Fortunately, this time, unlike just before, no one stopped me.
Maybe because I threw up a faint shield around my body—subtle enough not to show—to keep any unknown “energy” from leaking out, people didn’t sneak glances at me like earlier.
It felt like overkill, but the way that Esper from before, and Shin Biho, and even the people around us had acted—as if they sensed something—left me unsettled.
Now that I was human—no, now that I was a dragon—there might be something I couldn’t sense that others could feel coming off me.
A killer’s instinct told me that if I walked around like this, I’d draw attention again, so I tried it—and it worked better than I expected.
'So they really were sensing some kind of energy…'
I pretended to head toward the Center, slipped aside to avoid people’s eyes, and melded into the darkness, naturally pressing myself to the wall of the target building a little removed from the Esper and Guide buildings.
A quick scan around—thankfully, no one seemed to notice.
It’s been a while since I did an infiltration like this. I’m shaking.
This used to be routine for me as a killer…
I swallowed and, hiding behind the wall, watched the front entrance.
Unlike other places, there were two men standing like doormen in front of that door.
As if to keep just anyone from entering.
Knock them out with a strike to the back of the neck and go in?
No—too conspicuous.
Even if this place sat behind the main Center buildings and wasn’t easy to see, it didn’t mean there was no foot traffic at all.
Break a window and go in?
Knock out anyone I meet and move on…
'…Am I an idiot?'
I’m a dragon, aren’t I?
Without thinking, I’d focused too hard and slipped into the habits of my human days.
I’d lived longer as a human, so life as a dragon was still unfamiliar.
If I didn’t deliberately reach for it, even magic didn’t come to mind easily.
Come to think of it, unlike when I was human, I had magic.
I could Teleport inside, and even if not, there were more than enough ways to slip into a building like this.
Pathetic…
Let’s go with the easiest way.
I looked inside the building and spoke.
“Teleport.”
With the incantation, I instantly moved into the building.
'…No signs of life.'
For a place guarded from the outside, there was no one inside.
I walked slowly.
On the surface, it looked like any ordinary lab.
Except the lighting was dull and dimmer than elsewhere.
Then I caught sight of a familiar silhouette striding along.
'…Kang Cheon!'
Younger than in the webtoon, Kang Cheon was walking quickly toward somewhere.
Running into Kang Cheon the moment I entered was lucky.
Less worry about getting lost.
I hurried after him.
He headed for the basement of the building.
Keeping my distance, I followed him down—and clamped a hand over my mouth.
'What a stench… and this place is…'
It’s a straight-up prison.
I’d assumed as much from the setting that criminals were kept here, but the ground floor gave off no such vibe, so I’d been unsure—looks like they hid all the facilities underground.
Through the iron bars I could see people locked up.
'But… this is too much, isn’t it?'
None of them looked human anymore.
So tortured they were wasted, half out of their minds or dying.
Even when their eyes met mine, their vacant gazes didn’t register me at all.
Living corpses, basically.
'…My stomach turns.'
I’d seen this depicted in the webtoon, but it hadn’t shown their suffering this nakedly.
Seeing it for real—their vivid, dying faces—was basically hell.
What could they possibly have done to deserve this?
No—more to the point, Kim Wooju hasn’t done anything yet, has he? So why does he have to be here?
I clenched my fist and drew a deep breath.
If I didn’t, I might lunge at Kang Cheon walking ahead and make him just like them right now.
'…Don’t forget.'
I came here to save Kim Wooju, not to shred the original to pieces.
I wanted to tear Kang Cheon apart and level this building right now, but then the webtoon would collapse because of me.
And then what? What would happen next?
Fear of an unknown future made me want to help Kim Wooju within the bounds of not breaking the original.
After helping him, I wanted to quietly disappear and live a normal life here in human form.
As a fan of the original, I wanted to just watch it at my leisure.
Later, once the protagonist grew up, it wouldn’t be bad to become his ally instead of his elixir, like I’d aimed for when I first opened my eyes as a dragon.
Maybe secretly help to keep Earth from being destroyed, and so on.
Assuming Shin Biho didn’t obsess over me like he did today.
That was still a far-off future.
Kang Cheon clicked open the barred door at the very back corner.
I swathed myself in darkness so I wouldn’t get caught and pricked up my ears.
I couldn’t see inside, but I was certain Kim Wooju was in there.
Kang Cheon liked Kim Wooju in a different sense—as a target for torture.
“Kim Wooju, pull yourself together.”
“Urgh.”
“I’d love to spend more fun time here with you, but unfortunately we’re entering a large-scale S-rank Dungeon in three days.”
“……”
“You’ll need to step up as an excellent shield. By then, wounds like these will heal quickly, yes?”
“…Ugh.”
“Your healing rate’s gone up since I last saw you. Last time you were on the verge of death… Have you got a hidden guiding partner somewhere?”
Kang Cheon gave a hollow laugh, as if even he didn’t buy his own words, and continued.
“…No, of course not. If there were, I’d know. In any case, good. Return to your room for three days and recover, then go to the Guide Center and get guided. I’ll see you in the Dungeon after. Understood?”
“…Yeah.”
At the end, I heard Kim Wooju’s voice—barely alive.
Having finished his monologue, Kang Cheon came back out, trudged up the stairs, and returned to the ground floor.
I made sure he was completely gone, then hurried to the open cell.
“Kim Wooju…!”
Standing at the bars, I couldn’t help but groan.
Covered head to toe in the marks of torture, Kim Wooju lay on the floor, breathing raggedly.
I rushed in and lifted him up.
There wasn’t a spot on his body without scars.
Blood dripped from everywhere, his eyes barely opened, and he kept letting out pained groans.
His hands and feet were mottled with bruises from the cuffs they’d put on a kid.
I fed him well and healed him well, and they wrecked him like this?
If nothing else, that bastard Kang Cheon—I swore I would kill him with my own hands—when Kim Wooju’s brow tightened.
“…Get. Lost… Kang Cheon.”
He’d mistaken me for Kang Cheon.
For all the resolve in his voice, his whole body was shaking.
The emotion blazing clear from him was fear.
He must have left the Dungeon, knowing this would happen, to protect me.
In case I ended up in danger.
The thought of being protected by someone for the first time made my chest clench without warning.
I started to open my mouth to cast Heal, then felt something blocking around my body and remembered the shield.
There was no more reason to keep it up, so I immediately dispelled it.
In that instant—
Kim Wooju’s tightly shut eyes flew open—and the world flipped.
Wh—what?
“…Kim… Wooju…?”
“Hah… hah…”
Somehow, he was on top of me, face flushed with madness and excitement, staring down at me as if he’d found a delicious prey, slowly dragging his tongue over his dry lips.
The look of a wounded beast about to tear out my throat had me tense as I stared, dumbstruck, up at him.
In the next heartbeat, his face rushed in close.
“Urk!”