The Soul-Harvesting Puppeteer - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 21
Sungsong Group recognized Han Eol’s outstanding contributions and decided to craft him a supreme piece of Magical Equipment embedded with a Mana Stone.
However, the Mana Stone to be embedded in the equipment was decided to be the one Han Eol had brought back from the second expedition.
In a way, this seemed like an unfavorable calculation for Han Eol.
‘I submitted two Mana Stones—one large and one small—through the second and third expeditions, and they’re only giving me back the smaller one.’
Yet Han Eol harbored no resentment.
Unlike Mana Battery Stones, which served as batteries, Mana Stones extracted from powerful Magical Beasts could be installed in all manner of magical items and Magical Equipment for Ability Users, making their value extraordinarily high.
So the Ability Users belonging to the Pioneer Corps took immense pride in bringing in Mana Stones and insisted the group should treat them with proportionate favor in return.
Han Eol’s thinking differed somewhat.
‘Humans cannot directly use the Mana contained within a Mana Stone. At least, not according to the knowledge we’ve secured so far.’
So humanity had devised other means to harness that Mana.
That was the crafting of items and Magical Equipment embedded with Mana Stones.
Among items created this way, S-grade pieces that drew out seventy percent or more of the Mana existed in minute quantities, but conversely, D-grade items that failed to properly utilize the Mana and produced merely five percent output or so were far more abundant.
Then, if one gathered fourteen D-grade items with five percent output each, could they unleash S-grade destructive power?
They could not.
An unbridgeable gulf existed between S-grade and D-grade; no matter how many D-grade items one connected in series, they could not match a single S-grade item.
According to humanity’s accumulated knowledge, a difference of merely one rank created a disparity of tens of times or more in an item’s potency.
Therefore, Han Eol judged that crafting superior items from Mana Stones held greater value than merely procuring the stones themselves.
‘To be honest, acquiring Mana Stones isn’t particularly difficult for me.’
If his defense and Vitality were to increase beyond their current levels? If his survival could be assured with certainty?
Then Han Eol had every confidence he could sweep Mana Stones from Highland to his heart’s content.
‘I’ll supply as many Mana Stones as needed—just craft me quality defensive armor in return. It profits me far more that way.’
This was precisely what Han Eol desired.
Chapter 8
Rihanna was chosen as the master craftsman who would create Han Eol’s Magical Equipment.
More precisely, Rihanna volunteered herself.
Drawn to the triangular Mana Stone—a shape she had never encountered before—Rihanna decided to undertake this mission on her own.
However, since the mission was “crafting Han Eol’s custom Magical Equipment,” Rihanna conducted a face-to-face meeting with him directly.
“Oh, um…? You are?”
Upon seeing the mixed-race Rihanna with freckles scattered across her face, Han Eol’s mouth fell slightly open.
Three months prior, Han Eol had entrusted the repair of his damaged A-grade Combat Vest to the customer service counter, only to receive a scolding from Rihanna.
‘And that counter attendant was the master craftsman who’d be making my custom armor?’
Han Eol was utterly taken aback.
“Ha-ha. We meet again.”
Seeing Han Eol’s dumbfounded expression, Rihanna broke into a smile.
“Ah, yes.”
Only then did Han Eol offer a proper bow of greeting.
“He-he-he.”
The smile playing at Rihanna’s lips deepened further.
Shortly after, the consultation for crafting the Magical Equipment began.
The discussion was lengthy, but the conclusion was straightforward.
“So you want lightweight defensive Magical Equipment that even Ability Users with weak Stamina can wear easily. And it would be even better if it came with an option to boost the wearer’s Vitality?”
“That’s correct.”
“Offensive functions… for instance, you don’t need an option that reflects a portion of damage received from Magical Beasts back at them?”
“Well, it doesn’t matter either way. It’s not particularly important.”
“Hmm.”
Rihanna crossed her arms and drummed her chin thoughtfully with her fingers.
Most Ability Users in the Pioneer Corps preferred balanced offense-and-defense Magical Equipment. An Ability User making such an extreme demand focused solely on defense, like Han Eol, was rare.
‘So this young man must be brimming with confidence in his offensive power. That’s why he wants everything poured into defense and Vitality.’
Han Eol expanded on what he had imagined.
“Of course, other options are fine too. Since I’m new staff, I’m not sure if such an option is even possible, but an option where Blink magic automatically triggers from the armor when I receive a fatal attack from Magical Beasts would be excellent as well.”
“Blink? That Blink the close-combat War Mages use?”
“Yes. The magic that teleports you several meters or even dozens of meters away when you take enemy fire—an evasion maneuver.”
“Ooh, that’s interesting.”
Rihanna wrote “Blink” on her tablet with a digital pen, then drew several overlapping circles on top of it.
Han Eol grew animated, letting his imagination run wild.
“Instead of just a Blink option, what about something like this? The moment an enemy’s attack strikes the armor, freeze the attacker momentarily to slow them, or electrocute them to put them into a temporary Stun state. Or perhaps a hallucination option might work well too.”
“Hmmmmmm.”
Rihanna’s hum grew long and contemplative.
She jotted down a few notes, then sank into deep thought.
‘She’s definitely picky about her preferences. Everything she wants is focused on defense and evasion. Could this one be the type who enjoys charging into swarms of Magical Beasts and thriving in the chaos?’
Rihanna marked ‘Danger Level 8~9’ next to Han Eol’s name on the tablet.
Among all the Ability Users Rihanna had crafted items for so far, every one rated 8 or higher on the danger scale had failed to survive a year before dying in Highland.
Rihanna felt a pang of sympathy for the rookie, who looked as young and gentle as Han Eol, realizing he didn’t have many days left ahead of him.
‘Anybody who swings a blade directly against Magical Beasts has at least one screw loose in their head—there’s no helping that. I can only hope that the items I create will be of some use, enough to let this rookie live a little longer.’
Rihanna poured her affection into her items alone, never giving her heart to their users.
This was the wisdom of life she had learned from her father, Gale.
Rihanna folded up the tablet and rose to her feet.
“Let’s end the interview here. The Magical Equipment will likely be completed within a year.”
“A year? Does it really take that long?”
Han Eol’s face fell.
Rihanna’s lips twisted into a faint smirk.
“Listen. If you want quality Magical Equipment, you need to know how to wait. Of course, if I rush it, I could have it done in two weeks, but… surely that’s not what you want?”
Han Eol immediately shook his head.
“No. I can wait a year.”
“Good. I’ll do my best, so look forward to it.”
Rihanna tapped Han Eol’s shoulder with the tablet and then left the interview room.
Left alone, Han Eol drove all ten fingers into his hair.
“Damn it. A year?”
Honestly, a year was too long.
‘Hell. What if I die before then? The custom Magical Equipment just becomes Sungsong Group property anyway. At this rate, I’d be better off hunting for relics in Highland and using those.’
Even as Han Eol grumbled on, he couldn’t shake a glimmer of hope in Rihanna.
It was because the A-grade Combat Vest that had saved his life multiple times was none other than her handiwork.
The Fourth Highland Expedition I
Chapter 1
Ten days later, on August 24th.
Whoooosh―.
That day, a fierce downpour swept across all of Seoul.
“Strange thing, isn’t it? How long has it been since Seoul rose out of the atmosphere, yet it still rains in summer and snows in winter?”
Before departure for Highland, the seniors of the 1st Squad muttered this to themselves while watching the heavy rain pour down past the windows.
Hearing this, Han Eol found himself in agreement.
‘Now that I think about it, it really is strange.’
Han Eol unconsciously looked up at the sky.
Decades ago, Midland Seoul had detached entirely from Earth and risen to the altitude of a geostationary satellite, so whether the space above could even be called sky anymore was debatable.
Still, the Seoul sky covered in thick dark clouds was no different from the sky Han Eol had gazed up at in the days of Old Earth.
‘How is such a thing even possible?’
Han Eol was tilting his head in puzzlement when—
“All right, let’s move out.”
The order to deploy came from the 1st Squad Leader.
“Everyone’s to head out.”
“Let’s go.”
The Ability Users of the 1st Squad chattered and joked cheerfully, then moved toward Gangnam Station following the exclusive corridor connected beneath the building.
When they boarded Line 12 of the subway—access forbidden to ordinary citizens—the train departed as if it had been waiting for them.
Soon the Ability Users arrived at the bottom of the Han River.
By now, Han Eol was no longer particularly shaken by the sight of blue mist.
He had become numb to it.
‘Still, I’m curious. Will I succeed with the Guided Transmission this time?’
Han Eol was an unusual case—he had already failed the Guided Transmission three times.
That’s why the 1st Squad had fitted him with four Guided Watches.
Two on each wrist, four in total.
‘With the resonance at four times the normal level, the guiding force should be proportionally stronger, or so they say.’
Han Eol glanced at the cluster of Guided Watches adorning his wrists and grimaced.
“Next!”
Soon came the commanding voice of the 1st Squad Leader.
“Entering now.”
Han Eol gave a forceful response and dove into the rippling mist.
Beep―.
As always, a sharp vertigo struck Han Eol’s brain.
To cut to the conclusion: Han Eol finally succeeded in the Guided Transmission.
The moment he arrived in Highland, Han Eol checked his Guided Watches. All four of the watch hands on both his wrists were pointing in the same direction.
‘Wait? This actually works?’
The success of the Guided Transmission meant one thing: Han Eol had arrived near the 1st Base Camp on the 8th Continent of Highland.
Han Eol planted his Receiver immediately in front of the blue mist.
‘Let’s head toward wherever the Guided Watch points.’
Just knowing he wasn’t on the 7th Continent anymore eased something in his chest.
Moreover, Han Eol was wearing the Beast Skin he’d taken from the Three-Eyed Eight-Tailed Magical Beast, with an A-grade Combat Vest layered over it.
The Pyros Ring sat on his left hand, and he carried no fewer than three A-grade Healing Potions in necklace form around his neck—barring some catastrophic misfortune, his life was in little danger.
Han Eol moved swiftly, alert to his surroundings.
His feet drove against the uneven stone—whoosh, whoosh-whoosh-whoosh.
The Pyros Ring was indeed magnificent. With Speed and Agility stats increased by a hundred, Han Eol’s velocity rivaled a sports car at full throttle. When he leaped with all his strength, he cleared cliffs separated by dozens of meters in a single bound.
Yet this still wasn’t his maximum speed. His body felt so light he seemed to float through the air.
There was just one problem.
Han Eol’s unusually low Stamina was becoming his bottleneck.
“Huff—huff. Pant, pant, pant.”
Before long, Han Eol was spent.
‘Got carried away showing off, and now look at me. Panting like an idiot.’
He collapsed onto a safe clearing ringed by stone on three sides to rest.
He pulled out a high-calorie Chocolate Bar and ate, drank water, and after resting for a while, his depleted Stamina began climbing back.
Lactic acid seemed not to have accumulated in his muscles.
‘Could it be because of my decent Life Force? Then if I keep raising my Vitality, maybe my Endurance will improve even if Stamina doesn’t?’
With these thoughts, Han Eol pushed forward again.
The Puppet Master Who Harvests Souls
Author |
Juno
Publisher |
Samyang C&C Corp.
Editor-in-Chief |
Editorial Department
Published by |
Samyang C&C Corp. – Dream Books
Address |
7th Floor, Gwangseong Building, 28 Bongeunsaro-114-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260703071
Blog |
blog.naver.com/dreambookss
Twitter(X) |
@dreambookss
Submissions |
[email protected]
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of Samyang C&C Corp. – Dream Books.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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