I Gain Infinite Gold Just By Waiting-Chapter 198: Episode 43_Lord of the Ice Castle (1)

Episode 198

1.

"We regret that a dispute arose between those who serve the same God due to a minor misunderstanding. Hereby, the Temple recognizes the Black Magic Cult as an organization that serves God and declares that the only difference between us lies in the direction of our devotion."

The Pope's announcement was made in the presence of the princess, the saintess, and the imperial knights.

And it was made in the Temple's main sanctuary, in the imperial capital.

Who could have possibly predicted this?

That the princess would once again stand proudly in the very heart of the fallen Empire.

Naturally, since it was an official event, a huge crowd had gathered. Not only the scattered people of the Empire who had been in hiding, but also many from the Allied Nations.

From the Allied Nations' perspective, this was a deeply frustrating occasion. The Pope had accepted the princess's proposal because it suited his interests and would secure his future benefits and prestige, but the Allied Nations had been completely blindsided.

They must have been dying to overturn the whole thing.

No, just sitting back and watching would have been foolish. This was a golden opportunity.

All the remnants of the Empire had gathered in one place. In the imperial capital, no less. They could wipe out all those troublesome leftovers in one fell swoop. It would be a historic event worth recording: the day they eradicated the last vestiges of a fallen Empire.

But they couldn't do it.

The Allied Nations still possessed a vast army and were by no means weak, but they didn't dare to even step forward. It wasn't because they feared the Temple that had just stabbed them in the back. The Temple and the Allied Nations both believed they were strong enough to keep each other in check, which was why they had been able to join hands as equals in the first place.

There was only one reason they couldn't even raise their voices now.

"They said the dragon is the symbol of the Black Magic Cult, right?"

"Why is the dragon backing the Black Magic Cult?"

"At this point, doesn't that mean what the saintess said was true?"

"If the Pope, who went so far as to start a Holy War, suddenly recognizes the Black Magic Cult and makes an official declaration, it has to be true."

"So the conclusion is that the Allied Nations are the ones tied to black mages, and the dragon is supporting the Black Magic Cult to keep them in check?"

No one was unaware of the dragon that had appeared over the imperial capital. And everyone present could see the dragon floating in the sky above them right now.

It was one of the reasons so many people had gathered.

It was also why the Allied Forces couldn't dare to disrupt this event they found so distasteful.

[You have completed a Hidden Mission.]

[You have chosen 'Evil.']

[You have acquired 'The Devil's Gift.']

And so, the second chapter closed, painting a new picture across the continent.

* * *

"Phew."

This time, it hadn't been long—a month, at most.

Compared to the average amount of time he usually spent on the continent, this mission had ended relatively early. Considering the time limit had been ninety days, it was practically like clocking out early.

Even so, the fatigue he felt upon returning was worse than what he usually experienced after a Gold Mission.

"I'm exhausted."

Unlike before, when the crisp exhaust fumes and stale fine dust of the city had actually felt refreshing, now he just wanted to rest. His heavy body was a testament to the severe psychological fatigue he had endured on the continent.

It was all hitting him at once.

And it made sense.

'A dragon and a war. I pretty much checked off every once-in-a-lifetime experience in one go.'

It wasn't his first war. If anything, the battle in the canyon had been more intense, urgent, and thrilling, and he had been more on edge then. But back then, he had led the battle from the shadows with strategy. The hard part had been the burden of his first kill and the question of whether to accept that place as reality or treat it as a game to lessen his guilt.

This time, he had faced an army of three hundred thousand head-on. It hadn't been physically demanding, but the fear of what might have happened if they had all charged him—

More than that, the physical strain he had felt when he met Cassius had been the worst.

'Hwangdo had better grow up just as strong.'

If Hwangdo became strong enough to suppress hundreds of thousands with a single Breath and end a war with one Meteor, he wouldn't regret investing not just tens or hundreds of thousands, but even millions of gold.

"Kyuu?"

Perhaps sensing its master's expectations, Hwangdo, who had accompanied him to the continent, flew around the house, letting out a cheerful cry.

"Huh?"

Only then did Buja really take in Hwangdo's appearance. Seeing it for the first time since the battle in the Forbidden Mountain Range, he felt something was off.

"You look a little different, don't you?"

"Kyuu?"

What was it? Its body hadn't grown noticeably larger. Even with his hands-off approach to raising Hwangdo, he still spent all day with the little thing rubbing against his cheek, so he would have noticed a change in size.

"What's different?"

Its face hadn't changed, and nothing obvious stood out. It was more of a subtle difference you could sense at first glance. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

He was about to give up when Jeong Seora arrived, having called ahead.

"Buja, breaking news! Huh?"

She burst through the door in a hurry, but when Hwangdo ran up to greet her, she tilted her head as well. Of course, having raised Hwangdo for far longer than Buja, her reaction was quite different from his.

"What did you eat over there? Your scales are so glossy."

"Right? It looks different somehow, doesn't it?"

"Yes. The scales look a lot darker."

"Oh!"

It was a simple change. Even someone as inattentive as Buja could sense it because it was such a straightforward, striking difference.

"What the hell?"

He suddenly remembered the dragon heart he had given Hwangdo.

"Ah."

He had told it to eat it, but then he had gotten distracted by the shifting political landscape of the continent and forgotten all about it.

He hurriedly pulled up Hwangdo's status window.

[Gold Dragon]

▶ Grade: Legendary

▶ Name: Hwangdo

▶ Level: 30 (1st Evolution)

▶ Stats: Strength (110), Agility (100,) Stamina (100,) Magic (205)

▷ Currently assimilating the heart of a pureblood Gold Dragon. 2nd Evolution is available. The dragon heart's mana is sealed.

Its stats and level hadn't changed. The explanation made sense of why only its appearance had changed.

'Yeah, no way. If you could just eat a dragon heart and start spamming 9th-circle spells, what kind of game would that be?'

He silently berated himself for briefly indulging in the fantasy that he might be able to absorb at least part of Cassius's mana to raise Hwangdo's level or stats instead of using gold.

There was no way the system would be that generous.

Still, it was a relief. He had been worried that Hwangdo's low level might cause something to go wrong with the heart.

"So how do I do the second evolution?"

[2nd Evolution]

▶ Type: Evolution

▶ Requirement: Gold Dragon / 1st Evolution Complete

▶ Difficulty: ★★★

▶ Objective: Collect 100 hearts each from 500 different types of monsters.

▶ Reward: 2nd Evolution Quest Complete

[Materials Required for 2nd Evolution]

1. Level: 50 (Fulfilled by other means)

2. Dragonkin's Breath: 50

3. 2nd Evolution Quest: Incomplete

4. Gold: 1,000,000

The helpful hologram was always more than happy to be ruthlessly precise when it came to anything requiring gold.

He turned away from the screen at the utterly off-putting requirements.

"This is insane."

The only silver lining was that, thanks to the dragon heart's mana, he didn't have to raise Hwangdo to level 50 himself. But that didn't feel like much of a perk. He would have had to increase its level sooner or later anyway. If there was no need to evolve right this second, it was six of one, half a dozen of the other.

No, if anything, it was like the system was tricking its customer with terms that sounded better than they really were.

'Since I don't even know what Dragonkin's Breath is, I'll shelve this for now.'

Let's say he somehow slogged through that ridiculous-looking evolution quest and managed to scrimp and save enough gold to pay the million. It wasn't just a hypothetical; he actually had over a million gold again, so if he could just fulfill the third condition, he could pay immediately. But he had absolutely no information on where to even start gathering "Dragonkin's Breath."

Unlike the first evolution, the system hadn't just handed it to him.

Hwangdo's growth was always welcome. After seeing its performance on the continent, its growth potential, and Cassius's power, he had seriously considered investing more than fifty percent of his earnings into it, not just paying lip service.

But he wasn't going to bet his life on it.

"We'll evolve you later. You're not hurt or anything, right?"

"Kyuu!"

Hwangdo replied with a vigorous cry. Its body wasn't suffering; the mana was simply sealed away, and Hwangdo itself was brimming with vitality. He decided to leave it at that.

More than anything, Buja was itching to open "The Devil's Gift," the reward he had received for completing the final Hidden Mission.

"If you're done, my breaking news comes first!"

But achieving that wish wouldn't be easy.

"Hold on, I still have one thing left."

He gave Jeong Seora a sheepish smile as she grabbed his cheeks and locked eyes with him, but unfortunately, there were no other options.

"Is it me, or is it the reward?"

"I'd rather open this later, maybe while I'm soaking in the bath."

It wasn't that he wanted to avoid upsetting his girlfriend.

He and Jeong Seora had known each other for almost two years now.

While they hadn't spent a huge amount of time together, she was by far the biggest part of his daily life, and he knew her well enough by now.

"Then please, tell me. I'm curious what kind of breaking news could be this important."

Jeong Seora, for her part, understood Kim Buja just as well. She knew exactly how important his settlement time was to him.

Normally, even if she knew he was back, she would wait patiently without interrupting him. She always had.

She never got upset, even if he was late to reply.

This time, however, she wanted to tell him this breaking news more than anything else.

That meant it was truly important.

It also meant she was certain he would find it more interesting than his reward.

He was intrigued.

The higher the expectation, the higher the bar.

Even so, Seora didn't hesitate as she spoke.

"A dungeon appeared in the Arctic."

"What the…?"

"An Ice Castle. It's a massive theme dungeon on Earth, but with no entrance."

Though her tone was slightly excited, her expression was more serious than ever.

"Exploration is impossible. Satellite scans are impossible. We can't confirm if anyone within nineteen miles of the dungeon is alive or dead."

"Hm."

Hearing the reason, he could only nod.

"And an alert popped up. For every single player."

At the same time, Seora unfolded a hologram.

As always, the reason she'd rushed over to tell him before he could check for himself was that the hologram explained it best.

"This time, it's not an event. It's an announcement."

The hologram spelled it out.

Specifically for the players.

"The appearance of the Ice Castle. Recommended difficulty: 8-Star. Estimated level of the Ice Lord: 86."

"…You've got to be kidding me."

It came with a warning, implying that everything they had called a "catastrophe" until now had been nothing of the sort.

* * *