After calming down the deserter orc who was panicking due to his survival instinct, our base camp began operations in earnest.

    "I''d even accept being locked in prison if you could move me somewhere outside the Tower."

    "...Well, if that''s what you want."

    Not so much calming as imprisoning, but anyway.

    The baby jewel dragon would apparently be cared for by the beast-kin, from what I gathered. Since they worshipped monster-like spirit beasts such as the Great Night Bird and Thunder Bird as gods, they probably planned to treat this baby jewel dragon with reverence, believing Mother World Tree had sent it down.

    The deserter orc had trembled with worry, but fortunately, no mother dragon appeared to blast us with jewel breath.

    I suppose that made sense—this wasn''t a dragon''s nest or some guardian-protected dragon lair map, just a clearing in the middle of a deep forest. So the place that had inadvertently become a joint base for beast-kin, mages, and adventurers was divided into three teams.

    "Ah, move carefully! If that little friend gets upset, our research is ruined!"

    "Your language, seriously. Can''t you fix those bad habits even in old age?"

    "What does it matter? Mana doesn''t stop moving because of crude language. Did you bring the seeds I asked for?"

    "I got everything I could find, so we''ll just try feeding it all."

    The first team was the gate research squad. These were mages who had begun researching how to keep the closed gates activated 24 hours a day by studying the starlight finch''s pure white mana.

    While some mages were actually researching the gate, most were busy trying to please the starlight finch perched proudly on a branch. Since it was a forest fairy guide animal and a magical creature helping the hero''s party, they couldn''t just lock it in a lab and abuse it, so the mages began tiptoeing around it on their own.

    They brought millet and nuts, offering different varieties, and collected every ripple of mana and fallen feather as the finch hopped around tasting seeds. They looked less like mages and more like ornithologists.

    "Any news from the team that went east?"

    "Seems they haven''t returned yet. Did they get into a fight?"

    "The forest wraith took care of the western side, so they should be back soon."

    The second team was the gate search squad. Naturally, this was handled by the Secret Terror who had followed us and the beast-kin warriors.

    No matter how exceptional beast-kin stamina might be, they couldn''t just run 2,000 kilometers straight, so they''d chosen to find gates, travel through them, then search for more gates. For searching, they could take turns resting rather than everyone running together.

    Moreover, with the Secret Terror handling one direction, their burden was even lighter. Seeing the beast-kin rushing out in all directions and moving in organized teams made me feel reassured.

    "Man, this is why people should live decent lives!"

    -Decent? (while setting forests on fire and detonating gas canisters)

    -Once again today, the natives labor ceaselessly under the grip of the imperialist sob

    -Just show us the jewel dragon LOL It already ate most of the eggshell, what should we feed it now?

    -Ignore the scaly one and hang out with the beast-kin, preferably the cow lady who carried Irene mama OMG

    -The mages opened the gimmick, NPCs find the gates, Roland takes the boss''s head, so what exactly does this bitch do?

    I wasn''t the only one feeling reassured. Han Se-ah felt it too, and the viewers watching her probably felt so reassured that their stomachs were bloated and aching.

    The third team, naturally, was the hero''s party and some beast-kin. We were essentially on standby rather than rushing off to help with the search, since it would cause problems if gates were discovered elsewhere or if the baby jewel dragon''s gimmick activated. Besides, if a mother dragon attacked the camp as the deserter orc worried, we''d be in serious trouble.

    Strategically, keeping our strongest force on standby made sense, but to viewers, it probably looked like we were just lazing around. After all, our only job was feeding the baby dragon.

    "Ooh, ooh, eating so well."

    "Doesn''t it eat plants or trees? Hmm, maybe I should go pick some fruit."

    Whether because it was newly born or because of its large size, the creature kept opening and closing its mouth even after devouring all of its eggshell.

    As it moved its mouth as if begging for food, combining with its opal scales, big head, and round eyes, the beast-kin women selected as dragon caretakers began moving urgently. Having seen it chew rocks, they bustled about, determined to feed it anything.

    Meanwhile, viewers curious about the first dragon discovery in Heroes Chronicle jumped on the trend, and Han Se-ah rushed to complete their missions.

    [DragonLover donated $30!]

    If you guess the baby''s preferred food within five tries, I''ll add another $500

    [華麗的龍的祝福 donated 50,000 won!]

    Is there no way to magically turn the dragon''s scales red? Let''s try feeding it rubies

    [DragonsBestCarFriend donated 10,000 won!]

    If it eats rocks, isn''t Earth Control an unlimited buffet? Try making earth for it to eat?

    Just as fantasy lovers almost always love elves, could anyone who enjoys fantasy games dislike dragons?

    It would be hard to dislike this dragon—it wasn''t like those mass-produced fantasy novel dragons that speak human language, get manipulated by protagonists, enslave dwarves, and violate elves.

    With viewers who couldn''t stand watching Han Se-ah doing nothing, viewers who wanted vicarious satisfaction from feeding the baby dragon, and suspiciously scale-obsessed viewers all chiming in, Han Se-ah had no time to rest.

    ...First feathers and fur, now scales. As viewer numbers increased, their tastes certainly became more diverse.

    "Roland, should we go find something too?"

    "Sure, as long as we don''t go too far."

    At least it felt like we were on a zoo date.

    ※

    Thanks to the cheat key of beast-kin and wraith cooperation, the gate search progressed smoothly.

    The beast-kin found a gate, the starlight finch activated it, and we moved forward. Fortunately, the baby jewel dragon, having eaten all its eggshell, could be transported curled up quietly in a wooden cart hastily made by the beast-kin.

    Meanwhile, seeing a mage shedding tears of joy watching the gate activate gave me a headache. I wondered what magic meant to mages—these high-ranking mages who didn''t have to bow to nobles were now bowing their heads to a finch no bigger than a chestnut.

    "This is... near our village. It''s amazing we can travel such vast distances in an instant."

    "Your village is nearby?"

    Thanks to the finch, whose tiny wings were now fully tensed from receiving the mages'' worship, we arrived at the 66th floor. As soon as we crossed the gate, a wolf beast-kin sniffed the air and remarked with wonder.

    Apparently, in terms of gimmicks and routing, a beast-kin village existed near the gate. The forest fairy village on the 61st floor had also been quite close to the gate, so the 66th floor beast-kin village strongly felt like a sample or preview.

    ...The game developers probably never expected someone to burn an entire layer and lure the 66th floor beast-kin down to the 65th. If they could predict that, they should be fortune-tellers, not game developers. Skipping even the sample—Han Se-ah, you terrifying child.

    "After enshrining the jewel dragon in our village, we''ll take the sacred relic and depart with the warriors. It will help in finding those gates."

    "What sacred relic is here?"

    "The Amber Lantern from Mother World Tree''s roots."

    A strange procession formed—beast-kin leading, mages following with the baby dragon in a cart. At the very front of this procession, Han Se-ah launched her camera drone and chatted with a wolf beast-kin.

    The wolf beast-kin introduced himself as the great warrior of the 66th floor village, befitting the leader of a search party hastily dispatched after witnessing a massive fire. Naturally, a male beast-kin with exposed chest muscles was outside most viewers'' interests, so Han Se-ah quickly changed the subject to sacred relics.

    Come to think of it, we hadn''t even properly introduced ourselves. Was that okay? Though we were different species, so we''d been getting by with vague terms like "wolf beast-kin" and "human child."

    "According to legend, our sacred relics weren''t given by the great souls born in Mother World Tree''s embrace. We received them as tokens of friendship from sacred relics Mother World Tree created for forest fairies. After all, forest fairies would never get lost with stars and branches to guide them."

    "Then what''s the Amber Lantern''s ability?"

    "I don''t know."

    "So it''s for exploration—what?"

    Despite not even introducing ourselves, our conversation somehow progressed. But while the dialogue continued, we couldn''t extract any significant information.

    That was because the beast-kin were natives who "enshrined" sacred relics. As tokens of alliance between forest fairies and beast-kin that were bestowed by Mother World Tree, they wouldn''t casually use them just because they were bored.

    In fact, seeing how the 70th floor beast-kin had lost the Invisibility Helmet... it seemed they hadn''t even considered using it to escape, but simply guarded it until they were overrun. The same probably applied to the Lightning Spear and Foam Fang.

    "Still, according to stories passed down from my grandfather''s father, this one can find other sacred relics."

    "Ah, so it''s for sacred relic tracking... but didn''t that orc already run off with the stolen relic?"

    -Sounds like it finds the Orc Champion, so the tracking device is at our house now LOL

    -LOL I thought Orc''s desertion was a freebie, but it turns out it was a speed bump against freeloading LOL

    -Amber Lantern (sacred relic, pretty, useless, for display only) LOL

    -How is that thing even a sacred relic? LOL

    -This must be the Goddess''s deep intent to stop you from freeloading so much LOL

    Enjoy the chappy!