Chapter 105
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: Dragon Heart
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Mershar calmly laid out his plan, and the faces of the party members listening grew increasingly incredulous as he went on.
"That guy's head must be messed up or something."
Even Maya, who knew next to nothing about magic, muttered as much.
However.
"...There's potential there."
Jun, who had listened to the whole explanation, nodded in agreement instead.
Aiden, standing beside him, jumped in surprise and shot back.
"Senior?! You're seriously thinking of going through with something that insane? It's way too dangerous!"
"Right now, it's the closest thing we've got to survival."
"But even so...!"
"Aiden. You know we don't have time."
No matter how risky the method―
If it led to survival, Jun was prepared to accept it.
Even if it was a dangerous gamble no one had ever attempted before.
"Alright! Let's do it, then. Mutant transformation."
The only one smiling here was Mershar.
"The reason I came here was to find information on the Dragon Heart."
"Dragon?"
A monster that dwelled on the 9th floor, no less.
But at this point, it was still an undiscovered enigma, known only from ancient legends and records.
"Yeah. Well, now I know my master is alive... but I thought he was dead. So I wanted to create the 'perfect artifact' that was his dying wish."
Jun knew that story too.
To acquire [Dragon Hunter], the signature skill of the hunter character he'd raised back when he was Lee Jung-jun, you had to clear Mershar's story quest.
'But what does that have to do with now?'
Reading the doubt on Jun's face, Mershar continued.
"The alchemists here had a similar goal. Not an artifact, though—they wanted to turn themselves into dragons. Dragons must be the ultimate lifeform to these people."
Mershar went on.
"But to become a dragon, you need to endlessly accumulate mana in your heart."
"Is that the cylinder embedded in those things' hearts?"
"Exactly. The purple mist refines the field's mana, and they store it in the cylinder inside them."
"Just piling up mana like idiots won't make you a dragon."
"Right. So they have to transform their bodies to match."
"No way..."
"Yep. That's the truth of the mutants. As mana builds up, their bodies change. The purple mist turns humans into mutants while naturally filling the cylinder with mana."
"..."
This went beyond what was in the journal, so Jun spoke up without thinking.
"Scales were growing on my body."
"That's what's weird. According to the journal I found outside, scales appear at the final evolution stage of mutants: [Dragonian]."
Why was it happening to Jun?
Jun knew instinctively.
'[Demon God Body].'
He couldn't pinpoint the exact process, but he was certain.
"In the end, your heart... if you push through the mutant transformation, it should fix itself. A dragon's heart wouldn't be ruled by mere attributes."
"Dragon, huh."
It sounded so out of left field. Mershar scratched his head awkwardly before adding belatedly.
"Well, if you don't believe me, nothing I can do."
"Any expected side effects?"
"Couldn't say. Hmm... just be careful not to lose your mind? Here, take this just in case."
Mershar rummaged through his document bag for a while and handed Jun an intricate mechanical device.
"What's this? A mental defense artifact?"
"Nah, it's a shock device. Use it if you feel like you're losing it. Most mental damage can be shaken off with physical shock... though it'll pack a real jolt."
"..."
Either way, they had a method. Jun decided to go with it.
Unlike Jun, though, the party couldn't easily trust Mershar.
And who could blame them?
Unlike Jun, who remembered his Lee Jung-jun days and had ties to Shylock, Mershar was just some quack they'd run into in the field.
His background was murky, and they'd first met him as a mutant.
So when the wisest among them accepted the guy, their confusion was natural.
"Honestly... I'm worried, Senior."
"Mm."
Aiden voiced the most concern.
Of course, Jun understood their worries all too well.
He was desperate in a way.
'First time in this field. Not enough time. I moved too hastily because of it.'
Like when the mutants ambushed them in the city center.
'Should've anticipated them all moving at once.'
If he'd planned for the worst as usual, he could've predicted it.
But this time, he hadn't.
His poor choice had nearly cost his comrades' lives.
He feared his own death, but now survival wasn't just about him.
That's why he'd accepted Mershar's proposal.
'Time to explain in detail now.'
With that, Jun gathered the party and recounted what he'd been through.
Shylock, the Puyowang, and the Volcanic Mage Tower.
By the time he finished with the deal with the count...
"..."
Relief softened their faces, but worry lingered.
They had to take on unheard-of risks with this mutant transformation.
'In the game, Mershar succeeded in refining dragon power through alchemy.'
That was [Dragon Hunter], the skill for his hunter class.
But he couldn't tell them that, so Jun convinced them with reality.
"My circle's busted, so no magic for the foreseeable future. It's an injury that needs at least half a month of rest. Even after healing, casting right away would be tough."
The problem was time.
Only about 20 days until season end.
They couldn't wait idly for his circle to recover.
No guarantee the mutants would stay put either.
And above all.
"Oh? That journal? Matches the intel I got. Something like, 'The key to the gate to the heavens lies with the setting moon and rising sun.'"
Mershar knew where the key to activating the giant tower in the city center was.
"Here, the 'setting moon' and 'rising sun' are the Le Blanc and De Dusante families. Mutants in the southwest and northeast."
Bits of info were coming together, forming the foundation for their next move.
All that remained was Jun's resolve.
"Let's start."
"Ancient texts say the dragon heart is mana itself. There are records of it being worshipped as a god."
It would take a while for the mutant transformation to fully kick in.
Jun touched the scales now covering half his neck and focused on Mershar's explanation.
"The key point is that just accumulating mana isn't enough. If it were, any clump of mana would be called a dragon heart."
"Mm."
"What's vital is perceiving and accepting nature's mana. Clashes are inevitable in the process, like what you're experiencing."
Jun nodded at Mershar's words.
"But you can't just see those clashes as rejection. I once met these druids. They called nature the 'mother that embraces all.'"
In other words, accept every clash of attributes in nature as it is.
"But when clashes happen, how do you handle the shock?"
"That's the crux. Dragons have insanely tough bodies. Their hearts too, naturally."
"..."
Trying it with a human body would tangle heart bloodflow and mana, leading to vomiting blood from all orifices in a gruesome death.
"But you're the same. No idea why, but you've grown scales—the final mutant form. Means you can endure attribute clashes once transformed."
"So I have to trust the alchemists' techniques."
"Yeah. Even if they ended up like this... their abilities are legit, honestly."
"Easy for you to say—it's not your skin."
"Haha, maybe. But it's happening to you. Don't worry. I went full mutant and came out fine. Just don't cross a certain line."
Mershar recalled his own transformation.
"Hard to put into words... but it's like steadily approaching something. I got right up to it."
If you crossed that line.
"You become a real mutant. That's the gut feeling."
"Scaring me now?"
"...Kinda. Didn't expect you'd trust me this much."
Jun nodded inwardly.
'Fair. I wouldn't trust him without knowing him.'
Obvious, really.
Shouting about making a dragon heart anywhere would just make you look like a crazy braggart.
But he couldn't say the gamer's "I know you, so I trust you" line, so Jun replied nonchalantly.
"Sorry, but it's not you I'm trusting—it's your master."
"Aha!"
Mershar grasped it instantly, impressively.
"Ahem. The old man's skills were top-notch. I'll catch up someday."
Reminded of his master's survival, Mershar beamed brighter than usual.
'In the game, he was hard to read.'
Was it Shylock's survival? Or had time been kinder to him?
Mershar was far more cheerful than the Jun from before remembered.
―And so, four days passed.
In that time, Jun hadn't absorbed a single mana fluid and steadily advanced the mutant transformation.
The mutation spreading from his neck to his back had now reached his chest.
"The mutation will hit your heart soon."
"And that's when it accelerates across the body?"
"Right."
Once it reached the heart, full-body transformation began.
Jun quietly awaited that moment.
And then.
Crack.
The instant scales fully covered his chest, Jun's eyes snapped wide open.