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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Awakening the Divine Spirit
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The original webtoon of this world, [Stardust!], felt like it was crafted with a malicious intent to torment the protagonist.
It was so determined to torture the protagonist further that, in the later arcs, it would even shatter the power balance just to inflict more suffering on Stardust.
Suddenly, dozens, even hundreds, of villains poured into South Korea. On top of that, divine beings appeared, and then some interdimensional monsters showed up, making everything a complete mess.
...Of course, precisely because of this chaotic original story, I had already set up some countermeasures. I'd nurtured Stardust, and even formed a villain alliance by gathering only the strongest individuals.
Still, it didn't feel like enough.
I was still hungry. I wanted to recruit more powerful individuals, the very architects of power inflation.
That's why I was now in this cave, high up on a snowy mountain.
To awaken the one sleeping here.
"Hmph... Hey, do people actually live here? It's just a cave."
"I'm not sure if it's 'people'... but someone's definitely here."
I only told Choi Se-hee that much as she looked around. She'd see soon enough anyway.
So we ventured deeper into the cave.
Finally, we saw it.
"....Wow."
Choi Se-hee stood with her mouth agape, as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Standing beside her, I also looked up at the colossal being.
A massive white dragon, lying majestically before us.
"....."
I wasn't sure why a dragon was randomly on a mountain in 21st-century South Korea, but there it was. A white divine spirit, in the form of a dragon.
"What in the world..."
"It's a divine spirit. It's been alive for hundreds of years."
"No way... I never imagined something like this could exist..."
Choi Se-hee, who hadn't even flinched at death knights emerging from rings or black tentacles, was now, for the first time, gasping in awe at the sight of the dragon.
Stirred by our commotion, the dragon finally opened its eyes.
"?"
Opening its eyes, the divine spirit blinked slowly, looking down at us.
The dragon-shaped spirit let out a massive yawn, then, with sleepy eyes, stretched its wings and murmured,
"To break through the barrier... this is a first."
The dragon, speaking in that colossal, sleepy voice, addressed us languidly before settling comfortably.
Anyone could see it wasn't wary or hostile towards us, despite our sudden intrusion. Instead, it merely looked down at us with curiosity.
This was the divine spirit's true nature. Of course, I wouldn't have sought it out if I hadn't known its personality beforehand. It was the sort of ease that came from overwhelming power.
Under the dragon's interested gaze, I greeted the divine spirit.
"Greetings, Divine Spirit. I have come to see you."
"You know of me? How curious... I thought the people here had all forgotten me."
Under its intrigued gaze, I mentally organized my thoughts about the dragon before me, preparing what to say.
The pure white divine spirit had guarded this mountain for a very long time.
It was said that long, long ago, she had flown here and settled, once mingling with humans, protecting them, and living alongside them.
Anyway, now I had to convince her. And not just that, but to join me in villainy.
Under its languid gaze, which seemed to pierce right through me, I prepared to unleash my silver tongue.
But first.
"Se-hee, could you step back for a moment?"
"Hm?"
"There's something I need to discuss with her privately. I'll be quick."
"Oh... alright. I'll wait near the entrance over there."
Perhaps sensing that things were taking a serious turn, Choi Se-hee quietly nodded and stepped back.
The massive dragon watched her go without a word.
Once even the sound of Choi Se-hee's footsteps faded, the dragon spoke again.
"It seems you didn't wish for that child to overhear, so I've blocked out the sound. Now, speak."
...Hmm, how considerate.
Confirming once more that she was indeed subtly kind beneath her intimidating exterior, just as I'd seen in the original story, I opened my mouth.
Alright. This is where it really begins.
"Ms. Divine Spirit."
"Do you recall the pact you made long ago?"
"....A pact, you say."
—It's been a long time since I heard that word.
Watching it murmur, I continued speaking, maintaining my confident posture.
"Soon, this world will face destruction."
"To prevent this, I need your help."
"....."
The white dragon continued to gaze down at me, its expression unchanged.
And then, I drove home my point to the divine spirit with a single statement.
"If you doubt me, you are welcome to verify."
"Hmm..."
Through the original story, I knew that this divine spirit could discern the truth behind someone's words. And what was it... could it also glimpse their true nature, somehow? It was, after all, fundamentally a creation of the gods.
As if intrigued by my words, the divine spirit, its eyes barely open, then raised one of its forelegs.
At that, a blue light appeared in the air.
And simultaneously, my head felt a little dizzy.
"Ugh..."
As I momentarily stumbled, the dragon tilted its head with interest, as if it had seen everything in my mind during that brief moment.
"Hmm... Is that so. You've come from another world, then. How intriguing..."
She was intrigued by me.
Yes, this was my chance. While she was interested in me.
Even if she had scoured my memories, she probably hadn't seen everything, only the general gist.
In other words, from this point on, I'd need to employ highly sophisticated rhetoric to get her on my side.
With a slight smile on my face, I prepared to truly begin my spiel.
Alright.
Shall we begin?
***
"Ugh... it's cold."
Inside the cave at the peak of the snowy mountain.
Choi Se-hee, blowing on her hands and rubbing them together at the entrance, was waiting for Da-in to finish her recruitment and emerge.
She had expected to hear something, anything, but the interior remained silent.
"Are they even talking...?"
No, seriously, a dragon?
That was Choi Se-hee's immediate thought when she saw the massive white dragon. Of course, with all sorts of superpowered individuals around, a power to transform into a dragon wasn't entirely out of place, but it was still a mystical sight. ...But Da-in. How did she even know about such things, let alone find them?
Anyway, putting that aside.
"It's too quiet..."
Choi Se-hee mumbled to herself, then looked behind her.
While the dragon hadn't shown any overt hostility towards them, she couldn't shake the unease, just in case.
She was ready to rescue Da-in if anything went wrong. Even if it meant fighting a dragon the size of a house.
Just as Choi Se-hee was steeling her resolve alone,
footsteps echoed from behind her.
'Is it over?'
Choi Se-hee turned around with a sigh of relief.
In the distance, she saw Da-in walking towards her.
The dragon was nowhere in sight.
"....Did she succeed, or fail?"
As she squinted to see,
she noticed another person walking alongside Da-in, behind her.
Who... was that?
They soon approached, stopping right in front of her.
Da-in gave an awkward smile and introduced the person behind her to Choi Se-hee.
"It's all done. Let me introduce you, this is the divine spirit from earlier."
"Indeed. It seems we're formally introduced now. Pleased to meet you."
The figure who emerged from behind Da-in was...
a beautiful woman in a white traditional Korean dress, with black hair pinned up with a binyeo, speaking in an archaic manner.
"...Again?"
"Hm?"
"Ah, no, it's nothing. Pleased to meet you, I'm Choi Se-hee."
Choi Se-hee could only smile and say that.
...Still unable to comprehend why, of all things, the dragon had to be a woman.
***
The Divine Spirit.
She had first appeared in the chaotic final arc of the original story, in the form of a dragon, saving others. At the time, seeing a dragon appear and rescue Stardust in the original story, I cursed the plot for its lack of coherence, yet secretly held some hope.
I had hoped, 'Finally, an ally for Stardust has appeared! Will this desolate situation finally improve?'
Even more so when she later transformed into her human form, wearing a white traditional dress and manipulating the weather like a benevolent deity.
Yes, I had held such hopes. Right up until she fell from grace and destroyed entire cities in the very next issue...
Anyway, inside the cave, I was doing my best to recruit her into Ego Stream.
"Hmm..."
As our conversation progressed, she had, at some point, transformed from her dragon form into a human one.
The beautiful woman, with her black hair flowing down, adorned with a binyeo, and dressed in a white traditional dress, smoking what looked like a kiseru pipe, appeared so delicate it was hard to believe she was the same dragon from earlier.
The only thing that still resembled the dragon from before was perhaps her eyes, which gazed upon the world with a contemplative, almost enlightened air.
"...Yes, I see. So that god will descend, after all..."
Having heard that much, she then set down her kiseru pipe and spoke to me.
"...Very well. I shall help you."
"Thank you."
"...You accept so readily. ...Yes, I haven't descended into the human realm for quite some time, it's about time I returned to the mortal world."
Done.
I clenched my fist in triumph, inwardly.
...As expected, selling off the future, selling off the past, doing everything I could, it really paid off...!
"You may simply call me Ryung. Your name was Da-in, was it not?"
The divine spirit rose as she spoke.
I also nodded and stood up. Whew, had I finally succeeded?
"So, how exactly do you wish for me to assist you?"
As we walked out of the cave, she asked me in a calm voice, as if curious.
So I replied to her with equal nonchalance.
"You can join us in committing acts of terror."
"...Terror? What is that?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
I only answered that much.
...Because explaining it now would be, well, a bit complicated...?
After returning home and introducing her to the others, a little time passed.
I explained 'terror' to Ms. Divine Spirit, explained the reasons for it, made preparations, and did this and that.
Finally, the day of terror dawned.
...The day I would become a dragon rider.