Chapter 2
When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying in the mountains.
It was a truly sudden realization, but the fact that I was lying somewhere other than my familiar home made me think, ‘Ah! I must be dreaming.’
Thinking that all of this was a lucid dream, I tried to slowly get up.
“Huh?”
However, the moment I moved, a massive sound, like the blast of a cannon, echoed around me as if an earthquake had occurred.
Startled, I froze in place, and only then did I realize that the rumbling sound stopped when I stopped moving.
Relieved that the sudden earthquake had ceased, I slowly wiped the sweat off my forehead, raising my hand to my face, and that’s when I realized the strange phenomenon that had occurred to me.
‘This, this isn’t my hand!?’
It was fortunate that I didn’t scream out loud at the sight in front of me.
Black scales covered my arms, and sharp claws were clearly visible before my eyes.
What was worse was that this hand, which moved according to my will, was indeed mine, and from this, I realized that my body had changed.
Deep blue scales covered my body as far as my eyes could see.
Seeing my body wrapped in something that was impossible for a human, I felt the urge to scream.
“Wait, this…”
But soon, I realized that this form was familiar to me.
It made sense since this form was the same as the character I had customized.
Is this what they call reincarnation as a game character?
‘…I don’t get it! Did something completely detached from reality suddenly happen!? If there were some kind of hint, I could accept it!’
I don’t understand at all.
Right, let’s think back carefully, let’s try to remember what happened before I got here.
‘I didn’t encounter one of those common reincarnation trucks. I didn’t meet a godlike entity that people always encounter when they reincarnate. I’ve never even met a strange fortune-teller…? I’ve never written a 5,700-character story to a novelist like some recluse either. In short, there’s no reason behind this!’
…I have no memory of meeting any mysterious entity that could explain this situation!
There’s no plausible explanation for this situation in my head!
“Okay, let’s try to organize the situation.”
I calmed my racing heart and decided to sort things out slowly.
I was an ordinary adult male.
A typical man in his 20s who liked games… and I remember playing a highly free-form game before I ended up here.
It was a game with a TRPG format, where you create a character with a detailed sheet and explore a world based on that character’s settings, so I remember customizing a character for role-playing purposes.
“The problem is that I’m in the middle of some mountain in the form of the character I created, right?”
Yes, up to that point, there wasn’t an issue.
But the problem was that I had become the character I designed and had been left in some unknown mountain.
What went wrong here?
Could it have been that I got overly excited while admiring the perfectly crafted character and laughed like a madman while kicking my computer tower?
Or was it when the blue screen appeared afterward, and I thought, ‘What the heck?’ before I shut down the computer by force with my toes?
“Damn it! I have no memory of why I ended up here! It’s completely nonsensical!”
I thought hard, but I still had no idea what went wrong!
All my memories before this point were hazy at best, offering no clues.
In any case…
“…I liked controlling things from behind the screen; I never wanted to become an actual creature.”
I sighed as I looked at my hand covered in scales.
Since I had personally designed this character, it would certainly look like a majestic dragon at a glance.
But I enjoyed controlling it from behind the screen, not becoming a dragon myself.
If I had been an ordinary human, I wouldn’t have felt such a sense of unease right now.
“Plus, I can’t exactly go back home looking like this.”
The problem was that the character I customized wasn’t a normal person!
“I wish I at least had a mirror… Wait, what?”
To confirm my suspicion, I wished for a mirror to see myself, and a chunk of ice that could reflect my appearance suddenly appeared.
I couldn’t hide my surprise at the sudden appearance of the ice chunk, but I then realized that, according to the character’s settings, this dragon could use all kinds of magic.
Though I, who controlled this body, was clueless, creating ice to use as a mirror was as easy as breathing for this dragon.
With a heart pounding with anticipation at using magic from a fantasy world, I checked my appearance.
“Wow, I look amazing.”
My body, estimated to be over 50 meters tall, was covered with dazzling scales in shades of dark blue, yellow, and red.
It wasn’t a Western-style dragon that walked on four legs but could stand upright like a human, resembling an Eastern dragon.
Its wings, beautifully sculpted like the scales on its body, were visible on its back, and the two pairs of horns I could feel on my head looked incredibly sturdy.
Overall, my appearance was closer to a sacred Eastern dragon than the evil dragons depicted in the West.
“…No matter how many times I check, I’m not human but a cool-looking dragon.”
With a final look at my gentle blue eyes, I fully realized that my current form wasn’t human but rather that of a dragon.
In this state, I couldn’t go to the city, and even if I did, I’d surely be treated as a monster and hunted down by the military.
Of course, considering this character’s strength, I was confident I could win even if a medieval army came at me in droves.
“Hmm. No matter how you look at it, it’s the modern era, right?”
My vision, clearer than when I was human, allowed me to see the city outside the mountains, which was the modern city I was familiar with.
The densely packed apartments and the giant buildings proudly towering among them were no different from the modern era in my memory.
Hmm, of all things, it wasn’t a medieval fantasy world where I could move freely, but a modern setting.
“What should I do…?”
If it were the typical medieval fantasy world, I could act as I pleased without any problems.
But this was the modern era!
Satellites in space could easily spot my form, and if powerful modern weapons were aimed at me, it would surely hurt a lot!
No matter how large a dragon I was, over 50 meters tall, the powerful artillery of my proud country’s military would likely shout, “Don’t underestimate modern weaponry, fantasy!”
“If a being like me exists in this world, then surely there could be someone who can take down a being like me.”
And just like in those typical hunter novels, there might be supernatural ability users who hunt monsters.
That thought sent a wave of fear through me.
If I moved recklessly and got caught by people, would my beautiful scales and organs end up dissected by greedy, filthy humans? The thought flashed through my mind.
“Think, my brain…! Left brain! Right brain! Think of a way to live with people right now!”
Knowing the dangers of modern society, I quickly abandoned the idea of fighting and focused on finding a way to coexist with others.
But no matter how much I thought about it, the negative thought of being taken down by modern weapons the moment I approached the city in my gigantic form lingered.
Yet there was still a way.
“If I recall correctly, the character sheet…”
I thought back to the character settings I’d written in my previous life.
This character was certainly a dragon close to goodness, endlessly compassionate toward the weak.
A kind dragon who empathized with the plight of the weak and always thought of helping them.
A dragon who helped those in difficult situations without asking for anything in return…
“Helping without asking for anything in return?”
…A good idea came to mind.
Now that I was in a dragon’s body, I thought it was best to adopt a mindset of enjoying the situation since I couldn’t avoid it.
Right, I would put on an impressive performance—or rather, role-play—just as I had set up in my character sheet.
Ha, do I lack a life? Do I lack style?
“I’ll build a shrine where I can make contracts with people!”
After all, in many games, dragons are portrayed as beings that must be hunted, but they are also depicted as divine beings with whom one can form alliances and contracts.
In other words, as a race with a clear distinction between good and evil, I decided to form a bond of trust by making contracts with those who sought me out and helping them without demanding anything in return.
And if the fact that I was a benevolent dragon spread through the internet and community sites, people would surely see me as a good neighbour to live alongside rather than an evil to be defeated!
Yes, it’s a perfect plan filled with hope and dreams!
‘In that case, I need to be selective about the contractors I make agreements with.’
But I didn’t intend to make contracts with just anyone.
If I were to make a contract, I would want it to be with an impressive and capable person, preferably under dramatic circumstances—that’s just human nature… or rather, dragon nature.
“I have magic. If I use this magic, I can easily achieve what I’ve just thought of.”
I decided what needed to be done and quickly got to work.
Using invisibility magic to conceal my massive form, I slowly stood up.
Even though just moving my body seemed like it would cause noise to echo throughout the entire mountain, the soundproofing magic I used allowed me to minimize the sound I made.
Luckily, the place where I awoke was a mountain with a high vantage point, so I decided to create a large cave inside the mountain where I could build a shrine for making contracts with people.
“Alright, time to start ticking off my bucket list as a man!”
I had a feeling that these days would turn out to be surprisingly enjoyable.
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