Dreaming Frog on the 29th Floor

“Unawakened Hunter!”

“Get out of here, you’re in the way!”

“Do you think we’re your protectors?”

“Fall back if you don’t want to die!”

“Shit. If you hadn’t been in the way… If you hadn’t stepped in, we could have won!”

“Parasite.”

“Why does someone who can’t even Awaken get the same share? Huh? Who do you think you are?”

The female Hunter spat.

Da-hyun Lee.

Americano.

He was hit by the spit.

Insults, accusations, violence.

The Hunters left,

Da-hyun Lee was left alone.

He pretended to be okay and left the evidence of what the Hunters had done to him.

Times had changed.

Hunters who had been active since the early days of the Dungeons were now falling behind the rookies and even getting lower evaluations than Unawakened Hunters,

But now it was an era where human rights were also taken care of.

That meant it had become that much more peaceful.

If you slandered and ruined others like in the lawless days of the past, you would be punished.

Seniors who couldn’t accept the changing times and laid a hand on their junior Hunters.

He knew that the Human Rights Commission at this time was eager to devour the Hunters.

A transitional period between war and peace.

The rights of Hunters were immense.

The Human Rights Commission was at the forefront of the government’s efforts to seize those rights.

After this day, the Hunters who had berated him in the raid could no longer be seen.

Da-hyun Lee was an Unawakened Hunter.

He had no Awakened Ability.

Instead, he fought with magical tools.

Shoes that strengthened leg strength.

Gloves that strengthened arm strength.

A leather cuirass that regenerated damage.

And many other magical tools.

Among them, the most important magical tool was the great hammer that crushed monsters.

If you fed it Magic Stones to increase its power, no monster could remain unscathed.

It was an expensive and inefficient weapon, so not just anyone used it, but its maximum power was said to be on par with an Awakened Ability’s ultimate move.

The power was small considering that it used an entire Magic Stone, but it was undoubtedly the strongest among the existing magical tools.

But there was another reason why he insisted on this weapon even more than that.

Magical Power.

Awakening.

Clack.

The Magic Stone loaded into the great hammer shattered inside with a clang.

The high-density Magical Power of the Magic Stone was released.

The great hammer blazed with Magical Power.

Da-hyun Lee put a small Magic Stone in his mouth and chewed it, temporarily transferring the great hammer’s Magical Power to himself, becoming a single Magical Power entity.

Self-proclaimed Soulbound.

By borrowing the overflowing Magical Power of the great hammer, he could temporarily manipulate Magical Power.

Da-hyun Lee firmly believed that he would be able to Awaken through this process.

Awakened now?

It had become a firm belief.

People murmured.

He’s doing that crazy thing again.

Anyway,

The great hammer’s power had exploded.

Da-hyun Lee faced a Dragon called Drake and smashed its head with the great hammer.

He took out the cartridge and shook out the Magic Stone fragments accumulated inside the great hammer.

He replaced the cartridge with a new one.

He swung the great hammer around.

‘It’s been a while.’

Da-hyun Lee.

Americano swung her longtime friend around and smirked.

This was inside a Dream.

How did he know?

The great hammer had been discontinued.

The reason was that it didn’t sell.

Because it was a weapon that could no longer be obtained, the inconsistency with his memories became the trigger for his awareness.

Ah, this is a Dream.

He thought.

[Dream Frog]

It must be that guy’s doing.

“….”

Americano groped her body.

Her chest was flat.

He could see his feet.

It was a real man’s body.

His physical condition was also still healthy.

Touching his arms, legs, and face, there was no place that had melted.

The corners of his mouth curled up.

“It seems like falling for the trick isn’t always a bad thing.”

I might as well enjoy it a little more.

That’s how a month passed.

Two months passed.

Three months passed.

The Dungeon was being cleared smoothly.

The perceived time was already three months.

The actual time that had passed was 3 minutes.

But he was mistaking 3 minutes for 3 months.

The fragmented Dream stimulated his memories, giving him a longer sensation than the actual time.

In reality, 3 minutes had passed,

But he had perceived it as 3 months.

For now, the Dungeon clearing was proceeding as he remembered.

Then suddenly.

‘These are strong.’

Drakes were strong.

He tried to fight without Magic Stones, but eventually used Magic Stones to kill the Drake.

It felt as strong as a Mountain King Ogre.

Such monsters appeared every time he passed through a path in the Dungeon.

Was it a high-level Dungeon?

There was no way an Unawakened Hunter would be in such a Dungeon.

At most, a C-rank.

..? Ah.

That wasn’t it.

‘This was probably a B-rank, right?’

Whatever the case, the monsters in the game and reality, the latter was clearly stronger.

‘Usually it’s the opposite.’

In the game, you could make monsters as strong as you wanted, but if they were too strong, the game wouldn’t progress.

Full Dive converted the players’ real-world abilities into points and redistributed them according to their stats.

In the process, not only was the player weakened, but even if they invested all their points into [Magical Power], they couldn’t avoid the weakening due to level.

Because of that, the average level of monsters in Full Dive also tended to be lower.

Since not all Awakened in reality were strong, they must have balanced the patch accordingly.

‘Of course, even considering that, it’s true that the monsters in reality are too strong.’

If Awakened Abilities weren’t even stronger than that, humanity would have perished long ago.

And the great hammer, which wasted an entire Magic Stone to gain power from such monsters, was a terrifying thing.

‘I really like how refreshing it is.’

He swung the great hammer around.

There was no need to be disappointed.

Even if the average level of monsters in the game was lower than in reality, the high end was higher in the game.

Even the party climb to the 81st floor was blocked, even though it was a section where you became as strong as a real-world Awakened, and the solo climb was blocked on the 64th floor.

There were many monsters stronger than real-world monsters.

Hmm…

Imagining it made his body tremble.

He was already looking forward to it.

Then suddenly.

A question arose.

What criteria was the [Dream Frog] using to make him Dream?

‘Why this point in time of all times?’

At first, he thought it was a production that made him fight by bringing out monsters that had become traumas based on his memories.

But that wasn’t it.

The possibility of trauma.

There was a being in front of him that denied that possibility.

The Dungeon boss room.

The boss was different.

The Evil Dragon should have been there.

The Dragon that melted Da-hyun Lee’s internal organs with its breath.

In the place where that boss should have been,

“Hello.”

“….”

There was a beautiful woman.

From her long ebony hair to her small head, her ample breasts that couldn’t be completely covered by her cuirass, and her slender waist that didn’t match them.

With her voluptuous hips and long, straight legs, she was a woman Da-hyun Lee knew.

‘No, should I say I know her?’

Americano.

She was standing like a boss.

It wasn’t exactly the same.

There were horns and a tail on her body.

Wagging her jet-black horns and tail reminiscent of the Evil Dragon, she greeted Da-hyun Lee happily.

“Hello?”

“Uh… yes.”

“Ahaha. Why are you using honorifics with me? You know this is a Dream, right? Don’t you think it’s weird that you’re being polite to me?”

“You know this is a Dream?”

“Yeah.”

Americano smiled brightly.

She was pretty.

So pretty that it was dazzling.

To the point where it was scary to look at her directly.

As if understanding, she patted Da-hyun Lee’s shoulder.

“I’ll explain the situation. I’m you, but my existence is maintained by something that isn’t you. So I know more than you do.”

Americano gestured with her chin, saying, “Look behind you.”

There was no one behind him.

“Dream Frog. As you can tell from the name, it’s a monster that makes you Dream. Its own power isn’t much, but it was born with a very good ability.”

Americano walked around, continuing her explanation.

“The ability to possess and control the most impressive person in the target’s memory at will. Only in the Dream, but in the Dream, you can be anything.”

“That’s a little weird, isn’t it?”

“You noticed?”

“If what you’re saying is true, then you’re the Frog.”

“That’s right.”

Americano clapped her hands.

“Where do you see a Frog?”

“That’s a little different. Even the Frog is experiencing this for the first time.”

The Frog in Americano’s guise stuck out its tongue with a spiteful look.

“The Frog has almost no self-awareness. It borrows the personality of the Dream target, that is, the target it possesses in the Dream, to gain self-awareness, or something like that?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s complicated, so I don’t really know either. I understand it in my head, but it’s hard to explain in words. Just a moment. Hmm…”

She grabbed the two horns that had sprouted on her head with both hands and tilted her body to the side.

“Do you want to touch them?”

He touched them.

They were hard.

And warm.

Horns that couldn’t be grasped in one hand.

They were cool.

“The Frog was originally going to transform into you?”

“Was it?”

“Yeah. It seems like it had a strong impression of you, so it was thinking of tormenting you mentally.”

“Huh…”

“But you, besides this woman’s appearance, this…”

Her index finger gently poked Da-hyun Lee’s chest.

“…this man’s appearance. This is your original appearance, but seeing it like this, you’re more handsome than I thought. Is it just my imagination?”

Americano’s slender hand wrapped around Da-hyun Lee’s face and then pinched his cheek.

She laughed as if it was fun.

“Anyway, you more strongly recognize this man’s appearance as your own, so it changed course. So it hastily derailed into this woman, Americano, who has similar feelings.”

“But why the Evil Dragon?”

“It got twisted.”

Americano raised her index finger and spun it around at the height of her wide eyes.

“It was going to torment you as Da-hyun Lee, but that was you, so X. It hastily derailed into Americano, but… that’s not exactly a form that can torment you, is it? So X. It’s good that it focused on strength and became the Evil Dragon, but what to do.”

“It got confused?”

“Yeah!”

But she walked aimlessly as if that was a happy thing.

The horns she was holding were moving away.

It was a little disappointing.

“The Frog reveals its own personality through the personality of the target it copies. But that target must not be you. But what to do. I’m Americano? Huh? I’m you?”

She giggled as if teasing the Frog.

Even though she was the Frog.

“The Frog doesn’t transform into the person who’s Dreaming. As I said just now, the Frog uses the personality of the person it copies as its own self-awareness. If it copied you, it would end up like me now.”

Americano was Da-hyun Lee.

Even if the appearance was different, they were the same person.

Unlike the image of another target with an empty shell, Da-hyun Lee and Americano were filled with the shell of themselves.

“I’m you, and this is your Dream. My identity is a lowly Frog, but I don’t betray myself. I’m not the type to do that, am I?”

“….”

“Even if the Evil Dragon polymorphed and copied Americano’s appearance, becoming a strange chimera, this heart is still you.”

“….”

“…Say something?”

“No, I just thought you were talking too fluently.”

“….”

Americano crossed her arms.

Then she smiled meaningfully.

“That’s because the other person is you and this is a Dream. Who would I have to be careful of?”

Her voice became excited and louder as if she had just realized it herself.

Even from Americano’s point of view, the person she was talking to was her original self.

Unlike reality, where she had to build walls around her heart, her whole heart was liberated from everything. It was truly a naked core with all the shells peeled off.

There was no hiding.

There was not a single bit of shame.

Her voice was filled with all the interest, curiosity, and emotion she was feeling now.

Each word was clear and powerful.

Americano also revealed the transcendent confidence she had in her appearance without reservation.

It was as if rays of light were coming out of her eyes.

They were sparkling and beautiful, like a cluster of starlight.

Even though she wasn’t opening her mouth, she was pouring out all kinds of emotions with her eyes.

“So, are you going to do it with her? You’ve been Dreaming about it for a while. She’s pretty.”

“….”

“She has big breasts too.”

“….”

“And a big butt.”

“Um…”

Americano stroked her own face, then her hand went down from her chest to her butt.

“And she’s pretty.”

“….”

“I know everything, even if you hide it.”

She giggled.

Drawing her eyes into crescents,

She wore a sly smile.

Everything she said was right.

If you believed everything she had just said, it would be impossible to hide anything from her.

But,

“No, but I’m a man?”

“You’re me?”

She tilted her head.

“Is there anything to be shy about? Haven’t you seen your own naked body when you’re a man? You have, haven’t you?”

“….”

“Hehe.”

It was the truth.

There was no arguing with that.

“Don’t even bother with your conscience in a Dream. Throw away all your shame and everything. This is our own world!”

“….”

“Hehe. I’ve only been thinking about giving up until now. How can I do that with a man? But there’s a man here who makes it possible? Who would have known such an opportunity would come! You won’t be able to share this experience, but…”

Americano’s eyes flashed as if she had set off a flash, and her face flushed.

Her breathing was rough.

Breath leaked from her mouth.

It wasn’t Chill.

It was heat.

A very hot breath.

“…I’m going to do it.”

Americano was strong. Both [Strength] and [Stamina] had accumulated stats and were stronger than Da-hyun Lee.

Da-hyun Lee, who had been knocked down, saw her riding on his stomach. Her blue eyes, stickily wet with desire, were turning red.

As she closed the gap between her legs, all the blood in his body gathered in one place.

Thump.

Thump.

A heavy heartbeat.

This sense of depravity.

He couldn’t resist.