Ch.1717. Why Did You Come to My House? Why Did You Come? (1)

While the fool was devising a strange plan, Yu-na faithfully carried out the task he had commanded.

“The deity has granted permission.”

“…How generous of them to allow it. From your position, my proposal could easily be considered blasphemy.”

Hwang Seung-man wiped away his flowing sweat with relief that the compromise had been accepted.

Frankly, while this was natural from Hwang Seung-man’s perspective, from Choi Yu-na’s position, it could have been taken as blasphemy.

However, to reach some level of compromise, Hwang Seung-man had steeled himself and strongly stated his conditions, but it seemed the other side had shown unexpected mercy by accepting the compromise as it was.

To be honest, couldn’t they have used force to make others comply, as other survivor clubs did?

“Yes. The Lord is merciful. However, meeting immediately would be difficult.”

“I understand that. But may I ask why?”

The compromise was accepted, but an immediate meeting was impossible.

Hwang Seung-man nodded in understanding and asked Choi Yu-na for the reason.

“Our deity is trying to unite all survivor camps in Gyeongju. While negotiating with Gyeongju Support, we plan to ask other survivor camps if they wish to meet our Lord.”

“…That makes sense. Meeting separately would be inefficient. There are quite a few survivor camps in Gyeongju.”

It was an efficient approach.

In this disaster where time was precious, meeting and negotiating one by one would be a waste of time.

Hwang Seung-man nodded in understanding, but at the same time, a concern arose.

“Will they be convinced? Some people won’t believe it even after seeing it.”

“If they don’t believe, that’s fine. Those groups won’t receive our Lord’s protection. We’ll simply categorize them accordingly.”

“…I see.”

Without following the cult, there would be no protection from Bahamut.

Though cruel coming from a young girl, it was perfectly reasonable in the current situation.

In these circumstances where survival resources were scarce, no one could afford the luxury of helping others for free.

Her judgment was harsh but entirely appropriate for a leader of a faction.

“I’ll take my leave now. When a date is set, I’ll send someone to inform Gyeongju Support.”

“Wait a moment.”

“What is it? I’m busy.”

As she was leaving, Hwang Seung-man addressed her with a serious expression.

Choi Yu-na looked at him with an annoyed expression, but Hwang Seung-man wanted to say what was on his mind.

“Are you… happy with this?”

A question about whether she was happy walking this path.

In a zombie apocalypse, happiness might be considered a luxury, but Hwang Seung-man thought this question was important.

“Yes. Of course. I’m happy.”

Because…

“I finally feel like I understand why I was born.”

This question revealed Choi Yu-na’s mindset.

“I was born into this world for this day.”

“I see.”

Seeing Choi Yu-na declare without hesitation that she was born for this day, Hwang Seung-man could only close his eyes and quietly nod.

* * *

One week later.

“I never expected so many survivor camp leaders to gather!”

After receiving contact from the Balhut Cult, Hwang Seung-man headed to the designated location, where he saw those known as leaders of survivor camps in Gyeongju.

From famous survivor camp leaders in Gyeongju to those leading smaller groups.

It seemed they had successfully persuaded all existing survivor camps in Gyeongju.

All the well-known leaders Hwang Seung-man knew were in attendance at this journey.

They waited quietly at the location Yu-na had designated, with expressions of anxiety or anticipation.

‘Of course she would be so confident.’

Seeing that even survivor camps that normally didn’t get along were staying calm, Hwang Seung-man realized that Yu-na’s power and influence were stronger than he had thought.

Frankly, the fact that survivor camps that usually clashed were gathered in one place without incident suggested they had all submitted to Yu-na’s power.

‘More precisely, they’re afraid of the dragon hosting this meeting.’

More accurately, they were afraid of the dragon that had appeared in Gyeongju.

While Gyeongju Support, lacking mage Awakened, couldn’t objectively assess the dragon’s strength, larger camps with mages could deeply feel the dragon’s power.

So if fighting broke out here and the dragon’s anger turned toward them, they understood it would be a tremendous loss. Recognizing this, they set aside their petty grudges and remained quiet despite the presence of camps or survivors they didn’t get along with.

“We will now head to Namsan Mountain where Bahamut resides.”

“Namsan?”

“Please board the vehicles we’ve prepared.”

According to Yu-na, the dragon resided at Namsan in Gyeongju.

Following Yu-na’s lead, the survivor leaders boarded vehicles prepared by the Balhut Cult and headed toward Namsan.

“Since it’s deep in Namsan… we’ll have to walk to the temple from a certain point.”

“What a bothersome hike.”

But soon their faces showed annoyance at the fact they would need to hike to reach the temple.

While all of them had Awakened and hiking itself wasn’t a problem, for those unaccustomed to it, it was nothing but a nuisance.

At least Hwang Seung-man, who often hiked Namsan during vacations, thought it would be familiar and prepared for the climb.

‘Huh? Was there a road here before?’

But his preparation was short-lived.

Hwang Seung-man, who frequently hiked Namsan, soon noticed something strange.

While they were definitely heading toward Namsan, the road the vehicle was traveling on was one Hwang Seung-man had never seen before.

‘No. Wasn’t this originally a hiking trail?!’

He realized this place was never a road where vehicles could pass.

“W-what is that?”

Then a sight appeared before them that answered his sudden question.

The path to the temple was a somewhat established unpaved road, but bricks suddenly appeared in mid-air, one by one constructing a paved road over the unpaved one.

And their vehicle was driving behind this road that was being paved as they went.

Hwang Seung-man’s jaw dropped at this mysterious sight, and the other survivor camp leaders were no different.

“What is this? How is this happening? Telekinesis? Or magic?”

Even survivor leaders with information obtained from the external government and numerous Awakened wondered what kind of trick or magic was being used.

Hwang Seung-man, looking at the leaders, sensed this wasn’t an ordinary event, and when they reached the temple entrance, his doubt turned to certainty.

“This is the entrance to the temple.”

A cave they had never seen before greeted them, despite Hwang Seung-man having hiked Namsan many times.

Hwang Seung-man wondered if Yu-na was lying about a massive dragon being inside.

‘Really, in here?’

But after witnessing the miracle earlier and seeing Yu-na’s confident expression, he realized the dragon really did live here.

“Do we enter here?”

“Yes. I’ll lead the way.”

When someone asked Yu-na with concern and fear, she confidently said she would go first.

As she entered the cave, the other leaders looked at each other, nodded, and followed her.

Hwang Seung-man, no different from the other survivor camp leaders, steeled himself and slowly entered the temple.

‘It really is a ruin. Could someone have carved that granite so precisely?’

There truly was a ruin inside.

Precise statues made of what appeared to be granite welcomed them.

The walls and ceiling were engraved with mysterious patterns that emitted small amounts of light, as if welcoming the visitors.

“I can feel magic from all of these.”

‘Magic. Is there really a dragon living here?’

The female mage’s statement that everything radiated magical energy confirmed that a dragon lived here.

Yu-na smiled and slowly guided them through the temple interior, where more dragon-depicting images and statues were discovered as they went deeper.

As they approached the center, magically lit flames danced in groups, and they soon arrived at what appeared to be an altar.

“Now to the top… Oh, it seems we don’t need to climb ourselves.”

Endless stairs greeted the visitors, but for their convenience, an escalator was installed.

Of course, it wasn’t an escalator made by humans with electricity and machinery, but rather a stair-like structure operated by magic.

While Hwang Seung-man and the mages who joined this journey were examining the magical escalator with curiosity…

“Dragon…!”

The survivor leaders who reached the top of the altar discovered seven dragons standing there majestically.

They froze instantly at the sight of the dragons staring at the altar…

“Don’t worry. They’re all just statues.”

“W-what? You scared me.”

They sighed in relief when told these were merely decorative statues.

Hwang Seung-man, too, could see the seven dragon statues after hearing the others’ screams, and he marveled at how precisely they were placed and carved.

He wanted to shout about how magnificent the sight was, but it wasn’t over yet.

Since they had only seen dragon statues here and not met the real dragon, Hwang Seung-man asked Choi Yu-na:

“Then where is the dragon?”

“It’s beneath your feet, isn’t it?”

Beneath their feet?

What did that mean?

He wanted to question Yu-na’s strange statement immediately, but…

“No way…”

“Was it there from the beginning?”

Hearing the survivors’ comments, Hwang Seung-man instinctively looked down and froze.

She was right.

As Choi Yu-na said, the dragon was quietly observing the survivors from beneath the transparent platform they were standing on.

The dragon’s appearance visible through the transparent platform was identical to the dragon that had descended upon Gyeongju.

“I shall greet Lord Bahamut.”

“Uh. Huh? What?”

As Choi Yu-na bowed respectfully to the dragon, the others instinctively bowed as well.

Hwang Seung-man was no different.

He too froze at the dragon’s majestic appearance and bowed to the dragon just like Choi Yu-na.

“Set aside your fear. And there is no need to show me such respect. You are guests who have visited this place.”

The great dragon told them there was no need for such formality and to be at ease.

‘I feel like an ant before a human…!’

However, Hwang Seung-man and the other survivors couldn’t possibly be at ease.

The being before them possessed such overwhelming dignity and power that they felt dominated by its mere presence.

Before this dragon, he felt like nothing more than an ant.

Now understanding how an ant feels before a human, Hwang Seung-man deeply regretted making such excessive demands.

“I am Bahamut. A being who slumbered in this temple. Recently, I contracted with Choi Yu-na and now involve myself in the current world.”

“H-Hwang Seung-man.” “Jeong Dong-geon.” “Lee Hyeon-a and Lee Su-a.” “P-Park Cheol-gon of the Democratic Party…” “Um… Hwang Geun-chul of the Conservative Party.” “Gasp! Yu Su-seong.” “……Jo Sun-do.”

When the dragon introduced itself first, Hwang Seung-man and the other survivors began introducing themselves.

Their voices blended together, making their introductions difficult to hear clearly, but they all shared one thing in common: they were strongly overwhelmed by the dragon before them.

No one questioned or doubted the dragon’s existence anymore.

The presence of the massive dragon in reality dispelled all doubt and inspired awe and fear.

“You told Yu-na that you wanted to meet me. What is your reason?”

“W-well…”

No one properly answered the dragon’s question.

Since this meeting was arranged at Hwang Seung-man’s suggestion, he naturally should have taken the lead.

‘I’m scared. If I say something wrong, I really might die.’

But even Hwang Seung-man was so overwhelmed by the massive dragon that he couldn’t open his mouth.

Moreover, the others all began staring at Hwang Seung-man with one mind, and he could feel resentment and hatred in their gazes.

“It’s because we fear you.”

Feeling his life in danger from those resentful and hateful gazes, Hwang Seung-man somehow gathered courage and told the dragon the truth.

The reason for this meeting was because they feared the dragon.

“I deeply sympathize with that sentiment. You are clearly the weaker party. It is natural for the weak to show fear toward the strong. So there is no need to fear any longer. I have no intention of harming you. I promise this in the name of Bahamut.”

However, the dragon nodded heavily as if understanding the survivors’ feelings and acknowledged Hwang Seung-man’s words.

Then it declared that there was no need to fear and solemnly promised in its own name.

At the dragon’s words that it had no intention of harming the survivors, their faces gradually brightened.

“T-then…!”

“If you cannot believe this promise, when expressing my will in the future, I shall not meet you directly in this form. I will use another form, or express my will through Choi Yu-na.”

The dragon said it would accept additional restrictions if they still couldn’t trust it.

At the dragon’s words that it would not appear in its current form but in another form or through Choi Yu-na, the survivors expressed relief, but…

‘Something feels lacking. What is this?’

They could feel a sense of disappointment.

While Hwang Seung-man felt relief that the negotiations were going well, he was puzzled by his own feeling of disappointment as he looked at the dragon beyond the wall.

“I sincerely welcome you to my temple.”

The dragon’s gentle blue eyes conveyed that it harbored no hostility toward the survivors.