Chapter 1417: Side Story 26
Chapter 1417 - Side Story 26
The players’ light illuminated the Black Flame Dragon’s Nest. Before this, the number of people wearing black was fewer than the onlookers. In just one moment, it was instantly reversed. KimHyukSoo, having publicly declared that he would broadcast Black Dragon’s dejected and pitiful appearance, appeared to be embarrassed by the reversal.
Meanwhile, the players smiled at Black Dragon as they appeared and filled the entire territory.
“Rayden?! That’s Ranker Rayden!”
“I can see Knight King Geikan too!”
“Over there! I think I saw Daybreak Archer Jian!”
“Huh? Flame Fighter Ace and Kaistra are over there, too!”
“Keoheok! All of the rankers from Africa are here?”
The entire territory was left in chaos as the light slowly faded away. [There’s a lot…]
[This… It’s something that can be made possible?]
[Hey. Where are those punks in the community sites who vowed that they would never be able to gather that many people?]
[Where are those trash reporters who wrote those articles? Come out! Let me hit you in the head!]
Black Dragon stared at the people garbed in black who had gathered in front of him and reflected on the words that Minhyuk told him earlier.
–This is the path that you have walked, Dad.
–Please look back at the path that you have traveled.
He thought back on his experiences. He was looking back at it as the chuuni Black Dragon and as an ordinary person.
He could see quite a few familiar faces among the crowd. There was a manager, someone whom he had known since they started as a new employee of their company. There was also an employee who always greeted him at the headquarters. Many people with whom he had built a relationship in the past appeared in front of him. It was not just them. There was a considerable number of people who came here because they just really wanted to build an empire for chuunis with him.
“Dad.”
Minhyuk’s smile grew as he stared at his father’s beaming expression.
Snap!
With another snap of his finger, the space in front of them opened up. This time, the NPCs standing at the top of this world appeared one after another. There were around 1.3 million people who came with Mercenary King Venteio at the lead.
[There are more NPCs than players…?]
[Keok!]
[OMG… There are many powerful NPCs too!]
From the look of things, there seemed to be no place left in the Black Flame Dragon’s Nest where people could step.
The stunned Black Dragon finally came back to his senses and said, “Others will curse us. They will tell us that we are childish and cringeworthy. It’s going to be difficult. I’m sure everyone here knows how difficult it is to walk the path from a mere territory to a kingdom to an empire.”
A bitter smile flashed on his face. Then, he asked, “Even so, will you still want to stay by my side? If so, why?”
None of the people present could explain why. They did not come here just to help him; they came here to be by his side. However, there were far too many reasons as to why they wanted to be with him. They just did not know what to say first.
At that moment, Red Flame Fighter Ace stepped forward and said, “Because it looks fun. Do we need to say anything else?”
Indeed. That was all they needed to say. Everyone nodded as if they agreed with the young boy’s words. Even though they knew that they would face many hardships and adversities, they all knew that it would be an enjoyable process regardless.
Mercenary King Venteio stepped forward. On behalf of everyone, he bowed politely to Black Dragon.
At that moment, Elizabeth raised her finger—soon, two million beams of red light shot to the sky. The beams of light fell lightly on the cloaks of the people who had gathered in the territory. The light moved, carving a pattern on their cloak. When the light faded, the figure of a black dragon roaring to the sky was left on their cloaks. At the same time, the same symbol appeared on Black Dragon’s chest, back, arm, and even his left cheek.
Ace stepped back and cried out, “Ah… aaahh… O-our emperor has finally transformed completely.”
“Fu… fufufufu… Fufufufu!” Black Dragon laughed darkly as he covered his face with his hand. “Foolish ones. Your blood is hiding a power. One that is finally wriggling and showing its existence.”
He smirked as he looked down at his hand.
“Ah… aaaah… This guy. Calm down. Our comrades are finally here to join us.”
“Aaaah…”
“Aaaaah… So, so cool…”
“I’m so… Jealous…”
Then, Black Dragon cried out, “The being in my left arm is going to go berserk!”
“The being is going to go berserk!”
“It’s going berserk!”
On this day, the people who decided to stay by Black Dragon’s side and share his dream and his will decided to hide themselves no longer. They began to work earnestly on themselves and show their true natures even in everyday situations, such as when they were buying fruits.
“Fufufu. I can feel a tremendous black energy coming from this. This is definitely a poisoned apple.”
Crunch!
“Aaaaah! I feel a thrill run down my veins as the poison spreads in my body!”
The fruit stall’s ahjumma slapped him on the head with her fly swatter.
Even when they were looking for party members.
“Fufufufu. You. Rejoice! The beings going berserk in my body will come and save you in your moments of crisis!”
Their party members just stared at them blankly.
At that moment, one of their party members asked, “Fufufu. Is that so? It seems like you’re on the same side as me. Two black dragons are going berserk…”
“Ooooh! Let’s go berserk together!”
While hunting…
“Too slow.”
“My sword has already cut you down, o’ foolish one.”
The monsters just looked at him in contempt. Then, they raised their hands and cut off his head. Yet even when he was turning into ashes, he said, “Fufufufu. I will take your heart next time.”
For some reason, an unknown sense of discomfort washed over the monsters as they watched the man disappear.
That was how the number of chuunis increased day by day.
***
Athenae, a god who had existed since the origin of the world, felt like the only pleasure that she had experienced in her life was meeting Beanie.
When Beanie suddenly called out to her shyly with red eyes and said, ‘Mom…’ she was flustered. As time went by, Athenae treated Beanie, who visited her every single day without fail, as her child.
Today, too, Athenae waited for Beanie. She even asked out loud, “When will my dear Beanie come? That guy…”
If it were the usual Beanie, he would immediately run to her arms the moment he entered her audience hall and cry out, ‘Oiiiiiiiink! (Mooooom, oink!)’
Creak…
The door of the audience hall slowly creaked open, and Beanie came inside. However, something seemed off.
‘Did something happen?’
“Oiiiink…”
A listless and clearly distressed Beanie had entered the hall. Even though he was sad, Beanie still brought food to Athenae, saying he came to feed his mom. Beanie slowly set the table.
Athenae looked at the sulking baby piggy with confusion etched on her face.
[What’s the matter, Beans?]
“Oiiiiiink…”
Beanie shook his head weakly. He just gestured to Athenae with his jokbal-like hands and motioned for her to eat first.
Athenae kept on glancing at the sullen Beanie as she ate.
‘Maybe…?’
Athenae seemed to realize something. Since she was Beanie’s mother, she was confident that she knew the baby piggy better than anybody else.
‘Minhyuk continues to grow stronger by the day. Even the people around him are getting stronger and stronger. On the other hand, Beanie has become stagnant. Perhaps he’s feeling sad because he’s helpless about his power?’
Athenae was sure that her dear Beanie was feeling insecure!
But in reality, Beanie was sad because…
‘Oiiiiiiiiiink… (I also want to be in a relationship. Oink…)’
…he was feeling blue.
Parents initially believed that they knew everything about their children. Alas, more often than not…
“Oiiiiink…”
Athenae felt heartbroken as she looked at Beanie. Perhaps this was what parents felt whenever they saw their children like this, no?
[Why aren’t you eating? Beans…]
“Oink. Oink, oink. Oiiiiiink… (I don’t have an appetite. Oink…)”
Indeed. Her child was depressed and had lost his appetite!
In the end, Beanie put down his cutlery. He did not even eat half of what he usually ate and just sat there listlessly.
‘Oiiiiink. (Even Locke is in a relationship. Oiiiink…)’
Beanie trudged away.
“Oiiiiink… (Mom, I’ll come back again tomorrow…)”
Athenae stared at Beanie’s sad and lonely back with tears in her eyes as he left the audience hall. She sighed at the table of food that Beanie had brought for her.
[I can’t believe he left so much food behind. This is the first time that I have seen Beanie eat so little…]
Athenae’s aide stared at her in confusion. ‘He clearly ate 59 bowls of naengmyeon and 109 pieces of dumplings…?’
[He must be having a hard time for him to have no appetite at all. It must be because the people around him are becoming stronger and more influential by the day.]
‘Lady Athenae? Lord Beanie has clearly drunk 95 bottles of cola, cider, and Panta?’
[I have to do something… Ah!]
At that moment, a thought flashed in Athenae’s head. She thought about Utopia.
Utopia was the land where the empires’ guardian deities resided. What were guardian deities? Take, for example, the Eivelis Empire; their guardian deity was the phoenix. Beings like that lived and gathered in Utopia.
‘Recently, the guardian deities in Utopia have grown lazy.’
Times had changed. The guardian deities had lost a lot of their influence in the world. The empires were no longer displaying artifacts that symbolized the guardian deities; thus, they ended up living a lazy life in Utopia.
‘If Supreme Divine Beast Beanie becomes the master of Utopia, then…’
Wouldn’t he be able to break out of the helplessness that was gripping him tightly? Unfortunately, becoming the master of Utopia was no easy task. The four great divine beasts had all tried to take control of Utopia, but they had failed time and time again.
‘If he becomes the king of that place then…’
Athenae created everything. She was the origin of the world. Utopia was also born from the tips of her fingers. This meant that she knew everything about it from its topography down to the rewards hidden inside.
If Beanie could get the rewards from that place, then wouldn’t he be able to get out of the slump that he was in?
Athenae smiled happily after thinking of a solution, not knowing that she had completely misunderstood the reason why Beanie was upset.
***
[So, Beanie, you…]
“Oink… (So suddenly? Oink?)”
[Go to Utopia…]
‘But that’s so annoying…?’
[Become their king.]
‘Oiiiiiiiiiiink…?’
Athenae was proud of herself.
‘Ah. I’m truly a great mother. I understand my child’s heart and even guide him toward the path that will make him stronger.’
Beanie scratched his butt in confusion. When he looked up, he was met with Athenae’s sparkling gaze. Beanie was feeling lonely these days, which was why he had no energy to do other things. Regardless, he loved his mother, Athenae, so dearly.
‘Oink. Oiiiiiink… (Well, I don’t have a girlfriend, so I have nothing else to do. Oink.)’
“Oink. Oink, oink. Oink! (I understand. Oink!)”
‘Caring for a mother is no easy task,’ Beanie thought as he headed for Utopia.
***
Were quests exclusive to players? The answer to that was a huge NO. NPCs could also go through the same process and get rewards that would bring them growth, just like the players.
***
Utopia.
Fifty years ago, the guardian deities of Utopia were defied and worshiped with love and adoration. With the appearance of foreigners, not only did the value of artifacts increase, but the guardians were also influenced by them, who denied the concept of symbolism. Because of that, the guardian deities lost influence. In the end, they had no other choice but to take the back seat. After accepting the inevitable reality, the guardian deities grew lazy.
The strongest among the guardian deities was none other than the Phoenix.
Right now, the Phoenix was lying down with its bulging belly pointing to the air. Today, just like any other day, he was having a pleasant dream while imagining what kind of caterpillar he was about to eat.
The Phoenix’s weight has nearly doubled in recent years. It had reached the point where he could no longer fly with his current weight. In fact, he could not even stand with his round body and just rolled around.
The Phoenix tried to stand up. However, he ended up falling unsightly to the ground and just rolled around on the ground. At that moment…
[Huh?]
A baby piggy suddenly appeared. The guardian deities crowded in right away.
The humans who once visited Utopia considered this place incredible, with the Phoenix and the other amazing guardian deities flying around with a loud cry. The humans stared at them with awe and excitement.
Now? That was no longer the case. They had grown heavier, their bodies almost doubling in size. This group of overweight guardian deities swarmed in and stared at the baby piggy.
[Are you a newcomer?]
The gigantic Phoenix stood imposingly in front of the baby piggy, not knowing that this pig was the Supreme Divine Beast.
[If you’re a newcomer, then your task is to bring me food and clean my shit for an entire month.]
[Clean my shit too.]
[Don’t pigs eat poop?]
[An adorable newcomer has come.]
The Minotaurus, the Giant Rattlesnake, the Drake, and the other guardian deities laughed at the baby piggy mockingly.
That was when the baby piggy, Beanie, suddenly took out a long, pink, and very much frozen sausage.
[Is that your snack?]
Beanie deliberately put this pink sausage in the freezer until it was frozen solid. He raised the frozen sausage in the air and began to hit the guardian deities until they were black and blue.
[Keuhooooooooong!]
[S… stop! Stooooooop!]
“Oiiiiiiiiink! (They said that a stick is the best medicine for a crazy cow! Oink!)”
[Awoooooo!]
[Keheooooooooook!]
[Grrrrrrk! Keheuk! Keheoooook!]
The Phoenix, who was being beaten so fiercely, cried out again and again. But then, something happened that made his eyes snap wide open.
[No… Not… Not that part! No!!! NOOOOOOO! Keuheeeeeeooook!]
Pop!
The sound of something popping rang in the area.
“Oink…? (What…?)”
The Phoenix’s cry echoed throughout Utopia.
***
Athenae’s aide went to visit Utopia. Athenae had told him…
–My dear Beanie is a kind-hearted baby piggy. He does not have the heart to kill an ant. Please check on him and see if he is in any trouble.
Alas, the scene unfolding in front of her aide left him completely dumbfounded. All of the guardian deities were kneeling in front of Beanie. Beanie sat arrogantly on a chair with a stick of ppeppero dangling in between his thumb and index finger. The ppeppero had a small and sweet marshmallow stuck at its tip.
“Oink. (Fire.)”
The Phoenix lit up the end of… no. The Phoenix melted the marshmallow.
‘Where is the kind-hearted baby piggy? The one who does not even have the heart to kill an ant…?’
As expected, parents did not know much about their children. It seemed like the same was true for Athenae.
At that moment, Athenae’s aide caught sight of the Phoenix’s bottom.
‘No. Wait, why is that part like that…?’
The aide’s pupils shook fiercely as he stared at the neutered Phoenix.