Free Web NovelThe entire world was in an uproar.
All because of a mere 3-minute-and-39-second teaser for Continental War: World Championship.
The teaser for Continental War: World Championship was, in the truest sense, a massive hit.
Its 24-hour view count on JoyTube had already surpassed a staggering 70 million views.
On top of that, a 40-second ad version of the teaser was broadcast across television channels all over the world.
That ad version contained only the core highlights.
The moment it began, Hyunsoo appeared standing atop a snow mountain, and the narration rang out.
[Even when the earth freezes solid, when the time comes, the shoots still rise.]
The screen immediately cut away, showing the horrific battlefield, Barad shouting Form ranks, and the assembled troops.
Then it showed the last allied army collapsed and broken. At the very end, thousands of high-rankers appeared together, lined up in formation, shouting Form ranks in one voice.
But the true centerpiece was, of course, the ending.
With a BOOM, Hyunsoo burst forward, and around him thousands of high-rankers advanced while scattering their individual auras, protecting him. The ad ended at the exact moment Hyunsoo moved to cut off the Demon King’s head.
The Ares communities across the world exploded.
And people were paying attention to something other than the video itself.
Since Ares was played by over a billion users, it was only natural that interest in and expectations for the person behind the narration would be beyond common sense.
In response, experts around the world rushed to refute the users’ guesses.
[Behind the Scenes of Continental War: World Championship.]
A two-minute behind-the-scenes clip had been uploaded to JoyTube.
Onscreen, Hyunsoo was shown entering the recording studio, where Ayaka greeted him.
But then the truly shocking sight aired.
Hyunsoo took the script booklet, went into the booth, and personally participated in the recording.
It even showed him collapsed in exhaustion and asleep after two straight days of overnight recording. At the end, a neat and composed Hyunsoo appeared for an interview.
*****
A world without dragons.
Yet there was a user who became a Dragon Knight.
His name was Resil.
Even when he first obtained the Legendary class Dragon Knight, no dragon existed on this land.
But the one who made such dragons appear was Hyunsoo.
The Furnace Sword of Haemosu.
Through it, Resil had become a true Dragon Knight.
As time passed, Dragon Knight Resil acquired not the dragon within the Furnace Sword, but a real dragon.
A black dragon.
Resil named it Blackie, and as the saying went, you take after the company you keep. Its naming sense wasn’t very good either.
Anyway, Blackie was one of the finest dragons there was.
And now—
[You have entered the Land of Dragons.]
[You are the first to enter.]
[For one week, EXP and artifact drop rate are doubled.]
Thanks to Blackie, Resil had been given the chance to become the first person ever to enter the Land of Dragons.
His heart swelled with excitement.
Because there was a reason Blackie had led him here.
[Class Advancement Quest: Dragon Monarch]
Grade: SS
Restriction: Holder of Blackie
Reward: Hint regarding Dragon Monarch
Penalty for Failure: You cannot advance to Dragon Monarch
Description: As a Dragon Knight, you have walked a special path and are one of the users qualified to become Dragon Monarch. Please meet the dragon elder in the Land of Dragons.
Dragon Monarch.
It had not yet been fully revealed, but just from the name alone, Resil could tell it was a class that could become the monarch of all dragons.
At last, even I...
The average level of a dragon was 500.
Even Blackie alone could actually exert power on that level, and the reason Resil—who was still only in the high 470s—could wield such exceptional strength was, in truth, because of Blackie.
And what made Resil even happier was the fact that he might be able to become a great help to Hyunsoo and the nation of Hyun.
Together with Blackie, Resil pushed through road after road on his way to meet the dragon elder.
A week later,
he was finally able to meet the dragon elder.
[The dragon elder appears!]
[He is a dragon elder who has lived for a thousand years and has long awaited Dragon Monarch.]
The moment he saw the elder, Resil felt an immense surge of emotion fill his chest.
The dragon elder was twice as large as Blackie, wore a pure white beard, and its scales were beautiful.
And unlike Blackie, it was a blue dragon.
Soon, the great dragon elder who had lived for over a thousand years opened his mouth.
“Krk, I can feel it. In your blood runs that same burning thing as mine, which has flowed for a thousand years. Ahh... you are a warrior born to destiny. Glory to the heat of your blood...”
“???”
Resil could not hide his bewilderment.
What is this cringe edgelord dialogue?
And yet, for some reason, hearing it sent a strange thrill through him, and he felt the blood in his chest heat up.
What happened next was even more astonishing.
“Petty humans never acknowledged our Dragon Speech. They feared it and fled. But the sound of your heart, resounding like a ship’s horn—krk, you are truly one of our kind. Just by looking into your eyes, I can feel in my chest that you understand my Dragon Speech.”
[Your Affinity with the dragon elder increases.]
That was right.
Hearing those words, Resil felt his heart swell, and he awakened to his true self.
It was a self that had been hidden away.
And then—
suddenly, his right hand grew hot.
“The dragon you command was, by nature, destruction sealed into the left hand. By meeting me, that blood awakens once more, and from your left arm it shall manifest even greater power.”
SHAAAAAA—
Blackie was sucked into Resil’s left hand.
By meeting the dragon elder, the hidden power dormant inside Blackie had been unlocked.
[You have acquired the Legendary skill: Dragon Sleeping in the Left Hand.]
[Dragon Sleeping in the Left Hand is special.]
[Your EXP gain permanently increases by 40% as you absorb dragon energy.]
[All stats increase by 15.]
[You may summon the Dragon Sleeping in the Left Hand at any time.]
“...!?”
Resil was too stunned for words.
Blackie had been a dragon with the power to sleep in his left hand.
Even more astonishing was the fact that the sensation coming from that left hand was giving him an inexplicable thrill.
I’m twenty-one years old...
Only now did Resil finally realize it.
“At last, my hidden self has awakened.”
If someone else had seen him, they would have called him a lunatic with terminal edgelord syndrome.
But instead, those words only made the dragon elder like him even more.
“You truly possess the qualifications to become the master of us, who have slept sealed away through a thousand years of time, krk, krk, krk...”
Soon, from behind the dragon elder, the voices of dragons hidden in the darkness began to sound out.
“Krk, the dragon sleeping in the left arm is proof of the right to lead us...”
“I have never before seen a human who understands Dragon Speech. One who understands Dragon Speech may receive praise...”
“Krahahaha, frail and wretched human, yet candidate who bears the dragon sleeping in the left hand, may you lead us with your blood... for this shall be our fate.”
Ding!
[Chain Quest: Dragon Pearl]
Grade: SSS
Restriction: One with a dragon dwelling in the left hand
Reward: A total of three dragons, including the dragon elder
Penalty for Failure: You cannot advance to Dragon Monarch
Description: By revealing the black dragon sleeping in your left hand, you have proven that you possess the qualifications of Dragon Monarch. The path to becoming Dragon Monarch is long and perilous. Retrieve the Dragon Pearl hidden deep within the Land of Dragons for the three dragons, including the dragon elder.
“The one who possesses the Dragon Pearl. That one holds the right to grant names to us, who have waited through a thousand years of fate.”
“Krk, krk, krk... the one who grants names. That one shall become our monarch.”
“Ahh... my left heart feels as though it might burst. Krk, yes, it is as though my left heart is running wild.”
In other words, whoever possessed the Dragon Pearl could grant names to those three dragons, and the one who named them would become their monarch.
Resil set out in search of the Dragon Pearl.
And the dragon elder and the others had a wish.
A being who understood Dragon Speech.
And they expected that one who bore a dragon in his left hand would surely plant into them names as magnificent as they deserved.
A week later,
Resil finally returned with the Dragon Pearl.
The dragons were overwhelmed.
The dragon elder even wept.
Krk, krk, krk... so this is the dragon’s tear I had heard only in legends? Through a thousand years upon the thread of fate, I have waited for the name that will be granted by the one fated to become our lord... Destruction Dragon, Destiny, Rampage Dragon, Thousand-Year Dragon...
Just imagining those names filled him with joy.
They were all eagerly anticipating just how precious, grand, and magnificent the names bestowed upon them would be.
Soon, the Dragon Pearl began to radiate a brilliant light.
FWAAAAA—
[The one who possesses the Dragon Pearl grants a name to the nameless dragon elder.]
[The dragon elder is the Lv.567 parent of all dragons. Please grant a name worthy of such a being!]
The dragon elder was generous.
“Krk, krk, krk... anything will do. So long as it is together with my monarch, whatever name it may be, it shall be the fate of this life of mine...”
At that moment, Resil spoke.
“Dragonie.”
