Red Dragon’s Territory

“Was there something this delicious?!”

The dragons were thrilled as they ate Sejun’s food.

And then,

“Where did Lord Ramter get this food?”

The dragons were naturally curious about the source of the food.

At that moment,

“Uncle Alex, I know! It’s made by Park Sejun, the Tower Farmer of the Black Tower, and Aileen sells it there!”

“Aunt Hannah! Sylvia knows! It was made by Park Sejun, the Tower Farmer of the Black Tower!”

The hatchlings eagerly showed off their knowledge to the dragons.

This was the result of Aileen’s efforts to teach the hatchlings.

“The Tower Farmer of the Black Tower?”

“Park Sejun?”

“Can you eat Park Sejun’s cooking if you go to the Black Tower?”

Thanks to this, Sejun’s fame started spreading among the dragons.

***

[All the leaders of the great Nine Dragon Clans have drunk a glass of Golden Samyangju.]

[You have completed the quest.]

[You have obtained 15 drops of Harvest Elixir as a quest completion reward.]

“Puhut. The first reward has arrived.”

Sejun laughed as he looked at the message. He felt as excited as if he had received a text that a package had arrived at his door.

At that moment,

[You have achieved the great feat of breaking the curse of forgetfulness placed on the great Dragon Race.]

[As a reward for this great feat, you have obtained the <Title: Dragon Race’s Helper>.]

[No matter the difference in rank, dragons will no longer despise you from now on.]

[Your abilities will now apply to dragons as well.]

The last reward arrived.

“Dragon Race’s Helper?”

Sejun didn’t quite understand the last message, and despise… what’s that about?

‘I’ve never been despiseed by a dragon. I’ve been ignored for being weak.

But never despised. I swear.’

“This title is completely useless.”

As Sejun thought that the second reward was of no benefit to him,

[From afar, the great black dragons praise your food highly.]

[Your soul is greatly fulfilled by the high praise of numerous beings of high rank.]

[Your mental strength increases by 1000.]

[Your mental strength has reached the limit of 500.]

[Your mental strength cannot increase further.]

[You have achieved a mental strength of 500.]

[Your feeble will now slightly affects the world.]

The third reward, which Sejun hadn’t even thought of, arrived.

Sejun’s mental strength increased significantly due to the high praise from the black dragons who ate his food. By 1000, no less.

In the past, there was no reaction even when dragons ate his food.

However, with the <Title: Dragon Race’s Helper>, and his Talent: The Soul That Healed Its Wounds activated on the dragons.

On top of that, the timing was perfect as the hatchlings revealed that Sejun was the one who made the food, allowing him to receive proper praise.

Thus, Sejun’s mental strength instantly soared to the potential limit of 500.

“Ugh!”

Sejun briefly experienced a terrible headache that felt like his head would split.

This was because the excessive mental strength of 700 was putting a strain on his soul.

While food consumed by the mouth can be excreted, there was no other way to handle mental strength but to endure it.

When the pain subsided,

“But it’s really useless.”

Sejun said as he looked at the last message.

His mental strength stat had reached 500, but the only change was that the word ‘very’ was removed from ‘very feeble will,’ making it ‘feeble will.’

Moreover, its impact on the world was still very slight.

“Chairman Park, are you okay, meow?”

Squish. Squish.

Theo asked, pressing Sejun’s right temple with his front paw.

Kueng?

[Daddy, are you okay?]

Cuengi also asked in a worried voice. Though they didn’t speak, the rest of the party looked at Sejun with concern.

“It hurt a little, but I’m fine now.”

Sejun reassured his worried companions.

At that moment,

Kking! Kking! Kking!

‘Hey! Of course, your head hurts when you handle your mental strength like that! You need to do it like this and then like this! Watch carefully and follow me!’

Fenrir was eagerly trying to teach Sejun advanced techniques for handling mental strength, but

“Oh, is my Blackie hungry? We’ll have a meal later, so hold off on snacks for now.”

Unfortunately, the conversation didn’t get through. Sejun thought Fenrir was asking for a snack and patted his head to comfort him.

“Now, let’s head to Dino.”

“Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. I’ll guide the way!”

Iona, who knew the location of Dino, the capital of the Lizard Kingdom before it was sealed, led the way.

Just as they were about to set off,

[From afar, the great white dragons praise your food highly.]

···

..

.

A series of astonishing messages appeared, and Sejun’s mental strength increased beyond what he could handle.

There was something Sejun had overlooked.

There were a total of nine dragon clans.

The praises from the remaining eight dragon clans poured onto Sejun.

[From afar, the great red dragons praise your food highly.]

[Your soul is greatly fulfilled by the high praise of numerous beings of high rank.]

[Your mental strength increases by 2000.]

Furthermore, the number of red dragons was twice that of other dragon clans, so his mental strength increased twice as much.

Sejun’s soul, which gained a total of 9000 mental strength, beyond what he could bear,

Bang!

Thud.

Sejun heard a bursting sound and fainted.

“Chairman Park has fainted again, meow!!!”

Kueng!

[Dad, wake up!!!]

Theo and Cuengi hurriedly began massaging Sejun’s unconscious body.

Kking!

‘Hey! I told you to do it like this!’

Fenrir, angry that Sejun wasn’t listening, quickly placed his head against Sejun’s head.

***

Inside Sejun’s mental world.

One side of the mental world’s wall had a huge hole.

Due to the massive influx of mental strength from the dragons’ praises, a hole had formed in Sejun’s mental world.

Too much mental strength was poison to Sejun, whose mind was as fragile as a sunfish.

“Aaaargh!”

Sejun desperately clung to the ground, trying to resist the suction force coming from the hole.

He instinctively knew that being sucked into that black hole would be the end.

And indeed, the outside of Sejun’s mental world was extremely dangerous.

Emptiness.

A world where nothing existed. If Sejun’s mind were sucked into the emptiness, it would be devoured and vanish.

Despite his desperate resistance, Sejun’s body was getting closer to the hole.

No, to be precise, the ground Sejun was holding onto was being sucked into the hole.

As Sejun was on the verge of being swallowed by the emptiness,

“Grrr. I told you to do it like this.”

A giant wolf appeared in Sejun’s mental world, grumbling. Its body was curled up.

Compared to Sejun’s mental world, Fenrir’s mind was enormous.

Fenrir carefully wiggled his front paws to avoid tearing Sejun’s mental world and,

Press.

Blocked the hole in Sejun’s mental world with his huge paw.

“With the mental world walls being this thin, no wonder there’s a hole. I need to reinforce the walls with the excess mental strength.”

Fenrir closed his eyes and concentrated, reinforcing the boundaries of Sejun’s mental world with the mental strength that couldn’t be used anyway.

While Fenrir was strengthening Sejun’s mental world,

“Mm…”

Sejun opened his eyes.

“Chairman Park, you’re awake, meow?!”

Kueng?!

[Dad, are you okay?!]

Theo and Cuengi, who were massaging Sejun’s body, called out to him.

“Yeah, I think I’m fine. But why am I lying down?”

“Chairman Park, you fainted again, meow!”

Kueng!

[Dad, it seems you almost died again!]

“Fainted?”

Sejun looked puzzled at their words.

What?

There was nothing special that would make me faint…

“Ah. There is.”

Sejun then remembered that he had fainted upon receiving the message about his enormous increase in mental strength.

He also recalled nearly being sucked into something inside his mental world.

It seemed like he shouldn’t casually give food to dragons in the future.

“But I feel like I heard Blackie’s voice…”

Fenrir was too large, so he couldn’t see his face.

“Was it my imagination?”

As Sejun was pondering whether he actually heard Fenrir’s voice,

[Your soul has been strengthened.]

[Your mental strength potential has increased to 3000.]

A message appeared.

“What’s going on?”

Sejun was puzzled about the reason behind his increased potential.

At that moment,

Kkirorong.

He heard Fenrir snoring by his head. Fenrir was exhausted from entering Sejun’s mental world.

However,

“Blackie, you punk, I almost died and you’re sleeping comfortably?”

Unaware of this, Sejun was annoyed at Fenrir.

“Bubububup.”

Kking… Kking…

‘I’m tired… Play with someone else…’

So, Sejun mischievously blew raspberries on Fenrir’s belly.

“Puhuhut. Chairman Park, do it to me too, meow!”

Kueng!

[Cuengi likes belly raspberries too!]

Theo and Cuengi presented their bellies.

A little while later,

“Now, let’s go! Toryong!”

After giving belly raspberries to the two and carefully putting the deeply sleeping Fenrir into the sling bag, Sejun called for Toryong.

After traveling for about an hour on Toryong, they arrived at a large lake.

“Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. We’re here!”

Iona pointed to the lake and said.

Piyo!

[This is where I came last time!]

Piyot, who had patrolled this area before, recognized the place.

“But where is the capital supposed to be?”

Sejun asked Iona, looking at the seemingly empty lake.

“Power of magic, cancel!”

Instead of answering, Iona used a spell.

Then,

Woong.

A giant dome-shaped gray barrier appeared over the lake, slowly turning into light and shattering.

And the giant walls of Dino, hidden by an illusion spell, appeared. The lake’s water was just a moat for the fortress.

It had been hidden by a top-tier illusion spell, which was why Piyot couldn’t find it before.

And then,

Kkokki!

At the highest point of the castle, a bird roaring and spewing flames could be seen.

[Phoenix]

However,

“Huh?! That’s…?”

In Sejun’s eyes, it looked like a giant chicken with thick legs, perfect for being called chicken.

Gulp.

‘No, it wasn’t me. It was Cuengi.’

“Ahem. Let’s… try talking first. Vice Chairman Theo, go and tell it to move aside.”

Sending Cuengi seemed like it would end up with neck-twisting or biting, so Sejun sent Theo instead.

“Got it, meow!”

At Sejun’s words, Theo ran towards the Phoenix.

And then,

Kkokkek!

The Phoenix, talking with Theo, suddenly got angry and created a massive fire. It seemed really mad.

What did he say?

As Sejun wondered why the Phoenix was angry,

Bang!

Suddenly, Theo appeared behind the Phoenix and knocked it out with a blow to the back of its head.

Piyo!

Meanwhile, as if expecting something like this, Piyot flew energetically from the start and received the Phoenix’s footprint right on time.

Yeah. Well, Theo did talk to it before hitting it… could this also be considered self-defense?

With a newly established concept of self-defense in mind, Sejun entered Dino, the capital of the Lizard Kingdom.

Upon reaching the spot where the Phoenix had fallen,

Pluck.

Pluck.

“Puhuhut.”

Theo was plucking the Phoenix’s tail feathers and laughing like a villain.

Then,

“Chairman Park, take these, meow!”

He handed Sejun 10 of the Phoenix’s tail feathers.

“What are these?”

“I don’t know, meow! I just felt a pull from them, meow!”

“Pull?”

At Theo’s response, Sejun hurriedly checked the red feathers.

[Phoenix’s Tail Feather]

→ These tail feathers of the immortal Phoenix contain the powerful essence of flame and are an excellent material.

→ If used to craft equipment, there is a high probability of creating legendary-grade items.

→ Using these feathers, you can create fire-attribute weapons, staff that double the power of fire-attribute attacks, or farming tools that increase crop growth speed by 5%.

→ Grade: SSS

“Oh! These are great!”

Farming tools that increase growth speed by 5%.

“Puhuhut. Did I do well, meow?!”

“Yes, you did well.”

“Puhuhut. I know, meow! I, Vice Chairman Theo, always do well, meow!”

Kueng!

In the meantime, Sejun stopped Cuengi from twisting the Phoenix’s neck and woke the Phoenix up.

Kkokkek! Kkokki!

[Eek! My feathers!]

As soon as the phoenix woke up, it created flames of anger upon seeing its bare tail, but

“Hahk! Stay still, meow!”

With a single growl from Theo, not wanting to get hit again, it quickly extinguished the flames.

Then,

“So, why did you settle here?”

After the Phoenix calmed down, Sejun asked why it had taken over Dino.

Kkokki.

[It’s safe here.]

The Phoenix explained that it originally lived on the 95th floor of the tower but fled here to escape monsters that coveted its power.

“Really? Then we’ll send you back home.”

Kkokki?! Kkokki!

[Really?! But really scary guys have taken over my nest!]

The Phoenix’s voice was filled with hope and fear as it responded to Sejun.

“Don’t worry.”

Hehehe. My guys are scarier.

Sejun smiled wickedly, like a villain.

“Puhuhut.”

Kuhehehe.

Theo and Cuengi also followed Sejun’s lead and laughed as wickedly as they could.

What’s going on?

The Phoenix felt like it had teamed up with the villains.

*****