Dragon Ride and Mystic Flames

"What's Mystic difficulty anyway?"

"Mystic difficulty...?"

"Oh, right. Ever since I turned into a dragon, it always sets to this difficulty."

Come to think of it, I'd seen the Mystic difficulty warnings so often that I'd gotten used to them and stopped paying attention. No problems so far, though. Kim Ha-yeon was B-rank; there was no way she'd struggle on Layer 3.

Typically, B-rank hunters were those who'd cleared up to around floor 30 of the Black Tower.

"What kind of difficulty is that...?! Is this really okay?"

I've been clearing it just fine, so what could go wrong? Besides, Mystic difficulty wasn't that big a deal.

"It's just overall a bit tougher."

Simply put, goblins spawn dozens of times more, goblin elites turn into cheat-level invincible zombies, and the environment gets way more brutal than normal mode. Sounds like hell, but it's not all bad.

"The rewards are better, too."

They drop stuff better than even known Hard rewards. Full Moon had popped up as early as Layer 1, after all. In the tutorial tower, the general consensus was that magistones dropped way better relative to the mobs. That alone hinted at how juicy the rewards were.

But spilling everything wouldn't be smart, so I just mentioned that magistones were a higher grade than normal difficulty.

"Huh... so F-grade magistones come out as D-grade... and D-grade as C-grade...?"

"Yep."

"Whoa... my head's spinning a bit."

Kim Ha-yeon, having heard the explanation, looked dazed as she folded and unfolded her fingers, doing the math. A moment later, she closed her eyes and murmured softly.

"You're gonna have to treat me to more burgers..."

"...?"

"Like ten a day... no, twenty!!!"

After that, Kim Ha-yeon launched into an impassioned speech about the size of the domestic burger market, but I ignored her and kept walking. Most of the magistones dropped ended up in my stomach anyway, so not much cash hit my account. Sure, I made good money elsewhere... but if I told her I was eating the magistones, her reaction would explode even more, so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I let it drop.

Looking around for the ents' habitat, I spotted a familiar wall instead of a nest. That was... the resistance camp NPCs from last time, right?

"Huh? Isn't this the dragon who helped our supply unit?"

As I approached the resistance camp and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠peeked at the entrance, one of the supply soldiers I'd helped on Layer 2 recognized me. Thanks to him, I got escorted straight to the commander's tent.

"Hm? ...Who might you two be?"

Pushing aside the tent flap, we found an elderly white-haired man looking up from a map spread across his desk. He didn't have the fiery passion of a young soldier, but he exuded the seasoned charisma of a veteran.

"...Supply soldier, is this your wife and kid? If you're here to waste my time, leave now."

What the—?

"Commander, these are the ones who helped the supply unit. We owe our lives to them."

"...Are you joking? This kid who looks barely ten years old is the one who helped the supply unit and vanished?"

A commander who didn't trust his own men? Isn't that too much? Kim Ha-yeon watched their argument with a puzzled expression, too.

As always, I whispered to Kim Ha-yeon for a quip.

"Not trusting his subordinates like that? Total commander fail."

"Weird. When I cleared it, they thanked me right away for the help...?"

Eh? Was this because of my height? Thinking about it, yeah—the commander's words, and he didn't hesitate to poke at my height complex.

"...That pisses me off."

Sure, my current height made "kid" a fair call, but I wouldn't forgive being called a brat! Time to show them my true self.

"...Polymorph!"

Now that I'd reached lesser dragon stage, my dragon form was bigger—using it inside the tent would collapse it for sure. But I didn't hesitate and canceled Polymorph.

"No way, she can really turn into a dragon...?!"

Starting with Kim Ha-yeon's gasp, everyone reacted in their own way.

"W-Wait! What's going on here?!"

"C-Commander, looks like you pissed off the dragon. Apologize to her now!!"

"Gah, the tent...! Sorry! We're sorry!"

Too late, NPC. And so, a house-sized black something appeared and vanished from the resistance camp.

"So.... What brings you here, Dragon?"

"Oh, right."

I'd come to help the tower NPCs for hidden rewards, but got pissed over nothing and wrecked their place instead. They could rebuild the tent, at least...

'Gonna be hard to win favor now...'

"I came to help, at first..."

The commander and supply soldier stared at me in stunned silence at my absurd answer.

"..."

"...Pardon?"

Yeah, no matter how I spun it, this was bad. Show up out of nowhere, smash their home, then demand rewards? Straight-up banditry. Hmm. Better build a little favor first and try again later. I turned to head off and find the ent habitat somewhere.

"Commander!! Comman— Gasp..."

A soldier rushing with news freaked out at the collapsed tent.

"The ents already attacked?!"

Uh... ents? Coming right to us?

"No.... But what's up? Ents?"

"The ents are attacking the camp right now. They never leave their habitat usually..."

"Damn, most soldiers aren't in fighting shape..."

Oh ho, perfect opportunity...!

"Ahem!"

"Uh.... Dragon? Something to say?"

"Heard you're short on fighters. I'll help out special-like."

"...If you're offering aid, we won't refuse."

Ignoring the commander's half-hearted reply, I shifted to dragon form to take off—

"Um.... Maybe."

"Yeah?"

It was Kim Ha-yeon who spoke. She looked like she wanted to ask a favor but clammed up after calling me.

"Could you... give me a ride?"

"Okay, hop on."

"No, not that!"

As I opened wide to charge breath, she waved frantically.

"Just kidding—your reaction's priceless."

"Thought my heart would stop..."

"But I've never carried anyone before. You sure?"

"It's fine. I've got magic."

Her sudden solemn tone and resolve caught me off guard. Was her dream to be a dragon rider?

"I'll fly safe as possible, so hold tight."

"Wheeee!"

Never imagined I'd carry someone on my back in this life. Anyway, I took off steadily, soaring over the ents and unleashing fierce flames. It was a massacre.

Tree giants like ents were extremely vulnerable to fire. Water, though—not so much.

As I lit up ents' heads with breath, Kim Ha-yeon sighed wistfully.

"Too bad. If I were a lightning mage, I'd just spear them from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up here."

"You tryna be No-Ming or something...?"

"Right? Totally that vibe."

Eh... doesn't No-Ming smash the dragon in phase 2? My growth had eased breath's mana drain, letting me keep up the super-effective fire-sprinkling tactic.

Kim Ha-yeon, who'd offered to help but wasn't doing much, started defending herself.

"Honestly, plant monsters and I don't match well."

"Figured. Just don't put out the fires I lit."

"...Got it."

Unfortunately, she couldn't shine this layer. At best, extinguishing the fire that spread from burning ents to the camp tents? That alone might earn big favor with the NPCs.

In the end, Layer 3 wrapped up with me just breathing fire from the air.

With the clear message up, I dove straight for the camp. Gotta grab extra rewards quick!

There was about an hour before ejection after clear, but this evil tower sometimes hid pieces that had to be found within that hour, so caution was key.

"Waaah! Slow down! Easy!"

Oh right, Kim Ha-yeon was riding. No saddle or gear to secure passengers.

Thinking about it, sudden moves could shake her off. Nearly yeeted her from the sky there.

Unfortunately, the NPCs' rewards on landing were the same junk as last time.

'No hidden piece...?'

Not every layer had one. Still, I scoured every corner just in case.

As exit time neared after a thorough search, Kim Ha-yeon spoke up.

"Wow. Never thought I'd have an experience like this."

Fair. Even I'd be thrilled riding a dragon.

Suddenly, it felt wrong sending her home empty-handed, even if she hadn't done much.

"Wait here a sec."

I rummaged my pouch of byproducts and magistones for something to give.

We'd agreed 100-0 beforehand, but sending her off with nothing felt heartless. As thanks for keeping me from boredom today, I dug around.

"Here, a gift."

Three shed scales from the fight and one ent byproduct. Recalling the black market price last time, three wouldn't fetch 200k won.

A B-rank clearing gates earned way more per job—costs were huge even with per-gate pay. Scales were pocket change by comparison.

"Huh...? We said 0% for me."

"Eh, you made it less boring. Take this."

Handing over nothing would've been too cold.

After parting, Kim Ha-yeon clutched the scales Lee Ha-neul gave her and headed straight home. Warmth emanated from them in her palm. This felt familiar somehow.

Kim Ha-yeon had loved novels since childhood, so a vague sense of déjà vu hit her.

She'd read a few romance fantasies. One setting stuck out...

Dragons gave scales to their most precious person. Or even... as a mate.

"W-Wait...!"

Calm down. Lee Ha-neul was her longtime game friend. Online or not.

Right. That expression couldn't mean that.

"Then what...?"

Still, the intense feeling from first holding the scale lingered. Like she cradled something immense.

To check, she lifted one scale for a closer look.

"Sniiff..."

Natural instinct—just sniffing to figure it out.

But what she smelled was shocking.

"...What the—?!"

No clue why, but it smelled like sun-dried blankets—cozy and comforting. Inhaling softened her heart.

...Addictive as hell.

"N-No. This is too dangerous..."

Suppressing the urge to pet Lee Ha-neul, she set the scale on the table. Dangerous stuff like this... check occasionally.

It was a gift; tossing it felt wrong. Anyway, time to sell the ent byproduct. She logged into the hunter auction site.

Searching ent prices, she spotted a weird auction title.

...Didn't she say not a penny? Kim Ha-yeon stared at the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠three scales on the table, baffled.

"What the hell is this...?"