The Dragon Tamer
The day the tower rose in the middle of Seoul, the world changed forever. Without warning, the roads in the heart of Gangnam split apart. The sky turned a deep, bruised red, and black mist surged from between the skyscrapers. From that mist emerged a black tower, so massive it seemed to pierce the clouds.
This phenomenon wasn't limited to Seoul. New York, London, Tokyo, Paris, Beijing, Moscow—the same towers sprouted like weeds in major cities across the globe. Governments defined them as supernatural disasters. Armies were deployed, fighter jets scrambled, and massive bombardments followed. But the tower didn't budge.
At the same time, a tiny fraction of humanity—one percent of the population—was granted special powers. We called them Hunters. Or Awakened. They were the only humans capable of standing against the tower's invasion.
The abilities granted to the Awakened varied wildly. Humanity classified them from S-rank to E-rank based on their combat capabilities. Among them, S-rank Hunters were treated as national strategic assets.
It had been ten years since the tower appeared. Now, Hunters were the center of modern society. Byproducts from the monsters inside the tower became essential materials that enriched modern civilization, and as a result, high-ranking Hunters accumulated vast wealth.
“Mr. Baek Jiwoo.”
The cold voice of an association employee called out to me. I was at the Seoul branch of the Hunter Association, in the Awakened Grade Assessment Room. In the middle of a clean, white room, I stood with my hands placed on the measuring device. Three association employees sat before me, their expressions grave.
“The assessment results are in.”
I swallowed hard. My heart was pounding. I was twenty-six years old. Baek Jiwoo. I had lived as an ordinary office worker until I suddenly awakened a week ago. When the status window first appeared, I thought my life was about to change.
EX-rank. A grade that didn't exist in the existing Hunter world. The moment I saw it, I clenched my fists and thought, Finally, luck has found me.
But then:
“Mr. Baek Jiwoo, your comprehensive combat grade is E-rank.”
“……Excuse me?”
The employee continued, his expression unchanging. “Your physical ability is slightly higher than the average person. Your mana capacity is low E-rank. No attack skills. No defense skills. No recovery skills. No detection abilities. No auxiliary abilities have been confirmed as of now.”
“But my ability grade is……”
“Dragon Tamer, right?” The employee sighed softly. “We’ve reviewed the ability several times, but the problem is that its effects cannot be clearly verified.”
“What do you mean, they can’t be verified?”
“If it’s a Tamer-type ability, at least affinity with monsters, dominance, or the possibility of contracting a summon should be measurable. But absolutely no such figures appeared for you, Mr. Baek Jiwoo.”
“…….”
“And decisively,” the employee said, adjusting his glasses. “It has already been officially proven that the monster known as a dragon does not exist.”
I fell silent at those words. Honestly, he was right. Ten years since the tower appeared. Countless types of monsters had been discovered inside. Goblins, Orcs, Wyverns, Chimeras, Ogres. Even beings resembling mythological monsters like the Hydra had been reported. But not dragons. Not once, in any official record, had a dragon been found.
“Therefore, the Association classifies your unique ability as non-combat viable.”
My mind went blank. In the end, I had zero combat capability. I was classified as an E-rank Hunter. The employee handed me my ID and Hunter registration card.
[E-rank Hunter — Baek Jiwoo]
Congratulations. You have been registered as an official Hunter.
I took the card without a word. Since that day, my life went exactly as expected.
“Hey, E-rank! Tie that load properly!”
“I’m sorry!”
“Is saying sorry enough? If you drop this, you couldn’t pay for it even with your annual salary.”
“I’ll tie it again right away.”
I bowed my head and apologized again. The 1st floor of the tower, Easy difficulty. The grasslands. In front of me lay monster carcasses and loot scattered like weeds. Goblin horns, mana-polluted wolf pelts, and lowest-grade magic stones. They were the lowest of the low-grade byproducts. But even these were worth money once taken outside. That was why C-rank and D-rank Hunters repeatedly cleared the 1st floor of Easy difficulty to earn a stable income.
And an E-rank Hunter like me?
“Haa……”
I played the role of a porter, carrying the byproducts they hunted instead.
The tower was divided into three difficulties: Easy, Standard, and Hard. C and D-rank Hunters mainly ran Easy. B and A-rank Hunters ran Standard. S-rank Hunters ran Hard.
“Baek Jiwoo.”
The one who called me was the leader of today’s party, Park Seongcheol, a C-rank Hunter who used a two-handed axe.
“Yes.”
“Did you pack today’s share?”
“Yes. Twenty-nine goblin horns, eleven low-grade magic stones, and six mana wolf pelts.”
“Good. Nothing missing?”
“Nothing.”
“Then go out first and wait in front of the settlement office. We’re going to do one more loop inside the 1st floor before we leave.”
“Understood.”
I adjusted the heavy pack on my back. My shoulders felt like they were about to snap, but what could I do? If I didn’t do this work, I couldn’t eat or survive.
“Then I’ll head out first.”
After bowing my head, I walked toward the exit. I followed the path I had walked many times before. In the distance, I could see the white light of the door signaling the exit. Today’s daily wage was about 80,000 won. It was a ridiculously small price for risking my life to carry loads. Even so, it was much better than having nothing.
“Haa.”
It was just as I let out a deep sigh.
Ding.
A system window appeared before my eyes. I stopped walking involuntarily. Usually, the status window didn’t appear unless I called for it. But now it was different. Moreover, the system window was flickering in an ominous red.
[Warning]
“……What is this?”
The next moment, the message that appeared before my eyes was even more shocking.
[Dragon Tamer skill is reacting to the target.]
“What?”
Before I could even catch my breath, a second message appeared.
[Condition met]
[The first dragon resonance has occurred.]
[The contract target has detected the user.]
“Contract target?”
The surrounding air changed. The interior of the tower, which had been a normal grassland until just a moment ago, suddenly began to darken. This was too strange. Something that should never happen, and must never happen, on the 1st floor of Easy difficulty was occurring. I tried to run to the exit in a hurry. But.
“What did you say?”
A black pattern rose from beneath my feet. Before long, that pattern slowly swallowed me, who had been at its center. “Wait! No!” I screamed. But no one heard my cry. My vision flipped, and my body plummeted endlessly downward. A pressure that felt like my whole body was being torn apart surged over me. The next moment.
Thud!
I was thrown onto a hard floor. “Ugh!” Along with the sensation of air being forced from my lungs, the load I had been carrying on my back rolled off. Goblin horns and magic stones scattered everywhere. I barely managed to push myself up, gripping the floor.
“This place……!”
The grassland was nowhere to be found. Instead, what unfolded before my eyes was a burned-out city. Collapsed buildings. Melted asphalt. The remains of charred vehicles. Red clouds swirled in the sky, and the air was so hot it was hard to breathe.
“This is insane…….”
At that moment, a new system window appeared.
[Entry complete]
[Difficulty: Nightmare]
[Stage: 1st floor — Ruined Dragon City]
[Recommended Rank: Immeasurable]
[Survival Probability: Less than 0.0001%]
[Warning: A ‘Calamity-class entity’ exists on this floor]
I let out a hollow laugh without realizing it. Soon after, the status window appeared before my eyes again.
The term "Calamity-class entity" was mentioned again. “I’m going crazy.” I wiped my face with my hands. Since I had already been thrown here, I thought it was only a matter of time before I encountered that ‘Calamity-class entity,’ whether I stayed still or moved.
Move!
The exit. Or the conditions to trigger a return. I had to find something to survive. “Alright, let’s go.” I started walking along the ruined road.
The next moment.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground shook, and the debris of buildings all around began to heave. “Wh-what?” At first, I thought it was an earthquake. But it wasn’t. The vibrations were too rhythmic for an earthquake.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The system window flickered red again.
A sensation like my heart was freezing over. “No way!”
[Unique skill ‘Dragon Tamer’ is activating.]
[Checking target……]
[Target check complete]
[Calamity-class Crimson Lotus Dragon: Cardia]
[Starting taming.]
Taming? Me? A Calamity-class dragon? The system was stating such an absurd thing so naturally.
The next moment.
Kwoooooooong!
Several large buildings nearby collapsed all at once. Dust-filled debris flew everywhere. Instinctively, I covered my face with my arms. “Ugh!” It was hard to breathe. But strangely, there wasn’t a single small scratch on my body. A thin membrane had somehow wrapped around me.
[The Crimson Lotus protects the user.]
“Protection?”
No sooner had those words finished than a human figure emerged from between the collapsed building debris. At first, I didn’t know it was a person. Soon after, that figure began to walk toward me slowly. I stepped back.
“St-stay away!”
I saw the figure in the distance flinch. But she didn’t stop walking. One step. Another step. ‘It’ was approaching me.
“I said stay away!”
My hands were shaking. Even to me, my appearance must have looked pathetic. Standing up to a Calamity-class dragon with such futile shouting. But the figure didn’t mock me. Instead, she was approaching carefully, as if considering me.
Finally, her appearance was fully revealed. I held my breath without realizing it. The appearance of a beautiful woman. It was a beauty that couldn’t even be compared to anything on Earth. Red eyes that shone as if they were burning. Long, soft red hair flowing down to her waist. Pale, flawless skin. And an overwhelming presence that was impossible to explain in human language.
She was wearing something like a red dress. And her breasts and hips…… they boasted a figure that was not just voluminous, but violently so.
Finally, ‘she’ opened her mouth toward me.
“Master, is it possible that you know how to use the language of dragons?”