ll be in the attack unit. I get it. What kind of missions are you most interested in?"

Kreyn gave her a strange look.

"Mission types? What kinds are there, anyway?"

The woman looked puzzled as she turned to Ophelia. Any Hunter who completed the training and test should have known this.

"It’s all complicated. Just... just explain it to him."

"I see..."

The woman nodded.

"There are five main types: Hunt, Gathering, Recon, Escort, and Territory Clearance. I think the first three are pretty self-explanatory."

"Yeah, I guess so." Kreyn waved his hand.

She smiled. "With Escort, you have to act as a guard for some important person or a shipment heading to another city. These are long missions, but they’re usually safe and pay very well. Many Hunters wait for them and snap them up as soon as they become available."

"Go on."

"Territory Clearance is a job to eliminate a particular group of monsters in a location critical to a convoy or in a problematic nest that has reappeared."

Kreyn wasn’t interested in any of this, especially escort missions. From his point of view, it was a waste of time and valuable genes.

"What about Recon?"

"Oh, those are often some of the most interesting, but dangerous, missions!" she replied excitedly.

"Unlike a Hunt, where you have to kill a monster or a group of monsters, on a Recon mission, a Hunter must venture into new territory or track an unusual monster that has appeared in a certain area.

"During a Recon mission, it’s not necessary to kill the monster, since the most important things are the information, its appearance, details, and location."

If it were possible, Kreyn’s eyes would have burst into flames from how brightly they were shining.

"Alright, in that case, keep everything except Escort. I’m especially interested in Recon, if that’s an option."

"Sure!"

From the battle against the Stone Garud, Kreyn realized that he needed not just genes, but rare monsters from which he could obtain something special.

It wasn’t just that he needed powerful gear and mutations from powerful genes, but also that a certain monster could be the key to the next upgrade of the Gene Forge.

For his purposes, Recon and Hunt were perfect.

"Great, now I’ll ask you a few questions, and you’ll get your starter pack!" The woman said enthusiastically.

She wasn’t lying. Soon, Kreyn was free, and before him lay a black uniform just like Prima’s and a black credit card.

"There are 10,000 credits on this card. Also, as a Hunter, you get discounts at many places. Details are available on the website or at any terminal."

Kreyn nodded, took the uniform and the card, then turned to Ophelia.

"Is that all?"

"Agh..." She sighed heavily, knowing what would happen once she walked away. "I guess so. Good luck, you’re really going to need it."

Step. Step. Step.

Ophelia left, and as soon as her silhouette disappeared into the brightly lit hallway, the inevitable began.

A crowd of Hunters rushed toward Kreyn.

They all had only one goal, to recruit such a rare newcomer to their team, or at least get his contact information.

"Hey! Newbie! Come join us!"

"No! We were here first!"

"Ha! Do you really think he’d be interested in a bunch of losers?!"

Before things could escalate any further, Kreyn raised his hand, silencing the crowd.

"I’m only looking for those who were planning to go on a Recon mission. One person at most. I’m not interested in anyone else."

The Hunters exchanged glances. They were taken aback that the newcomer was setting conditions for them instead of being overwhelmed by all the attention.

Step.

A few moments later, a girl with a somber expression and long black hair stepped out of the crowd. She had pale skin and tired eyes.

Several Hunters recognized her as they gulped.

"What if I told you I want you on my team and I have a suitable mission?"

Kreyn glared at her. Something about her appearance told him that a Hunter like her wouldn’t be chasing a regular monster.

"Will you buy me a coffee?" he asked unexpectedly.

"Yes."

Kreyn smirked.

"In that case, it’s settled."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!