Chapter 178
[Whew. This should be safe enough.]
“…….”
Suho looked dumbfounded at Arsha, who wore a satisfied expression after completing the nest.
“This is a nest? Looks more like a vault.”
[If you consider that a dragon might hatch from this egg, honestly, even this isn’t enough.]
Arsha still felt uneasy about Kamish’s Egg.
[Dragons are apex predators from the moment they hatch. Especially Red Dragon hatchlings—they can breathe fire the instant they’re born. You wouldn’t understand, Suho-nim, since you’re human, but dragons are—]
[What nonsense! Our Young Lord was already flying through the sky as a newborn!]
[…….]
At Beru’s sudden outburst, Arsha fell silent.
Come to think of it, Suho wasn’t exactly normal either.
In fact, among everyone here, he might be the most ominous existence of all.
‘Hah. How did I end up living in such a dreadful place…?’
Arsha bit her lip and sighed at the harsh environment she now found herself in.
Suho asked her, “So, you seem to know quite a bit about dragons?”
[Information gathering is my specialty, after all.]
Indeed, her ability to create countless clones made her highly suited for intelligence work.
Even now, her worker bees were scattered across the country hunting down villains.
“Then do you happen to know how to hatch a dragon egg?”
[Dragons are known to bathe their eggs in mana periodically to incubate them.]
“Mana baptism? What’s that?”
[In simple terms, it’s the act of continuously infusing mana. Hmm. Now that I think about it… this egg is way too small for a dragon egg. Its parent probably died early, so it never received the mana baptism it needed to grow properly.]
Her guess was spot on.
Among the eggs Cha Hae-In had found in the Tomb of the Radiant Dragons, Kamish’s Egg had been the smallest.
Suho’s expression stiffened slightly at that.
“So you’re saying this egg might not hatch?”
[I’m not sure about that.]
“Hmm. A mana baptism…”
Suho pondered Arsha’s explanation.
“Then it doesn’t have to be its parent, right? Anyone could infuse it with mana?”
[Nothing is certain, but it should definitely help.]
“Then I can do it.”
[Excuse me?]
Grinning, Suho placed his palm on the surface of Kamish’s Egg inside the nest.
He slowly drew mana from within his body and began gently infusing it into the egg.
Swoooosh.
[My goodness. How can a human…?]
Arsha was struck with awe watching his delicate mana control.
Considering that Suho was human, it was nothing short of astonishing.
For magical beasts, manipulating mana was as natural as breathing—but humans had only been using mana for two years.
And Suho had awakened for even less time than that…
[Ahem. Our Young Lord was a prodigy from birth! Took his first steps using [Ruler’s Authority]…]
[…….]
Beru, puffing up with pride as always, boasted from the side.
Arsha, already used to Beru’s shameless bragging, ignored him and tried to refocus on Suho.
[Suho-nim, I think your method is correct. But even so, the effect will likely be minimal.]
“Why’s that?”
Suho continued pouring mana into the egg as he asked.
[Dragons are born with immense mana. Their eggs grow strong by absorbing the massive mana of their parents until hatching.]
This process was also called a “mana shower.”
Even if the egg couldn’t absorb all of it, the continuous overflow of mana would nurture it.
[I know you’re amazing, Suho-nim, but even if you pour mana into it until you collapse, it’d still be a drop in the ocean compared to a dragon’s power… Hm?]
Suddenly, Arsha sensed something odd.
For some reason, Suho’s mana didn’t seem to be depleting at all.
At some point, he had begun drinking something nonstop.
Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.
[‘Item: Intermediate Mana Potion’ has been used.]
[‘Item: Intermediate Mana Potion’ has been used.]
[‘Item: Intermediate Mana Potion’ has been used.]
……
“I’ve got plenty of mana.”
Suho smirked confidently, guzzling mana potions without pause.
It was confidence backed by reason.
His eyes remained fixed on his real-time status window.
[MP: 358/6,410]
[MP: 1,410/6,410]
[MP: 431/6,410]
[MP: 2,160/6,410]
……
“I may not be a dragon, but as long as I’ve got gold, I can pump mana all day.”
[Unbelievable…]
Arsha stared in shock, mouth agape.
A true mana shower!
Suho was pouring an endless stream of mana into Kamish’s Egg!
[Keh-heh. Ahem. Our Young Lord is truly—]
[…….]
Beru once again took the opportunity to boast.
Suho, the one actually doing the work, remained silent—yet somehow Beru was the one soaking in all the glory. Arsha couldn’t help but wonder why.
Swoooosh…
Watching Kamish’s Egg endlessly absorb his mana, Suho nodded to himself.
“Alright. I’m going to have to earn more gold from now on.”
To use mana on par with dragons, he’d need to spend a lot on potions.
* * *
Former university administrative assistant Im Do-Gyun somehow ended up doing a similar job even after becoming a Hunter.
Only one thing had changed.
The demanding professors had been replaced by a new boss—“Sung Suho.”
“Alright, let’s see…”
Im Do-Gyun pulled out the tablet PC he hadn’t used since his days as a university admin assistant and began writing up a work report.
“The conditions Suho wants for the dungeons are…”
Scribble, scribble.
1) Dungeons likely to hide demon factories.
(Maybe ones with demon-type monsters?)
(Places with rumors about Stardust or missing persons?)
2) Dungeons that bring in a lot of gold.
(What does that even mean? Ones that drop expensive materials?)
As he brainstormed ideas, Im Do-Gyun’s mind churned through every possible angle.
And his eyes and ears were actively working to find dungeons that met every one of those conditions—by any means necessary.
First: connections.
“Hello? Dad, are you free? I have something to ask if you’re not busy.”
He even called his own father, despite their still-awkward relationship.
“Ah, hello? Is this the secretary office of CEO Yoo Jinho? He told me to reach out here if I ever needed anything. Yes. What I need is information…”
He didn’t hesitate to call the secretary’s office of a massive conglomerate.
“Ah! Vice President Baek Miho? This is Im Do-Gyun, Vice Guild Master of Woojin Guild! I was wondering if you could share some info on a few dungeons…”
That’s right.
Im Do-Gyun—usually a total scaredy-cat.
But when it came to business, this former teaching assistant would do whatever it took.
And within just an hour, he had successfully identified all the dungeons that met Suho’s requirements.
“Suho—no, boss! I’ve compiled a list of the dungeons I found! I even ranked them by priority based on my own criteria, so just go through them in order!”
[Kiieek? What’s this? Since when was this coward so competent?]
“Hmph.”
Even Beru looked stunned, and Im Do-Gyun felt an overwhelming rush of catharsis.
Riding that wave, he boldly presented a request to Suho.
“So, this time, I don’t have to go inside the dungeon, right?”
“What’re you talking about? Of course you’re coming.”
“…….”
Im Do-Gyun immediately deflated.
* * *
And so, Suho’s guild began clearing the dungeons Im Do-Gyun had found, one by one, targeting demon factories.
Money was not a problem.
The massive profit from selling off the dungeon resources mined in Busan had just been deposited into the guild account.
With that, Suho began purchasing the dungeons on Im Do-Gyun’s list without hesitation and initiated immediate raids.
Having already trained together in Busan, Suho and his shadow soldiers swept through the dungeons at an astonishing pace.
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
……
Their leveling pace wasn’t bad at all.
‘Creating a guild was definitely the right move. It’s way easier to access dungeons than when I was freelancing.’
But Suho wasn’t just leveling up.
He sold the expensive materials looted from the monsters directly to the shop to earn more gold.
With potion costs mounting, and to improve combat speed, he also bought armor from the shop.
[Item: Elite Knight’s Breastplate]
Drop Rarity: B
Type: Armor
Physical Damage Reduction +7%
(Slows movement if Strength is below 80.)
[Item: Elite Knight’s Helmet]
Drop Rarity: B
Type: Armor
Physical Damage Reduction +6%
(Slows movement if Strength is below 80.)
He’d always wanted those items but couldn’t use them due to lacking strength. Now he bought them anyway.
Increasing his defense meant using fewer potions and fighting faster.
‘Feels like I’m becoming a full-fledged tank.’
Even Suho couldn’t help but laugh at his own combat style.
Despite leading an army of shadow soldiers like a necromancer, he was always at the front, playing the role of a tank.
The shadow soldiers would clean up the remaining monsters in his wake.
“……Should I start calling this a ‘Necro-Tanker’ build?”
With a small chuckle, Suho continued raiding dungeons.
He even managed to find an actual demon factory.
But unfortunately, it was just an ordinary demon factory, yielding no new info about the Church of the Outer Gods.
However, they did recover magic crystals used as raw materials for Stardust, which Beru promptly gobbled up.
Meanwhile, Suho resumed drinking potions and feeding mana into Kamish’s Egg over and over again…
Until suddenly—
[Suho-nim.]
Queen Bee Arsha called out to him with a serious expression.
[My worker bees seem to have found something.]
