Prologue

And so the pen in the hands of the young man began to dance...

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—Year 402, days before the Convergence of Gods

My consciousness drifting slowly to realms unknown. The ground beneath me laid painted red, with both my blood and his. This fight would be the one to decide the fate of humanity, and the fate of the world as it is.

Before me, stood a being only bested by the Gods that once gave it birth.

The white menace, clad in brilliant white crystalline scales and decorated by radiant amber eyes, glowing with intent to kill.

The Dragon of Origin.

However, even the proud beast of legend was now breathing heavily. The injuries sustained in this battle weren’t one-sided. Though with that said, I was still but a mere man facing a legendary dragon that stood alone at a zenith mere course evolution could never hope to reach.

I steeled my resolve and readied myself for the final blow. The dragon, despite his monstrous form, had unparalleled pride and honor. Realizing my intent, he boldly readied himself as a response to my last assault.

⌈It would seem that I have finally met a worthy foe!⌋

The dragon proudly exclaimed.

⌈Finally, eh? Have you forgotten already? Though, it’s been a while indeed..⌋

⌈Forgotten? Something as trivial as lives of the Races are not of interest to me. In the millennia I've lived, I have no recollection of facing against a being as strong as you!⌋

⌈You seem to misunderstand. While this is my first time facing you in combat, we’ve met once before.⌋

I swept my bleak white hair out of the way, revealing a deep scar, that ran across the left side of my face, from the forehead, through the eye, down to my cheek. Although my right eye was as teal as the clear seas of the lands in the far east, my now revealed left eye was as white as the scales of the dragon, yet it burned brightly in the shade of amber, just as did his...

Eye of Origin– an arcane eye able to see through the fabric of reality itself. It was bestowed to me by the very dragon standing before me many, many years ago. The beast had destroyed my home and killed my kin. Only I managed escaped with my life. The ancient runes of the white eye have ever since reminded me of how cruel fate can be, and how unfair life itself is…

⌈Y-You..!?!⌋

The mighty beast trembled at the thought.

⌈It would seem that you remember after all.⌋

⌈All those years ago… To think that you would actually survive that. Interesting! Very well, child. Shall we finally see what kind of future fate has in store for you and I?⌋

⌈Fine by me..⌋

I readied myself for the inevitable and poured every last drop of the remaining magic power I had into my blade. It was a magical sword without an equal, crafted from invaluable metals by the peerless elder-dwarven smiths.

Usually, once active, the ancient runes etched along the edge of the blade would light up bright enough to illuminate a small room, however, this time the radiant white light emitting from the blade was no less than that of a blazing wildfire.

Yet I needed more.

Much, much more...

A mere wildfire was hardly enough to topple a beast capable of annihilating nations at a whim.

Even everything I had wasn't enough? No.. I can't give up yet. I won't let it all be for naught!

Lost in my hunger for power, I could feel myself starting to burn from the inside out.

This sensation!?

Without a doubt in my mind, the feeling was the same as back then, when the Dragon of Origin struck me and bestowed me the Eye of Origin.

At that very moment, something happened deep inside of me.

It was as if my powers were multiplying over and over again, as I felt my very soul light up in the white flames of Origin. Magic was bursting out, creating an aura of pure magical essence around me.

Now clad in the flames of eternity, even the slightest bit of hesitation I had burned away in an instant.

The Dragon let out a thunderous roar and charged towards me, but it was too late for him now. I felt as if I could take on the gods themselves. I answered his assault with one of my own.

A faint, yet ever emotional chant escaped my lips...

⌈O' Flames of Origin, return my foe to the very essence he was once created from. Break through the dark of the night and light up the path for the future of mankind,【Origin Burst】!⌋

Man to Dragon, we clashed. It was over in a split second. Both of us, broken down and bloodied, stood with our backs at each other. Neither daring to turn around. As my blade shattered into a million pieces, and the fragments fell on the blood soiled ground one by one, there was a brief, yet somehow a painfully long moment of absolute silence, that felt louder than the dragons roar.

The moment of golden silence was broken by the Dragon, as he drew his last breath.

⌈To think that I’d meet my end like this... You’ve fought well… I shall meet you once more in the afterlife!⌋

The dragon burst into white flames and slowly collapsed down on to the ground, closing it’s faintly glowing amber eyes, never to open them again. Soon after, as the flames started to disperse, the legendary beast finally disintegrated into particles of light, that danced about in the wind before eventually fading away.

The Dragon of Origin had been bested.

It took me a good while to process the events that had just taken place, but as I directed my gaze down towards the valley beneath, I felt as if all the pieces of the puzzle had finally found their rightful place.

I stood on the overlook of the heavenly capital of the human realm, witnessing the cataclysmic disaster brought upon the world by the Dragon of Origin calming down by the moment.

The vast horde of monsters that flooded the city streets in masses uncountable by man, were slowly dwindling down in numbers and escaping with their lives. The skies, painted crimson by the fire spilling out from the cracks on the surface of the earth, were clearing out. And as the ashen curtains, that had long concealed the sky, finally opened, the world, thought to be forgotten by the Gods, basked in the glory of the moon and the stars once again.

It was a world I’m glad to have saved.

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⌈Wait.. Maybe I should’ve died saving the world from the dragon? No, that won't do. The adventure can’t end yet, can it? The world still needs to be rebuilt... Ah, whatever. That’s a damn good conclusion for the Dragon of Origin-arc if I do say so myself!⌋

That was the glorious conclusion of the seventeenth arc in the story of the adventures of yours truly in a parallel world of swords and magic! Compared to fantasy worlds, this boring life of mine isn’t really worth a damn. Nothing even remotely interesting ever happens in this world anyway.

Learning how to ride a bike hardly compares to burning monsters to a crisp by throwing concentrated spheres of magical fire at them. Wouldn’t you agree? Alternate universes are way more interesting, anyone with half a brain would realize that.

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However, unlike he claimed to be able to do in his 'alternate life in another world', where he was able to 'see through the fabric of reality itself with his arcane eye', he lived his actual life in a state of absolute denial and refused to see things for what they really were.

He lived alone. His parents mysteriously disappeared when he was young, and his grandfather, who took him in after he had been abandoned, died a year ago of old age. He had no friends to speak of, as the few friendships he had, usually came to an end before long. But he didn't mind. Friends who wouldn't stick around weren't worth a damn anyway... Or at the very least that was what he kept telling himself.

He barely managed to get by on a monthly basis, working a minimum wage job, living off of a diet mostly consisting of instant noodles and soft drinks. It was a simple, unfulfilling life, but a life nevertheless.

Even at school, back when he still attended it, people used to avoid him, or rather, he avoided people, out of the fear of losing someone dear to him again, which in turn caused him to eventually become an outcast. It wouldn't be surprising for an individual like him to bear resentment towards life itself. His circumstances are nothing short of unfortunate, and as such, he finds solitude in escaping the cruel reality of life by writing fantasy stories.

Though he leaves one to wonder, whether his denial reaches heights of disregarding real life for fantasy, as more often than not, he feels more immersed in his stories than reality itself...

⌈All out of food already? I guess I’ll go to the store… Oh? It’s been a year from grandpa’s death already, huh? I should probably go pay the old man a visit on the way.⌋

He muttered to himself staring at the calendar.

As he made his way to his grandfathers final resting place, he realized that something wasn’t quite right. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. It was as if the world was after him. He didn’t care much for his current life, but even so, he didn’t exactly want to die.

First turn to the right, he almost got hit by a cyclist, whom he managed to masterfully dodge. ‘Hah! As if a sloppy attempt like that would rid me of my life.’ he thought to himself. Busy admiring his exquisite evading abilities, he didn’t realize that he had unconsciously walked right into the middle of the road.

He was brought back to his senses by a loud honk, as a truck approached from behind at an alarming speed. Lucky for him, he had spent a vast amount of time immersing himself works of fantasy. A scene where the main character would get transported to another world by getting hit by a truck was extremely popular, and as such, he was prepared. All those hours spent reading weren’t for naught after all. With a few light steps, he was able to get off the road and out of the way of the traffic…

…Or so he thought. He had accidentally dodged towards the wrong side and he was now standing in the middle of an intersection. Even he himself was baffled at how idiotic one can be. It would be nothing short of a miracle if he was able to get out of there alive. And a miracle it was. One lane at a time, he was able to dodge his way out to the other side of the road.

He took a deep breath as he wiped the cold sweat off of his forehead. His heavily, rapidly beating heart slowly calmed down. He was able to count at least four people flipping him off, as he danced around the cars. The immediate threat was gone, but to his dismay, the misfortunes didn’t end there. The clear summer skies had turned grey, and heavy rain followed soon after. But as all clouds have a silver lining, he was about to reach his destination.

Upon reaching the shrine where his grandfather was resting, he offered a heartfelt prayer and thanked him for taking care of him for all those years. For a brief moment, he was met with the painful reality he was so desperately fleeing from.

⌈… But you know, sometimes it just feels like the world itself is against me. Even today, as soon as I stepped out of the door, all I was met with was misfortunes, one after another. I wonder if I really don’t belong here after all. I'm sorry...⌋

After those surprisingly honest words, the sound of thunder roared across the skies and lightning struck down on the wooden shrine.

⌈Give me damn a break already! Just what are you after!?⌋

He screamed, looking towards the sky as if those words were directed towards the god himself.

He rarely showed any signs of anger, but he took this as a personal offense against his grandfather. The shrine was engulfed by flames, but those flames weren’t blazing red. They were... a brilliant white?

In an instant, the lightning struck another time. And no matter how hard you try, dodging lightning is too much for a mere human.

⌈G-Goddammit.. just why!? Wait.. this warmth?⌋

He was struck by the lightning, but instead of dying in an instant from electrocution, or feeling immense pain from the tremendous currents running through his body, he felt warm, hot even, yet the heat was pleasant and welcoming.

His consciousness was fading away and the world started to blacken. Before his senses dulled, he saw his hands disintegrating into particles of light and eventually vanishing away, as they floated towards the grey skies.

Was it because of the absurdity of the event, and the similarities it bore to those he wrote of, that he didn't even think it to be real? Or maybe it all happened so fast, that he didn’t even have time to process what had just taken place... Either way, his final words weren’t filled with grief nor anger, but rather regret for the… story not being adequate for the ending!?!

⌈A death like this.. really? Hahaha! It’s pretty cool, huh? If only the story was as good as the ending…⌋

And with that, he passed on from the world.

He didn’t even have time to think twice about what he had just gone through. What kind of a human gets struck by lightning and dies by disintegrating into light? The only thing he thought about at the moment of passing, were the tales of his alternate life in another world.

But little did he know, that the life he wrote of, wouldn’t be his alternate life, but a future one...