John Davis was an ordinary man with an extraordinary love for fantasy. Every day after work, he would escape into the worlds of magic, dragons, and legendary heroes. Games, books, movies—he devoured them all. In his dreams, he wielded swords of flame, cast spells that could shatter mountains, and soared through the skies as a powerful dragon.
But in reality, John was just an IT worker, stuck in the monotonous grind of everyday life. His fantasies were his only escape from the gray, uneventful routine. If only, he often thought, life were more like the worlds in his favorite stories.
It was a thought he had countless times, but one he never expected would actually come true.
On a chilly evening, as John made his way home from work, he never imagined that his life would take a drastic turn. He was walking along his usual path, lost in thought about the new fantasy game he had started playing. He was so wrapped up in his imaginary world that he didn't notice the speeding truck veering out of control. By the time he looked up, it was too late. The last thing he saw was a blinding flash of headlights before everything went dark.
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John expected nothing after death. He had never believed in an afterlife, and he certainly didn't expect to wake up. But wake up he did—or at least, that's what it felt like.
At first, there was only darkness. A heavy, endless void surrounded him, pressing in on all sides. He couldn't see, hear, or feel anything. Panic gripped him. Was this death? An eternity of nothingness?
Then, something broke the silence. A voice—calm, mechanical, and utterly unfamiliar.
[Welcome, Host. Initializing system…]
"What the...?" John's thoughts were sluggish, confused. What was this? A system? This had to be some kind of dream. Maybe he was in a coma, hallucinating.
[You have been selected for the Rebirth Program. Congratulations, Host. You are about to be reborn.]
"Reborn?" John's confusion deepened. "What do you mean, reborn? Where am I?"
[You have died in your previous world. However, you have been granted the opportunity to live again in a new form, in a different world. Prepare for awakening.]
His mind raced. This sounded like something straight out of the games and books he loved so much. But this couldn't be real... could it?
"What kind of world? What form?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
[Analyzing preferences from your previous life…]
A brief silence followed. John's pulse quickened—if he still had a pulse. Was this real? Was this actually happening?
[Based on your preferences toward fantasy creatures, dragons, and powerful beings, you will be reborn as a dragon in the world of Terraxos.]
A dragon? The thought sent a jolt of adrenaline through him. Was this some kind of cosmic joke? He had always dreamed about dragons—about flying through the skies, breathing fire, and becoming the apex predator of a magical world. But he never thought he'd *become* one.
"I'm going to be a dragon?" he muttered, half in disbelief, half in awe.
[Correct. You will be reborn as a dragon hatchling. Your journey to growth and power begins now. Good luck, Host.]
Before he could respond, before he could even process what that meant, the darkness around him began to shift. A sudden pressure enveloped him, pulling and twisting his consciousness, his very being. Heat surged through him—unlike anything he had ever felt. It was as though his entire body was being remade, reshaped into something entirely new.
---
John woke with a start, his body feeling... small. Confined. He blinked, his vision blurry but adjusting quickly to the dim light around him. The first thing he noticed was that he wasn't standing—he was curled up, tightly, as though he were inside something.
Something soft but firm pressed against his body. His limbs felt weak, and his skin—no, not skin—felt rough, covered in something hard and smooth.
Scales.
With a growing sense of panic, he stretched his limbs, realizing that his body was cramped inside a small space. His claws—sharp, though small—scraped against a hard surface. He pushed, instinctively knowing what he had to do. He pushed harder, feeling cracks form around him.
Suddenly, with a sharp snap, light flooded his vision as the shell around him shattered. He tumbled forward, his small body rolling out of what he now realized was an egg.
An egg.
He was no longer human. He was a dragon hatchling.
His eyes—now sharper and keener than they had ever been—adjusted to the light as he looked around. He was in a large cave, its walls glowing faintly with bioluminescent crystals that dotted the stone. The air was warm and thick, the ground beneath him smooth and cool.
He tried to stand, wobbling on all fours. His limbs felt strange—short, stubby, and a little awkward—but powerful for his size. He looked down at his body, seeing dark, shiny scales covering him from head to tail. He could feel his tail swishing behind him, long and flexible, while his small wings were tucked tightly against his back.
"I'm… really a dragon," he muttered, his voice coming out as a soft growl.
His mind struggled to catch up with his new reality. He had been a man just moments ago—or had it been hours? Days? Now, he was a dragon, freshly hatched and small, but unmistakably a creature of myth and legend.
For a moment, John—no, the dragon hatchling—simply stood there, taking in the enormity of what had happened. He had been reborn, just like the system said. This wasn't a dream. He had actually died and come back to life as a dragon in another world.
Another world.
His heart—or whatever passed for it in this new body—raced. Terraxos. That's what the system had called this place. A world of magic, dragons, and who knew what else. He looked around the cave again, his senses sharper than they had ever been as a human. He could hear the distant drip of water somewhere deeper in the cave, the faint echo of the wind outside. His sense of smell was keen, picking up the earthy scent of stone and minerals.
As he examined his surroundings, the system's voice returned, breaking the silence.
[Congratulations, Host. You have successfully been reborn as a dragon hatchling in Terraxos. You are currently in the Lowlands of Drakoth, a territory inhabited by dragons. Your journey to power begins here.]
John blinked, processing the information. The Lowlands of Drakoth. A dragon territory.
"So... what now?" he muttered. "What am I supposed to do?"
[Your current objective is survival. As a hatchling, you are vulnerable to many dangers. Grow, learn, and become stronger. The world of Terraxos is vast, and as a dragon, you have the potential to become one of its most powerful beings.]
John—or rather, the dragon hatchling—nodded to himself. It was strange, but the situation was beginning to make sense. He had been reborn with a second chance at life. A life where he could grow stronger, explore a new world, and—hopefully—become something far greater than he ever could have been as a human.
He stretched his wings experimentally, feeling the thin membrane flex and catch the air. They were still small and weak, but one day, he would soar through the skies. He could feel it. The power was there, deep within him, waiting to be unleashed.
"I guess… it's time to see what this new life has to offer," he said, his voice filled with determination.
With that, the hatchling took his first steps into his new world. Small and fragile now, but with the promise of untold power waiting to be discovered.
The world of Terraxos awaited, and John was ready to embrace it—not as a man, but as a dragon.
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