Episode 16 – The Fifth Scenario (3)

The broken pieces of moon stone fell to the ground. A being scattering a silver mane was hatching. If he was a cub, I could control him using the ‘imprinting’ phenomenon. But this being wasn’t such a naive creature.

[You have encountered a creature from a different world for the first time in this scenario.]

[Affinity with the species from a different world has increased.]

[2,000 coins have been rewarded.]

[You have received a bonus skill for smooth communication with the other world species.]

[‘Other World Interpreter Lv. 1’ has been acquired.]

I could hear Han Sooyoung gulp next to me.

It was natural to be nervous since the encounter with the other world species was the prelude to the fifth scenario.

It was completely different from the previous scenarios. The slightest mistake in the fifth scenario could cause all of Seoul to disappear.

[The exclusive skill ‘Other World Interpreter Lv. 1’ is activated.]

[The effect of the item Protection Symbol of the Imyuntar has increased understanding of the specific language.]

The item I got from the fire dragon would be helpful from now on.

[Automatic interpretation has started.]

I heard a voice from the shining moon stone.

““#%#$… damn, already?”

The creature curled up inside the moon stone grumbled and raised its body. The silver mane reminded me of a wolf at first glance, but I knew he was different from a wolf. Above all, I knew the species of this person.

「 They are three metres tall. The dominant species of the world ‘Chronos’ that can transform using the moon stone at night. They are fighters with monstrous physical strength who use the power of the wind. 」

One of the five dominant species of Chronos.

“I am the great first wolf.”

「 In Chronos, they call the first wolf ‘Imyuntar’. 」

“I am Lycaon of the Imyuntar.”

There was a creepy breathing sound in the darkness of the night, causing the surroundings to be still. I made eye contact with him while Han Sooyoung hid behind me. Of course, I didn’t back down.

[The exclusive skill, Character List is activated.]

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[Character Information]

Name: Lycaon Isparang

Age: 371 years old.

Constellation Support: Shadow of a Destroyed World

Private Attribute: Noble Imyuntar (Hero), Humiliated Survivor (Rare)

Exclusive Skills: Way of the Wind Lv. 9, Advanced Weapons Training Lv. 9, Roar of the Battlefield Lv. 8, Sage’s Insight Lv. 4, Steel Skin Lv. 8, Acting Lv. 4…

Stigma: Destruction Delivery Lv. 1

Overall Stats: Physique Lv. 75, Strength Lv. 75, Agility Lv. 75, Magic Power Lv. 75.

Overall Evaluation: One of the five dominant species of the destroyed Chronos. After losing his world, he invested in the Star Stream and became a guide in the scenario. He is characterized by always looking at the world with eyes filled with remorse.

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As expected, the hero of another world had great skills and stats. The average stats was level 75. He exceeded the current limit of the scenario. He was the goal of many representatives.

Lycaon’s blue eyes looked down at me like I was interesting.

“You are the ones who woke me up?”

I nodded.

“I see… Is it finally time? Congratulations on clearing the tutorial scenarios, warriors of this world.”

It sounded like a tutorial. It was funny how he imitated the dokkaebi for dramatic effect.

There was no tutorial in this world. Every scenario was an actual event and the dead couldn’t come back again. Then what type of tutorial existed?

“Those who are facing extinction. First, I deeply regret that ‘disaster’ has come to your world.”

Lycaon spoke while looking up at the sky.

He was looking at the Great Hall over Seoul, Korea.

A huge vortex reminiscent of a black hole was gradually increasing its volume every moment. Lycaon would’ve also seen the Great Hall on the day his world was destroyed.

All guides in the scenarios were those who lost their homes to the scenarios.

“Since I am here, you can rest assured. I am a ‘guide’ to stop the destruction of this world. I will train you to prepare for the disaster and give you the necessary instructions. And…”

It came out quite hastily but he was good at reciting the words. He probably got a manual grom a dokkaebi.

Lycaon suddenly stopped talking.

“…By the way, you are the only ones who woke me up?”

“It is just us.”

“Strange. The fourth scenario isn’t cleared? If it had been cleared properly, the five guides, including myself, would be hatched in the same place… Where is the owner of the Absolute Throne?”

He was right. Originally, the five guides, including Lycaon, would gather as soon as the master of the Absolute Throne was born.

I spoke to Lycaon. “We have no king.”

“There is no king… did the master of the Absolute Throne die? No way. At present, there is no way to kill the master of the Absolute Throne.”

Lycaon expressed his disbelief in a threatening manner.

“There was no owner of the Absolute Throne from the beginning.”

“What does that mean?”

“We cleared the fourth scenario without getting the Absolute Throne.”

Flames appeared in Lycaon’s eyes.

“Are you lying to me right now? Such a thing is impossible! The fourth scenario doesn’t end until someone takes the throne.”

“There is also the method of destroying the Absolute Throne.”

Lycaon’s expression stiffened. He seemed to grasp my words and his eyes widened.

“…Perhaps?”

The embarrassment of such a noble hero was really worth seeing. His silver mane quivered as he looked closely at me.

“The numerous constellations…surely you didn’t destroy the throne…?”

“That’s right.”

“How could you do such a terrible thing?”

Lycaon let out many curses that I couldn’t hear properly. Han Sooyoung looked at the bellowing Lycaon and whispered to me, “Hey, was it that serious? For you…?”

Han Sooyoung also received Other World Interpreter and heard the conversation. Lycaon screamed before I could answer.

“Why did you do that? Now there is no one in the world under the banner of that great god?”

“No.”

“Ahh! The Star Stream constellations didn’t care about Chronos! Now this world is ruined! Living things with less intelligence than a kobold should do their jobs!”

I felt scorn as I watched the despairing Lycaon.

Yes, this was the essence of these guys. On the surface, they were dispatched to help this world. However, they had a separate purpose that I would never let happen.

“Prince of the Imyuntar, Lycaon Isparang. It is too early to be frustrated.”

The prideful prince of the Imyuntar immediately responded to the change in my attitude.

He growled out angrily. “Cheeky human. Show respect in front of a great species! You don’t know the weight of your sin!”

“Lycaon, didn’t you see anything when your world perished? The Imyuntar were the ruling species of Chronos, not Earth.”

Lycaon’s expression stiffened. I didn’t miss this gap and continued, “There were five disasters that destroyed your world.”

“What…”

“The southern continent of Chronos where you lived was destroyed by the dragon. Right?”

Lycaon’s eyes filled with disbelief. “How do you know this?”

“Fire Dragon Igneel. The Disaster of Burning Hell. It is the name of the disaster that destroyed your world.”

The small disaster that I killed, Lesser Igneel was originally a ‘disaster.’

A single flame could turn a small city into a sea of fire and a single flap of its wings could destroy a lower species.

The southern continent of Chronos was destroyed by him. The fire dragon that woke up from a meteorite.

Lycaon gritted his teeth. “You are speaking like it is someone else’s story. You will regret it. Pretty soon, your world will also struggle in that hot hellfire.”

“Don’t worry. Igneel won’t come down to this world.”

“What?”

“I have already killed him. There will be no ‘Burning Hell’ disaster in this world.”

Lycaon had a bemused expression, like he heard his home had been brought back.

“That is the best joke I’ve ever heard. Is there such a joke in this world? Is it fun to joke about the world that will soon cease to exist?”

Well… of course not. I pulled out a blue coloured medallion. Then like magic, Lycaon’s laughter subsided.

The Protection Symbol of the Imyuntar. Lycaon’s shaking hands reached out to take the medallion.

“W-Why… how do you have this…?”

The Protection Symbol of the Imyuntar was proof that a person had hunted a disaster dragon.

“Lycaon of the Imyuntar. Pay respects to the protector.”

Lycaon’s body slowly fell. First his knees touched the ground, slowly followed by his head. There was a severe shaking of his eyes like he couldn’t admit it.

“Do it properly.”

Before long, his head touched the ground. He was over three metres tall so it wasn’t until he fell down that his eyes were lower than mine. I looked down at Lycaon.

This was the useful part of catching the fire dragon.

Han Sooyoung wasn’t able to grasp the situation yet and looked at Lycaon with confused eyes. I was almost killed by Han Sooyoung’s brutality but she ended up making things easier.

Lycaon spoke in a quivering voice. “Great dragon hunter… With the benefit of hindsight, I would like to ask you to forgive my rudeness.”

“My name is Kim Dokja.”

Once again, I thought that my name wasn’t that great. This would be a great scene if my name was Yoo Jonghyuk. I added a quick remark to diffuse the awkward atmosphere.

“Lycaon. There is something I need you to do.”

Lycaon carefully looked up.”

“Teach me the Way of the Wind, which is the secret technique of your people.”

Lycaon’s eyes slowly became bigger. This was my purpose behind hatching Lycaon.

The southern disaster of the fire dragon had disappeared so the first disaster in the fifth scenario would surely be the ‘east disaster.’

In order to prevent the catastrophe in the east, I needed to gain the secret technique of the Imyuntar.

Way of the Wind It was the only answer to the disaster of the east, the ‘Disaster of Questions.’

***

An hour later, I explained the situation to Han Sooyoung who hadn’t been able to follow the conversation.

“Then the medallion you got from killing the fire dragon is an important thing for them?”

“Yes.”

“I still don’t understand… the fire dragon you killed at that time was one of the disasters?”

“That’s right.”

“…Then in the fifth scenario, we have to prevent four instead of five disasters?”

“You seem to understand yet not understand?”

Han Sooyoung frowned.

“I still don’t understand. Didn’t you kill the ‘Lesser Igneel?’ Isn’t he a deteriorated dragon so why is he the disaster? Is this also a development of Ways of Survival?”

“…Everything that hatches from a disaster meteor is a disaster. That guy came out instead of Igneel so Igneel won’t appear in this disaster. In addition, Igneel didn’t appear in the original. Igneel’s hatchling came out. It is only the fifth scenario so how can something like that wake up already?”

“…You speak well. Are you a spokesman for Ways of Survival? Are you actually the writer?”

The scenario difficulty was ridiculous but it was adjusted so that it could be cleared if people risked their lives.

…Of course, the adjustment was carefully controlled.

The Lesser Igneel, the deteriorated version of the hatchling had annihilated the prophets, which could be called the elite troops at the time. Was that all? I was once killed by that dragon. If it wasn’t for the King of No Killing, I wouldn’t be standing here.

If Lesser Igneel had been released into Seoul and continued to level up, Seoul would’ve ended up the same as Lycaon’s hometown.

Of course, Han Sooyoung had no knowledge of such matters and was busy complaining.

“Anyway, aren’t the disasters a bigger deal than I thought? I have a lot of trouble grasping the scale because of the way it was expressed in Ways of Survival…”

“We were lucky with the fire dragon. The disasters that will come will be in their original state. Terrible beings will appear.”

It was pleasant to see the expression of the plagiarist writer at the word ‘original.’

“Then what should we do?”

“We have to use that guy.”

I looked at Lycaon, who was preparing for the training in a distant place.

Han Sooyoung asked, “He looks strong. Do you want him to fight?”

“That guy is a coward. In addition, the guides are prohibited from fighting against disasters of another world. We have to take care of our work on our own.”

I heard Lycaon calling out to me.

“Protector, I am ready.”

Protector was the title for the owner of the medallion. I told him to call my name a few times but Lycaon didn’t yield.

“From now on, I will teach you the secret technique of my clan, the Way of the Wind.”

Way of the Wind. It was a hidden skill that allowed the user to use the wind like their own limbs.

Among the other species, only those with the Protection Symbol of the Imyuntar could learn this skill.

Yoo Jonghyuk was originally scheduled to obtain this but not this time. I couldn’t give the strong person all the good skills.

“Then I will start.”

For the next three hours, I sweated hard to learn the skill.

It would be nice if the system had a message like ‘Would you like to learn the skill?’ but this wasn’t possible. It was only possible to gain the skill by learning it directly.

I had read the novel so I was able to follow Lycaon’s movements a little bit. To be exact, I thought I was following it.

Approximately one more hour passed. Lycaon hesitated before opening his mouth. “Protector. I’m sorry to say this but…”