Episode 10
I didn’t know what he had prayed for, but his heart had undoubtedly reached me.
‘Ah…!’
It was fleeting and faint, but I felt it, a distinct sensation. Like a single drop of water landing in a long-parched bowl.
Flash!
I mustered the last of my strength, and light emanated from my human form.
The man, who had been praying with his eyes closed, opened them in surprise. Blinded by the light, he quickly shut them again, shielding his eyes with his hand.
“What was that?”
‘He should have continued praying. Why did he open his eyes? He’s ruining the moment.’
The light slowly faded as his concentration wavered.
‘His prayer was quite potent.’
I was secretly impressed.
“Do you have any religious affiliation?”
“Excuse me?”
“No, it’s just…”
However, I was disappointed by the brevity of his prayer.
‘Well, you can’t expect a full stomach on the first bite.’
He rubbed his eyes, blinking repeatedly as if trying to clear his vision.
I ignored him and focused on eating.
Munch, munch, munch, munch.
Devotion and prayers aside, I was famished. As the human saying goes, “Even Mount Kumgang is best appreciated after a meal.” I continued to savor the food.
“What… just happened?”
I shrugged, taking another bite of rice, a spoonful of soup, and a sip of wine.
“What do you mean? Your prayer worked.”
“…”
“What did you pray for?”
He stared at me, his expression bewildered, as if he had seen a ghost.
“Judging by our connection, you must have prayed for me. Well, I received your sincerity. However, next time, please make it longer and deeper. This is a matter of urgency.”
It seemed that human cuisine had evolved alongside human civilization during my absence.
‘Why is the food so flavorful and… delicious?’
“What is this dish made of?”
I picked up a piece of food with my chopsticks and asked him. There were many dishes I didn’t recognize.
Thud.
He had been staring at me silently, but at my question, he suddenly slammed his hands on the table and stood up.
…And a few minutes later.
‘What kind of person is he!’
I was being laid down on a long, plush sofa, not made of animal hide but incredibly comfortable.
“Wait! Wait! Are you crazy? Have you lost your mind!”
I hadn’t even finished my meal.
‘Don’t they say even a dog shouldn’t be disturbed while eating!’
He had grabbed my hands before I could react.
And his subsequent actions were truly outrageous.
“Wait! Stop it!”
He pinned me down… and started groping me, trying to remove my clothes.
“This is not what I transformed for! You vile creature! How dare you violate a dragon after witnessing my divine power!”
What had become of this world?
“There are limits to the decline of morality! You’ll be struck by lightning!”
He was truly insane.
I had been so grateful for the delicious meal, the sincere prayer, and the gradual return of my powers, but his sudden actions were beyond comprehension.
‘Oh dear! Is he truly mad!’
Dragons could transform into any gender they desired, and they occasionally mated with horses to produce celestial steeds or seduced human women to give birth to heroes.
‘But even so, why so suddenly?’
However, such unions were always guided by divine will, and most importantly, they required appropriate timing and location! Timing and location!
I was furious.
“Are you out of your mind?”
The problem was, the power I had regained was like a single drop of water in a dried-up well, insufficient to resist his strength.
‘Is he suddenly overcome with a desire to get pregnant?’
It was common for dragon offspring to overthrow corrupt dynasties and establish new ones. In fact, there were even dragons specifically tasked with siring children with humans for this purpose.
Having witnessed the manifestation of a dragon, it was understandable for a human to desire a dragon child.
‘But even so, why with a male body?’
His desire to have a child while in a male body was rather peculiar.
‘It’s not entirely impossible to impregnate him, but I refuse! You fool!’
I understood his ambition to be the protagonist, or at least the father, of a founding myth. However, granting him a dragon child would bring harm to the world, not salvation. No matter how much he pleaded, it was impossible.
“Stop it! Stop!”
After all, the line between a hero who saves the world and a villain who destroys it is thin indeed.
“I understand your desire, but this is not how it works! I’ll reward you generously in other ways! Please stop!”
But my pleas fell on deaf ears. His relentless hands untied my sash, removed my robe, and reached inside.
“…”
“Oh dear! You fool! Do you want to die? Do you truly have a death wish!”
I felt a shiver run down my nonexistent scales as his warm hands explored my body.
‘You scoundrel!’
I was enraged.
‘I can’t kill him, but I can’t let him continue either…!’
However, I needed his help to regain my full powers, so I couldn’t simply cripple or kill him.
‘Should I really impregnate him…!’
Moreover, I had promised to grant him a wish if he helped me ascend.
“If you continue, I won’t hold back!”
I could only resort to verbal threats, despite the situation.
“So, if you don’t stop this outrageous behavior-!”
And then it happened.
“…”
He had been staring at my naked human form, but suddenly, his face turned pale. He quickly redressed me and tied my sash tightly.
Tug!
“Ugh!”
He tied it so tightly that I felt like my waist would snap. I gasped for air.
“…”
He then reached for the black cylindrical object I had emerged from and kept looking back and forth between it and me.
“I’m sorry. Why did I do that? I’m so sorry…”
After a long silence, the shameless fool apologized, his expression filled with terror, as if he had seen a ghost.
“How did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“That light… how did you create that light?”
“Light?”
I couldn’t understand what he was talking about.
“What light? Oh, the light that emanated from my body?”
***
Joon-wan didn’t know.
He didn’t know that he had almost been impregnated, and that he might have conceived a child destined to establish a new kingdom, like Gyeon Hwon of Later Baekje.
Perhaps it was better for his sanity to remain oblivious to the fact that he might have become the first man in history to carry a dragon child, had the dragon before him harbored malicious intentions.
‘What have I done?’
Even he thought his actions were insane.
‘I’ve truly lost it.’
However, he couldn’t pinpoint the moment he went mad. He had experienced too many symptoms suggestive of schizophrenia in the past week.
‘What should I do?’
Perhaps it started from the moment he saw the giant earthworm ascending to the heavens.
However, he was far too rational and logical to simply accept that he was crazy.
It happened before he reached the sofa.
Driven by the bizarre situation of having to offer a ritual to a strange woman, Joon-wan had hesitantly attempted a prayer, something he had never done before in his life.
Flash!
Light suddenly emanated from the body of the unidentified woman who had barged into his apartment and demanded a ritual offering.
Flash!
Could you believe it?
‘Believe this?’
No sane person could. Joon-wan couldn’t take it anymore. His knowledge and understanding, accumulated over thirty years of life, clashed with the reality unfolding before his eyes.
‘What’s easier to accept, “I’m crazy” or “She’s a con artist”? Obviously, the latter.’
That was why, despite knowing the potential consequences, he had carried the woman, who hadn’t even finished her meal, to the sofa and impulsively searched her body.
However, when he forcibly untied her sash and removed her robe-like garment, he was greeted by unexpected nudity.
‘Where are her undergarments?’
He felt his vision blurring as they struggled.
He had assumed she was wearing something underneath.
‘Why isn’t she wearing anything?’
Surely, she should have at least been wearing undergarments.
“This is not what I transformed for! You vile creature! How dare you violate a dragon after witnessing my divine power!”
She screamed, but he wanted to scream himself.
‘Why! Why isn’t she wearing anything!’
This wasn’t what he wanted to see.
‘Why is she doing this to me? Why!’
Had she deliberately chosen to be naked, anticipating a body search?
However, having already drawn his sword, he had to cut something, even if it was a radish. He closed his eyes tightly and groped her body, feeling like the worst person in the world.
But there was nothing there. His hands didn’t detect any paint or prosthetics.
‘This is impossible!’
He clutched his head in despair. There was no logical explanation.
‘This is insane!’
He couldn’t understand how she had produced the light.
It had to be a trick.
It had to be.
Finding nothing, Joon-wan redressed her, tightly securing her unusual garment with the sash.
‘What should I do?’
The woman looked at him with a puzzled expression.
He then picked up the black tumbler that had caught his eye and checked its contents. He shook it, but there was no earthworm inside.
‘So…’
He rubbed his face with his hands.
‘…It’s the earthworm.’