Monster Taming Broadcast

The exploration team followed the cyborg dolphin into the building.

In stark contrast to its grand exterior, the interior made of steel structures was unadorned and quite ordinary.

Boglebogle—Except for the space, it’s pretty plain.
Pururu—I was expecting a dazzling interior.
Mysticism—Disappointing.

—[Ah, there they are.]

The leading cyborg dolphin pointed in a direction.

In a corner cluttered with mechanical parts, a girl with large ears sticking out above her head—a mix of machine and organic—was seen sitting.

‘Is that Omega?’

Omega’s face was extremely pale.
It looked human, yet felt entirely like a different creature.
The bluish light seeping from her eyes did not help.
Even just looking at her face, the alien feeling made it clear she was an android.
As for her body—don’t get me started.

A thick, long mechanical arm that did not match her slender body.
A reptilian tail sprouting from her back.
Next to the reptilian tail, a mechanical tail made of thin wire bundles.

At the end of the mechanical tail was a round device like a steel hammer, with tiny pincers popping out and rapidly assembling mechanical parts with grace.

Pururu—Doesn’t look that strong.
Pururu—Wasn’t it said she’s estimated to be S-Class? Is she really S-Class?

“Yeah, she’s S-Class. The nerfed danger level is A-Class.”

Pururu—Whoa.
Mysticism—

The cyborg dolphin took a deep breath and then called out to Omega in a loud voice from the corner.

—[Omega! I’ve brought Min Hyeong-seok and his party, along with Iris connected to the explorer!]
—[Huh?]

Only then did Omega stop what she was doing and looked toward the exploration team.

Neo Hyeong-seok stepped forward confidently.
Even though he’s another being with only Min Hyeong-seok’s memories, he seemed intent on greeting the one he had a memory of.

—[Long time no see, Omega.]
—[Who are you? Huh?]

Pururu—Huh, strange.
—[I’m the former explorer Min Hyeong-seok. Currently serving the Puppetmaster and Gauntlet Explorer, Neo Hyeong-seok—]
—[I have no interest in garbage like Min Hyeong-seok. Huh.]

Pururu—Lol.
Mysticism—
Yumi—Huh!

Omega brushed past Neo Hyeong-seok without hearing the end of his sentence.
She quickly scanned the exploration team before her gaze fixed on Iris.

The screen showing Iris was currently broadcasting my image.

—[Meow. Are you the Supported One trait having explorer?]
“That’s right.”
—[Nice to meet you. I’m Omega.]
Yumi—Meow meow!
Rize Nova—Meow meow meow!
Boglebogle—?
Mysticism—
Pururu—Are those two gone in the head?

Omega showed a quite friendly attitude towards me.
Thankfully, it seemed like communication would go smoothly.

—

During the time the Centauress was working on the documentation,
I had a brief conversation with Omega in the machine factory through Iris.

—[The devouring ability of the Lone One and the ruling ability of the Ruler. These two are certainly powerful and almost absolute abilities, but that doesn’t mean they are particularly mysterious or wondrous. Huh.]

Omega first explained why she wanted to meet the Supported One.

—[Similar abilities can easily be seen in the labyrinth. Moreover, it’s possible to create machines with similar abilities with my technology. Huh meow.]
Yumi—Meow meow.
Rize Nova—Meow meow.
Pururu—Shut up.

—[But! The taming ability of the Supported One is different! There’s no creature with similar ability, and it’s impossible to understand the principle of ability to create machines with similar powers!]

Omega’s voice tone elevated.
Her expression remained unchanged, however.

—[I believe the Supported One’s ability has nothing to do with mind control! It’s neither brainwashing nor temptation! But to use such power to make someone a true friend is nothing short of mystical, marvelous, and stirs my curiosity! And if properly utilized, a world without conflict can be created! Huh!]

Yumi—Meow!
Pururu—That one is a bit excited.
Boglebogle—Geniuses tend to easily get excited over their interests.

—[So I want to research it! The ability of the Supported One! Huh!]
“…I get why you wanted to meet the Supported One, but how do you plan to research my ability?”

You don’t mean you want to dissect me, do you?
If you dare ask that, I’d forcibly bind you up and tame you.

—[I want to dissect… but I know you wouldn’t agree. Huh.]
“Of course. I’m not a test subject, so no dissection.”

—[Then let me be tamed by you. If I am tamed by you, I can know what feelings emerge and what changes happen. Huh.]

Pururu—Do machines have emotions?
Yumi—For now, she’s a life-form, right? Meow.
Mysticism—

It’s a request to tame herself out of curiosity about the emotions of the tamed.
For me, it was something I wanted.
After all, I had sent an exploration team there to tame her.

“But can you truly understand the principle of the taming ability with just that?”
—[I don’t know. For now, I’ll just try it. Padorong.]

Pururu—Padorong, what the heck. Suddenly changing pitches.
Mysticism—That tone irritates me.
Rize Nova—Missy emojis are annoying too.

Omega reached out her hand toward Iris.
It looked like she was asking for a handshake.
However, since we were practically in a video call, accepting a handshake wasn’t possible.

—[How about it? After taming me, wouldn’t you want to conquer this ancient labyrinth together? Huh? I don’t like the Ruler or the Lone One, but I’d welcome working with the Supported One. Huh.]
“Conquer the labyrinth? Do you know how to become a ruler?”
—[I don’t know, Huh. Just a suggestion to build a civilization throughout the labyrinth. Padorong.]

Pururu—Stop the pitch changes already.
Yumi—Meow. Listening closely, it seems like it’s just mechanical sound, not some flair.

Building a civilization throughout the ancient labyrinth…
It wasn’t a bad suggestion.
It’s a world that I’ll have to dominate sooner or later, and it wouldn’t hurt to have a proper civilization established.
It should be much better than the primitive civilization right now.

I couldn’t just dismiss them, as winning their favor would make it easier to tame Omega.
So I accepted Omega’s proposal.
And I attached my severed arm to the red mark engraved on Omega.
I had already explained the conditions of my taming ability.

—[So this weakness was because of that. Using the taming ability this way, you seem to be a little clever, explorer. Well done. Huh.]
“Clever? It’s a common thought for anyone with a brain.”
—[True, that is true. Huh.]

“…Whatever.”

If you’re going to compliment me, at least finish the thought.
You’re making me feel awkward.

—[But thinking of methods is easy; executing them is tough. Most explorers are afraid of injury and lack pain tolerance, so they can’t attempt this. Therefore, you are indeed remarkable. Not stupid… but rather, brave. Huh.]

Omega gave a thumbs up.

Pururu—Throwing in medicine while giving a disease.
Mysticism—Sickly!
Yumi—Peep.
Boglebogle—Is Yumi sick lately? What’s up?
Rize Nova—Hmm. Seems she’s fallen from a therapist to a patient.

Omega stared blankly at the severed plate attached to her body, then suddenly as if something popped into mind, shifted her gaze back to Iris.

—[Ah. And even after taming me, you can’t go back to where you are right away. I have something to do.]
“What’s that?”
—[There’s a creature I need to subjugate. It was recently born as a mechanical life form, doesn’t understand language, and acts solely to destroy, so I plan to eliminate it. Huh meow.]
“Is it strong?”
—[Strong. To what extent? Hmm, do you know a creature called Solorb? Huh?]
“I do. The Bastet Daong over there is a monster from the world that Solorb is in.”
—[That’s an astonishing and interesting fact. Anyway, the creature I want to eliminate is a reincarnation of a being that once annihilated Solorb. Huh.]
“…It defeated Solorb?”
—[That’s right. But that’s an old tale. The one I mentioned is not the same entity as that one, just a member of the same species. And it hasn’t been long since it was born, so it’s currently in a relatively very weak state.]

Omega explained that if left unchecked, it would grow stronger day by day.
If I didn’t kill it now in its infancy, there might never be another chance again.

Mysticism— So even machines have an infancy.
Yumi—After all, it’s a life form.
Pururu—So that little Solorb we saw before must’ve been in its infancy too. Unlike the Dog Spider, there are weak monsters even in infancy.

I asked Omega what the name of the monster was.
Omega turned her gaze out the window and replied softly while looking into the distance.

—[Mechanic Hydra. It’s the name of the species hunted by the Crocodile Merchant, as it tried to destroy this world.]