The twenty-first century marked the emergence of Fissures and the monsters within. The world was living in the age of Hunters. Everyone possessed a Status Window, and those deemed “chosen” underwent an Awakening, granting them unique skills.
Although most people Awakened only once, some extraordinarily lucky individuals experienced a second Awakening under rare circumstances. Such was the case for Hye-Jung, the daughter of the head of Je-Il Smithy, one of Korea’s top three crafting workshops.
“Congratulations, Ms. Jung.”
Hye-Jung received a custom-made control bracelet from her secretary. It was crafted from adamantium, a material said to be mined only under rare conditions in A-rank or higher Great Fissures. Just one of these bracelets was worth over 1.5 billion won.
“Shall I try it here...?” Hye-Jung asked her secretary cautiously. She was basically asking if it would be okay to summon her monster.
Hye-Jung had awakened a taming skill, granting her the power to summon specific monsters. Her monster was none other than the B-rank monster, the Ice Tiger.
The secretary glanced nervously at the window. “I wouldn’t recommend it, miss. Not after last time...”
Just last week, her Ice Tiger had smashed through a window and rampaged through the garden after it slipped out of her control. The memory still made her legs tremble. Although the control bracelet was supposed to prevent such incidents, the secretary’s job was to minimize all risks.
“Why not consult Hunter Choi Ik-Hyun?” the secretary suggested.
Choi Ik-Hyun, an A-rank Hunter and one of Korea's top three tamers, served as an instructor at the Hunter Academy and was a former vice-leader of the Phoenix Guild. He also maintained close connections with Je-Il Smithy, making him the most logical choice for mentorship.
However, at that moment, Hye-Jung suddenly thought of a different person—Yoon-Hee’s dad.
She remembered visiting Yoon-Hee’s house and receiving her father Do-Jun’s contact information. Do-Jun had also awakened as a tamer, and while not a Hunter, he had demonstrated an impressive knack for handling pet monsters.
“Hmm... What should I do?” she wondered.
Would it be rude to call him out of the blue?
The doorbell rang to disrupt a leisurely weekend.
Do-Jun was preparing lunch while watching over Yong-Yong, who was sitting in front of the TV, fully engrossed in a funny scene. As Do-Jun sliced tofu for soybean paste stew, Yong-Yong dashed to the front door.
Jumping in place, Yong-Yong opened the door, revealing their visitor: a young woman in a school uniform with medium-length hair and a tear-shaped beauty mark. It was none other than Hye-Jung, Yoon-Hee’s friend. Yong-Yong recognized her from previous visits.
He made a surprised sound. Why would she visit when Yoon-Hee wasn’t home?
Do-Jun stepped out of the kitchen, smiling warmly as he greeted her.
“H-hello!” Hye-Jung said, visibly nervous.
“Hey, Hye-Jung. Have you had lunch?” Do-Jun asked.
But Hye-Jung’s stomach betrayed her words, rumbling loudly. Embarrassed, she blushed and gave an awkward smile.
To spare her further discomfort, Do-Jun said gently, “I made a bit too much stew. Want to join us? It’d be a shame to waste it.”
Once the stew was ready, Yong-Yong began setting the table with utensils and bowls without being told. He moved back and forth, scooping steaming rice from the rice cooker and fetching side dishes from the fridge. Hye-Jung watched the scene in awe.
Hye-Jung sat down once the table was set.
“Thank you for the food!” she said, picking up her spoon and taking a sip of the fragrant doenjang jjigae.
The taste made her exclaim in delight. “Wow, Mister! You’re a great cook!”
“Yoon-Hee taught me. Well, technically, it was from her cookbook.”
“Ah, that explains it. This tastes just like the stew Yoon-Hee made during our last school trip.”
While eating, Hye-Jung observed Yong-Yong. He was slurping stew-soaked rice straight from a bowl, eating with gusto. Her eyes then moved to Do-Jun’s wrist and noticed he wasn’t wearing a control bracelet—a vital artifact for tamers. There was another bracelet, but it was clearly not a control bracelet.
“How can you handle your summoned monster without a control bracelet?” she asked.
The rise of Tamers started with the invention of control bracelets, which happened just five years ago. Before their existence, summoned monsters were often uncontrollable and sometimes attacked their masters instead of helping them in battle. That was also why Hye-Jung came to see Do-Jun—he could effortlessly control his summoned monster without needing a bracelet.
“There are plenty of ways,” Do-Jun replied.
Yong-Yong suddenly started coughing and choked on his food.
After finishing their meal, Do-Jun, Yong-Yong, and Hye-Jung entered an empty Fissure.
It had originally been an E-rank Fissure filled with kobolds, but since the boss monster had been defeated, the Fissure was set to disappear in a few days. It was the perfect spot to test out skills.
Yong-Yong silently looked around. The inside of the Fissure was a vast grassland, reminiscent of his nest. Memories of his first encounter with Do-Jun suddenly resurfaced.
“By the way, Yong-Yong is an unidentified monster, right?” Hye-Jung asked.
An unidentified monster referred to a creature with too few samples or a limited population, making it difficult to gather information about it.
“Well, something like that,” Do-Jun replied ambiguously.
“A monster that can even speak human language. That’s amazing.”
“I thought so, too, at first. Though I’m used to it now.”
After nodding in acceptance, Hye-Jung took a deep breath and looked at her brand-new control bracelet, summoning the Ice Tiger. A glow radiated from her body, and soon, a frost-covered tiger appeared nearby. She immediately prepared to banish it, just in case Do-Jun got hurt.
However, the Ice Tiger crouched low, trembling like a frightened puppy, letting out a soft whimper. Yong-Yong's unassuming face was reflected in its eyes. Normally, the Ice Tiger would be roaring ferociously and prowling around. Seeing such a monster remain so docile left Hye-Jung stunned.
“W-what’s wrong with you?” she asked the Ice Tiger.
Yong-Yong slowly walked toward the Ice Tiger. He softly growled with a playful expression. The Ice Tiger whimpered again, retreating behind Hye-Jung for safety. Yong-Yong chuckled as he teased the Ice Tiger before stopping.
Although Hye-Jung was clueless, the Ice Tiger had recognized Yong-Yong as a dragon.
“Stop messing around,” Do-Jun said lightly.
Yong-Yong returned to Do-Jun’s side, while Hye-Jung nervously glanced back and forth between Yong-Yong and the Ice Tiger with a confused look.
What on earth had just happened? Could it be that the B-rank Ice Tiger was actually afraid of the small Yong-Yong?
No way. Hye-Jung shook her head in disbelief.
After the initial fiasco, Do-Jun first taught Hye-Jung how to handle the Ice Tiger.
The process involved using the control bracelet to ensure the monster recognized its master whenever it acted out. The magical energy stored in the bracelet synchronized with the Ice Tiger, fostering a sense of companionship. This was the first hurdle for a Tamer to overcome.
The second was controlling the summoned creature, something that the Tamer had to acquire themselves.
After wrestling with the Ice Tiger for three hours, Hye-Jung collapsed, exhausted, sprawling on the field. “That was tough.”
“You did well,” Do-Jun said.
Hye-Jung lifted her head slightly to look at Yong-Yong, a mysterious monster that could talk and even helped prepare lunch. That alone was astonishing, but seeing Do-Jun tame Yong-Yong without even using a control bracelet was almost unbelievable. His taming skills were clearly at an unimaginable level.
“By the way, was that number on Yong-Yong’s forehead always there?” she asked.
Suddenly, Hye-Jung recalled what Yoon-Hee had said during the last International Hunter Festival. It was in response to an article about Kanzaki Soshiro, who had tamed a Wyvern Lord.
“So, this guy raises dragons, too?”
There’s no way... right? Hye-Jung dismissed the thought.
Raising an actual dragon as a pet? It was an absurd thought. If it were true, the world would already be in an uproar, and Do-Jun would be front-page news.
Is that why his name is Yong-Yong...?[1]
Surely, the name wasn’t chosen because it was a dragon. Hye-Jung chuckled at her silly assumption.
“What’s your taming skill, Mister? Does it use a lot of mana?”
Do-Jun hesitated briefly, unsure how to respond. In truth, he didn’t possess any taming skills.
At that moment, Yong-Yong, watching nearby, decided to answer in Do-Jun’s place when he remained silent. “He probably doesn’t use any mana at all.”
“Huh?” Hye-Jung tilted her head in confusion.
“Our master’s taming skill is purely physical, so there shouldn’t be any mana consump—” Yong-Yong stopped talking abruptly.
The sight of Do-Jun’s icy stare made him realize his mistake. He immediately zipped his mouth shut.
“Welcome back, Ms. Jung,” Hye-Jung’s secretary greeted her upon her return.
The secretary naturally took her belongings and brought her a cup of warm tea as she fiddled with her control bracelet on the sofa.
“You mentioned that Mr. Lee Do-Jun is a civil servant. Wouldn’t it have been better to learn directly from Hunter Choi Ik-Hyun? After all, he’s highly regarded in the taming field...”
“Do you think...” Hye-Jung said tentatively.
After taking a sip of tea and pausing for a moment, Hye-Jung asked, “Do you think it’s possible to tame a dragon?”
It was a completely unexpected question. The secretary pondered it seriously before concluding: absolutely not. While Japan had someone who tamed a Wyvern Lord, Wyverns and Dragons were in entirely different leagues.
“No, Ms. Jung. That would be impossible,” the secretary answered.
“Then could you imagine someone taming one without using a control bracelet?”
“That would be absurd...”
“Surely, there’s no one who can tame a dragon, is there?” the secretary asked.
Hye-Jung shook her head and answered, “No, I was just wondering.”
Leaving the Fissure, Do-Jun headed straight home.
An evening alone with Yong-Yong. He scratched his head and headed to the kitchen. The lunch dishes still sat in the sink, unwashed. Do-Jun looked at Yong-Yong.
He had sprawled on the sofa as soon as they got back home. Apparently unwilling to do the dishes, Yong-Yong pretended to be fast asleep, snoring loudly.
Do-Jun sat next to the sofa, flipping through a chicken restaurant flyer, and muttered, “I was going to order fried chicken if you did the dishes. What a shame.”
In an instant, Yong-Yong sprang up and zoomed into the kitchen as if his life depended on it.
Smirking, Do-Jun pulled out his smartphone and dialed the chicken restaurant’s number.
1. This thought makes a lot of sense when you know that “dragon” in Korean is “yong,” basically making his name Dragon-Dragon! ☜