Chapter 5: “Yeong-Su vs. The Crimson King

The royal war room was filled with flames, floating maps, and at least seven glowing orbs doing dramatic spins in the air for no reason other than aesthetic.

Yeong-Su stood at the center, his red-and-white hair slightly messy from the lava jacuzzi. He was dressed in his royal robe, which looked 90% overkill and 10% fashion week, complete with a flaming collar that almost singed his ear when he sneezed earlier.

Kaelira pointed at a map.

"Here. Fire ogres. Marching from the northern ridge. They're led by someone calling himself The Crimson King."

Yeong-Su squinted. "Isn't that my color theme? Can he legally call himself that?"

Haneul, lounging on a floating chair like this was a press conference, shrugged. "Bro, it's fantasy land. Nobody here follows copyright law."

Jaemin stood with a glowing cup of dragon-coffee. "Did you just get challenged to a boss battle by a guy with your aesthetic? That's so anime."

Yeong-Su groaned. "What does this Crimson King want anyway? My throne? My shampoo? My spicy ramen stash?"

Kaelira cleared her throat. "He claims you're unworthy of the throne. He plans to 'cleanse the dragonblood line' and rule with an army of fire ogres. Very standard dark villain speech."

Yeong-Su paused. "Okay. But how many fire ogres are we talking here?"

"Roughly… five thousand."

"Cool cool cool," Yeong-Su nodded. "That's only 4,997 more than I can reasonably handle."

---

One Hour Later – Battlefield Outside the Dragon Castle

The sky was dramatic. The lava plains were extra molten today. And the Crimson King was standing like a metal album cover come to life.

He had long red hair, glowing crimson armor, and a flaming greatsword the size of a canoe. Behind him were thousands of fire ogres—huge, burly, flame-spewing beasts who looked like they'd eat lava rocks for snacks.

Yeong-Su flew in and tried to land like a majestic dragon ruler.

Instead, he crash-landed with a spin, slid 20 feet, and popped up like nothing happened.

"NAILED IT," he shouted, brushing soot off his sleeves.

The Crimson King stepped forward. "So. You're the new Dragon King."

Yeong-Su put on his most serious expression (which still somehow looked like a confused YouTuber thumbnail).

"That's right. I'm Yeong-Su, former part-time snack hoarder, now full-time ruler of the skies."

The Crimson King didn't laugh.

He raised his sword. "Surrender your throne. Or be turned to ash."

Yeong-Su looked behind him. Jaemin and Haneul were sitting under a magically summoned umbrella with snacks.

"Yo! Want us to start betting who wins?" Jaemin called out.

"Already placed ten gold on 'Yeong-Su screams and then explodes by accident,'" Haneul added.

Yeong-Su glared. "Support me emotionally, not financially!"

---

The Battle Begins

The Crimson King charged like a burning meteor.

Yeong-Su panicked.

"Okay, think! Use the fire! Summon the fire! BE the fire—"

He instinctively raised a hand. A flame shield burst into existence in front of him.

CLAAAANG!

The greatsword struck the shield with a shockwave so loud it cracked nearby rocks.

Yeong-Su yelped and rolled backward. "This guy's sword has more personality than me!"

The Crimson King roared. "You have no idea what it means to be a king."

Yeong-Su jumped onto a lava rock, hair blowing dramatically. "You're right. I don't! But I've seen enough anime to know yelling and random power-ups are totally valid strategies!"

He flung his arms out and screamed, "FLAME BURST!!!"

Nothing happened.

Then a tiny spark popped from his fingertip and hit the Crimson King in the nose.

The villain paused. Blinked. And sneezed.

Yeong-Su gasped. "Wait. Did I just weaponize a sneeze again?"

---

Unexpected Power-Up

As the Crimson King charged again, Yeong-Su's panic hit maximum.

"I CAN'T DIE BEFORE MY FIRST ROYAL NAP!!"

In that moment of desperation, his Crest of Flame glowed red-hot on his forehead.

Suddenly, fire wings erupted from his back.

Yeong-Su blinked. "Okay! That's new!"

He flapped once and accidentally launched himself into the air like a firework.

The dragons watching from above gasped.

Kaelira whispered, "He… he activated the Flame Dive technique without training?"

Jaemin stood and shouted, "BRO! YOU'RE LITERALLY A FLYING NUKE RIGHT NOW!"

Yeong-Su spiraled down toward the Crimson King, fire trailing behind him like a comet.

"FLAAAAAME—UH—WHATEVER!!!" he screamed.

He crashed into the Crimson King like a burning meteorite, launching both of them into a crater of molten rock.

---

Aftermath

The battlefield was silent.

Ash floated in the air.

Then, from the crater, Yeong-Su slowly emerged—smoking, wobbling, but somehow still alive.

The Crimson King lay unconscious next to him, his armor cracked.

Yeong-Su raised one hand weakly.

"Victory… by accident… again…"

Jaemin cheered. "I owe myself ten gold!"

Haneul raised a soda. "To our king. The only guy who wins boss fights by panicking harder than the enemy."

Kaelira landed beside Yeong-Su and offered a hand. "Your Majesty… you've done the impossible."

Yeong-Su grinned through the soot. "Thanks. Now someone carry me back to the throne. I'm about to pass out in like five seconds."