The nights in the desert were usually cold and chilly, and there had been instances of the temperature dropping below zero. However, White felt hotter as it ran, as if it were being steamed.

“Gorok!” White roared, which meant, ‘It’s hot!’

Kang Yoon-Soo curtly replied, “Keep going.”

“Urnokra!” White roared, running even faster.

They were approaching a mountain that was emitting a great amount of steam. It was the Shariyer Volcano—and it was an active volcano. The Shariyer Volcano was the reason why they felt so hot even though it was supposed to be cold at night in the desert.

“Climb the volcano,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Karutorug!” White roared, wincing in fear. It was not simply because of the heat; rather, the werewolf was scared because of the fact that the aura of an immensely strong being emanated from the active volcano.

“It’s alright,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Radirujas?” White asked, which meant, ‘Is it really alright?’

Kang Yoon-Soo nodded and said, “You won’t feel any pain if you die here… because you’ll immediately melt.”

“Urnokra!” White roared and cursed its master. However, it did not stop climbing the volcano with its life on the line.

Hot steam rose out of the cracks in the rough terrain, and molten lava flowed through in certain places.

“Kyaruruk! Kyarururuk!”

Many dangerous monsters lived in the active volcano. There were large rhinoceros-like monsters with tough horns, lizards that consumed the volcano’s fire, and warriors wielding fiery swords. 

There were also a few mysterious, immaterial creatures made of fire that chased after Kang Yoon-Soo and White. They screamed in delight, “Food! Let’s burn them to a crisp and eat them!”

Kang Yoon-Soo pulled out his crossbow as he rode atop White. It was the crossbow he had found at the temple of Nahilen. The crossbow left behind by Nahilen was called the Blazing Crossbow; it had the ability to absorb the surrounding heat to materialize a fiery bolt. The Blazing Crossbow did not require a physical bolt to be loaded as long as Kang Yoon-Soo was surrounded by the blazing heat of the active volcano. As such, he continuously fired bolts against the chasing monsters.

Ping! Kwachik! Pukeok!

The creatures collapsed one by one after being hit in the head. The ones that had been critically hit immediately fell down, but the ones that managed to withstand the first shots charged even more intensely toward Kang Yoon-Soo and White.

Kang Yoon-Soo summoned Acle.

“Ouch! H-hot! Y-you… You! Are you crazy?! How dare you summon me in a place like this?! I’m going back to the summon dimension!” Acle threw a tantrum as he tried to run away. The blazing heat of the active volcano was no different from hell itself for an ice spirit like Acle.

Kang Yoon-Soo took out the Frozen Crown from his backpack.

“T-that’s!” Acle exclaimed, gulping greedily.

Kang Yoon-Soo threw the Frozen Crown at Acle and said, “I’ll lend it to you.”

Acle received the Frozen Crown and hurriedly put it on his head. The ice spirit suddenly let out an evil laugh and screamed, “Hahaha! It’s my world now! Ice Storm!”

An intense and frighteningly cold storm suddenly materialized out of nowhere as soon as Acle waved his hand. It devoured the flaming monsters that were following them from behind.

“W-what is this?!”

“I’ve never felt something like this before!”

The flaming monsters froze as soon as they were hit by the storm Acle had summoned. They were quite weak against the cold; they had never felt such a thing in their lives, as they had never left the active volcano since birth.

Kang Yoon-Soo pulled out the Sword of Revelation and cut down the flaming monsters.

Kwachik!

[You have killed a mysterious, immaterial creature of the Shariyer Volcano.]

[You have found a clue about changing into the Ancient Explorer class.]

[Your level has risen by 2.]

Acle gathered his magic as the Frozen Crown explosively amplified his powers. Numerous icicles the size of greatswords fell from the sky as they massacred the flaming monsters; the monsters left behind their bright red cores whenever they died.

‘It’s useful material. It seems I can finally make a useful item for Sally,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought as he collected all of the flaming cores without leaving a single one behind. Then, he took the Frozen Crown off Acle’s head, who had been excitedly shooting his magic off left and right while laughing like a maniac.

“Gah! Give me my crown back!” Acle raged, throwing a tantrum.

Kang Yoon-Soo stored the Frozen Crown in his backpack and said, “Help me again next time.”

“Hmpf! No way!” Acle said, puffing his cheeks up and disappearing into the summon dimension.

White’s movement started to slow down as it huffed and puffed the higher they climbed up the volcano. Every step White took felt as if it were stepping on the embers of coals, as the heat sizzled its paws.

“Over there,” Kang Yoon-Soo said. He pointed at the blazing red peak of the volcano and placed a cube of ice made by Acle into the werewolf’s mouth. Then, he took out a bottle of alcohol and gulped its contents down.

“Garocomu?” White asked as it chewed the ice made by the Ice Spirit. It meant, ‘what are you going to do over there?’

“I’m going to steal something,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

A quartz cave with lava flowing across its floor came into view as they neared the peak of the volcano. Iit was certain that anything or anyone would instantly melt if they lost their footing and fell into the river of lava.

“It’s a human! A human and a werewolf came here!”

“It’s a man too! What will he do if the owner of the lair gets angry?”

“It’s none of our business, so pay no heed!”

Multiple Fire Spirits showed up at the entrance of the cave; they were Salamanders. However, as opposed to Sally, who was a little child, the Fire Spirits of the cave looked like fully grown, mature women. The Salamanders stared curiously at Kang Yoon-Soo.

“I want to go inside. Let me in,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

The Fire Spirits grimaced as if they found his words unpleasant.

“How dare a meager creature like him think of entering the lair?”

“Oh my! This human doesn’t know how to value his own life!”

“The fact that you stepped in here is arrogant enough! Begone at once!”

The Salamanders threatened Kang Yoon-Soo, wielding fiery hammers and bows they had crafted themselves from their own bodies over a long period of time. The weapons were so powerful that a single arrow could destroy a large boulder just by hitting it.

“Summon Sally,” Kang Yoon-Soo muttered.

Sally suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and the Fire Spirits drastically changed their stances as the young girl appeared.

“Oh my, it’s a young spirit?”

“Hey, cute little miss, where did you come from?”

“I want to give a gift whenever I see small, cute children like you! What do you think of this bow?”

Sally’s eyes were wide open with shock as she exclaimed, “There are so many unnis like me!”

The Fire Spirits all laughed out loud.

“So you’re a Summoner who’s traveling with a cute spirit?”

“We can’t kill someone who has made a contract with one of our own.”

“We’ll let it slide this time and let you pass, but we’ll kill you if you ever come here again.”

Of course, Kang Yoon-Soo was not a Summoner. A Summoner made contracts with spirits that lived deep within the embrace of nature, but Kang Yoon-Soo had not made a contract; rather, he had created a spirit by himself.

“Let’s go,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“Hing… Sally wants to play with these unnis…” Sally said with teary eyes, but she nonetheless walked alongside Kang Yoon-Soo.

White started to growl the deeper they went inside the cave; it felt traces of a powerful being from the deepest part of the cave. Intimidated by the aura of the powerful being, it started to slow down.

Kang Yoon-Soo turned around and said, “It’s fine; the owner of the lair currently isn’t here.”

They reached a point where the path divided into multiple tunnels. Sally pointed at the left path and shouted excitedly, “Papa! Papa! Look! There are so many shiny things over there!”

There was a mountain of coins in the direction Sally was pointing at; various kinds of expensive-looking equipment peeked out of the mountain of gold.

However, Kang Yoon-Soo shook his head and said, “We’ll die if we steal that.”

“Why?” Sally asked, tilting her head.

“The owner of this lair placed a curse on them,” Kang Yoon-Soo explained.

“Who’s the owner of this lair?” Sally asked innocently.

“You don’t have to know,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied as he walked into the heart of the lair. The blazing heat grew stronger and the soles of his shoes slowly started to disintegrate.

White stuck its tongue out and collapsed from exhaustion, growling, “Ramirutska…”

“Papa! Doggy collapsed!” Sally exclaimed.

“I know,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied, returning White to the summon dimension. He tried his best to hold it in and not show it, but he was reaching his limits as well.

The only one who grew more energetic as the heat grew more intense was Sally. She exclaimed, “Papa! Papa! Are you tired?”

“Yes,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

Sally looked at Kang Yoon-Soo worriedly and approached him with her blazing body, exclaiming, “Papa! Papa! Sally will give you a big hug!”

“Stay away,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

“W-why…?” Sally asked with tears in her eyes.

Kang Yoon-Soo said in a low, tired voice, “It’ll be hot if you come near me.”

“Waaaah! I hate you!” Sally cried out as she ran back to the summon dimension.

Kang Yoon-Soo walked deeper into the cave alone. The heat reached a point where it felt as if his skin would be fried. He thought, ‘The tips of my finger are already burnt.’

He was already limping from exhaustion, but he could not grab the cave walls for support, as they would instantly burn his whole hand if he did. He dropped the alcohol bottle onto the ground; the bottle melted as soon as it hit the ground and shattered into pieces.

Drip… Drip…

Blood started to drip down Kang Yoon-Soo’s nose; he could not open his eyes, as it felt as if his eyeballs were drying up from the heat. However, the blazing heat did not show any signs of subsiding.

“Kagryaaaah!” A monster wielding a greatsword made of fire roared, approaching Kang Yoon-Soo. It was a Fire Ogre with dark red skin and a muscular body. It charged fiercely at Kang Yoon-Soo.

“…I guess I have no choice,” Kang Yoon-Soo muttered. He pulled out one of the trophies he had obtained from hunting a boss. It was a small fragment of bluish crystal.

[Frost Demon’s Winter Fragment]

A jewel fragment that contains cold and corrupted power. Its use is unknown.

It was the trophy Kang Yoon-Soo had obtained after killing the Frost Demon. He placed the jewel fragment in his mouth and swallowed it.

[You have consumed the Frost Demon’s Winter Fragment.]

[An unknown power is welling up from inside your body.]

[A ruthless curse will assail you every night for thirty nights.]

Kang Yoon-Soo gathered his breath. The blazing heat that wanted to consume him slowly died down, and powerful strength welled up inside him.

“Karyaoooook!” the Fire Ogre roared.

“Abyssal Sword,” Kang Yoon-Soo muttered.

The two clashed, and Kang Yoon-Soo leaped up in the air and stabbed his sword into the Fire Ogre’s neck.

“Kryaaaoooot!” the Fire Ogre screamed, slamming the hilt of its sword at Kang Yoon-Soo’s waist.

Kang Yoon-Soo firmly held onto his sword despite the pain and pulled it out in an arcing sweep; as the sword emerged, it tore apart the Fire Ogre’s jaw.

[You have killed the Fire Ogre.]

[Your level has risen by 6.]

“Cough!” Kang Yoon-Soo coughed out blood, and he could feel the eerie, unpleasant curse spreading throughout his body. ‘I guess I won’t be sleeping for a month.’ he thought, clenching his fist.

However, he could afford not to sleep, and he could just stay awake for a month to fight the curse. ‘It’s the last and final life. I have to make sure everything is perfect.’

Kang Yoon-Soo walked deeper into the lair. There, he saw a circular object buried under a pile of rocks surrounded by lava; he could not hastily grab the object, as a high-grade protective seal had been placed on it. He thought, ‘I would’ve sent Shaneth or Sally here instead if this seal hadn’t been here.’

He then began rearranging the magic surrounding the seal. It was a piece of cake compared to the life when he had lived as a Rogue and snuck into the Rogue Master’s tomb. He easily undid the seal.

‘I found it.’ Kang Yoon-Soo was finally able to steal the treasure he had been aiming for.

***

The news of the ancient king Kartheon’s return spread like wildfire across the desert.

Five thousand Fire Trolls and elves had gathered in one spot. However, their army had been hastily formed and there was no proper command structure in place, and some had even grumbled about the sudden conscription.

“Do you know how many mouths I have to feed every day?! Why do I have to be conscripted into this war?!”

“What are you talking about? We have to stop the enemy before they create more victims!”

“But only the elves have died, right?!”

“What did you just say?!”

The trolls and elves who usually got along had gotten into a heated argument. The leaders of the respective races tried to calm things down, but it quickly became impossible to calm down their people as tensions flared and both races were severely agitated.

Shaneth was getting pushed around, holding on for dear life in an attempt not to fall and become a victim of the stampeding crowd. As she struggled within the crowd, she muttered, “They managed to gather more than we expected.”

“The die has been cast, and we just have to wait and see how that punk will calm this ruckus down,” Henrick replied.

“It is too noisy,” Iris, who had much more sensitive hearing than the other two, complained. She covered her ears with her hands.

A brawl broke out among the agitated crowd, and the two races started to throw curses at each other.

Henrick scratched his cheek and said, “This… I think it’ll be difficult for even that punk to fix this situation…”

“Why? If it’s Kang Yoon-Soo, he’ll definitely fix this easily, just like he has all the previous times,” Shaneth replied with a frown.

“What can he do against an angry mob? Public speaking isn’t like hunting or taking care of bandits; it’s a completely different thing,” Henrick replied. He suddenly turned toward Iris, asking with a grimace, “Hey, what have you been doing all this time, hugging that thing like that?”

Iris looked up. She was tightly hugging a large basket. Shaneth asked, “What’s inside that basket, unni?”

“I do not know. Kang Yoon-Soo told me to make sure to keep it safe,” Iris replied.

“We’ll find out if we open it,” Henrick said as he opened the basket. A large egg was inside.

“What kind of egg is this?” Iris asked.

“I’m not sure,” Shaneth replied.

The trio tilted their heads, wondering just what the egg could be.

***

A large altar had been placed in front of the five thousand troops. They had been unable to find a proper podium in time, so they had substituted it with an altar; a voice-amplifying spell had been cast on it that would amplify the voice of the speaker on it.

“Everyone! Be quiet! The goddess’ groom who will lead our troops will soon speak!” Heron shouted as loudly as he could. However, none of the crowd seemed to be interested in listening to anything he said.

Kang Yoon-Soo suddenly walked up to the altar and said, “May I have your attention, please.”

However, the crowd paid no attention to him, as they had with Heron. In fact, his low voice was overridden by the noise made by the rowdy crowd.

Then, Kang Yoon-Soo silently pointed toward something. Only a few in the crowd paid any attention to where he was pointing, but the rest followed suit when they heard the panicked shouts from the people who had looked.

A large shadow suddenly covered the thousands of troops who had gathered. They all looked up at it.

“Eh? Aaah! Aaaaaaaaaaah!”

“H-how can this be?!”

All of the troops felt intense fear, and their instincts were screaming at them to run away in that instant. However, their overwhelming fear paralyzed them in place.

Thud!

The ground shook as the large creature the shadow belonged to landed. A sandstorm blew as it lightly flapped its wings.

The red dragon that ruled the skies glared at the large group with hostility in its eyes. The dragon, Ignus, roared in a loud voice that rang throughout the desert, “Where is the bastard who stole my child?!”

Shaneth was ghastly pale as she looked at the egg in the basket and murmured, “Don’t tell me… This egg is…?”

Iris started crying, and Henrick glared at Kang Yoon-Soo seriously with hostility in his eyes. “I’ll kill that punk with my own hands one day, I swear it.”