Chapter 1: The First Roar… Born in the Wild
There was a gentle, warm feeling surrounding me, complete containment, like an old embrace… my mother's tender touch when she used to place her hand over my head.
No pain.
No fear.
Only a warm stillness resembling eternal drowsiness.
My eyes were closed, and I could not open them.
It was not a choice— but an inability.
I felt my limbs…
But in a strange way.
Not as I know them.
Not as I remember them.
There was a different weight, an unfamiliar extension, and a sense that my body was not as it had been.
Little by little, that reassuring warmth turned into sharp discomfort.
The stillness vanished.
In its place came a suffocating tightness, as if the space that had been protecting me began to narrow around me.
I tried to move my hand.
But something was obstructing me.
An invisible wall, solid, pressing against me from every direction.
The discomfort increased.
It was no longer mere tightness— but resistance.
I pushed.
I tried to stretch.
But the walls did not budge.
Where am I?
What is happening?
I had not the slightest idea.
The thoughts collided inside my head, but there was no answer.
I began to struggle fiercely.
A spherical pressure surrounded me from every direction, as if I were trapped inside a closed world, within boundaries I had not chosen.
Slowly… yet steadily, I felt the walls around me begin to crack.
They did not collapse at once— but softened.
As if they were responding to my will.
I pushed again.
Crack… crack… the sound was clear.
The sound was not in my head— it was real.
I was close.
Very close.
I felt it deep within, as if something was telling me: now.
I gathered all the strength I had— and pushed.
With a sudden explosion, the sphere that had been enclosing me collapsed.
A bright light seeped into my eyes, harsh after long darkness.
I screamed.
But the sound that came out was not human.
It was not the cry of a child.
But— a roar. The roar of a small beast.
The sound echoed through the space around me.
I froze for a moment.
I looked around, my eyes searching for the spherical object I had emerged from.
There—directly before my sight.
An egg.
A massive red egg, nearly the size of a grown man, its shell cracked, fragments scattered around me.
In that moment… my heart began to pound violently.
Heavy, rapid beats, as if trying to break through my chest from within.
This was not a dream.
This was not an ordinary transition.
I had been born.
But not as I had expected.
Not as a human.
But… as something else.
I could no longer endure it.
That tightness was not only physical, but a feeling that something in my identity was shifting without my permission.
I began to examine myself.
With cautious calm… like someone afraid of what he might find.
Alright…
I have wings.
Claws.
And red scales.
I am standing on four legs.
It was not a metaphor.
But a tangible truth before my eyes.
I lowered my head slightly and inspected my mouth.
Strong fangs.
Sharp.
Not for decoration… but for dominance.
Alright…
It seems I have transformed into a small… and cute red dragon.
The last word sounded ironic within me.
It did not take me long to realize the truth.
This is not a dream.
Nor a temporary transition.
It is a new reality.
After I carefully checked my body, as if afraid of finding a defect or deformity.
Everything… was in place.
I paused for a moment.
I examined my new body.
Shiny red dragon scales covered my body, reflecting the light with unfamiliar confidence.
And yet…
Its size seemed to be approximately twenty inches…
It was larger than it had been when I was human.
I sighed softly.
If this is its size while I am still young… then what will it be like when I reach adulthood?
The comparison felt strange.
Anyway…
Where am I?
I had been so preoccupied with my new body that I had ignored the world around me.
The transformation was shocking enough to swallow my awareness entirely.
I finally lifted my head.
Alright… a dense forest.
Towering trees blocking the sky, and damp ground carrying the scent of moss and ancient soil.
And I was not alone.
Close to me was another egg— identical to mine, but it had not hatched yet.
My brother?
My sister?
I had no logical proof, and yet the color of the shell was exactly the same as the one I had emerged from.
More importantly… that feeling.
A sense of familiarity, of unreasonable closeness, as if an invisible thread connected us…
When I looked at the egg I had come out of, a strange urge overtook me.
It was not a thought.
But an impulse.
A desire to eat the shell, and drink the pure yellow liquid inside it.
I could not stop myself.
I bent down and began to devour the shell.
It was extremely delicious.
Crunchy… and unexpectedly delicious.
It was not ordinary hunger, but the instinct of a newly born dragon.
More importantly— my stomach was now full and swollen.
I felt a gentle heaviness, and the beginning of drowsiness creeping into my limbs.
All I needed was rest… and to digest what I had eaten.
But reality was harsher than desire.
Remaining here, without protection, without shelter or a nest, in the heart of an unknown forest— was extremely dangerous.
I am small now.
Weak.
And alone— except for an egg that has not yet hatched.
After thinking deeply about the danger of the situation, I forced myself to steady.
Drowsiness began to take over, but I resisted it.
Surrendering now… might mean I would never wake again.
I lifted my head and looked around carefully.
This was not an ordinary forest, but something closer to a living legend.
The trees were so tall that the sky seemed distant, their branches touching the clouds as if competing with them for space, their trunks wider than an entire human house, steady and silent, as though they were pillars of a world older than memory.
Their leaves were not merely green.
They shimmered with colors I had never seen in any forest: pure sky blue, deep emerald green, and dark violet sparkling as if dusted with starlight.
Every leaf seemed to conceal a secret, as though the forest itself was not merely a place, but a conscious entity watching those who crossed its boundaries.
The air was saturated with a strange earthy scent, not merely mud or grass, but the taste of dense magic, a hidden energy settling in the lungs and leaving its mark in the blood.
As for the light…
The light filtering through the leaves was not ordinary.
It was stained with gold, as if the sun here was not a familiar sun, but another eye watching this world.
But…
This beauty was not proof of safety, but a carefully crafted disguise.
A distant roar echoed through the silence.
Deep.
Heavy.
Not belonging to a weak creature.
Then it was followed by a prolonged howl, the voice of a creature I could not identify, yet its tone carried a promise of violence.
A shiver ran through my body.
It was not only fear—but instinctive response.
My instincts told me the truth before my mind could grasp it:
I am not alone here.
Between the trees, there were hidden movements.
Massive feet leaving deep marks in the damp soil, declaring a weight not to be underestimated.
Eyes gleaming within the shadows, unblinking, not moving without purpose.
Watching.
Stalking.
Waiting.
One reckless move… and I would become nothing more than a meal.
I realized then that this forest shows no mercy.
It is not a beautiful stage of nature, but a harsh system.
Here—
The law is not written, but everyone knows it.
Survival of the strongest.
And in my current state…
I was merely a small dragon, newly hatched from an egg, without protection, without a clan, and without any notable strength.
The beauty around me was real, but the deeper truth was clearer:
This forest does not need a king.
It tests who deserves to live within it.
My first step is clear.
I must find a cave, or any abandoned shelter at the edge of this dense forest.
I am not strong enough to face the dangers lurking in the depths.
Rushing inward now would not be bravery, but recklessness.
It is better to stay away from the dark heart of the forest for the time being.
I began to roll my brother's or sister's egg.
I will not leave it there unprotected.
No one knows what might happen to it.
If left alone, a beast may find it—or a human.
And in both cases… the fate is not merciful.
If it remains where it is, death is almost certain.
And if it survives, it may become a pet for humans, restrained, tamed, stripped of its will.
So I continued rolling it beside me.
Not out of emotion alone, but out of logic as well.
I expect my brother or sister to help me after hatching.
Blood is thicker than water.
We are siblings from the same mother and father.
There is no point in leaving it behind.
Even if our parents were irresponsible…
I am different from them.
I still retain the memories of my life when I was human. And those memories, with all their weakness, pain, and bonds, compel me to take this egg with me and give it a chance at life.
There is no need to leave it.
After an hour and a half of walking, I entered a cave at the edge of the forest.
Since I began rolling the egg… I had not faced any significant difficulty.
Thankfully, no direct danger crossed my path.
It seems I was very fortunate.
During my short journey, no beast attacked me, and then I found this abandoned cave.
However, something caught my attention.
All the beasts I saw along the way either fled from me, or froze in place…
It was not ferocity,
Nor challenge,
But fear… or paralysis.
Something unnatural.
Something that did not align with my current weakness.
I am merely a small dragon that has just hatched… so why do the beasts behave as if I am a superior predator?
Strange…
Am I truly frightening to them?
How do they not see me as cute?
Or is it as mentioned in the novels I read in my previous life?
The stronger the bloodline, the more intense the aura it emits, forcing lower-ranked bloodlines to submit before they even think of challenging.
If that is true…
Then this works in my favor.
It is not mere coincidence, but privilege.
A silent advantage that requires no visible strength, nor a battle to prove it.
An aura that declares my place before I even move.
In a world ruled by bloodlines and dominance, this may be the greatest card I possess in my weakest state.
The thoughts began to weigh on my head.
Drowsiness crept slowly, like a mist engulfing my limbs.
I could no longer endure it.
I want to fall asleep… a deep sleep, far from calculations, far from questions.
I will not think about anything else now.
In any case, when I wake up…
I will discover what is happening to me.
I curled myself into a circle, an instinctive movement I did not learn, but that emerged from within me unconsciously.
Then I used my wings instead of a blanket, wrapping my small body with them, like a fragile shield against a harsh world.
At that moment, I was nearly unconscious.
A strange exhaustion overwhelmed me, not merely physical fatigue, but the aftermath of a violent birth, and a transformation that had given me no time to comprehend.
The last thing I saw before sinking into the darkness of dreams…
was the egg.