The Great White Dragon Glacies Greets Us
The magnificent White Dragon, Glacies, exchanged greetings with us.
"I'm Hura, successor to Lord Sulis."
"Mm."
"I'm Molrangkau, successor to Lady Besta."
"Mm."
"I'm Geum Taeyang, servant to Lord Hura."
"Mm."
"Same here, I'm Tteoksoon-i, servant to Lord Hura."
"Mm."
Glacies just nodded slowly while slurping her ramen—that was it.
Then, out of nowhere, she pointed at Besta and said,
"This is Besta, princess of Estonia."
"They already know that, you idiot."
Besta smacked Glacies on the head.
"I gave it to you as a gift—why hit me?"
Glacies shot Besta a brief glare before diving back into her ramen.
Princess of Estonia? That explains her speech patterns. And why she built that palace.
"……."
I quietly observed Glacies as she slurped her ramen nonstop. She was a stunning beauty with pale white hair like it had been sculpted from glass beads. It already looked out of place for such a white-haired beauty to be devouring ramen like that—and to think she was a dragon.
Besta nagged at her like a scolding parent.
"Even if you're one of those non-interventionist types, aren't you taking it too far? Doing absolutely nothing?"
"……."
"All you do is sleep all day. What have you even accomplished?"
"…Don't wanna hear it."
Glacies grabbed her pot and fluttered away like a sparrow. Besta chased after her.
"Hey! I'm talking to you—where do you think you're going?!"
I watched the two bickering and tussling.
…These are dragons?
Is it really okay for a noble dragon to get headlocked by a mere human ghost like that?
As in most fantasy settings, dragons were portrayed as supreme beings who lorded over the world with overwhelming power. They were the types who stood back with arms folded, watching indifferently as the world burned for reasons unknown. Pangwol was no different.
I didn't fully get it, but if that's how they were, what could you do? It was game lore—you couldn't argue with the devs over it.
From a gameplay perspective, there were probably balance reasons or power-scaling excuses.
But in the game's internal lore, it was a tangled mess of gods, demons, angels, and all sorts of other stuff.
That was about all I'd picked up from the Pangwol wiki.
"……."
Should've paid more attention when I was browsing.
I can barely remember.
I glanced at the great White Dragon being dragged back by Besta and turned to Molrangkau.
"Molrangkau."
"Yes?"
"Have you ever seen a dragon before?"
"No, this is my first time too."
"…Really?"
"I've heard they live in remote wastelands beyond the continent map, in the extreme polar regions somewhere. No one's ever found them."
"So as players, we're the first?"
"Probably."
…Well, this is something.
Should I feel honored?
I scratched my head.
"I've heard dragons are insanely strong. How strong exactly? Stronger than Cheon-gong?"
Molrangkau stared at the tussling pair and replied,
"In Pangwol, dragons are basically divine beings. They're on a whole other level."
"That much?"
"Yeah. They're even called proxies of the gods."
I looked ahead with fresh eyes, then narrowed mine.
"…Isn't that 'divine being' getting smacked around by your master over there?"
I pointed at Glacies, who was taking hits from Besta while desperately guarding her ramen with her whole body—like a parent shielding their child.
"……."
Molrangkau replied with an awkward expression.
"…At least, that's what I know."
I watched her calmly dodging Besta's onslaught while sneaking licks of ramen, her face still blank.
Then, a brilliant idea struck me.
Come to think of it, Glacies said she knew Sulis too.
Judging by her reaction, they were more than acquaintances.
In that case…
A faint smile crept across my lips.
If I play this right, I might snag a trace of Sulis.
What should I say to make that happen?
Heh heh… unexpected harvest.
I was the guy chugging kimchi soup before it was even offered.
I was grinning and racking my brain for the perfect question when a sudden feeling made me look up.
A round silver eye, slit vertically like a cat's, was staring right at me from inches away.
"Kyaaak!"
I yelped and toppled backward in shock.
"…That's a weird scream."
Glacies blinked and muttered.
I calmed my pounding heart, staring at Glacies who had silently approached.
"Of course I'd freak out if you sneak up without a sound!"
Glacies stared at me blankly, ignoring my words.
"Successor of Sulis."
"…Yes."
"You passed Besta's trial, right?"
"Ah, yeah."
I crushed it, after all.
"Must've been tough. Impressive."
"Haha, it was nothing. Hahaha."
I rubbed the back of my neck, chuckling sheepishly.
Glacies gazed at me steadily, then blurted,
"You came for my egg, right?"
"…Pardon?"
What the hell?
"Egg? What egg?"
Glacies pointed at herself impassively.
"The one I laid."
"……?"
"Besta said so."
I turned to see Besta standing with hands on hips, watching us.
I widened my eyes at her, and she nodded.
"Oh, the rare ingredient she promised. That must be it."
I muttered while glancing at Glacies, then froze.
…Egg?
Wait. Her egg? One she laid herself?
This airheaded beauty was actually a White Dragon.
Her egg?
Then…
"……!"
My eyes nearly bugged out as realization hit.
A dragon egg? For real?
That was SSS-grade in terms of rank. Endgame ingredient material!
Glacies watched my dramatically shifting expressions and asked,
"Want it?"
"…Guh."
My breath caught; I could barely speak.
This felt like it was rolling straight into disaster territory.
If I said yes, she'd probably kill me for treating her kid like food.
If no, I'd regret it forever.
"Uh… well…"
I trailed off and glanced at Besta, who waved it off.
"Don't worry. They're all unfertilized anyway."
"…Oh, really?"
Dragon eggs had fertilized and unfertilized ones too, huh.
"Think of it like a human period. She lays them periodically, nice and breezy. The cycle's long, but no need to fret."
"……."
I didn't get it fully, but whatever—moving on.
Magic and ghosts existed here anyway.
I looked at Glacies.
"Yes. I want it."
"Really?"
Glacies made a V-sign with thumb and index finger under her blank face.
"…? What's that?"
"Ah, Sulis said to do this when thinking. Can't read your face otherwise."
"…I see."
She pondered like she was advertising "Thinking in progress," then dropped her hand.
"You really want it?"
"Yes!"
I said firmly.
Playing this game had taught me one thing: ingredients were king.
This was a rare shot at top-tier stuff.
No way I'd pass it up.
"If you truly want it."
Glacies raised one finger.
"Shatter my dream."
"…Pardon?"
"It's suffocating yet sickeningly sweet."
Her glass-sculpted white finger drew closer.
"I'll show you my dream for a bit."
The moment her cool finger touched my forehead, I was sucked in.
…….
The world was frozen solid.
Like gazing into an ice age.
Howling blizzards whipped around, eternal snow clinging like barnacles everywhere.
Bone-chilling cold made my body shudder; my breath trailed like cigarette smoke.
What life could survive this?
As I shivered and scanned the icy vista, a warm spring breeze rustled my hair.
Suddenly, a man stood there.
Around him, the frozen world thawed.
Snow and ice melted; flowers bloomed, sprouts rose.
Lush forests stretched, birds chirped.
Vibrant spring arrived.
At its center was a chef.
He held a familiar frying pan.
The black-haired chef turned to me with a grin.
The Demonic Chef, the legendary chef without equal—Sulis.
He was looking right at me.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?!"
Besta yelled, throttling Glacies.
She had the White Dragon in a ground-and-pound, ready to force a submission.
But Glacies replied calmly, face blank.
"What?"
"Why'd you drag that guy into your dream?! Into that demonic realm!"
Glacies made her V-sign under her chin.
"Dunno. Felt like I had to."
"You call that an explanation?!"
Besta squeezed harder.
Glacies kept her blank face and V-sign.
"Lady Besta. What happened?"
Geum Taeyang asked, fidgeting over Hura's sudden disappearance.
"This lunatic shoved your master into her dream!"
Besta switched to an armbar.
"You toss your eggs anyway! I told him to take one since you're dumping them—what's with the freakout?!"
Glacies replied curtly to the scolding.
"My choice."
"You crazy lizard bitch!"
Furious, Besta wrenched Glacies's limbs every which way.
"What does 'in a dream' mean exactly?"
Molrangkau asked calmly.
"Exactly that. I tossed Sulis's successor into the dream I was having."
Glacies replied coolly amid Besta's venting.
No need to ask if that was possible.
This was a dragon—mightiest of beings, rivaling gods.
"Impossible" was ancient myth to her.
What couldn't an omnipotent dragon do?
"What kind of dream is it?"
"Eh, nothing much. Sulis shows up."
"…Sulis?"
Molrangkau furrowed her brow, deep in thought.
The Demonic Chef, Sulis, appearing? Probably not a lie.
"……."
But suspicious.
Besta called it a "demonic realm."
Why, if it was just a chef dream?
"…Which Sulis do you mean?"
Glacies answered,
"The Sulis in my memories. The Sulis I know. The Sulis I saw. The Sulis swimming in my dream, cloaked in my recollections."
"Meaning an insane, incomplete Sulis!"
Besta added her interpretation.
"Now that she's pulled Hura into her dream, none of us can get him out!"
"What?!"
Who could unravel a dragon's magic?
The master of all magic, the great dragon's.
"She won't let him out till he truly shatters her dream!"
"……!"
"How does he shatter it?"
Molrangkau asked urgently.
Glacies replied,
"The dream's root is Sulis. If he rejects it himself, it breaks. Simple, right?"
"Simple my ass! If it were, he wouldn't still be coiled in there!"
Besta yelled, locking in an armbar.
Glacies just calmly held her V-sign to her chin.
"Don't worry. If he really smashes Sulis, he'll be fine, and I won't need to swim in vain dreams anymore."
"That's the problem!"
Finally snapping, Besta hoisted and hurled Glacies.
She tumbled like a ragdoll right to Molrangkau's feet, still clutching her V-sign.
"Feels good. Throw me again."
"……."
All eyes turned to the utterly nonchalant white-haired snow woman.