The rain fell hard against the city streets, turning the evening into a blur of lights and shadows. Cars moved slowly, their headlights cutting through the gray air. The smell of wet asphalt mixed with the faint scent of street food from a nearby stall.
Noah pulled his hoodie tighter around himself as he stepped out of the convenience store.
"Mom, I told you I'd carry it," he said with a small sigh, adjusting the plastic bags in his hands.
His mother laughed softly. "I'm not that weak yet, you know. I raised you alone. I can carry a few groceries."
Noah smiled at her. She looked tired, but she always tried to hide it. There were faint lines near her eyes that hadn't been there a few years ago. He hated seeing that.
"Still," he muttered, "you don't have to act strong all the time."
She nudged him with her shoulder. "Says the boy who doesn't even tell me when he's worried about college fees."
He looked away, embarrassed. "I said I'll figure it out."
The rain grew heavier. Thunder rolled in the distance.
They reached the crosswalk. The signal was red. Cars rushed past them, tires hissing against the wet road.
Noah glanced sideways at his mom. I'll make her life easier someday, he thought. I promise.
The signal turned green.
They stepped forward.
Everything happened too fast.
A loud engine roar cut through the rain.
A car sped down the street, ignoring the red light. Its headlights flashed toward them like two angry stars.
"Noah!" his mother screamed.
He didn't think.
He pushed her with all his strength.
Her body fell backward onto the wet pavement, groceries spilling. Apples rolled into the street.
Noah turned his head just in time to see the car.
Bright light.
A crushing sound.
Pain exploded through his body. The world spun. The rain felt cold against his face. He couldn't feel his legs.
He heard his mother's scream again, distant and broken.
"Noah! Noah! Stay with me! Someone call an ambulance!"
His vision blurred. The city lights stretched into strange lines.
At least she's safe, he thought.
Strangely, he didn't feel fear. Just regret.
Darkness swallowed him whole.
---
He expected nothing after that.
But instead of endless black, he found himself standing in a vast white space.
There was no ground, yet he stood. No sky, yet he could see.
"Am I… dreaming?" Noah muttered.
His voice echoed strangely.
"Not a dream."
The voice did not come from a direction. It was everywhere at once. Deep. Calm. Ancient.
Noah stiffened. "Who's there?"
Light gathered in front of him, slowly shaping into a tall figure. It looked human, but not quite. Its body was made of soft blue light, like the surface of Earth seen from space. Oceans and clouds moved faintly across its skin.
Noah stared.
"Are you… an alien?"
The figure paused. "You may call me the God of Earth."
Noah blinked several times. "Right. I'm dead."
"Yes."
"Well… that was quick." He scratched his head. "So this is the afterlife?"
"In a sense."
The god's eyes glowed gently. "You died protecting another. Your life ended before your fate line was complete."
"My fate line?" Noah frowned.
"You were meant to live longer. But choices matter. Your action broke the expected path."
Noah shrugged. "I wasn't going to let my mom die."
"I know."
The god stepped closer. The air around him felt heavy yet calm.
"The blue planet I oversee is entering a difficult era. Balance shifts. Stories shape worlds more than humans understand."
"Stories?" Noah repeated.
"Yes. There are worlds born from imagination. Worlds sustained by belief and thought. You are familiar with one of them."
Suddenly, images flashed before Noah's eyes.
A land of swords and magic.
Dragons soaring through crimson skies.
Noble families ruling vast territories.
A cruel emperor.
A fallen northern duke.
A tragic villain who died misunderstood.
Noah's eyes widened.
"That's… that's the novel I was reading!"
"Yes."
"The one where the northern duke's family gets destroyed because of palace politics?"
"Yes."
"The one where dragons are almost extinct?"
"Yes."
Noah stared at the god. "Don't tell me…"
"You will go there."
Silence filled the white space.
Noah laughed nervously. "That's not funny."
"I do not joke."
The god extended a hand. A small sphere of golden light appeared within his palm.
"You will be my apostle."
"A what?"
"My representative. My silent hand."
Noah frowned. "I didn't agree to that."
"You are not required to agree."
"Hey!"
The god's voice remained calm. "Your soul has potential. Strong will. Strong attachment. Such souls create change."
Noah crossed his arms. "And what if I don't want to?"
"You have already died."
"…That's unfair."
"Yes."
The god's eyes seemed to glow brighter.
"The world you read about is moving toward ruin. The north will fall. The dragon bloodline will vanish. The balance will collapse."
Noah hesitated.
He remembered the story clearly. The northern duke's family was framed. Their heir was sickly and died young. The territory was invaded. Dragons were hunted.
It had been one of the most frustrating parts of the novel.
"You're sending me there to fix it?" Noah asked.
"I am sending you there to exist."
"That's not an answer."
"Your choices will decide the rest."
The golden light in the god's hand floated toward Noah.
"Wait—"
It touched his chest.
Heat spread through him. Not painful. Just overwhelming.
"You will retain your memories," the god said. "But your knowledge of the future may shift as the world reacts to you."
"So I can't fully rely on the plot?"
"Correct."
Noah sighed. "Of course."
His body began to feel lighter.
"Hold on," he said quickly. "What about my mom?"
"She will live."
Noah's chest tightened.
"She will grieve," the god continued, "but she will survive. In time, she will find peace."
Noah closed his eyes.
"…That's enough."
The white space began to crack like glass.
"Wait!" Noah shouted. "At least tell me one thing!"
The god's form started to fade.
"What kind of role do I have in that world?!"
The god's voice echoed one last time.
"Duke of the North."
Then everything shattered.
---
Cold.
That was the first thing he felt.
Cold, tight, and heavy.
He couldn't move.
He tried to open his eyes.
Nothing happened.
He tried to breathe.
Liquid filled his lungs—but he didn't choke.
A strange rhythm echoed around him.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
A heartbeat.
Not his.
Noah's thoughts raced.
Where am I? Why can't I move?
He tried to speak, but no sound came out.
Then he realized something terrifying.
He had no control over his body.
Panic rose in his chest.
Did something go wrong? Am I paralyzed?
But slowly, strange sensations filled him.
Warmth surrounded him.
A steady pulse of life.
He felt… small.
Very small.
Memories of biology class flashed in his mind.
Darkness.
Liquid.
Heartbeat.
A sudden realization hit him like lightning.
No way.
No. No no no.
I'm not…
He tried to move again.
Tiny limbs twitched weakly.
That confirmed it.
He was inside a womb.
"I've been reborn as a baby?!" he screamed in his mind.
But no sound escaped.
His thoughts echoed only to himself.
Time felt strange.
Days passed like drifting dreams.
He could faintly hear sounds from outside. Muffled voices. Sometimes deep and calm. Sometimes gentle and warm.
One voice appeared often. A woman's voice.
Soft. Noble. Tired.
"My child… grow strong."
The voice carried affection.
Another voice, lower and firm, spoke near her.
"The northern winds grow harsher this year."
"We will endure," the woman replied softly.
Noah listened carefully.
The north…
Don't tell me…
Weeks passed.
His mind grew clearer as his tiny body developed.
Fragments of emotion drifted through him—some were not his own.
Pride.
Ancient strength.
A burning heat deep within his blood.
Sometimes, he felt something strange coil around his heart, like a sleeping beast.
When he focused on it, he saw flashes of crimson scales and golden eyes.
Dragon…
His thoughts trembled.
The noble family of the north.
Descendants of dragon riders.
In the novel, their bloodline was said to carry a trace of dragon power.
But it had weakened over generations.
The current heir was born sickly.
Weak.
Doomed to die before adulthood.
Noah's tiny body shivered.
That's me, isn't it?
One day, he felt sudden movement around him. The woman's heartbeat grew faster.
Voices filled the air.
"My lady, please breathe slowly!"
"The child is coming!"
Pain pulsed through the space around him.
Pressure squeezed him from all sides.
Noah felt himself being pushed.
Light—faint and blurry—pierced the darkness.
Cold air touched his skin.
For the first time, he breathed.
He cried out instinctively.
"Waaah!"
The sound shocked him.
That's my voice?
Large hands lifted him gently.
"A boy!" someone shouted.
"The heir of the North is born!"
He blinked his blurry eyes.
Shadows and light mixed together.
He saw a woman lying weakly on a grand bed. Her silver hair stuck to her pale face. But her blue eyes shone when she looked at him.
"My son…" she whispered.
A tall man stood beside her.
Broad shoulders.
Long dark hair.
Sharp eyes like a blade.
Even without full vision, Noah felt the man's presence like a mountain.
"The bloodline continues," the man said quietly.
The room felt heavy with power.
Noah felt something warm wrap around his tiny body.
Not cloth.
Energy.
It flickered faintly, red like embers.
The tall man's eyes narrowed slightly.
"…The dragon stirs."
The woman smiled weakly. "He will be strong."
Noah, still crying like a normal baby, screamed inside his mind.
Dragon bloodline?!
Duke of the North?!
You've got to be kidding me!
But beneath the panic, something else grew.
A strange heat in his chest.
Not fear.
Excitement.
The novel's world was cruel.
The north would fall.
The duke would be betrayed.
The heir would die young.
But that was the original story.
Noah clenched his tiny fist.
I'm here now.
The sleeping beast within his blood shifted slightly, as if responding.
Far above the snowy lands of the north, beyond the clouds, something ancient opened one golden eye.
And smiled.
The game had begun.