Chương 27: Reborn as the Dragon: — Chapter 27 - Monster Fitness Plan

"Master, the former chieftain of our tribe made a distribution map of the monsters in the surrounding area. Please wait a moment — I'll go find it." Bolikri scrambled up from the ground and scurried off to the cave where the kobolds used to store their important items. The Ettercaps hadn't touched any of it. The only truly revolting part was that giant spiders had plastered the place with colorful egg clutches across every surface.

When Bolikri led his crew in to clean it out, they'd had to choke down their disgust and pop each one by hand. Su Nian, meanwhile, was anything but idle. He was studying his newly revealed status panel, and to keep Anna from getting bored, he'd spent a few system points on a lollipop for her. The more she practiced now, the more natural it would become later. These things take time to develop.

[Name: Su Nian · Votrus] [Gender: Male] [Race: Black Dragon (Variant)] [Level: 30 (Third Tier) (21–30)] [Health: (Constitution x100)] [Strength: 300, Attack: 6000 (Strength x20)] [Constitution: 600, Armor: 6000 (Constitution x10)] [Spirit: 150, Magic Resistance: 1500 (Spirit x10)] [Skills: Variant Dragon Breath, Primitive Hunting, Dragon's Might Experience Sharing (Gains 50% of all followers' EXP) Fearsome Intimidation (A fearsome and majestic presence causes enemies to instinctively feel terror)] [Note: Attributes such as Strength, Constitution, and Spirit can be raised through regular training or by gaining levels.] Nothing particularly surprising. If he had to guess, all of this was designed for players to see. The natives of this world knew nothing, they couldn't even see their own panels. They were kept completely in the dark. Not one of them knew that their living, breathing lives registered as nothing more than a string of cold numbers to the so-called players. Was that the conspiracy behind all of this? And where did that leave him? Su Nian frowned.

If "Fate" had seen fit to let him see the same information the players could, that wasn't an accident. It was a hint. Use this. Turn it against them.

"Attributes can be raised through training?" He lowered his gaze, turning the thought over.

"That might be the crack in the wall." Natives killing natives earned zero experience, only killing players counted. But players had no such restriction. And since natives vastly outnumbered them, players would naturally rack up kills and levels far faster. It was a war built on unequal terms from the start. Whoever was pulling the strings on both sides wanted players and natives tearing each other apart. That was the bet. That was the whole point.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. And right now, he was the only variable on this side of the board, the only one who knew what was really going on. Before the System arrived, magical beasts lived simply: eat, sleep, grow stronger through bloodline and luck. But now that everything had been quantified, a brand-new option had appeared. Training. The thought triggered a memory from back on Earth.

Passing by a shopping center, there was always a girl in form-fitting athletic wear holding a stack of flyers, giving you a look that said I believe in you, and saying:"Hey handsome, heard of Pengpai Fitness?"

"Want to sign up for a membership?" Su Nian wanted a membership now. He wanted memberships for every monster under his command. But first, he needed to test whether this training method actually produced results. Players were leveling fast, and they were dropping into this world everywhere at once. He couldn't cover every front. Raising the combat power of his subordinates wasn't just important, it was everything. His gaze drifted to a kobold picking through the aftermath of the battle.

The kobold happened to be facing him. Convenient.

"You. Come here." The kobold had no idea why, but it obeyed, shuffling over and pressing itself flat against the ground in front of him. The Black Dragon's presence bore down on it like a physical weight.

"Great master, Huck is ready to serve."

"Hmm." Su Nian looked the kobold named Huck over. A panel popped open. [Name: Huck] [Gender: Male] [Race: Kobold (Black Dragon Follower)] [Level: 4 (First Tier) (1–10)] [Health: 800] [Strength: 4, Attack: 80] [Constitution: 8, Armor: 80] [Spirit: 1, Magic Resistance: 10] [Skills: Set Trap, Cave Design, Mining, Scavenging, Howl, Pounce, Play Dead]... Good grief. Su Nian had known kobolds were weak. He hadn't known they were this weak. The shame of all magical beasts.

No wonder they struggled to one-on-one a human of the same level. Still, if his theory held, these kobolds might yet become something worth having.

"Huck. New orders. You are going to run laps around this cave for half an hour. No stopping. Not for a single second. If you stop —" Su Nian opened his jaws wide, his voice dropping into something hoarse and brutal, sulfurous breath washing over the kobold's face, "I will eat you." Huck crumpled to the ground on the spot.

"Master, mercy! Huck will run! Huck won't stop — not until you say so!" Its voice came out somewhere between a wail and a sob. It hauled itself upright, got its stubby little legs moving, and launched into a full sprint around the enormous cave. Since it had no idea whether running slow counted as stopping, it went flat-out from the first step. Within two minutes it was already wheezing. After five, it had dialed back the pace considerably, but it absolutely did not stop. Half an hour came and went.

Su Nian called off the still-stumbling kobold and waved it back over. Huck returned by crawling. Its whole body was drenched in sweat. The path it dragged itself along left a clear wet smear on the stone. Huck swore, on its life, that it had never been this tired in all its years of existence.

"Gr... great... m-master... Huck... ran... crawled... done..."

"Hmm." Su Nian nodded and checked the panel. [Health: 810] [Constitution: 8. 1 (+0. 1), Armor: 81] Thirty minutes of high-intensity running had bumped Huck's Constitution by 0. 1. The gain almost certainly wasn't fixed, the more sessions stacked up, the more the returns would taper off and eventually stop. Infinite stacking was never going to happen. If it did, given enough time, he could field an army of kobolds capable of beating gods. But as a mechanism to counter players?

This might be exactly what he was looking for. Su Nian nodded slowly, genuinely pleased. He could use this method on himself too. He didn't push Huck any further. The kobold's face had gone slack with the specific relief of someone who'd just been told they weren't going to die today, and Su Nian let it go. Kobold stamina was actually decent, a quick meal and it would bounce back fast enough. Right on cue, Bolikri came trotting over, practically bouncing with each step, the map clutched in his hands.

Popular Science (feel free to skip) The Cockatrice resembles an ugly mash-up of bird, lizard, and bat, and has earned a grim reputation for sheer ferocity in a fight. This omnivore's diet runs toward things it can swallow whole: berries, nuts, flowers, and small animals, insects, mice, frogs, whatever it can get its beak around. It doesn't go looking for trouble. But the moment it senses even the slightest threat, the reaction is immediate and disproportionate.

No matter what's in front of it, the Cockatrice throws itself forward, wings hammering the air, head lunging, beak stabbing at anything within reach. Even a light graze from that beak is enough. The toxin it carries doesn't need a deep wound to do its work. A scratch is a death sentence. ➤ Next: Subduing the Magical Beasts