I Entered a Gacha Game That Had Been Abandoned for 10 Years

25 – Top (2)

“If it’s the Red Dream Dragon… is it a dragon by any chance?”

When Kim Hyun-woo subtly mentioned it, Adriana nodded and continued.

“Yes, the owner of our Keanus Top is a dragon. Moreover, it’s a Red Dragon, one of the sturdy individuals among the species. Thanks to that, we can travel without any troops under his protection.”

Watching Adriana boastfully tell her story, Kim Hyun-woo nodded and thought.

“So, that’s why there were no escort troops.”

Originally, he knew that a top always had accompanying troops.

Immediately, the top could be exposed to various threats, even if it wasn’t a monster.

That’s why Kim Hyun-woo found it strange that, despite the massive size of the top that had come in the first place, there was not a single escort visible.

“Indeed, if it’s a dragon, it makes sense.”

At least as far as Kim Hyun-woo knew, in the Arteal worldview when he played the game, the existence of ‘dragons’ had a considerable significance, similar to most fantasies, and they were even treated as raid bosses.

Therefore, nodding his head, Kim Hyun-woo, who was aware of this, threw a question that suddenly came to mind.

“Then, is the Red Dream Dragon also with the top?”

“No, not exactly. Originally, even if the guardian doesn’t follow, there’s no problem with traveling just with the magic he cast.”

Nodding to Adriana’s answer, Kim Hyun-woo suddenly recalled the past.

‘Come to think of it, there was a dragon in my territory.’

More accurately, the hero in Kim Hyun-woo’s territory, Larthania, was not a ‘dragon’ but a ‘half-human, half-dragon.’

And not just any half-human, half-dragon, but a one-star half-dragon tribe.

“In hindsight, it was absurd.”

Kim Hyun-woo unknowingly recalled that time.

The woman he had found while trying to find a decent hero among the 500 failed summons was a very peculiar hero from his perspective at the time.

She was clearly a one-star, despite the community’s claim that she was a default three-star when she became popular in the Arteil community.

Furthermore, it took a lot of effort to nurture her, considering her mental instability, peculiar traits, and talents.

Thanks to her, it became a norm to chat for at least 30 minutes whenever he logged into the game, and he even bought a book called ‘Eight Ways to Console with No Money’ to take care of her mental state.

Of course, thanks to the effort and investment, she eventually grew stronger and started to earn her keep, but regardless, she left a lasting impression on Kim Hyun-woo as the one who significantly improved his typing skills.

“I wonder what that guy is up to now.”

Suddenly thinking about her, Kim Hyun-woo remembered that Adriana was sitting beside him and quickly interrupted his train of thought.

“Excuse me, I just had a fleeting thought.”

After bowing his head briefly to apologize, they engaged in a short conversation.

“By any chance, would you mind sharing stories about what’s happening in the world?”

Kim Hyun-woo asked Adriana.

“…Stories about what’s happening in the world?” she questioned.

“Yes.”

He had quite a lot of information about Arteil.

Being one of the remaining survivors from the Black Ox, his knowledge and strategies for managing territories and conquering dungeons were still valuable to him.

Nevertheless, the reason why Kim Hyun-woo sought information through Adriana was that all the information he possessed was from ten years ago.

In other words, the knowledge accumulated by Kim Hyun-woo, which remained unchanged, was still helpful, but all other information required updates.

At present, Kim Hyun-woo had no idea about the changes in Arteil since he quit the game or what updates had been made.

That’s why he questioned her to obtain information, and Adriana, who had been pondering about something while looking at him, nodded slightly.

“It shouldn’t be too difficult to share that level of information.”

She began to tell her story.

####

“Let’s leave the story here for now. I plan on staying for about a day, so if you have anything to sell or buy, send someone to let me know.”

With those words, Adriana left the office.

After about 30 minutes of conversation, which could be considered long or short, Kim Hyun-woo obtained quite a lot of information from Adriana.

The information she mentioned included things that Kim Hyun-woo had never heard of before, such as the ‘Southern Empire,’ ‘Matop,’ ‘Holy Kingdom,’ and the ‘Adventurer Guild.’

Among them, what Kim Hyunwoo deemed most useful was the political relations of the neighboring countries around Larvanya.

Of course, at this point, understanding how the political relations of the surrounding countries were intertwined wasn’t particularly crucial for Kim Hyunwoo.

However, once he began operating the Labyrinth City in earnest, the entanglement of political relations among neighboring countries would become a crucial factor for Kim Hyunwoo.

Fortunately, the political relations of the neighboring countries in Larvanya were rather favorable from Kim Hyunwoo’s standpoint.

Therefore, as Kim Hyunwoo calmly organized the information handed over by Adria for a while,

“…It seems like I’ve come to know everything I was really curious about.”

Suddenly, a peculiar thought crossed Kim Hyunwoo’s mind, about how Adria had selectively shared information that Kim Hyunwoo might not have known.

“Well, that’s good then.”

Kim Hyunwoo spent quite some time organizing the information.

After a while, having mentally sorted through the information provided by Adria,

“Well, now that I’ve got the information I wanted, shall we proceed to the next step?”

He recalled Adria’s words while observing Tiinus, who was diligently selling goods at the Manor.

“She emphasized acquiring valuables and artifacts, right?”

Certainly, at present, Kim Hyunwoo didn’t possess any significant artifacts.

However, since there was a way to create valuables, Kim Hyunwoo smiled faintly.

###

“How was it?”

Arriving at the office where the grandest carriage within Tiinus Manor was located, Adriana lightly responded to the secretary’s question, as if she had been waiting.

“It definitely seems like the lords of Larvanya have ‘returned.’ Given my ignorance of the surrounding information, it seems plausible.”

The reason Adriana thought she had only heard the information Kim Hyunwoo wanted was because Adria seemed to understand Kim Hyunwoo’s thoughts and relayed only the desired information.

Through the transmission of that information, Adriana realized that the rumor about the return of Larvanya’s lords heard in society was indeed a solid fact.

“Originally, it was just a rumor about the lord’s return, and many thought it was just the lord’s estate appointing a new representative.”

“In fact, that opinion was prevalent. After all, there hasn’t been any known case of a lord reappearing after nearly ten years of disappearance.”

The secretary, speaking towards Adriana sitting in the office chair, continued to ask,

“So, how does Larvanya’s lord seem to you?”

“Well, to be honest, he didn’t strike me as particularly remarkable. He didn’t seem like the person who created that Larvanya estate ten years ago. Well, it’s still good to establish connections.”

“Is that so?”

“…? Why that look?”

“No, it’s just that the Lady of the Manor usually doesn’t express a desire to establish connections.”

As the secretary mentioned, Adriana wasn’t particularly fond of forging connections with lords.

Creating connections has undoubtedly had positive effects in some aspects, but it has also had very negative effects in others.

That’s why Adriana only established a moderate line in dealing with the lords and didn’t particularly try to create relationships.

That’s why the secretary was surprised by Adriana’s words.

“…As the lord who will create the Lartania of 10 years ago, and still not very big, if I can create a territory of this size in just a few months since I returned. It would be good to create some connections.”

Adriana shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, it seems impossible from the beginning because it has only been a few months. But, you know.”

She replied.

The secretary, who was nodding her head absentmindedly while looking at Adriana, soon lowered her gaze and asked about the items Adriana had placed on her office desk.

“What about that necklace…?”

The secretary pointed at the necklace.

It was a necklace with a red gem, but compared to the accessory Adriana was wearing, it seemed somewhat plain in value.

“Oh, this? The lord gave it to me as a gift for providing information. I think he said it was a necklace he had kept for a long time.”

Adriana nonchalantly lifted the necklace as she spoke.

“Include this as an offering to the master too. He generally likes necklaces with red gems.”

As she handed the necklace to the secretary and spoke.

As Adriana added one more offering to the master above.

Inside the massive cave in the southeast forest.

“───”

A woman was sitting on a very antique chair.

Behind the woman sitting in the antique chair, there were treasures piled up to the point where a sound would burst out.

Starting from a tremendous amount of gold coins, various artifacts were entangled and decorated, and several weapons emitted an aura as they were embedded in the gold.

It was a place that could be called the treasure trove of dragons, where there was no shortage to call it the ideal place that every adventurer dreams of.

But even so, the expression of the woman in the middle of the treasure trove looked terribly gloomy.

The red mane was entwined with horns and turned into a mountain.

The golden pupils, which only dragons were allowed, were soaked in gloom, having lost their brilliant light.

Furthermore, the symbols of self-harm left on her neck and wrists quietly indicated that she couldn’t even feel any happiness in this space that no one desires.

“…”

She quietly turned her gaze and looked behind her.

The mountain of treasure unfolded in her gloomy eyes.

However, she still turned her head after looking at the wealth with her gloomy eyes.

Facing straight ahead like that.

Grabbing her throat with both hands.

Tight–

She choked herself.

She didn’t like feeling pain either.

But she had to.

She had become so broken that she couldn’t sleep anymore unless she did it like this.

She had to enter the dream, even if it meant doing it like this.

In the golden ashes everyone desired, there was nothing the dragon wanted.

“–”

Because there was no master.

…She choked herself.