Dragon's Body
Lim Dojun felt his body changing the moment the notification appeared.
Heart, bones, blood vessels, nerves, muscles, flesh.
The dragon's energy began to seep into every element that made up his physique.
“Kugh···.”
A wave of pain so intense that his body trembled passed through him in an instant.
Once the pain faded, Lim Dojun realized his body had transformed dramatically.
Outwardly it looked the same, yet its strength was entirely different.
Not only had every physical action grown stronger, but even his mana control had improved.
Lim Dojun checked the skills section of his status window.
‘This is the result of obtaining 0.23% of the Dragon's Body?’
He could hardly believe it.
Then what would happen if he reached 100%?
Lim Dojun spent a long time afterward moving around and casting magic to test himself. The results confirmed he had become far stronger than before.
However, not everything was good.
“The rate at which my body is stiffening has also accelerated···.”
Learning Barkmong-style Mana Control had greatly slowed the stiffening process.
Yet after obtaining the Dragon's Body, the side effects of the Crystal Dragon's Will seemed to have intensified as well. The speed at which his limbs froze had increased, albeit slightly.
‘There is no solution for now. I need to accumulate more Achievement Points or learn a better mana control technique.’
Because the Dragon's Body skill had appeared, he had gained additional Achievement Points. He now had two in total.
It seemed he would need to accept a mission and head outside soon.
He had to achieve greater accomplishments to earn more points.
‘I need to obtain ancient dragon-style magic records, dragon bones, or at least build some reputation.’
If he stayed holed up in his room training, he had no idea when his limbs might stiffen again.
He would have to visit his master soon.
-Rustle
After that, Lim Dojun pulled out the swordsmanship manual.
The secret sword art of the fallen swordsmanship family, the Rodonos House.
‘This must be the technique used by the man I fought.’
He had heard the masked noblewoman mage shout “Young Master.”
She seemed to have come to reclaim her family's legacy. Having fought her directly, he had experienced the power of that swordsmanship firsthand.
‘It is an excellent sword art, incomparable to something like Jiren-style Combat Art.’
Jiren-style Combat Art was a fairly decent technique distributed by the Korean military to the Special Counter-Abnormal Team, but it could not be compared to the secret art of a noble house.
Lim Dojun read through the manual carefully.
When he had first encountered magic, none of it made sense, but this he could somewhat understand.
The principles of handling mana in his body that he had used during his military days were embedded in the swordsmanship, along with far more advanced principles.
You have learned the skill ‘Rodonos Secret Swordsmanship (First Half)’.
Once he finished reading, the knowledge that had been vaguely crammed into his mind spread out, and a complete understanding settled in.
Moreover, that knowledge merged with what he already possessed.
The skills ‘Jiren-style Combat Art’, ‘Rodonos Secret Swordsmanship (First Half)’, and ‘Dragonian Basic Combat Art’ have been influenced by the Dragon's Body.
The three skills are being integrated.
You have acquired the skill ‘Dragonian Intermediate Combat Art’.
Lim Dojun savored the new knowledge floating in his mind for a while.
* * *
-Shhhk
Lim Dojun emerged from the capsule after ending his connection.
He had spent nearly all his time in the other world, but he had something to do today.
A text message from Park Daecheol of Happy Service.
He had asked him to look into why the Crystal Dragon had suddenly appeared, and it seemed the information gathering was complete.
Although he could have called, he needed to go out anyway, so Lim Dojun replied that he would visit later.
Afterward, he put on a hat and mask and stepped outside.
Normally it did not matter since no one would recognize him, but the place he was going today might coincidentally have someone who knew him, so he was being cautious.
“Please take me to the National Cemetery.”
He got into a taxi and gave the destination.
His mood felt unsettled the entire ride.
The feeling persisted even as he got out and walked through the massive cemetery entrance.
He had thought he would come back someday, but he had never imagined he would be able to come with a fully healed body.
-Step, step
He walked slowly until he arrived.
.
.
Lim Dojun stared at the several gravestones for a long time.
“···I’m here.”
Five years ago.
Special Counter-Abnormal Team 2, dispatched to stop the Crystal Dragon.
Lim Dojun had managed to hold the dragon back but lost the use of all his limbs except his right arm, and every single team member had died.
“Congratulate me. Last time I came in a wheelchair. Now I’m all better. Well, almost? I’m on borrowed time, so I have to struggle as hard as I can. Life really isn’t easy.”
Lim Dojun plopped down on the spot and began taking out soju and paper cups from a plastic bag to pour drinks.
Right after barely surviving five years ago, he had visited here exactly once.
Back then, he had needed someone to push his wheelchair and pour the soju for him.
He had hated that situation so much, and hated the reality that all his subordinates had died while he alone survived, so he had not come since.
“I used to make excuses that I was a disabled person stuck in a corner and couldn’t come, right? But that was just an excuse. If I had wanted to come, I could have found a way.”
He could have asked Director Kim Eunju, and even without that, he could have managed somehow, but he simply had not wanted to.
Coming here brought back old memories, and that had been too painful.
“Still, I should have come to see you all at least once a year. I’m sorry. I guess the guilt of being the only one who survived got to me.”
-Glug, glug, glug
“Kuh. It’s bitter.”
He filled a paper cup to the brim with soju and poured it straight into his mouth.
“Still, I tried hard to keep my mental state together. I consoled myself with the fact that I was receiving a good pension and had achieved my lifelong dream of becoming part of the FIRE movement. I thought I was maintaining a cheerful personality pretty well, but maybe I was actually falling into depression.”
He had deliberately kept his thoughts of his colleagues at a distance.
That way, the misery of being the sole survivor had felt a little more bearable.
But thinking about it now, that had been the avoidance of a coward.
“I should have faced you all with courage. Only then could my mind have been fully healed. I realized that far too late.”
Now that he could walk again, had regained his strength, and had gained hope that he could recover completely.
Only then had Lim Dojun found the courage to come see his old comrades.
After that, he spent a long time looking at the gravestones and talking about the past.
His recent situation, the missions they had carried out together during their military days, pointless jokes···
Then he checked the time, brushed off his pants, and stood up.
“Oh no. I’m late. I have plans later, so I’ll head out for today. I’ll come more often from now on.”
Lim Dojun smiled with a refreshed expression.
As he turned his back and walked away with light steps, the sun shone behind his head.
The first day he had fully faced his past.
Of course, considering all the times he had not come until now, he would need to visit much more frequently, but for the moment his heart felt warm and cozy.
* * *
After meeting his former subordinates, Lim Dojun headed toward a back alley in Jongno.
‘I should ask if it’s time to move offices.’
The back alley streets were so rough that every time he came, he was met with wary glances from locals toward outsiders.
Wouldn’t it be better to move the office rather than keep seeing that every time?
“Welcome, Hyung-nim!”
The tattooed giant who had been thoroughly scolded last time spotted Lim Dojun from afar and came running over in a hurry, bowing deeply.
“Why am I your Hyung-nim?”
“If you’re my Hyung-nim’s Hyung-nim, then you’re my Hyung-nim too!”
“······.”
At those words, spoken with an even deeper bow, Lim Dojun fell silent.
He had felt the same way with Park Daecheol. Even if he told them not to, they clearly would not listen.
“Just guide me. Is Representative Park here?”
“Yes. He’s waiting for you, Hyung-nim.”
Lim Dojun climbed the creaking stairs to the Happy Service office.
“Hyung-nim. You’ve arrived.”
“Yes. Did you find anything out?”
Lim Dojun got straight to the point.
Under normal circumstances he would have exchanged some light conversation first, but after visiting his comrades today, he was not in the mood.
Park Daecheol sensed Lim Dojun’s state and also straightened his posture, becoming more serious.
“First of all, the part you suspected was indeed strange. There was no report of a gate conquest failure before the Crystal Dragon appeared.”
Gates that suddenly appeared in modern Earth one day.
If a gate was not cleared within a certain time, the monsters inside would erupt into reality.
The society that first experienced this situation fell into extreme chaos, but it soon calmed down.
With the development of gate generation detectors and the appearance of natural Awakeners and Returnees, most gates were cleared shortly after they formed.
However, some high-difficulty gates failed to be cleared. In those cases, the gate’s core would be stimulated, greatly accelerating the eruption of monsters inside.
That was why any failed conquest had to be reported by law.
Only then could stronger hunters attempt a re-clearance, or the military could be deployed outside to prepare for a monster eruption.
“There was no report of a failed conquest?”
“Yes. They might have simply failed to report it, but the penalties are extremely severe, so I don’t think that’s what happened···I don’t know the exact reason. Whether someone deliberately didn’t report it, or···.”
“Or whether someone intentionally released the Crystal Dragon?”
“···It’s possible to suspect that. The probability is extremely low, at the level of a conspiracy theory.”
Lim Dojun’s gaze grew cold.
Was it really a coincidence that a monster on the level of the Crystal Dragon had appeared in Korea, and so suddenly at that?
It might be paranoia, but the thought kept turning over in his mind.
What if this had happened because of someone’s intention?
What if the incident that killed his comrades and left him disabled had actually involved artificial interference?
‘No matter what else, I can never let that slide.’
“It’s not certain. That’s why I tried to look into it, and there happened to be some suitable people. They’re members of a group called the Black Tiger Gang who were in the area where the Crystal Dragon is believed to have appeared. They survived that chaos and moved to Jongno.”
The Paju area where the Crystal Dragon had appeared had been half-destroyed by the aftermath of the battle at the time.
There had been many casualties, and many people had moved away. Criminal organizations were no exception.
They too had no choice but to relocate if they wanted to keep operating.
“If it’s the Black Tiger Gang, they had a pretty tight grip on Paju, so they might know something unofficially. I asked around, but···these guys wouldn’t open their mouths even when offered payment for information.”
“Why? Because the money wasn’t enough?”
“It’s not that the amount was insufficient. They want us to help them with something instead.”
“What kind of help?”
“Drug distribution. That’s the business they’re trying to start fresh in Jongno, and they want me to connect them with my network. In exchange, they’ll give us the information.”
“······.”
“I’ve put all negotiations on hold for now. After meeting you, Hyung-nim, I swore I would never get involved in anything illegal. But···if you want, I can try negotiating further.”
Park Daecheol was willing to do even illegal things if Lim Dojun asked.
After all, the man had saved his life.
But Lim Dojun shook his head.
“There’s no need to go that far. You’ve worked hard. I’ll handle the rest myself. Just tell me where those guys are.”
He had plenty of experience dealing with that kind of scum since his military days.
It was time to move in his old style again.
* * *
The organization known as the Black Tiger Gang.
After being forced to relocate their territory to Jongno because of a natural disaster-level monster, they had absorbed several other groups along the way and grown larger.
They had now established themselves as a fairly large organization even in Jongno, and all that remained was to begin their operations in earnest.
Chichichik!
-Kuaaaak!
-D-Do you even know where this is···Kugh!
-H-Hyung-nim! This is the first floor! We have an intruder!
A commotion broke out at the Black Tiger Gang’s headquarters.
When screams and requests for backup came through the radio, the action captain, Lee Deokchun, frowned.
“Hah! We’re about to start distribution···I need to see the face of whatever bastard came to congratulate us on our opening.”
They were at a busy time with their full-scale business launch just around the corner, yet this kind of disturbance had to happen.
Whoever it was, he had no intention of letting them leave in one piece.
Lee Deokchun immediately got into the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor.
-Ding!
The elevator stopped on the first floor and the doors opened.
“······?!”
The first thing that caught his eye was the sight of the entire first floor frozen solid, along with his subordinates.
And in the middle of it all stood Lim Dojun with his hands still in his pockets, radiating cold air.