Eli woke up the next day to find his clinic in complete chaos.
"What… what happened here?" he muttered, surveying the mess.
Then the memory of yesterday crashed into his mind.
"Oh. So that's what happened."
Eli muttered to himself in disbelief. He had given up hope of awakening… yet here he was.
He tried to remember something vital, a piece of information that always seemed to slip from his memory.
"Open… window… door… what was it called again?"
Before he could figure it out, a strange sensation spiked through him.
"What kind of messed-up dream was that? Is this how you repay me for the property damage yesterday?" he screamed furiously at the empty space.
Of course, his words weren't really for the air—they were for a certain invisible presence.
Silence followed.
Eli took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.
"...open the nature damned status window!!"
"HELLO, GARDENER," said a calm, mechanical voice.
Eli jumped back in fright.
A SYSTEM WINDOW… was actually talking to him.
"WAIT… THIS IS REAL?" Eli shouted, his excitement spilling over.
"YEEHOO! I ACTUALLY AWAKENED!" he cried, running around the clinic.
The caged monsters scrambled in alarm as he shouted the news, half-scaring them and half-celebrating.
"SYSTEM! SHOW ME MY STATUS PANEL!" Eli demanded.
"[YES, MASTER]," the system replied.
The window displayed his information:
[NAME: ELI VEYR]
[CLASS: MONSTER GARDENER]
[SUBCLASS: ???]
[SKILLS: GARDENER'S SPACE — AN EXCLUSIVE SPACE TO TAME AND SUMMON MONSTERS. A CLINIC FOR CALAMITIES.]
[STATS:]
• [STRENGTH: 5]
• [AGILITY: 3]
• [DEXTERITY: 8]
• [INTELLIGENCE: 10]
• [MANA: 15]
Eli stared at his stats, astonished and excited.
"Mediocre… by this world's standards," he muttered, but inside, his curiosity burned.
"I WANT TO TRY A SKILL," Eli said, adjusting his attitude and calming himself.
"SYSTEM?"
"[YES, MASTER]"
"...it actually responded?" Eli thought to himself.
"SCAN ALL THE MONSTERS IN THE CLINIC. FIND THE MOST SUITABLE ONE FOR ME."
The system's response was immediate:
[TASK ACCEPTED. SCANNING ALL CREATURES… SORTING BY COMPATIBILITY… ANALYZING SEARCH RESULTS…]
Eli's eyes sparkled. This was just the beginning.
He took a deep breath and stepped closer to the cages.
"Alright… let's see who's the most suitable," he whispered.
He focused and activated the Monster Garden interface.
[GARDENER'S SPACE ACTIVATED.]
[ACCESSING ALL MONSTERS WITHIN PROXIMITY…]
[SCANNING COMPLETE. RANKING BY COMPATIBILITY…]
A holographic panel appeared above the cages, showing small portraits, stats, and compatibility percentages.
[MOST SUITABLE MONSTER DETECTED.]
[NAME: CORRUPTED HOUND]
[TYPE: BEAST]
[ELEMENT: SHADOW-LIGHTNING]
[LEVEL: 4]
[COMPATIBILITY: 87%]
The hound in the cage lifted its head, its three glowing eyes meeting Eli's.
"Alright… you're it," Eli said with a small smile.
He extended his hand slowly.
[INITIATING SUMMONING PROCEDURE…]
[DO YOU ACCEPT THIS MONSTER INTO YOUR GARDEN? YES / NO]
Eli didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
[MONSTER ACCEPTED.]
[COMPATIBILITY BONUS: +3 INTELLIGENCE, +2 DEXTERITY]
[NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: SHADOW FANG — MELEE ATTACK USING PAW, LOW MANA CONSUMPTION]
The hound crouched, then lunged forward.
Its paw crackled with dark lightning, leaving jagged trails in the air as it slammed into a wooden post.
The impact left a deep gouge, smoke rising where shadows and electricity collided.
Eli's eyes widened.
"Yes! It works perfectly!"
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: MASTER COMPATIBILITY INCREASED. EXPERIENCE GAINED: +5]
He looked around the clinic, the other caged monsters now watching him with curiosity and caution.
"System… show me all unlocked abilities for this monster."
[ACCESSING MONSTER SKILLS…]
[SHADOW FANG: MELEE ATTACK USING PAW, LOW MANA]
[DARK HOWL: AREA EFFECT, SCARES ENEMIES, MEDIUM MANA]
[LIGHTNING POUNCE: HIGH DAMAGE, SHORT COOLDOWN, HIGH MANA]
Eli's excitement grew.
"So many options… I can actually strategize with this."
He knelt and scratched behind the hound's ears.
"You and I… we're going to do great things."
The hound growled softly in agreement, its eyes glowing brighter than ever.