Regression of the Transcendent Blacksmith - Chapter 14

========== REGRESSION OF THE TRANSCENDENT BLACKSMITH CHAPTER 14 ==========

An awkward silence flowed over the table that hadn’t been cleared yet.

Shin Tae-ho stared blankly, unable to understand the situation.

The Dragon tilted its head, meeting his gaze.

‘I thought it wouldn’t be ordinary since it was an egg received from the Administrator, but… to think it was a Dragon’s egg.’

Shin Tae-ho, who had survived until the very end before regressing.

Although Shin Tae-ho had met and fought Dragons, this was his first time meeting a Dragon hatchling.

No, he hadn’t even known that such a thing as a Dragon existed.

Naturally, he hadn’t even heard information about Dragons during Tamer training.

‘What should I do?’

“Ryong? Ryong-ryong~?”

When Shin Tae-ho didn’t react, the Dragon tapped his hand as if asking what was wrong.

Shin Tae-ho, who had frozen at the feeling of claws against his finger, snapped back to reality.

‘I have no idea how to raise it, but… it’s cool-looking, so that’s good.’

A Dragon, called a divine beast even in the modern era.

Thinking that he had become a Tamer of such a Dragon, even Shin Tae-ho, who usually lacked vanity, felt his shoulders puff up with pride.

Shin Tae-ho slowly stroked the Dragon’s head with a hand coated in Qi.

It flinched at first, but once its head was stroked, the Dragon purred and enjoyed the touch as if it felt good.

Kkorok

A stomach-growling sound came from the Dragon, who had been enjoying the touch with its eyes closed.

Only then did Shin Tae-ho remember that the Dragon had just been born and was hungry.

‘They said the start of bonding is giving it its first meal after birth so it feels that I am its guardian.’

Recalling what he learned in Tamer training, he took raw meat out of the refrigerator.

Shin Tae-ho cut and minced the meat a little with a knife, then held it out to the Dragon.

“You’re hungry, right? Here, try eating this.”

“Ryong?”

The Dragon showed curiosity, approached the meat, and sniffed it.

The Dragon instantly scrunched up its face, turned its body, and slapped the meat held in his fingers with its tail.

“Yong! Yoooong-!!”

“Why? You don’t like it?”

Shin Tae-ho was flustered.

Could it be a vegetarian Dragon?

Since it was an animal from the Tower, Shin Tae-ho thought of various possibilities and took out other food.

“Here. Do you want to eat some spinach, maybe?”

“Yong!!”

Slap. Failure.

“Then how about nuts?”

“Yoooong!!”

Slap. Another failure.

Shin Tae-ho, who had been trying various foods as if raiding the fridge, suddenly looked at the grilled meat he had been eating.

‘Could it be?’

Shin Tae-ho cut off a piece of the pork belly he was eating.

“Then how about this?”

“Sniff, sniff.”

The Dragon, in a bad mood, sniffed it with an unsatisfied expression.

The eyes that had been narrowed in suspicion widened.

“Ryong~!”

Chomp

The Dragon, which had been sniffing it, swiftly put the meat held in his hand into its mouth.

Watching the Dragon chew the meat thoroughly with a chap-chap sound, Shin Tae-ho realized.

‘I see. Crying “Ryong” means something positive, and crying “Yong” means something negative.’

Shin Tae-ho cleared away all the cold meat on the table.

Instead, he took out soft, fatty beef brisket, grilled it carefully over low heat, and fed it to the Dragon.

The Dragon’s eyes widened after tasting the freshly grilled brisket after eating the cold pork belly.

“Ryo, Ryong! Ryoooong!”

“Yeah. There’s plenty, so eat as much as you want until you’re full.”

As if understanding Shin Tae-ho’s words, the Dragon nodded.

He didn’t know if it was the same as a puppy, but its tail wagging left and right made it look like it was in a good mood.

As expected of a divine beast, the appetite of the newborn Dragon was no joke.

Only after eating nearly 1kg of brisket did the satisfied Dragon lie down, exposing its bulging belly.

“Burp.”

“It’s good to see you eat well.”

Shin Tae-ho gently stroked the Dragon’s neck and belly while it lay there.

Seeing the Dragon lying comfortably with even its muscles relaxed, Shin Tae-ho chuckled.

“It’s late, but nice to meet you. I’m Shin Tae-ho.”

“Ryong!”

At Shin Tae-ho’s introduction, the Dragon rolled over and got up.

Shin Tae-ho tilted his head at the gaze staring straight at him.

‘What is it? Does it want something?’

When Shin Tae-ho just made eye contact without speaking, the Dragon pointed at itself with a tiny finger as if frustrated.

“Ryong! Ryong-ryong!”

Somehow, the sight seemed to be asking, ‘What is my name?’, and Shin Tae-ho suddenly realized.

‘I see. I need to name this Dragon.’

Shin Tae-ho pondered a name that would suit the Dragon with a serious expression.

Suddenly, remembering that the cries he had figured out carried meaning, Shin Tae-ho slapped his palm with his fist.

“Right. You cry “Yong” when you dislike something and “Ryong” when you like it. So “Yong-ryong-i” would be a good name. How about it?”

“Ryong?!”

The Dragon was surprised.

Naming it based on its cry?!

The Dragon, about to shake its head, suddenly stopped.

…It didn’t like it at first, but the more it repeated it, the more it felt a familiarity that was hard to describe in words.

Furthermore, seeing Shin Tae-ho’s expectant eyes, it was hard to say no.

The Dragon, which had been contemplating as carefully as Shin Tae-ho, slowly opened its mouth.

“…Ryong!”

“Yeah. It’s a good name, right? I’m glad you like it.”

Shin Tae-ho was relieved when the positive cry “Ryong” came out.

He had been secretly worried about what he would do if it didn’t like it.

‘There are a lot of things to check.’

How people would react if he showed them a summoned creature that was a Dragon.

Whether Yong-ryong-i also possessed the special abilities that each rare summoned creature had.

Organizing the things to check in his head, Shin Tae-ho reached out his hand toward Yong-ryong-i.

As smart as it was, Yong-ryong-i immediately understood the meaning of the action and climbed up his arm.

“Sniff, sniff.”

Yong-ryong-i busily moved around, exploring Shin Tae-ho’s body.

After carefully exploring everywhere, the place Yong-ryong-i finally settled was his neck.

Sreureuk-

Yong-ryong-i wrapped itself around his neck like a scarf and settled in.

Feeling Yong-ryong-i’s warm body temperature on his neck, Shin Tae-ho stroked Yong-ryong-i’s back.

“Let’s get along well from now on.”

“Ryong!”

Yong-ryong-i answered brightly to Shin Tae-ho’s greeting.

Tower.com, the largest Tower community.

As it was used by users worldwide, Tower.com was heating up today with people’s arguments.

The topic that had been burning up Tower.com until now, the so-called “firewood,” was the First Tutorial Conqueror.

However, this time, posts about the Management Bureau were also burning alongside it.

When the title was clicked, a video attached to the post appeared.

Judging by the angle, it was a video someone had filmed at the Awakened Registration Office.

Inside the video, Section Chief Im A-young was exploding in anger with a ghostly appearance.

Naturally, the comments were in chaos.

-Wow, that’s brutal. I was going to go tomorrow, but I’ll have to pass.

⌎Seeing that video made my legs tremble and my underwear damp.

⌎You’re unprepared. I knew that would happen, so I watched it wearing a diaper beforehand.

-Anyway, seeing her that angry, it seems that Awakened person didn’t show up in the end.

⌎Yeah, seems like it. Honestly, do you think they cleared it alone? There must be a guild backing them up or they’re affiliated with the Management Bureau lol.

⌎True, it is absurd for an individual to do what even the US, China, or Japan Management Bureaus couldn’t.

⌎True that. This is the truth.

It hadn’t even been a day since the post went up.

The post’s view count had already exceeded 10 million, and there were 3 million comments.

The Management Bureau employees, who had gathered in the conference room and were watching Tower.com together on a projector, nodded.

“It worked. With this, we’ll shake off the suspicion.”

“She really acted hard. Section Chief Im went through a lot of trouble.”

“Th-thank you…”

Im A-young lowered her head to hide her reddened face.

The reason Im A-young exploded in anger at the Registration Office.

That was actually not Im A-young exploding because she couldn’t handle the stress, but an instruction from the Management Bureau.

Why did the Management Bureau give Im A-young such an order?

The reason was to shake off the scouts who had flocked in uncontrollably.

“Thanks to that, the Chinese and Japanese scouts who were eyesores have definitely left.”

“It is confirmed that not only them, but most of the scouts have given up and returned.”

“There are still some scouts remaining because they haven’t let go of their lingering attachments, but it’s at a level that can be sufficiently controlled.”

Although the Management Bureau was an agency of the Korean government, it couldn’t exert infinite influence in Korea.

If scouts more powerful than them were determined to attack, they could end up losing the Awakened person just like that, in vain.

Even if they managed to stop them by force, if that action was used as a pretext to escalate into an international conflict, the problem would become even bigger.

Management Bureau Director Oh Jin-hyuk, who had been listening to the others’ conversation, sighed deeply.

“The timing isn’t good right now. We are also withdrawing from the Registration Office.”

No one questioned Oh Jin-hyuk’s decision.

The Management Bureau was an organization formed to manage and support Awakened individuals.

As such, the Management Bureau employees knew more about Awakened individuals than anyone else.

And they also knew what it meant for the situation to be unfolding like this.

‘That Awakened person has no intention of revealing themselves. Furthermore, there must be a guild helping the Awakened person from behind.’

Besides, even if they had left for now due to Im A-young’s acting.

If the Awakened person were to reveal their identity even now, it was obvious that the scouts would drop everything and immediately try to contact the Awakened person.

All of this was implied in Oh Jin-hyuk’s words.

‘Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like they are neglecting the Tower climb, so there’s no need to stir things up trying to find them already. Of course, we will have to meet someday.’

Oh Jin-hyuk was the Management Bureau Director who managed Awakened individuals connected to the nation’s security.

He couldn’t just stand by and watch a talent with a bright future.

‘For the day we eventually meet that Awakened person, we must prepare an attractive proposal that will make them cooperate with us.’

It is the warm sunshine, not the strong wind, that makes the traveler take off their coat.

As the work to be done became clear, his heart, which had felt urgent and tight the whole time, became much more at ease.

Oh Jin-hyuk stood up and gave instructions.

“As of this moment, all personnel assigned to find the Tutorial Conqueror are to return to their original duties.”

“Yes? Director, that means…”

“It’s not like that Awakened person is the only one we need to pay attention to, right? At this very moment, other Awakened individuals are also risking their lives to climb the Tower. We must support them.”

It was a very obvious statement, but surprise appeared on the employees’ faces at Oh Jin-hyuk’s words.

When he even pointed out the reason for the Management Bureau’s existence, their expressions soon turned to being moved.

“Yes, understood!”

‘Finally, I don’t have to see those annoying and f***ing Tutorial Conqueror impersonators!’

The expressions of the employees leaving the conference room were brighter and more refreshed than ever.

[You have entered the 15th floor of the Tower of South Korea.]

“Yong-ryong-i.”

As soon as he entered the Tower, Shin Tae-ho called Yong-ryong-i and checked his neck.

He was worried because it was the first time entering the Tower since it was born.

Fortunately, Yong-ryong-i was blinking as if nothing was wrong.

“Ryong?”

“No. It’s nothing.”

Shin Tae-ho stroked the head of Yong-ryong-i, who answered.

Shin Tae-ho, who had taken out a hammer from his inventory, read the message window.

[15th Floor Trial: One day, as if drawn by something, countless beasts and monsters flocked to the forest. Eliminate all the forest invaders that are unconditionally destroying the forest.]

[Clear Condition: Eliminate all enemies before more than 50% of the forest is destroyed.]

[Time Limit: 24 hours]

[The trial begins.]

‘What is this? The trial content is different from usual?’

Shin Tae-ho wondered.

The trials he had received until now were simple content, like just eliminating a giant caterpillar or a giant centipede.

But to give 24 hours and tell him to eliminate all enemies.

On top of that, the clear condition was to protect more than 50% of the forest.

‘Are they actually going to destroy the forest? But even so…’

As Shin Tae-ho was wondering and grasping the situation.

In the distance, a tree fell with a Ujikeun crashing sound.

At that moment, the content of the message window changed.

[Current forest destruction rate: 0.6%]

[Current forest destruction rate: 1%]

“…Damn it.”

At the forest destruction rate rising steeply in real-time, Shin Tae-ho coated his body in Qi and kicked off the ground.

To be continued in the next chapter ▶