Sauna Boss Takedown and Stunted Growth
As a Korean, it had to be namul. "Guess I need to blanch some veggies today." Any true Korean knows you turn plants into namul—no exceptions, whether it's poison ferns, angelica shoots, or writhing living vines. But before turning the boss into blanched vine namul salad and tossing it out, I had to evacuate Seol-ah and the other civilians first. It was about to become a sauna no ordinary person could endure.
The corridor between the boss room entrance and the outside. If they stayed there, they'd avoid both the intense heat and any monster attacks prowling the boss room perimeter.
"Seol-ah! Take everyone to the corridor and wait."
"Uh... Got it!"
Seol-ah led the dazed civilians down the corridor we'd passed through earlier. Perfect. Now, operation start.
Like when I'd altered Dragon Breath's output form to blow up the lake on White Tower floor 3, I focused my mind and changed the output form once more. Not a high-output pinpoint laser breath, but the opposite: low-output radial breath.
What I needed now was a technique to fill this place with suffocating hot steam. Not evaporating the water outright, but slowly bringing it to a boil. A light sigh-like breath transformed into faint flames, warming the water pooled in the marshy ground.
Unfortunately, with poor propulsion and taking too long, it wasn't viable for direct use on the vine boss. But that didn't matter. The room was already full of water to generate the heat.
Dragon Breath (Radial Low-Output Mode)
Whoosh—crackle.
The breath spread in a vast radial pattern. Each point's power was barely gas stove-level, but mana consumption was minimal as a result. Filling the boss room with heat to conquer it meant literally steaming the enemy to death.
This is gonna be one hell of a marathon...
But the boss wouldn't just sit idle. The moment I stepped into a nearby puddle to generate steam, vine tentacles whipped toward me at ferocious speed.
Snap—!!!
A strike with sonic-boom-level impact. Thanks to the hunters who'd scouted ahead, I knew its power well. Even one solid hit would spell trouble.
"Ngh—!"
Maintaining the altered Dragon Breath output required intense focus. Add evasion on top, and I felt like I needed two bodies. So focused on sustaining the breath, I barely dodged attacks I'd normally evade effortlessly.
Hurry up already...!
The boss room was already filling with hot steam. But it was getting harder for me to breathe steadily too. My head spun slightly, but I couldn't stop. The vine boss still had fight left, thrashing wildly against the steam. No breaks allowed, or I'd be the one at a disadvantage.
I lost track of time in that hyper-focus, but I couldn't keep breathing out much longer. Mana left: about 7%. The pendant was slowly recovering some, or it'd be less.
Without the necklace, I'd have lost ages ago...
Whoooosh—thwack!
I casually grabbed the vine tentacle the boss swung. Limp, dehydrated, turned brittle brown. The boss looked spent too. No wonder—a dragon like me was barely hanging on in this stifling steam. A mere weed surviving this long was impressive.
I desperately wanted to drop polymorph and escape this steam cooker... but leaving a live enemy behind risked who-knows-what. So I endured inside.
"Hoo... Feels like I'm doing a lifetime's worth of saunas today."
"Kieeeek..."
Oh? Finally?
The vine boss let out a weird cry for the first time and went limp. The creepy wriggling tentacles all froze. No mana left to confirm with Dragon Breath, so I settled for Basic Elemental Magic: Fireball.
The fireball flew, dwindling slightly in the humidity, slammed into the vine boss, and seemed to catch—only for the extreme moisture to snuff it out like embers on dry wood.
Confirmation enough.
Part of the vine boss's body charred black. No reaction. Pain reflexes are near-involuntary, so yeah—dead.
"Gotta rest a bit..."
Deprived of oxygen in the dense hot steam, my brain was foggy. Dizzy, vision spinning and blurring, fingers trembling. Somehow I staggered to the door.
Anyone right outside would get burned.
"Seol-ah?"
"Huh? You got it?"
"Duh, who do you think I am?"
-The hunter did it!
-We're saved...!
The people Seol-ah evacuated erupted in cheers of joy.
"But uh, slight problem now..."
I explained the steam-filled room to Seol-ah, rambling incoherently from exhaustion. She got it anyway and prepped for my exit. I heard footsteps as she led people further out.
"Okay to open now!"
Slam.
Whoosh—!!!!
Massive steam burst outward. The scorching heat swapped for fresh air in seconds; a deep breath cleared my head. Ah, time to drop polymorph. Might run into monsters on exit, so save mana.
I reverted instantly to my 130cm girl form. Come to think of it, Seol-ah hadn't seen dragon form yet? Maybe this'll change how she looks at me.
Air cleared, Seol-ah rushed in, eyeing me sprawled on the floor and the withered vine boss alternately.
"Heh, whaddya think? Big bro's majesty on display."
"Whoaaa... So badass! Bro's the best!!"
Seol-ah pounced on me, hugging and petting wildly despite my exhaustion.
...Sigh, figures.
I lay there letting her pet away, resting. Not because the hugging felt comfy or anything.
Normally after a sauna, you gotta chug banana milk.
But this was inside a gate. No banana milk.
Banana milk...
Sad times.
"Huh? What's that?"
"What? Where!"
Banana milk could wait—work first. Seol-ah spotted something toward the boss, snapping my eyes open. Could be phase 2 signal, so I checked personally.
But no danger. What I saw was...
"A sword?"
From the center of the desiccated brown boss body, a fresh green-glowing sword. Shaped like woven grass blades.
Boss drop? Approaching closer triggered a familiar hologram.
◈ Sword brimming with vital energy, highly heat-resistant
◈ Can transform into bracelet form
◈ Steals life force from slashed targets and shares with wielder
Item confirmed. I grabbed the sword and test-swung at the air. Razor-sharp blade sliced the air cleanly. With life drain too, way handier than the useless Full Moon. And storage effect...
Willing it to become a bracelet, it responded, morphing into a perfect wrist fit. Admiring the cool bracelet, Seol-ah approached.
"Found this on the boss—is it a magistone?"
She held a potato-shaped crystal: a magistone. But green, not the usual purple.
"Thanks for finding it, but watch out—the vine boss might twitch."
"Psh, if it moves, I'll flatten it again!"
Not wrong, but plants can revive with water even when withered yellow. Better safe.
Anyway, this magistone? Looked normal aside from green. Staring brought another hologram.
◈ Magistone infused with vital energy. Contains far more potent power
"Normal magistones don't show info... Special item?"
Magistones pack huge energy, useful for tons of things—why the Hunter Association buys them up. One with even more power? Could power a house for a year or core a killer weapon.
"Sudden haul, but not bad."
"Ah...! Missed this bed!"
"That's my bed."
Seol-ah dove into my bed the second we got home—maybe sore from sleeping on stone. She rolled around a bit then passed out instantly.
...Fair enough for a non-awakened body gate-crashing like that.
I tucked her in properly and sat at the computer, logging into the gallery. It was flooded with gate talk, as expected.
"So the gate we got caught in was C-rank..."
Posts were all gate details or bashing the Hunter Association for leaving it a full day. They claimed dimensional instability prevented entry.
Lately, more unpredictable gate spawns...
Ominous vibe, but probably nothing. Time for business: gate rewards check.
First, the vitality magistone. Planning to eat if safe, so inspected it. No expertise, but can't munch unchecked.
Looked fine.
"Oh yeah, saved some dopamine hits too."
The B-rank magistone and fragment from the last B-gate, plus this C-special. Stocked to smash and chow all at once for max high. Crushed the three and scarfed 'em down.
Crunch, crunch.
Absorbed magistone mana.
Had to cram a B-rank, B-fragment, and C-special to hit 70%? If it wasn't worth it, I'd be pissed—
Dragon Heart has grown.
All stats +
Select one skill to enhance.
Acquired skill: C Familiar Summon Lv.1
Lesser Dragon...! That's what the extra push past hatchling needed! No wonder D-rank magistones weren't cutting it...
Nice stage-up bonuses, but not the point.
Size increased, right?
Dunno "lesser," but pre-adult stage maybe. Polymorph might feel cramped in tight spots now, but whatever—
Dash to the kitchen fridge, hand on head. Compare to old mark...!
Definitely taller? Eye level felt higher already.
"...What?"
Exact same as the old mark. In other words...
Still shorty status. Gotta call Seol-ah for high-shelf stuff.
"Nooooooo...!!"
World-shattering despair hit; I flopped dramatically to the floor.