Chapter Eight: The Dragonborn and the Hidden Quest

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Zhao Tianhe hurried back to his apartment, and along the way, he discovered something that astonished him: he seemed to be running much faster than usual!

"This spell Pixie cast is really quite something. What should I make for her tomorrow? Hmm… chilled jelly cake? It takes some time, and I’ve never made it before, but she seems to love sweets. I’ll give it a try after finishing my daily tasks." Zhao Tianhe mused cheerfully to himself, oblivious to the fact that the roots of his hair had turned a striking shade of crimson.

He quickly finished preparing dinner. Thankfully, he’d anticipated a rushed evening and had prepared plenty of ready-to-heat food at noon, dishes that wouldn’t lose their flavor.

"Mm, these chicken feet and eggs are great, and the fried chicken cutlets are delicious!" Artoria was lured out by the aroma of food, eating as she played her game.

Sitting across from her, Zhao Tianhe ate and watched the golden-haired girl. Yet, as he watched, he suddenly felt a strange sense of incongruity.

'Strange. Normally, even if I want to pay respects to my king, whenever I see her eating and gaming at the same time, I just can’t muster any reverence. But now…' As Zhao Tianhe gazed at the beautiful girl before him—still looking every bit the consummate shut-in—an uncontrollable sense of awe welled up inside him!

It was as if this awe had substance. How to put it? At this moment, if Artoria were to command Zhao Tianhe to kneel, he’d do so without a second thought!

'What’s happening to me?' Zhao Tianhe stared down at the marinated chicken feet in his hand, utterly perplexed. 'Have I awakened some unspeakable fetish?!'

"Master…" Suddenly, Artoria spoke. She looked at Zhao Tianhe, her beautiful turquoise eyes narrowing, her pupils shifting from human to reptilian slits.

"You’ve forsaken your humanity?"

"Huh?! Forsaken my humanity?! No, I haven’t done anything… I just went on an adventure today, got badly wounded and cursed, then Pixie healed me, that’s all." Zhao Tianhe was taken aback and explained with a wry smile.

"I see. Then your healing method must have been quite extraordinary…" Artoria stood up. Though she wore a cartoon lion-print nightgown trimmed with lace, in Zhao Tianhe’s eyes, she now appeared as a towering colossus—majestic, magnificent, and utterly unapproachable.

"Look at your reaction now. The lesser dragon-blood within you senses fear and chooses submission," Artoria said, pointing at Zhao Tianhe.

He was stunned for a moment, and only then did he realize that he had unknowingly knelt before Artoria!

Alarmed, Zhao Tianhe quickly pulled up his Hero System. Sure enough, his strength, agility, and constitution had all increased slightly, and he’d gained a new talent.

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Lesser Dragon-Blooded

+10 Stamina, +10 HP

'What a meager talent… but still, not bad… Wait! What do I mean, not bad?! What on earth is going on?! Before, at least my king was pleasing to the eye even if untouchable, but now even that’s gone!' Zhao Tianhe’s face twitched as his thoughts turned to that scoundrel Pixie. 'What nonsense fairy magic! That guy must have given me something weird!'

And in fact, that was exactly the case. What Pixie had thought was a healing potion was actually a trace amount of dragon blood essence. To be fair, it was a treasure and had indeed saved Zhao Tianhe’s life; for anyone else, it would have brought only benefits. But for Zhao Tianhe, things were different…

'Am I really doomed to grovel for the rest of my life?' Realizing this, Zhao Tianhe felt utterly deflated. All his hard work cooking and building rapport had always been for the hope of breaking through that barrier!

But now, far from breaking through, he couldn’t even straighten up in front of Artoria!

"I don’t want this power! This power doesn’t belong to me!" Zhao Tianhe struggled to his feet, staring at his hands, shouting resolutely. "I… I am myself, an ordinary person!"

"Correct. Unless you’re born with it, borrowed bloodline power will always come with flaws and a price." Artoria nodded approvingly at Zhao Tianhe’s reaction, then pressed her thumb and forefinger together and flicked his forehead.

A prompt sounded.

You have activated a hidden quest: Purge the Dragon Blood.

Quest: Each time you cook for Artoria, cut your forehead and let a drop of blood fall, sacrificing the dragon-blood within you until it is completely purged.

Reward: Remove the Lesser Dragon-Blooded talent, erase the negative effect of being influenced by Dragon’s Might, +50 Artoria Favorability, unlock Artoria’s Combat Mode in advance.

"Combat Mode?" Zhao Tianhe wasn’t sure what that meant, but it sounded like a good thing.

"By the way, I have something to ask of you." Artoria came over, helped Zhao Tianhe up, and handed him a slip of paper.

"What’s this?" Zhao Tianhe asked, puzzled by the two strings of numbers and letters. "An account and password?"

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"Yes. After I used up all my AP yesterday, I felt a bit empty, so I couldn’t resist creating a new account. But now, playing it feels a bit tiring. You level it up for me." Artoria patted Zhao Tianhe on the shoulder, her dragon-like emerald pupils briefly flashing.

"Y-yes, ma’am!" At this point, Zhao Tianhe had no choice but to comply!

You have unlocked a hidden daily quest: Grind Again!

Ensure Artoria’s alternate account ‘Artoria Lily’ uses up all AP and apples each day (does not count if she logs in herself).

Each day completed: additional +5 Artoria Favorability.

Now he had to cook, battle monsters, go on adventures, and grind games—this wasn’t just grinding games, it was grinding his life away!

Technically, Zhao Tianhe could have refused this quest, but unfortunately, as a dragon-blooded, he was completely incapable of defying Artoria, who, despite her harmless appearance as a golden-haired maiden, was in truth a pure-blooded fantasy dragon!

'Though I don’t know all the details, Artoria gives me the impression of an emperor. Her bloodline must be among the top-tier magical dragon races in this world.' Back at the apartment, Zhao Tianhe prepared ingredients while squeezing in time to tap away at his phone, clearing stages in the game, so busy he barely managed to rest until late at night.

The next morning, Zhao Tianhe was awakened by a full AP alarm and once again found himself multi-tasking: grinding stages while cooking breakfast, finishing his breakfast quest, sneaking in a twenty-minute nap, then heading out to buy groceries for lunch.

In the afternoon, after prepping ingredients for dinner, Zhao Tianhe arrived at the Slime Caverns. Though he felt a bit resentful toward Pixie, he still brought out the sticky rice cake he’d made overnight—after all, she had saved his life, and that was undeniable.

Still, there were some things that had to be done.

"Pixie, let me teach you a game." "Don’t worry, it’s not hard at all. Look, you just tap here…"