Episode 182

6.

Kim Buja had the wisdom to know when to cut his losses and was exceptionally good at sizing up the situation to make that decision.

No matter how badly he wanted something, if it felt too expensive or if he thought the return on investment was too low, he would decisively give up on it and erase it from his mind.

It wasn't because he was born without greed.

He was human, after all. Of course he had desires—in fact, he was more obsessed with money than anyone else, and that was precisely why he had become this way.

For the sake of money, one had to be willing to give up trivial personal wants.

That was the only way to make it.

What you wanted to buy and what you needed to buy might not always be the same.

It had always been that way, and he had lived his life accordingly.

So when he saw the 50,000 gold requirement, he was able to make his judgment without hesitation.

'What do I even get out of evolving him? I can just skip evolution and grind levels instead.'

In the past, he would have cleanly let it go right there.

This wasn't just some rationalization, either. In practice, he could have enjoyed the "game" perfectly well without going all-in on Hwangdo.

But this was no longer just a game.

It had been quite a while since he'd stopped putting money as the absolute top priority in his life. These days, he was trying to adopt a mindset that let him live in a way that let him do what he wanted.

That new mindset spoke up.

'I want to evolve him.'

"Kyuuu."

It was only a first evolution, so there was a good chance Hwangdo wouldn't grow as big as he had imagined. It was even possible there would be no physical change at all.

Even so, he wanted to try it.

Call it a pointless indulgence.

It was a different kind of thrill, a satisfaction distinct from raising his own stats—like the simple joy of raising a puppy and watching it grow up healthy and strong. It was the kind of fun one could only afford after gaining some breathing room.

The problem was that to enjoy that fun, he had to pay the price of sacrificing efficiency.

"Whew. It's not even like I'm spending this 100,000 gold on myself."

"Kyuu!"

He peeled Hwangdo off his cheek as the dragonling rubbed against him affectionately, then began swinging his sword in a mechanical rhythm.

Fifty thousand gold.

At the low end, that meant two weeks. At the high end, a month.

Another stretch of mind-numbing grind awaited him.

He didn't let the time go to waste, however.

"Fire."

"Kyuul!"

At his simple command, fireballs formed in the air.

Even if he was enjoying the feeling of raising Hwangdo like a pet, Hwangdo was still very much a combat pet. He had been summoned to help in battle and, beyond that, existed as a class-exclusive pet meant to be the Gold Maker's reliable support.

Naturally, he had to fight alongside him.

Hwangdo could not yet show the overwhelming majesty of a true dragon, but if he could at least provide support from the rear, that alone would be worth more than any price tag. And it was obvious that his contribution went far beyond "a bit of help," evidenced by the countless fireballs forming in midair.

Roughly ten of them.

Each one was about the size of a human head, and the heat packed into them looked anything but trivial. Those fireballs formed at a single word from Buja, then, without hesitation, rained down on monsters outside his attack range, guided by Hwangdo's own judgment.

"Screeech!"

"Krieee!"

Monsters struck by the fireballs let out screams of pain.

He hadn't even learned any area-of-effect skills yet, but this alone was more than enough.

"Nice."

The magic Hwangdo had just used was only one of the basic spells included in the Beginner Package. In game terms, it was the kind of Fireball you'd give to a newly specialized mage, but filtering it through a Legendary-grade dragon gave the spell ridiculous potential.

'Aside from the fact that it drains mana like crazy, his future looks bright.'

The spell cost a lot of mana, but so what? In the end, it was Hwangdo's mana being spent, not his.

Even now, after firing off ten Fireballs, Hwangdo had briefly run dry, but his mana quickly recovered. In the meantime, Buja was able to hunt much more smoothly.

This was why the combination of a mage and a melee damage dealer was so strong.

"Good job."

"Kyuu!"

Hwangdo let out a pleased cry as Buja's hand stroked his head.

Lounging around at home was nice, but Hwangdo was a dragon, through and through. How could anything compare to the thrill of running dungeons with his master, hunting monsters together, and the joy of being acknowledged by him?

"We can push a lot harder now."

"Kyu?"

It didn't take long for Hwangdo to realize that praise coming from Kim Buja's mouth was actually poison.

He tried whining a little, but all he got back was indifference.

"You know this is all for your own good, right?"

"Kyu-uu..."

And so, another hellish schedule began.

* * *

The grind he had estimated would take up to a month wrapped up sooner than expected.

"Got lucky."

Gold had come in from a source he hadn't even considered.

[You have achieved the achievement: Monster Massacre (E).]

The grade wasn't that high. The condition was to kill 100,000 monsters, which, considering the way Kim Buja had been playing so far, was low enough that it made him think, 'That's it?'

Looking back, though, he realized he actually hadn't killed that many monsters. He had only started mowing down large groups once he hit the 3-star dungeons.

In any case, while he was grinding dungeons hard, the achievement popped. Despite being only an Epic-grade achievement, it rewarded him with a whopping 20,000 gold.

"So it's basically a guaranteed one gold per five monsters."

'Why haven't any Rare- or Normal-grade achievements popped up? Or did they, and I just forgot?'

He pushed aside the memories that wouldn't surface, pocketed the 20,000 gold without hesitation, and, thanks to Hwangdo's boosted combat power, focused only on Epic- and Unique-grade dungeons. Within ten days, he hit his target.

"Finally done."

He stretched, not caring in the slightest about his greasy, unwashed hair, the stench rolling off him, or the foul reek of monster blood clinging to him that would make anyone wrinkle their nose.

He'd had plenty of time to wash even while grinding, but real grinding meant abandoning your daily routine and throwing yourself into it completely if you wanted maximum efficiency.

Hwangdo's scales were grimy as well, his original golden sheen dulled. Even so, he rolled around on his master's reeking shoulder without the slightest hesitation.

They had only been together for a short time—barely a year—but they had synced up enough to form a tight bond.

[Materials Required for First Evolution]

1. Level: 30

2. Essence of Evolution: 1 (Owned)

3. First Evolution Quest: Complete

4. Gold: 50,000 (Owned)

All four conditions were now filled.

[First Evolution]

▶ Grade: Evolution

▶ Condition: Gold Dragon

▶ Level: ★

▶ Objective: Kill 20,000 monsters

→ ★: 1 monster / ★★: 2 monsters / ★★★: 3 monsters / ★★★★: 4 monsters

▶ Reward: First Evolution Quest Complete

He had accepted the First Evolution quest right after deciding to gather the 50,000 gold. Fortunately, it was something he could complete while farming gold, so it hadn't been too difficult.

If that hadn't been the case, the requirements were complicated enough that he might really have given up on the first evolution altogether.

"Let's go."

[Beginning First Evolution of "Gold Dragon."]

Golden light burst from Hwangdo's body.

* * *

People all over started making predictions.

—What do you think he'll look like after he evolves?

—He'll probably just get a bit bigger, that's it.

—I mean, it's still an evolution. Sure, it's only the first one, but still.

A notice had gone up on Kim Buja's video channel. It announced Hwangdo's first evolution and promised to be back soon with footage of his evolved form.

It had been six years since dungeons appeared, and not once had a dragon fully revealed itself, even in the highest-level dungeons. And now, a dragon was appearing not as an enemy, but as a pet.

The anticipation wasn't just about his majesty; the idea of having such an overwhelming being at your back as an ally was enough to create an indescribable sense of security.

They wanted to see him as soon as possible.

Right now, he looked small and cute, like a little sparrow that needed humans to protect him, but someday, they hoped he would become a guardian deity standing at the forefront of humanity, protecting them.

—The video's up.

The video went live, packed with all that expectation.

It opened on a screen filled entirely with golden light.

—Whoa, what the hell!

—Insane.

Just looking at that golden glow was intoxicating. Was this what it would feel like to be trapped in a pure wave of gold?

It was flashy right from the start. Naturally, expectations soared even higher.

"Kyu!"

Along with that, a familiar cry rang out from within the golden light. It was a signal, reminding everyone that this was Hwangdo's evolution video.

The light slowly began to fade. The golden glow that had filled the screen vanished, sucked inward toward the center as if it were being absorbed—as if it were turning into Hwangdo's power.

"Kyuuu!"

And then, his evolved form was revealed.

—LOL

—What is this.

—He's adorable.

—Huh. He got bigger than I thought.

From a sparrow-sized ball of fluff, Hwangdo had absorbed the golden light and grown to the point where there was no trace of that tiny, cutesy body left.

He wasn't as big as people had fantasized—he couldn't crush buildings or terrify tens of thousands of people with sheer size alone—but he was easily as large as a hawk. To an ordinary person, he would actually look big enough to be intimidating, even frightening. If you ran into the newly evolved Hwangdo on the street, you would probably flinch instinctively.

But there was a reason people were calling him cute.

—Did he evolve into pure fat? Why is that belly so damn cute?

—This is exactly the kind of dragon I picture in my head. Just keep growing like this.

—I'm losing it. What are those tiny wings? Can he even fly with those?

He was the textbook image of a dragon. Even when he had been little, his chubby belly had drawn a lot of attention, and the evolution had only made it more prominent. You couldn't help wondering, 'Can he even fight with a body like that?'

So people concluded.

—He needs to get a bit bigger.

—Maybe he's a magic-focused dragon? I don't see him soloing monsters like that. He looks too sluggish.

Everyone thought that way—except for one person.

"This is completely busted."

He was the only one who could see more than what the video showed, the only one with the authority to know the specifics of Hwangdo's evolution.

["Gold Dragon" has completed First Evolution.]

[All stats of "Gold Dragon" have increased by 50.]

[First Resistance of "Gold Dragon" has been unlocked.]

[First Trait of "Gold Dragon" has been unlocked.]...

No one in the world understood better than Kim Buja just how valuable and full of potential a Legendary-grade name was. That was why he hadn't complained at all about Hwangdo's abilities or the stats he gained per level; he had simply thought, 'Of course', and moved on.

But now, he could say it with confidence.

"This is just ridiculous."

He had invested a lot. Even in this short time, he had poured roughly 150,000 gold into Hwangdo. With that much gold, even the current Kim Buja could have seen a very noticeable boost to his own specs.

But it wouldn't have been like this.

The efficiency here was absurd.

It felt like just yesterday that he had compared Hwangdo's stats to his own and found them similar, then felt a quiet sense of pride when he realized his were finally higher. That moment was rendered meaningless in an instant as Hwangdo's stats shot past his.

The gap was small for now, but the more gold he invested, the wider it would grow.

"Kyuu!"

Hwangdo let out a cry that sounded a little more dragon-like now, a hint of maturity mixed in, marking the end of his evolution.

* * *

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