This is Making the Dragon Curious Again?
"Alright, now that we're done here, you all can go. I've got some private talk with my little bro."
Jermad waved his hand dismissively, issuing an order to clear the room. At his words, Saintess Liane was the first to stand, bowing politely.
"I'm truly honored to have forged a bond with the great ancient dragon. I look forward to our future dealings, Jermad-nim."
"Yeah, yeah, little saintess. Make sure you put in a good word for me with your god."
Liane smiled brightly. "Of course. Until next time."
Shwoosh—her figure dissolved into a pleasant swirl of light particles.
The others followed suit, their faces flushed with excitement at having connected with a great dragon. The Tower Master was the most thrilled among them.
"W-well then, I'll take my leave too, Jermad-nim. If I may humbly ask... when might you have time to look over my magic?"
"Hm, just wait. I'll contact you when the time comes. Quietly gather your materials in the meantime."
"Understood! Jermad-nim!!"
The alchemist, elf elder, and Tower Master each bid their farewells and exited one by one. Finally, the bustling round table conference room was left with just me and Jermad.
"Now that the annoying ones are gone, let's move spots. I wanna show you my lair anyway."
"Oh? Can we really go to your lair?"
At my question, Jermad snapped his fingers in the air a few times.
"It's not like we're going there—we can tweak the environment however the room host wants in these video chat rooms. Down to the tiniest details."
Pop!—In an instant, the medieval round table backdrop warped and shifted into an entirely new space.
A massive cavern so vast its ceiling vanished into darkness. And filling its floor: mountains of gold coins, jewels, and all sorts of rare magic items.
It was a jaw-dropping scale. This was a dragon's nest.
But more attention-grabbing than the nest itself was the redheaded beauty lounging languidly atop the gold pile at its center, legs crossed—Jermad.
"How's that? Killer, right?"
"……."
Yes. Deadly, in more ways than one.
I stole a glance at big sis Jermad and averted my eyes. No matter that her true nature was a millennia-old dragon, the shell in front of me was an insanely hot woman. Being alone with her in a place like this felt... weird.
Why go out of her way to polymorph into a chick and mess with me like this?
Of course, it beat being stuck alone with a bearded old man by a mile.
As I entertained these idle thoughts, Jermad—propped on her elbow amid the gold—gazed at me seriously and spoke.
"You need to prepare thoroughly, little bro."
"Huh?"
"This community update. It reacted to the changes in your world and updated alongside it, right?"
"Yeah. You saw it happen."
"Yeah. So I dug into some old records... and it turns out your world's doom might come way sooner than I thought."
"What?"
Last time, he'd said even the ancient Ereinia continent had held out for 2,000 years against the disaster.
"Didn't you say it could last about 2,000 years back then?"
Jermad let out a small sigh at my question.
"Nah, I mulled it over... and no matter how I slice it, you guys are screwed."
"Why?"
"When the world-ending Blue Spear showed up back then, Ereinia had exactly thirteen ancient-grade dragons. Plus, even if not a dragon, there was this lunatic human called the Hero—one of the strongest in the human realm."
"Hero?"
"Yeah. The kind of freak who could go toe-to-toe with an ancient-grade dragon one-on-one with no guaranteed winner, and take down three or four adult dragons even if they ganged up."
"R-really?"
A human soloing four dragons? Such a thing existed?
"But think about it. Even with that overpowered Hero and thirteen ancient dragons, they only lasted 2,000 years. Sure, the human Hero's short lifespan meant constantly training successors, which was a hassle. Still, it was insane firepower."
I asked cautiously. "You're ancient-grade, right, sis?"
"Yup, obviously. Right now, there are only about four ancient-grades left on Ereinia, including me."
Hold up. One absurdly strong Hero and thirteen ancient dragons... and that only bought 2,000 years? Then Earth?
Earth's supposed strongest, Bill Kent, gets winded after one missile punch. No calculator needed.
"What about us?"
"That's the tricky part. I don't know your world's exact power level. Or how strong your top guy is. I'd need that to estimate how many years you can hold out..."
"Figuring that out takes time."
"Exactly the problem."
Jermad rose and approached me.
"The hierarchy jump is more serious than it seems. The Blue Spear won't wait. Right now, those 'gates' in your world—the rifts to the Demonic Realm—will keep multiplying, and the monsters inside will get stronger. Overcoming that's priority one."
"And if we can't?"
"It might scrap your 'livestock' status altogether."
Scrap the livestock? What?
"Scrap us? Then what happens?"
"What happens when you dump pampered livestock into the wild?"
The analogy hit home instantly. Sure, some animals adapt and thrive, but that's rare. Dump house pets into the untamed wild with no fences? Nine times out of ten, predators rip them apart.
"If you're worthless, the Blue Spear abandons you without mercy. The moment it deems your dimension unworthy of farming, the system yanks its rewards and rules. That's a different kind of doom."
"Got it."
Massacres by uncontrolled gate monsters once the system pulls its oversight. Earth stalls growth, gets discarded.
"How do you know all this? You didn't live through that era."
"Records left by the ancient Dragon Lord. The one who reached the 'Primal Dragon' realm—only two in Ereinia's long history ever did."
Primal Dragon, huh. Whatever monster that was, things were way more urgent than I'd thought.
"Anyway, you need to decide."
"Me?"
"Yeah. You're the only one in your dimension who can access this multidimensional community. That makes you the sole lifeline to save your world from doom."
"Haa... heavy responsibility."
As I sighed, Jermad clapped my shoulder.
"That's right, little bro. You gotta live to protect my desserts, yeah? I won't just sit idle, so don't freak out."
So it is about the desserts in the end.
"What should I do first, then?"
Jermad pointed to where my Dragon Heart was implanted.
"I'd love to power you up right now, but dragons grow strong on their own. I can teach technical stuff like Dragon Words interpretation or spell formulas, but growing that heart inside you? That's all on you."
Grow the heart myself.
"Oh, I've been learning martial arts for that. To get stronger."
"Oh yeah? Solid choice. Those Murim arts from the Central Plains are one of the most efficient ways for humans to power-level fast. Should stimulate and grow your heart nicely."
"You tried them too, sis?"
"Sure, tinkered with 'em when I was bored. Most are tuned for human bodies, so they didn't fit a dragon like me—ditched 'em halfway."
Wait. Tuned for humans, didn't fit dragons?
"Ah! Right, sis—I've got this martial art I picked up. Folks from that world's Murim say it's a legend: made by a dragon ascending to heaven."
Jermad's expression turned strange.
"What? Dragon?"
"Seven Dragons Eight Trigrams Spear. Humans there can't learn it. But with my heart and Dragon Words, I picked it up no problem."
The moment she heard that, Jermad's beautiful eyes slit vertically, gleaming with reptilian intensity.
"……."
Ah, sis. Don't do that. Human face with lizard eyes is scary as hell.
"This is piquing the dragon's curiosity again? A martial art made by a Central Plains dragon? Let me see it."
At her chin flick, I stood, loosening up. Not reality, but her lair had spears scattered around, and qi circulation worked too.
I picked one up. "This okay?"
"Obviously. 'Ignar'—pretty good spear. Made from my bone."
"Ah...?"
Her bone? Felt weird, but it fit my hand perfectly.
"This feels too real. No way it's actual, right?"
"Chat room settings make it realistic. If it were real, you'd be ash before touching it—infused with my flames."
"Ah...?"
This sis knows the community functions better than me, somehow. Living in a world without internet...
I gripped the spear and took stance.
"I haven't mastered it all, but basically, I draw qi like this, from dantian through the heart and meridians..."
I slowly demonstrated the unique mana circulation of the Seven Dragons Eight Trigrams Spear.
As moves connected, Jermad's gaze shook more with each one. Her crossed arms loosened, mouth slowly agape.
And as I unleashed the only technique I could—the First Form, Coiled Dragon Emerges—
BOOM!!
Gold coins flew everywhere, punching a hole in the lair wall.
Whatever, it's not real.
"……."
I caught my breath post-demo. "How's that, sis?"
Instead of answering, Jermad stared blankly at the hole. Finally, in a trembling, incredulous voice:
"Th-this is...!?"