"So, found a good candidate for our project?"

"Not yet, but I'm sure I'm close to finding one."

"This is taking an unbelievable amount of time. My requirements are easy enough. Ain't it not?"

A conversation in a realm that is home to one of the most powerful beings that can be imagined. An eternity of violet and blinking eyes. A youkai and a demon conversing that will lead the fate of a world to the better or worse.

"Kalrusht, I might be powerful, but diligence isn't my forte."

"I suppose so. But even though I heard that you were lazy, I wasn't expecting this much a lack of progress."

The youkai's eyes widened, looking at an orb of light. "Well, well. Would you look at this? I might've found our soul.

In the orb, a teenager sitting on the ledge of a raking lot on a mall, a 3-story-tall drop right in front of him.

"Ahhh, the negative energy from his soul is strong indeed. What a candidate!"

"Are you satisfied, Kalrusht?"

"It's enough for my goals. For that, I thank you."

"Just returning favours, demon."

Kalrusht left, leaving the youkai alone in her turf. Then she looked back at the orb. "Whoever you are, I'm sorry that I have to put this burden on you. I hope you choose the right path."

===============================

I closed my laptop, finishing my day of online school.

"Barry, can you help me with something please?"

That's my mom, a loving mother, to my sister anyways.

I'm only 15, yet I've already been asking myself if death is better for me than living in this pandemic. I was a very active person who loves to play football. I had a lot of friends and my family was like every other. But, a virus was found in December 2019 that ravaged the world's economy and brought humanity to lockdown.

I've lost my sporting hobby. My father, an architect, still work a lot. And for the past few weeks, he's been going home late. My mother, an accountant, works from home. But she's been a pain. It's a different experience than when you go to school for 8 hours and see your parents at home, and it's not for the better. Because their children are home, they pump them up with countless chores and such, taking their liberty, making them busier than face-to-face school, contradicting people's belief of online school freeing up time.

I lost contact with my friends. Especially my bestie, who is never online anymore on any social media. I'm now a wreck, looking at my laptop 7 hours a day in a blanket. Rarely turning on my camera due to my insecurities that developed throughout the pandemic. I've learned how to draw and paint decently, but that's about the only positive thing I got from the pandemic.

Emotionally, it couldn't be any worse. Human contact is virtually a taboo activity for me. It feels like school is giving us 10x the amount of homework. And other problems that push me to the verge of depression.

My sister just makes the situation worse. Before the pandemic, she was annoying. After the pandemic, she is a beast of her own. I know how it feels to not be able to see your friends again, but don't then take the frustration out on me! And sometimes she does stuff wrong in my presence, and because I was there, guess who my mother blamed?

As for now, I need to help my mother with some shopping at the nearby grocery store.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I tried, but I failed...

I knew that there were signs that told me he would do that, but I acted too late.

Jerry, my best friend, committed suicide.

He was such a great friend. He was the only light in the dark of this pandemic.

*sigh*

His funeral will be tomorrow...

For some reason, no tears appeared under my eyes. My mind doesn't react to this news. Am I even grieving anymore?

...

heh

Is that how it is then?

It's not possible that I don't grieve for my friend. But it is possible that every day is a world of grief for me. I guess this is what I think a normal revelation is like now. I'm already heartless, do I even have a soul anymore?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm sitting on the roof of a mall, where the parking lots are. Sitting on the ledge of the building, a 3-story tall fall... I don't even have fear anymore. What's happening to me?

My best friend is gone... why can't I join him? I don't feel anything anymore. A life without emotions is no life at all, isn't it? I don't want such a life.

Right there, I made my choice. I pushed myself to drop from such a high place. Only an adrenaline rush came, but nothing else, as I speed closer to the hard asphalt or whatever it is, I don't care.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Am I dead? Can I see where I am? Everything feels... numb. I try to open my eyes and I see three doctors that might be carrying me on one of those wheeled beds in hospitals and lights passing me. I'm in a hospital eh?

What happened again? Oh, I tried to commit suicide. Wait... HOW DID I SURVIVE THAT FALL???

Uhhh, let bygones be bygones. Guess I didn't die...

Now that I think about it, fate must give me another chance. Was about to say god but I remembered I was an atheist and I would be abandoning my own beliefs that way.

It was stupid of me, really. I had so many responsibilities and a lot of people had hopes for my life, yet I decided to yeet them all to the bin.

My mother, who, no matter how annoying these days, has helped me lead a way to what would be a comfortable life.

My big brother, who was my perfect role model, expects great things from me. I promised to see him again in college...

My little sister... Uhhh, no thanks.

My other friends, who I've been encouraging throughout school. Yeah, they're idiots and they need me or they'll fail.

Not realizing it, while I was thinking this, I start to lose my consciousness.

Wait, I need to stay awake! I feel like if I fell asleep now I would really die!

My vision darkens and my feeling of touch started to disappear.

No. No! NO! I want to live! I still want to live!!

I WANT TO LIVE!!!!

My vision disappears, but I feel something new and warm around me.

H-huh? Where am I? Why is it so comfy yet... What is this all around me?!?! It feels gooey! It reminds me of snot. EWW, WHERE DID THAT THOUGHT COME FROM?

I started to move around, getting used to the space around me, but there's something weird about my body. It's like I have new appendages at my ass and back. And not only that, it feels trapped in here. Every centimetre I move, I hit the side of whatever I'm in. Whatever this is, it's oval-shaped. I'm forced to be in a fetal position.

It's shaped like an egg? Am I even human anymore? Don't think so. It's either someone experimented on me, or I got reincarnated. They don't judge me, the former is possible... maybe not. So I got reincarnated. But am I isekai-ed? What am I even?

I decided to check and started examining my 'arms' by touching and scratching.

Huh, sharp claws, and... scales?! Am I what I thought I am?! Hoh, I'm sorry everyone in my past life, but I've decided to move on and start a new life as a doragon! (So much for the mourning and regrets a few paragraphs ago)

Suddenly, a muffled roar from outside was heard and there were shouting human voices.

Wait, what's happening out there? HAVE MERCY! I DIDN'T EVEN HATCH YE- AAAAAA

Didn't even finish my sentence, and I felt like something big hit me and i rolled and rolled for half a minute until I stopped, and I noticed something different. The tiniest bit of light came into my egg. There's a crack-like shape on one side of the egg.

SHIT, I THOUGHT I WOULD DIE BEFORE. But... I've been set free! ... I think? But I better hatch later on, after whatever going on outside is done.

I waited for only a minute before the last roar sounded and cheers are heard, guess my new parents are killed... Huuuuuuuuu what a start. I waited a few more minutes to make sure the humans that killed my parents are gone. Wow, I already thought 'human' like I was never one.

Woopie, I think they're gone, now let's punch out of this crap. Woop, it cracked even more. Woop, my hand is out. And my head too. Good thing the air doesn't burn, unlike a certain story I've read online. Imma jump out of her- OW, FUCK, MY HEAD.

My egg turns out to be hidden in a hole in the cave and of course when I jumped out, I hit my head. I had a headache for a minute and then I started to look around. I saw the corpses of a yellow dragon and a blue one.

Those are my parents aren't they...

Not long later, my nose noticed a putrid smell of blood. I almost barfed as I ran outside.

Ughhh, that was disgusting. And... How did I run so fast on 4 legs like it's the most natural thing to me? I wanna see myself- Oohh! A lake!

I ran to the edge(nearly falling off, but no one talks about that), and saw my reflection. I thought I would be scary or stuff like that but it turns out I'm pretty cute, probably because I'm still a child. I got these big slitted reptilian eyes which is the only thing a tiny bit scary in my opinion. I've got two stubs on my head, which probably is going to be my horns. I have purpled scales with a silver. In my opinion, my scales look smooth and slick. My wings have the same colour scheme as my body, purple on the top and silver on the bottom. I look too beautiful for myself.

Am I even still a boy? Yes I am, don't ask how I checked.

Judging from the trees and bushes around me, I guess I'm about a foot tall. Gonna be careful.

Now that I've done looking at myself, I started looking around.

What... The... Fuuuuu-

What is this place? It's full of pure nature? I don't think you would find something as good as this on earth! Waterfall... Tall trees... Bright green vines... A lake... Ahhh, this is a habitat for me, thank you. Now let's just hope that I'm one of those types of isekai dragon where they get energy from the air around them or from nature, because if I can get hungry, I'm sure I'll get trouble hunti-

*Angry stomach noises*

Fuck