Chapter 142 : Chapter 142

Chapter 142 : Dragon's Vault (1)

The voice I heard as I crossed the portal.

It was unexpected, so I couldn't help but be bewildered.

I had heard a similar voice when obtaining Tunes in the past, but a case like this was the first.

[You have achieved an accomplishment. You have rewritten past history.]

[It will not be recorded in the ‘Official History’, but one world will remember you.]

It was surprising enough to hear the voice, but I was even more surprised by its content.

‘Official History’.

It was the first time I had heard that phrase since I was sucked into this world.

[The world recognizes your diligence.]

[Your record will be adopted as the ‘Official History’.]

I have an idea of what that means.

The world of the game must have been repeated and rewritten countless times.

This world I live in is a world that unfolds based on the world after Adjak beheaded the Demon King as the ‘Official History’.

I am probably just a small dot caught up in that history.

‘In that case… it means there are also worlds that are not recorded in Official History.’

The world where I changed history through Hike's World of Recurrence exists.

That world said it would remember me.

That story would only make sense if the World of Recurrence wasn't simply a world that reenacted the past.

It seemed like a very important story, but for now, I couldn't find any clues.

Perhaps I would come to understand it as I gradually thought about it and gathered information.

If not, I could just ask Hike.

And Hike was standing right in front of me now.

“You did it.”

“……Did you really think we would fail?”

“I thought it might be difficult. Since it was a past where even Adjak had to lose a companion.”

She sent us into a trial she thought we couldn't clear?

Seeing Hike's cold gaze, it didn't seem like empty words.

‘What a truly heartless dragon.’

As I stared at her in disbelief, Hike narrowed her pupils as if to ask what the problem was.

I turned my eyes away from her. For some reason, fear was slowly creeping up on me.

“Everyone, you've all worked hard.”

As if she had never narrowed her pupils, Hike spoke in a warm tone.

Bea, Everchen, and Keldric cautiously bowed their heads.

“The trials I have prepared for you end here. I do give some more trials, but do not worry. The trial you experienced was the most difficult of all the trials I have ever given, so much so that even I could not be certain of the outcome.”

It was the same thing she had said to me, but it sounded different with the added explanation.

My companions were also expressing their gratitude for Hike's words.

I, too, stood beside them and bowed my head.

Through the Dragon's Trial given by Hike, I had been able to grow tremendously.

“To you who have passed all the trials, I shall grant a reward as a noble being. I will open the Dragon's Vault. You may bring whatever item you desire.”

And the Dragon's Trial does not only give the achievements gained during the trial as a reward.

Each time we broke through a stage of the trial, we could get a reward befitting it and for us who passed all the trials, there was the incredible reward of opening the Dragon's Vault.

But I spoke firmly.

“I have grown a lot just by you granting me the Dragon's Trial. I do not wish for any further reward. I will continue to live diligently with a grateful heart towards Lady Hike.”

At my polite words, Hike's brow furrowed.

“Are you being sincere?”

“Yes, it is my complete sincerity, without a single grain of falsehood.”

Hike glanced at the other team members as well.

They all flinched at her gaze, but we had already come to an agreement.

Keldric squeezed his eyes shut and shouted in a loud voice.

“The same goes for me! Even without receiving a reward, I will live in gratitude for Lady Hike's boundless grace!”

Bea and Everchen also answered respectively.

Both of them couldn't even look Hike properly in the eye, as if they had committed some crime.

“The same goes for me……”

“Yes, I will consider the reward already received. Thank you.”

After hearing everyone's answers, Hike strode over to me.

Up close, her presence was even more overwhelming.

“You, do you really know Adjak's entire life story?”

“Um… it’s because I studied hard.”

Hike shook her head as if dumbfounded.

“And I am also a dragon……”

“Half-human, half-dragon, you mean.”

Hike snapped coldly and turned around.

“Giving the reward was part of the trial.”

Hike continued speaking as she turned back.

“You all have passed splendidly to the very end. Then I shall guide you to the ‘real’ Dragon's Vault.”

And Hike spun around to face us.

“If you refuse this as well, I will not stop you any longer.”

“How could we? I will consider it an honor!”

Following my words, my companions each bowed their heads to Hike and offered their greetings.

“Thank you so much!”

***

The Dragon's Vault opened.

Like the High Dragon's Nest, it was a cave where Dragon's Crystals emitted a soft light, and an enormous number of precious objects were placed on crude shelves.

Looking closely, they weren't even protected from theft by magic or Dragon Speech.

Not only the quantity but also the quality of the treasures was incredibly high, and they were just casually placed there.

‘Is it okay to just leave them like this? What if someone steals them?’

The thought naturally occurred to me since there were no particular security measures, but I soon realized I didn't need to worry.

It was because I realized we had entered the vault by chanting Dragon Speech in the first place.

“Is this the first vault?”

“Well, you wouldn't have been here before. I said I would take you to the ‘real’ Dragon's Vault, but in truth, there isn't a separate real and fake one.”

It wasn't information I didn't know, but since Hike had been suspecting that I knew too much, I just nodded and listened attentively.

For some reason, Hike's expression also looked a little triumphant.

“Then?”

“It’s just that the areas I open are different. If you hadn't refused the reward in the last trial, I would have revealed only the first area, but now you will be able to see the second area as well.”

The area we were in now must be the first area.

Items that the dragons, who love gold, silver, and all sorts of precious objects, had collected over a long time.

They were left in disarray, but they were items that would make anyone's mouth water.

I also searched around here and there diligently, but soon averted my gaze.

Because if I kept looking, I might have run over and picked out some gear right away.

The place I wanted to go was the second area.

Seeing me quicken my pace to shake off my idle thoughts, Hike also chuckled.

In the end, I chose nothing and reached the end of the cave.

Hike looked down at me as if she knew I would, then silently placed her hand on the cave wall.

Wooooong──!

A portal formed on the wall.

Following Hike, I entered the Dragon's Vault, the second area.

“Wow……”

And without realizing it, an exclamation of admiration escaped my lips.

Instead of a long, continuous cave like the first area, a circular space appeared.

I could see the entire space at a glance.

A massive Dragon's Crystal, the likes of which I had never seen before, served as the shelves.

Thanks to the soft blue light, the items placed on the shelves looked even more mystical.

“Do you know what the items here are?”

“Um… They look like Tunes to me, but I'm not sure what kind of Tunes they are.”

“That’s right. I'll explain them to you.”

Unexpectedly, Hike kindly explained each and every Tune stored here.

Not only was there a difference in appearance between seeing them on a monitor and facing them in reality, but some Tunes were in storage containers, so I wouldn't have known without an explanation.

No matter what, with Tayon gone, Hike was the dragon who took the best care of me now.

As I looked at Hike with a grateful heart, she averted her eyes as if embarrassed.

Just as I was about to focus on the Tunes again, there was an item that caught my eye.

“This is……”

“That's right. It’s an item related to the third trial you all experienced.”

There was the signet, wrapped in red thread.

“Adjak went through great trouble to obtain that Tune, but in the end, he never used it. It was puzzling to me. I thought Adjak was a person who pursued only efficiency, without blood or tears.”

“……That's how you saw him.”

“It's not how I saw him, that is the truth. That fellow, while seeming to treat everyone in the world kindly, had very clear boundaries. And he was someone who prioritized his own benefit in any situation.”

Hearing about the Adjak that Hike saw made me feel embarrassed for some reason.

It probably wasn't wrong. As a game character, Adjak was played pursuing extreme efficiency.

It wasn't unreasonable for those watching from the side to have such an impression.

“It seems even Lord Adjak couldn't maintain his composure in the face of a companion's death.”

“It seems you don't know that among Adjak's companions, more have died than survived.”

……Countless of Adjak's companions lost their lives in the process of advancing to Myeolji.

“But that fellow didn't even touch that Tune. To be honest, I don't know its effects either. Even Adjak, who brought it, didn't use it, saying it reminded him of Pieto.”

“……”

“I have a guess. Pieto was the first companion Adjak ever lost. He wasn't originally an emotional person, but after that, he hardened his heart even more.”

Hike looked straight at me and said.

“If you want to follow Adjak, you must be as cold as he was. It seems you're pouring quite a lot of affection into your companions now.”

“I… I follow Lord Adjak, but I have no intention of doing the same. I will strive to overcome these trials together with my companions.”

Hike nodded.

It was a sign that she would respect me, even if my choice was contrary to her advice.

“I thought you and Adjak were clearly very similar but different in a crucial way… so this was the reason.”

It seems I was able to think a lot about Adjak through this trial.

Starting from what Adjak would do, I also deliberated in order to make different decisions from Adjak.

Those times were of great help in deciding the path I would take in the future.

Hike patted my shoulder as if to cheer me on, then changed the subject.

“Adjak did not choose it, but this Tune has not been a Tune for very long compared to the others. It is an object transformed from the God of Deception, who struggled to remain in the world until the very end.”

“In that case, could it possess a power stronger than those that became Tunes after the Mythic Era?”

“That’s right. In any case, the mystery that a Tune brings forth, whether small or large, contains the divinity of the gods. Since it's a Tune transformed from a god who struggled until the very end, unwilling to let go of its divinity, an even stronger power must lie dormant within it.”

It was a tempting story. The power of the Tune contained within this would surely be helpful.

Not knowing the effects was no longer a problem.

Because I could learn and master it to make it my own.

Hike was certainly a wise dragon.

She knew many things about the secrets of Tunes that I did not.

If it was Hike, wouldn't she also know about the voice I heard at the end of the third trial?

“Lady Hike, by any chance, do you know about the ‘Official History’?”

Tip: Tap/click the left or right side of the screen to go to previous/next chapter.