Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Hunting

In the woods of the Dream Realm, Dorothy, who had taken on the form of a dragon, was soaring among the towering trees, searching for any possible secret transmissions within the Dream Realm.

“Never give up~♬ Turn into a dragon~♬ To the alliance~♬ Find friends~♬”

Humming a cheerful tune, Dorothy flew through the scattered light balls in the forest. She touched the various small light balls floating in the air, reading the information within them. However, they were all mundane matters from ordinary people’s lives, filled with trivial details. After reading these useless pieces of fragmented information, Dorothy felt her mind become jumbled, and she couldn’t even hum anymore.

Especially in this era, the lives of countless common people were extremely painful. These fragmented bits of information contained many dark thoughts, which made Dorothy feel unwell. Thus, she immediately stopped collecting this aimless and haphazard information.

‘Very annoying… My mental energy is almost depleted… But I haven’t collected anything yet…’

Dorothy thought to herself. According to “The Dream Explorer’s Record,” maintaining a morph as a dragon required mental energy. The stronger the mental energy, the longer the morph could be sustained, and the more time one had to explore the Dream Realm.

Currently, Dorothy had not yet entered the extraordinary realm, and her mental energy was only that of an ordinary person. Her morph couldn’t last long. It had been about ten minutes since she entered the Dream Realm, and she already felt a sense of dizziness, clearly indicating that her mental energy was insufficient.

‘Ten to fifteen minutes each night isn’t enough; I can’t explore much distance… Indeed, I need to advance soon, right?’

Dorothy pondered with some distress when she noticed something unusual ahead.

…

In a certain part of the Dream Realm forest, the hunt continued. The hyenas relentlessly pursued their prey, the white fox, closing the gap between them.

“Give up, little one in front. Stop, hand over what you found, and explain the origins of your morphing spell. Perhaps we might spare you. Otherwise, if we catch you and locate your dream cocoon, the consequences won’t just be losing your morph…”

A hyena spoke loudly in the common language, while in response, the white fox emitted a delicate voice from afar.

“Shut up… bandits…”

“Hmph… pounce on her…” Hearing the white fox, the lead hyena snorted coldly, then, along with its companions, accelerated towards the white fox. The white fox stumbled over a tree root while dodging one of the hyenas, falling to the ground. Seizing this opportunity, many hyenas pounced at the fallen white fox.

At that moment, a distant, ancient chant echoed through the forest.

Deep… Ancient… Long… Distant… This chant seemed to come from the other end of time, reverberating through the woods.

This sudden movement immediately caught the attention of the hyenas and the fox. They turned to look in the direction of the chant, witnessing an unforgettable scene.

In the dimness of the forest, wide wings spread out, and a majestic figure emerged from the darkness, rushing towards them. The massive body rapidly approached them.

The hyenas stood frozen, staring at the suddenly appearing figure. The lead hyena, after a brief moment of shock, stammered.

“A dragon? What kind of joke is this? A dragon!?! How could there be a dragon in this forest!?”

Isn’t this creature supposed to have long been extinct, existing only in ancient histories? Could there still be a dragon form among the forest creatures? And the morphing of a dragon—hadn’t anyone ever heard of such a thing before!

Or could it be an illusion? An image formed by the memories of ancient creatures preserved in the forest.

Yes! That must be it!

The extraordinary sight left the lead hyena stunned, his mind racing to find explanations for this bizarre phenomenon from his common knowledge.

“Mr. Avery, that dragon is flying this way! What should we do?!” The hyena leader, still frozen, tried desperately to explain the situation, but his companions grew anxious and asked urgently.

Facing the inquiries of his subordinates, the hyena named Avery calmed himself, then looked at the approaching giant shadow calmly and said.

“Ho, everyone, stay calm, don’t panic. How could there possibly be a dragon in this world? Even in the Dream Realm, there shouldn’t be any. This must be an image created by the residual memories of ancient dragons in the Dream Realm. As we all know, sometimes powerful entities leave informational images in the Dream Realm, and they pose no danger…”

Then, Avery cleared his throat and addressed the other hyenas loudly.

“Gentlemen! We’re lucky tonight! We’ve encountered an illusion of ancient dragon memory fragments, and it’s flying toward us. Be ready to jump and attack it together. It will disperse like other illusions, leaving behind an information aggregate. These are fragments of ancient race memories, potentially holding powerful secrets. We’re truly fortunate!”

Avery declared to the surrounding hyenas, who nodded in understanding and agreed.

“Oh… That makes sense. Mr. Avery, as expected, your insight is broad.”

“I see, so that’s why there couldn’t be a dragon in the forest. It’s just an illusion.”

“Memory fragments of an ancient race? Even selling them would fetch a high price…”

…

The hyenas chattered excitedly. Avery’s theory was quickly accepted by them, as none of them had ever seen a dragon in the Dream Realm before, making them eager to believe this explanation.

Next, all the hyenas watched the approaching dragon, their excitement growing. They knew the value of ancient race memory fragments.

“Gentlemen, it’s coming. Prepare to attack. Don’t rush to absorb the memory crystals. The poison recognition knowledge from ancient times is too strong for us to handle…”

Under Avery’s command, all the hyenas crouched low, assuming an attacking stance, ready to leap into the sky and scatter the dragon. Coincidentally, the dragon-like “illusion” lowered its altitude, nearly skimming the ground as it flew straight towards them, drawing closer and closer, its immense body exerting increasing pressure.

Finally, the gray-black dragon’s body rushed past the hyenas, and they began to act.

“Attack!”

Following Avery’s order, the hyenas leaped forward, pouncing at the dragon flying close to the ground. Fangs and claws attacked the rock-like scales.

But then… everything shattered…

The force of the dragon’s flight struck the hyenas, sending them flying amidst screams. Two hyenas collided with trees and vanished into tiny specks of light, falling onto the grass. The dragon, still flying low, extended its claws and crushed another hyena that hadn’t managed to stand up, turning it into a cloud of light.

The dragon’s long neck turned, focusing on the last fleeing hyena.

‘It’s not an illusion! Not an illusion! What’s going on! That thing isn’t an illusion!? When did dragon-like creatures appear in the forest? And that guy…’

Avery thought frantically while escaping, but in the next second, a long sharp spike pierced through his small hyena body. Avery’s morph dissolved into specks of light in fear.

Beside him, the hyena that had landed shook its tail, puzzled.

“What are these guys doing? I just came to check things out and didn’t do anything else. Why are they attacking me? With their size, they’re attacking me? Have they lost their minds? You’re hyenas, not badgers!’