RD | Chapter 32

Then, with a “poof” sound, the dragon shrank. The red dragon, now the size of a large dog, approached Ian and placed both front paws on his chest.

If it had been a dog, this would have been an action asking for ‘pet me’ or ‘hug me’, so Ian reflexively hugged the dragon.

The dragon made a satisfying purring sound.

“Yaaaawn… Mom, I’m so sleepy. I need to sleep. Don’t go anywhere without me. I really hate it now.”

Then, the dragon fell asleep.

The dragon’s chest rose and fell repeatedly, and snoring sounds came from its nose.

Ian looked at the people crawling on the floor while holding the dragon. They were also looking at Ian.

‘What do we do about this?’ was the question Ian wanted to ask, and their response seemed to be ‘What’s going on here?’

Sema’s question broke the subtle silence.

“I, Lord Ian. Did you date a dragon before?!”

Ian was dumbfounded.

“What are you talking about?! If I dated one?”

“D-did you cause an accident with a dragon…?”

“Did I give birth?!”

“But dragons are a magical species. There must be a way… Ouch? Lord Ian, it hurts! Ouch!”

People looked at Ian with eyes full of shock and suspicion, but they turned away when he started kicking Sema.

They seemed to want to claim that he wasn’t their lord. Then, they should respect that… though they weren’t sure what they should be respecting. Anyway, he didn’t do anything with the dragon, right?

Even if the young dragon was calling Ian ‘Mom’!

Nevertheless, everyone acknowledged that their lord was an extraordinary being, so the surprise over this incident quickly passed without changing their perception of Ian. After all, Ian was famous for being a womanizer. Even if he had met a dragon and fathered a shocking illegitimate child, they wouldn’t say much. It was his private life, after all.

The people sorted out their feelings.

‘Yeah. Lord Ian is quite charming. Enough to make a dragon fall for him…’

‘Could it be that he knew there was a dragon downstairs because of that…?’

They realized.

Ding!

[People doubt your romantic preferences.]

[People think you are a womanizer!]

‘No!’

It was driving Ian crazy.

Anyway, even while the shrunken dragon was sleeping like a dog, time was moving forward. Since they had defeated even the Western Demon Noble, there was nothing to hinder them, and people kept flocking to the dungeon after seeing the posters.

“Come this way! Newcomers. I’ll assign you living quarters!”

“Over there is the trap zone. I’ll teach you how to pass safely. If you just walk through, you’ll be in big trouble.”

Ding! Ding!

The number of people in the dungeon kept increasing, along with the dungeon’s growth rate. The notification sounds were so frequent that Ian’s ears were about to hurt.

But it was a pleasant noise.

Ding!

[Quest]

Reach a population of 50. [Completed]

Ding!

[Quest]

Reach a population of 100. [Completed]

Ding!

[Quest]

Make the dungeon a livable environment.

Ian was not good at urban planning and usually left internal affairs to characters good at it, but now, due to rapid early progress, there were no talents for internal affairs.

Should he postpone the quest?

That’s not what a great gamer would do.

A true gamer would pay off debts first if they had any, and clear quests if there were any.

That’s what Ian believed.

Like a mountaineer who climbs because there’s a mountain, Ian cleared the quest because there was one.

‘Construction Menu.’

Ian called up the system window and pressed on an area he hadn’t touched before.

It was an upgrade.

Ding!

[‘Narrow Shared Dormitory’ has been upgraded to ‘4-Person Dormitory’.]

Ding!

[‘Crowded Plaza’ has been upgraded to ‘Circular Plaza’.]

Ding!

[‘Basic School (Low Level)’ is being constructed.]

Ding!

[‘Hut Shelter’ is being constructed.]

‘Let’s use up all the dungeon experience points.’

As the cave expanded and new buildings were constructed, people scattered in panic.

However, it was too spectacular a sight to not watch.

Since Ian was looking into the air, those nearby quickly realized he was doing something special again.

‘Isn’t he truly God’s messenger?’

Louise’s heart trembled. Wasn’t this a miracle only God could show? He had always served Ian as a savior, but now it seemed not just his own thoughts.

He looked at Sema to share his awe. Sema opened his mouth. “As expected, Lord Ian must be a wizard!”

‘Whatever.’

Louise abandoned his hope of sharing the awe. What could he do with this guy?

Ian, who had been performing miracles for a while, turned to look at them.

“Contacca.”

“Yes.”

“Separate those with good physiques among the newcomers for military training?”

“Of course.”

Ian stopped Contacca, who was about to leave immediately.

“Louise.”

“Yes, Lord Ian?”

Louise nearly called him ‘Your Majesty’ but corrected himself, nearly biting his tongue.

“Take those with archery talent.”

“Leave it to me.”

Ian wasn’t just leaving classification to them. In the bustling plaza, he was also in charge of one line, asking people for their names.

There was some gain; one of them had the ‘Mana Manipulation‘ skill, and it was 3 stars, good enough for immediate use though not ideal.

“You, become a wizard.”

“…What?”

“See that kid with the staff over there? Go and ask him to teach you magic.”

“…?!” The shaggy-haired boy went to Sema, puzzled.

‘Good. Secured two wizards.’

Four stars would have been better, but Ian decided not to be greedy. How many 4-star characters did he have? Three: Louise, Contacca, and Momisia. And then there was the 5-star dragon—though now it had the capabilities of a dog.

This was enough power to handle the mid-game.

‘Can’t catch seven demon nobles with this.’

Can’t catch a dragon either…

But was that an issue?

Just seeing them made Ian smile.

Sema, who was looking at Ian with his new apprentice from afar, looked guilty as he spoke. “Why, why are you looking at me like that, Lord Ian? I wasn’t thinking that I can’t teach because I wasn’t good at learning.”

“You need to study teaching methods for two hours a day.”

Ian nagged.

He had already sent those trained by Contacca to the forest to capture lesser demons. Contacca’s ‘friends’, the wolves, had also been assigned rooms in the dungeon, becoming excellent defense units.

Ding!

[Wolf Mamool Habitat has been designated.]

Ding!

[Wolf Mamool Habitat 2 has been designated.]

‘Good.’

Dungeon power enhancement was proceeding smoothly.

The upcoming monster wave would be easily blocked.

‘The problem is the population is nearing capacity again…’

Try kicking out people who came after seeing the posters. Wouldn’t that just damage his reputation?

Ian had enough reputation damage already. He didn’t want to get cursed more, so he needed a solution.

That solution, of course, was upgrading the maximum population through World Tree evolution. However, the problem was that the World Tree evolution now required an item called ‘World Tree Fertilizer’.

‘Do I have to go on an <Adventure>?’

But there wasn’t a suitable location to get ‘World Tree Fertilizer’ at this point. Originally, the World Tree wasn’t something meant to be upgraded this early in the game.

But if so, shouldn’t the game company have not advertised the game with freedom of choice?

Wasn’t the game company deceiving players?

Wasn’t it the tyranny of the game company that incompetent developers blocked players from showing their skills just because they couldn’t level up during beta testing, saying ‘this is end-game content’?

That was Ian’s thought.

Of course, Ian, who had played the game diligently, hadn’t thought about upgrading the World Tree at this stage until the routes overlapped…

Then, a strange sound came from outside.

“Are you there, are you there! I have something good to sell!”

It was a voice Ian had heard before. As Ian was trying to remember where from, the person barged into the dungeon.

Ian’s eyebrows raised.

“You are…”

Louise looked at the visitor with a wary gaze. Sema recognized him.

“Oh, it’s the elf merchant from the temple!”

“Glad you recognized me. Of course, you wouldn’t forget a face like mine.”

The elf, removing his robe, smiled with a pretty face. It seemed not only refugees but also merchants came looking for Ian after seeing the flyers.

He greeted Ian cheerfully.

“How have you been? I’ve been looking for you for a while. Since you’re a regular, I wanted to show you the good stuff first. I’ve bought something amazing.”

‘You?’

Ian didn’t trust him much. This elf merchant was one of the characters Ian thought had chosen the wrong profession, with Sema being second.

But because this elf might try to collect on a World Tree branch he was supposed to get a hundred years later, Ian responded with full sincerity.

“What is it?”

“Take a look.”

Ding!

The merchant’s bag opened, and Ian saw:

[World Tree Fertilizer(S)]

Promotes the growth of the World Tree.

Was this the second time this merchant had what he needed?

‘This guy isn’t just an extra.’

Ian was sure. He grabbed the merchant by the collar.

“What’s your name?”