Ch.3030. The Fortune Brought by Sloth to Irua

[PIGRITIA SLOTH]

[The owner of the Red Dragon is not a passionate person. You are someone who gets everything you want without effort. Waste your time.]

[Enjoying pleasure increases your gauge. Enjoying it with a partner doubles the effect.]

[Note: Multiple condition gauges cannot increase simultaneously.]

This is getting ridiculous.

I bust my ass buying time from the Emperor, and now the system tells me to waste time.

I can’t help but sigh.

My stomach is empty, but I feel like ripping it open and pouring in a whole bottle of digestive medicine.

Sloth, huh.

So it’s telling me to eat, play, and enjoy myself.

And efficiency increases when I’m with a partner.

I looked at Lu-a, who was sleeping soundly.

Maybe I should take Lu-a with me.

She probably needs a refresh too.

The Red Dragon is truly a troublesome beast to handle.

At this point, maybe I should just unlock Level 7 quickly.

Form Change. This is clearly a power-up concept.

Might as well get stronger.

Now, what else…

…Hm? I remember my Lust gauge was at 6, but now it’s at 10.

…From kissing Morgan?

Usually a kiss would never raise the gauge this much.

How did it increase so much?

Is it a bug?

Or is it because she’s a monster?

I don’t understand the system’s criteria.

Wrath was at 7, but after fighting the Dragon King Sentai, it’s maxed out.

As for Gluttony, I recovered the Pegasus corpse through Lu-a, so that shouldn’t be a problem for a while.

“Geo? Are you awake?”

I heard Lu-a’s voice. Even in the pitch darkness, the spiral in her eyes shone clearly.

“Are you okay? Are you in pain?”

“No. I’m completely healed. Hans may be a drunk, but he’s skilled.”

Hans is the medical officer of Vengeance.

“That’s good… Did things not go well with the Emperor?”

Lu-a knows everything about the Red Dragon revival operation.

The actors including Kim Duk-bae and the Vengeance subordinates know the general outline of the plan, but of course, they don’t know that I am the Red Dragon himself. They think I’m impersonating him.

“No, it went well. We’ll be busy hunting monsters for a while.”

“Really? Then what about those injuries?”

“Well, there were circumstances.”

Lu-a pouted. She didn’t like that I skipped the explanation.

“Since this is a good opportunity to grow, I’d like to recruit members from the evil sentai as well.”

“Huh? You’re going to add more?”

Lu-a looked like she’d been hit on the head with a hammer.

“The more talented people, the better.”

“Am I… not enough?”

“More is better.”

Lu-a’s expression didn’t look good. I understand how she feels. She named Vengeance herself and must be attached to it. It’s probably possessiveness.

“I should have discussed it with you first. I’m sorry. Don’t worry. You’re still the best in Vengeance.”

“…Really?”

“Of course.”

“Okay. I forgive you.”

Lu-a quickly perked up. The dark matter she unconsciously generated made her hair twitch.

My primary candidate is obviously E.lena.

Lu-a is fine, but that woman is hard to control.

Considering the Dragon King Sentai case, it would be safer to put shackles on her even if I recruit her later.

Two people—Lu-a and E.lena—seems a bit small. Having one more would be optimal.

I have someone in mind, but it’s not time to make contact yet.

More precisely, contact is impossible right now.

“Geo.”

“Hmm?”

“…Here.”

Lu-a handed me something. A rectangular object wrapped in wrapping paper.

A gift?

“What’s this gift for?”

“Well… Emma said that you give presents on Christmas.”

Lu-a avoided my gaze.

“…To… fri… people close to you?”

A smile involuntarily formed on my lips.

“The date has passed, but… is that okay?”

“Thank you.”

I took her gift and unwrapped it. A box. From a rather high-end brand. Inside was…

“A sleep mask?”

Clean black design. I could tell it was a premium product from the soft, lightweight fabric.

“Well… your dragon form mask is hard, right? It must be uncomfortable to sleep face down.”

“Haha.”

Cute kid.

I roughly ruffled Lu-a’s hair.

“Ow. What’s that for?”

She pretended to resist by raising both hands and squirming, but quickly settled down.

After stroking her head for a moment, she became docile like a small rabbit.

“Thank you. I’ll use it well.”

“…Okay.”

Lu-a bowed her head deeply.

“I don’t have anything to give you in return. It’s not much, but would you like to go out with me tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow? Monster hunting?”

“No. Let’s just spend time together. Let’s go have fun.”

“Oh, okay.”

“It’s still dawn, so let’s sleep a bit more. I’ll use this next time. My face is a mess with sweat right now. Lu-a, you should go back to your room and sleep too.”

“Okay…”

Leaving the dazed Lu-a behind, I lay back down on the bed and tried to sleep.

◈ ◈ ◈

After Jung Ui-seok fell back asleep, Lu-a blinked a few times and shook her head.

‘What, what, what?’

Am I dreaming? Lu-a pulled her cheek with dark matter.

It definitely hurt.

Or was I dreaming until just now and just woke up?

That’s not it either. The unwrapped gift and wrapping paper proved reality.

‘That’s right. I gave it to him.’

She couldn’t help but smile with satisfaction. The sensation of giving something to someone was a first in her life.

Until now, she had never owned anything.

The act of giving had been impossible.

The feeling of giving a gift for the first time.

When Emma first told her about it, she wondered what meaning this action had, why people had this custom.

But now she understood.

The moment Jung Ui-seok smiled when he received the item she had carefully chosen and bought with her own money.

Lu-a understood that people exchange gifts to see that one moment of smile.

Her heart fluttered.

She naturally wished that this moment, this feeling, would last longer.

‘I want to give him more.’

Considering that people even named a specific date Christmas for gift exchanges, it was clear that gifts shouldn’t be given casually.

Lu-a thought she should ask Emma when she could give Jung Ui-seok another gift.

The feeling of giving was a flutter.

Then what about the feeling of receiving?

Jung Ui-seok had made an offer instead of a gift.

‘That’s right! What do I do, what do I do?’

She had forgotten for a moment. Lu-a looked around like a rabbit that had lost its parents, but all she could see was the dark room.

‘Going out? With Geo and me? For fun?’

This was what she had only heard about from runaway teenagers.

‘It must be a date!’

Lu-a’s eyes began to spin. There was no room for misunderstanding. He clearly said they would go out together. He said it wasn’t monster hunting.

‘What should I do? What should I do?’

The clock showed 4:44 AM.

It could be seen as ominous, but it was actually a common time.

She had definitely fallen asleep around 1:30 AM while nursing Jung Ui-seok, so Lu-a had only slept for about three hours.

‘I need to sleep! Otherwise, I’ll be tired tomorrow and ruin everything!’

But if she sleeps?

She knows nothing about dating, let alone men.

Is it okay to go out without any preparation?

Where would they go?

What would they talk about?

As she expanded her thoughts, Lu-a realized she knew almost nothing about the world.

By the time she finished rolling her eyes in thought, all sleep had fled. Her sympathetic nervous system dominated her body, and her eyelids moved more actively than ever.

‘I’ll… search.’

Lu-a took out her phone. It was something Jung Ui-seok had set up for her convenience. Unfamiliar with typing, she made several typos just trying to type the word “date.”

“How to naturally hold hands during a date”

‘…Hold hands while walking?’

Lu-a glanced at Jung Ui-seok’s sleeping hand.

A fighter’s hand—large, rough, covered in calluses and scars.

If he held her smooth, small hand, it would disappear completely in his grasp.

‘…No way!!!’

There had been countless physical contacts with Jung Ui-seok during training and operations.

But holding hands while walking together on a date?

At that moment, Lu-a realized something and her ears turned bright red.

“How to naturally go to a motel during a date”

‘What’s a motel?’

Lu-a checked the content.

At first, she didn’t understand, but after reading the comments, she almost crushed her phone.

‘This isn’t helping at all!’

Then she remembered.

Not long after meeting Jung Ui-seok, when he had pounced on her because of his lust, her attitude then.

‘…I see.’

She understood a little of what Jung Ui-seok had said back then.

As he said, she still had many emotions she didn’t know about and wasn’t skilled at processing them.

‘But still.’

Had Jung Ui-seok’s emotions that flowed into her affected her?

Lu-a was certain they hadn’t.

This warm feeling throughout her body when thinking of Jung Ui-seok was solely her own.

An emotion she created herself.

So she vowed to cherish it.

As she continued searching, morning approached.

It was almost time for Jung Ui-seok to wake up. Lu-a noticed something strange.

A smell.

A subtle body odor was rising.

It was coming from her body. It had been over twenty hours. She hadn’t left Jung Ui-seok’s side during that time, so it was natural.

‘I need to wash up.’

It would be disastrous if Jung Ui-seok woke up and smelled her.

On the day of their date.

She didn’t want to ruin it from the start.

‘But who will take care of him in the meantime?’

Jung Ui-seok said he was fine, but she couldn’t trust him. He was the type to say he was fine no matter what. He might suddenly complain of pain.

In the end, while she was unable to decide what to do, Jung Ui-seok woke up, and Lu-a stole his blanket and transformed into a caterpillar monster.