The Dragon's Slumber is Broken

The Phoenix is a mythical creature that, when it grows old or is mortally wounded and near death, throws itself into lava to burn its body and rise again with a new one! In other words, this crater was the Phoenix's home. To think that Akisus would be standing right in front of its crater—how terrified it must have been!

'Are you subtly trash-talking Akisus lately?'

"Kee-et! Kee-et!"

"What is it saying?"

He wasn't sure, but it sounded a lot like "get lost."

"...But I only came to get a feather."

Whoosh! Before he could even finish his sentence, the Phoenix shot a feather. The Phoenix's feathers slammed into the ground right in front of Tae-hyun.

"Kee-et!"

'Alright, I get it. Stop translating.'

Could it really be resolved this easily? Tae-hyun was a bit taken aback, but he quietly pocketed the feathers first. It was always a good thing when a quest was resolved easily. He had no intention of fighting the Phoenix anyway. Even if he killed it, it would just resurrect, and this wasn't exactly an ideal place for a battle...

When Tae-hyun showed signs of backing away, the Phoenix actually looked bewildered.

"Kyeet? You're really backing off? Did you seriously only come to get feathers? Are you really Akisus?"

'...What's wrong with it?'

"Kee-ee-et. Kyeet. Kee-ee-et."

Realizing that Tae-hyun was truly planning to leave, the Phoenix cried out in a much softer, gentler tone.

'Why? What did it say?'

Carbanog conveyed the Phoenix's words in a flustered tone. It was telling him to run for his life if he wanted to live.

'That's basically the same as telling me to back off. I was going to leave anyway, so what...'

Was it because of a volcanic eruption? Tae-hyun's first thought was the volcano. But unless this was near a city, this was a remote volcanic region at the southern tip of the mountain range. If it erupted, he could just fly away and escape without taking much damage.

"...!!!!"

A what dragon???

Red Dragons were famous for having the worst tempers among all dragons. Unlike the kind and diligent Gold Dragons, or the insidious and filthy Black Dragons, they were pure, unadulterated anger-management-disorder dragons! If one saw adventurers loitering around its territory, it would fly into a rage instantly.

'...I need to get the hell out of here, fast.'

"Thanks."

"Kee-ee-et."

The Phoenix nodded. It had been tense because he was Akisus, but surprisingly, the guy was quite reasonable.

"Hmm. By the way, do you happen to have any interest in making a trade—"

"Kee-ee-et!"

The Phoenix quickly spun around and vanished into the crater. *Splash!*

It had almost let its guard down! It knew how dangerous it was to have a prolonged conversation with Akisus...!

"...I was actually planning to make a fair trade without scamming it..."

Among the players who didn't follow Tae-hyun and moved elsewhere, there were also looter players.

"I'm telling you, my gut is screaming. There's definitely something in this cave. It looks way too perfect to have been formed naturally, don't you think?"

"I just hope we aren't wasting our time..."

"!!!"

"!!!!!"

As they stepped inside the cave, an incredibly massive corridor suddenly opened up before them! With its ornate carvings and meticulously polished walls, this was absolutely not a natural cave. The looter players cheered.

"This is huge!!"

"What is this place??"

"I don't know what it is, but there's definitely something here! Turn on the stream!"

"Is it okay to stream this?"

"Even if they watch, they won't be able to find where we are anyway! Let's go!"

Excited, the looter players turned on their streams and began to run. Since they were doing a completely different quest in the Kaf Volcanic Region compared to everyone else, curious viewers flocked to their channels in droves.

The looter players grinned with satisfaction at the flood of reactions. This was exactly what they wanted!

'If we find the Phoenix before Kim Tae-hyun does...'

'If we get the feather, are we going to give it to Kim Tae-hyun?'

'Are you insane? Of course we milk it for all it's worth...'

The looter players ran forward in high spirits. Suddenly, the corridor ahead of them came to an abrupt end, and a massive ruin revealed itself.

If it had been Tae-hyun, he would have thought, 'Whoa, something's fishy here!' and immediately backstepped. However, these looter players were incredibly foolhardy. Without giving it a second thought, they stepped inside.

"Are there no monsters?"

"Yeah, weird. Why is it completely empty?"

"Ah, you guys talk way too much. Just wait! I'm doing it right now."

The looter players grumbled at their viewers as they wandered around. Despite the grand name and the massive bonuses, there was strangely nothing in the vicinity.

"There are quite a few rooms. Should we check them out?"

"Don't just open things blindly when we don't even know what this place is. If there's a trap, we're in deep trouble. We need to map out the layout first—"

"Who are you to order me around? I'm opening it."

"Why, you little..."

The looter players bickered and fell apart in an instant. There was absolutely no sense of teamwork among them.

Clack—

"I-Is this treasure?!"

One of the players opening doors had luckily stumbled upon treasure! At that, the eyes of the other looter players lit up.

'Was this place... just a treasure vault??'

An untouched treasure vault! A vault with no traps and no monsters—it was the ultimate dream of every Pangaea Online player.

One of the players who had opened a room noticed something strange. In the center ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of a massive chamber stood a large, rounded mound, and atop it rested an impressive-looking red stone tablet.

"Hey, what's this?"

"Looks like a stone tablet. What does it say?"

"Just take it. Take it!"

A massive red stone tablet. They had no idea what it meant, but they could guess it would fetch a high price.

"Is there no Phoenix around? Or maybe an egg?"

"Didn't they say the Phoenix comes out of lava?"

"That's for the fully grown ones. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Maybe the chicks hatch from eggs."

"True..."

The looter players continued their search with racing hearts. If they could actually find a Phoenix egg, they might be able to boss Tae-hyun around later!

But they were too late.

"???"

"What?!"

The looter players, who had been happily packing away loot, were thrown into a panic by the news. Tae-hyun had already found the Phoenix, secured the feathers, and was now leading the players to withdraw from the volcanic region!

"Hey, we can still grab more—"

"Are you crazy? What if the monsters respawn?"

The only reason the volcanic region was currently safe was because Tae-hyun had led the players to completely sweep the area. If the monsters started respawning, they would be trapped!

"Damn it. We need to get out of here, fast."

"We should've piggybacked on Kim Tae-hyun's quest..."

"Hey, at least we got some treasure."

Little did they know the true nature of what they had taken! The red stone tablet was actually the tombstone of the Red Dragon's father.

Normally, a dragon's lair would be heavily guarded by countless guardians. If they couldn't overcome intruders, they would wake their sleeping master to stop them. However, all those guardians were currently missing from this lair. They had been affected by the volcano's first rumble earlier, ventured outside to fight, and had been completely wiped out!

It was a stroke of incredible luck... No, looking at the ultimate outcome, it was a stroke of catastrophic misfortune. What dragon in the world would ever let someone slide after they plundered treasure from its very nest?

"You all worked hard."

Despite Tae-hyun's words, everyone looked downcast. There was only one reason.

'The Expedition...'

'To think I missed my chance to join the Expedition. Sob. I'm such an idiot. I should have just jumped in back then.'

"...Since everyone worked so hard, if anyone wants to join the Expedition, I can put in a word—"

"Really?!"

"Kim Tae-hyun! Kim Tae-hyun! Kim Tae-hyun! Kim Tae-hyun!"

"Waaaaah!"

"...Don't come crying to me later saying you regret it."

"Haha, you must be joking!"

"Why would we ever regret that?"

"We'll only be grateful!"

Tae-hyun shook his head. He simply couldn't understand them!

"I think people were just lured in by the broadcasts."

"That damn streaming culture is going to be the death of people..."

He'd be lucky if they didn't end up cursing his name later!

"Tae-hyun-nim! Look at these guys!"

"?"

"These guys snuck into a dungeon by themselves and made off with the treasure!"

Buzz, buzz— Turning his gaze, he saw a group of players surrounding and glaring at a single party. Since they had streamed it, word had naturally spread. It didn't sit well with the others that while everyone else was busy hunting to clear the path, these guys had slipped away to a dungeon to hoard the treasure for themselves.

"What's wrong with us playing our own way?!"

"Would you guys have even been able to step foot in here if Tae-hyun-nim hadn't buffed you? And you hogged the treasure without saying a word?"

"Yeah! That's right!"

Even if Tae-hyun had left them to their own devices, it was undeniably thanks to his leadership that they had been able to enter the volcanic region in the first place. To ignore that and monopolize a dungeon's treasure all by themselves!

The looter players realized things were taking a very bad turn.

"Tsk... Out of the way!"

"!!!"

"They're running away! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠After them!"

"What is wrong with those guys?!"

Indignant, the players prepared to give chase.

"Tae-hyun-nim, are you going to chase them with us?"

"Just give the word and we'll hunt them down!"

"No, I'm good. Do whatever you want. For now, let's just withdraw from the volcanic region."

Having already achieved his goal, Tae-hyun had absolutely no intention of fighting just to grab a bit more treasure. Especially not after hearing that unsettling name, the Red Dragon!

'I need to go back to my territory, finish up, and then quickly go find Akisus's Authority.'

Even after that massive crowd of players had completely vanished, the Kaf Volcanic Region continued to writhe. In the midst of it all, the earth rumbled once more.

From the next message onward, the notifications popped up for every single player on the continent.