Chapter 16 : The king of thunderstorm (1)

"Fiancée? Han Ji-A is your fiancée?" My mother’s voice cracked like thunder across a still room. Everyone turned. Seo-Yeon blinked. "Wait—Han Ji-A? The Han Ji-A? The writer?" Ye-Rin’s spoon clattered on her plate. "You were engaged? To her?" I didn’t look up. I was staring at the red blink of the camera light—still recording. "Yeah," I said finally. "Seven years now. I proposed at the train station after my ..." I didn’t complete my sentence. My mother slowly sat down, eyes wet. "You never told me." "I wanted to. But... after she moved to Seoul, everything got quiet between us.I was busy with picking myself up from dumpsters.She thought I had changed. I thought she had outgrown me. So I assumed we were just... fading." In-Ji asked, "You two still talk?" "Sometimes. Not recently." I let out a shaky breath. "She’s a writer now. Big one. Might be watching this, if we don’t come back." Seo-Yeon reached over, placing a gentle hand on mine. "She’ll see this. Whether you return or not." We all know that we don’t know whether she will be alive or not but we let that hang in the silence. We finished the shoot. We couldn’t upload it. But we left it. I wrote a note . "If you find this, it means we didn’t make it. This is who we were. This is what we did. Please survive." I wrote that on my note. Then Ye-Rin took the pen and wrote, "Wish us the best of luck." Mother wrote " Today I found out that my son had a fiancée. I don’t know what to say about it". "I wish I could see my Father one more time. I know you did so much for me and for that I will always love you." Then Seo-yeon took the pen from In-ji and writes his will, "Mother, Father, Manager-nim, In-ji, I will always remember everything you have done for me. Thank you." No one reads each other’s final words. We placed it on the table and taped it to the camera. I moved the table right in front of the door so if anyone enters it will see it easily. On the morning of Day 6, we walked out. But we weren’t ready to see what was next. We entered the city outskirts by dawn.when we reached the outskirts of the city ruins—charred buildings wrapped in creeping vines, windows shattered like glassy teeth. The wind carried a strange stench—like metal, ash, and... something else. Then we saw them. Bodies. Human. monsters and People. Scattered across the cracked concrete. Some were huddled in corners, as if they died holding each other. Others collapsed mid-step, faces twisted in horror. Most were torn apart—slashed, shredded, burned. But they weren’t empty-handed. Some had weapons. Knives. Guns. Makeshift armor. Even a few relics and enchanted gear—half-fused with monster parts. They had figured it out. The system. They’d understood it—leveled up, fought back... but it wasn’t enough. If they had come out on the first day, then it would have been easier for them. But now that monsters are evolving too. These innocent lives didn’t have a chance. The city is big so we are not entirely sure how many of them were hunting like us on the first day. Seo-Yeon looked away, covering her mouth, tears pooling in her eyes. "They were just... too late." The silence that followed was suffocating. And then, as if scripted by the heavens themselves— Entering Dragon Zone Warning: Hostile Entity Will Detect Presence A soft hum filled the air. A signal. A presence. Something massive had noticed us. Ye-Jun stepped forward, eyes narrowing at the shimmering barrier ahead. "We keep going," I said, voice steady but solemn. "For everyone who didn’t make it," Seo-Yeon said, her fists clenched. And one by one, they crossed the threshold into the Dragon’s domain. The landscape changed the moment we crossed into the zone. There were no monsters. No sounds. No wind. Even the birds had stopped singing. A stillness hung in the air like something sacred—or cursed. Ye-Jun’s hoodie shifted slightly. From beneath the cap, a tiny furry head poked out - Junior the baby spider monkey**, peeking from his hiding place. His red eyes scanned the silent forest ahead, tail twitching nervously. "Stay put, little guy," Ye-Jun muttered. "This might get ugly." They reached the edge of Gangdong beach. The place which used to be a tourist attraction is now a resting place for this behemoth. A shadow first. Then a presence. And finally, a voice. "You’ve come," it rumbled, shaking the earth. A dragon rose—twenty feet tall, three long serpentine necks, two of them still slumbering. Its center head alone was awake, amber eyes glowing like molten stars. Two massive wings curled around its sides, tucked like folded blades. Twin tails scraped the ground behind it, each ending in spiked, jagged thorns. Blue sparks flickered between its scales, crawling like veins of lightning under its skin. It didn’t roar. It didn’t snarl. It spoke. "You come with weapons drawn and eyes too young to bear wisdom. So I ask—do you seek to tame a king... or amuse him? Mortals. Humans. Survivors. Welcome to the threshold of your death—or your ascension." Everyone froze. Even Ye-Rin. Ye-Jun blinked. "It... talks?"Its voice, when it came, was not of this world—deep, smooth, a blend of thunder and laughter echoing from ancient caverns. Seo-Yeon whispered, "It’s... intelligent. No, more than that. It’s regal." "You figured that out by one sentence?" I whispered back. "I have seen these stereotypes in my industry a lot" She continued, "let’s keep our posture straight." I nodded my head. "Right now, I am the nameless. One of three who were summoned to this dying planet." It continues. "The others summoners perished. You are the first to reach me alive. And for that...your kind earns a whisper of respect." Ye-Rin stepped forward, weapon in hand. "We didn’t come here to die." I yanked her back. "what do you think you are doing?"I hissed at her. "Good."The dragon’s center head is tilted with amusement. "But let’s not pretend you can defeat me. That would be... illogical." Our knees almost buckled. Even Ye-Rin froze mid-breath. "So, as my brothers before me have suggested, I shall offer mercy through constraints." The dragon lowered its body, its massive limbs folding beneath it. ""I won’t move from this perch. Nor wake my brothers. Nor fly. My lightning alone shall judge your worth.One head. No flight. No movement. Only my lightning and my fangs." "If you can impress me, I will grant you your wish". "Fail... and I will reduce you to ash and bones. Do we have a bargain?" We didn’t have a choice. If we can’t tame it, Ye-Rin will at the end of the day. "If we fail here, this is the end for me at least." Ye-Rin spoke, fear in her voice. "She said this would be her last fight. I won’t let that happen." I assured her, pressing my hands on her shoulder. "We accept" I come forward. The dragon’s eyes narrowed. Sparks arced from its nostrils. "Then prepare yourselves". The moment I accepted his challenge, the ground vibrated. He didn’t roar. He didn’t lunge. He simply exhaled—calmly—and the air shifted. Pressure dropped. Sparks crackled around his massive form like ghostly halos. Mother acted first. She slammed her scythe to the ground, muttering under her breath. "[Curse of Slowness]!" A black mist rippled across the battlefield, clinging to the dragon’s limbs. It raised a brow. "Oh? A priestess of the Dead. How rare." At the same time, I activated Beastification.Extra pair of limbs grew out. My limbs stretched, fur bristled, my tail lashed behind me like a whip. Ye-Rin dashed in without hesitation. Her Dragon-cleaver Axe and a guanlet that glowed red, matching her wild grin. Her new guanlet, she acquired summoned after reaching levels 10, increases her defense and her attack speed by a whopping 40%. "Let’s dance, thunder lizard!" She swung for the left foreleg. A perfect strike—clean, brutal, full of rage. CLANG. Her axe bounced off with a crackle of electricity. Sirian didn’t even blink. "You have power. But no elegance." He twisted—not stepping, just shifting his weight—and flicked his spiked tail. It slammed into Ye-Rin’s side like a giant mace. "Gah—!" She flew through the air. "Catch her!" I yelled. Seo-Yeon’s hands flashed up—her telekinesis kicked in, catching Ye-Rin just before she crashed into a wall. Her power had **increased**—it was no longer just a push. She gently lowered Ye-Rin, sweat beading on her brow. "You okay?" she asked. "I’m pissed," Ye-Rin groaned. "So yeah. Let me go at it again." Ye-Jun leapt, my spider limbs digging into the dragon’s scales. I climbed fast, zigzagging across its neck. It growled. The dragon shook its body violently. But Ye-Jun held tight. "You crawl well, little beast." "I’ve had worse rides!" I yelled, wrapping my tail around the dragon’s eye ridge. Down Below "Mother moved". "False Healing!" she cried, her corrupted aura flowing across the party. This time it was meant more to steal the life force of her target then heal us. Then Mi-Sun lunged with her scythe and carved across one leg, black mist trailing the blade. Annoyed, it uses its tongue to remove the webbing from its eyes. In-Ji fired a round. Ting. It bounced. "No effect!" he called. "I’m switching ammo!" From his satchel, he pulled out a glowing, hand-carved bullet and slammed it into the chamber. "Target the lower chin! Weak point detected—lower chin and base of the neck!" [Weak point Analysis] Highlights critical structural flaws in enemies. Increases team damage output by 25% for 10 seconds when called out. He fired. BOOM. The bullet hit the spot beneath Sirian’s jaw. The dragon recoiled, growling. "Clever," Sirian hissed, electricity crackling around his horns."But now... feel my storm." A blast of lightning shot toward In-Ji. And then—nothing. It vanished mid-air, redirected into the It’s head. Where Ye-Jun was. Everyone blinked. Ye-Jun held something in his hand. A Latern – One-Time Use Item:** "Shock Mirror – Redirects incoming elemental attack. Charges power based on the power Charge: 100%] [Party Buff Activated – All Stats +100%.] Ye-Jun grinned. "Surprise." The dragon paused. "Interesting," he said. And for the first time, it smiled due to excitement.