Chapter 35: Source of Hunters
Yuri stumbled on her steps and walked towards him with a sweaty face. "I've made groundbreaking results. It's… impossible to believe." She paled and leaned against the wall. "This changes everything."
Frowning, Mark placed the sleeping hamster away on a table, walked towards the Scientist, and let her lean on him. She limped to the couch and slumped on it.
Dona was on one side of Mark, but she seemed busy calmly staring at the hamster and didn't bother the other two.
"What happened?" he asked Yuri.
Yuri was silent for a long moment and seemed to be contemplating things. He didn't disturb her thoughts. After a while, she sat up straight and threw aside the goggles on her face to the ground.
Mark could finally see the dark circles underneath her eyes and also the mark the goggles had left behind on her fair and beautiful face. Her dark eyes, though, were sharp and twinkling in wonder.
She ruffled a hand through her rather short black hair and took a bottle of black water from the small table beside the couch. She drowned it in a single gulp and finally seemed as if she was breathing sane.
Mark just watched.
"This is crazy," Yuri said. "The whole world would go crazy if they learned this!"
Mark couldn't help but be curious. She walked up from the couch and opened a drawer before turning on the projector and dimming down all the other lights.
Then, she quickly sat back on the couch and held his hand tightly. For a second, she looked at him with a face full of mixed emotions.
"Without your help, I wouldn't have had this realization…" she said thankfully.
Mark scratched his cheeks. He hadn't done anything in particular other than let her have some of his liquids. She tightened her hold and looked at the projection. She seemed more nervous than him.
A click on the remote and a particular image appeared in the projection. Mark's eyes brightened. It wasn't an unfamiliar sight—it was the image of human DNA. But this was way more detailed and understandable than simple DNA.
There was a small heading below the image: Human Life Structure.
"This is the image of Human Life Structure—So, it is the core genetic structure of an average human."
Mark nodded.
She clicked again, and the image shifted to another image.
This one was chaotic, more orderless, chaotic, but somehow, way, way more complex.
"This is the Life Structure of Demons. This is your Life Structure, taken from my research on your cum."
Mark nodded once more. One was akin to human DNA, while the other was Demon DNA. But rather than DNA, Yuri seemed to call it Life Structure. He didn't mind following along. But he couldn't tell anything other than one was a demon and the other human.
Where was she heading with this?
She looked at him nervously before clicking the remote in her hand again. The picture turned into a third Life Structure. It was somewhat similar to his own but, somehow, still very different. He looked at the Scientist in confusion.
"This is…" she dragged. "This is the Life Structure of a Hunter."
Mark looked at it with a frown.
"You might not understand it, even I needed hours to realize it and I am an expert in this field." She sighed. "A Hunter's Life Structure is more similar to a Demon than a Human. Do you know what that implies?"
Mark frowned. He was missing something.
Yuri gulped. "Let me make it easier for you. Hundreds of Demons die in the World of Hunters every day, and hundreds of Hunters are born every day. Do you get it?"
Mark's face changed. "You mean…"
"Yes. I have found the 'source' of all Hunters and the only way this World can ever be saved. I have also found the true reason why Hunters are born, and I can even guess how their powers function."
"Explain," Mark took in a deep breath himself.
"I wasn't sure at first, but then I cross-referenced some Demons and the current Hunters in my database, and I am one hundred percent certain now. Hunters are born using the Demons as a base.
"As in, every Demon that dies gets collected by the Hunter World's Will somehow and then, the World WIll uses the abilities of that Demon and blesses the normal Humans around the World with the stolen ability."
A silence lingered in the room.
Mark didn't know what to say and said, "Demons have Demonic Tricks instead of abilities." Then, he asked in confusion, "So you mean, if I die now, the World Will of this World would collect me, and a Hunter with one of my abilities would be born?"
Yuri nodded gravely. "Yes, if a Tier 2 Demon gets killed somehow, an A-Rank Hunter would be born in just a few days with on of the 'demonic tricks' of the Demon as their Hunter Ability."
Now it made sense why, when Demons began attacking, some people awakened with unique powers. At the same time, Mark saw the multiple impacts of this reveal on everything.
"That means if a Tier 10 Demon dies in this World, an equal-level Hunter will also be born here—even though they will only have one of the demonic tricks and no Resistances."
She nodded. "Indeed, Hunters are… Flawed Demons, in a sense. But thinking along this line, now I know why only some people can become Hunters."
"Why?"
"Some humans have a closer Life Structure to some Demons than other humans. So, if a Tier 2 Demon dies today, the human with the closest Life Structure similarity should be the one chosen to become the new Flawed Demon, in other words, Hunter."
That also had more implication to the safety of the World in itself. Mark had always believed that this World stood no chance against the Demon World. That this World would never survive.
But that was not the case at all.
If they could survive every wave of higher tiered Demons, they would also gain higher ranked Hunters to content with the stronger forces. It was indeed a war of Worlds themselves. It wasn't that easy to see the end result.
It was a complex place.
"Do you not get the biggest implication of this all, Demon?" Yuri asked with a pale face.
"What?" Mark frowned.
"If a normal Human can somehow alter some of their genetics to look somewhat similar to a Demon and then kill it right after, they would, of course, be the one to awaken as a Hunter. And with the ability of the Demon that they killed—all of the rich young masters would kill for that knowledge."
With today's technology of the World of Hunters, it wasn't impossible to change the Life Structure to atleast appear similar to the demons for a while. Then, wouldn't the World Will choose them to become Hunters?
Mark couldn't help but be amazed. "Excellent. That means if I capture a Demon, let you change your genetics slightly, and kill it, you will become a Hunter."
She nodded.
Mark couldn't help but be filled with awe.
Yet, he could see even more of the implications that were hidden underneath the surface. The more this war dragged on, the stronger this world's people would become, and one day, all of the population might become Hunters.
After all, one Demon had multiple Demonic Tricks and a Hunter only had one. In fact, if Mark died today, he would become the catalyst of the three Hunters' birth.
His head was stirring with thoughts when Yuri dreamily looked up.
She clenched her hand, then said with wide eyes, "This changes everything. I want you to help me become the strongest Hunter I possibly can be. So next, we have to make you strong enough to capture the strongest Demon possible. Then, we will alter my Life Structure to be similar to it, and then, we will kill it."
Mark smirked. "I like that. Is the way to evolve from Tier 0 to Tier 1 complete?"
"In a day at most!"
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