Chương 63: Blankets to Dragons

Taking a step back, I laid the blanket on the bed. I was about halfway done now. The blanket had a black border and the general composition was clear at this point. It'd be of a raccoon and mouse sitting side by side on a field of grass gazing at the sky. I was using a bunch of different color yarns and really taking my time to avoid mistakes. Though, at this point, you could only see the grass and bottom half of the animal's bodies.

"It's coming along well…" I mumbled. If I was making the blanket a single color without any of these designs, I'd have been finished by now. But, if I was making a blanket, I might as well make it aesthetic and cute. When I'm finished, I'll even have an enchanter make it super duper comfy. Is that an enchanter's job? It should be, right? Yawning, I glanced at Luna's screen. She was playing games alone today. Just then, the familiar 'You Died!' message appeared on screen which made me chuckle internally.

I'll spare her for today. Taking a seat, I returned to knitting. … The next few days were monotonous. I'd continue knitting while Luna would either play games or watch movies with me. I was getting closer and closer to completing this blanket. I reckon by tomorrow, it'll be done. And that made me ecstatic. This was definitely the most complex and hardest work I've done yet. Even when comparing it to making dynokali potions.

With about 90% of the blanket done, the last remaining bit I had to do was finish the clouds and then end it off with the black border. Since this wasn't a project I could easily hide, Luna also knew what kind of blanket I was making and was excited. She had seen my sketch of the design way earlier and thought it was extremely cute.

"Hm~" I peacefully hummed, looping the yarn over and in one another repeatedly. This is quite relaxing. I can see why grandmas do it now. Should I buy a rocking chair? Internally chuckling, I shook my head. I still prefer brewing potions. It's just as relaxing if not more. I wonder why grandmas don't just concoct potions instead? Then, I thought about it. An old lady hovering over a cauldron and stirring… Actually kind of makes me shudder? I'd think she's making a poison. Yeah, never mind.

Stick to knitting, Grandma.

"Oh? It looks really good." Luna said, standing over me. Glancing up, I nodded,"Thank you." She touched the bottom half of the blanket,"It's so soft…Hey."

"Mm?"

"You better share this."

"Pfft, hehe, of course." I giggled.

"Good," She nodded, "What kind of yarn did you use?"

"C grade yarn. I really wanted to use B grade yarn for this, but it was just out of my budget. Can you believe that a ball of B grade yarn costs 1, 000, 000 points? That's absolutely ridiculous."

"Well, I mean, it makes sense." Luna shrugged, "The people who purchase graded yarn usually have classes related to it. It's just like how if you purchased a B grade material for 1, 000, 000, you can use it to create a potion worth 5, 000, 000 or something."

"…" I furrowed my brows at her, "Stop making sense and take my side."

"It's ridiculous and overpriced." She sighed.

"Hehe, good." I smiled. She sat down next to me and pulled out her phone.

"Oh?" Luna let out.

"Mm?" Before I could ask her what's up, a sudden screen appeared in my vision which caused me to jump. [Floor 1 Leaderboard has been updated!] This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"What the heck!" I let out after a moment, "Did I enable push notifications or something? I mean, I am interested, but what if I was brewing an explosive potion or something!" I grumbled.

"Huh? You have pop-ups enabled?" Luna asked, "Just change it to your preference?"

"What? You can do that?"

"Bin…" Luna let out, my danger sense tingled but quickly went away as Luna sighed, "You're hopeless…I'm so curious about how much more common knowledge you don't know because you just can't be bothered to look it up."

"Common knowledge…?" I thought for a moment. It clearly isn't 'Common' if I don't know it! How's it supposed to be 'common knowledge' if I have to actively search it up!? Of course, I kept these complaints internal, "Hehe." Luna quickly told me about some settings to change. This really was useful—I could customize about everything to my liking… Maybe I should take a day to read through a guide or something? Pfft! Who am I kidding! Me? Read a guide!? That's like a rabbit jumping over the moon—it's not gonna happen!

Anyways, I checked out the updated leaderboard. [Floor 1 Leaderboard] [#1: Anonymous: 0: 01 (Swordsman)] [#2: Thoth: 0: 05 (Mage)] [#3: King: 0: 07 (Brawler)] [#4: PetLover: 0: 12 (Summoner)] [#5: Samurai: 0: 13 (Samurai)] [#6: Swordsman: 0: 15 (Tamer)] [#7: Lightning Lord: 0: 16 (Mage)] [#8: Raccoon: 0: 18 (Alchemist)] [#9: Emperor Dragon Queen: 0: 22 (Mage)] [#10: Loving Buddha: 0: 24 (Monk)] The first thing I noticed was her name. Emperor Dragon Queen? Yeah, she's definitely a chuunibyou.

I wonder if the government happily allowed that. Surely not, right? Who thought it was a good idea to name a new face of the government 'Emperor Dragon Queen'? The second thing I noticed…

"Pfft!" I burst out laughing. Luna looked at me incredulously, as if she knew what I was thinking. Her eyes seemed to say 'Don't say it…' But, there's no way I wouldn't.

"9th place!? Bahahaha! I'm literally just the best! Even government-aided climbers can't reach my level!"

"Haah…" Luna sighed, putting her face on her palms. But! Don't be fooled, there was a smile on her lips.

"That's gotta be something, right? Oh no, I don't even want to imagine the forums right now. I can't bear to see what they're saying online."

"…If you can't bear to see what they're saying, then why did you grab my phone and open the awakener's community?" Luna dryly said.

"Hehe, come on, let's browse together."

"Haah…" Luna let out a deep sigh but scooted closer to me. [Emperor Dragon Queen, the new Rank 9 on Floor 1!] Author: xx A new promising prospect has just started her tower climb and hit the floor 1 leaderboards! Looking forward to seeing the queen's climb! → [Pfft, Emperor Dragon Queen!? No wonder the government hasn't released her alias before! Lolololol] → [lololol Emperor Dragon Queen. I kneel, the black dragon in her hand must ache!] → [First, we had a gremlin hit the leaderboards, now we have a chuunibyou? The future rankers are doomed!] [Emperor Dragon Queen?? What kind of alias is that?!] [LOLOLOL Raccoon clears the new girl] [New Government Climber, Emperor Dragon Queen!] [Dragons are seriously cool though.] [Everything you need to know about the future ranker, Emperor Dragon Queen!] Author: I Love Dragons Emperor Dragon Queen has officially debuted in the tower, smoothly clearing the 1st floor and ranking #9 on the leaderboards! Now, let's learn about the queen.

Emperor Dragon Queen, real name: Hailey Burnip, is a new awakener from Nashville, Tennessee. She's 16 years old this year and officially partnered with the government! She awakened only a few months ago and has been training with rankers such as: Martial Yeti, Plant Queen, and Lightning Lord! Her mentors have publicly praised her strength and learning ability!

You can see the posts here: (link) (link) (link) Aside from one on one training with her mentors, she's also been in various gates, expertly learning how to fight against monsters in real combat! Other rankers and popular awakeners have made various comments about them being excited about her future, I'll link the posts here: (link) So far, Emperor Dragon Queen has not had many public appearances, only being briefly sighted before and after training sessions with her mentors.

Emperor Dragon Queen is a dragonkin—a new race discovered with her awakening. We don't know much officially about the race yet, only the common preconceptions that people have from fantasy literature. She is currently a mage class and uses fire-based spells. It is currently unknown if uses other elements. Let's cheer for Emperor Dragon Queen's future climb! → [Oh wow, she's actually 16? No wonder she chose a chuunibyou name.] → [She's actually a dragonkin!!! So cool!!!] → [I wonder if she'll be able to turn into a dragon later?] → [Emperor Dragon Queen… I can't get enough of that name lololol] → [Looks promising, excited to see where see ends up] → [Government is making a 16 year old girl climb the tower alone. Classic.] → [Just because she's part dragon, does she think that she can climb the tower solo? So idiotic.] ↳ [Yeah, I don't know what the government are thinking. She's just a kid with a lot of potential, yet, they're just throwing her into the tower alone?] ↳ [They spent a lot of money training her. Even other rankers have helped train her. Stop being stupid, they know what they're doing.] ↳ [All that money and training yet she could only hit #9 on the leaderboard? That alchemist hit #8 as a production class with no help.] ↳ [I'd like to see you hit the leaderboards. You couldn't do it even if you had years worth of training and billions of dollars to help you.] [Little Bomber VS Emperor Dragon Queen, who wins?] Author: xx Little Bomber - Cute, smart, genius, alchemist, no help, solo, production class, explosion lover, gremlin. Floor 1 Rank 8. Emperor Dragon Queen - Tall, arrogant, dragonkin, mage, all the help, solo, combat class, dragon, chuunibyou. Floor 1 Rank 9. Who wins? → [Little Bomber clears, easy.] → [lololol cute, smart, genius? Arrogant, chuunibyou? Where did you learn this about them?] ↳ [I have my sources.] ↳ [His source: I saw it in a dream.] → [Stop comparing the two, I bet neither of them even care.] ↳ [idk, if I was dragon girl, I'd be pretty pissed with all the slander going around right now. Little Bomber and Emperor Dragon Girl have absolutely nothing to do with each other, yet people keep comparing them.] ↳ [I wouldn't say there's NOTHING to do with each other. They both awakened around the same time and both hit the leaderboards, albeit in different ways.] [Little Bomber on TOP!] [Emperor Dragon Queen!!] [I kneel to the queen!] [Emperor Dragon Queen's Floor 1 Breakdown]"Haah…"

I closed the app and stretched, "They're going as crazy as I expected." I said.

"Yeah." Luna nodded, "Are you okay? They're comparing you to her a lot."

"Am I okay?" I questioned, "I think that question should be directed to the dragon girl. She's only 16 and there's so much discussion and criticism about her."

"…You're only 2 years older than her."

"Still older," I smiled, "Anyways, I'm fine. The trolls will stop soon and the comparisons will die out. I haven't even done anything for two weeks."

"That's true." Luna nodded.

"Honestly, there's a strong urge in me to stir the pot and troll. But I'm holding myself back for the dragon girl's sake. Haah…What can I do, Mouse, I'm such a good person." I shook my head with a sigh.

"…A good person wouldn't think about trolling in the first place." She mumbled some nonsense that I couldn't hear.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. No wonder people call me the alchemy goddess. I'm so kind, benevolent, cute, and smart."

"No one calls you that."

"Hehe," I giggled, "Let's watch her clear, I'm interested in how a dragon girl fights."

"Mm." Luna nodded. …

"Grr!!" Hailey growled, her brows furrowed, "Why do they keep comparing me to that alchemist!" She shouted, her fists clenched.

"I'd like to see them clear the floor and make the leaderboards! Just because I took a few seconds longer, they think the Little Bomber is stronger than me!? I should go to all these peoples houses and burn them to the ground!!!" She shouted.

"Now, now, Hailey, calm down." A lady said, "They're just trolls hired by guilds trying to slander you. Guilds are trying to pit you and the Little Bomber against each other, getting angry is exactly what they want." She explained.

"I know!" Hailey gritted her teeth, "It's just…So annoying!" She huffed and a bit of fire spewed from her mouth.

"I get that…" The lady nodded understandingly, "We're working on our side to stop the trolls. It'll just take a little bit of time. The best thing you can do is prove them wrong by continuing to climb the tower and make the leaderboards."

"I know…" Hailey sighed, "Ugh…These bastards would never dare say anything to my face." She clicked her tongue, "Has the Little Bomber said anything?" She asked curiously.

"No. She's been radio silent for about two weeks now. The last we've heard of her was when she changed her alias." Hailey felt a little disappointed hearing that. Even though it was a good thing that the other side hasn't made any comments about the comparisons…There was a little part of her that wanted the Little Bomber to stir up trouble.