Chapter 1: A-Rank Request
“Listen carefully. You must never step into the Decay Dragon’s territory.”
Mercenaries were cold and practical.
Unlike noble knights, they cared more about money than honor or manners.
That’s why hearing such a serious warning in the mercenary guild was unusual.
“Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Haven’t you heard yet? The Decay Dragon. It’s an undead dragon—basically, a dragon that came back from the dead.”
“Oh, you mean that monster from the A-rank request? The one posted at the very top of the board?”
Every day, dozens of requests came into the guild.
Some were simple, like finding a lost cat or helping at a brewing facility.
Others were dangerous, like hunting monsters or participating in dark magic experiments.
Of course, the more dangerous the job, the better the reward.
Among them, the A-rank request to eliminate the Decay Dragon was one of the toughest.
“Hasn’t that request been up for over six months? Still, no one’s completed it, right?”
“Yeah. The lord’s furious because the western trade route is blocked. He’s been grinding his teeth for weeks.”
“Tch. Strange dragon. Normally, undead dragons only appear in ancient battlefields or graveyards, don’t they?”
“Who knows? Strong boss monsters sometimes behave unpredictably.”
“Then why are you warning me about it out of nowhere?”
“Because rookies like you keep running in to kill it—and end up dead. It’s happened too many times.”
The mercenary gulped.
Truthfully, the A-rank request was tempting.
Even if it was cursed and rotting, a dragon was still a dragon.
Its bones and scales could be sold for a fortune.
‘Not to mention…’
The reward itself was huge.
The lord promised a Skywalker’s Boots—an extremely rare piece of gear.
The boots could teleport you to any place you could see.
Their previous owner was said to have even visited the “Full Moon in the Night Sky.”
With a reward like that, it was no wonder many mercenaries had drooled over it.
Some even gathered teams and tried to take on the dragon.
But no one came back.
They all died inside the Decay Dragon’s territory.
“Shame. If I could beat it, I’d quit mercenary work and retire rich.”
“That’s the thing. People who dream too big always end up dead.”
So, no one touched the A-rank request.
It was the oldest job on the board—and still incomplete.
But then—
Step. Step.
Someone casually walked up and ripped the A-rank request off the board.
“Huh?”
The mercenary watching couldn’t believe his eyes.
Taking a request off the board meant you were accepting the job.
“Hey! Didn’t we just say no one should touch that one?! Why’s no one stopping him?!”
“Ah… that’s Kranol. He’s the exception.”
“That guy’s insane. He’s the kind of mad dog you never mess with.”
***
Kranol Wizard munched on bread as he walked out with the request in hand.
Before taking on a big job, he had to eat.
The bread was old and hard.
‘Ugh, tastes terrible.’
If he had more money, he could’ve bought something better—maybe even added smoked ham.
But he was broke.
He’d spent a lot recently.
“Sigh.”
He forced himself to finish the dry bread.
Then a thought came to mind.
‘Has it been three months already?’
It had already been over three months since he woke up in this world.
He had been reincarnated into the web novel EX-Rank Beast Hunter.
He was a fan of the story—but he never expected to be reincarnated as this character:
Kranol Wizard.
A side character with a unique and dangerous trait: “Disaster Affinity.”
He appeared later in the story as a powerful villain.
‘He was one of the most dangerous characters in the whole novel.’
In EX-Rank Beast Hunter, there were countless characters.
But Kranol was one of the most broken and terrifying.
Was he happy to become such a strong character?
‘Not at all.’
Yes, Kranol was powerful…
But only after his hidden trait awakened—way near the end of the story.
‘Until then, he was completely useless.’
Before his power awakened, he was weak, talentless, and constantly sick.
And right now, there was no known way to unlock that trait.
Worst of all…
“Ugh!”
A sudden wave of pain hit Kranol.
His head throbbed. His eyes turned red. It felt like his skull would crack.
Barely staying conscious, he grabbed some herbs from his bag and chewed them.
The bitter taste filled his mouth, but the headache slowly faded.
“Hah…”
He wiped the sweat from his forehead.
But the pain never completely went away.
He always had a dull headache.
‘This cursed madness…’
In three months, he’d gotten used to the medieval buildings, clothing, and culture.
But he could never get used to this madness.
Thanks to his knowledge of the novel, he could use special herbs to calm it down—
But it wasn’t a cure.
He had to live with constant pain.
And he never knew when a full-blown attack might happen.
‘This madness… it’s why Kranol eventually loses his mind in the story.’
Even now, it was just barely under control.
Later, when it got worse, Kranol would start killing anyone in sight.
Once his trait awakened, he became so powerful that he destroyed entire countries.
That’s why, in the final chapters, he was the biggest villain—
A villain even harder than the real final villain.
‘And that’s not all.’
In the end, Kranol killed half of the main characters.
Then, the enraged main hero finally brought him down.
He was one of the most hated characters in and out of the story.
‘There’s no way I’m going down that same path.’
That ending gave him chills.
He had no plans to repeat it.
In the original story, Kranol lived in a monastery, locked away as a madman.
But now, he was a mercenary in a remote land.
‘Because this is where I can find the key to suppressing my madness.’
Kranol looked at the A-rank request.
A rough sketch showed a terrifying dragon with rotting flesh and broken wings.
The Decay Dragon.
He had come all this way to face this monster.
“Okay… let’s do this.”
He had taken many smaller jobs and spent all his money just to prepare for this moment.
Now, finally, the time had come.
He stepped out of the town and headed for the dragon’s lair.
***
Western part of the Birshi region.
A foul smell filled the air.
It was a muddy forest full of rotting mud and stinking bogs.
‘This used to be a vineyard? I don’t believe it.’
Kranol moved cautiously.
He chewed more herbs to dull his throbbing headache.
Still, his senses were on high alert.
Then—
Rustle.
He froze.
Something moved behind him.
“Ah.”
He stopped in place.
From behind a rotten tree stump, a creature with gray scales peeked out.
Its wings were damaged.
Its body was covered in a chalky white dust.
It was the Decay Dragon.
‘Wait, what?’
But something felt… off.
“What the…”
The Decay Dragon was known for killing every mercenary who ever tried to defeat it.
But the creature in front of him was way too small.
No bigger than a small dog, really.
‘No, I can’t let my guard down just because it looks small.’
This monster had wiped out mercenaries for six months.
It had to be dangerous.
“Kyaaaak!”
The Decay Dragon spread its tiny wings and screeched at Kranol.
Gray dust flew toward him—
It was a petrification curse meant to turn his body to stone.
But Kranol had expected that.
“Hup.”
He held his breath and sprinkled something above his head.
It was a secret item he had purchased after even hiring a guide—high-purity holy water he had laboriously extracted from a destroyed church.
This holy water could block curses like petrification for over 30 minutes.
But then…
“Huh?”
Something was wrong.
The holy water had no effect.
There was no glowing light, no curse repelled—nothing.
‘Wait… that cry wasn’t a curse, was it?’
“Kyaaaak!”
It screeched again.
Still loud and dramatic—but strangely… harmless.
Kranol, puzzled, was about to proceed with the next step of his plan.
Then—
“What the…?”
The screeching dragon suddenly collapsed.
At first, he panicked.
But then he got a good look and understood.
‘This thing… it’s dying.’
It didn’t make sense.
He’d come ready with holy tools to fight a deadly undead dragon.
But something wasn’t right.
He looked closer.
Those dusty gray scales?
Were not real. Just dirty from being in a cursed land.
The blisters and wounds on its body?
They didn’t look like typical undead damage either.
‘This isn’t the Decay Dragon.’
The real Decay Dragon was an undead dragon corpse—
No breath, no heartbeat, no life.
But this creature was still breathing faintly, wheezing softly.
People must’ve mistaken it for the Decay Dragon.
‘It’s just a young dragon suffering from a deadly disease.’
Digging into his knowledge of the original novel, he recalled:
“Corpse Sickness” –
A rare disease that slowly turned living beings into something almost undead.
That explained everything.
Why did the creature stay in one place?
Why did it looked so weak and couldn’t fly far away.
‘In the original novel, this land was only rumored to have a Decay Dragon—but it turns out it was just this.’
Kranol was originally planning to kill the dragon and harvest its body.
He needed materials, after all.
Even this small dragon could fetch a good price.
But…
Looking down at the suffering young dragon—
Wheezing, barely able to open its eyes, dying slowly—
Kranol couldn’t bring himself to do it.
“…Fine. I’ll do it.”
Corpse Sickness got worse in cursed areas.
Some dark sorcerer or demon must’ve cursed the land.
The young dragon had simply been caught in it.
‘It’s not a monster. Just a victim.’
Most mercenaries likely died because they were weakened by the land’s curse,
While the dragon was simply crying out in pain.
Its cries and damaged appearance made people think it was evil—
But it wasn’t.
‘When you’re sick, you get cranky too… it probably didn’t want to hurt anyone.’
Kranol felt a strange connection.
The dying dragon reminded him of himself, suffering from madness.
After a moment’s hesitation, he walked forward and gently placed a hand on it.
“Kyaaaak!”
The dragon opened its eyes wide and weakly growled, flashing its tiny teeth.
But it had no strength left.
The illness had taken too much from it.
“Stay still. I’m trying to help.”
Kranol opened his bag and took out the holy water and hidden items he’d brought to fight the Decay Dragon.
Now, he would use them for healing instead.
‘If I use them this way, I can cure most illnesses… except my madness.’
He gently poured holy water over the dragon, placed a holy cross nearby, drew seven pentagram magic circles, and whispered a quiet prayer.
“Oh stars, a little lamb lies here. Please send your angels to show mercy.”
As soon as he finished, the circles began to glow, one after another.
Then the dragon’s body began to change.
The crusty gray dust flaked off.
Its true form began to emerge.
And what Kranol saw shocked him.
“What…?”
The gray was gone—revealing shimmering golden scales.
“Holy… shit.”
It slipped out before he could stop himself.
A golden dragon.
There was only one kind of dragon in the original story with golden scales—
The Gold Emperor Dragon.
The rarest, most powerful species of all dragons.
Only one ever existed in the entire story.
Kranol realized what he had just done.
He had saved the only bloodline of the story’s true final villain.
A monster that, someday, would grow up to become the greatest disaster in the entire continent.
