Episode 16: Fifth Scenario (Part 3):
Fragments of the Moonstone, shattered like a shell, fell to the ground. A being with a silver mane was hatching. If this had been a mere offspring, we could have controlled it using the "Imprinting Phenomenon," but the creature before us now was no innocent life form.
[Encountered an otherworldly being for the first time in this scenario.]
[Affinity with otherworldly beings has increased.]
[Received 2,000 coins as a reward.]
[Received a bonus skill to facilitate smooth communication with otherworldly beings.]
[Acquired 'Otherworldly Language Interpretation Lv.1'.]
I could feel Han Sooyoung standing beside me, swallowing nervously.
Encountering an otherworldly being was the prologue to the Fifth Scenario, so tension was natural.
This scenario was completely different from anything we had faced before.
In the Fifth Scenario, even a small mistake could erase all of Seoul.
[Activated exclusive skill: 'Otherworldly Language Interpretation Lv.1'.]
[Item 'Amulet of the Imuntar Race' enhances comprehension of certain languages.]
The amulet we had obtained from defeating the Fire Dragon type would now prove useful.
[Automatic translation has begun.]
From inside the glowing Moonstone, a voice emerged.
"#%#$. …Damn, already?"
The massive being crouched inside the Moonstone grumbled as it rose. Its silver mane gave it the faint semblance of a wolf, but it was on a completely different level from a mere werewolf. Above all, I recognized its species.
「Standing at over three meters tall. In the night, it can transform under the Moonstone's power: the ruling species of another world, 'Clonos.' They are wind emissaries with monstrous endurance and giant-like strength.」
One of the five ruling species of Clonos.
"I am the Great First Wolf."
「In Clonos, they are called the First Wolf 'Imuntar.'」
"Imuntar… 'Lycaon.'"
Its growling breath echoed through the darkness, silencing all nearby presence. Simply making eye contact caused Han Sooyoung to duck behind me, awed. Of course, I did not step back.
[Activated exclusive skill: 'Character Overview'.]
Name: Lycaon Isparang Age: 371 years Patronage: Shadows of a Destroyed World Special Traits: Noble Imuntar (Heroic), Survivor of Humiliation (Rare)Exclusive Skills: [Path of the Wind Lv.9], [Advanced Weapon Refinement Lv.9], [Roar of the Battlefield Lv.8], [Sage Insight Lv.4], [Steel Skin Lv.8], [Smoke Lv.4]…Sigil: [Guide of Destruction Lv.1]Overall Stats: [HP Lv.75], [Strength Lv.75], [Agility Lv.75], [Magic Lv.75]Overall Evaluation: One of the five ruling species of the destroyed Clonos. After losing its world, it came to the Star Stream to act as a guide for scenarios. Always views the world with eyes full of regret.
As befits a hero of another world, Lycaon possessed staggering skills and stats.
An average stat of 75. At this point, it even exceeded the scenario's usual limits.
Even most reverse representatives would be killed with a single hit.
Lycaon's piercing blue eyes studied me with interest.
"Are you the ones who awakened me?"
I nodded.
"I see… then the time has finally come, hasn't it? Congratulations on clearing the tutorial scenario, warriors of another world."
A "tutorial," he said.
Trying to mimic a goblin's dramatic flair for effect—it was laughable.
In this world, there is no such thing as a tutorial.
Every scenario is live, and the dead never return.
Yet here he was talking about a "tutorial."
"You who face destruction. First, allow me to express regret that your world has been struck by a 'Disaster.'"
Lycaon spoke, gazing at the sky.
Above Seoul loomed the Great Hall.
The colossal vortex, reminiscent of a black hole, expanded in volume with each passing moment. Lycaon must have seen that same "Great Hall" on the day his own world was destroyed.
All otherworldly beings appearing in the scenario had lost their homelands due to the scenario.
"But now that I am here, you may rest assured. I am a 'Guide' who has come to prevent the destruction of this world. I will train you against the Disaster and provide the necessary guidance. And…"
Despite probably arriving in haste, he spoke his lines well.
He must have received a manual from the goblin.
After speaking for a while, Lycaon abruptly stopped.
"…But are you the only ones who awakened me?"
"We are the only ones."
"How strange. Did you not clear the Fourth Scenario? If you had cleared it properly, the five Guides, including myself, should have hatched together… Then where is the rightful owner of the Absolute Throne?"
He was right. Normally, Lycaon and the other five Guides gather when the Absolute Throne's rightful owner is born.
I turned to Lycaon and said,
"We have no 'King.'"
"No King? …Could it be that the owner of the Absolute Throne is dead? That's impossible. At this point, there is no one who could kill the Throne's rightful owner."
Grrrrr.
Lycaon growled, showing his distrust in a threatening manner.
"The throne's rightful owner never existed."
"What does that mean?"
"We cleared the Fourth Scenario without obtaining the 'Absolute Throne.'"
Flames seemed to ignite in Lycaon's pupils.
"You lie! That cannot be! The Fourth Scenario cannot end unless someone claims the Absolute Throne."
"There is also a way to destroy the Throne."
Lycaon's expression stiffened. He paused as if trying to gauge my intentions, then his eyes widened.
"…Could it be?"
It was quite a sight to see this noble interdimensional hero flustered. His silver mane trembled as he studied me closely.
"The threads of countless constellations… Could it be that you personally…"
"Yes, that's correct."
"How could you commit such an outrage…!"
His words dissolved into a torrent of curses. Watching Lycaon howl in frustration, Han Sooyoung whispered to me.
"Hey… was it really that serious? You didn't even mention it to me earlier…"
Han Sooyoung had apparently understood the conversation too, thanks to the [Interdimensional Language Interpretation] skill. Before I could answer, Lycaon shouted again.
"Why did you commit such a deed! Does that mean there is now not a single being in this world under the protection of those great divine entities?"
"There is none."
"Ahh! The Star Stream's constellations do not care for Clonos! This world is doomed! Creatures with intelligence lower than kobolds have inevitably caused this disaster!"
Watching Lycaon despair, I felt a creeping sense of contempt.
Yes, this is the true nature of interdimensional beings. Outwardly, they act as if sent to aid our world, but they always have their own agenda.
But in this run, I would not let that happen.
"Prince of the Imuntar race, Lycaon Isparang. It's far too early to despair."
The proud prince of the Imuntar race reacted immediately to my change in demeanor. His growling roar reverberated through the air.
"Arrogant human! Show respect before the great race! You seem unaware of the weight of the crimes you have committed!"
"Lycaon, since your world was destroyed, you've lost perspective. Clonos was where the Imuntar were the ruling species, not Earth."
Lycaon's expression froze in surprise. I seized the moment to continue.
"There were five Disasters that destroyed your world."
"What…?"
"The southern continent of Clonos where you lived was destroyed by the 'Dragon,' wasn't it?"
Lycaon's gaze hardened with deep mistrust.
"How do you know that?"
"The Fire Dragon Igneer. The Burning Hell Disaster. The very Disaster that annihilated your world."
The Fire Dragon species Igneer—the original of the Lesser Igneer I had killed—was naturally a catastrophic-level creature.
With a single flame, it could incinerate an entire town, and with a single flap of its wings, it could dismantle lower-ranked monster species.
The southern continent of Clonos had been destroyed by it.
By the unknown Fire Dragon awakened from the Moonstone.
Lycaon ground his teeth.
"You speak as if it were someone else's story. You will regret this. Soon, your world too will writhe in the scorching inferno."
"Don't worry. Igneer will not descend upon this world."
"What did you say?"
"I already killed it. So the 'Burning Hell Disaster' will not come to this world."
Lycaon froze, staring as if hearing that his homeland had been restored, then twisted his lips in disbelief.
"This is the most absurd joke I've ever heard. Is this the joke of this world? Quite amusing for a world about to perish."
Well… I had expected he wouldn't believe me.
I reached into my cloak and pulled out a tile glowing with a faint blue hue.
And as if by magic, Lycaon's laughter subsided.
The Amulet of the Imuntar Race.
Lycaon's trembling hand reached for the amulet in my palm, then dropped it with a clatter.
"H-How… how did you get that…!"
The Amulet of the Imuntar Race is proof of one who has slain a catastrophic dragon.
"Lycaon of the Imuntar race. Show respect before the amulet."
Lycaon's proud body slowly gave way. His knees touched the ground first, then his head followed. His pupils shook violently, as if refusing to acknowledge it.
"Properly…"
Finally, his head touched the floor. Being over three meters tall, he only fell below my eye level after bowing. I looked down at Lycaon in silence.
Who would have thought that killing the Fire Dragon would be useful in this way.
Han Sooyoung still hadn't fully grasped the situation, her eyes darting between Lycaon and me in confusion. Because of her reckless behavior, we had nearly died, but in the end, thanks to her, things were turning out far easier than expected.
Lycaon asked in a trembling voice:
"Great Dragon Hunter… forgive my rudeness in asking your name belatedly."
"My name is Kim Dokja."
For some reason, I suddenly felt my own name was terribly unimpressive. Had I said "Yu Jung-hyuk," it might have sounded cooler, a dramatic moment—but that wasn't the case. To ease the awkward atmosphere, I quickly added:
"Lycaon. There is something you need to do."
Hearing the words "something to do," Lycaon cautiously raised his head.
"Teach me the secret technique of your race, [Path of the Wind]."
Lycaon's eyes widened slowly.
From the start, my purpose in hatching Lycaon had been this very thing.
Since the Fire Dragon, the "Southern Disaster," had vanished so easily, the first disaster to appear in the Fifth Scenario would inevitably be the "Eastern Disaster."
To stop the Eastern Disaster, I had to obtain the secret technique of the Imuntar race.
[Path of the Wind].
It was the only solution capable of countering the Eastern Disaster, the [Disaster of Questions].
An hour later, I was explaining the situation to Han Sooyoung, who still couldn't follow the conversation.
"So the amulet came from the Fire Dragon we killed back then, and it's an important item to them?"
"Exactly."
"I still don't quite get it… So the Fire Dragon we killed counts as one of the Disasters? Even though it was a Lesser one?"
"Yes."
"So that means in the Fifth Scenario, we're only dealing with four Disasters, not five?"
"Considering you said you don't understand, that's surprisingly close."
Han Sooyoung frowned at my words.
"I still don't get it. The one you killed was the Lesser Igneer, right? It's not the real one. Why count it as a Disaster? Is this another convenience of your 'Annihilation Method'?"
"…Everything hatched from a Disaster Moonstone counts as a Disaster. That creature replaced Igneer, so Igneer won't appear in this Disaster. And even in the original story, Igneer never appeared. Only its hatchling did. If that had appeared already in the Fifth Scenario, how could we have possibly cleared it?"
"…You speak well. Like some spokesperson for the Annihilation Method. Wait… are you the author?"
Although the scenario's difficulty seemed absurd, it had been tuned so that it could theoretically be cleared if you tried hard enough.
…Of course, "tuned" doesn't mean easy—it was still brutal.
Even the Lesser Igneer, the hatchling version of the Fire Dragon, annihilated the elite prophets. And I myself had been killed once by it. Without the "Immortal King" benefit, there was no way I could have defeated it.
Had that creature remained free in Seoul, leveling up, the city would have ended up like Lycaon's homeland.
Han Sooyoung, completely unaware of these stakes, kept acting cocky.
"Anyway, Disasters aren't so bad after all? I was terrified because the Annihilation Method made them sound so extreme, but if you could kill that one, maybe the others…"
"The Fire Dragon was just lucky. The next Disasters will come exactly as in the original story. They'll be truly terrible."
It was amusing to see the plagiarist's expression freeze at the mention of "exactly as in the original story."
"So… what do we do then?"
"What else? We use it."
I looked over at Lycaon, who was preparing for training a short distance away.
Han Sooyoung asked:
"He looks strong… maybe he'll fight in our place?"
"That guy's a coward. And Guides, by principle, cannot fight Disasters from other worlds. We have to handle this ourselves."
At that moment, I heard Lycaon calling to me.
"Guardian, I am ready."
Guardian—or "host of the amulet"—was the term used for me. I had tried to get him to call me by name, but he refused to compromise on this.
"From now on, I will teach you the secret technique of my clan, [Path of the Wind]."
[Path of the Wind].
A hidden skill that allows its master, at its pinnacle, to manipulate the surrounding air as easily as their own limbs.
Among other races, only someone possessing the Imuntar's amulet could learn this skill.
Originally, Yu Jung-hyuk would have taken this role, but not this time. You don't give someone already powerful everything at once.
"Then let's begin."
For the next three hours, I sweated profusely as I learned the skill.
It would have been nice if a system message like [Do you wish to receive this skill?] popped up, but that wasn't an option this time. Skills from interdimensional beings could only be learned directly, through practice.
Still, because I had read about it in a novel, I could gradually mimic Lycaon's movements.
Or at least, I thought I could.
After about another hour, the hesitant Lycaon finally spoke:
"Guardian… I am terribly sorry to say this, but…"