Chapter 249: The Thousand Curses Dragon (1)

Three hours had passed since Kwon Oh-Jin’s celebration party began. The once fiery atmosphere slightly cooled. As a song drifted from the TV in the quieter living room, people began to sense that it was time to leave.

“

Haha

, the party was really fun! I’ll be in touch again soon!”

“Bye, gorilla man!” Song Ha-Eun said.

“G-Gorilla?!” Han Jun-Man looked like he would cry.

“Take care, Ha-Eun! Drop by the lab if you need any gear later!” Kim Si-Hoo said.

“Oh? Are you gonna give it to me for free?” Song Ha-Eun asked.

“If it’s fun enough to make.”

“Just kidding. I’ll bring you a bunch of Starstones next time.” Song Ha-Eun smiled and patted Kim Si-Hoo’s shoulder.

“Well then, we’ll head out first,” Han Jun-Man said.

“Okay, get home safe!”

Han Jun-Man and Kim Si-Hoo left first.

“What’s up with that guy? Did he drink too much or something?” Rebecca downed the last of her drink and peered toward the table.

Her eyes landed on Kwon Oh-Jin, slumped over and breathing heavily.

“

Eh?

He didn’t even drink much earlier.” Song Ha-Eun cocked her head in confusion and tapped his shoulder. “Oh-Jin, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing...”

Raising his head, Kwon Oh-Jin glared daggers at Isabella across the table. She stood up with a look of total satisfaction as if she had just stuffed herself with luxurious food.

“Well then, I’ll start cleaning up~” Isabella hummed as she began clearing the dishes.

Song Ha-Eun looked between the two of them, sensing something strange.

Rebecca quietly watched and lightly chuckled. “

Haa

. Looks like I’ve got more than just one rival.”

She got up and leaned slightly toward Kwon Oh-Jin.

Wearing a playful smile, she whispered in his ear, “Wasn’t that a bit too bold with all those people around?”

Kwon Oh-Jin’s eyes widened. He turned to Rebecca in shock, only to see her bursting into laughter and holding her stomach.

Only Song Ha-Eun looked utterly confused, not understanding what was going on. “What? What is it? Why are you laughing all of a sudden?”

“

Ahahaha!

It’s nothing at all.” Rebecca got up from her seat after laughing her heart out. “Well, I’ll be heading off too~ Invite me again sometime, Mister Alkaid.”

She winked and headed for the door.

Kwon Oh-Jin pressed his forehead as if he had a headache. “

Haa

...”

“Looks like everyone is heading home now.” A bloated Vega fluttered over to Kwon Oh-Jin after overeating. “

Uh?

”

Perhaps she had eaten too much. She lost her balance mid-flight and fell, but Riarc rushed over and caught her on his back.

“Are you alright, Lady Vega?”

“

A-Ahem!

I merely lost my balance for a moment because of the alcohol!”

“Come on, it’s obviously because you overate. Don’t go blaming it on the booze,” Song Ha-Eun said.

“Silence!” Flushing red, Vega flew up and yanked Song Ha-Eun’s earlobe.

“

Oww!

”

Just as the living room grew noisy again, Lee Woo-Hyuk approached Kwon Oh-Jin.

“Mr. Oh-Jin.”

“Are you heading home too, Mr. Woo-Hyuk?”

“Yes. Before I do, there's something I wanted to ask you, or actually, Miss Ha-Eun.”

“

Huh?

” Song Ha-Eun, who had been bickering with Vega, blinked in surprise. “

Eh?

Me?”

Lee Woo-Hyuk awkwardly looked at her.

“

Um

, this probably isn’t something I should be bringing up at a party, but I’m leaving for an overseas trip tomorrow.” After beating around the bush, he deeply sighed. “Have you heard anything about the Named monsters becoming active recently?”

“

Ah

, yes. I have.”

She didn’t know how the two were connected, but she had heard rumors ever since the Black Star Society began moving again. The Named monsters, who had been quiet for a while, were making a scene again.

“Not to the same extent as other countries, but a massive disaster once occurred here in Korea due to a Named monster,” Lee Woo-Hyuk said.

Kwon Oh-Jin knew that story well. How could he not know the Named monster that caused that disaster?

“The Thousand Curses Dragon, Barbatos,” Kwon Oh-Jin said with a murderous glint in his eyes.

Lee Woo-Hyuk nodded heavily. “Yes. There are signs that it has resumed activity near North Korea.”

Six years ago, in Song Ha-Eun’s fourth year as an Awakener, a Named monster had turned North Korea into a wasteland and claimed the territory. It led a horde of monsters and began moving south. A massive battle broke out in the heart of Seoul, and thousands died.

In that unprecedented crisis, guilds at odds over different interests and solo Awakeners finally joined forces.

“The Thousand Curses Dragon has reappeared?”

Song Ha-Eun had been there too. The number and level of Awakeners were much lower than now. She was among the higher ranks and was assigned to the unit that directly fought against the dragon. At the cost of dozens of Awakeners, they barely managed to drive the monster away.

Before it retreated, the dragon had cast a curse on her that stole her sight.

“Yes. While it hasn’t shown any major activity yet, its reappearance has been confirmed.”

Lee Woo-Hyuk took out a photo from his pocket. It showed a purple dragon walking through the ruined streets of Pyongyang after a monster invasion.

Song Ha-Eun’s expression hardened as she looked at the photo.

A dragon with violet scales that symbolized curses and poison. It was the same Thousand Curses Dragon vividly etched in her memory.

“

Huh?

”

No, there was one difference.

“What are those black horns?”

Two black horns protruded from the dragon's head. It never had anything like that from what she recalled.

“We’re not sure either, but everything matches the dragon from the past aside from the horns.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Song Ha-Eun grimly nodded.

Lee Woo-Hyuk carefully continued. “As I understand it, you took part in the operation to subdue the dragon back then. Is that correct?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Would you be willing to share what you know about the dragon?”

If he wanted information on the monster, there was no one more suitable than Song Ha-Eun, who had directly fought it.

“Are you planning to subjugate it?”

“Yes, since we don’t know when it might lead another monster horde south again.”

If they planned on taking it down, the smartest move was to invade its nest now before it had time to reestablish a strong following.

Song Ha-Eun frowned as if recalling a nightmare she would rather forget. “First off, the curse attacks are really tricky. True to its name, it uses a variety of curses.”

The dragon used countless curses from basic weakening curses to those causing headaches, nausea, slowed movement, and even excruciating pain.

“When its scales are glowing, that’s when it’s using a curse. The number of glowing scales determines how strong the curse is.”

“I see.”

“Just a second, Miss Ha-Eun.” Kim Seon-Young quickly pulled out her phone and began recording. “Okay, please continue.

“For its size, it’s actually weak in close combat, and its movements are fairly slow too.”

“What about flight capabilities?”

“It can’t fly. It has wings, but I’ve never seen it actually fly.” Song Ha-Eun combed through her traumatic memories and shared as much as she could.

“Then, do you happen to know where its nest is?”

“Its nest? I’m not sure.”

“If not, do you at least have a guess...?”

“

Hmm

. I don’t know.” Song Ha-Eun scratched her head with a troubled expression.

Lee Woo-Hyuk deeply sighed. “As expected, you don’t know where the nest is either.”

To suppress the Thousand Curses Dragon, they had to attack its nest before it built up more power. However, they had no way of knowing the location of its nest.

“If we could just figure out where its nest is...” Lee Woo-Hyuk trailed off.

Suddenly, Kwon Oh-Jin’s vision warped, and Lee Woo-Hyuk’s exact words echoed in his mind.

Pzzzt.

“If we could just figure out where its nest is...”

Kwon Oh-Jin’s eyes flashed.

This is...

He had felt this same feeling when he recently gained the Black Heaven’s new trait, Deja Vu.

“Woo-Hyuk! Over there! That’s the monster’s nest!”

With Lee Shin-Hyuk’s voice still in his head, the dragon nest’s location flowed into Kwon Oh-Jin's head.

“

Whew

. I’m sorry to bring up bad memories on such a good day.”

“No, it’s okay. You said you’re going on a business trip tomorrow?”

“Yes. Named monsters are becoming active abroad as well. I’m going to see if there’s any information worth checking out.”

“That’s a lot of work.”

“

Haha

. Well, someone has to do it.” Lee Woo-Hyuk grabbed his coat and stood up from his seat. “Well then, we’ll be on our way. Thank you for the meal.”

“Alright. Take care,” Song Ha-Eun said.

Kwon Oh-Jin silently saw him off.

The door closed, and with it, the lively party came to an end.

“Well, should we start cleaning up?”

“I shall help as well,” Vega said.

Song Ha-Eun and Vega began tidying up the messy house.

Kwon Oh-Jin closed his eyes and recalled memories from long ago... the hospital room filled with the smell of medicine, Song Ha-Eun trembling on her hospital bed, frightened by the unfamiliar darkness and the being that had stolen the light from her life.

As his eyes slowly opened, a ghostly blue flame flickered in his pupils.

“I have something to say,” Kwon Oh-Jin said.

“

Huh?

”

“What is it?” Vega asked.

Song Ha-Eun, Isabella, and Vega all turned to Kwon Oh-Jin.

“You heard that story about the Thousand Curses Dragon just now, right?”

“Yeah.”

He felt a bit bad for the Valhalla Guild.

“We’ll take that bastard down ourselves.”

If someone had to do it, it wouldn’t be Lee Woo-Hyuk but himself.