"Hahahahah! I finally finished my game! Hehehe, I can't wait to play!"
His eyes gleamed with excitement as he looked at the computer screen. After five years of hard work, countless sleepless nights, and thousands of lines of code, Dragon Origins was finally ready. The game was his masterpiece, a world where everyone could become dragons and evolve into legendary forms.
With a satisfied smile, he took a deep breath and cracked his fingers. "Time to test it! I hope there aren't too many bugs."
Although he was eager, he knew he hadn't reviewed everything yet. His game could be full of glitches, but that didn't stop him from wanting to try it out. He moved the mouse, clicked on the game icon… and then the screen went completely black.
His excitement quickly turned into confusion. He blinked a few times, expecting the game logo to appear. Nothing.
"You've got to be kidding me. Did my computer crash?"
He frowned, feeling a slight discomfort. He got up from his chair and peeked at the computer case. The lights were still on, the fans were running. He tried pressing Esc, Alt+Tab, Ctrl+Alt+Del. Nothing responded.
His stomach twisted.
"It crashed... I'll just turn it off."
Without thinking twice, he grabbed the power cable and pulled it. The monitor remained on.
"Now this is serious... Did I just kill my PC? Ah, hell, if I—"
Before he could finish his sentence, a blinding light engulfed the screen. A loud bang echoed through the room, and then...
Explosion.
The last thing he felt was the brutal impact throwing him against the wall. The pain was intense, sudden, overwhelming. His consciousness faded before he could understand what had happened.
---
Jotunheim
The icy wind howled across the horizon. Snow fell endlessly, covering everything in an infinite white blanket. The landscape was cold, lonely, desolate. Between the frozen mountains and the overcast sky, a deep silence reigned, interrupted only by the sharp gusts sweeping the tundra.
Inside a cave forgotten by time, something extraordinary was happening.
An egg rested there, surrounded by cold, its smooth, pearly surface reflecting the pale light that seeped into the grotto. Suddenly, as if an invisible force had been activated, the egg began to pulse. Whitish veins spread across its shell, and it started to grow, as if nourished by a mysterious energy.
Inside, a creature stirred.
A lizard? No. A dragon.
Its tiny eyes opened, revealing a deep red, burning like live embers. The creature struggled within the shell, its sharp claws scratching against the membrane that enclosed it. Until, with a crack, the first fissure appeared. Then another. And another.
With one final effort, the egg shattered into pieces.
A figure slipped out, sliding across the damp cave floor. Its scales were as white as the snow outside, smooth and shiny, yet thin and fragile. Small curved horns adorned its head, and tiny wings, still wet, clung to its back.
The hatchling blinked a few times, trying to process what was happening.
"I died... But where the hell am I now?"
The childish voice escaped his mouth before he realized it. The surprise hit him like a wave. His paws slid on the frozen ground as he tried to stand. Balance was difficult, as if he were learning to walk for the first time—which, in fact, he was.
He looked at his front paws and saw five sharp claws. Instinctively, he flexed his fingers, feeling their strength.
Then, the realization struck.
"I became a dragon?"
His eyes sparkled with a mix of shock and excitement.
"I... I... This is amazing!"
Excitement took over. With a clumsy leap, he began running in circles, trying to flap his tiny wings, which barely moved. Enthusiasm overflowed with every motion, every new sensation of his reptilian body filling him with wonder.
But as he ran a claw over the scales on his chest, his euphoria gave way to a concerning realization.
"My scales are too weak..."
He scratched lightly at his white skin and felt as if it might tear with more force.
"It must be because I'm still a baby."
The little dragon sighed, trying to absorb his new reality. His heart pounded. He had no idea where he was or what he should do next.
A loud, resonant sound echoed through the cave, reverberating against the ice walls. The little dragon's stomach growled in protest, demanding food.
"Hungry... So hungry!" he murmured, his immature voice carrying a tone of urgency.
With his newly formed claw, he slid his sharp nails over his scaly belly, feeling the still-sensitive skin of his new body. The discomfort of hunger grew, and then his red eyes fell on the scattered fragments of the egg he had just emerged from.
An instinctive urge awakened within him. Without hesitation, he leaned down and bit into a piece of the shell, chewing carefully. The material was hard but broke easily between his sharp teeth.
"Not bad... Just a little tasteless," he commented, his voice muffled between bites. "But it fills the belly."
As he chewed, he felt a strange satisfaction. Each swallowed fragment brought a comforting sensation, as if his body recognized the food as something essential. In a few minutes, he had devoured everything, leaving not a single trace of the shell that once protected him.
Ding!
Uriel stopped abruptly. His heart raced.
He blinked, confused. A clear sound, like a bell chime, had echoed in his mind. He turned his head in all directions, scanning every corner of the cave. But there was nothing there beyond the cold ice and impenetrable darkness.
"That was weird..." he murmured, his tiny wings twitching slightly in unease. "Was it just my imagination?"
Still uncertain, he decided to ignore the incident and swallowed the last pieces of the egg, licking the edge of his scaly mouth.
---
Name: Uriel Redstone (Miguel Ramos)
Race: Dragon
Age: 0 (28)
Maturity: Newborn
Level: 0/5
HP: 200
MP: 100
Stats:
- Strength: 3
- Speed: 2
- Intelligence: 2
- Vitality: 4
- Defense: 2
Skills:
- [Fragile Scales]: Small and delicate scales of a newborn dragon. While offering little protection, they add 1 point to defense.
- [Small Dragon Breath]: An extremely weak version of the legendary dragon breath. Currently, it cannot be used.
- [Night Vision]: Like all dragons, Uriel was born with the ability to see clearly in the dark.
---
Uriel read every line of the screen that appeared before him. His eyes widened in surprise.
"The status screen... It's identical to the one in the game I created!"
His heart pounded against his chest. A shiver ran down his spine.
"Does that mean... the game system came with me to this world?"
He narrowed his eyes, processing the information. His mind was a whirlwind of questions.
"Am I really in another world? Or... am I still on Earth somehow?"
But he knew it was pointless to dwell on that now. The cold of the cave wrapped around him like a freezing shroud, and the hunger in his stomach had not completely disappeared.
Taking a deep breath, he lifted his head and stared at the cave entrance. Outside, the vast white expanse of Jotunheim stretched before him, an unknown world waiting to be explored.
"Either way... I need to level up!"
With hesitant steps, he began walking toward the exit. His small claws dug into the ice, his newly developed muscles adjusting to movement. But just as he was about to leave the cave—
Awooooooooooh!
A long, deep howl cut through the silence of the night.
Uriel froze in place. His red eyes narrowed, and his instincts screamed in alert.
Out there, in the shadows of the endless snow, something was waiting for him.