Chapter 8: “Team Disaster Sets Off

it was early morning in Dragon Castle.

The sky was painted with streaks of orange fire, phoenixes circled lazily overhead, and in the courtyard... absolute chaos was brewing.

Yeong-Su stood in front of a flaming carriage the size of a small house, which was shaped like a dragon head with wings, glowing wheels, and unnecessary exhaust pipes that blew out smoke shaped like flame emojis.

"This… is our travel ride?" he blinked.

Kaelira nodded. "The Royal Flame Cruiser. Custom-built. Enchanted for high-speed terrain shifting and mid-air maneuverability. Comes with drink holders."

Jaemin stuck his head out of the top window. "AND a ramen drawer!"

Haneul was in the back seat setting up a hammock. "We are so dying in this thing."

Sung-Hoon climbed in last, cautiously poking the seat. "Does this thing run on gas, magic, or blind faith?"

Kaelira answered, "Mostly rage. And a little bit of dragon-core juice."

"Cool. Totally safe," Sung-Hoon mumbled.

---

Scene: The Open Road

The carriage zoomed across fields of flame grass and lava hills. A phoenix hitched a ride on the roof. One of the wheels started spinning sideways, for no reason.

Yeong-Su held the enchanted wheel tightly.

"This is amazing!" he shouted. "I feel like I'm in a video game—just, like, one that hasn't patched out the glitches yet!"

Haneul peeked over the side. "Hey, did we just run over a rock that screamed 'OUCH'?"

Jaemin, munching snacks from the magical food drawer, replied, "Nah, that was probably a screaming mushroom. They live out here. Very emotional."

Suddenly, Kaelira's voice came from the glowing crystal dashboard. "Majesty, warning: You are approaching the Valley of Whispers. Expect hallucinations, illusion traps, and deeply personal visions of shame."

Sung-Hoon raised an eyebrow. "...That sounds like my midterms."

---

Scene: The Valley of Whispers

The landscape changed instantly.

The grass turned silver. The sky dimmed. Whispers floated in the air like ghostly gossip.

"I don't like this," Yeong-Su muttered.

"Neither do I," said a second Yeong-Su.

He turned. Standing across from him was a perfect clone—same red-and-white hair, but cleaner, cooler, and wearing sunglasses. The clone smirked.

"You call yourself a king?" it said. "You barely know what you're doing. You panic, flail, and accidentally win. What happens when your luck runs out?"

Yeong-Su gulped. "Okay. Rude."

Behind him, Jaemin was arguing with a version of himself in a suit. "Bro, why are you trying to recruit me into corporate marketing?! I'm a free spirit!"

Haneul was surrounded by floating report cards that just read 'YOU COULD'VE TRIED HARDER' in bold letters.

Sung-Hoon's illusion was his mother holding his phone and yelling, "You downloaded WHAT? A dragon summoning app?!"

Yeong-Su grabbed his head. "Okay, I've had enough psychological horror for one morning!"

He activated his fire crest, and a wave of heat burst from his body.

The illusions sizzled and vanished.

The sky snapped back to normal.

Haneul fell over. "Good job. You roasted your own trauma."

Yeong-Su puffed his chest. "Yeah, well… being emotionally unstable has its perks."

---

Scene: Forest of the Fanged Ferns

Hours later, the group entered a glowing jungle full of hissing plants and trees that tried to lick people.

"This place feels like it wants to eat me," Sung-Hoon whispered.

Yeong-Su pointed to a bush. "That one does. That's a Fang Fern. It bit me earlier."

Suddenly, vines shot out from the ground and tried to wrap around the cruiser.

Kaelira's voice echoed from the dashboard. "Emergency! Fanged flora approaching!"

Yeong-Su hit every magical button in panic. "Initiate weapon mode! Flame missiles! Fire breath! Nap mode! Anything!"

Instead, the cruiser turned on its magical karaoke system.

🎵 "I'm on fire, baby, like a dragon in the sky—" 🎵

The plants paused.

Then… started dancing.

Jaemin leaned out of the window. "Wait. Did we just defeat killer jungle vines with… music?"

Haneul started filming it. "I'm uploading this. I don't care if we're in another dimension."

Yeong-Su facepalmed. "I'm surrounded by morons. I love you guys."

---

Scene: Campfire That Night

That evening, the group set up camp by a crystal lake that glowed faintly red.

Yeong-Su sat by the fire, roasting glowing marshmallows (which occasionally exploded).

Sung-Hoon sat beside him.

"So," Sung-Hoon said. "You think we're ready for whatever's out there?"

Yeong-Su stared at the sky. "Nope. But I've got friends, fire powers, and a half-functioning flying carriage. That's enough to wing it."

A scroll popped in the fire.

Yeong-Su picked it up and read aloud.

> "Dear False King,

I see you're on your way. Good. Come find me in the Ruined Wyrm Citadel.

Let's end this.

— Crimson Phantom."

Everyone looked at each other.

Jaemin blinked. "Okay, hold up. Who is Crimson Phantom? Is that a new villain or just the last one doing a rebrand?"

Yeong-Su stood dramatically. "Doesn't matter. He wants a showdown?"

He looked at the fire, which flared with his aura.

"Then I'll bring the storm."