Chapter 83 Gigolo
No, why did I feel like I was hearing music?
I felt like I needed to dance right away.
Looking into those blank eyes made me feel odd.
But it stopped at just a feeling.
Could that guy really be Toosulisu?
The atmosphere was roughly similar. But something was off.
Let’s take a closer look.
【Coelophysis LV24】
【Traits】
「Poison Resistance」「Light Bones」「Soaring Dragon Faith」
【Status】
「Curiosity」「Miniaturization」
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【Coelophysis】
Coelophysis is a dinosaur with a unique skeletal structure that grows up to 3 meters in length but weighs only 45 kg. This lightweight structure allowed it to achieve high speeds and maintain balance, enabling it to make precise directional changes while running.
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Coelophysis.
This guy was quite well-known too.
Not as much as Stegosaurus or Triceratops, but anyone who dug a bit deeper would know the name Coelophysis.
There was even a separate order named after it.
You could say it was somewhat famous.
But that was that.
Was this guy really Toosulisu?
My answer was ‘no.’
Its size was definitely small.
Much smaller compared to what was listed on the status window.
Moreover, I could tell it had miniaturization applied.
However, it lacked something to be called Toosulisu.
Could it have earned the Snake Queen’s recognition with just this?
The Queen was very strict.
She let things slide because it was me, but from what I’d heard, she wasn’t someone to be taken lightly.
There was no way she recognized a Level 24 dinosaur.
Moreover, one of its traits was the Soaring Dragon Faith.
This meant it served under someone else.
In other words, the entity I was looking for was the Soaring Dragon.
This guy was merely a subordinate of the Soaring Dragon.
“Gegegek!”
“Kekekeck!”
The eyes of the nodding Coelophysis widened.
“Kek!”
It seemed to have noticed the necklace around my neck.
Right. If it were Hunhwii, it wouldn’t have reacted this way.
It flapped its arms and threw a fit.
“Kekek!”
It cautiously approached me and started leaving marks on the ground with its claws.
Upon closer inspection, I realized it was drawing a picture.
Yes, a picture.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was clearly an arrow.
Had I ever seen a dinosaur with this level of intelligence?
No matter how smart a dinosaur was, this kind of communication didn’t make sense.
It was clear someone had taught it.
The one who taught it must be the Soaring Dragon mentioned in its faith.
In other words, it was likely Hunhwii.
“Kek!”
The Coelophysis tilted its head.
It seemed to be asking if I understood the symbol.
With that level of intelligence, it was at least on par with Tang So-yeong, at most Shikshik.
“Gegek.”
I nodded to indicate that I understood.
It probably meant for me to follow it.
The Coelophysis’s face lit up.
It pointed to the fallen terror birds with its mouth.
If I wasn’t going to eat them, it seemed to be asking for them.
It wouldn’t hurt to present them as a gift, would it?
“Gegegek!”
*
I walked to the place it guided me to.
Carrying one terror bird in its mouth and wrapping the other with its tail, its pace naturally slowed.
After walking for quite a while, I saw a peculiar sight.
I saw a very rare creature.
It was a lizard.
Yes, a lizard.
It was the first lizard I’d seen since arriving in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.
How could lizards be rarer than dinosaurs?
There were no Green Geckos or Green Basilisks, but still, seeing a lizard was quite refreshing.
“Gegegek.”
The lizards seemed scared of my huge frame at first but soon gathered around me one by one.
Judging by their twinkling eyes, they seemed to feel some kind of emotion due to my overwhelming size. Probably something akin to respect.
…Could I perhaps steal more followers?
“Gek!”
I let out a dignified cry.
I was a lizard too.
If you believe in Gecko, you can become like this.
Then I tore off a piece of the terror bird meat I’d caught earlier.
“Gegegeck!”
“Gegege!”
The lizards bounced around excitedly.
As much as I wanted to actively recruit them, they were already believers of the Soaring Dragon Faith.
Those who had tasted meat would eat it well. I knew that if I displayed my dragon scales here, most of their minds would turn to me.
But I hadn’t come to antagonize Hunhwii.
I came to learn skills, so I restrained myself.
If they were already enthralled by Gecko, there was nothing I could do.
If they were willing to change their faith for a piece of meat, they would have believed in something else anyway.
“Kek….”
The Coelophysis nudged me.
It seemed like it couldn’t actively stop me because I carried the Snake Queen’s token, but its face was filled with anxiety.
Even without being able to communicate, I could tell what it was thinking just by its expression.
It worried it might be reprimanded as the middle manager if it lost followers.
And it couldn’t do anything to me.
“Keeng….”
Yeah, you’re having a hard time too.
I’ll restrain myself.
Passing by the lizards, I finally found a cave.
The cave entrance was eerily small.
Had I been a bit bigger, I wouldn’t have been able to stick my head in.
Of course, it wasn’t easy to enter even now.
If I moved carelessly, the cave might collapse.
So, I decided to wait outside instead of going in.
I played around with the lizards that swarmed around me.
I used to be their size too.
“Gegegek.”
“Gekgek!”
The little lizards clumsily imitated my cry.
Their attempt to mimic was cute, so I tried to pet them, but then I remembered that most of them were older than me.
Some might even be as old as my parents.
“Gek….”
I was handing out meat to them when the Coelophysis that had gone into the cave came out.
Beside it was a lizard even smaller than it.
No, it wasn’t a lizard.
It was about the size of a gecko lizard.
However, its structure was not that of a lizard.
Its neck was slightly longer, and its limbs were elongated.
I could tell it had minimized its body size through miniaturization.
That was Toosulisu.
The entity the Snake Queen called Hunhwii.
Considering the Snake Queen acknowledged it, it would fall under the category of a mythical creature.
【Procompsognathus LV???】
What?
I doubted my eyes.
There were several things that caught my attention.
First was its species.
Procompsognathus.
Also known as Compy.
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【Procompsognathus】
Procompsognathus is a small dinosaur that grows to a maximum length of 1 meter and weighs only 1 kg. Utilizing its small size, it moves nimbly and hunts small insects or lizards.
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When I first heard the name Hunhwii, I immediately thought of this guy.
The name Hunhwii.
And the small stature.
I couldn’t help but think of this species, known as Compy.
The result was as I expected, so it wasn’t surprising.
But the level next to its name was the problem.
Just like the Snake Queen, its level wasn’t visible.
Even the Cockatrice’s level was visible.
This meant it was at least stronger than a Cockatrice.
Look at the way it walked slowly with its hands behind its back.
Didn’t it look like an old master with deep inner power?
Its face resembled that of the Coelophysis I saw earlier.
Seeing those blank eyes made me want to dance without realizing it.
But contrary to that, this incredible power.
Just watching made my body tingle.
I hadn’t felt this kind of shock even when witnessing the power of the Snake Queen or the Inmyeonjoo.
It didn’t mean their power was less than this Compy.
The Snake Queen and the Inmyeonjoo were mythical creatures like Basilisk and Quetzalcoatl.
It made sense that they had strong power.
But this small guy was a Procompsognathus.
It had reached this level by forcibly raising its level without evolving even once.
It would be understandable if a larger mythical creature had minimized its body size.
But this guy had refused even that and trained miniaturization to the extreme.
It was smaller than an ordinary Compy.
The Compy stared at me intently.
To be precise, at the necklace around my neck.
Thump.
My heart beat rapidly.
To be honest, I had a bit of arrogance.
I thought I could easily defeat a medium-sized carnivorous dinosaur now.
I was of similar size, and I could use internal energy and martial arts.
I had seen other mythical creatures and even defeated a Cockatrice, so ordinary dinosaurs wouldn’t be a match for me.
That’s what I thought.
But that was a mistake.
Just as I could use internal energy and martial arts, dinosaurs could use them too.
The pseudo-Ankylosaurus wielded powerful external techniques, and the Dilophosaurus even used secret techniques of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Despite experiencing it firsthand, I had become complacent.
Look at the profound internal energy of this Compy.
The size of the dinosaur didn’t
matter.
The Deinonychus I easily devoured could have reached a high level by consuming all kinds of spiritual medicines and might have defeated me.
“Gegegek!”
I had to shed my arrogance.
Look at the blank face of that Compy.
If it had decided to hide its internal energy, would I have suspected anything?
If I had underestimated an opponent based on their size in actual combat, I would have become a big lizard skewer.
The Compy walked toward me slowly.
It moved with the grace of an old master.
After checking my necklace, it nodded lightly.
It must mean it would teach me.
The Compy would teach me the mysteries of miniaturization it knew.
But I wasn’t satisfied with just that.
It possessed such profound internal energy in that small body.
What did that mean?
It meant it knew a tremendous amount of martial arts.
Not martial arts suited for humans, but those suited for a lizard’s body.
Moreover, the faith it served was named the Soaring Dragon Faith.
Soaring Dragon.
Wasn’t that a familiar term?
The first martial art I learned, Soaring Dragon’s Ascension Step.
“Gegehek….”
I let out a sinister laugh.
Are you ready, Reverse Scale?
It’s time for the righteous faith thief to step in.
Since the martial arts don’t wear out, let’s take some.
The Compy looked slightly flustered.
It seemed to have partially grasped my intention.
But what could it do?
The Compy owed a debt to the Snake Queen.
And who was I?
Wasn’t I the Snake Queen’s mate?
“Gegegek!”
I shook the necklace given by the Snake Queen.
My wife said you owe her a debt, didn’t she?
[The Snake Queen says being a gigolo might not be so bad.]
Sure. I might as well be a gigolo.
Hurry and bring out those hidden martial arts.