[ Master of the Venom and Curse Dragons (1) ]
“You can glare at me all you want, but what do you think you can do?”
The bastard sneered, his words stabbing at me like sharp needles. Damn it, he wasn’t wrong. By myself, I’d barely survive in an F-rank dungeon.
“At least I managed to take down two of your pets. One of them, a fat lizard with three useless heads—I sliced it up real nicely. Did you see it? And the other, a lizard walking on two legs like some circus freak, I skewered it from head to tail and roasted it to a crisp. It should still be there. Why don’t you go and have a taste?”
Giant lizard sashimi and roast lizard, now on sale! If I could’ve brought it with me, I’d have personally delivered it right to this bastard’s face. Shame I couldn’t.
“You’ve got some nerve.”
“Considering I’m standing in front of the scumbag who let his lizard kill my brother, I’d say I’m being disgustingly calm. So calm it’s pissing me off.”
Why am I so weak? My brother’s killer is right in front of me, and all I can do is talk. No wonder Yuhyun never told me anything.
I ground my teeth in frustration. No, I can’t lose it now. I’ve already hit rock bottom over the years, digging a hole deep enough to bury myself in. I need to forget that now.
“If you care so much about your brother, why are you still alive?”
The scaly hand grabbed my wrist, the one that was holding onto his collar. He twisted it as if it was about to snap, but the pain felt distant. Instead, his voice sank into my ears, clear and sharp.
“If you hadn’t been alive, Han Yuhyun could’ve been free. He could’ve accepted or rejected our offer, purely based on his own self-interest, without worrying about some weakling relative.”
Suddenly, I thought of Seong Hyunjae. And Liette too. Compared to those two, I had to admit that Yuhyun… did seem more restrained. The worried looks he gave me. The anger, the anxiety, the frustration in his eyes—emotions I never saw in Seong Hyunjae or Liette.
…This bastard really knew how to hit where it hurt. Damn him.
“Yeah. F-rank big brother, right? I really screwed up by being alive, didn’t I?”
I nodded, admitting it.
“But you, you’ve been tripped up twice by that useless F-rank, haven’t you? Your rank even dropped, and it seems like you were SSS-rank, at least. Maybe you were originally L-rank? And yet you’re still stuck dealing with an F-rank. Sure, I’m weak, but isn’t it a waste for someone as worthless as you to keep breathing? You’re not even worth the air you’re sucking in—”
Thud.
He kicked me, sending me sprawling. The dull pain from hitting the ground coursed through me, making my whole body ache. My wrist throbbed from where he’d twisted it. It wasn’t even my real body, but the sensation felt disturbingly real.
“Got scammed by Seong Hyunjae too, huh?”
I snickered as I pushed myself up from the floor. The mention of Seong Hyunjae’s name made the bastard’s face stiffen noticeably. Ah, my respects to pre-rewind Seong Hyunjae. Whatever he did, good job.
“You gave him everything, and he ran off after taking it all. You probably tried to worm your way back in, showing up at 2 a.m. like some desperate ex, only to get completely played. What a loser. Why not drop the whole dragonkin thing and call yourself ‘The Loserkin’ instead?”
“…Seong Hyunjae was… unexpected. A man who values himself above all else, betraying me for an uncertain future—”
“How is it that everything is ‘unexpected’ with you? Not enough S-ranks in the world, and you still manage to misjudge every single one of them? You couldn’t even reel Liette in properly. You’d have better luck flipping a coin to make your decisions.”
“Liette.”
His golden eyes flared with anger as he leaned down, glaring at me from up close.
“How did you break my command over Dio Valsesis?”
…It was clear now that these bastards knew a lot less than the system creators. They didn’t know my skills or my titles.
“And how did you survive against Lautitars? Did the ‘filial duty addicts’ help you?”
“Filial duty addicts?”
“They’re the ones who created and manage the system.”
What? Why are they called filial duty addicts? Is it really like Seong Hyunjae said, with their parents wanting the world to end or something, so now the children are fighting about it? Don’t drag my family into your messed-up family feud, you bastards.
“I thought you couldn’t even mention them.”
“Not outside, no. But here, we’re inside my consciousness. My thoughts aren’t restricted. Technically, this is your consciousness overlapping with mine.”
So this wasn’t real, after all. A powerful lucid dream, then? A mental skill of some sort. Even though I knew my real body wasn’t injured, the pain in my wrist wasn’t fading easily. My mind believed it was hurt because I’d seen it twisted.
Even though I knew this wasn’t real, ignoring the sensations in such a vivid experience was nearly impossible.
“You sure like answering everything, huh? Must’ve been bored out of your mind.”
“I rarely connect to your world directly, and even when I do, there’s hardly anyone worth talking to. Consider this mercy for the helpless prey that walked into my trap.”
Mercy, my ass. But yeah, I was powerless, so I let out an involuntary sigh.
“You know about the people who created the system, so you must be connected to them. But an F-rank like me? What would I even get from them?”
“Did you expect me to just give you all the answers?”
The bastard held up his left hand, showing me his palm. Three scars crisscrossed it, and one of them began to split open. Something dark crawled out from within the wound—something like black, writhing sludge. It growled softly as it rapidly expanded in size.
Thud!
The creature landed on the ground with a heavy sound. It was a Venom and Curse Dragonkin, about twice the size of a wolf, with four legs, thick scales, spikes, and a long tail. It wasn’t massive, but it felt like it was around S-rank in strength.
‘So those scars all contain Venom and Curse Dragonkin?’
And just on the exposed parts of his body, there were at least ten visible scars. How many more were hidden beneath his clothes? No wonder he’s called the Master of the Venom and Curse Dragons. It wasn’t just Lautitars; this guy had a whole zoo. A Venom and Curse Dragonkin hoarder.
“As I said earlier, we’re in my consciousness. I can rip through your mind to find the information I want.”
Grrrrr
The dragon beside him bared its teeth like a well-trained guard dog. I staggered to my feet and took a few steps back, but there was no escape. I tried opening my inventory on instinct, but it didn’t work.
“…Going up against an F-rank and taking away all my items? And you still call yourself L-rank?”
“I was linked to Vikus’ consciousness, so I know you have a damage nullification ability. Since you didn’t use it from the start, it must be an item. If you were to use it here, it would become bothersome. So, I restricted your access to items and inventory while my skill is active. At least I left your clothes.”
How very generous.
“Did you get that item from the system creators? But nullification alone wouldn’t have been enough to kill Lautitars.”
“Why don’t you figure it out yourself, you bastard.”
The dragon moved. Damn it, this is bad.
I’m so sick of the smell of blood. Especially my own.
As the blood soaked the floor, I learned a few things.
One: if you take a fatal blow here, it’s possible your real body might die too. That’s why, despite all the injuries, my torso and especially my head were mostly intact. I wouldn’t stay that way forever, but for now, I was surviving.
Two: severe injuries heal quickly here, probably because my mind refuses to believe it’s real. For some reason, losing an arm or a leg doesn’t feel as convincing as small cuts, so they heal almost instantly. I could just close my eyes, tell myself I had my arm, open them, and it’d be back, good as new, clothes included.
Three: digging for specific memories isn’t as easy as this lizard bastard makes it sound. The first thing he pulled out was the memory of the first time I got attacked by a monster. Then he found the moment I failed to get a level 10 skill and felt crushed, and another when my old apartment felt too big and empty, so I moved. He even found my first Christmas spent alone.
Eventually, though, he dug up one useful memory—the moment I used the wish stone after killing Lautitars.
“A wish stone, huh. And you used it to rewind time. That could’ve been troublesome.”
The bastard grinned in that irritating way of his.
“You could try holding on to your current state forever, but it looks like you’ve temporarily gained something. Was it those filial duty addicts who helped you? Or did Han Yuhyun pull off some kind of trick?”
“Maybe your fat lizard got tired of following your orders and begged to be killed, lying on its back with its belly up and wagging its tail. Betrayed by your pet, huh? Maybe being betrayed is a hobby of yours. Heh.”
The claws on the foot pressing down on my back dug deeper.
“If you got a wish stone out of it, then it’s clear you killed Lautitars yourself. And whatever other rewards you got… perhaps a title? It must be a high-ranking title related to the Venom and Curse Dragonkin. That’s probably why both Liette and Seong Hyunjae were able to break their contracts and still be fine.”
The bastard clicked his tongue in annoyance, his expression souring.
“Even now, you’re still babbling away, so you must have some kind of mental resistance too. What else do you have?”
“Why do you keep asking when you know I won’t tell you? Do you enjoy wasting your time that much? Or are you just an idiot? Like pet, like master, huh?”
“It really is an annoying skill. If you were an ordinary F-rank, I would have unraveled everything by now.”
“Maybe you should’ve blocked my skills instead of just taking my items.”
Of course, if he had actually done that, I’d be in big trouble. I’d already be completely stripped down, and there’s no way he’d let me live. Damn it. All I can do is endure for now.
“If I could block them, I would’ve.”
The bastard spoke as if it was a minor inconvenience. So, he could block items and inventory but not skills? What’s the difference? Are skills more directly tied to me? Something that can’t be separated from my body?
But then again, does it even matter?
‘The skills and items aren’t even real here. This is all in my mind, isn’t it? Like a dream. If I think something exists, it should be there. If I think it doesn’t, it won’t be. Isn’t that how it works?’
Just like how my severed arm would return if I was certain it was still there.
“So, how did you block them? Shouldn’t my items just appear if I think I have them? It’s all in my head anyway, so why am I still so weak?”
“It’s a kind of powerful suggestion. I made it so that you can’t break free from the belief that you don’t have your items.”
You sure do love explaining everything.
“It’s like trying to fly in a dream but then falling the moment you realize it’s impossible. The stronger the sense of reality, the harder it is to break free from the constraints of what you believe to be possible. Strengthening that belief makes it easy to prevent you from using your items and inventory.”
“Impressive. So, theoretically, that means I can still do anything?”
“In theory, yes. But pulling out abilities you’ve never actually experienced is impossible when the sensations feel this real. It’s not like an F-rank can suddenly imagine themselves as S-rank. No matter how vivid your imagination, there are limits. But more importantly…”
The bastard stroked his chin as he continued.
“This approach isn’t getting us anywhere. I’ll have to shift tactics. How about I bring up Han Yuhyun’s corpse?”
“…Why would you bring that up?”
Why now?
“I know it disappeared when I rewound time.”
“It should’ve. But as I said earlier, Han Yuhyun made a new contract. Even though he died, there was still interference because of that contract.”
I stared dumbly at the hand he lazily flicked. Contract? Interference?
“Actually, I should say that it was possible to interfere because he died. If he had been alive, he would’ve immediately merged with the current version of himself in this world, leaving no chance to intervene. But because he was bound by the contract and dead, it was easy to get hold of his body.”
…It took me a moment to process what I had just heard. So, what… what are you saying?
“You’re telling me… that you have my brother?”
“I was the one who made the contract, but it was the Bird that Counts the Stars who took him. She showed an unusual interest in him and took his body. I’m not interested in corpses.”
The pain from the claws digging into my back was nothing compared to the deeper pain inside me. The bastard smiled, clearly satisfied with my reaction.
“It seems this topic works better. Shall we continue talking about Han Yuhyun?”
“…I’m not going to listen to anything about him from your mouth.”
My head felt foggy. Like I was floating slightly.
“Even though you say that, your reaction—”
“Let’s make it a little more hands-on.”
Rumble!
With a booming sound, a flash of light cut through the air.
Screeeam!
The dragon pinning me down leapt back, struck by the bolt of lightning. The bastard staggered back as well, narrowly avoiding the sudden surge of electricity.
“What is this?!”
“You think this is my first time experiencing Seong Hyunjae’s skills?”
I stood up, dusting myself off. It was the deadly Terrifying Chick Class Teacher skill. I’d experienced the full brunt of it before—over and over again. Every movement, the pulse of magic, the fine-tuned control over the lightning—I felt all of it as if I were wielding the skill myself.
“It’s easier to use when my head’s a little fuzzy. I can just let my body follow the movements from back then.”
The same sensations from before were still etched into my body.
Grrrr!
The dragon, half its body scorched, staggered forward, snarling. I leaped into the air, spreading my wings. Golden wings, like Noah’s. I had shared senses with Noah countless times during his flight training in dragon form, with Blue as the instructor.
Bzzzt!
Still hovering in the air, I released another surge of electricity. Without chains or long needles to channel it, the lightning spread more freely, but the effect was still devastating. The dragon let out another pained scream.
Well, of course.
[Veteran F-rank]
[Lautitars’ Natural Enemy]
Double the effect. And then, double it again.
I looked over at the bastard lizard master and grinned.
“SSS-rank, was it? Even L-rank would’ve been fine.”
I’ve still got one more left. The power I absorbed—not just through shared senses, but imprinted directly onto my body—was clear and unmistakable, even after just an hour.
The blood staining the ground turned black. It ignited into searing black flames—Black Blood Flame.
Screeee!
The dragon, still barely clinging to life, was reduced to ashes in an instant. The bastard staggered back, unable to withstand the heat.
One final reward. Doubled again.
“Thanks for showing me how it’s done.”
Yuhyun.
“Now it’s my turn to dig through your memories.”
No matter what it takes, I’m coming to get you, little brother.
–TL Notes–
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