Chapter 01

The Attendant of Dragon Academy

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 The Attendant of Dragon Academy

Current time: 8:00 PM.

Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!

The grandfather clock chimes according to the time. Perhaps it's the night, but today, the sound of the bell strikes the ears particularly oddly.

"Looks like another overtime today. I need to finish up quickly and head home."

As always, I muttered to myself, pushing myself to wrap things up.

Clank, clank...!

Scrub, scrub!

It feels like it's taking an eternity just to wash the mountain of cups piled up on the sink. Anything involving manual labor is always the most tiresome.

But why is there so much to wash?  

It's simple. It's because there were so many customers.

Since Johnson's first visit, there has been a constant influx of customers.

Of course, the customers were all faculty and staff of the academy.

 I had worked in a cafe with a bakery for about a year in college, so I was used to it. However, it's still not the same....... When customers come in at once, no matter how fast you move, the dishes pile up.

 "I haven't worked overtime in a long time, but everyone's really pushing it. The cafe closes at 6:00......."

Staff members usually loved leaving work on time.

But I guess there was no helping it today.

After all, the new semester starts tomorrow.

As a result, unwilling staff members who finished their unwanted overtime before 6 o'clock rushed in like a herd.

Calling it overtime when they leave before 6 o'clock, how can it be called overtime? Moreover, they even receive additional bonuses. As far as I know, they even get a retirement pension later on.

But there's no free lunch.

Although I don't know the exact salary,

I envied the welfare of the staff members.

In terms of conditions alone, there was no better workplace.

"But seriously, complaining after just an hour of overtime?"

Most of the staff members who dropped by here after work had a clear purpose. They usually came to me to vent their frustrations accumulated from work while soothing themselves with coffee or tea.

And they could enjoy their coffee or tea for free.

 I would occasionally get a tip,

I had no way of getting out of the academy, so I didn't really spend any money.

"At least they're all friendly compared to Johnson............."

As I wiped the last cup with a towel, I pondered the various faces of the staff members I had encountered over the past month.

Johnson from the administrative department, the dwarf,

Erdin from the management department, the elf,

Berman from the security department, the lion-like humanoid,

And Indra from the academic affairs department, the wooden figure.

So far, so good, and many other faculty and staff have passed through the lounge and café.

Observant individuals would have noticed,

But here, it was all about different species.

I was the only human, and it felt like I was an outsider among them.

I would be considered a different species to them as well.

Moreover, I wasn't just a staff member.

Essentially, I was nothing more than a servant, brought here after committing a crime.

That's why there was no fixed quitting time for me.

As much as they called me an attendant and a dormitory supervisor, for one semester, it felt more like being a prisoner doing hard labor.

Why whining about being a slave for just one semester?

 Well, for an academy for dragons, a semester here is roughly fifty years old. So, even if I didn't want to whine, I couldn't help but feel sorry for myself.

 I'm twenty-six years old now....... You had to be at least seventy years old to be free from this shitty place.

 'Damn, even a month seemed like a long time, but 49 years and 11 months to go......!'

Drip...!

The hot water from the kettle flowed down, not as tears, but as a replacement for them. Instead of dampening my eyelashes, the warm water filled the coffee filter.

Finally done with my work for the day, I could now make myself a cup of coffee.

Drip, drip, drip...!

As the rich coffee gathered through the filter,

Somehow, watching it drip made me feel at ease.

"Darn it, how did I end up in this mess?"

I sat at the table, waiting for the coffee to brew, reflecting on the filthy starting point of my cursed fate.

2

Exactly one month ago from today.

An internet banner ad I stumbled upon by chance.

That was the root of all my troubles.

So, it was the starting point of destiny.

Click!

As if drawn by something, I clicked on the banner.

As if the mouse cursor moved on its own.

Anyway, when I clicked on the shoddy banner ad, the game's download page popped up.

On the page were countless illustrations of dragons, enticing me to download the game.

 I took a quick look and realized that it was a typical collectible gacha game.

The game concept seemed to involve collecting heroines of various attributes to progress through the story. It didn't seem particularly unique, more like a run-of-the-mill game.

Yet, I...

Given the decent quality of the game illustrations, I installed the game without hesitation, driven by curiosity.

Moreover, it was right after I had resigned from the company I had been working at for nearly two years, so I had quite a bit of free time on my hands. I could afford it, so I thought I'd go back to my old gaming days and have some fun.

"Wait? So this game... has its own original source material."

After downloading the game, I searched for information about ⟪Destiny Dragons,⟫ including gacha tips and strategy guides.

I preferred to approach gacha gaming with a planned approach rather than blind spending, so I had gathered preliminary information beforehand.

But...

"Why is there no information available at all?

Despite the existence of Destiny Dragons communities, strangely, there wasn't a single post related to the game.

Something felt off. Even in abandoned forums, there should at least be spam or advertisements...

I should have stopped there.

But at that moment, I was too reckless.

The game was already installed, after all.

Maybe it was because the game had just opened today without even a closed beta, I thought it wasn't a big deal. With a careless mindset of "let's just give it a try," I nonchalantly charged 1 million won.

Some might argue that it's not a huge sum for heavy spenders, but paying 1 million won ($755 roughly) for a game with no information whatsoever was nothing short of a daring adventure.

And the result of that adventure was...

"Only one R-grade and the rest are all N-grades...?"

There was nothing to see but my drained wallet. Yet, I couldn't pull myself together. I simply brushed it off as bad luck and proceeded to spend another 1 million won. However, the outcome was the same. While I liked the illustrations, I was thoroughly disappointed with the character grades.

"No SSR grades at all? How can luck be this bad?"

Yeah, I admit it. I was a sucker.

And this game, something was definitely wrong with it.

It was by no means a normal gacha probability.

Therefore, I immediately logged onto the developer's website and wrote a lengthy inquiry.

The title was something that would catch the operator's attention right away.

The title was deliberately provocative and had nothing to do with the content. Game companies are often more sensitive to issues related to the payment system than bug reports.

Taking advantage of this, I left an inquiry with an aggro-inducing title.

Since I thought a refund would be difficult anyway, I just let out what I wanted to say.

I didn't expect a normal response, I just wanted to express my frustration.

However, just 5 minutes after writing the inquiry post,

-Ding!

A message from the GM arrived in the game, and it was a quite normal response.

'Huh? They're offering compensation so easily like this?'

I thought it was just another ghost company that would suck up money in the beginning and disappear, but surprisingly, they're offering compensation.

But what's with the "Starter grade"?

It's a grade I've never heard of before.

Is it a hidden grade above UR grade?

Tap!

There was no reason to refuse, so I clicked the link right away.

"Hmm? What's this?"

As soon as I clicked, an illustration of a man with a dignified silver-haired appearance popped up. He had black eyes, but exuded an exotic aura overall.

That's what was written under the illustration. I just assumed it was a plausible phrase to immerse players in the story.

'Well, this game wasn't installed just to pick up a male character...'

For a moment, there was an internal conflict, but I didn't really have any other options. It was either take something or blow away 2 million won for nothing.

Still, if it's a rare grade, selling the account alone might be much more profitable.

-Clack!

With that thought in mind, I pressed the accept button without hesitation.

But at that moment...

-Shuwaack!

The screen flashed white and my vision went dark.

That's right. I had been sucked into the game.

And when I woke up, I found myself possessing the body of the 'Breeder' that I had received as compensation.

'What a ridiculous game. Just because I wrote a complaint, they go and make me possess a character...'

ㅡKnock, knock...!

Finally, I savored the bittersweet taste of the freshly brewed drip coffee in one sip.

Still, nothing beats the taste of coffee. After all, a cup of coffee after work is always refreshing.

I decided to finish this cup and head back to my lodging early today.

That moment, when a single cup of coffee soothes a complicated mind.

Knock, knock, knock...!

"Mr. Breeder? Are you in there?"

"Hmm?"

With the sound of a knock, a clear and bright female voice came from beyond the door of the lounge

Surely, I must have hung a ⌈CLOSED⌋ sign outside the door.