Chapter 1 : IF-017 ‘Dragon’ Part 1

Dragons exist.

That is an undeniable truth.

If someone were to ask me how I know this…

I would answer that I know it well because I am a dragon.

That’s right.

I was a dragon.

‘What happened?’

‘Did I die and reincarnate or something?’

I don’t know.

The fact that I even recalled having been human only dawned on me a few days ago, so it was natural that I wasn’t sure.

Considering the vast amount of time I had spent as a dragon, I couldn’t help but wonder—’why now?’

The realization hit me like a punch.

Whether it was smacking around a T-Rex and stealing chunks of its rotting intestines, or relentlessly chasing down a fleeing mammoth…

Or when I had to discipline those reckless creatures who dared disturb my nap…

If I had my human memories back then, life would’ve been at least twice as easy!

Thinking back on all those days, I felt an inexplicable sense of melancholy.

Well, I guess it couldn’t have been too important if I only just remembered it now.

‘So, what was I, a mighty dragon, doing at this very moment?’

…I was tossing and turning.

Because the place where I was lying sucked.

It felt like I was lying on a bed of thorns.

I was so uncomfortable that I couldn’t even rest properly.

This was a serious problem.

Resting took up 24 hours a day in my schedule.

‘How did things end up like this?’

The trouble began a few days ago when I realized something—

Humans had become neglectful.

Actually, not just recently.

It had been a while.

Considering how uncomfortable I was, it must have taken me way too long to notice.

There were many reasons for that—my warped sense of time after living as a dragon for so long, among other things.

But above all else, there was one major reason.

The greatest enemy of humanity.

Chronic fatigue.

That’s right.

Even dragons fear chronic fatigue.

There was a time when hunger would wake me up from my sleep, and I’d groggily wander around in search of food.

Every single day, my instincts would scream at me, “It’s time to sleep! Overworking yourself is bad!”

I had already come to understand that my body needed years of rest once I started relaxing.

‘But what was I supposed to do?’

‘Starve to death?’

I had no choice.

I had to push through, day by day, sacrificing my sleep.

Back then, I was practically a walking corpse.

Yeah… those were some rough times.

But that was all in the past.

Because right around then, humans appeared!

To be precise, human civilization emerged, along with the concept of faith.

And humans… started worshipping me.

For someone like me, who was physically and mentally exhausted, humans were like a lifeline from the heavens.

Unlike the savage beasts that only understood brute force, humans were different.

Back then, I found it baffling.

‘Why would humans worship someone like me?’

But now, knowing that I was human, it felt a little ironic.

After that, everything fell into place.

Humans took care of me so well that all my past struggles felt meaningless.

***

A feathered serpent god.

A dragon princess from the Eastern Sea.

A divine dragon deity.

One blink, and the human taking care of me had changed to someone else.

Another blink, and I was being looked after by their son.

Then their grandson.

Then their great-granddaughter.

But none of that mattered.

What mattered was that their devotion to me had persisted through generations.

Only then did I finally relax.

The moment my tension released, all my accumulated fatigue hit me like a tidal wave, and I collapsed as if I had passed out.

And that was fine.

Because my human friends took care of me so well.

From my perspective, it was great—I could eat and rest in peace.

From their perspective, it was great—they got to serve a god in person.

Every now and then, I’d wake up, grant a small request or two, and then go back to sleep.

A perfect symbiotic relationship.

Not long ago, I had a particularly fulfilling meal and allowed myself a brief moment of relaxation.

The world had changed over time, but I fully expected to wake up, as always, in my quiet and peaceful lake.

That would have been nice.

Instead, I found myself clutching my ears, curled up in pain, groaning.

Someone once said, “The worst things happen when you let your guard down.”

And that was exactly what happened.

It had been just an ordinary day.

I had simply taken a short break, as usual.

And yet—

Something awful happened.

My beloved, cozy lake was nowhere to be found.

Instead, I woke up in some strange place.

There was only one species in existence that could have done this to me.

Humans.

This place was hell.

A prison of endless noise, coming from every direction.

***

Clang! Clang! Bang! Bang!

“Testing results…?”

“Shut it down! Shut it down!”

“Hahahaha!”

“Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero!”

Human voices, incomprehensible sounds, mechanical noises, and the cries of those reckless creatures filled the air.

The noise made my head pound in agony.

‘No, wait a damn minute.’

‘I thought I was supposed to be a god?!’

‘Since when did humans start shoving their gods into places like this?!’

It felt just like those dreadful mornings when you’re trying to savor the warmth of your blankets—

And suddenly, four different alarms go off, one after another, even though you never set them.

There was an even bigger problem.

This level of discomfort wasn’t just limited to a single issue.

The noise wasn’t the only problem.

I pressed my ears harder and focused deeply on the depths of my body.

Then—”growl.”

A small sound rumbled from within.

That’s right.

Hunger.

I was feeling hunger again.

A sensation I hadn’t experienced even once since humans began worshipping me—

A sensation that had been nothing more than a distant memory—

Had returned.

For now, it was just mild hunger, a mere pang of emptiness.

But if left unchecked, it would only grow worse.

Far worse.

This was not something I could ignore.

Ah…

‘How cruel.’

‘Must I really wake up already?’

I made my decision.

Against all odds, I mustered my strength and forced open my heavy eyelids, overcoming the crushing weight of my chronic fatigue.

And that wasn’t all.

With a monumental effort, I pressed against the ground and lifted my upper body.

I took a few breaths.

…Wow.

I was exhausted.

I barely raised my head, yet my body felt like it weighed five hundred tons.

I once pulled an all-nighter for three days straight in my human life, only to be shaken awake after three hours of sleep—

Even that hadn’t been this bad.

‘Why…?’

‘Why was this the memory that surfaced?’

‘I couldn’t even recall my own name from my human life, but this of all things came back to me?’

Ridiculous.

I shook my head internally.

This wasn’t the issue right now.

A flood of thoughts raced through my mind, but I didn’t let any of it show.

Moving was exhausting.

Instead, I slowly turned my stiff neck, the joints cracking as I surveyed my surroundings.

As expected…

Yeah.

This place was unfamiliar.

Even with my eyes closed, I could tell the ceiling above me was something I had never seen before.

And now that I had fully opened my eyes and looked around…

It was even more obvious.

This was not the place where I had fallen asleep.

I had no memory of this.

None.

‘Why was I here?’

This place was far too different from the lake where my temple had once stood.

‘Shouldn’t I be up on my altar, looking down upon my worshippers, as a god should?’

Then—

“H-holy crap, senpai! Look at IF-017! It’s completely awake!”

‘…Why were they looking down at me?’

“I see it. Keep monitoring the heart rate. Judging by how fast its stress levels are rising, if we screw up, we’re all dead meat.”

‘What the hell?’

I turned my gaze toward the two humans beyond the glass, demanding an explanation for this bizarre architecture.

Hmm…

There was something vaguely familiar about this setup.

Somewhere, buried deep in my human memories…

It felt similar to something.

‘Some kind of facility?’

‘A… laboratory?’

‘But what was it exactly?’

I had no idea.

It was like trying to remember what I had for lunch exactly seventeen years ago—

Completely blank.

…Well.

It probably wasn’t that important.

It’s not like remembering would change much.

After all—

No matter what anyone says, I am still a damn impressive dragon.

Unless…

Unless some secret organization had erased all traces of my existence from history, turning me into nothing more than a myth.

Unless, while I was dozing off, some shadowy group had manipulated my legend—

So much so that my appearance was now recorded as some weird mishmash of a snake, a deer, a fish, and a giraffe.

…Nah.

There’s no way that happened.

…Right?