Chapter 247

A lazybones.

There are many different kinds of lazybones in this world.

Youngjin-hyung, who orders nothing but delivery food because cooking is too much trouble.

Seongjin, who only ever eats boneless chicken because peeling meat off the bone is too annoying.

Daho, who doesn’t even bother flipping the meat on the grill and just gobbles it up because using tongs is too much work.

Sarin, who stayed home all day because taking off sunscreen at night felt like too much hassle.

And even Manager Park, who parks outside on purpose because walking a few steps down to the underground parking lot is too bothersome.

That was why Lloyd had taken a certain pride in the fact that, ever since his days in South Korea, he had dealt with all sorts of lazy people.

But now?

That pride (?) was being utterly shattered.

Because of the thought that came to him as he looked at Dragon King Verkis, whom he had finally met at the center of the Dragon Cave.

‘What is this shut-in bum?’

It was the very first thought that came to him the instant he saw him.

This was a level of laziness he had never encountered before.

It had to be.

The Dragon King was sprawled there as though he had become one with the sofa.

Even though a human had finally come to visit his base.

Even though that human was someone who had earned the right to receive his sponsorship.

And yet the Dragon King did not rise from the sofa.

No, he did not even turn his head.

Slowly.

Only his drowsy eyes moved, by about two millimeters at most.

It looked as though he stared this way for about a second.

Then—

Slowly.

‘Why are you falling asleep?!’

Lloyd screamed inwardly.

He was bewildered.

He never imagined the Dragon King would be this kind of lazybones.

He never imagined the guy would look at him and then go to sleep without even giving a greeting.

No, still, he was the Dragon King.

The one who ruled over all dragons in the world.

At the very least, Lloyd had expected something vaguely resembling the bearing of a ruler.

‘What do I do? Should I wake him up? Should I try greeting him? Wouldn’t that wake him?’

That thought briefly crossed his mind.

But Lloyd soon shook his head.

‘No, waking him up for no reason feels like a rash move.’

For some reason, he had that instinct.

If he greeted him.

If he woke him up like that.

Would the Dragon King really rise and exchange greetings with him?

Would he finally reveal Dragon King-like dignity and kindly, thoughtfully say things like he would sponsor him and give him the promised benefits?

‘I don’t think so.’

Lloyd shook his head again.

No matter how he looked at it, this Dragon King fellow did not seem like a being who fell within the bounds of normalcy.

If he were the sort who would get up and greet a visitor when awakened?

Then he wouldn’t have fallen asleep like that after seeing a rare guest in the first place.

‘Tch. Then what do I do?’

Lloyd smacked his lips.

This was troublesome.

He had gone all the way to Hell and finished everything, and now all that remained was to receive the final benefit.

He had finally come all the way here to collect it.

And yet the Dragon King, who was supposed to give him that final reward, had simply fallen asleep irresponsibly.

“Javier.”

“Yes, Lloyd-nim.”

“For now, I think we should wait.”

Lloyd made his decision.

That thing should not be woken carelessly.

If he got blinded by the reward and acted hastily for no reason?

He might end up ruining everything right at the end.

He might end up spilling an entire pot of fully cooked ramen.

He whispered to Javier as quietly as possible.

“So go stand over there for now.”

“What are you planning to do, Lloyd-nim?”

“As for me, I’m just going to cater to his mood a little.”

“What do you mean by his mood?”

“It means what it means, so just stay quiet for now.”

Waving him away, Lloyd sent Javier off to a distance.

Then he rose onto his toes.

As quietly as possible, as stealthily as possible.

He crept forward on tiptoe and approached the Dragon King.

Carefully, he observed Dragon King Verkis.

Along with a renewed certainty, jealousy came bubbling up inside him.

‘He’s really a shut-in freeloader. The kind who just lies around all his life. But he’s the richest in the world. Damn it. I’m jealous.’

A building owner—no, a god-tier landlord.

A being who had no need to worry about making a living on the wealth he already possessed.

No, a being who could just lie around indoors scratching the soles of his feet while the money in his account kept happily growing on its own. A being who could live comfortably without some grand goal or passion in life.

The life of a god-tier landlord bum.

A life that might well be called his ideal.

Lloyd could sense that his role model (?) had appeared before him.

‘I’m jealous. So jealous I could go insane.’

Just looking at Dragon King Verkis sleeping there made his insides boil.

For no reason, his heart pounded and his lower stomach started to ache.

Jealousy? Envy?

No.

‘Well, well. So this is where the big bro I wanted to serve all my life has been.’

People, by nature, need to choose their friends well.

The kind who show off with money, brag constantly, splurge on meals, and then brag about money some more.

Those are the kind of people you must treasure, keep close, and never let go of.

In other words, this was exactly when flattery was meant to be used.

This was exactly the sort of moment for sweet-talking.

The shining spirit of service and the precious, warm, comforting universal human values of consideration and respect were all born into the universe for moments like this.

Lloyd steeled himself like that.

Then he gently picked up a top-quality silk blanket that was lying nearby.

Without making so much as a rustling sound, he carefully draped it over the sleeping Dragon King Verkis.

‘Oh dear, hyung-nim. What if you catch cold sleeping without covering yourself with anything like this?’

Lloyd grinned broadly, looking at him as if he were gazing at a sleeping lump of gold.

Or perhaps a sleeping fortune itself.

And his devotion did not end there.

He moved in slow motion, even more stealthily than a cockroach walking across a kitchen sink at two in the morning.

He thoroughly scanned the surroundings.

He found a suitable item.

He unearthed a goblet made of gold.

He fetched spring water from the little stream trickling around the great cavern.

While he was at it, he also found a large fan made of peacock feathers.

Then he began fanning the Dragon King with the utmost care and devotion.

A soft, gentle breeze drifted over and pleasantly tickled Dragon King Verkis.

Perhaps thanks to that.

The Dragon King’s sleeping expression became much more comfortable.

A satisfied smile also spread across Lloyd’s lips.

‘Perfect. When you’re sleeping on a sofa, if you’ve got a blanket over you and a fan set to the weakest setting, the feeling is secretly unbeatable. Humans and dragons are the same in that regard, exactly the same.’

Lloyd recalled his own experience.

Back in the day, before his family in South Korea fell on hard times.

Back then, he had lived in a fairly ordinary apartment.

And in the living room, there had been a three-seater leather sofa.

That sofa had been soft and comfortable.

Lying there while watching TV had been unbelievably relaxing.

But that did not mean it had no drawbacks at all.

‘It was a leather sofa, so if I lay on it too long, I’d get sweaty and hot.’

No matter how many cushions he put down, it was the same.

If he lay there for too long, heat would build up where his body touched the sofa and make him hot.

Whenever that happened, he would unfailingly summon the fan.

If he put on one thin blanket and set the fan to a low speed?

There was nothing more heavenly.

‘It’d be about the same whether you’re human or dragon.’

As it happened, the sofa the Dragon King was currently sprawled across was a leather one.

So the moment he saw it, memories of Korea briefly came back to him, and he had provided the Dragon King with his own secret technique (?) from those days as a service.

The result was, as expected, a success.

“…Kuuuuul.”

Perhaps he had become even more comfortable.

Dragon King Verkis had begun snoring in earnest.

A satisfied smile rose on Lloyd’s lips.

Because of that, he did not know.

Dragon King Verkis, snoring peacefully there.

That, while he lay there, he was observing Lloyd with a feeling of slight surprise.

‘What is this?’

Dragon King Verkis thought.

Half within sleep.

While snoring in comfort.

And though one part of him found it bothersome.

He still peered through half-open eyes at the human who was fanning him so gently.

‘This is the first one like this.’

The human had earned the qualification for Dragon King Sponsorship.

But he was not the first human to earn that qualification.

Over the past several hundred years, a few humans who had earned it had made it all the way here.

And every one of them had given up and turned back.

Without receiving any sponsorship at all, they had left.

The reason was simple.

Because he had ignored them.

‘Because it was bothersome.’

Dealing with humans was bothersome.

Just to receive a mere human, he would have had to raise himself from the sofa.

To do that, he would have had to move the joints and muscles in his waist and torso.

He would have had to brace himself with his arms on the sofa and even put strength into his shoulders.

He would have had to lift his head and open his eyes.

He would have had to raise his eyelids and focus his gaze.

And on top of that, he would have had to speak to them.

Which meant he would have had to move his mouth as well.

He hated that.

It was bothersome.

He could not bear wasting a few seconds of life—no, dragon life—on such pointless movement.

If he had just kept sleeping instead, all his muscles and red blood cells could have enjoyed those few extra seconds of comfort.

The thought of letting his dragon life spill away like that pained his heart too much.

That was why.

No matter what visitor came, he ignored them.

He simply kept sleeping without even opening his eyes.

And strangely enough, if he did only that, the bothersome business resolved itself.

‘At first, they were all bewildered. Then later, they begged and pleaded, swallowed their frustration, and eventually left.’

The candidates for Dragon King Sponsorship who came seeking this place.

Every one of those few humans had been like that.

At first, they were bewildered by his complete lack of response.

Some even fidgeted and tried to wake him.

Even so, he ignored them to the end.

Then most humans would begin to beg.

O great Dragon King, please open your eyes.

Please do not turn away from me.

Open your eyes, O hero.

And so on and so forth.

But as for him?

He simply kept sleeping.

Consistently and unchangingly, he ignored them.

And then the next reaction was suppressed resentment.

‘Once they realized they were being ignored, they became furious. Why? Because most of them were humans with exceptionally strong pride.’

Normally, to earn the qualification for Dragon King Sponsorship, one had to accomplish a truly extraordinary feat.

And not merely some feat within the human world.

One had to accomplish something on the level of saving a dragon’s dragon life despite being in a human body.

From the start, it was not the sort of feat or achievement an ordinary human could accomplish.

Naturally, the humans who managed such a thing could never have been ordinary.

Every single one of them had been peerless heroes.

A swordsman who had reached the pinnacle.

A mage who had attained the supreme realm.

A clergyman called a saint of the world.

Or even a conqueror whose name would endure in history.

Quite literally, the sort of humans who would never be omitted from any great-biography series.

Every one of them had earned the qualification for Dragon King Sponsorship and come all the way here.

That was why they could not obtain the sponsorship.

‘They were all far too proud.’

A faint smile formed on Verkis’s lips.

Heroes who had left behind achievements that would endure throughout human history.

Their egos had been wrapped tight in self-respect and pride.

And yet they were subjected, over and over, to a bottomless disregard unlike anything they had ever experienced in their entire lives.

And that too here, in the Dragon Cave, where they had come expecting a great reward.

That situation broke them.

‘None of them could endure it.’

At first they pleaded desperately.

Then later they demanded how even the Dragon King could do such a thing.

How he could ignore them in this way.

Whether this was not a violation of the promise.

They openly protested or became enraged.

And eventually, they turned back.

Days, months, even years.

Such were the things that happened because he kept doing nothing but sleeping and ignoring them.

Of course, afterward his wife scolded him.

How could you do this again?

You must not treat guests who came from so far away so harshly.

How could you fail to properly carry out the Dragon King Sponsorship system that Mother and our daughter so painstakingly prepared?

To keep lying around like this is truly a violation of basic decency.

When we married, you promised you would become diligent.

And now it seems that promise lasted no more than three days.

He would get nagged for months on end.

‘Well, that’s fine too.’

Verkis grinned inwardly.

Being nagged by his wife was enjoyable. It made him happy. The way she chattered all day long was so lovely to hear.

That was why it was better to ignore visitors.

He did not have to deal with them while enduring that bothersome trouble.

And once he drove them off like that, his wife would nag him all over again.

Was that not killing two birds with one stone from his perspective?

Verkis thought this time would be the same.

That fellow who had shown up at the Dragon Cave again with a silly grin.

Lloyd, who had come with his heart fluttering at the thought of receiving sponsorship.

He had thought so from the moment he first saw him.

That he would be no different from all the human hero bastards he had seen until now.

That all he had to do was treat him and respond to him the same way.

He had been fairly certain of that.

Up until just a little while ago, that had definitely been the case.

‘But what is this guy?’

Verkis felt dumbfounded.

‘He’s putting me to sleep even more?’

That was right.

That human who came into the Dragon Cave today.

Far from daring to hurry him or beg and plead.

He had not even tried to wake him with overly polite remarks overflowing with courtesy.

Instead of hurrying him or pleading, he covered him with a blanket.

Instead of trying to wake him, he fanned him.

And on top of that…

‘He even brought me a cup of water? In case I wake up in the middle and want to wet my throat?’

Apparently that was exactly it.

The way Verkis looked at Lloyd changed a little.

‘Ha. I like this one.’

This was the first human who had come to receive sponsorship who was like this.

First of all, he seemed like someone who would not make things bothersome for him.

And he had scratched all the itches in the Dragon King’s heart so gently.

Verkis liked Lloyd immensely.

So he fell asleep even more comfortably.

‘Good. I like you. This is your reward. So I shall ignore you not deliberately, but naturally.’

I’ll genuinely fall asleep for you.

I don’t do this for just anyone.

So regard it as the honor of a lifetime.

Feeling deeply satisfied, Verkis even closed his half-open eyes.

He truly sank into a deep sleep, with every sign that he could stretch it out for several years if he wished.

“…Snnnrrr. Fwiiiii.”

His entire body relaxed completely.

He dropped right into a happy dreamland.

And he thought:

When I wake up next time?

That human I like, the one fanning me right now.

He’ll probably have given up and disappeared at some point.

Then I’ll let out one huge yawn, get nagged by my wife, and give her a kiss or two.

That was how Verkis firmly laid out this sleeping plan (?).

Of course, even as he sank into deep sleep, he did not worry in the slightest.

He did not fear the possibility that a human, driven over the edge by being ignored so long, might attack him while he slept.

After all, no attack could injure him anyway.

Even if a supernova exploded right in front of his nose, it would be the same.

At worst, it would only sting a little, as though the tip of his nose had been lightly scraped and singed.

No being in this world could harm him.

And so Verkis let go of everything and sank into deep sleep.

Thanks to that, he had no idea even in his dreams.

What kind of insane thing Lloyd—who was respectfully attending to him with perfectly customized service (?) while he lay there dozing—was about to do.