Chapter 7
“Hmm…?”
Yuna Choi felt a comfortable sleep for the first time in ages.
Back in the survivor camp, she couldn’t sleep properly due to zombie attacks that came day and night without distinction.
On top of that, to treat the increasing number of injured, Yuna Choi herself reduced her own meals and sleep as much as possible, dedicating herself to her healing work.
With the continuous flow of patients, Yuna was always suffering from severe overwork, which meant she constantly had to function in a state of exhaustion.
If Yuna had not been an awakened one with a status window, she might have already died of overwork long ago… but today was different.
“…I feel refreshed.”
Maybe it was because she had slept as much as she wanted and had taken sufficient rest, but her mind, which hadn’t been functioning well, seemed to be working properly now.
Rising from her bed, Yuna sensed something strange about her body.
“Huh? My hair?”
Her hair had been turning completely white due to severe stress.
But now, things were different.
Her long hair, which had grown out, wasn’t the bleached white she remembered but was instead shining beautifully in a platinum hue.
“Mirror. Yes. The mirror…”
Sensing something was off, Yuna pulled out the mirror stored in her backpack and looked at her reflection.
In the mirror, she saw a beautiful girl with platinum hair and striking blue eyes staring back with an awkward smile.
It was definitely Yuna’s face, but with the change in hair and eye colour, her impression had become entirely different.
“What in the world is this?”
Why had her hair and eye colour suddenly changed like this?
Yuna, perplexed by the sudden situation, pondered what could have caused this transformation and soon remembered that she had made a contract with a dragon here.
“A dragon!? A dragon!?”
As soon as her thoughts reached that point, Yuna quickly regained her composure and stood up.
Come to think of it, when she met the dragon and declared a contract with it, she had reached her limit and fainted.
Was it possible that all of this was just a dream? With a sense of unease, Yuna looked around, and when she saw the dragon statues, which were as imposing as she remembered, beautifully decorating the surroundings…
She was finally convinced that everything she had experienced wasn’t a dream.
“You’ve finally awakened.”
“Ah, you are…”
“I am your contractor. Bahamut.”
Yuna reflexively flinched at the dignified, deep voice of the dragon, but she could only feel goodwill from the dragon, so she managed to set aside her fear and converse with it.
She had personally decided to make a contract with the dragon.
Even though she still didn’t fully understand the meaning of the contract, back then, Yuna had told Bahamut that she wanted to borrow its power to regain her ordinary life, and she swore to the contract.
“What about the contract!?”
At Yuna’s mention of the contract, the dragon, beyond the transparent wall, smiled faintly and spoke to her.
“That is something you should already know.”
“I should know?”
What did it mean that she should know?
And soon, Yuna recalled one thing.
“The status window!”
The status window, which displayed her body’s condition in numerical values.
After leaving the survivor camp, she hadn’t properly checked her own status window, so she did so now.
【 Name: Yuna Choi 】
【 Race: Human 】 【 Gender: Female 】 【 Age: 16 】 【 Alignment: Neutral Good 】
【 Level: 9 -> 15 】
【 Trait: Attendant Serving the Dragon 】
【 Job: Priestess of the Dragon 】
【 Strength: 11 -> 21 】 【 Health: 12 -> 22 】 【 Agility: 14 -> 24 】 【 Wisdom: 32 -> 42 】 【 Magic: 32 -> 132 】 【 Luck: 9 -> ? 】
【 Skills: Divine Art (Lower, Level 7), Concentrate (Lower, Level 1), Elemental Mastery (Lower, Level 1), Instant Casting (Lower, Level 1), Summoning – Bahamut (Grade Unknown) 】
“Wow…”
Her stats were overwhelming.
With just the contract being finalized, Yuna’s level had suddenly increased by six, and all of her stats had risen by 10, except for magic, which had risen by 100.
As for skills, she had only possessed Divine Art before, but she now surpassed the skill coefficients of awakened mages, and she even gained a skill to summon Bahamut, whom she had contracted.
Her previously empty job and trait slots had been replaced with marks related to the dragon beyond the wall, and Yuna finally realized that she had truly made a contract with that dragon… or rather, Bahamut.
“Ah, ahahaha…”
She had become stronger.
That fact alone filled her with joy.
She, who had been nothing but a powerless healer, now possessed the strength to fight.
However…
“What should I do now?”
Despite gaining power, she wasn’t someone who could take initiative.
Even at the survivor camp, she had only followed others’ opinions, and even when she resisted, she maintained a timid attitude. Just because she now had power, could she suddenly become proactive?
She had no idea what to do with this power.
That was her current feeling.
“The contractor told me. That she wished to restore the world and live again.”
Bahamut, seemingly unaware of Yuna’s inner turmoil, simply recited her wish.
“Restore… ahaha. That was a statement I made without thinking. How can an ordinary person like me restore the world with this power?”
But Yuna replied with a voice full of despair, as if she couldn’t believe it.
It could be seen as a sign of depression or lethargy.
In the survivor camp, there had been a faint hope that the government might rescue them, so even amid immense suffering, she could live without despair.
“Even the country, which was our hope, and the army… in the end, there was no response.”
However, despite all their efforts, neither the government nor the soldiers who could save the citizens ever responded.
The camp where Yuna had lived collapsed due to a mutant zombie attack, and the people scattered without strength were either eaten by zombies or became zombies themselves.
Knowing the end of the fallen survivor camp, Yuna held her arms tightly, trembling in fear from the terror that filled her body.
“What happened to the outside world that makes you speak so pessimistically?”
The dragon, as if comforting Yuna, who was trembling with fear, asked her carefully about what had happened outside the shrine.
Yuna, on the verge of being moved by the dragon’s concern, wanted to cry, but she held back her tears and, wanting to find even a bit more comfort, slowly told the dragon beyond the transparent wall about the outside world in a tearful voice.
“Two months ago. Zombies appeared in the city. The people living in the city turned into zombies, and when those who had become zombies bit others, they too would turn into zombies.”
“A situation often referred to as a zombie apocalypse?”
“Yes. Everyone turned into zombies, and those who had become zombies showed a murderous intent to kill us. My father was devoured by my mother, who had turned into a zombie, and he became a zombie too. Fortunately, with the emergence of beings called awakened ones, we had a means to fight back against the zombies, but…”
Yuna didn’t sense anything unusual about the dragon’s response.
If Yuna had been more composed, she might have realized that the dragon’s reply sounded like something often mentioned in subculture discussions, and she might have sensed something suspicious about the dragon before her. However, unfortunately, she was suffering from a sudden onset of lethargy and depression.
Without a hint of doubt in the dragon’s words, Yuna, in her weakened state, slowly began to lament her circumstances.
“I joined the survivor camp to survive… but in the end, the camp collapsed due to internal conflicts, and the only ones who survived the disaster were those with power. The powerless people just die.”
But that didn’t mean she was pathetic.
In the extreme situation of a zombie apocalypse, Yuna had made every effort to survive amidst countless hardships. She joined the survivor camp and proved her worth by treating many survivors.
However, as time passed, neither the government nor the military that Yuna and the survivors had trusted ever appeared. The survivor camp split due to differences of opinion between awakened ones and ordinary people, and it eventually collapsed after the emergence of mutant zombies, leaving many casualties in its wake.
“We worked so hard to survive, but we got nothing in return.”
From Yuna’s perspective, despite all her efforts, the unchanging reality, compounded by numerous setbacks, had driven her into despair, leaving her struggling with lethargy and depression.
“And yet, without even knowing my place, I said I would restore the world… Isn’t that truly laughable?”
So, no one could blame Yuna for being pathetic or weak.
In her position, facing endless disasters and misfortunes, she had eventually succumbed to pessimism.
The real fool and despicable one here was… the foolish dragon before her, trying to take advantage of Yuna’s weakened state.
“A zombie apocalypse? What on earth is this?”
Of course, this foolish dragon’s inner thoughts were in a semi-panic over Yuna’s mention of a zombie apocalypse.
“From what I’ve heard, this apocalypse occurred… only two months ago. So, does that mean I’ve achieved ‘doing nothing’ all this time?”
This foolish dragon only now realized that everything it had done so far had been one grand, futile effort.
Ah! Who would have thought there could be such a pitiful and pathetic dragon!
“Well, at least my actions up until now weren’t pointless! I mean, I did get a contractor!”
Desperately trying to convince itself that its actions weren’t all for naught, the dragon indulged in mental gymnastics. Despite its flawed thinking, it did manage to grasp the situation accurately.
“At any rate, what we need to do is eliminate the zombies and rebuild the ruined city, right?”
Fortunately for Yuna, this foolish dragon saw the current situation as seriously as it deserved.
“So, you’re saying that all order in the country collapsed in an instant?”
“Yes. All the common knowledge that existed before collapsed in an instant.”
“Then, what’s so laughable about having the determination to restore that common knowledge? It’s simply a desire to restore the collapsed order. Many others probably feel the same way.”
Thus, the dragon did not reject Yuna’s statement about restoring the country’s order. Instead, it validated her feelings.
“She must have been under immense stress at such a young age.”
The dragon… no, Bahamut thought he understood why Yuna’s hair had turned completely white when they first met.
It was a condition commonly known as Marie Antoinette Syndrome.
The extreme stress from the harsh situation of a zombie apocalypse had taken a toll on her physical condition, causing her hair to turn white.
“But…! Isn’t it arrogant for someone as weak as me to make such claims…?”
Due to the despair brought on by the disaster, Yuna’s self-esteem was shattered, and in her lethargic state, she vented her frustration to Bahamut, lamenting how someone as powerless as her could hope to rebuild order.
But Bahamut, standing firm before her, spoke with a voice filled with unwavering trust in Yuna.
“Arrogance? That’s not it. Merely making a claim isn’t about strength or good or evil. Anyone can do it. And striving to achieve that desire with strong willpower is by no means wrong. It’s not a bad thing.”
“You’re saying it’s not wrong?”
That it wasn’t a bad thing.
For Yuna, who had no one to rely on and no hope left, Bahamut’s words of affirmation were precisely what she needed. How would Yuna take such words when she had lost everything?
‘I… I… I’m not wrong. This thought wasn’t wrong…!’
Her fragile, wavering heart slowly found solace, gradually regaining its strength.
With the reassurance that she wasn’t wrong, Yuna gained the hope she needed to live on.
“Yes. Restoring order, reestablishing the law, and reclaiming peace—what’s so bad about that? Countless others probably share the same wish. They just want to return to their ordinary lives.”
“Ah… ahhhh…”
Continuing, Bahamut passionately declared that Yuna’s ideals weren’t wrong and that many others likely shared the same feelings as her.
‘I’m not wrong!’
The hope she had been clinging to was not a mistake.
That was the one thing Yuna had longed to hear, the part she most wanted to be affirmed.
“People have the right to pursue happiness. For someone as young as you, it’s a natural obligation.”
“Happiness, you say?”
To Yuna, Bahamut’s words were salvation.
She felt as though those words were saving her.
“In a situation like this, is that even possible?”
“If everything has collapsed, then all we need to do is rise again from the ruins.”
Bahamut showed Yuna the path.
If everything has collapsed, you just have to stand up again.
“I don’t have that kind of strength.”
“True. The voice of the powerless often goes unheard. So, gain strength that others cannot ignore. The strong can change the rules of the world, and with that strength, you can defeat those who destroyed your daily life. A new city will be born from the ruins, and that will be the new world you desire.”
The reason everything collapsed was because she lacked strength.
It was because she was weak that her ordinary life had been taken by zombies, and she was pursued by monsters that threatened her.
But now, as she spoke with Bahamut, was she still as powerless as before?
‘I have strength. I have a god who believes in me…’
No, she was no longer the same Yuna Choi as before.
The current Yuna had become someone with power.
“It’s not wrong. No, it’s the right thing! That’s the truth of the current world!”
Before her, Bahamut… no, the dragon god, told her.
To gain strength.
To use that strength to defeat the despicable enemies who had destroyed her daily life.
And to build a new city on the ruins, a city that would be the new world she and the god both desired!
“Yes. A new city will be born from the ruins! That city will be… the new world I desire!”
She had found hope, and in turn, she was able to engrave the presence of the god in her heart.
Now, as long as she had a god by her side, she would not waver and would move forward.
“I, Yuna Choi! For the world I desire, I will rise again as the god has commanded!”
For the new world she desired.
“Oh. Um. Right. …Did I overdo it a bit?”
The god, meanwhile, looked at Yuna with a worried expression due to her sudden change, but she couldn’t see it, lost as she was in her newfound faith and zeal.
After all, to her eyes, filled with pure faith and fervour, Bahamut was a benevolent dragon god.
Surely, he would infinitely affirm her current state.
‘This will be okay, right…?’
You chose this contractor.
Just hold on with grit and determination.
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