3.
The newly discovered land.
Naturally, there were natives living in this 'new world'.
However, that race happened to be extraordinary.
"You're a Dream Demon?"
Quite extraordinary in fact.
-Yes, Mr. Death King… That's right….
After being hit 59 times by me, the Dream Demon raised both hands in surrender. Incubus. Succubus. The Dream Demon Race, whose names often ended in 'bus', were the inhabitants of the new world.
I clenched my fist.
"Uhuh. I'm curious, won't you lose energy if I stay in here while asking you questions? Should I take care of your energy?"
-No, Mr. Death King, sir! My energy is overflowing!
"Then from now on, answer my questions politely. If you don't speak politely, then your face will become polite instead."
-Yes! Mr. Death King!
"Good."
I nodded in satisfaction.
Behind me, Bae Hu-ryeong looked moved.
-Kim Zombie, you really… You've learned how to be a man!
If you look into the abyss, the abyss would look back at you. After being taught and trained by Bae Hu-ryeong, I had already become skilled at beating people up without realizing it.
"All of the crew on this ship are asleep. Is that your doing?"
-Yes! I did the right thing!
"How so?"
-Originally, our race lived as parasites who invaded the dreams of other animals!
The Dream Demon said.
-In all honesty, from our perspective, dreams are reality. And on the other hand what you call reality, is a dream. We thought we were the only living beings that had developed intelligence, but we were shocked when you all crossed the ocean….
"Heh."
So they were a race who took dreams as reality.
"Do you not have a physical body?"
-If it's the body that I think you're talking about then… no, we don't. Our common sense is different from yours, so it's hard to explain.
"It seems we can communicate pretty well despite that."
-Ah. That's because we're talking in the mind of an animal.
The animal the Dream Demon was talking about was the snail captain of the ship. From the habit of calling people animals, I got an idea of the monstrous habits of the Dream Demons.
-After we've eaten an animal's dreams, we gain their memories. Thanks to this, we were able to learn a lot about you. Over the past 24 years, we've been making step by step plans after getting over the shock of meeting you.
"Plans?"
-It's our first time encountering animals with as many memories as you. From our perspective, it's like a restaurant. Or perhaps you could call it a banquet… In any case, we were shocked that we weren't alone.
Hmmm.
"Our kids don't know anything about you."
-Well, we are dream parasites after all, so… there's nothing to see. We're able to use your memories to pick the right person. You've never seen us, you can't see us, and even if you do see us, it would be in a dream so you wouldn't think much of it.
For reference, the Dream Demon was currently in the form of the Flame Emperor.
I ordered it.
No matter how fake it was, I couldn't bear to hit Raviel's face. Before becoming my love, Raviel could be treated as a world class treasure just from her looks alone.
-I… Mr. Death King is the first to survive after having your dreams eaten.
The Dream Demon quietly confessed.
-That's why it's so fascinating. How did you know it was a dream? How did you enter this dream in the first place?
"If you read my memories, you'd be able to see for yourself."
-That… strangely enough, I can't read your memories very well. It's like I can only see fragments. It's… very unique in many ways.
The Dream Demon kept looking at me with curiosity in her eyes.
I had a rough understanding of what was happening.
'It's probably because I used the [Dream Appearance] item.'
I was not in my own dream. I was in the mind of the snail captain.
I just used an item to enter the mind of another.
That's why my mind appeared fragmented to the Dream Demon.
'A race that only lives in the dream world.'
How mysterious.
"Well, I guess your illusions don't work on me because of my strong mental power."
-That's odd. I don't think that is the problem....
"I understand that you are a strange race."
I changed the subject.
"So why did you capture the poor sailors and put them to sleep? Because of you, this ship has become a ghost ship. They are all going to die of dehydration."
The Dream Demon hesitated.
When a man with the face of the Flame Emperor made such an expression, vomit and phlegm seemed to want to spew out of me at the same time.
In addition, perhaps because he was an Incubus, his musculature was much more developed than the Flame Emperor. His shoulders had become wider and his chest larger. For some reason, his face seemed to be glowing too.
That was unfortunate.
-Huk!?
"Ah."
When I came to my senses, I realized that my palm was lightly resting against the Dream Demon's cheek.
-Why are you hitting me again!?
"It's just a face that deserves a beating…."
-It was Mr. Death King that told me to take this animal's face!
"Sorry. Anyways, why did you capture a normal ship?"
Instead of getting angry, the Dream Demon continued to hesitate.
-That… I'm not sure if I can answer that. That is… probably an important secret of my race.
"Probably?"
-Yes. We never imagined that there were animals across the ocean. And we didn't know that there could be such delicious animals. That's why… After thinking about it for 24 years, we finally came to a conclusion.
The Dream Demon finally spoke.
-We decided to invade the land you live in.
Invasion.
-This is not the only ship that has been devoured. Currently, all 33 ships crossing the ocean are under our control.
-All of the invading animals have been put to sleep. And our vanguard already set sail 10 days ago. We are in the latter group.
That's why I realized something strange.
'Quest Window.'
A hologram appeared in front of me.
There, the task that needed to be completed on the 35th floor was displayed.
I paid attention to the paragraphs at the bottom.
+
…the new continent is only a new world for the seven races.
Others have already created their homes on that land and are living there. Currently, the feud between the natives and the explorers is on the brink of exploding! Perhaps, a one sided massacre is about to take place.
Invasion. Coexistence. Or maybe expulsion.
The seven races are in danger of extermination. It is up to you to guide them!
※However, failure to deliver could result in the destruction of one or more races.
+
'I see.'
I finally realised.
'It's not the [Natives] of the New Continent that are in danger.'
The quest window clearly stated that 'the seven races are in danger of extermination'.
'It's our kids who might get slaughtered!'
The counterattack of the natives.
That was the crisis of this era.
4.
As soon as I woke up, I told my companions the truth.
The more I spoke, the more serious the expressions of Uburka and the Black Dragon Master became.
"...I see. So it's the complete opposite of the history of our world."
The Black Dragon Master murmured.
"We were entrapped by our prejudice. We thought that it would be the new world that would be invaded, and the natives that would be slaughtered… That's right. If the natives are stronger, then aggression would naturally be reversed."
"It's not just about strength. Ugo"
Uburka frowned.
"There are things in this world that even the strongest warrior can't resist. [Sleep] is one of them. Everyone needs sleep. You said they were Dream Demons… That's a tough race to deal with…."
"Death King. Did you say the invasion has already begun?"
"Yes, senior."
I nodded.
"There are parasites on the crew of a ship that departed ten days ago."
"Is there a way for them to voluntarily wake up from the dream?"
"Supposedly, that is determined by the Dream Demons."
I remembered the conversation I just had.
"They deliberately give happy dreams so that their victims don't wake up. On the contrary, they can also make them wake up early by giving them nightmares. Well, in my case, the Dream Demon took the form of Raviel."
"...that's dangerous."
Shwaa, The boat rocked with the movements of the waves.
In the middle of nowhere in the sea.
None of the dozens of crew members had opened their eyes yet.
"Even those with strong willpower have a hard time resisting the happiness. Imagine falling into a dream in which your [dream] came true… You wouldn't want to escape even if your body died."
"Yes. It would be quietest massacre in history."
The Black Dragon Master clicked her tongue.
"We can't let this happen. We have to move quickly."
"What about these sailors?"
"We can't pretend we didn't see them… We need to save them."
We tied the 32 sailors together with a rope. From a distance, it looked like dried oysters that had been been woven together.
Uburka sat at the end of the rope, and the Black Dragon Master held Uburka's hand tightly.
"...."
Uburka stared intently at the Black Dragon Master's face.
"Mm? What is it, junior's son?"
"It's nothing. Ugor."
Uburka muttered in a soft tone before turning his head away.
Huh?
Maybe this guy….
"How silly. Transfer!"
A total of 35 persons were simultaneously transported by the Black Dragon Master's skill.
Originally, since we were mental bodies, we couldn't directly use skills on someone in this world unless we possessed the body of another.
However, Uburka, the constellation of this world, was able to serve as a bridge. When the Black Dragon Master touched Uburka, and Uburka touched the crew, we were all influenced by the skills effect.
"Good!"
When the Instant Transfer succeeded, the Black Dragon Master's expression became lighter.
The ocean breeze blew her dark hair gently.
"We'll head to the new continent like this. Everyone, old on tight so you don't fall!"
"...."
Uburka kept glancing at the Black Dragon Master's face. The Black Dragon Master herself was too focused on using Instant Transfer to notice. No, perhaps the Black Dragon Master couldn't read the expression on the hobgoblin's face. Because it was difficult to understand the expressions of other races.
'Huh?'
However, I was able to see it clearly.
It felt like…
My romantic senses, which had developed after sharing a century with Raviel, began to tingle.
'Does this child really…?'
While my romance radar was going off, we quickly arrived at the shore. And found a port built there.
It was a pioneering town.
A place where all the explorers, merchants, and soldiers who crossed the ocean with dreams of the new continent gathered.
We landed gently in the town square and looked around.
"...It's quiet."
Too quiet.
"I can't feel any sense of life."
Even though it was a fairly large town, we couldn't hear the sounds of people at all.
Not only was there no sound, there wasn't even a moving shadow on the streets.
A chilling silence filled the air.
It was more like a ghost town.
"Have they already been attacked by the Dream Demons?"
There was a hint of anxiety on the Black Dragon Master's face.
"Probably. But let's explore first."
I entered a nearby building.
Sure enough, I found people sleeping in the bedroom.
"I'm guessing that most if not all of the residents in this town are asleep."
The situation in the other buildings was the same.
At least 500 residents were all asleep.
"Most of them are in bed, but there are a few lying in bars or on the street. It seems that they aimed for the time when most people were vulnerable."
[getid]
"Then the other pioneering towns...."
"They shouldn't be much different. The Dream Demons launched a massive invasion. Unfortunately, quite a few people here have already died of malnutrition."
"If the Dream Demons get to the continent through the crew of that ship, the situation will get out of hand really quickly."
It would spread like an epidemic.
Their children on the continent would fall into an eternal sleep without any way to retaliate.
"...there might be some people who managed to survive the Dream Demons' attack. Wait here, I'll go take a look around the other towns."
The Black Dragon Master disappeared without waiting for a response.
Her dark aura lingered in the air for a moment after she left.
Uburka and I were the only two left in the town square. And Uburka was blankly staring at the place where the Black Dragon Master had just been standing.
'Umm.'
No matter how you looked at it, my radar was right.
"Hey. Uburka."
"Ugor. What is it, Daddy?"
I decided to ask straightforwardly.
"Have you fallen in love with the Black Dragon Master?"
Uburka didn't respond.
The strongest warrior in goblin history, the child who had managed to become a constellation through his own hard work, furrowed his brows and pursed his lips-.
"Daddy...."
Then, he blushed.
"I think I might have fallen in love for the first time."