The White Dragon's Heir (2)
“Waaah! The White Dragon saved us!” “Long live the White Dragon!”
“White Dragon-nim, long live!”
The merfolk’s cheers rang out like thunder.
The White Dragon had wiped out that terrifying Megalodon in a single breath.
From their perspective, the White Dragon was nothing less than a divine gift sent by the gods.
“Thank you! You saved us from the Calamity.”
The merfolk chieftain stepped forward and greeted Kim Min-sung.
Honestly, the power the White Dragon had displayed just moments ago—right before the entire merfolk race was wiped out—was nothing short of divine.
Actually, I was having trouble figuring out exactly what was going on right now.
Assuming the egg had hatched, and that thing was the White Dragon’s heir, what on earth was that overwhelming power?
“Heh. Yeah. I personally saved you all.”
The White Dragon looked at the merfolk with a smug, self-satisfied grin.
A lizard, a snake, or a loach-like creature… and yet this arrogant White Dragon?
Of course, if it was the same appearance from just moments ago, it made sense that it would speak so brazenly.
But saying it like this now felt… off.
“Hey. Did you really change like that just now?”
No matter how hard I thought about it, I still couldn’t wrap my head around it.
This loach-like thing was the White Dragon?
The quest details suggested it was, but something still felt wrong.
“Hey! You said you’d call me Hyung!”
“No! It’s way different from just a moment ago!”
“What? Why?”
“Change back to how you were just now. Then I’ll believe you.”
Honestly, saying that made me a little nervous.
If it really transformed into that colossal Divine White Dragon again, it would be terrifying.
But even so, I was the owner of this egg.
If it really did turn into a White Dragon, I didn’t think it would harm me that much.
“Not now!”
“What? Why?”
“I said, not now!”
The guy refused to explain why and just stubbornly said he couldn’t.
First, I checked the guy’s profile.
Owned Trait:Awakening to final evolution once limited
Stage:1st Stage
“What the heck is this?”
Its name was White Dragon, at least.
But those stats…
Of course, for a level 1, they were high, but not overwhelmingly so.
And its job.
Just a pet, right?
One that belonged to me, no less.
“Looking at the stages, it seems it needs to evolve?”
It looked like it really needed to reach the evolution stage to become the true White Dragon.
Once all evolutions were complete, it would probably turn into the White Dragon I saw earlier.
“But the change I saw earlier was because of this trait.”
The one-time awakening to final evolution had already been used.
“So once awakened, it can’t change into the White Dragon anymore.”
In other words, until it evolves to the next stage, it would stay in this tiny form.
No need to be scared.
“Hey. Then what was that whole ‘controlled by someone’ thing earlier?”
“No, you said to call you Hyung!”
“Yeah, yeah. Tell me who’s controlling you.”
The White Dragon seemed pleased that I had called it Hyung and started thrashing around before answering my question.
“I was definitely being controlled by someone. Well, it wasn’t exactly control, but more like they were forcing me to attack in this direction.”
“Who on earth is controlling this guy?”
“I don’t know that either.”
The White Dragon kid.
Saying it knows everything while claiming not to.
Still, the fact that it was being controlled was probably true.
Even if its current appearance didn’t inspire much trust, it was still the White Dragon.
“Controlling a Megalodon…”
I figured it probably wasn’t a human.
At my level, I was top-tier in Korea, and even globally I ranked near the top.
For someone like me to control a Megalodon that I couldn’t even compare to was absurd.
“Speaking of which, the chieftain seemed to know something.”
The chieftain who had said there was still time left before the battle earlier.
He had probably heard that the Megalodon was coming here.
“I need to confirm this.”
To find out what had really happened, I approached the chieftain.
“Chieftain. You mentioned there was still time left before the Megalodon arrived. Could you tell me what that was about?”
“That? You mean the time left?”
The chieftain first led us into a building that was mostly destroyed by the Megalodon but still standing, then explained the situation.
“A little while ago, I received a proposal from someone.”
“From a person?”
“Yes. They wanted us to join their forces and come under them.”
The merfolk had received a proposal from a human.
But how was that related to the Megalodon?
The chieftain took a moment to catch his breath and continued.
“It wasn’t an alliance, but they wanted to turn us into subordinates, so we initially refused. But that was the problem.”
“What happened?”
“When we refused, they took me somewhere. There, I saw the Megalodon.”
The chieftain’s face twisted with what looked like lingering fear as he continued.
“Then they said if I didn’t cooperate with their plans, I would be attacked by this Megalodon.”
“So that Megalodon attacked the guy today?”
“Exactly. But even though the promised time hadn’t run out, it suddenly moved. I don’t understand why.”
According to the chieftain, they gave them a grace period until the Megalodon moved.
But that grace period ended and it suddenly attacked.
They had tried to find a way to escape the Megalodon during that time.
Perhaps the method was to get a way to the surface from Ursula.
“Do you know who made that proposal?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“You don’t know?”
“They were wearing a mask.”
A person who approached the merfolk while hiding their identity.
Moreover, someone with the ability to control a Megalodon.
Who could that be?
***
At the same time.
In a building in Haeundae.
Inside that building, two people were in the middle of a conversation.
“It seemed like we had built up a decent force, but it’s a little disappointing.”
“What can we do? Those guys were doing something behind our backs.”
“Then there’s nothing we can do. We handled it properly, right?”
One of the speakers was Kim Ha-jin.
The other was Geum Bit-na-ra, the guild master of Cheonha Tongil Guild.
“Yes. Before those weird things happened, we released the Megalodon. By now, most of the merfolk should be dead.”
“Well done.”
Was it us who moved that terrifying Megalodon?
Kim Ha-jin and Geum Bit-na-ra spoke about it so naturally.
“By the way, what was that Ursula thing? A Named Monster… it’s a bit intriguing.”
“It was more dangerous than I thought.”
“Really? Then there’s nothing we can do.”
“Yes. And it seems Kim Min-sung was caught by Ursula.”
“Kim Min-sung?”
“Yes. The guild master of World’s Best Guild, Kim Min-sung.”
Geum Bit-na-ra’s expression showed surprise.
Kim Min-sung, who wasn’t supposed to be here, had suddenly appeared.
“What happened to Kim Min-sung?”
“I don’t know that either. He escaped before that…”
“He didn’t die, did he?”
Geum Bit-na-ra looked worried.
Perhaps she was actually concerned about Kim Min-sung.
After all, she was the guild master of an allied guild.
“I’ll check again.”
“No. It’s fine. It looks like he’s alive.”
“What? How?”
“This guy is perfectly fine.”
The slime in Geum Bit-na-ra’s hand.
It was the slime Kim Min-sung had summoned. If Min-sung had died, this slime should have disappeared.
“Did anything get noticed by Kim Min-sung?”
“No. I didn’t exchange a single word with him, and most of the merfolk are dead, so there shouldn’t be any suspicion from that side.”
“Yeah. It seems Kim Min-sung is still useful for now.”
If Kim Min-sung found out about their plans, who knew how it would turn out.
To carry out their plan, they couldn’t afford to let Kim Min-sung interfere.
If he interfered, they would have to eliminate him, of course.
Eliminating him wouldn’t be difficult, but Kim Min-sung’s abilities were intriguing and seemed useful, so Geum Bit-na-ra wanted to keep him a little longer.
“By the way, how is the rest of the plan going?”
“Yes. Right now, this side…”
After that, Kim Ha-jin began to explain in detail the progress of the plan they were currently executing to Geum Bit-na-ra.
“The other parts are proceeding smoothly.”
“Yes. No problems. However, there is one obstacle.”
“An obstacle?”
“A guild has noticed our actions to some extent.”
“Which guild?”
“The Daehan Geon-a Manse Guild. Currently ranked fourth in the guild rankings.”
Daehan Geon-a Manse.
A guild ranked fourth in the national rankings, widely known in the Jeolla region with almost no one unaware of it.
“They only noticed so far?”
“Yes. According to informants in the Jeolla region, they have sent several people toward Busan.”
“Heh. Cute. Investigate those guys and bring me their info. We can even use them.”
“Understood.”
Geum Bit-na-ra was thinking of using the Daehan Geon-a Manse guild members.
“Any other reports?”
“That’s the last one.”
“Yeah. Good work. You can go now.”
“Understood.”
With a click, Kim Ha-jin closed the door and left.
Geum Bit-na-ra sat down in the chair and stroked the slime.
“Hmm. Now it’s almost ready. Just a little longer and we can proceed.”
Geum Bit-na-ra smiled mysteriously while thinking about what was to come.
“Now, this will become my world.”