Ecosystem Construction (2)
“Dragon, can’t you talk?”
Why is it strange to speak...
What reached his ears was the cry of birds.
Yet what rang in his mind was a human voice.
...Telepathy?
“Dragon, you’re really foolish. It’s an inheritance, of course. If you have spiritual nature, anyone can speak.”
Spiritual nature?
“Mm-hm. Can’t you, little dragon?”
It was a look full of smug superiority.
...Is there any need to?
It did not matter.
Even crows could talk.
A thought drifted through him: I’m a dragon, so I’ll probably manage it later.
“Dragon, you really aren’t thinking this through.”
The crow only moved its wings slightly in the air, yet somehow it remained fixed in one place like a hummingbird.
Why do you say I’m not thinking?
He was truly curious.
Why did it keep calling him a foolish beast?
Fortunately, the bird before him seemed to have been itching to speak. The moment he asked, it launched into a rapid-fire explanation.
“Because, dragon, you’ve laid down a suspicious formation that looks strong at a glance right at the entrance. It sticks out too much. Just being attached to the body of a little yokai like that is enough to get you in, but if a yokai with even a little spiritual nature sees it, they’ll think it’s suspicious, charge in... and then come running at the sight of a dragon, drooling all the while.”
It seemed to be talking about the barrier at the entrance.
At the same time, Dohyun realized how this bird had slipped inside without being noticed.
The barrier reacted to hostile intent.
Anything that did not pose a threat could pass through.
He turned to the goblin and asked, Goblin. Did you not see it?
The goblin standing nearby wore a troubled expression.
For a first-stage creature, its emotions were unusually easy to read.
Apparently that was because it had become real.
“I, Heok-o, am pretty smart, you know. I slipped in perfectly hidden, so hidden those little yokai never noticed me.”
It spoke with obvious pride, then suddenly lowered its voice, and the mood shifted.
“But listen, dragon. No, more precisely... a dragon with the bloodline of a foolish dragon mixed in.”
With the bird’s softly lowered voice, Dohyun got the strange feeling that darkness itself was settling thinly around it.
An ominous sensation.
That crow was a cursed thing.
Still, curious, he asked, Why... is that dangerous?
And when did it start sticking the word “foolish” in front of everything?
His mood soured for no good reason.
“I know. According to the knowledge of our race, humans hunted down every bloodline of the foolish dragons in the world. If you stay like this, you’ll be hunted someday too.”
“Kraaa!”
Why do you keep saying “foolish” this and “foolish” that? Why?
“Because that’s what your dragon bloodline is.”
Fortunately, the frustration passed quickly.
The crow called Heok-o never stopped talking.
“I’m a clever spiritual beast who gains knowledge through bloodline. All the wisdom of thousands of generations of ancestors is inside me. The foolish dragon is something humans covet because it cultivates and grows itself to become stronger... something the human immortals are after.”
As it spoke, Heok-o flapped up and landed on the sphere of the core.
At that instant, Dohyun felt a chill run down his spine.
The core was his life, his beginning and end.
Standing there was no different from holding someone’s life in your hand.
“Immortals build forests and devour the bloodlines of foolish dragons that nurture life. Destruction is easier than cultivation, after all. Even if a foolish dragon was destroyed, it would make itself again, and nurture itself again.”
Immortals...?
He did not understand why so-called good people would devour dragons.
“Immortals? Not good people, immortals. They’re incredible. Efficient, smart. I want to become like an immortal too.”
Heok-o rattled on about immortals.
The lords of each region were beings like immortals, and with a mere gesture they could bring down mountains, split rivers, and overturn seas.
It told him stories of all sorts of immortals and the things they did.
As he listened, the corners of Dohyun’s mouth stiffened.
Most of those stories were about destruction.
Violent, self-righteous, free, arrogant, and cruel beings.
From a human perspective, they were a race that was violent and arrogant and considered itself the law.
As it spoke of such people, admiration lingered in Heok-o’s eyes.
Dohyun had a passing thought that the crow might be a creature much like its own feathers.
Immortals, huh...
A genre surfaced in Dohyun’s mind.
First, it was martial arts fiction.
He reached a conclusion quickly.
If martial arts meant fists shattering mountains, swords severing rivers, and crossing seas, then the immortals Heok-o spoke of sounded so much more extravagant that this world felt even more exaggerated than martial arts fiction.
And most important of all, in such stories...
Humans and lifespan were different.
If he gathered these pieces of information, he could figure out what this place was in no time.
Xianxia.
In truth, the moment immortals and yokai appeared, it already felt similar to the Xianxia novels he had read in his previous life.
In those worlds, humans called immortals were the kind of beings who would not blink even at wiping out an entire race if it made them stronger.
...This isn’t hard mode. This is hell.
Heok-o, who had been speaking in a whisper, gave him a meaningful look.
“I like foolish dragons. Especially little dragons. There’s a special kind of foolishness among foolish dragons.”
Why...?
“Because I’m wise. It’s easier to grow when I’m beside a foolish dragon.”
...But didn’t you say humans eat them for cultivation?
“They have short lives. If you’re wise, eating them is efficient.”
That’s ridiculous.
He understood what it meant, at least. It was just that the thought process of the humans here felt far too short-sighted.
Heok-o’s attitude made him feel as though a blade had been pressed to a vital point.
Unable to suppress his irritation, he said, Can you at least get down from there before you talk?
The crow tilted its head, flapping as if it had no idea what he meant.
Seeing that, he felt that if it did not know manners, then he ought to teach it some.
“Foolish dragon. Even though I can barely sense the dragon bloodline in you, to create an environment like this... I’ll admit, your ability is real.”
Heok-o lightly took off again and rose into the air.
Quiet, swift.
It had the look of an assassin.
If it had been aiming for the core alone, could he have stopped it?
...No.
In his current state, probably not.
He needed to put some distance between them.
Standing beside the core, Dohyun felt a little more at ease, but he did not let Heok-o out of his sight.
The crow showed no wariness toward Dohyun at all, nor any fixation on the core.
Instead of the core, it was watching the dungeon energy connected to it.
“Now I think I see why immortals like foolish dragons.”
...Immortals, huh. It doesn’t seem like they’d have any business here anyway.
Looking at the surrounding terrain, there was nowhere that humans would come to.
“They’ll come here someday. Humans are smart. Even if the foolish dragons disappear, they’ll find places where there are still those with half of a quarter of the bloodline left... or even less than that.”
What if I hide well?
“Would that work? The result will be the same. The immortals will find this place someday. Early on... within a few years. At the latest, before you grow up.”
Really?
Dohyun responded lightly, without trying to shut it down.
There was no need to clamp the mouth of a friendly source of information.
“The bloodline of foolish dragons grows slowly. They focus on making things first, so humans won’t wait until you’re fully grown.”
In other words, he would be discovered no matter what before then.
On the other hand...
And you’re saying you’ll wait? You think I can hold out?
The creature before him was a question in itself.
“I have a long life, so I don’t need to eat foolish dragons! And right now, too...”
Dungeon energy gathered as if seeping into the small bird’s body.
After inhaling the spiritual energy, Heok-o half-closed its eyes.
“This clear spiritual energy, this safe place. With just this, I can grow and become a divine beast.”
In other words, it meant to make this place its hideout. Though that also meant it was a tenant who might share his final end.
Even knowing that, Dohyun said calmly, So you’re planning to settle into my house.
“Yep, foolish little dragon. Take good care of me.”
Its face was as shameless as its black feathers.
It spoke familiarly, but no matter how he looked at it, Dohyun could tell that this crow was not the kind of thing that chose “its own side.”
It was the kind that chose whichever side would become its own.
It would leave the instant things turned against him.
Even so...
Fine...
He reluctantly allowed it.
The more dangerous something was, the better it was kept where he could see it.
Calculations arranged themselves in his mind.
The value of the information, the response if it betrayed him.
It had no interest in the core, and Dohyun was weak.
He needed information about the immortals.
...It still would not be dangerous yet.
Then Heok-o added casually, “Oh, right. A black pig was targeting this place.”
A black pig?
“Yep. It seems those little yokai were rampaging in its territory and angered it. While tracking them, it looks like it found this place.”
Territory...?
At that word, he thought of the strange monster beasts he had seen in this place, each staying within a fixed range.
What do you mean by that?
“Well, the black pig isn’t an idiot yokai.”
What?
Then it came.
He received a signal from Jo, who had gone out hunting as a warning.
Dohyun immediately opened the external field of view in the interface.
Then...
Thud!
The ground shook visibly, and the goblins staggered before pressing themselves flat against the earth to endure it.
A massive shadow, covered in dirt and dust, looked down on them.
In the trembling field of view...
That thing is...
The black pig.
Compared with the monsters from other territories, its body was large, but blunt and heavy even beside the goblins.
He had judged it to be of no particular threat.
At least, until now.
In its own territory, too,
it had been safe to hunt and gather there.
But now the thing was looking at the fallen goblins and clearly grinning.
That look in its eyes...
That was not the lazy pig they had seen before.
Dohyun realized he knew nothing about this black-skinned pig.
And he realized, too, that the forest was a merciless arena where one must never let down one’s guard.
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