Chapter 285
Chapter 285
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 285
Chapter Title: Vinasa's Gift (1)
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Those recognized as true members of Byulcheonji were all Rankers.
Everyone, that is, except for one: Vice Guild Master Kim Jin-ah.
Kim Jin-ah made that distinction crystal clear.
There were countless employees working at Muryeong Do-won with ties to enemies, but they weren't members of Byulcheonji.
When counted that way, there were a total of twenty Byulcheonji members.
['Chat Window' Name - Byulcheonji]
[Member Count (20/50)]
The chat window that had changed from 'Demir Workshop' to 'Byulcheonji' now had twenty members.
[Kim Jin-ah: Alright, everyone in the guild.]
[Kim Jin-ah: Team-building for the next week.]
[Kim Jin-ah: Every night after work, gather in the banquet hall.]
[Kim Jin-ah: No refusals allowed! Mandatory attendance!]
Kim Jin-ah wanted us all to get close.
No.
More than getting close, she wanted us to at least become familiar with each other.
Since I, the Guild Master, was naturally oblivious to such things, and Rankers tended to be strong individualists, she was forcing these gatherings.
[Poet of Praha: Yes, Vice Guild Master!]
[Shadow Secret: Hai!]
[Twin Blades: Yep!]
[White Magician: Got it.]
[Dragon Knight: What time should we arrive?]
....
The chat window buzzed with eager newbies.
At that moment, I reflected on myself.
'I don't even know who anyone is.'
Exactly.
It wasn't that Kim Jin-ah was overreacting.
I simply hadn't done what I was supposed to do.
Of course, there was also a bit of excuse-making on my part, since it meant I could chug as much of my favorite beer as I wanted.
"No whining. Gotta go."
And so, I attended the banquet.
The banquet was extravagant.
Kim Jin-ah had splurged a tiny fraction of the guild's revenue to hire a Michelin three-star chef as the on-site cook.
She provided unlimited refills of premium liquors priced from millions to tens of millions per bottle.
On top of that, ultra-luxurious chandeliers and metal sculptures designed by Demir.
It was the kind of sight that left viewers feeling almost unworthy.
"Nice to meet you. Ranking 72nd, Dragon Knight Matt Gerald."
"Hoho, lowly Ji Do-ik here."
"We're acquainted, right? Do Ha-rang."
Members mingled freely, enjoying drinks and snacks while greeting and chatting with fellow Rankers.
I, too, got acquainted one by one with those who approached.
Matt Gerald, Ji Do-ik, Do Ha-rang, Emily, Frank, Miao, Lauren, Gilliam, Noah, Agnes, and so on....
Naturally, I couldn't greet everyone in a single day; it took quite some time.
My routine went like this.
Mornings at the training grounds to warm up and oversee my subordinates' training.
Until night, I received massages and personal instruction from Elder Mansul.
Then, the banquet hall at dawn.
As Kim Jin-ah said, repeating that for a week allowed me to memorize most team members' faces and basic info.
* * *
- Kirurururu...!
Beyond the training grounds, in the back mountain.
Eldrin and Demir had built a lair for Vinasa there.
Making a lair for a dragon was easy after building one for the Giant Dragon Drugen, or so they said.
From 7 to 8 p.m. was my time to meet Vinasa.
A healing break to shake off the grueling training.
- Kraaarararara!
Every time it saw me, it roared like that.
A greeting of joy mixed with a sign of pent-up frustration.
'Hmm.'
Truth be told, this was a big worry.
According to Arin, Destruction Dragons needed a constant level of destruction to satisfy their urges.
Before growing into an adult dragon, it was a stress issue....
'What to do?'
Even dungeons were problematic.
Ordinary dungeons couldn't satisfy its destructive urges.
And I couldn't drag it into my medium dungeon either.
I was playing the role of its mother, but it wasn't my summon.
I couldn't call it whenever; I had to physically bring it along.
That was a headache too.
- Kiruk, kirururu!
Still, it endured well.
It obeyed my request not to destroy anything inside Muryeong Do-won.
And every time I visited, it came over and rubbed its head like this.
"Amazing...."
I used to come alone.
But today, I brought a new guest.
Dragon Knight Matt Gerald, whom I'd gotten friendly with at the banquet.
"A hatchling dragon, really.... So beautiful, Guild Master...."
In his early thirties and a true dragon enthusiast, he gazed at Vinasa with ecstatic rapture.
Actually, Matt had tried bringing his own drake.
But it failed.
The drake whined and refused to climb from the base of the mountain.
"May I touch it...?"
- Kyaaaaaak!
Fat chance!
Vinasa, so obedient to me, let out a ferocious screech at the Dragon Knight the moment he spoke.
Not a skill, but a roar fierce enough to make knees buckle.
"Eek!"
The startled Dragon Knight backed away.
He wore a hurt expression at the same time.
He instantly grasped Vinasa's intent: don't poach what's mine.
"Whew, Vinasa? Be good."
- Kiru, kirururu!
Dragon or bird?
I looked at Vinasa, now bowing its head and wagging its tail.
"Incredible."
Matt Gerald was purely impressed.
"Even as a hatchling, a dragon is a dragon, and such a proud race acting this cute.... It must truly like and follow you, Guild Master."
In fact, he'd leveled his 'Dragon Taming' skill from S-grade to SS-grade during this raid.
From SS-grade, there was a low chance to tame hatchlings, but the problem was....
There were no hatchlings on Earth.
'Of course.'
I had zero intention of handing over my Destruction Dragon.
It was obvious it'd fail anyway, but even a hint of that would make the Dragon Knight my enemy.
Fortunately, he was a Ranker who knew his limits.
He visited a few more times after, bringing large cuts of meat for the Destruction Dragon and nothing else—no impure motives.
He was just a genuine dragon fanatic.
Did Vinasa sense that too?
About a week later.
I'd climbed the back mountain with the Dragon Knight again.
- Kiru! Kurururu!
It kept nudging my body with its head.
Then alternated glances between Matt and me.
"Yeah, what?"
The Dragon Knight and I tilted our heads.
This was a first for the usually predictable one.
"Come along?"
- Kiru!
It nodded and offered its back.
I exchanged a glance with Matt before mounting the Destruction Dragon.
- Kiru, kiru!
Vinasa grumbled at the Dragon Knight.
"M-me too?"
"Yes, hop on."
"...Me on Vinasa?"
He stroked the dragon's scales reverently, face full of awe.
Then, with a heave-ho, he climbed up.
"Ahh, this is peak fandom. Yes, I became a Ranker just to ride Vinasa one day.... This is the honor of my lineage! Thank you, Guild Master!"
A successful otaku who reached world ranking 72nd for the sake of riding a dragon's back.
That was Matt Gerald.
Whoosh, whooosh!
- Kraaarararara!
Vinasa flapped its wings powerfully and took to the skies.
Passing the mountain base, the city.
It boldly entered a portal.
Whoosh, whooosh!
Out of the Uiwang City Dr. El Workshop, heading east.
"W-what's going on?"
"Seems Vinasa has somewhere to take us."
Swooooosh...!
Vinasa spread its wings fully and began gliding at tremendous speed.
We left Gyeonggi Province in under a few minutes, spotting the East Sea.
Probably how it felt riding a supersonic fighter jet.
Having crossed the Pacific before, I immediately summoned Caden to erect a barrier around us.
As expected, Caden was best for blocking wind resistance.
* * *
World Ranking 72nd.
Dragon Knight Matt Gerald was living a dream-like day lately.
As a kid, he loved dinosaurs and dreamed of becoming a paleontologist.
He pursued that dream, even enrolling in a prestigious U.S. university's geology department.
Then the world turned upside down.
He became a Hunter, and surprisingly, a Dragon Tamer who could tame dragon-kin monsters.
Even after the Great Cataclysm stole everyone's dreams.
He held onto his, achieving High Ranker status as a result.
And right before his eyes.
"Ahh...."
Were sleek dragon scales.
How could black scales be so beautifully sleek?
- Kraaararararara!
Its occasional thunderous roars were more enchanting than any music.
'But.'
Where are we going?
Did I do something wrong?
Clinging to the dragon's back in flight, Matt pondered deeply.
Were the large meats he brought spoiled? Or not even Tu++ grade?
But no.
As a High Ranker with nothing but money, he'd selected purebred Iberico pigs raised on acorns and grass in pristine areas.
Fearing pickiness, he'd also brought Hanwoo beef, lamb, deer, horse, and more.
'I bought and brought everything edible....'
Would a dragon that ate so well suddenly turn on him?
Well.
If it wanted to harm him, it wouldn't fly off with the master.
It'd ignore him or summon him alone to deal with it.
'Gasp, ignore? That's too horrifying!'
Whoosh, whooosh!
The dragon flew for hours.
Finally.
Vinasa arrived over the Yucatan Peninsula, above Belize amid reconstruction efforts.
- Kraaararararara!
Below the roaring dragon yawned a massive hole.
The very spot where the subterranean Earth Dragon had burst through during the raid.
A [Danger] sign-fenced barrier kept everyone away.
"Vinasa, why here?"
- Kru, kruru...!
The dragon and Emperor seemed to converse.
"Hold tight, Matt."
It spoke.
"Wants to go down below."
"Below...?"
Why?
Curious, but he gripped firm.
"Hup!"
A queasy stomach drop and insane acceleration plunged them downward.
Kwararararara!
The underground was deep.
Occasional rock obstructions shattered against the speeding Vinasa's head.
After descending as far as it'd risen, Vinasa.
- Kiru, kirururu!
Stopped somewhere and let us down.
Fwoosh!
Skeleton Emperor lit a fire to illuminate.
"......!"
What Necromancer casts magic too?
Before marveling at the young Guild Master's boundless talents.
"Hup!"
Matt faced something even more astonishing.
"Oho."
The Guild Master beside him widened his eyes in interest.
- Kiru, kirruk!
Vinasa chuckled at the Dragon Knight.
"Ahh."
Thud.
Legs giving way, the Dragon Knight stared blankly at the iridescent 'thing' before him.
Yes.
It was an egg.
A dragon egg.
How did he know instantly?
Info popped up the moment he saw it.
[Item: Egg of the Earth Dragon 'Bukiar.']
[Grade: SS]
[Type: Egg]
[Description: Egg laid by an ancient Earth Dragon.]
[Effect 1: Activates if infused with sufficient energy.]
[Effect 2: Upon activation, the dragonkin 'Bukiar' is born.]
[Effect 3: 'Bukiar' can only be tamed with 'Dragon Taming'-related skills.]
"......!"
Since becoming a Ranker, his dream had always been the same.
Taming a hatchling dragon.
Sorry to his current drake, but his mind was filled only with hatchlings.
And now.
Vinasa, moved by his offerings, had bestowed this gift upon him.
Thump, thump!
Matt's heart pounded like it would explode.
Blood boiled, excitement peaked.
Who in the world had ever received such a gracious boon?
"......Vinasa!"
Unthinkingly elevating the Destruction Dragon to divine status, as Matt reached for the egg.
"Hold on."
Ju Dong-hoon smiled and blocked him.
"Don't touch it yet."
"Yes?"
The stunned Matt looked up at Ju Dong-hoon.
"I get you're thrilled, but we need to settle ownership first, right?"
"......Yes?"
The sound of his bursting heart slightly calming.