Chapter 235.2

[No, I will heed the advice of the gods . ]

Despite my continuous provoking, Karin remained firm in her stance . That was too bad, but I’d thought that provoking Karin would’ve been an effective method .

If Karin kept trying to refuse me so stubbornly, I’d have no choice but to use force .

“Alright, alright . I won’t ask you to fight, so come out . ”

[No . ]

I wondered if I should, once again, try to taunt Karin with an “Are you scared?”, but I refrained from doing so in fear of pissing off the dragon . It’d be disadvantageous if I did something stupid in this circumstance . I was already told that my actions here would determine my next stage, so I’d have to watch my mouth .

“But we have to talk face-to-face . Come out . I promise I won’t come at you . ”

[You’re a terrible liar . ]

Damn it . It must have been obvious again . I’d never thought that my lying skills were this horrendous, but I guess my excitement about meeting a dragon was hard to mask .

For now, I’d have to give up on my dream of fighting a dragon; after all, you can’t fight someone who refuses to meet you .

Gripping the crystal ball in my hand, I maneuver my way out of the cave .

[Where are you going?] Karin asked through the crystal ball .

Was it possible that the crystal ball could transmit not only voices but also visibility of the surrounding environment?

“It’s better to talk in front of a waterfall than a smelly, dreary cave full of year-old bat shit . ”

Karin remained silent as I plopped down in front of the waterfall . I rummaged through my inventory to pull out a simple chair and tent as space for me to think .

Currently, Karin seemed upset . One of my friends used to sulk in silence, and it seemed as though Karin was doing the same .

By the time I finished propping up the cave, Karin hadn’t said a single word to me .

Settling myself down into a comfortable position on the chair, I picked up the crystal ball and asked, “Is the cave your home?”

From rumors, dragons were supposed to live in obscure places, and this waterfall cave fit that very definition . It was massive and had a high ceiling with no stalactites that could interfere with movement . In addition, it had a familiar stank, a dragon’s unique, subtle smell .

It was similar to Idy’s smell that I’ve become able to recognize after living with her for a long time . The smell emanating from the cave was slightly different, though . It had a much stronger fishy smell that Idy’s body odor, and at first, I’d thought it was merely the cave’s natural odor, but now that I think about it, it might’ve been the smell of a dragon .

[… . ] Karin mumbled something incomprehensible, and then, once more, reverted to being dead silent .

Shortly after the question left my mouth, I realized I’d made a mistake . The question could’ve been taken in two possible ways . Was the cave her home? Or could the cave be even considered a house?

I thought of ways to relieve the dragon’s bad mood, but gave up and just decided to have a meal . I made a bonfire and took out a package of food from my inventory .

* * * * * *

After eating my fill, I went inside the tent to lie down and peacefully watch the hypnotizing waterfall .

It was a bad habit to lie down right after eating, but I was too tired to care that much .

Suddenly, Ahbooboo whispered into my ear, [Warrior . ]

Come to think of it, I’d completely forgotten that Ahbooboo existed . Once the stage was cleared, Ahbooboo and Seregia were automatically moved into my inventory . Perhaps that was why Ahbooboo had remained quiet .

[Warrior, is it really a dragon beyond that crystal ball?] Ahbooboo asked .

[That’s what it says, yes . ] replied Seregia .

Ahbooboo’s whispering made me feel anxious, and I hummed in response to his question .

[Couldn’t it be a lie?]

[No, I don’t think so . ]

I didn’t think it was a lie either . Ahbooboo hesitated for a moment before saying to me, [If it’s really a dragon, then it’s best to make him feel better . ]

[Why?] Seregia questioned .

[Dragons are very stingy creatures . ] Ahbooboo complained and elaborated on various stories about stingy dragons .

One of the slanderous stories that Ahbooboo mentioned was about a founding emperor who called himself a dragon . When a dragon came to visit the emperor’s funeral, it had endlessly spouted sarcastic and unflattering comments on the emperor . The stories portrayed dragons as cheap and shameful .

I decided to take Ahbooboo’s advice to lighten up Karin’s mood that had been damaged in the cave incident . But it was slightly too late to apologize for my slip of the tongue .

“Hey,” I spoke to the crystal ball .

[What?] Karin answered, and a wave of relief washed over me .

“You’re not upset, are you?”

[…No . ]

“Right? You didn’t get offended when I asked if that cave was your home, did you?”

Somehow, the things I said to the dragon ended up being pretty similar to the things I’d said to my silently sulking friend back in middle school .

“I knew it . Is there any person who would get upset about that?”

Oh wait, Karin’s not a person . Damn, I ended up talking too much again . Fortunately for me, Karin didn’t point out my mistake .

[Of course not! That cave is not my home!] Karin exclaimed indignantly .

This was unexpected . I hadn’t thought Karin would deny the assumption that the cave was her home since it harbored the scent of a dragon . Even a couple hundred cave salamanders wouldn’t have been able to make the cave smell that bad .

“Yes, I see . I thought you were offended since you didn’t talk all of a sudden . ”

[There was just a lot of work to do!]

Karin had previously mentioned I was a lousy liar, but it seemed that she, too, was also pretty awful at lying . Unlike her usual meek manner of speaking, she had angrily shouted when she lied .

“You must have a lot of responsibilities to work for the Vaccine as someone who has a higher position than a regular apostle . That’s amazing”

Although my praise for Karin was insincere, the dragon seemed to enjoy it thoroughly . Through my nonsensical talking and not-so-subtle compliments, I was able to change the atmosphere into a more friendly one .

However, I was curious about one thing . In comparison to other apostles, Karin was rather kind . Other apostles didn’t even attempt to hide their feelings of contempt when they saw me . They treated me, fought me, and saw me as a mere stepping stool . I would’ve thought that Karin, being a prideful dragon, would’ve also been more inclined to have this attitude . Maybe the preconceived notion that dragons were all arrogant wasn’t all that accurate .

I decided to ask Karin about it .

[The world is changing . You can’t be obsessed with that outdated idea forever . There are dragons that are sticking with the attitude you mentioned, but I am not one of them . ]

The world was changing?

[The world is beginning to judge people by their abilities rather than their species . Take a lower-class tribe, for example . Can you say with 100 percent certainty that every member has descended from that ethnic group? The time has come for us to evaluate individuals based on their skills . ] Karin said, and I listened to her quietly .

[Of course, your species does have an impact on your behavior and abilities, which makes it difficult to avoid the resulting stigma . Typically, the rumors aren’t too far off from the truth, so it’s easier to judge people based on species . I also have prejudices, and you’ve reminded me of the preconceptions I’ve had about the human race . But the world is evolving rapidly, and I’ll try my best to keep up with it, too . ]

Karin’s voice took on a serious edge, and listening to the story, Karin finally began to seem more like a dragon .

Looking back at it, it seemed that I also had strong prejudices based on race . It was something Idy had pointed out several times, but I paid her opinion no attention .

Most of the people I met while clearing stages had strong tribal characteristics . But, there was very little difference in the behaviors of various species . For me, who’d have to face various types of people in the future, it was an opportunity to rethink my preconceptions .

There was still one more thing that Karin mentioned that had bothered me . ‘The world is changing . ’

“What do you mean by the world is changing?”

Of course, the Earth was facing a cataclysmic upheaval, but it wasn’t likely that the dragon, who belonged to the influential vaccine war, would say the world was changing because of it .

[I’ve heard you’re one of the first challengers to enter the planet’s source and generate tutorials . ]

“No, I’m not asking about the change of the Earth, I’m asking about the change of the world you’re talking about . ”

[It’s not that different . I’m changing, just like your hometown is changing . The wind of change is beginning to blow . Think about it like that . ]

Karin’s words made it seem like the monster of the source, the vaccine war, and the tutorial system had just appeared . Was it only that monsters were spawning and tutorials were being carried out, or were the gods and systems changing, too?

I asked for more details, but Karin drew the line there . The dragon told me that changes were taking place, but didn’t care to elaborate on them .

[You should take into consideration that the concept of change I mentioned is slightly different from how humans understand it . ]

I supposed that was inevitable; our lives and experiences were different . It was natural to view things in a slightly different manner .

I thought for a moment about what Karin said, and how the information would affect me .

In some ways, a change was beneficial . For my goal, it’d be better to have a chaotic situation where the conditions were continuously changing than to have everything already solidified .

* * * * * *

After a good night’s rest, it was time to start working again! Following breakfast, the sleeping bags were put back into my inventory .

[Want to go to the next stage?] Karin asked .

I folded up my tent and nodded my head in response to her question .

[Then, I’lldecide which stage is right for you . Is there a kind of stage that you want to avoid? If there is, I ‘ll make sure you won’t encounter it . ]

I was amazed; what a nice thing to say . Maybe it’s because we’d gotten closer after spending a night together .

“Remove a stage where I need to lead and motivate a lot of people or where I need to maintain good relationships . Oh, and religious ones, too . ”

Hearing my answer, Karin asked why .

“Why? It’s just awkward and uncomfortable . ”

I wasn’t confident in those situations . Leading people had never been my strong suit . It was a stage theme that had appeared several times on the 40th floor, but I cleared it by using brute force at every critical moment .

[Okay, I’ll consider it . ]

I thanked Karin and climbed into the portal that had appeared on the floor .

“Move . ”

* * * * * *

The 56th floor was a place with stunning scenery . Under the brightly coloured sky was a vast field that stretched far into the horizon . And, there was a crowd? People had gathered beneath the tower I stood on .

“Apostle!”

“Apostle! Please take us away!”

“God’s apostle!”

Below, the crowd had been shouting at me . When I saw a mass of over a thousand people screaming at me, I felt motion sick,

[The 56th floor stage has begun]

[Stage Mission: Understanding the sect]

“You… That smelly, oversized, lizard bastard actually dared to trick me?!”

[I told you to be careful . ]