LEON'S POV

  *Pain.*

  That was the first thing I felt.

  Not the red light. Not Alice's hand slipping from mine. Not the sensation of falling through an endless void.

  Just pain.

  It started in my chest—sharp, burning, like my ribs were being crushed inward. Then it spread. My limbs. My back. My skull. Every part of me screamed in agony, and I couldn't even open my mouth to scream back.

  I was trapped.

  Something pressed against me from all sides. Hard. Smooth. Curved. My body was folded into a space far too small, limbs pinned awkwardly, lungs struggling to pull in air that tasted stale and thick.

  *Where—where am I?*

  My thoughts were sluggish, half-formed. Panic clawed at the edges of my mind, but I couldn't hold onto it. Everything felt... wrong. Muffled. Like I was underwater.

  Then—light.

  A hairline crack split the darkness.

  Instinct took over.

  I pushed.

  My body moved on its own, straining against the walls of my prison. My limbs—*wrong, they felt wrong*—scraped against the surface. Claws. I had *claws.*

  The crack widened.

  I pushed harder.

  The shell gave way with a sickening *crack*, and I spilled out onto cold, rough stone. Liquid clung to my skin—thick, slimy, reeking of copper and rot. I gasped, choking on air that tasted of earth and decay.

  For a long moment, I just lay there, trembling.

  *What... what happened?*

  My vision swam. Shapes and shadows blurred together in the darkness. I forced myself to move, to lift my head, to *see.*

  The first thing I noticed was the ground beneath me—uneven stone, slick with moisture. Roots twisted through cracks in the rock, pale and gnarled like skeletal fingers. Stalactites hung from the ceiling far above, barely visible in the dim light filtering down from somewhere high and unreachable.

  A dungeon.

  No—deeper than that. A *cavern*. Ancient. Forgotten.

  And I was alone.

  No.

  Not alone.

  My gaze drifted to the side, and I saw it—another egg. Larger than the one I'd just crawled out of. Its surface was smooth, pale, streaked with faint veins of color.

  And it was *intact.*

  I stared at it.

  My body didn't move.

  But something inside me *screamed.*

  *Hunger.*

  It wasn't just hunger. It was primal. All-consuming. A need so intense it drowned out everything else—fear, confusion, even the memory of my own name.

  I needed to *eat.*

  My vision narrowed. My limbs moved before my mind could catch up.

  I tore into the egg.

  Claws ripped through the shell. Teeth—*fangs*—sank into soft tissue beneath. The taste was foul. Bitter. Metallic. But with every bite, warmth flooded my veins. Strength surged through my limbs. My vision sharpened.

  I felt... *alive.*

  And then—

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  > [UNIQUE SKILL ACTIVATED – DEVOUR]

  A voice. Cold. Mechanical. It echoed inside my skull, and I froze mid-bite.

  Words appeared before my eyes, glowing faintly in the darkness like a screen from a video game.

  ═══════════════════════════

  CHARACTER STATUS

  ═══════════════════════════

  Name: ???

  Species: Dragon (Hatchling)

  Title: [LOCKED]

  ═══════════════════════════

  ABILITY: DEVOUR

  "To consume is to claim. To claim is to curse.

  All that you devour shall become yours.

  But nothing is without cost."

  ═══════════════════════════

  SPECIAL EFFECT TRIGGERED:

  You have consumed your own kin.

  Natural law has been violated.

  [CURSE ATTRIBUTE ACQUIRED]

  This attribute will awaken as you grow.

  Be warned: all power demands sacrifice.

  ═══════════════════════════

  The words burned themselves into my mind.

  *Dragon.*

  I looked down at my hands.

  They weren't hands.

  Pale, clawed appendages. Scaled skin. Talons sharp enough to carve stone.

  My legs were bent and digitigrade, ending in more claws. My body was lean, reptilian, covered in white scales that shimmered faintly in the dim light.

  *No. No, this isn't—*

  I stumbled backward, claws scraping against stone.

  "This isn't real," I whispered. My voice came out wrong—rasping, guttural. "I'm human. I'm supposed to be *human.*"

  But the evidence was right in front of me.

  I wasn't human anymore.

  I was a *monster.*

  And then the worst thought hit me.

  *The egg I just ate—*

  "No." My voice cracked. "No, no, no—Alice, please don't tell me—"

  I doubled over, claws clutching at my head. Nausea twisted my stomach.

  *What if that was her? What if I just—*

  But even as the thought tore through me, something deeper—some primal instinct I didn't understand—whispered back.

  *It wasn't her.*

  I didn't know how I knew. I just... *did.*

  Alice was alive. Somewhere. I could feel it.

  "I'll find you," I whispered, forcing myself to breathe.

  ---

  The cavern stretched endlessly in every direction.

  Tunnels branched off into darkness, twisting and descending deeper into the earth. The walls were lined with ancient carvings—runes that glowed faintly, pulsing like a heartbeat. Some were cracked and faded. Others looked fresh, as if something had carved them recently. Dead creatures around barely recognizable bones exposed and the pungent smell blood dirt maggots filthy place.

  This place was old. Older than anything I'd ever seen.

  And I was trapped inside it.

  I tested my limbs, trying to get used to the weight and shape of my new body. It was awkward. Unnatural. My center of gravity was all wrong. But slowly, I started to move—clumsy steps at first, then something closer to walking.

  Or maybe prowling.

  "Alright," I muttered to myself. "First priority: get out of here. Find people if they exist in this world. Explain what happened."

  The words sounded hollow even as I said them.

  *Explain what? That I'm a dragon? That I got reincarnated or transported or whatever the hell this is?*

  I shook my head.

  "Doesn't matter. I'll figure it out. Someone has to know something. There has to be a way to fix this."

  I started walking toward the nearest tunnel, my claws clicking softly against stone.

  *I'm still me. I'm still Leon. I just... look different now. People will understand. They have to.*

  ---

  *Looking back now, I want to laugh.*

  *Or maybe scream.*

  *Because gods, I was so *naive.*

  *I actually believed I could just walk up to a human settlement, explain myself, and everything would be fine. I thought they'd see past the scales and the claws and the fangs. I thought they'd help me.*

  *I didn't understand yet.*

  *I didn't know that the moment a human saw me, their first instinct would be to kill. That my very existence would mark me as a monster. A threat. A calamity.*

  *I didn't know that the skill sleeping inside me—Devour—would make sure I could never go back.*

  *But I would learn.*

  *I would learn what it meant to be hunted.*

  *What it meant to kill to survive.*

  *What it meant to become the very thing I once swore to fight against.*

  ---

  *For now, though, I was just a confused kid in a dragon's body.*

  *Clinging to hope I didn't deserve.*

  *That innocence wouldn't last much longer.*

  ---

  A sound echoed through the tunnel ahead.

  Low. Hissing.

  I froze.

  From the shadows, something moved. Scales scraped against stone. A reptilian head emerged, it was a bit larger than me. Yellow eyes, slitted and cold, locked onto me.

  Fangs. Dripping venom. Muscles coiled beneath scarred hide.

  It wasn't just looking at me.

  It was *hunting* me.

  My body reacted before my mind could catch up.

  *Run.*