DBOFS 36

Chapter 36

It wasn’t just that her hand had turned black as if dipped in ink. Beneath her white skin, something as dark as ink was surging and undulating like waves.

Almost like a living creature.

‘W-What is this…?’

Cold sweat trickled down her back. A wave of anxiety washed over her, like when she’d missed a step on the stairs.

‘A skill? Absorption… No way, is this the Absorbing Star Technique?!’

A true web novel geek never sticks to just one genre. Jade wasn’t completely ignorant about wuxia either.

‘The Absorbing Star Technique (흡성대법) is that one, right? The martial art that absorbs others’ energy (Qi)!’

But this was a fantasy world. A different genre!

Still, stories that cross between worlds weren’t rare. In many cases, what was called Qi in martial arts would be replaced with mana in fantasy settings…

‘…Then did I just absorb Harris’s mana?’

Jade’s mouth dropped open in shock. Her damp lips looked temptingly ripe, like a split fruit.

“……”

That’s when Harris pulled her face toward him again.

“W-Wait—!”

Jade hurriedly raised her hand to block Harris’s lips.

Her reason, clouded by close contact and heated excitement, had long since cooled.

“……!”

—Or so she thought, until she suddenly jolted. It was because of the sensation on her palm.

“H-H-Harris?!”

A hot, moist sensation slowly brushed her hand, and then a set of white teeth gently bit down on the back of it. Harris smiled with crimson eyes between her trembling fingers.

“Yes, Jade.”

Even his voice was languid and sultry.

The man before her was decadently seductive enough to melt her mind.

“You called?”

“Y-Yes…”

“Why?”

Falling so quickly under his spell, Jade nearly blurted out, “Oh, it’s nothing. Please continue what you were doing,” before biting her tongue.

“H-Harris! Please snap out of it!”

“I already have.”

“No, clearly not?!”

You’re still licking my palm like that!

‘When did you become a kiss demon?!’

He didn’t even use to like physical contact. Unless he was dragging her somewhere, he hardly ever touched her. But now…

“Haa…”

Harris buried his face in her palm and exhaled a heated breath. His crimson eyes, glimpsed between her fingers, gleamed as if ready to devour her at any moment.

‘…He’s totally lost it. His eyes are completely gone!’

To think Harris would lose control like this.

[Skill ‘Absorbing Star Technique’ activated.]

Perhaps because she’d figured it out, the question mark had changed to the character for “great.”

‘Is this… really guiding?’

Guides were supposed to help with calming, healing, and purification.

Absorbing Star Technique didn’t seem to fall into any of those categories—but surprisingly, his berserk symptoms were subsiding.

However…

[Time limit: 5 minutes 37 seconds]

There wasn’t much time left.

‘Ugh! Whatever happens, happens!’

Resolving herself, Jade grabbed Harris’s face. And as he flinched, she kissed him first.

“……!”

Harris’s eyes widened briefly—then curved in amusement. The moment their lips met…

“…?!”

A strange sweetness, tinged with bitterness, spread inside his mouth. Before he could ask what it was, Harris lost consciousness.

“Gah! So heavy.”

Catching Harris’s collapsing body nearly took her down with him. Jade scrambled out from under him.

“Phew… Good thing I brought that.”

She had slipped a fluorescent fruit into his mouth while pretending to kiss him.

‘It’s a key ingredient for calming potions, so it should have some effect.’

Once his berserk state calmed down, he’d wake up again.

‘Then… does that mean the emergency quest is complete?’

The timer in the alert window had stopped. But although it blinked quietly, no completion message appeared.

‘Why not?’

Looking around, Jade finally realized why the room seemed so dark—it wasn’t her imagination. Harris’s mana had cloaked the entire space like blackout curtains.

And her skill, ‘Absorbing Star Technique,’ was drawing in all of Harris’s mana and tearing down the darkness.

Jade stared blankly at her hand. The absorption must have been nearly complete—the pitch-black hand was gradually returning to white.

Then—

“Urgh!”

Had she absorbed too much mana? Her head spun, and she couldn’t breathe as if her heart were being crushed.

The darkness lifted, revealing the room’s true form.

It was an opulent bedroom.

Tapestries were draped over the stone walls of an old castle to keep out drafts, and flames flickered in the fireplace.

[Krrrk… Kyaaagh!]

In the shadows beyond the firelight, a dragon lay collapsed.

And across from it stood a king, cradling a massive egg beside a cradle.

‘Wait, is that… a dragon egg?’

That’s when a memory—or was it a story?—began to flow into Jade’s mind.

A wise king ruled over a rich and peaceful nation. Her only sorrow was that her newborn son was sickly.

“Your only heir will die before he becomes king.”

That was the prophecy, given after desperate efforts to save her son.

The despairing king listened to the prophet’s whispered words—and eventually…

[KAAAAH—!]

Following the prophecy, the king stole a dragon’s egg.

The mother dragon was enraged, and the wrath of the great beast became a disaster upon the kingdom.

‘So that’s it.’

Jade nodded blankly, processing the memory.

Man-eating plants in the forest, beasts in the swamp, and a dragon attacking the castle…

‘This dungeon was the final day of a ruined kingdom.’

From the luxurious bedroom’s window by the cradle, she could see the fall of the nation.

Was it remorse for his choices or vengeance against the dragon? The king slowly raised the egg over his head to smash it.

And just as the egg was about to fall—

[KWEAAAAAR—!]

The dragon, covered in wounds, let out a mournful cry.

“Gah!”

Jade gasped.

‘That really hurt…!’

She had instinctively thrown herself to protect the egg—and taken the full impact to her chest.

‘My body’s already a mess, and now I got hit by a freaking dragon egg?!’

Stars danced before her eyes. She finally understood what that expression meant.

[What are you doing?!]

The king shouted in rage, fury twisting his face.

But—

“You’re the one who should explain yourself.”

Jade retorted.

‘In the end, you reap what you sow.’

A child dying? Yes, that’s heartbreaking. She could understand the sorrow from a parent’s perspective.

‘But that doesn’t justify harming another child.’

And he was a king, not just a parent. Shouldn’t he put his country first?

The dragon’s wrath toward the king was justified. Maybe not to the extent of slaughtering all citizens—but still.

‘That must be why the dragon ended up like that, too.’

In the corner of the room, the dragon lay collapsed by a crumbled wall, its heart exposed by a massive wound.

Jade knew instinctively. The dragon was about to die.

‘It must have gone berserk before Harris delivered the final blow, which bought it just a few more minutes.’

Maybe because the dragon had taken the hit, she oddly felt more pity for it than for the humans.

Jade picked up the egg and held it out to the dragon.

“……”

The dragon’s bright yellow eyes looked at Jade, then the egg. Its forepaw barely touched the egg—

[KWAHHH…]

—and then the dragon breathed its last.

[Secret Quest: “Soothe the Dragon’s Grudge” completed!]

“Huh?”

That was a thing?

Just then—

[…Die.]

The king, clutching a sword, muttered.

His eyes gleamed with murderous intent, fixed on Jade.

[Die alre—Gah!]

The king’s heart was pierced from behind.

And above the fallen king’s body appeared—

“……Jade!”

Harris, having finally calmed down from his berserk state and returned to his senses.

With the king’s death, the dungeon began to collapse. Status windows flooded her vision with achievement messages and congratulations.

“You idiot! What are you doing here?! In this insane dungeon, you were just standing there with your back completely exposed—!”

But even then—

“Harris.”

All Jade could feel was joy and relief that Harris was safe.

‘My rude, blunt, worry-wart Harris is finally back…’

Jade smiled and said,

“I’m glad you’re safe.”

And then let go of the last thread holding her consciousness together.

“Jade?!”

Without even knowing what kind of expression he was making as he looked at her.

“……Hmm.”

Fiery red and molten gold eyes. Burnt skin, wild hair like that of a foreigner, and an exotic handsomeness. The man rested his chin in his hand.

“Ah, dammit. I’m late.”

“……”

“Didn’t think they’d clear the dungeon already. I came all this way for nothing.”

His assistant grumbled, but then noticed the red-haired man staring off at something.

“What are you looking at now? Another woman?”

“Why do you say ‘another’?”

“Because if it’s you, Alucas, the only things you focus on are women, pretty women, or extremely pretty women.”

“Shut up.”

“Am I wrong?”

The Mercenary King, Alucas, didn’t answer.

He was staring at soft pink hair like puffy clouds. A fragile figure. A small, lovely face.

Even from a distance, his already sharp eyes—especially honed for spotting beauty—allowed him to recognize her instantly.

“I’ve seen that face before.”

“When? Is there even a beautiful woman you haven’t seen?”

“Luken, shut your trap.”

“Oops.”

Luken, Alucas’s aide, exaggeratedly closed his mouth—but not for long.

“So… what now?”

As the black-haired young man disappeared with the girl in his arms, Alucas finally looked away.

“I’ll go meet her myself.”

“Wait, what?”

“I didn’t come all this way just to collect a fee and go home.”

Luken’s jaw dropped.

“Wait, is she that pretty?! Or is she a guide?”

They were mercenaries. Time was money. Loitering without a purpose wasn’t in their nature.

“Well, my guess is…”

Alucas grinned with a boyish smile that didn’t match his burly frame.

“Both.”