The Dragon Brain

[R: The relic hidden here is the Dragon Brain of a certain dragon.

Once every thousand years, a dragon sheds its body and is reborn in a new one.

At that time, the brain left behind in the discarded body transforms into the ultimate treasure.

That is what is called a Dragon Brain.]

[R: It seems the treasure left by the dragon had the effect of accelerating the growth of beings that had not yet become dragons.

Imok used this to…]

The “Shangsi Snake” comes into contact with the Dragon Brain.

『Detailed Information: Shangsi Snake

(Searching)

(Search complete)

Source text: 894-2749059

Among the 366 animals with scales capable of evolving into dragons listed in the first edited medium, Theory of Yin and Yang, this particular entity has been identified.』

[N/S: The core of the Shangsi Snake writhed within my flesh.

The pain was so intense that even the crown of my head tingled sharply.

Naturally so.

It was essentially like a powerful snake tearing through my body.]

Applying to the secondary edited medium (current).

Growth acceleration effect activated.

Scanning the state of the secondary edited medium (current).

Scan complete.

The original special effects of this item do not activate in the secondary edited medium (current).

Edited works of the Aiyeom (Love-Taint) type have the property of attracting other edits of a similar type.

Therefore, caution is required when attaching them to the body.

In the case of the secondary edited medium (current), this passive ability…

[N/S: I felt the Shangsi Snake that had swallowed the Dragon Brain rapidly expand its presence.

If this continued, I instinctively knew my body might be torn apart by the snake inside me.

Groping around, I grabbed something I had prepared beforehand.

OZ’s face.

Only after attaching it to the left side of my face did the Shangsi Snake stop moving.]

[N/S: Of course, Imok and the Shangsi Snake are different.

If Imok is a high-grade creature on the verge of becoming a dragon, then the Shangsi Snake is closer to a demonic beast, a mere evil spirit.

Therefore, even after swallowing the Dragon Brain, the Shangsi Snake could not immediately grow into a dragon like Imok.

But.]

Skill “Cultivation (Grade 3)” activated.

[N/S: There was a method.

Probably a method only I could use here.]

An element that accelerates the growth of the entity already exists within the field.

The growth rate increases further due to overlapping effects.

The “Snake Close to God [Jiao]” opens its eyes.

[N/S: The being that was once nothing more than a snake grows into an Imugi.]

The “Snake Close to God [Jiao]”…

(Searching)

[N/S: I was briefly confused by the unexpected situation.

What does that mean?]

Specific conditions satisfied.

Entering the “Deepest Rift” through the Legacy.

(Processing)

[N/S: The Deepest Rift.

It was a word I had heard somewhere before.

More precisely…

“The Rift.”

Wasn’t that also the place I briefly fell into because of a bug?

Could it be the same place?

But if it’s digging into there, then what exactly exists there…]

A suitable entity has been found.

Compatibility confirmed.

…〼〥…

Partial match.

Approved.

The “Snake Close to God [Jiao]” connects to the “Dragon Without a Master.”

The “Snake Close to God [Jiao]” transforms into a Dragon (Divinity).

The dragon opens its eyes.

This dragon is not degraded.

[N/S: I panicked.]

Your current physical body cannot withstand this growth.

This evolution is incomplete.

Existence may shatter.

Entering existence-shattering process.

New edit applied.

The evolution will be applied only temporarily.

There is a time limit.

Remaining time: 3 minutes.

[N/S: If I could, I wanted to shout, “This isn’t it!”

The evolution I was aiming for was a dragon subspecies, not a divine entity.

Of course.

There’s no way my current self could handle something like that.

But something went wrong along the way, and the Shangsi Snake evolved into an absurd monster far beyond my control.

The only fortunate thing was that there was a time limit.]

[N/S: Three minutes.

That was enough to deal with that lunatic Imok whose head had spun 270 degrees.

That’s what I thought.]

[N/S: f*ck.]

[N/S: My body was breaking down in real time.

Even if I stayed still, cracks formed in my flesh and blood streamed out.

My body simply couldn’t handle the power.

Imok wasn’t the danger.

That was.]

Effectively defending against existence shattering.

[N/S: Damn it, Kaliban.

You said you fixed it, but you’ve only made the system even dumber.]

Effectively defending against destruction of weaker existence caused by existence disparity.

[N/S: You lunatic.

Making the explanation longer doesn’t solve anything.

It’s wrong from the start.]

[N/S: Fine, I admit it.

Crack!

I grabbed one of Imok’s wings and stomped on his back.

Rip!

Just that alone tore one of his wings apart.]

“I might’ve used too much force.”

I vented a bit of my frustration somewhere else.

Namely, on Imok.

“It looked pretty sturdy, but how does a wing tear off from just that?”

Imok twisted his body violently.

Boom!

He slammed me down, but I blocked him with just one arm.

Even his enormous stalactite-like fangs couldn’t tear my flesh.

However, the force I absorbed churned violently inside me.

[N/S: I could have killed Imok immediately, but after a moment’s thought I spoke.]

“Hey.”

I didn’t know whether Imok, who had already transformed into something like a Post-Apocalypse Creature, could understand me.

Why had he turned into something like that anyway?

“Do you want to live?”

I didn’t want to kill him.

There had to be a better method.

For example…

Actually, I didn’t know.

But maybe I could bind him first, lock him up somewhere, and think about it later.

I wasn’t sure if there was a way to turn him back into a human.

“Submit to me.

Then I’ll spare your life.”

I realized that Imok could understand my words.

Because thoughts flashed across the creature’s black eyes as it stared at me.

Emotions no different from a human’s.

Regret.

Greed.

Anger.

In that instant, Imok twisted his body violently like a madman.

[N/S: “You bastard!”

After blasting me with a Dry-Wind storm, Imok fled.

I chased him like a madman.

Not because he was threatening.

And not because I couldn’t catch him.]

[N/S: He planned to fly to another city.

The bridges between cities?

Didn’t matter.

He had wings now.

So what if he reached a city?

That bastard planned revenge.

Maybe all the candidates would end up as bloody lumps of meat.

And then?

Among the taboos there was something called God-Devouring.

One of the reasons OZ was feared despite his power.

Absorbing the power of divine beings lower than oneself and turning them into inferior divine beings.

That was Imok’s plan.]

[N/S: I had to catch him before that.

End it.

But.]

Remaining time: 1 minute.

[N/S: It was pure luck.

That I managed to destroy Imok before my body collapsed.]

Remaining time: 0 seconds.

The awakened dragon closes its eyes again.

This place is…

[N/S: Kaliban, I’m seriously going to kill that bastard.]

The Dragon (Divinity) falls asleep.

That message was the last thing I saw before losing consciousness.

『“Shangsi Snake Skin” → Dragon (Divinity)

Item “Shangsi Snake Skin” has been grafted onto the body.

The bound title “Lord (Count)” has been lost.

※However, the seed effects attached to the Lord title remain, as the seeds are recognized as belonging to the “Model Garden.”

※The next turn approaches.

※Harvesting or crafting rewards may be obtained through seed effects.

Please prepare the resources to pay as tax in advance.

If the required tax cannot be paid, various penalties may occur.』

Total 39,810 points obtained.

※Evolution entity bonus points.

※Points cannot be used to pay taxes.

“…f*ck.”

And then that phenomenon happened again.

The same one that occurred when OZ disappeared.

Dozens— no, hundreds— of screens surrounded me and began spinning around.

※Attached items may influence the original body and mind. Exercise caution.

Act 2 Possibility Removed

Deleting data of “Imok”, which failed to materialize.

Just like when OZ vanished, countless screens displaying Imok from the WWC I had played surrounded me and spun in circles.

“Huh?”

I had planned to just skim through them.

But one screen suddenly caught my attention.

Too late to look away.

[R: He was a small king of the city.]

He?

I tilted my head slightly.

If it says he, it must mean Imok.

Maybe it’s about his past.

This feels unpleasant.

Movies, dramas, games— I hate this kind of thing.

Why do they always reveal backstories at moments like this?

It just makes things uncomfortable.

[R: The city where he grew up was the Eastern City.]

[R: The Northern City possessed water— a resource that was power itself in the post-apocalyptic world.

The Western City had a divine furnace that never extinguished.

But the city where he was born and raised?

Compared to the others, it was nothing.]

If it’s Imok’s past, then of course I already know it.

I’d taken that route several times in the game.

According to the setting, all the outside “cities” were called cities, but their status wasn’t equal.

The first city was the North.

Next came the West.

The Eastern City where Imok grew up ranked below them.

But so what?

What’s the point?

[R: Whenever sand-mixed winds blew in, the fires people barely managed to light would often go out.

When people drew water, they didn’t drink it immediately.

They would wait for a while first.

Because they had to let the sand settle before drinking the clear water above.]

And yet even the Eastern City looked down on the Alliance.

And the Alliance looked down on the people living outside the tents beyond it.

[R: Though it bore the name of a city, it was filled with a sense of defeat.

The citizens naturally envied the people of the North and West, placing them above themselves.

They had never possessed anything that could inspire pride.]

To someone, a victim.

To someone else, a perpetrator.

[R: A place where it was natural to think of oneself as second-class people.

His father said he hated that.]

Besides, Imok had never even been a victim to anyone.

In the game, if the craziest character was OZ, the most arrogant one was Imok.

From the beginning, he acted like he was already the king.

He even looked down on Seolya and Jeok-o.

[R: He was the small king of the city.]

So why are they dragging out this backstory now?

It feels like being forced to watch a terrible movie in a theater.

[R: “Everyone calls you Imok-gun.”

His father, removing his ceremonial robes, suddenly turned toward him and said that.

He had just returned from a meeting.

A meeting attended by the lords of each city and leaders of various alliances.]

When does this movie end?

If you’re going to force someone to watch something like this, shouldn’t you at least pay them?

[R: His father and his strategist exchanged light conversation.

He listened silently.]

“Still, at least our city is ahead of the others in one thing.”

I casually shifted my gaze and saw a middle-aged man I had never seen before.

His facial features resembled Imok’s greatly, but if not for the circumstances, I probably wouldn’t have realized they were related by blood.

A worn, exhausted man.

Like leather weathered by endless sandstorms.

[R: “Has the young lord of the North still not been chosen?”

“The Northern Lord says it will happen soon, but who knows if that’s true.”]

The lips that mocked someone trembled slightly.

Dry and cracked, with small scabs.

The man kept licking them.

It seemed like a habit.

The kind of habit people develop when anxiety becomes part of their body.

[R: “Is there anyone who doesn’t know that the Northern young lord is foolish? Surely even the Divine Lord has eyes. Why would they choose someone like—”]

The speaker’s eyes wandered anxiously.

Like someone expressing a desperate wish.

[R: Imok thought, ‘Divine Lord?’

He didn’t like that word.

A new master?

Wouldn’t that make us look like slaves?]

A word that had fallen into an error has been detected.

The script is being corrected.

[N/S: Imok thought, ‘Divine Lord?’

He didn’t like that word.

A new master?

Wouldn’t that make us look like slaves who had merely changed masters?]

Without realizing it, I closed my mouth.

That monologue from Imok, which had sounded arrogant before, now sounded completely different.

I swallowed a sigh.

Damn it.

This is exactly why I hate tragic villain backstories.

I’m too easily swayed by them.