Editors: Tide, Rektsatan

[Lee Ho Jae]

“Nothing.”

[Not even one? No family or lover?] asked the dragon.

Why was she prying into people’s private lives?

“None.”

Before entering the Tutorial, I didn’t meet with anyone. It had been years since I started living without my family, and the people I knew became decreased one by one after retirement. Of course, it was my fault that my relationship with them became estranged, but I didn’t bother to revisit them.

[Then what the hell were you doing before you came in here? Don’t humans have their roles in society?]

“I was a jobless man, that’s why!” I growled.

I had no close friends or a job. Why do you assume I’d have a role in society?

It was right to ask first how it had been initially.

[Oh, no… Sorry.] Ahbooboo, who had been listening to me and the dragon’s conversation quietly, murmured. Anger surged in my mind.

[Well… sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.] The dragon apologized to me, voice tinged with regret. I’d like to throw away Ahbooboo’s core and the dragon’s crystal ball somewhere.

I ignored the annoying duo and approached the frog, who was half-drenched in a pool of water near the valley. I climbed onto the frog, who was struggling. As I stretched out and lay down, I felt more comfortable than expected. It was strangely pleasant to feel the frog vibrate every time it croaked. The sensation was similar to a cat purring when it’s happy.

“Frog, you’re the only good one.”

“Keeeeek!”

Why does it cry when it is in a good mood? I wondered how the vocal cords were constructed.

[But the more diverse the wish, the better.]

“…Huh? Are you still talking about that?”

The dragon had been asking me what I wanted to do when I cleared the Tutorial. Naturally, I didn’t have anything, in particular, I wanted to do. At one time, I didn’t want to go out of the Tutorial and kept thinking about living here. There was no way I would want to go out on Earth and do anything. Of course, with strength, I could help people and get delicious food, but I didn’t count that as a wish.

[Then wouldn’t life feel so meaningless? Isn’t there anything to do back home?]

“There’s work to be done.”

I had a goal. When I cleared the Tutorial and reach Earth, I had a vague goal to accomplish, but I didn’t even know what to do for it. I’d have to work somehow to achieve that goal.

[Oh, my. Is the goal is to take lives?]

“Maybe the goal is to support a life that was falling apart.” Lying on the frog’s back, I continued. It was a bittersweet remark, but it was true.

[But think more about it. Keep thinking. Your life will be much longer than you think.]

“I got it. I got it. It’s alright. I will.”

I had been carrying on the conversation insincerely, but the dragon hadn’t stopped giving advice. This dragon had a tenacious side.

[All goals are bound to succeed or fail one day, and even the strongest wills become dull over time. If none of your wishes remain then, life will be hard to continue positively.]

Was this advice from a dragon who lived alone for a long time as a senior in his life? I thought this was funny.

“Yes, I see. Thanks for the nice talk. Not right now, but maybe after a long time, I’ll find a goal. I sure hope so.”

[I wish you find new hope.]

* * * * * *

[Ready to go?]

“Yeah.”

Now that I had enough rest, it was natural to move on to the next stage. There was no merit in staying here any longer. When I mentioned this, the dragon seemed very upset.

[Sad.]

What a shame. A scaredy-cat dragon that doesn’t show its nose and just talked over the crystal ball.

[Then we’ll have to pick the next stage. Oh no.]

“What?”

[Your next stage has been set. God… the gods want this stage.]

Did the gods get involved in the stage selection? It wasn’t surprising because if the dragon had the authority to choose the stage, so would the gods. But contrary to my idea, the dragon was quite displeased.

[What an act of overpowering authority. I can’t wait to see how the gods will repay this debt to me.]

Instead of the words of anticipation, what I heard was an annoyed tone. That little dragon had a complaint with the gods, so I wondered how it would be resolved. Of course, I didn’t want to pry into it.

“So, what’s the designated stage?”

[It won’t be much different from the previous stages.] the dragon replied. The 56th, 57th, and 58h stages were all stages associated with divinity or source.

“This has the source again?”

[No. It’s related to the source, but the subject won’t be that.]

“Then?”

[Go in and judge.]

‘Go in and judge.’

Are you not going to give me even the slightest amount of information?

If it were Kirikiri, I would try to draw more information out with a cake, but the dragon never went back on its word and didn’t give me any advice about the stage.

Was it that bad that the gods were involved in the stage selection? As it was a dragon, it may have a high level of pride in its work. Maybe it was more offended because it couldn’t complain to the gods since it was working for them. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter to me. As a result, I had to get into the stage without any detailed information.

Damn it.

[Goodbye, I hope to see you again someday.]

When I got on the portal, the dragon bid me goodbye, and I felt the same way. The next time we met, I wanted to meet face to face, not through a crystal ball.

* * * * * *

╔═══════════════╗

[The 59th floor stage begins.]

╚═══════════════╝

What was this? The place where I was summoned was inside of a high spire of what appeared to be a military fortress. Outside the spire window, a panoramic view of the fort was seen, and beside the fortress was a rugged rocky mountain. Just by looking at it, you could tell that this was a stage where we had to defend against an attack.

The theme of this stage was quite easy to understand, so I could see why the dragon didn’t add a detailed explanation.

“Hey, isn’t this the source?”

[That’s the source.]

In the room at the top of the spire, there was a strange creature: a monster reminiscent of primates, such as monkeys or orangutans, which had no hair on its body. Of course, it wasn’t even wearing clothes, so its gross pink skin stood out.

“It doesn’t look appealing,” Ahbooboo agreed with me.

The monster did not have senses such as eyes, nose, and ears. There was only an unusual gudgeon on the mouth and forehead. Somehow, I felt disgusted by its bizarre appearance.

╔═══════════════╗

[The 59th floor stage begins.]

[A short time ago, a source was born on a continent on an unknown planet. Its birth process is unknown, but it is assumed that the great sorcerer who had set out to fight against the ancient demons, having been buried beneath the planet’s soil, had turned into a source. Before the power of the source spread throughout the planet, the indigenous gods of the planet succeeded in suppressing the source. The problem was, right after that, the source disappeared. The two native gods, who were powerfully influential, are eager to find and monopolize each other’s source first. Their followers, hunters, sorcerers are crazy about research. There are people in this world who want to see the source.]

[Clear Goal]

– Protect the source for as long as possible.

╚═══════════════╝

It was also a relatively simple stage to understand. Recently, I had to use my head a lot, since we had been passing through complicated and demanding stages, so I was glad to have a stage which I could complete using sheer force. It was just a stage where we had to hold out for a long time while protecting the source of this spire. Given that they didn’t specify the time, but gave a clue that it would take a long time, there seemed to be a time limit when the stage gets forced to end, like on the 57th floor.

The source had been creeping up on me for a while. It was like seeing a monkey approaching cautiously. Actually, it was a lot more disgusting than that. First of all, I let it come close. The source, which was near my nose, hesitated for a moment and then opened its mouth.

[Giaraaak!]

(T/N: Sound of a laugh supposedly.)

“You son of a b*tch.”

It bared its teeth, making me slap the back of the head of the source who suddenly tried to bite my arm. The source fell on the floor with a roar.

“You’re such a naughty one. Don’t latch your teeth to someone more powerful than you.”

[Aigoo, Warrior. You shouldn’t have treated it so harshly. It passed out. What if it died like this?]

“You can heal it.”

[You’re so shameless…What if it died instantly and you didn’t clear the stage? I think it’s a dead monster already.]

Ahbooboo flew around the source, making sure there were no problems. It occurred to me that he was exceptionally active.

[After this stage, we’ll go to the 60th floor, right?]

“Yes, we will.”

[If I go there, I’ll be able to repair myself, right?]

“…Maybe”

I couldn’t give him a definite answer. Kirikiri had already confirmed that there may be a way to repair the Sword in the store window after the 60th floor. But, it had been a vague remark. Perhaps there were other conditions for Ahbooboo’s repair, given his state. I just wanted the requirement to be simple.

“By the way, I don’t think there’ll be an intruder coming in right away.”

[Yes, I think it’s a relaxing stage. What to do?] Ahbooboo asked me.

“Shouldn’t you start experimenting?”

[Yeah?]

I had met many sources, so I was tired of it. It was too much after I had caught a lot of them.

Among them, there were many small human-sized sources. Such small sources usually had very feeble powers. To put it bluntly, it had the power of a vicious monster beast. But this one was different.

No matter how weak they all looked, the power felt in their body had never been more than that of a beast’s, unlike this source. Above all, even the native gods here, in addition to countless people, coveted this source. When would we ever get such a big fish again?

“Let’s test it before the intruders come.”

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