In this world, there exists the concept of “Rank.”
It is a value imprinted on the soul, indicating the level of a being.
It reflects how much one can interfere with the destinies of others.
“Basically, it’s just a level system.”
It seems like an excuse made to justify an absurd setting, but regardless.
Rank is extremely important here.
The lower the rank, the more inferior.
Conversely, the higher it is, the more superior the being. That much was obvious.
“Usually, rank is determined from birth, but…”
Unlike levels, the unfair part is that it’s fixed from the moment you’re born.
For instance, the child of a slash-and-burn farmer has a lowly rank.
Unless they somehow manage to rise to prominence, reaching that level itself is a struggle.
They’re dull-minded, physically unimpressive, and lack noteworthy talents.
On the other hand, what about noble bloodlines, like royalty?
They’re born with an extraordinary rank.
As someone who could influence a nation with just a word, they are exceptional from the start.
Swordmasters, great mages.
They easily reach levels that ordinary people couldn’t attain even with a hundred years of effort.
This is what rank signifies in this world.
In short, it was a pay-to-win game driven by bloodlines.
[Lord Teo’s rank is exceptional even among dragons. This greatly contributes to survivability…]
“So, my ancestors got wiped out by low-rank humans because they relied on their rank too much?”
[······.]
“If you rely solely on the silver spoon you’re born with, that’s what happens. You need to refine yourself and aim to raise your rank further.”
Fortunately or unfortunately there was a way to increase rank post-birth.
If you’re a slash-and-burn farmer, you could rise to wealth and power, becoming a prosperous landowner.
If you’re an adventurer, you could train yourself, conquer dungeons, and build fame.
And the easiest way to raise your rank was…
“Farming.”
‘Because you can brute-force it with experience points.’
The act of stealing rank through slaughter—farming.
It was the fastest way to increase rank.
Not that killing directly made you stronger. Most of it would be absorbed back into nature, according to the lore.
But still.
In other games, killing a level 10 enemy doesn’t necessarily give you enough XP to reach level 10 yourself. You’ve got to accept that.
“Anyway, I’ll start by hunting the nearby monsters.”
‘Since in games, starting with hunting is usually the most efficient.’
The reason I took to the skies immediately was to farm.
The protagonist ‘me’ woke up in the vast Milleas Forest.
A magical land teeming with all kinds of monsters.
Clearing them all out would certainly be profitable.
Though it didn’t seem particularly useful to me right now.
[Teo, your suggestion aligns with the sixth quest for a hatchling’s survival. Gaining combat experience is crucial…]
“Huh? Why would I fight? That’s barbaric.”
‘Believe it or not, I’m a civilized person who just got reincarnated.’
Of course, I had no intention of engaging in direct combat.
After all, I was a scholar who had been reading research papers until just moments ago.
I didn’t want to stain my hands or rather, my front claws with blood right after being reincarnated.
And besides….
“My goal isn’t to increase combat power in the first place.”
[Inquiry: Then why are you planning to hunt monsters?]
“Because if I’m going to establish a base of power, I’ll have to clear out the area anyway. Might as well get it done along the way.”
If dragons were wiped out by humans, what would the reason be?
The answer was obvious: a lack of numbers.
An overwhelming numerical disadvantage was the cause.
This was the biggest issue I had to resolve.
‘Even the Art of War says so, doesn’t it?’
“If outnumbered, retreat.”
No matter how sturdy a small force might be, it would eventually fall to a larger army.
And I wasn’t even a small force—I was completely alone.
I needed to build a faction.
Just like I did in the game.
“So, I’ll build a force. A nation to oppose humanity—a united front of non-human races.”
[That’s an excellent idea. If you gather enough non-humans, it will be easier to conceal the fact that you’re a dragon…]
“No? I’m not planning to hide my identity.”
There was one key difference between this and the game.
I wasn’t going to struggle to keep my identity a secret.
In fact, I intended to do the opposite.
[Warning: This may severely jeopardize your survival…]
“Then what, I’m supposed to spend my whole life disguised as some lesser creature?”
[That would be more advantageous for survival.]
“No. I’m done just surviving. That’s no life.”
I shifted my gaze downward. My slit pupils scanned below.
Conveniently, there was something useful right there.
[Rejection. Establishing a nation is extremely risky without other viable survival strategies. I suggest completing your current quest…]
“That’s fine. I have a plan.”
[If you’d share it, I’ll listen attentively.]
“I’ll tell you later. Be patient, Mother.”
With a thud, I landed on the ground.
Invisible to the naked eye, yet unmistakably imprinted on the earth—
the dragon’s footprints.
All eyes turned to the tracks.
“Ki… Kiik?”
“Kirrk…”
“Hmm. What are those things called?”
[From your left, Teo: a Lesser Goblin, Lesser Slime, Lesser Spider, a Low-Grade Tree Spirit, and a Baby Grouse. All five are on the brink of death.]
As Lea had pointed out, the creatures were dying.
Victims of the merciless survival competition in Milleas Forest—a magical land where cannibalism was an unspoken rule.
They were the very ones I had been looking for.
‘I thought I’d try finding them without magic, just to chat with Lea a bit. Found them pretty quickly, though.’
“Do they have a self?”
[Negative. They are lowly creatures; they seem to act on instinct alone, without reason].
“Good.”
And, I……
“———competition uniform.”
-Hahaha!
I immediately cast a healing spell.
To the creatures that were no match for the great Teonar, dearly.
The effect was obvious.
“KEEEEK!!!”
A leg sprouted from the chewed-up goblin.
The slime, which had dried up and was about to stick to the ground, bounced.
A spider whose carapace cracked and spilled its guts.
A wooden doll with only its head left.
Or a bird that’s been struck by lightning, burned black and half ash.
They return to their original state as if they had never been.
“Nice healing spell.”
[False. Healing magic is inefficient for the amount of magic it costs, and is generally reserved for minor first aid. Full-scale healing requires divine power].
“Ten thousand times my magic.”
[With Teo’s amount of magic, it’s certainly possible].
Seems that healing originally requires Divine Power.
Looks like it was stamped with a huge amount of magic power.
A moment worthy of an invisible dragon’s name.
“Anyway. Let’s all get up.”
“Keeeeek!!!?”
“Kieeeeeee!!!”
Before I had a chance to admire it, it was time for the next action.
Now that I’d healed them, it was time to pamper them.
It was time to create my first servants.
“Now, go earn experience for me~.”
“KEEEEEEEEK!!!!”
I commanded with mana in my voice, and they stirred in thought.
A trait unique to dragons that dominates lesser beings. ‘Dragon Peer’.
It was thanks to the spirit within.
“Hey, there’s an ogre about a kilometer ahead of us. Bring him to me in a deadly state.”
[Teo. It’s impossible for them to take on an ogre].
“Increased physical ability, magic power, physical and magic resistance. Increased durability, speed, and offense… Now, go and tear them apart.”
[………]
I guess they were generous with the extra buffs.
The five demons threw themselves down ferociously, as if they were dying.
The ogre looked at them, and gave them a puzzled look,
“KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!”
His expression quickly changed.
The goblin screamed and ran, and the slime ate his calf.
The slime, running hard, melted an entire arm.
The bird pecked out both eyes, blinding them, no wonder.
“It’s big…”
“Kiiiiit!!!”
“…Woah!!!?”
That wasn’t the end of it.
The spider tied him up in its web, incapacitated.
The woodcarver wrapped a vine around his prey’s neck and began dragging him toward me.
It was a battle that made me want to whistle.
Of course, whistling is a bit of a challenge with the dragon’s mouth structure.
[Breath is a Dragon’s special move, so it is not recommended to use it in non-combat situations, Teo].
“…Oh, yeah.”
When I whistled, some kind of magic beam came out and frightened me, but that’s beside the point.
The important thing is to check the criminal records of the demons I saved.
I ducked my head and looked down.
My eyes locked with the tear-stained ogre’s.
His pupils were transparent, reflecting only the sky.
“Huh……………….”
“Hmm. I’ve only heard a few words, so I’m still not sure. What did he say?”
[He’s begging me not to kill him].
“Ahem. I think I got the gist of it, please continue to interpret.”
The ogre’s pupils dilated, as if it had noticed my presence.
It glanced once at the five demons that had been de-enhanced and made normal.
Then once at itself.
The last time, not my pupils, but a slightly out-of-focus stare into the void.
It wasn’t hard to understand what he meant.
“You’re asking me to save you, because you’re a thousand times stronger than these things, and you’re going to give me your loyalty?”
An ogre, probably the strongest axis in this tome.
It’s enough to wander around alone without a pack, so that’s saying something.
Even such a powerful demon has sworn obedience to me.
It was a story one might expect.
[Suggestion. If you must have a servant, the Chaos Ogre is superior. It is one of the most powerful creatures in the Mileas Great Forest….]
“I don’t like it.”
[Why?]
“They’re stupid, and they don’t learn.”
He doesn’t, because he already has reason.
….No, precisely because he’s lived in these woods long enough to have reason.
The Great Forest of Mileas, and nowhere else. In the Tao Te Ching, where a carnivorous diet is the norm and homophagy the exception.
He was unnecessary to my ‘plan’.
“Kwoks. (Ogres… Chaos ogres, to be exact?)”
“……!!!!?”
After listening for about three minutes, I spoke directly to it.
Not in Korean, but in Ogre.
A language I’d picked up from listening to ogres beg.
It must have been so unexpected that his eyes widened in disbelief.
“How can you speak Ogre? No, never mind that! Oh great being, please spare me! I will serve you for the rest of my life!!”
“Sorry. Even someone as amazing as me, Teonar, can’t understand everything you’re saying.”
Unfortunately for him, his pleas were meaningless.
My knowledge of the Ogre language was limited to what I had picked up from his desperate attempts to save his own life.
I didn’t know the grammar, and my vocabulary was almost non-existent.
I could manage only thanks to Lea’s translations.
Understanding the babble of a panicked ogre was beyond me.
‘Still… since this is my first monumental kill, I should handle this directly.’
“Alright then, Chaos Ogre.”
I met the ogre’s gaze.
Its tear-filled eyes, reflecting the clear sky, trembled as it seemed to grasp what I was about to do.
“Sp… spare…”
“——–Die.”
“……”
Thud. The monster’s head drooped to the ground.
Even a being as formidable as the Chaos Ogre, one of the strongest in this forest,
could not resist the power of my command.
There wasn’t much emotional impact for me.
‘What matters is what comes next.’
– Glance.
“Kieeek… Kieeeck!!?”
“Krrrik!!!”
What mattered now were the five other monsters.
The ones I had chosen to become my followers, who would learn from me and one day form a nation.
All I had to do now was watch their evolution.
“Graaaah.”
‘I wonder how far they’ll grow~. Mythic-level might be a stretch, but at least Named Monsters should be possible, right? Let’s hope they develop along the path of intelligence~.’
* * *
20 years later.
“Lord Teo! The latest training session has been successfully completed! Everyone was moved to tears, chanting your esteemed name in reverence….”
“……”
‘Now that I think about it, didn’t I roll insanely good luck on this?’
The five subordinates, now 20 years old, had gone and built an entire nation.