The sky turned dark red, the rampage of the dragon echoed through every city. Scorching fire poured out of its mouth, burning cities, villages, and even the humans who tried to hide within the shadows
A knight ran swiftly using magic. His face was pale, his heart pounding violently. He was restless, feeling an overwhelming urge to immediately cut down the dragon that had rampaged and taken thousands of lives.
When the knight arrived at his destination, what he found was only a sea of blood—no corpses, no screams. He simply clenched his fists. Anger, sorrow, and disappointment gathered inside his chest.
He looked up, and at that very moment, he clearly saw the mastermind behind this horrifying massacre. A black dragon, the strongest dragon, and also the most terrifying. But that was not the only thing he found. A human figure stood beside the dragon, gently stroking it like a pet while smiling.
"Y-you!" The knight pulled his sword from its sheath, gripping it tightly with both hands—even blood began to drip from his palms.
The man turned around. The figure was terrifying, yet mysterious, someone he had never seen before. His hair was black, his eyes looked tired, yet strangely, his smile felt horrifying. As if it held a cruel secret locked somewhere deep.
"Oh, hello! Did you come here to help me?" He smiled warmly, though it did not seem that way. It felt more like mockery, mockery toward the knight who had failed to protect his people.
"BASTARD! I WILL RIP YOU APART UNTIL YOUR HEART COMES OUT, THEN I WILL SLICE YOUR EYEBALLS INTO THOUSANDS OF PIECES!"
"Wow… isn't that terrifying? Why would you say something like that to me?" The figure tilted his head, a beautiful smile carved across his face. His eyes narrowed, as if observing.
"But sorry, I have something to take care of. So, may you be filled with good fortune."
"BASTARD!" The knight swung his sword downward. The power was extraordinary, as if cutting through space and time itself. The strike rushed toward the figure who still stood there, but it was too late—the figure had already vanished from sight.
He bit his lower lip, even as blood flowed, it no longer hurt since this incident. He roared like a madman, crying like a newborn meeting the world for the first time. On this day, he swore he would kill him with his own hands. Even if it took a thousand years.
But it seems, this is not how the story truly began. Let us move to one hour earlier.
Caius Eredin, a second-semester art student, on a night where he was relaxing and not thinking about life, merely closed his eyes for a moment. But there was a faint sound, something that did not sound human.
He ignored it, his eyes closing again for a long time—so long that he did not even realize he had fallen asleep on the sofa.
Eredin tried to open his eyes again, but what he saw was not his home, but a village. Houses still made of wood, and clothing that looked far from modern.
The roar of a dragon could be heard. Reflexively, his eyes sharply looked at the dragon spewing fire, devouring humans, plants, objects, and everything it touched.
He wanted to run, like the people running away, leaving their friends and families behind. But his legs felt restrained for a long time. Until he saw the dragon approaching him.
"This is bad, my legs can't move!" His face was extremely pale, sweat covering his fair skin. He tried to move, but he couldn't.
Just when he thought this would end soon, the dragon did not attack. Instead, it seemed to show respect, lowering its head, as if Eredin was its master.
"Huh? What is goingon?" Eredin observed the dragon. He smiled happily as if he had found a precious treasure amid the blood of humans.
"I don't know why this is happening… butatleast, i'm safenow, right?" Eredin gathered the courage that had previously disappeared. He gently stroked the head of the terrifying black dragon as if it were something precious.
"Oh? Doesn't it look cute?" Eredin smiled as the black dragon appeared happy.
"This is agift for you, traveler." A notification appeared, like a system.
Eredin was stunned. Something he could only see in books was now happening to him. He was happy, but for a gift like this, of course he was worried. The sea of humans he was stepping on like part of the ground, that was the doing of the gift the system had given him.
A scream was heard while Eredin was happy. A silver-haired knight with purple eyes was staring in his direction. It felt like he had been saved. Because if a knight had arrived, that meant he would be helped.
"But what is this? Why is hescolding meinstead?" Eredin tried to be friendlier so they could get along, but the knight's reaction was far from friendly.
At that very second, a system message appeared, informing him that he would soon be moved to another place.
"Moved? Since i will soonbe separated, maybe i shouldtell him?"Eredin expressed a farewell, even though he did not know why the knight hated him so much, he gave up trying to ask.
The system moved him to a two-story wooden house, with a field area at the front.
"Wow, isn't this house very nice? It seems the system truly loves me." Eredin looked around. The black dragon he had stroked earlier was not with him. Truly unfortunate, but there was nothing he could do.
Eredin walked around, exploring the new house he would occupy in this new world. Even though he did not clearly know the reason behind all of this, he had to survive in this bloodthirsty world.
"After walking around, now I know. Outside, precisely on the left, there is a supply of meat and also an abundance of gold. Meanwhile, at the back, there is a garden of tomatoes and carrots, and at the front, there are turnips and fruits I do not recognize."
"On the second floor, there are three rooms, and each room has its own bathroom. The wardrobe in every room contains clothes for me to wear. The lower floor is the kitchen, the living room, and there is also a bathroom. I also found a basement filled with books about this world. Like a library in the world where I used to live."
Eredin was amazed. Something he thought was unreal was now in front of him. Systems, dragons, magic, and everything else. This felt like heaven, yet also a terrifying place.
"I'm curious about what my face looks like now, should I find a mirror?" Eredin searched every room but did not find a single mirror inside.
In the end, he used the water in a bowl on the dining table to see his reflection.
"Wow, I'm quite handsome, even though I look strange." He stroked his own chin, feeling like something was missing from his face. "Well… whatever. But now, what should I do?"
"In that case, how about going shopping?" Eredin took several gold coins, put on a robe, covering his face with a black hood.
Instinctively, he moved along the road, as if he clearly knew the location of the market, even though his house was on top of a hill and quite far from the settlement.
It took about 13 minutes to arrive in front of a gate. There was a lion statue whose eyes seemed to shine, too terrifying to be called mere decoration.
Two soldiers stood guard, wearing full armor. They also held spears tightly.
"Stop."
They blocked him, looking at Eredin suspiciously.
"It seems you are not from around here. Can you show your identification card?"
"Ah…" Eredin searched his pocket. Fortunately, he found the identification card. A card made of pure metal crafted by a high-level magician. Impossible to be forged by anyone.
The two guards nodded and returned Eredin's identification card.
"Sorry for blocking your way. However, there is a dangerous fugitive around here, so we hope you stay careful."
"Fugitives are indeed troubling. If I may ask, what does this fugitive look like?"
The two guards pointed at a poster attached to the wall inside. Eredin looked at it, the face seemed not unfamiliar to him. After looking more closely, now he knew that the fugitive was himself.
"WHAAAT?"