Chương 38: Reborn as the Dragon: — Chapter 38 - Stuffed to Death

Since Mori Yama Yaren was already here, he might as well have the man open every last chest. Maybe something useful for Anna would turn up. Su Nian had applied medicine to her earlier, and the debuff on her leg sores had started flickering, but it hadn't fully cleared. That meant the moment the medication stopped, the festering wouldn't stop either. It would spread. Eventually, it would take over her whole body. He couldn't keep propping her up with herbs indefinitely.

Anna's lifespan had stretched to just over half a month under his care, but once her body built resistance, it would collapse fast, and hard. With that thought, he stopped shouting at the player. Mori Yama Yaren had maybe a dozen HP left. One good roar and the man would pop straight back to the respawn point. So Su Nian threatened him in a perfectly pleasant tone.

"Open all the chests for me. Or my minions will be very happy to feed you shit." He'd watched Sword Art Online. Players could tune their pain sensitivity, sure, but taste and smell? Those would be just fine. Good. Feed the Sakura Island players shit. Under Mori Yama Yaren's horrified stare, a squad of strange magical beasts marched out in a neat column, each one carrying a treasure chest in its beak. They moved like Landstriders but wrong somehow. [Cockatrice, Level 5] What made them wrong? The feet.

Each Cockatrice had legs that were absurdly thick, and as they walked, the muscle bunched around those legs like two swollen tumors, rolling and pulsing with every step. Mori Yama Yaren swallowed hard. One swipe from those claws and his skull was paste. And there were so many chests. How was he supposed to open them? He had zero Invasion Points. He'd transferred every last one to the young master just moments ago. He desperately wanted to call for help, but he had no idea where he was.

The Gnoll had gripped his face on the way over, palm pressed flat across his eyes the whole time. His map was a solid fog, only the small cave around him was lit up, and even that was barely a dot. In this game, as an invader, there was exactly one way to fully reveal a region's map: a Village Creation Token. System Store item, available to anyone, ten thousand Invasion Points each. Terms and conditions: clear every threat within its range before use.

So even if he screamed in the party channel right now, the Black Dragon has me, it wouldn't matter. Nobody could come. He stared at the Black Dragon with hollow, defeated eyes, sank to his knees, and clasped his hands together.

"Sorry, sorry. Great Black Dragon taijun, this humble one has no authority to open treasure chests. Need to exchange, need keys — this humble one has no keys..." If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"But — if you release this humble one, once this humble one obtains keys in the future, I will definitely return to open them for you. Is that acceptable?" He was still clinging to a sliver of hope. What if the Black Dragon and its monsters were just... naive? Easy to trick? That's how it always went in the comics he used to read. Monster girls deep in the wilderness, inexperienced with the world, believing everything they heard. Tell them to go see a whale, they go. Offer them candy, they eat it.

Su Nian looked at this naive little Sakura Island player and started laughing. A deep, rolling "Ho ho ho" that rumbled through the hall and jolted Anna in his arms until she blinked in confusion. When he was done, his expression went flat and cold.

"Take him to eat shit. Start with the dry kind, then move to the runny kind — that way he gets more in. And when the runny's done, finish him off with a piss chaser." Mori Yama Yaren lost it. Death was fine, death was acceptable, but eating shit was not something he could handle, he could actually taste things in this game, for god's sake! He lunged for his own tongue, ready to bite down and end it, but Gray Brother had been waiting for exactly that.

The Gnoll shoved a rotten, reeking strip of cloth straight into his mouth before his teeth could close. Gnolls had nothing. Except underwear. They always had underwear.

"Mmph! Mmph mmph!" The smell hit Mori Yama Yaren like a wall. He retched immediately, but four Gnoll hands had him locked in place. Nothing came up. The stomach acid surged, crested, and rolled back down. Some of it found the only exit available and came bubbling out his nostrils instead, and his eyes rolled back in his head. Su Nian watched, "HEH HEH HEH", and felt no guilt whatsoever. These Sakura Island players could respawn. Worst case, they had a breakdown and quit the game.

But the creatures of this world, when a player killed them, they stayed dead.

"Drag him out." He waved a claw. Two Gnolls lunged, grabbed Mori Yama Yaren one on each side, and hauled him away with a rhythmic "heave-ho, heave-ho." First stop: the Kobolds. Kobold droppings were the driest. Neat little pellets, just like goat droppings. Black, pungent, not too large, not too small. Easy to work with. Second stop: the Black Water Pythons. Those pythons had been used as nunchucks and jump ropes on a daily basis.

Their bodies were getting more flexible by the week, yes, but the side effect was chronic indigestion. They'd been having diarrhea for days. Once Mori Yama Yaren was gone, Su Nian had the Kobolds give the floor a quick wipe. Then he settled back in, arms full of one soft, sweet-smelling, deeply embarrassed little treasure, and went back to his afternoon nap. He hadn't shown Mori Yama Yaren the golden chest. He wasn't an idiot.

That player would find a way to kill himself eventually, and when he respawned, the first thing he'd tell every other player was that he'd seen a golden chest here. The fallout from that would be a nightmare. Better to let things develop. Let the players develop too. More satisfying to kill them when they were worth something.

Su Nian figured there were two ways for players to open chests: either grind guardian monsters for dropped keys, or do what Mori Yama Yaren had mentioned, exchange them, presumably through some shop. Mori Yama Yaren had neither. So he could go die. Su Nian didn't like these Sakura Island players. He hadn't even managed half an hour of dozing when a system chime rang in his ears and a notification blinked into his mind. [Your minion has killed a Priest player, gaining 5 System Points]"Tch. That's it?"

Su Nian curled his lip. Pure disdain. Shifty eyes. Burly frame. Scheming little face. He'd half-expected Mori Yama Yaren to be some kind of genuine threat. And he folded that fast. Shortly after, the two Gnolls came trotting back with their "heave-ho, heave-ho" and lined up to report.

"Report. Person. Dead."

"How?" Su Nian wagged his tail lazily. His dragon face was pressed against Anna's soft, delicate cheek, nuzzling side to side, and every so often he dragged his broad tongue, barbs carefully retracted, across her face in one slow, deliberate lick. Just like other dragons spent their days nuzzling their gold coins, licking their gold coins. Pure instinct. He couldn't help it.

"Ugh... Dragon Brother. Hmph." Anna pushed weakly at his enormous head with both hands. It did nothing. She knew it would do nothing. After a moment she gave up entirely and went limp in his arms, tucked against his warmth, her expression caught somewhere between helpless and resigned. The two Gnolls looked at absolutely none of this, and reported with perfect composure.

"Report. Stuffed. To death." ➤ Next: He Must Be Hungry