Story Breaker-Chapter 9: Eldrin, The "False" King Of Wolves

The wolf-headed man, whom I assumed was Eldrin, noticed us as we got closer and immediately stopped playing his flute.

He spoke in a kind and soft tone as he tilted his head at us, "Oh, hello there, who might you two be?"

Now that I was closer, I could see his body was on the chubbier side, and his wolf head was more similar to the Samoyed dog breed.

Even stranger was the fact he lacked any traits that a calamity would have, he didn't have an overwhelming desire for destruction, instead, he seemed to be at peace.

He had no bloodthirsty instinct to kill humans on sight.

In fact, he seemed happy to meet us, even his tail wagged behind him from side to side slowly.

Not even a single predatory hunger lurked in his gaze instead his eyes were beaming with curiosity.

'This is a calamity?..'

I glanced at the salvation system's mission that it had given me.

After seeing that I read everything correctly, I hesitantly spoke up, "I'm Kim Taejune, and this is... Yoon Harin."

I looked at Yoon Harin as I said her name, noticing her cold expression was now gone, replaced with a confused and stern look on her face as she continued to stare at Eldrin.

'What's wrong with her?... Maybe she's surprised by Eldrin's appearance, like I was?...'

After hearing our names, Eldrin introduced himself, "I am Eldrin Cain, the—" he paused for a moment, and his tail sagged down for a bit as he spoke, "The 'false' king of wolves..."

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'He knows he's not a real calamity? Is he an error in the entrance exam—'

'Wait... Yoon Harin said she's looking for a specific calamity. Is she looking for Eldrin? If so, why?'

I sighed, ignoring most of the questions about Yoon Harin because I could ask her later.

So I asked the question that was stuck in my head, "So, Eldrin... how do you know you're a fake king of wolves?"

Eldrin looked at the sky. "When I appeared, I lacked any memories about myself besides my name, title, and skills. Curious, I looked around and saw in the sky that..."

Eldrin pointed to the huge gray system in the sky and then continued, "That's when I knew this place was fake, and therefore I knew I was fake as well. As I ventured from the place I appeared in, more and more things proved I was fake. This place is an entrance exam... that's what I heard from listening in on other cadets like you two."

He continued, "The real Eldrin most likely exists outside of this place unlike me. He isn't bound to this 'fake world.' He isn't an AI that is meant to test cadets, he is the real king of wolves..."

Tears formed in Eldrin's eyes, they bubbled down his cheek as he said those words, making me regret asking him that question.

I was about to comfort him until Yoon Harin went ahead of me, put her hand on top of his fluffy head, and began petting him comfortingly.

'I think it's obvious what I have to do now... I have to save him... no matter what... I made him cry, Eldrin, I will free you from this fake world...'

I joined Yoon Harin in comforting Eldrin, after Eldrin had calmed down, I apologized to him. He smiled gently, "There's no need for apologizing. I have to face the truth, but it's hard for me, and I should be thanking you two for comforting me..."

His tail wagged as he continued, "You two are different from the other humans I have met. They either ran or tried to attack me, yet you two are the only ones who had a conversation with me and heard my story. I am grateful I met you two in this limited life of mine..."

Eldrin looked at us curiously and asked, "If you don't mind me asking, what is the outside world like? The world outside of this entrance exam? I want to learn more about that world, even if it is scary and worse than this one. I want to know about it..."

"Sure..." I looked at Yoon Harin as she sighed and then nodded.

We spent the next hour teaching Eldrin about the world outside this entrance exam—about towers, skills, saviors, calamities, all of it.

His expression changed as we talked about different topics, yet he continued to listen, he wanted to learn about the world outside his cage...

That was most likely the first and last time Eldrin was taught something new...

Yoon Harin and I, after teaching Eldrin about the outside world, headed out to gather supplies and return but when we came back, Eldrin was holding his head and struggled in pain on the ground.

"Eldrin?..."

I stared at Eldrin in shock as he whimpered in pain.

Black sparks crackled violently around his head.

Noticing us, he howled in pain, "YOON HARIN, KIM TAEJUNE, PLEASE KILL ME... I DON'T WANT TO HURT ANYONE..."

'I don't want to do that...'

Yoon Harin and I watched in horror as Eldrin roared out in pain.

Black strings wrapped around his limbs as the black sparks slowly dispersed from his head. The fluffy and kind Eldrin we knew was gone.

We stared at the Eldrin who slowly got up; he had piercing red eyes, and his chubbiness was gone, replaced with a muscular build.

His head now resembled that of a wolf more as he bared his sharp fangs at us.

A black great sword appeared in his hands as he charged straight at Yoon Harin.

I glanced in the corner of my eye, spotting the salvation system as it appeared, notifying me that my mission had updated.

[The mission has been updated]

[Mission: Save the great calamity, Eldrin the "false" king of wolves.]

[Reward: Blessing + ??? ]