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Chapter 30 - Breaking out of the Egg – 8

After a pleasant meeting with the Vanguard representative, Kang Shin-hyuk returned to his room. On one side of the room, which wasn’t very spacious to start, he had the Godslayer sword, the steel spear he had made, and a box wrapped in cloth.

“Alright, then.”

-I’ve been waiting for this moment.

Kang Shin-hyuk wanted to hatch the egg as soon as he had received it, which is why he hurried back to check on it after the meeting with Vanguard.

“It’s time to hatch it.” After changing his clothes, Kang Shin-hyuk opened up the box and took out the egg. He thought to just toss the box away, but after he realized that it was made out of a material found beyond the gate, he decided to hold on to it.

-You can trust in the power of Lestia.

“I haven’t seen it myself…no, I do. I trust in it.” Shin-hyuk made sure his door was locked before he took out the hatching accelerator from the world of Lestia from the shop inventory. It took the form of an ampoule full of nutrients that you would place on the egg.

“This is…”

“Believe in it.”

“Well, if even you believe it will work…” He had no choice but to pretend to be deceived by it. Fortunately, it was intuitive enough to use. He emptied the ampoule onto the egg; the shell quickly absorbed the liquid.

“Huh?” The egg began to vibrate immediately, like a Digimon egg that was about to hatch. Kang Shin-hyuk was confused, unsure of what to do, but he quickly decided to pick up the egg. It continued to shake but showed no sign of actually hatching. Thinking about what he could do, he did the only thing he could think of. He stretched out his spiritual power and wrapped it around the egg.

-Woowhoom.

What he did was instinctive, but it appeared to work. The vibration of the egg decreased as it received his spiritual power. He could feel a faint beat resonating from it, the sound of a heart. Thinking that the administrator would stop him before he did something bad, he continued to exude spiritual power into the egg, feeding it. He wasn’t sure if it was working, but he was at least confident that the egg didn’t hate it. He could feel the vivid emotions of the egg and could tell that they were connected through his spiritual power.

‘Wow…this is a weird new experience.’ Shin-hyuk was used to utilizing his spirit to stop his opponents’ weapons and read their abilities. This was the first time he had tried to interact with a living thing with just his pure spiritual power. Spiritual power was the energy at one’s core, which meant that right now, Kang Shin-hyuk and this egg were facing the core of each other’s existence. It felt unfamiliar to him, but it wasn’t unpleasant.

‘You have yet to hatch, yet I can tell your will is ridiculously strong. No, wait. Are you about to hatch?’ Even though they weren’t talking, he could read all of the egg’s intentions. The life that was about to be born was weak, extremely so, but it had a strong will. In interacting with Kang Shin-hyuk’s spiritual power, the energy exuded by the egg began to grow slowly, becoming clearer and firmer. Just as Kang Shin-hyuk had been able to awaken his spiritual power through attaining the memories of Anvil, this egg was receiving the information needed to be hatched in such a way.

-I didn’t need to tell you a thing. After all, you are…

“The accelerator wasn’t enough by itself.”

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-That’s right; it needed you. This means that maybe this creature was destined to meet you.

The egg of some ancient creature that already lost any hope of awakening as it was abandoned to time. To wake it up, it needed not only energy but also the presence of someone who would take up the mantle as its parent. Kang Shin-hyuk had just found it, yet as a result, its shell was already beginning to crack. He put it down on the floor carefully, watching it hatch. The administrator was already excited, however.

-What is this egg? Perhaps it wandered through the storm of time and space with no hint of what it was. There are some living organisms whose appearance and abilities vary significantly depending on the parent, its environment, the ability of its breeder…

The administrator rambled on as the egg completely cracked open, a small creature emerging from within. It resembled a rat, covered in black fur except around the face, which had small little tufts of white. It was immediately clear to Shin-hyuk that it wasn’t such a simple creature, as he noticed the small but sharp strands of hair protruding from its back.

“Wait a minute, this is…”

-It is a hedgehog.

The administrator answered correctly, and Kang Shin-hyuk’s mind went blank as he heard it spoken aloud.

“Why is a mammal coming out of an egg?”

-It resembles a hedgehog, but at its core is a life with a completely different structure. In the first place, normal animals aren’t born with fur like that.

“He is…”

-Wow.

The hedgehog looked up at Kang Shin-hyuk, wriggling as it let out a small, cute cry. When he reached out his hand to it, it immediately crawled up and bit at the tip of his finger. It didn’t hurt him, however.

-It seems that it recognizes your spirit. However, ingesting spiritual power isn’t enough to fix its physical hunger. It must be starving.

“…It’s pretty cute.” There was a saying that all young animals were cute, and it was hard not to feel your heart warm at the sight of such an adorable little creature. It was looking straight at Kang Shin-hyuk, its eyes shining as it rubbed its head against his palm.

“I guess it’s definitely not a hedgehog. What would be a good name be…pointed…dense…”

-Can I name it?

The administrator requested immediately, unable to withstand Shin-hyuk’s horrible sense of naming. He nodded.

-Hedge would be nice

“Isn’t that just short for hedgehog?”

-…….

Shin-hyuk recognized he touched a nerve as the administrator refused to send a response to his words. After a moment of silence, the administrator continued as if he hadn’t said a thing.

-How about Spina? Or Spike…

“I should just name it myself then. I’ve decided, Doosik.”

-Not that name!

-No, how about…

As the administrator and Kang Shin-hyuk continued to argue over its name, the hedgehog bit at his finger a few more times before wandering off somewhere. By the time Shin-hyuk realized it had disappeared from his sight, it was already in front of the steel spear he made the other day.

“Hey, that’s dangerous! Don’t touch it!”

-No!

Kang Shin-hyuk tried to scoop him but, but the creature was surprisingly agile despite just being born. It quickly avoided his hand and ran into the steel spear.

“Uh…?”

There was an odd sound as the little creature started to bite into the spear and eat it.

“It’s eating it?!”

-It has been biting at your finger because it was hungry.

The administrator retorted sharply at Shin-hyuk, who was making a silly noise. While he stood there looking blankly in amazement, the hedgehog began to eat at a faster rate. A tenth of the steel spear was already absorbed into its small body, and it only kept eating faster as it went.

“Haha…” Initially, Kang Shin-hyuk had been wondering if he should sell that spear on the trading board of the Hero Universe. He knew that it was of poor quality compared to what Anvil had made before and that it was a failure since it carried the emotions he had while forging it, but he still thought it would be the best way to show who he was. There would be those who would be disappointed in him or some who would not be convinced that he was reincarnated. But there would also be those who would be convinced, those who would accept him now. At least, that would have been the case if the possibilities weren’t being devoured before him.

-Are you okay?

“It ate it all. My opportunity is dead.”

-Sure, that perspective is valid for you too. 10HP bonus from an administrator who learned something good!

His words were sincere; the core of the spiritual power forming the spear was already eaten by the hedgehog. He wouldn’t be able to repair it back to the state it had been. Kang Shin-hyuk decided to worry about punishing the hedgehog later and, for now, waited for him to finish his meal.

“Still…” As he watched the creature, Shin-hyuk realized something. The way it ate the metal…

“It looks more like a starfish than a hedgehog.”

-Then, how about we call it Tedro…

“I’ve decided. I’ll call it Onyx.” A dark body with a white face and dark, sparkling eyes that reminded him of jewels. It was the perfect name.

-You have met the conditions and successfully formed a pet contract. Unless his loyalty dips down to the negatives, Onyx will follow you unconditionally. Currently, his loyalty is at 50.

He had acquired a pet that could typically only be handled by tamers. Being the one that hatched him, fed him, and named him seemed to be what Shin-hyuk needed to do to meet the conditions.

“Did you know that?”

-Of course, that’s why picking a name was very important. Onyx…not bad. A 10HP bonus for your good naming sense!

It was a name that had nothing to do with either hedgehogs or starfish, but the manager appeared to be satisfied with it. While the two reached this compromise, Onyx increased his momentum in eating the remainder of the steel spear. After watching for a few minutes, the creature had devoured the entire spear and let out a cute little burp.

-Kyu-oh-oh….

It promptly fell asleep after its meal.

“This child…”

-It is young.

Even if he bowed his head and spent the rest of his life apologizing, Kang Shin-hyuk knew he would never live it down if he fell asleep so neatly after a meal. As the administrator had said, however, Onyx was still just a child. Kang Shin-hyuk struggled to dismiss his rising anger as he lifted the child up and placed him on a blanket. As he swept the remains of the egg that Onyx broke off from, he could feel them begin to vibrate and resonate with him.

“Hm…?” Kang Shin-hyuk narrowed his eyes and watched them. He didn’t think they would hurt him. Dazzling light began to pour out from them as they melted together and flew toward his hand, seeping into his skin.

“This…”

-It will not harm you, don’t worry.

He already knew without the administrator telling him. He could feel the intense energy of life emanating from the shell, resonating with his own spiritual power. The results were astounding.

-By absorbing powerful soul energy, your spiritual power has grown to C-rank.

-The power to energize and strengthen life. By growing in your understanding of this, your regenerative power has grown to E-rank.

“Huh…” Just by absorbing the eggshell was enough to produce such an outcome. Kang Shin-hyuk felt dizzy as the strong spiritual power welled up in his body. It was the simultaneous growth of two of his special abilities, which more than made up for the steel spear he lost.

“No way…you anticipated all of this…?”

-…Of course. I can count from one to ten.

Kang Shin-hyuk’s eyes narrowed as he read the administrator’s message, which arrived after a pause. It was a bald-faced lie, made in an attempt to surprise him.

“Okay…thank you.”

-10HP Bonus for friendly members!

In this way, Kang Shin-hyuk took this starfish-like hedgehog as a pet. He didn’t know how it would grow up, but he knew it wouldn’t be ordinary.

…Once he woke up, Kang Shin-hyuk vowed not to let him eat the Godslayer sword.