Chương 1: Gloria Superba

Gloria… had no idea what was happening. Her head felt foggy, as if she'd been knocked out and was only now regaining her consciousness. She tried to steady herself, but something massive and heavy yanked at her back, throwing her weight off like a sudden backpack full of bricks. Without thinking, she took a forceful step forward, throwing everything she had into it just to keep from falling flat on her face.

The instant her foot slammed down the floor exploded beneath her, and stone blasted upward in a spray of sharp chunks as a huge crater punched into the ground right where she'd stepped. The entire chamber shook, dust and pebbles raining from the ceiling while the walls groaned like they were about to come down. She started coughing, the dust going into her throat.

"What is happening?" she rasped, waving a hand in front of her face. As the dust slowly settled she looked around. She was definitely inside of a cave of some sort, one that was familiar to her… No, that was definitely an understatement, because she knew this place by heart. The chamber itself looked pretty ordinary at first, made of some rough stone walls, which made it look the same as every other non-important cave in the game. But then she saw something else…

there were some thin circular lines of gold inlaid into the stone floor, forming the outline of a spell circle. And right in the center of it, someone had left a bundle of bright flowers. This was enough for her to instantly pinpoint her location, that being the exact spot where her final battle against her closest friends had come to a close just a day ago. The last fight on the last day of the massively popular VRMMO Dragon Dive Online, the game that had basically been her entire life for the last twenty years.

'Wait. If I'm still here, I must have fallen asleep while I was still logged into the game.' She looked down for confirmation, and confirmation she received. Flowing black armored robes hugged her body from neck to ankles, the fabric feeling way more real than usual on her scaly skin. Scorch marks streaked the large sleeves, and a thick furry collar framed her shoulders, making her look bigger and meaner than she felt.

Her hands, which were supposed to be normal human hands, were covered in midnight-black scales now. Not only that, but her fingers had also changed, turning into sharp black claws.

'Wait, fabric on my skin?' The game had always been crazy immersive, but you couldn't actually feel anything. You could never feel the texture of the armor you were wearing, nor the warmth of fire, and certainly not the soft brush of cloth against your scales. The fact that she could not only feel her clothes, but feel the cold temperature of the cave around her led her to a simple, and certainly reasonable conclusion.

'Ohhhhhh, there must have been an update!' A ridiculous smile spread across her face. She clapped a hand over her mouth to hide it, but it was pointless.

"What a glorious day this is, truly!" she said, and the words came out in Gloria's deep, rich, majestic voice. Wanting to see if the update had messed with her appearance at all, Gloria decided to test it the old-fashioned way. By doing some magic! She shot her right arm forward, fingers spread, and grabbed a fistful of empty air like it was a fresh sheet. With a quick twist of her wrist she opened her hand and spun it in a smooth circle, leaving behind a perfect glowing ring hanging in front of her.

Inside that circle she traced a clean rectangle, then a smaller one inside the first. For a basic check like this she didn't want to go overboard, so she scratched four quick diagonal lines across the inner rectangle and finished with a snap of her fingers. [Crilia] The spell circle flared bright white for a second, then melted like liquid light and slammed onto the floor. The stone beneath it lit up in a glowing white ring.

From that ring, sharp crystals began shooting upward, stacking and fusing over each other in fast, glassy bursts until three massive mirrored panels stood right in front of her. Again, she saw her clothes and her hands, but she was also able to see everything else as well. Her hair was long, thick, and so black it looked like it swallowed the light around it. Her eyes were big, bright purple with that signature draconic slit running down the middle.

Then there were the horns, which were thick, heavy, curving out sideways before spiking straight up. Behind her also swayed a large, powerful tail covered in glossy black scales, thick enough to look capable of shattering stone with a single strike. And now for the best part… Were her wings! No surprise there, because they had always been her favorite feature. They were absurdly huge, each one more than twice her body height, made of solid black bone and nothing else.

Where the membranes should have been there was nothing but living purple flame. Those wings were basically the only thing lighting up the whole cave right now, but her hair just drank most of the violet glow anyway. Not that it mattered, one of the perks of being a dragon was near-perfect night vision.

"Ahhh… how dearly I love them." She blinked, startled by the sound of her own voice. The words had come out far more elegant and theatrical than she had intended. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

'Whoa, what the hell?' she thought, her inner voice still completely different than the one leaving her mouth.

'That didn't sound like me at all…' It took a second for the realization to fully sink in.

'It seems that even instinctively, I now speak as my dear Gloria. Every sound that leaves these lips must be graceful and refined, as befits one of my station.' She flexed her wings, watching the living flames dance and flicker between the black bones. A deep wave of joy surged through her chest, followed by a satisfied smile.

'Wait a moment… If this was truly an update, then I must know—' [Status] ───────────────────────────── STATUS: Name: Gloria Superba Title: Dragon of Dragons Level: 2400 EXP: 0/0 HP: 1, 815, 000 MANA: 15, 014, 630 STR: 50, 500 AGI: 30, 900 VIT: 60, 500 INT: 300, 300 LCK: 100, 000 DEF: 55, 500 ───────────────────────────── Her eyes sparkled.

"How marvelous! My might remains supreme." She let her gaze linger on the towering numbers, a quiet thrill running through her. She had never been the strongest player in Dragon Dive Online, not by any measure, but no one, no one, had poured more of their life into it than she had. A rush of pure nostalgia and pride swelled in her chest, and out of sheer excitement she clenched her fist tight, which sent a sharp sting of pain across her palm.

'Ouch—' The thought was instinctive, but her face showed nothing. Gloria simply opened her hand and froze. There, glistening in the violet light of her wings, was blood. Deep, rich purple blood, slowly bubbling in the shallow cut her own claws had made. She could feel the heat of it. She could feel the throb of pain. Pain… in a game? No. That should not be possible. And more importantly, that would be illegal. A dream then? No, that was foolish—the pain would have jolted her awake just now. Then… what?

Only one other explanation flickered through her thoughts, but it was even more absurd. Could she… have been isekai'd? But she had met no kindly old man floating among the clouds, nor had any voluptuous goddess descended to offer her broken skills and a menu of worlds from which to choose. Even if such a being had appeared and granted her a single wish, Gloria could not have asked for anything more perfect than this very moment. The world outside the game had been… unbearable for her.

Skies choked with pollution so thick she could scarcely see the sun more than a handful of days each year. Air so toxic that people dared not step outdoors without heavy masks simply to breathe. These were just some of the things that made her hate living in it. If this was the world of Dragon Dive Online, the one she knew better than anyone ever, then she knew it was a utopia for her. Here, there was healthy nature. Unpolluted rivers and oceans. A real sky waiting beyond the mouth of this cave.

If this was truly real… She decided to test it further. [Menu] Nothing. [Skills] [Inventory] [Guild] [Friends List] [Mail] [Global Chat] One after another, Gloria spoke the familiar commands that had once answered her without fail, yet the blue windows she had relied upon for so long remained absent. Only the Status screen had answered her call, while everything else remained stubbornly silent.

A quiet disappointment touched her at the loss of her inventory, but it was nothing compared to the deeper ache that came with the absence of her friends list. That one had struck way harder… Even so, she hoped, no, she needed this to no longer be a game. Her gaze drifted toward the jagged opening at the far end of the chamber, where a thin sliver of daylight cut through the dark.

"Even if this should prove some grand illusion or fleeting dream, I intend to savor every moment of it. And should my comrades be here… I shall find them." Gloria turned and began walking toward the far end of the chamber at what she believed was a slow, measured pace. Yet her body moved far quicker than she was used to. Each step carried her farther than she expected, propelling her forward with a force that made the distance disappear within moments.

Before she had truly settled into the rhythm of her own stride, she found herself already standing near the opening that led outside. She paused there, one hand coming to rest lightly against a smooth stretch of wall. The stone felt cool beneath her palm, grounding her for a moment. Wanting to test her magic once more, since she had not given her full attention to the details earlier, she lifted her right hand and placed it flat upon the rock.

With practiced ease she traced the same circle she had used before, then drew a hexagram inside it. Two arrows followed, one pointing upward, one downward, and she pressed the pad of her thumb firmly into the center. [Domus Temporaria] The glowing lines melted into the stone without a trace, vanishing as if they had never been drawn. She felt almost nothing as the spell took hold and a quick glance at her Status confirmed something for her: a tiny sliver of Mana had been shaved from her absurdly vast pool.

Yet in the back of her mind she now sensed a delicate, silver thread connecting her to this exact spot. A return anchor. Should she ever wish to return here, she would know the way. The old continuous spells she had once maintained, the many anchors and wards she had scattered across the world, were almost certainly gone. She came to this conclusion because this was the only one she still had a connection to, and since most of those spells were selectable from the Map, something she had no access to right now.

Even if she had, it wouldn't have mattered, since she fully intended to travel this world without teleporting. Gloria drew her hand away from the stone, and quickly stepped out of the cave. The darkness gave way to warmth and light, and she emerged onto a high mountain ledge overlooking the world beyond. Below her stretched a vast, unbroken expanse of green—forests and rolling hills bathed in sunlight.

Above it all stretched a sky so clear and blue it seemed to go on forever, nothing like the sickly, poisoned skies that had once smothered her old world from horizon to horizon. And even the sun was visible, hanging from the high heavens above, its light falling freely across the land without obstruction. Besides the nature, she also saw something else. Far, far away, nearly lost in the haze of distance, the faint outline of a city rested against the horizon.

Her breath caught in her throat, though it quickly went away. That was because the sudden change of scenery was staggering, greatly so, but it was also expected. Still, she remained there for a long while, simply taking it all in. A gentle wind brushed against her face, carrying the scent of pine and wild grass. Far below, the sound of running water reached her ears, which made the whole scene feel even more alive. She took one small, reverent step closer to the edge, wanting to see more of this breathtaking world.

But the moment her weight shifted forward, the stone beneath her right boot gave an ominous crack. Slowly, Gloria looked down, only to see that a web of fractures was spreading outward from beneath her foot, crawling across the ledge.

'... Huh?' She barely had time to process the sight before the entire ledge collapsed beneath her.