Chapter 25 Same
Yuelian
“That guy is so scary.”
“He is always by himself”
“He thinks he's so much better than us.”
“Just a monkey from the east.”
“So ugly.”
I don't remember when the kids around me started saying such things. In the beginning, I used to cry after hearing so much contempt. After a while, I just got used to it. Humans are adaptable creatures, we can even adapt to pain.
School is almost meaningless to me. By the second year of middle school, I had already finished studying high school materials. My family said I should take the college entrance exam early and move on with higher education. I study entrance exam material at home while other kids play at school.
Waah sob sob
The sound of some kid crying. It's so close, where is it coming from? I look out the second-floor window. Our store overlooks a small neighborhood park. Calling it a park is being generous. Some patches of sand, a few trees, and abandoned construction materials like that giant cement wheel. Kids would sometimes make that hollow wheel into a secret base.
I saw a small girl crying under the shade of that cement wheel. I know her. The daughter of the fried chicken shop a few houses down the street. A girl who was isolated and bullied like I was.
Hic Sob sob
……….. Mama made too much coconut ice cream, didn't she?
“Hey! Are you ok?”
—-------------------
“Bye! See you tomorrow, Yue!” Tear stains still on her cheeks, the loud girl finally went home after stuffing her face with ice cream and complaining about her life for hours. I waved my hands as she ran down the street. Her house is less than a minute away. The sun is setting over the neighborhood.
“Oh, Miyong has already left? You should have walked her home.” My mother is smiling ear to ear while making dinner in the kitchen. I am aware that my parents must have struggled a lot to raise a weird kid like myself. Never had any friends and spent my days reading in my room. They must have been worried. That girl was the first kid my age that I had ever played with. “Did you have fun playing?”
“Calling it playing is being generous, mama. I just listened to her complain while she stuffed ice cream in her face.” I stood next to my mother in the kitchen and started washing vegetables in the sink. “And her house is only 2 houses down. I don't think we have to worry about her getting home safe.”
My mother looks at me and smirks.
“So you know where she lives? I thought my little prince didn't care about anyone aside from family.” She nudged me with her elbow. I felt hot somehow. “Walk her home next time, you will thank me in the future.”
—--------------
“Hey, you won't go somewhere far away right?” Miyong suddenly asked as we walked home from middle school graduation.
“Where would I go?” It's been a few months since we became friends. This foul-mouthed girl is a very lonely person. At least, that's what I thought.
“.........you are smart. You can probably go to some super nice high school” Her steps slow down. I matched her walking speed.
“I need to help my family run the store.” A lie came out of my mouth.
“Hmmm” She nodded to herself like something made sense.
We walked together in silence until we reached my house.
“Hi honey, do you want to stay for dinner?.” My mother greeted Miyong from the store.
“Hi, Aunty! Not today, I have to do chores for Mom.” Miyong smiled at my mother. “....ok! You promised! See ya.” She lightly punched my chest and left like the wind.
“Honey, did you get the result of the college entrance exam?” My mother asked me with mysterious eyes.
“.........I failed.” I lied to my mother for the first time as I walked into the store. My mother giggled to herself as I walked past.
—------------
[New knowledge has been Devoured]
[Learned Shoot]
I haven't seen this in a while.
[Qin Yuelian]
LV.1
Title: Devourer
Mana: 22 + 6
Strength: 2
Agility: 2
Magic Power: 13 + 7
Nobility: 16
Skill: Devourer [Unique]
Regeneration
Telekinesis
Shadow control
Mana arrows
Enhancement
Shoot [New]
Traits: Lord of Mana
[Shoot]
Accelerate objects at high speed.
Damn, that's why Germain was so fast. He might not even have the agility stats like Miyong. He was using this skill to accelerate himself, and that last move that tore my shoulder apart must have been this skill applied to a small object like a bullet.
……. Thank you, Germain, I will use this skill well.
“Yue, how are you feeling?” Her voice was the first thing I heard in that darkness. As I opened my eyes, I recognized the Heir Conclave. It's not surprising that we returned safely. If the Queen’s Royal Guards made their moves, it wouldn't have been a fight at all.
“Are you ok?” I said as Miyong looked down at me. The princess rested on her shoulder, blinking her big eyes. I can feel her mana nourishing me. Does dragon’s mana have inherent healing properties? Or is this some type of skill?
“I am fine.” She was surprised by my question and then kissed me with a smile. “Our families have settled inside the city. The Royal Guards did not allow them near the throne room, we can go see them after you recover. but we brought the president inside as well since we couldn't leave him outside.”
“That might be a good thing.” This is convenient, it could help with negotiation. I tried to get up. “I need to talk to him”
“Lay down, I will bring him.” Miyong pushed me down on the bed before getting up to leave.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“Don't allow outsiders to see the princess.”
—------------
“Mr. Yuelian, I am glad you are safe.” President Theodore’s slimy smile is gross. His eyes darted around the room as if to measure every corner of the city. His secretary stuck close to his side, fear is plain to see in her eyes.
The queen and princess are hidden away somewhere else, leaving the throne empty. Orc guards flank the two diplomats on both sides. Miyong stood next to my bed like a bodyguard.
“Let's continue what we were discussing before.” My shoulder has completely healed, but I still feel some stiffness when I try to sit up on the bed. “If your country recognized Nevani officially, we would be willing to establish trade and perhaps military aid in the event of a monster wave.”
“A military alliance! That's great. As humanity’s representative, I am honored to be allied with the Dragon Queen.” Theodore is showing his political tongue here.
“Military aid, not an alliance, Mr. Theodore,” I said a bit sharply. His eyes twitched. “As for trade, we can give you natural resources from the forest that can't be found outside.”
Miyong handed him Red Rabbit’s horns that we had been collecting and mana water that I distilled.
“What?” Theodore looked confused. I expected this reaction, he is neither a scientist nor a mana user. He would not understand the value of these things.
“Please give the mana water to the mana users in your employ. The horns should be given to your scientists.” He understood immediately after hearing that.
“And what would the Queen want in return?” Theodore’s eyes are sharp.
“Immigrants.” I couldn't help but smile.
—----------------
The orcs are escorting Theodore and his secretary out of the forest. Miyong watched them leave from the second-floor balcony.
“Is it a good idea to deal with him?” Miyong said. “If we need something, we could just take it. Why deal with a slimy politician like him?”
“If all we needed were resources or material goods, we could do that. But what we need are people. Especially scientists, inventors, engineers, and doctors. We can force them to work for us with brute force, but this is way easier.” I feel light-headed. The queen’s mana has healed my body, but the lost blood did not replenish. Perhaps because human physiology is different from dragons, the healing from the queen’s mana is not perfect. This is why we need doctors here.
“Why can't we just recruit them by advertising online? If we stream our recruitment, probably millions of people would apply.” Miyong looked at her smartphone.
"I also plan to do that, but what we need is legitimacy from other nation-states. A lot of people in the world trust their government, a mistake, but they trust them. We need to use that trust to recruit people. “ There are a lot of things we can do once we have a team of scientists.
"Why are we even doing all of this?" Miyong held my hands. She is slightly trembling. This girl hasn't changed since we were kids. So delicate.
"After the world falls, this city will be one of the last bastions of humanity." I kissed her hands.
“............ Wouldn't they send spies?” Miyong sat on the bed, resting her head on my shoulder. She went quiet for a long time before asking.
“They definitely will.” A familiar voice came from the entrance. The elf, Eluvia walks into the conclave. “We will take care of screening for spies.”
“.....” We don't know much about these elves, but they seem to be the queen’s shadow. Jason would get along with them, maybe.
“Why are you here?” Miyong’s unfriendly voice surprised me. Why are they on bad terms?
“The queen gave me orders to be his mentor.” The elf pointed his blue finger at me. I guess my performance was worse than I thought. He turned from Miyong and looked at me. “Why did you do that?”
“........” He is sharp. I guess to these aliens, fights between amateur mana users like that are so simple to see through. “I don't want to kill if it is avoidable.”
“Your race will be destroyed if you keep up that attitude.” Eluvia clicks his tongue unhappily. These elves seem to know a lot about this situation. Perhaps I can glean some information from them.
“What is the game?” Eluvia looked surprised when I asked that question.
“We don't know……” Eluvia sat on the ground, rubbing his hands along the surface of the throne. “We are not even sure if those GMs made the game. Based on their powers, they can't build something on this scale. But we do know they can manipulate it to some level.”
“What is the goal of the game? Is there a way to clear it?” Miyong said. A gamer's instinct is on how to beat a game.
“Clear it? Do you mean ending the game? There is no end. As far as we know, it's been going on for millions of years, on millions of planets and dimensions.” Eluvia lay down on the cold floor. “We don't even know how many species and dimensions were wiped out until now.”
“What's the point? Just for pure entertainment? Doing all of this, just for that?” I was called a prodigy since I was a child, but I couldn't understand why anyone would go to this extent for entertainment.
“Entertainment? That's part of it. It's just all for profit.” Eluvia rolls around on the floor.
“Profit?” Miyong looked at me in confusion.
“HC? That's it? All this destruction and death. Entire worlds and dimensions destroyed for that?” This can't be true.
“Why are you surprised? You humans are no different from those clowns. You destroyed your planet before the game or any of us even got here. I have studied your history with your information network. You humans wipe out other tribes of humans, exploit, enslave, and war with each other all the time. All of that is just for money. Don't act surprised to see other species do the same.” The elf finally got up. “See you outside the throne room tomorrow morning.”
“What?”
“Your training begins…..” Eluvia was already gone.
—-----------------
Theodore
The orcs retreated into the forest as soon as we sat foot outside. They are much more dangerous than I thought. Disciplined, weirdly calm, and much smarter than we thought. Almost the perfect soldiers. The citizens of the city do not eat or drink. They do not need necessities like that. It seems that mana users can nourish themselves with mana alone. Is that why they only stay inside the forest? Is the mana concentration thicker here? There is so much we don't know. But at least the problem of the monster wave might be solved with their help.
The monster city Nevani, it's not simply a rebel state. Even discounting the power of the dragon queen, the city has already become a functioning nation-state. They have resources other nations do not have. A powerful and functioning military. And that boy, Yuelian, is much more dangerous than Heilong.
We have no choice but to accept the poisoned apple. The deal seems profitable for us on the surface, but the level of brain drain that our nation and the world will face is disastrous. The most talented scientists and skilled professionals in the world would not pass the chance to immigrants and be a part of world history. Not to mention that the city is probably the safest place in the world right now. Even knowing that we have no choice but to accept.
“Mr. President. Shall we return to the residence, sir?” Monique got in the driver's seat and her confident appearance returned.
“No, go to the intelligence agency.” I have to move fast. Before that boy announced their recruitment to the world. I couldn't even wait to get to the agency and took out my phone to call that guy.
“Hello, Mr president? It's 10 pm…..” A sleepy voice came from the other end. This guy is already asleep at 10 pm?
“Get in contact with Lotus. We need to talk”
—--------------
[Longing for Tofu]
* Hey, isn't Devourer weaker than rumored?
[Girl Fried rice]
* Was he supposed to be strong? Berserker was the strong one, wasn't she?
[Pillow man]
* Maybe Devourer is not weak but Lotus is too strong.
[Longing for Tofu]
* In any case, if Nevani takes in people based on ability, then I am stronger than Devourer.
[Girl Fried rice]
* Everyone is the sword saint on the internet.
[Yellow cat]
* With people this strong, we should be fine right? When does the monster wave come?
[Jungle Joe]
* Maybe the monster wave won't be a big problem.
[Jessica Jonah]
* Some players with the Instinct stats have the timer, right? How long until the first wave?
[Monkey Prince]
* 5 days approximately. The timer is still red.........