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Kim Hajun stood at the entrance to a mess hall. His gaze swept across the interior of the building before he took a step inside. Although the food here wasn’t as good as a restaurant’s meal, it was cheap, nutritious, and right next to a wooden tablet. It was also one of the better places to gather a wide-range of general information for free. He could play an information guild for the latest rumors that’ve been spread, but some things were better discovered by himself. Kim Hajun got on the line for food and focused on listening. As he concentrated, the jumble of noise in the hall was reduced to individual sentences.
“Extra rice just for you.”
“Everyone knows jellyfish are the superior animal.”
“The Extreme Heat Clan is wild. Do you think they’re still taking applications?”
“Even if they were, they wouldn’t even take a second look at yours. I bet they’ll recruit explorers only.”
Kim Hajun’s face remained expressionless as he advanced down the line. The Extreme Heat Clan was standing out? It wasn’t time for that yet, the Oebu Sin haven’t even made their presence known. In that case, Vur’s group must’ve done something to ruin the current timeline once again. Perhaps Tafel was the culprit this time; after all, Kim Hajun had seen her refining orichalcum with her bare hands. Her hands manipulated her flames, so it was technically the truth.
“I can’t believe the lords were beaten senseless by one guy.”
“Hey, don’t say it out loud. You know how prideful those elemental guild members are. If they hear you, they’ll pick a fight.”
Kim Hajun fumbled the tray he had just picked up, barely snatching it with his fingers to stabilize it just in time. He took in a deep breath through his nose and brought the tray closer to his body. There was something weird amongst the sentences he had just heard. The lords were beaten senseless by one guy? Impossible…, right? Kim Hajun walked along the line and pointed at the food items he wanted: rice, fried tofu, and fried chicken wings. Three bowls were placed on his tray, and he grabbed his utensils before heading in the direction of the person speaking nonsense.
“Even if an elemental guild member is here, do you think they’d really pick a fight in the mess hall after their bosses had their asses kicked? You need to chill, fam.”
Kim Hajun placed his tray on the table beside the man who had just spoken, causing him and his friend to flinch. Kim Hajun took a seat and turned his head towards the startled man. “You said something about the lords being defeated?”
The man cleared his throat and scanned Kim Hajun from top to bottom. When the lack of a guild crest became apparent, the man exhaled and patted his chest. “You startled me, dude,” he said. “But, yeah, haven’t you heard? The lords all gathered on the fifth floor, and then they were beaten senseless by a dragon.”
“The lords were all gathered?” Kim Hajun asked. “Why?”
“Who knows what’s in those guys’ brains?” the man said and shrugged. “Maybe they were planning on blowing up the tower or something. It’s not important why they were gathered but what happened after.”
“You said a dragon beat them senseless?”
“Exactly,” the man said and used his chopsticks to take one of Kim Hajun’s pieces of fried tofu. He popped it into his mouth and chewed while speaking. “Don’t ask me why because I don’t know, but they must’ve provoked a dragon or something, and it beat the snot out of them. The Flame Lord summoned huge tornados made of fire, but the dragon sneezed, and the tornados disappeared. The Shadow Lord tried to sneak behind the dragon, but it farted and blew him away.”
Kim Hajun stared at the man. He had all the makings of an unreliable narrator, but the things he mentioned did seem possible if Vur was the dragon involved. “Did you witness this yourself?”
“Of course,” the man said and took another piece of Kim Hajun’s fried tofu. “You should get some sauce for this.” He waved the tofu around before stuffing it into his mouth. “I was coming back from a day of hard mining to train my ore-collecting skills, and I happened to witness the epic battle—if you could call it that—with my own eyes. Are you doubting me after being shameless enough to sit next to me and demand the info I risked my life for for free?”
Kim Hajun resisted the urge to punch the man reaching for another one of his fried tofu slices. “I wasn’t doubting you,” Kim Hajun said. “It’s just really unbelievable. The lords are the strongest people in the tower, and they couldn’t defeat one dragon while working together?”
“It happened,” the man said and shrugged, a small piece of tofu falling out of his mouth as he spoke. He brushed it off his lap, causing the piece to land on Kim Hajun’s shoe. “You can ask anyone in the tower. It didn’t happen too long ago, just a couple of hours, but I guarantee everyone will know about it within a few days. Anyway, let me continue my story. Where was I? Right, after the Shadow Lord was defeated by a fart, the Water Lord created a bubble of water around himself, but the dragon controlled the Water Lord’s water, and the Water Lord drowned in his own defensive skill.”
Kim Hajun’s face twitched.
“The Earth Lord also lost control of his own skills, and he was eaten by the ground,” the man said and clicked his tongue a few times as if he were disappointed in the Earth Lord. “The Martial Lord worked together with the Frost Lord and the Lightning Lord, but the dragon defeated them all with a single slap. He even annihilated the Martial Lord’s soul. Man, you should’ve seen it. It was incredible.”
“What about the Light Lord?” Kim Hajun asked and clenched his hand. “Was she there?”
“Yeah, she was there, yeah,” the man said and nodded twice. “She and the Wind Lord, they were so impressed by the dragon that they surrendered and joined his clan without a fight.” The man exhaled and snatched another piece of Kim Hajun’s tofu. “If only I were a dragon, that could’ve been me up there.”