I examined the glowing stone held up before my eyes.
It was about a week after Yang Min-seo had narrowly avoided being hit by a truck.
The “Philosopher’s Stone” had been given to me.
Without delay, I began preparations for the summoning.
Laura subtly complained.
[It truly is difficult not having a physical body. It feels like being aboard a tiny boat adrift in a vast ocean.]
“I get it, okay? I’m about to make a body, aren’t I?”
I went to an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city that I had previously scouted out.
It was roughly the size of two football fields combined.
It was perfect for secretly doing something like this.
I took out the materials from my bag.
Though some ingredients were easy to obtain, like water, carbon, and ammonia, there were also required exotic alloys and gemstones I had never heard of before—costing me a fortune.
“Lord Laura, your body has an impressive price tag.”
[That was after considering you and removing all the unnecessary luxuries.]
Following Laura’s instructions, I drew a magic circle in the center of the warehouse using my own blood.
It was supposed to be made with dragon blood, but it seems mine is the closest equivalent on Earth.
The Philosopher’s Stone was placed in the center, and the rest of the materials were set in their designated spots.
“What do I do now?”
[Stand on the caster’s position and activate the magic runes while repeating what I say. You only need to start it; no matter what it takes, I’ll finish the rest.]
I positioned myself at the 180-degree mark on the magic circle.
“Overload.”
My heart pounded.
A waterfall of magical energy surged through my body, awakening the magic runes.
The runes began to glow red.
All preparations were complete.
Laura began chanting.
[Behold, I who worship immortality, plead with you to manifest Alchemy’s miracle in accordance with the primeval contract here.]
“Behold, I who worship immortality, plead with you to manifest Alchemy’s miracle in accordance with the primeval contract here.”
The magic circle started to emit a blue light, siphoning the mana from the air around it.
I adjusted the flow of the mana so it would reach the necessary areas.
It was akin to redirecting the direction of a massive wave.
My head throbbed painfully—it was far from an easy task.
[From here on out, I’ll take over.]
The moment Laura finished speaking, an immense magical power was drained from my body.
“Ugh.”
Even the minimal magical power needed to sustain life was being taken away.
I felt like I was about to faint.
Suddenly, I experienced a sensation of detachment from reality.
A translucent message appeared before my eyes.
————-<Dungeon Entrance>————-
[You have entered ‘d̢̡̝̲̯̣̲̺̀̃͌͌̍̀̚̕ŗ͓͉̳͐͆̑͘̕͜a̪͉͍͇̙̣͋̃̎̎̃̎̋͑̕͠ͅg̴̛̺̩̖͖̟͆̋̆͜͞o̧̺̯͖͇͂͒̉̀̓̕ṋ̢͖̙̥̤̄́̓͊͌͗̌̀͋̏’̸̛̤͍̦̜̻̹̖͍͔̉͊̌̚͠s̸̢̛͙͕̬̘̠̞̋͐͋̿͡ n̵͉̩͖̭͖̽́̽̈̃͂̃͞͝e̸̡̝̱͇͍̤̟̤͗́̂̆͛͊̐̐̾̍s̸̡̩͈̪͍͖͈̍̈́̄́͆̀̃̈̕t̢͈̳̯̳͉̿̉͂͑̿͛͘͡͡’.]
—————————————–
“Dungeon?!”
Before I knew it, I was standing on desolate ground.
A plain stained with blood stretched out before me.
Corpses of all kinds filled the world.
Monster corpses, human corpses, dragon corpses.
The common factor? They were all donned in armor and weapons.
“Is this Laura’s realm?”
At that moment, an ominous presence loomed from behind me.
The hair on my body stood on end.
————-<End>—————–
[‘f͇͔̭͉̪̳͉͈͌͌͊̐͋͂͆a̧̡̲̅̓̊͒͂̇̉͛͟͢͢l̸̡̼̝͔͚͍͂̽̌̔̇̃̂͌̇̒l̼̥̤͙͙̂̃͂̍̏ȩ̰̪̠̝͍̃̀̈̒́̃͛̀͡n̦̩͚͚̟̼͕͉͔̱̆̉͑̍́̔͘ t̸̛̤̘͔̝̫̎̉̊̂͑̃͡ư̵̩̺͍͚̮̣̞͇͕̐͆̒͑̑̑̓t̢̡̞̦͕̟̘̺͉͋̉͑̒̇̍̾̉̚e̶̢̛̯͚̲͙̠͍̮͗̋͒̽̈͌͜͟ḽ̢̳̤̘̅͋̽̅̃͢ą̶̢̳̻͕̮̝̣͒̎̽̕͝r̶̡̰̩̟͆̒̓͂̽ͅ’ has appeared.]
—————————————
A gigantic red dragon about twice the size of a large building stood before me.
Its golden pupils, shining like gemstones, gazed down at me.
An overwhelming sense of intimidation.
‘There’s no way to win.’
As a mere human, there was no way to contend with this immortal being.
Perhaps even a demon king? Or something above that.
It struck me that if a creature like this fully entered the world, it might even present a greater threat than a demon king.
Amidst the desolate terrain, the shape of the magic circle I had drawn in the warehouse appeared.
It seemed Laura was doing something.
Soon bright light from the magic circle filled my field of vision.
When I regained my senses, I was back in the abandoned warehouse.
So then Laura…
I looked around, but there was no one.
‘Where could she be? Surely not a failure?’
At that moment, something pulled the leg of my pants.
I looked down and discovered something shocking.
Fiery red hair, golden eyes. Horns atop her head, dragon wings and a tail on her back.
A white-skinned little girl stood at my feet, completely naked.
I asked anxiously:
“Could… it be Lady Laura?”
“Good call! Now hand over some clothes quickly!”
“Why… a girl?”
Until now, Laura had exuded a noble, masculine voice.
So naturally, I assumed they would take on a male form.
“Gender means nothing to dragons. Either way is possible.”
Are dragons like mudskippers—fish that can change gender?
“Why did you have a male voice then?”
“As humans perceive more authority in that kind of voice.”
“Why are you now a little girl’s form despite that?”
“Limitations of the materials. The Philosopher’s Stone’s output was insufficient to take on an adult form. Also, your gathered materials were far from enough. Moreover, I’ve spent more years as a woman, so this body is more familiar to me.”
I removed my t-shirt and handed it to her.
“By the way, how old are you, Lady Laura?”
“I’ve lived for eight thousand and twenty-three Earth years.”
At least that’s a relief.
*
‘Darkness Jumper’ was monitoring community reactions on a laptop.
Whenever a post title contained ‘Dark Knight,’ they would check every single one, even if it meant staying up all night.
—————————————
<The current chaos is not caused by the Dark Knight but EU>
While it should be obvious to anyone, the people who pretend not to know are either intellectually impaired or inherently inferior humans who ignorantly bash things without reason.
For the intellectually impaired, I’ll explain.
1. Detention Center Incident (All staff, including the guards, deceased)
Official police statement: The detention center was attacked by a villain dressed as the Dark Knight and is thus suspected as the culprit.
Even the police suspect it.
Calling him the suspect doesn’t instantly make him the culprit, so please read the text properly.
And check the CCTV footage.
[Picture]
It’s true that he was dressed as the Dark Knight.
But don’t you notice something odd?
The Dark Knight’s appearance in the original videos always appears blurred.
Even experts admit that the Dark Knight possesses information-blocking abilities.
But here, it’s crystal clear.
The figure is around 160 cm, probably a slim man or a woman.
Furthermore, the Dark Knight’s trademark involves burning with blue flames and leaving post-it notes.
No post-it notes, and no blue flames here.
They just poured oil and set it alight, lol.
Clearly, it’s just a copycat.
2. Seoul Alley Incident (Two police officers and one hero deceased)
[Video (0:54) ▶]
Here also, we see someone around 160 cm with a very slim build.
Also, check the dagger—it’s not the one used by the Dark Knight.
[Picture]
↑The dagger used by the Dark Knight.
Extremely shiny, clearly a rare item.
But the fake one in the video uses an ordinary dagger.
Also, the police were killed with a gun, whereas the Dark Knight has never used a firearm and honestly doesn’t seem like the type to.
And the most important point? The hero Iron Fist wasn’t set on fire after being killed.
Probably didn’t have time to get an oil drum this time, lol.
Or simply forgot during the role-playing.
There is clear evidence of a fake imitator, yet people fail to notice.
Ugh… Please stop already.
If Dark Knight gets discouraged and stops activities, what will we do?
Likes-27147 Dislikes-21149
(Comments)-61145
<It's just too obvious that this needs explanation. Korean average intelligence seems to hit the 5th grade level.>
<The Dark Knight is blurred on the screen..? Isn't he some ghost? lol>
–<Blurred indeed, retard. Even experts speculate on special equipment or skills being used.>
–<Your brain's expert, buddy? lol>
–<Shut up and go die already.>
<Social misfit kids who would still kneel to Dark Knight even if a knife was at their necks lol>
–<You are the retard that I get.>
<Damn, I'm feeling like I might die of cancer these days. Trolls keep yelling that Dark Knight has revealed his true self;>
<Claims that using oil can disprove someone being the Dark Knight... Who's calling whom a retard?>
–<Would you use fire abilities if you could? Lol>
–<Do it however you want, what's so logical about carrying an oil drum?>
–<How does it make sense to use fire abilities yet bring an oil drum?>
<What the hell? As soon as Dark Knight is mentioned, irrational bashing from trolls, srsly 🖕>
<Seriously, even it's obviously a fake, do you read the articles properly before commenting?>
<Not burning the corpse? So that proves it's not the Dark Knight? Lol laugh all I want lol>
–<Pretended super chill lol>
<Anyway, the one claiming it's the Dark Knight should provide the evidence. How does one prove it isn't? lol>
….
—————————————
Yoon Mi-soe had a simple reason for committing crimes while disguised as the ‘Dark Knight.’
She wanted to tarnish the ‘Dark Knight’s’ name.
“Kind of disappointing.”
Previously, most people supported the ‘Dark Knight,’ but now, the number of supporters has decreased by half.
To Yoon Mi-soe, ‘Dark Knight’ represents a noble person who silently fights against society’s evils, regardless of whether anyone appreciates them.
“Ugh.”
But what happens when someone is slandered for something they didn’t do?
She wondered if such a person would continue hunting villains.
And she yearned to see the look of despair on the ‘Dark Knight’s’ face.
As a result of this, ‘Dark Knight’ had a high probability of killing her.
However, it was something ‘Darkness Jumper’ hoped for.
Her ultimate dream was to die at the hands of the greatest hero as a worthy nemesis.
Yoon Mi-soe wasn’t satisfied.
For all her efforts, donning the inconvenient robe and causing trouble, the criticism didn’t come as strongly as expected.
The biggest problem was ‘Dark Knight.’
He ignored all the criticisms aimed at him and continued hunting villains uninterrupted.
It was as if he paid no attention to the fake ‘Dark Knight.’
The only fear in the fearless ‘Darkness Jumper’ was ‘indifference.’
Born to crave attention, she disliked being overlooked immensely.
“Seems like the dose wasn’t strong enough this time. Next time, I’ll kill in bulk.”
Yoon Mi-soe wanted the ‘Dark Knight’ to be abandoned by everyone.
She wished for him to fall apart.
She couldn’t wait to see the expression of despair.
At the same time, Yang Min-seo was sitting in the back seat of a car, scrolling through her smartphone.
While casually browsing Hero Korea, she clicked on a visible post titled <The current chaos is not caused by the Dark Knight but EU>.
She read the entire content.
Yang Min-seo nodded in agreement with the writer.
“Dark Knight wouldn’t do such a thing. Clearly, it’s the fake’s fault. Why do all the recent news reports trash talk the Dark Knight?”
The driver cautiously offered an opinion.
He was chosen specially for his visible wisdom among K Electronics employees and also informally acted as Yang Min-seo’s secretary.
“Seems like the Hero’s Association is behind this. When you throw money at news agencies, forming public opinion this way is not difficult.”
“Is that so?”
Yang Min-seo thought for a moment.
‘That time, I told Dark Knight to ask for help if needed, but somehow I don’t think he’d ask. Maybe I should take the initiative and help him?’
K Group didn’t need extra funds to sway the media.
With two connections formed through marriage alone, they could threaten to pull ads and make them quake with fear.
