An emergency security meeting presided over by the President was convened.

Not only Lee Myung-seop from the Administration Bureau, but also the Prime Minister, Commander of the Capital Defense Command, Minister of National Defense, Director of the National Security Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the heads of Korea’s six major guilds were present.

The emergency response level ranges from Level 1 to 10.

The higher the number, the more dangerous the situation. From Level 9 and above, participation is mandatory under the Special Act on Awakened Beings.

Of course, the guild leaders had no objections to this. If the nation was in danger, it meant the foundation of their own existence was also at risk.

Once the deputy director of the Administration Bureau finished his briefing, silence hung over the room.

The first to speak was the President.

“What’s the status of the channels’ activity?”

“Fortunately, no unusual movements have been detected so far. However... as you saw in the bodycam footage from the field staff, it’s presumed that a dragon has been summoned inside each channel.”

“All three locations?”

“Yes.”

The President nodded with a devastated expression. For now, they had evacuated the nearby residents and formed a perimeter with military forces and cooperation from nearby civilian guilds.

But that was merely a temporary measure. Dragons. Dragons had been summoned.

As far as the President knew, this was an unprecedented event.

‘There have been cases of a bone dragon being summoned before, but...’

Bone dragons in monstrous form had been reported globally. But dragon summoning like this had never even been reported to international organizations.

Even a single bone dragon is difficult to handle.

For example, a bone dragon was once summoned in Finland, and sixty awakened individuals were deployed—every one of them died in action.

They had all been at least B-rank or higher awakened beings.

Of course, the lack of proper armament among the awakened at the time was a contributing factor, but there’s no denying the overwhelming power of a bone dragon.

But now, they faced living dragons. Not just one, but three.

Why they hadn’t emerged from the channels yet was unknown. But if they all burst out at once—

Gulp—

This nation, rebuilt with such effort, would be hurled back to ten years ago. Along with countless casualties...

Knock knock!

With a knock, the Chief Secretary entered.

“Mr. President, the White House has agreed to dispatch awakened individuals ranked S or higher. The Japanese Prime Minister’s office has also agreed to send S-rank awakened, and China has expressed willingness to cooperate as well.”

The President’s face brightened. Facing three dragons with only Korea’s forces would result in enormous losses.

But if American and Japanese awakened cooperated, the story would change.

The damage could be minimized.

“However...”

“Hm?”

“They’ve attached conditions.”

“Conditions?”

“The U.S. has requested a payment of 80 trillion won, and Japan wants shared access to the dungeons and gates currently owned by the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.”

The President’s hopeful face turned ashen.

Korea’s annual tax revenue was nearing 2,000 trillion won.

Compared to before the upheaval, that was a tremendous leap. But considering inflation, it wasn’t remarkable economic growth.

Moreover, due to the frequency of channel and gate-related incidents this year, an additional budget had already been implemented.

And now—80 trillion won. They’d have to issue another supplementary budget. Of course, national security could not be traded for 80 trillion won.

The bigger issue was that Japan had proposed a similar demand.

Shared access to national dungeons and gates.

That was worth far more than 80 trillion.

But blaming those nations wasn’t fair. Had this happened in the U.S. or Japan, and they requested Korea’s help, Korea would likely have demanded similar terms.

International relations are based on mutual benefit, not loyalty.

“Does anyone have a cigarette?”

The Foreign Minister cautiously handed one over.

Lighting it and inhaling, the President coughed hard.

“It’s been so long... it’s awful. Used to taste pretty good, though...”

“......”

As the long cigarette burned down to a short stub, the President spoke with a bitter expression.

“We don’t have a choice, do we?”

No one answered.

This was not a matter that could be solved just by gathering people to think it through.

This was an act of God—a force beyond anyone’s control. That was what they were now facing.

At that moment—

Lee Myung-seop’s cell phone rang.

“It’s fine. Go ahead and answer it.”

Glancing around nervously, Lee Myung-seop picked up the call.

-Director, the Dongui Elementary channel...!

Park Yeon was walking along the riverside with a contemplative look on his face. What troubled him was a single text message.

[Web Message]

HanShin Bank, helping you grow your dreams. You have been selected as a potential recipient for a government-backed loan. Product information below:

*For freelancers, the unemployed, students, and homemakers
*No paperwork, no in-person visit needed
*Quick approval from minimum 1 million to maximum 100 million won
*Even available to those with bad credit
*Interest rates from as low as 0.5% to a max of 0.9%
*Please contact us directly

This was it. What especially caught Park Yeon’s eye was the phrase: “the unemployed.”

In other words, even someone with no job could get a loan.

“A million won sounds manageable... and the interest rate’s low, too.”

Of course, Park Yeon didn’t particularly need money.

Seo-jun and Yeon-jun paid him regularly, and he didn’t have any consistent expenses.

Still, what tempted him when he saw that message was Seo-woo.

Park Yeon often went to the supermarket with Seo-jun. Occasionally, Seo-jun would buy a toy for Seo-woo there.

Whenever Seo-woo received a toy, he would light up with joy and jump into Seo-jun’s arms.

At times like that, Park Yeon could only watch helplessly. He didn’t have the money to buy toys for her himself.

But if he took out a loan...?

It would be possible.

He could proudly buy him a dinosaur toy—the kind he loved—and give it to him as a gift!

“Where am I?”

Deep in thought, Park Yeon suddenly looked around. He had walked in a trance and before he knew it, had ended up in an unfamiliar place.

“Well, I can just go back the way I came.”

The surprise only lasted a moment.

Park Yeon retraced his steps along the path he had taken.

Just then—

“What’s that?”

He felt a presence from beyond the river. The presence was faint. So faint that even Park Yeon was unsure whether he had sensed it.

But the faint energy was growing denser. And the nature of the thickening energy was…

“Divine power!”

Park Yeon’s eyes widened.

It wasn’t a hallucination!

This was definitely divine power!

And a dense, concentrated divine power at that!

Like one possessed, Park Yeon began casting Blink and moved toward the source of the energy.

The closer he got, the stronger the divine power became.

A smile appeared at the corner of Park Yeon’s lips. It’s not as though a hero doesn’t feel emotions.

He simply suppressed them as best he could because he was a hero.

Of course, there were times he was overcome with nostalgia just like anyone else. In those moments, a glass of cola was his comfort—but this divine power, look at it.

It was undoubtedly the aura of a being from the world he came from. That made it achingly welcome.

“A priest? Or maybe a paladin?”

Park Yeon hoped to meet the owner of the divine power. Priest or paladin… anyone would be fine.

As long as it was someone who could share in the sentiments of his homeland.

With a smile on his face, Park Yeon rushed toward the source.

“This is far too vast…”

The divine power was more enormous than he had imagined. It was so vast that even high priests—no, even popes or saints—could not possibly possess this level of divine energy.

There was only one kind of lifeform capable of holding such divine power.

“No human may set foot in this sacred place.”

Park Yeon gave a bitter smile.

As expected, it was a dragon.

The greater the anticipation, the greater the disappointment—but Park Yeon didn’t let it show. After all, dragons too serve the gods.

“I am Veltebray, a servant of the gods. As a servant, I ask the god’s representative—what brings you here?”

Park Yeon spoke as politely and respectfully as possible.

If humans are servants of the gods, dragons are considered their representatives. Therefore, unless one was dealing with an evil dragon, any dragon should be treated with respect.

“No human may set foot in this sacred place.”

“Excuse me?”

The dragon began to open its massive jaws.

“There seems to be some misunderstanding! I too am a servant of the gods!”

Park Yeon quickly released his own energy. He was trying to make the dragon sense the divine power in order to prove that he was not an enemy.

But the dragon showed no sign of closing its mouth.

And then—

Swooooosh!

A breath attack erupted.

Park Yeon barely managed to block the attack.

“What are you doing, messenger of the gods!”

“No human may set foot in this sacred place.”

The dragon kept repeating the same phrase.

Only then did Park Yeon realize something was wrong. As he did, the dragon unleashed another breath attack.

This time, Park Yeon used Blink to dodge and studied the dragon closely.

Dragons are, in many ways, higher beings than humans. Humans are inevitably vulnerable to mind magic.

Anyone worn out in body and mind can fall victim to mental enchantments.

But dragons are different. Unlike humans, mind magic doesn’t work on them. Not even on hatchlings.

Yet the dragon before him was reacting like someone under mental domination.

There was no time to consider whether it was possible or not.

As soon as Park Yeon dodged the breath, the dragon launched another attack.

Bang!

A massive fireball landed next to him. He narrowly avoided it, but the shock made Park Yeon flinch.

“That’s Draconic speech…”

Dragons are called demi-gods. They are contemplative beings on the border between gods and mortals.

And the reason they’re so terrifying when they fall and become evil dragons lies in their use of Draconic speech.

By their nature, they can cast magic by sheer will alone. To humans, this is nothing short of a catastrophe.

Humans must go through the intermediate step of casting in order to use magic.

Of course, they can use a staff with pre-condensed spells, but that’s limited.

Moreover, magic inevitably consumes aether—but dragons are different.

They are part of nature. The dragon is nature, and nature is the dragon. Thus, they don’t need to gather aether at all.

That means they can cast magic infinitely.

Just like now—

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

A massive inferno surged toward him. He quickly raised a shield to block it, but the force made his arms tingle.

“Guh…!”

As Park Yeon staggered, the dragon once more unleashed a breath attack.

Swooooosh!

He immediately cast Haste and escaped the radius of the breath, but chills ran down his spine.

He had dodged, yet it didn’t feel like a successful evasion. It wasn’t something he could relax about.

Another attack followed right after.

Condensed energy exploded from the dragon all at once. The energy was pure aether, but no—it wasn’t.

It was definitely a curse-type spell.

Park Yeon hurriedly cast Tempest. A powerful downpour burst forth and pushed back the cursed aether expelled by the dragon.

In that brief moment, Park Yeon retaliated with a Meteor.

BOOM!

With a deafening roar, flames engulfed the area around the dragon.

But that was all. Only the surrounding vegetation was burned, and the dragon itself was completely unharmed.

Park Yeon bit his lip hard. There was nothing he could do. When he defeated Deikarant, at least he had companions. But now…

“So you claimed to have defeated an evil dragon, but it must’ve been a wyvern, not a dragon.”