Chương 183: Reborn as the Dragon — Chapter 183 - Diverting Trouble? — Words Unspoken

"Boss, I... did we come to the wrong place?"

"This... is this really our Starter Village?" An A-san Player stared at the dragon roaring and rampaging through the flames, rubbed his eyes, and spoke in a strained voice.

"Damn it! The monsters are attacking the village!"

"Run!"

"But boss, why run? Can't we just respawn?" Another A-san Player was genuinely confused. He still wanted to throw himself into the fight. Even if he'd be completely useless. But still! He wanted to protect his home!

"Idiots." Haergeji snorted. He had already whooshed himself into the nearest bush, fat rear end sticking out, only his eyes visible as they darted toward the Starter Village.

"Has none of you read the strategy posts?"

"Sakura Players have already starved to death in the corners of the World Plaza because their respawn timers ran too long and they had no food or water!"

"And there's apparently a madwoman in the Sakura District who screams about eating excrement all day. Monsters drove her to it!" The A-san Players went pale. The information landed, and landed hard. They scrambled into the bushes in a rush, leaving the kidnapped girl standing alone outside, slowly drifting into the sightline of every monster on the field. WHOOOOSH, The wind shifted. Something was coming. The pressure wave hit hard enough that Haergeji could barely keep his eyes open.

But Aya seemed to feel it before it arrived. She lifted her head, and something brilliant lit up behind her eyes. The great dragon. The same one she had seen before. Those savage curved horns. Those commanding crimson-gold eyes. Aya had memorized every detail. She had carved them into her memory the moment she first laid eyes on him.

"Kekeke! Foolish insects!" Su Nian's opening line landed with full World BOSS energy.

"You thought a bush could hide you from a dragon's hunt!"

"This is contempt. An insult to a great dragon's dignity!" He roared and dropped straight into the bushes. All four limbs hit the ground, his massive wings fanned out behind him, and the shadow that fell across the bushes swallowed every inch of them whole. The human girl happened to be standing directly beneath his belly. Fortunately, dragons could retract their inactive primary spines into the abdominal cavity on command. Otherwise, this would have gotten awkward very quickly.

"G-g-great dragon! We meant no offense! This little girl here can be your meal — she's far tastier than any of us!" It was Haergeji's first time seeing a legendary creature up close. His legs were shaking, his heart was hammering, and something warm was threatening to happen below the belt. The other A-san Players weren't doing much better. They lived around lizards and pigs. That was fine. But dragons were something else entirely. Like in real life. Sure, everyone could handle a dinosaur figurine.

But who wanted to mess with a real Godzilla?

"Lowly insects. Who gave you the right to bargain with me?!" Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

"You dare offer your filthy flesh to defile a dragon's palate! Unforgivable!" Su Nian lowered his head, murderous light rolling through his eyes. So these players were afraid of dying. Good. That made this much simpler. A deep rumble started in his throat, low and mechanical, like an engine turning over. Molten lava oozed in slow drops from the corners of his mouth. The sulfur smell spread outward in waves, and the heat was already setting the surrounding grass alight.

"Wait, great dragon!"

"We — we can give you everything we're carrying! Treasures! And information! We have information!" Haergeji genuinely did not want to die. Respawn was theoretically unlimited. In practice, it was anything but. Once your timer stretched to a month or two, and you had no Invasion Points, what exactly was the difference between that and just being dead? So: do not die when you have the option. Haergeji was going to talk his way out of this. Dragons were intelligent creatures.

Nothing in this world was truly non-negotiable. If the terms weren't working, it just meant the offer wasn't good enough yet.

"Oh? What treasures? What information?"

"Speak."

"The great dragon will not burn you to ash!" Haergeji's heart leapt. His mind was already working. This dragon had never eaten their curry rice, right? Had definitely never tasted fresh panipuri, right? And certainly had no idea about the hand-held ice pops made with their streets' own special Ganges water!! Haergeji had absolute faith in his country's cuisine. The System Shop, helpfully, was calibrated to each player's homeland. Whatever you craved, it matched your local food culture.

Everything in Haergeji's exchange catalog was authentic home cooking. Haergeji was also an honest man. He knew there was no lying to a legendary creature. So he placed every piece of materials and equipment he was carrying on the ground in front of the dragon. The other four A-san Players did exactly the same. Then came the main event. Haergeji hadn't saved many Invasion Points. He'd spent most of them over the weeks. But their food was cheap. Most snacks cost only one Invasion Point. Some were half a point.

He wasn't sure why, but the pricing worked in his favor. Haergeji took a breath. Made a decision. You can't catch the big lizard without spending the lizard egg. He exchanged for over a hundred plates of curry rice, clean, hygienic, lovingly prepared. Then kept going. Colorful drinks. Strangely shaped snacks. Food in every shade of the visible spectrum. A wave of cheap artificial flavoring hit the air. Su Nian's brow tightened. Were these A-san Players out of their minds? Were they actually out of their minds?!

This was the treasure?! Bacteria cultivated directly in the stomach lining, was that it?! Assassination of a dragon via food poisoning, was that the plan?!

"Great dragon, please accept the finest cuisine our nation has to offer! Clean! Hygienic! Every dish is a masterpiece, refined across a thousand years of rich cultural heritage~" Haergeji was smiling ear to ear, and he meant it. He'd spent everything. His entire supply of Invasion Points. This was real sacrifice.

"Yes, great dragon! This curry rice — I ate it as a child, I eat it now, it's my mother's own flavor!"

"And this rainbow shaved ice — I remember when my family could only afford the three-color version. Times were hard back then."

"But today, you're getting twelve colors. Twelve. That's imperial treatment, great dragon. Worthy of your status in every way!" The other A-san Players were already talking over each other with more compliments, all of them thoroughly sincere. A few were visibly swallowing. This was genuinely delicious food to them. That much was obvious. The black dragon did not appear to share the sentiment. Those crimson-gold eyes had gotten colder by several degrees.

Su Nian opened his mouth and spat a stream of molten dragon-phlegm directly onto the spread laid out before him. The food vaporized instantly.

"You have three seconds to give me information worth hearing. If you don't, I'll burn every one of you to cinders." Su Nian flexed his claws with a slow creak, irritation pressing down on him from all sides. If only the explosive spicy dung balls weren't depleted. If only Little Red hadn't run herself ragged with diarrhea. He wouldn't be here exchanging words with this collection of absolute morons.

"Ah... well..." Haergeji had no idea what had offended the dragon. The food was good. It was street food, real, authentic street food! And the dragon had just vaporized it without even trying a bite. He himself barely got to eat like that on a good day. But arguing with the dragon was not an option. So Haergeji pressed down his grief and started talking.

"Great dragon, the only major intelligence we have is this: a Storm Worm King has appeared on the western coast of the Anlius Empire. It's extremely dangerous. Four human villages have already been destroyed."

"And from what we've heard, the Storm Worm King has begun moving toward the Eirilan Empire's coastline. More villages will fall soon." Su Nian exhaled through his nostrils directly into Haergeji's face. Two jets of scorching sulfurous breath. Blisters rose across Haergeji's face in an instant.

"That information is worthless. It means nothing to a dragon. What I want to know is where the gold is. Where the treasure is."

"If that's still beyond your knowledge, I will burn you."

"Gold. Treasure." Haergeji bit down on his back teeth. He had no idea where to find gold or treasure. But the players flooding in from around the world to slay this Storm Worm King, they'd be loaded. The serious ones always were. Which meant... His eyes lit up.

"Great dragon, allow me to explain. This Storm Worm King has caused immense destruction and drawn challengers from across the entire world, all arriving through teleportation arrays."

"These challengers are professionals from every nation, each one powerful, each one carrying exceptional equipment."

"But compared to you, both the Storm Worm King and every single one of those challengers are clay chickens and paper dogs."

"All you need to do is let them tear each other apart. When it's over, you take everything." Haergeji laid out the strategy between measured beats of flattery, watching the dragon's face for any sign of movement. He didn't believe for a second that this greedy creature could resist. And if the dragon went to fight those players, the bloodier the better. The longer it dragged on, the better. Whatever happened afterward. The A-san Players would come out ahead either way.

Gift from Bugs Bunny Wishing everyone a happy first day back! ➤ Next: Novice Village Core Fragments Gathered