【2 Level-Up Points or Dragon Egg】
Two choices appeared side by side inside the Quest Window.
Unlike the first Bonus Reward, this time Siul was presented with a choice, and he let out a quiet sound of admiration.
‘So this is what it meant when it said the rewards would improve with each stage?’
Being able to choose whichever reward he wanted was certainly an advantage.
But when both rewards were tempting, it also made the decision much harder.
‘Just looking at the names makes me want both….’
Two Level-Up Points.
There was no need to explain why that was a good reward.
After all, Quests became more difficult as his rank increased.
Just thinking back on his battle with the Minotaurs, the difference created by a single rank was on an entirely different level compared to before.
Once he advanced beyond A-Rank, even finding a Gate containing an enemy with a Danger Level of 10 would become difficult.
From that perspective, two Level-Up Points would only become more valuable in the future.
‘Realistically, I should take the points… but my eyes keep drifting toward the other one.’
【Dragon Egg】
The name itself was practically cheating.
Who could see a name like that and not become curious?
RUMBLE!
“…?”
Suddenly, thunderous hoofbeats echoed throughout the boss room.
When Siul turned his head, he saw the Minotaurs screaming as they fled into the labyrinth passages in every direction.
Their morale had collapsed after the death of their boss.
Siul watched them flee and snorted.
“Nice. It’s quiet now.”
Then he turned his attention back to the Quest Window.
‘A Dragon Egg…. What exactly is it?’
Was it literally an egg that would hatch into a Dragon?
Or was it some kind of item containing a Dragon’s power?
With no description provided, there was no way to tell.
“Can’t you give me any information about the Dragon Egg?”
He asked just in case, but silence was the only response.
“Hmm.”
Siul folded his arms and pondered the decision.
Then he suddenly chuckled.
‘I really have changed a lot.’
Siul had always been someone who preferred stability.
In the past, he would have chosen the Level-Up Points without a second thought.
But his disposition had changed considerably.
‘I might die in a few months anyway. Shouldn’t I just choose whatever interests me?’
For someone living on borrowed time, there was little reason to pursue stability over things he had never experienced before.
It might have been different if he had decades left to live, but what use was stability to someone who might die soon?
‘Whatever it is, it should at least be worth two Level-Up Points, right?’
Trusting that the System would not deliberately offer him a worthless option, Siul made his decision.
“I’ll take the Dragon Egg.”
The Quest Window reacted immediately.
【You will receive the ‘Dragon Egg’ as your Bonus Reward.】
POP!
A small explosion sounded at Siul’s feet, and smoke billowed upward.
Startled, Siul instinctively stepped back.
When the smoke finally cleared, an egg about the size of a basketball lay on the floor.
Intricate teal patterns covered its surface, giving it a mysterious appearance.
“…It really was an egg?”
Siul had half expected otherwise.
Smiling with interest, he crouched down.
Then he carefully reached out and touched the egg as though handling fragile glass.
FLASH!
The moment his hand touched it, a small holographic message appeared above the back of his hand.
【It will hatch if kept warm and given affection.】
“……?”
Siul was speechless for a while.
Affection?
What kind of ridiculous requirement was that?
“How am I supposed to give you that…. I would’ve had to receive some affection myself before I could give it to someone else.”
Siul had grown up in an orphanage and had spent his entire life far removed from romance.
Affection was a word that had very little connection to his life.
“No explanation again…. Fine. I’ll figure out how to hatch you myself.”
At the very least, he had learned that something would eventually hatch from the egg.
Whether it would be a terrifying creature like the Judgment Dragon or a small, adorable pet matching the egg’s size remained to be seen.
He would only know once it hatched.
* * *
CRASH!!
The hallway outside the Rising Guild Master’s office was unusually noisy.
Hurried footsteps could be heard from inside even before the door opened, and Park Jung-gi practically ran out of the office.
“Mr. Siul, please come in!”
His face was overflowing with excitement and delight.
Despite wearing a suit, he had rushed out in his socks, but he did not seem to care in the slightest.
“It took a little longer than the estimated clear time. Clearing the Dungeon alone slowed me down.”
At Siul’s words, Park Jung-gi hurriedly waved both hands.
“Oh, no, not at all! Clearing an A-Rank Dungeon through a Solo Raid is already incredible, and I heard you even mined a huge amount of Mana Stones while you were there. We couldn’t have asked for a better result!”
He grabbed Siul’s hand and continued beaming.
“We would’ve considered it a success just to prevent the Gate Break, but thanks to you, we managed to collect practically everything the Dungeon had to offer!”
Park Jung-gi’s voice was filled with excitement.
And understandably so.
From a business owner’s perspective, expenses were just as important as revenue.
What truly mattered was the net profit.
And this Raid had produced one of the greatest returns in the history of the Rising Guild.
An A-Rank Gate acquired cheaply at auction.
And the only labor expense required to clear the entire Dungeon had been Siul’s pay.
Of course, they still had to give Siul three times his normal payout share, but even that was far less than what they had originally expected to spend.
‘This is practically a windfall!’
Park Jung-gi celebrated inwardly before guiding Siul to the seat of honor on the office sofa.
“Mr. Siul.”
He straightened his posture before continuing.
“I hope we can continue working together in the future. Frankly speaking… from the Rising Guild’s perspective, we don’t want to lose someone like you.”
Although Park Jung-gi’s voice was excited, he chose his next words carefully.
“If you ever quit that… work that’s similar to being a Special Hunter, please contact me before anyone else. I personally guarantee you an executive position.”
It was an extraordinary offer.
Even in a small-to-mid-sized Guild, an executive position was hardly insignificant.
That was how valuable Siul appeared in Park Jung-gi’s eyes.
‘If he can clear an A-Rank Dungeon alone, then this man has to be an S-Rank Hunter. He came straight to the office after leaving the Gate, and there isn’t a single wound on his body. That’s absolute proof that he’s S-Rank!’
Aside from Park Jung-gi himself, the Rising Guild had no Hunters ranked A or above.
If someone like Siul, whom he believed to be S-Rank, joined the Guild, Park Jung-gi would eventually be willing to offer him more than just an executive position.
He might even hand over his own position as Guild Master.
‘This man is way too excited….’
Naturally, Siul had no interest whatsoever in an executive position.
He was standing at a crossroads where he might either live or die within a few months.
Why would an executive title matter to him?
“I’m pretty busy with my own work. But thank you for thinking so highly of me.”
Siul brushed it off with a light smile.
Park Jung-gi awkwardly rubbed the back of his head before suddenly glancing toward Siul’s shoulder.
“What’s that you’re carrying over your shoulder?”
Siul flinched, his expression stiffening.
Slung over his shoulder was a bundle made from a tightly wrapped and knotted T-shirt.
“Th-This?”
Sweat began forming on Siul’s forehead.
“I just… took off my outer shirt because it was hot. The weather’s gotten pretty warm lately.”
“Really? But it looks like there’s something inside it.”
There was.
A Dragon Egg, no less….
‘What am I supposed to do when it isn’t an item or a weapon, so I can’t put it in my Inventory…?’
With no other choice, Siul had hurriedly concealed the Dragon Egg inside his clothes.
“It’s a b-basketball!”
“What?”
“I like basketball. Hahaha….”
Even Siul could hear how painfully awkward the lie sounded.
Fortunately, Park Jung-gi believed him without difficulty.
“I like basketball too! I play a game with Do-hyun every now and then on weekends. If you have time sometime, how about a one-on-one match with me?”
That was not the reaction Siul had expected at all.
He nodded blankly.
“Ah, yes. Sure….”
* * *
After finishing his meeting with Park Jung-gi and returning home, Siul shut the front door, kicked off his shoes, and charged inside.
“Ugh, I’m boiling alive!”
He carelessly placed the Dragon Egg on his bed.
The first thing he did was—
WHIRR.
Turn the air conditioner on at full-power cooling.
“Haa….”
Siul shoved his face directly in front of the stream of cold air.
“I can live again….”
It was late June.
At this time of year, living without air conditioning was practically a Dungeon in itself.
With his eyes half closed, Siul greedily soaked in the cold air.
Then the Dragon Egg he had placed on the bed suddenly entered his field of vision.
“Ah.”
【It will hatch if kept warm and given affection.】
BEEP—.
Siul immediately turned off the air conditioner.
He sighed, walked over to the bed, and carefully wrapped the Dragon Egg in a blanket.
Then he took out a fan, placed it on the opposite side of the bed, and angled it so that the breeze blew only toward himself.
“Good. This way I survive, and you stay warm. Right?”
Siul glanced at the egg beneath the blanket and scratched his chin.
‘The problem is what comes next….’
The egg needed affection in order to hatch.
‘What even counts as affection?’
Siul sat on the edge of the bed and stared down at the egg.
It did not move at all, nor did anything particularly unusual stand out about it.
Perhaps that was because he had not yet fulfilled the required condition of giving it affection.
‘Do I just say nice things to it? People compliment someone they care about, don’t they?’
Siul cautiously began.
“Oh my, Eggy. Aren’t your patterns pretty? They’re the spitting image of the scales on your daddy, the one who made me terminally ill.”
Silence followed.
The egg remained completely still.
“…That was one of my best compliments.”
Maybe words did not work.
Siul came up with another idea.
‘Physical affection? Right. When you think of affection, physical contact is the obvious answer.’
Siul spread his arms wide and pulled the Dragon Egg into an embrace.
He intended to give it what he considered an affectionate hug.
However, Siul had never actually embraced anyone with affection before….
“Urgh! How about that?! Can you feel my affection?!”
To anyone watching, it looked unmistakably like a headlock.
If the egg had possessed arms, it would already have been tapping out.
“Whew! That’s exhausting!”
Siul released his arms.
Even he realized that what he had just done felt more like subduing the egg than showing affection, so he stopped.
The egg still showed no reaction.
“What am I actually supposed to do…?”
Giving up, Siul flopped down beside the egg.
The breeze from the fan passed over the soles of his burning feet.
“Affection… affection….”
As he stared blankly at the ceiling, something occurred to him.
The dog next door.
A small Shih Tzu about the same size as the Dragon Egg.
He vividly remembered the smiling face of its owner, who absolutely adored the little dog.
The pair had suited the word affection perfectly.
‘Those two definitely had plenty of affection.’
Siul sat up and moved in front of the Dragon Egg again.
Imagining his neighbor and the Shih Tzu, he tried imitating exactly what he had seen them do.
STROKE, STROKE—.
He opened his palm and very gently caressed the surface of the egg.
‘I think the owner used to say something while doing this.’
After searching his memory a little more, he remembered.
Siul quietly repeated the words the owner had said to the Shih Tzu.
“Just don’t get sick.”
That short phrase had strangely resonated with Siul at the time.
Remembering that moment, he carefully spoke the words aloud.
‘Still nothing, huh?’
CREEEAK….
“…?”
Siul’s hand stopped while stroking the egg.
CRACK— CRACKLE—!
“Uh, uh…!”
A heavy sound came from beneath the blanket.
Tiny cracks began spreading across the surface of the egg.
Light seeped through the teal patterns as the shell slowly but unmistakably began splitting apart.
“W-Wait…!”
Siul panicked, unsure of what to do.
Until moments ago, the egg had not moved at all.
Now it was suddenly vibrating so violently that it was almost frightening.
And then, a moment later—
CRACK—!!
The Dragon Egg completely shattered.