The Azure Dragon Awakens
The colossal form of a mythical creature with azure scales, the talons of an eagle, the antlers of a deer, the mane of a lion, the snout of a pig, and the long whiskers of a serpent. This was the common image of the dragon preserved throughout East Asian history. And right now, I looked exactly like that. A Azure Dragon, to be precise.
Deep-sea blue scales that glittered under the sunlight, antlers sharpened like forged blades, razor-sharp claws, and a flowing white mane. When I turned my head, I could see my body stretching nearly eighty meters long, along with white whiskers that measured about a third of that length. There was no mistaking it. I had become a Azure Dragon.
Obviously, I had never heard of a human transforming into one. Of course, there was the old saying about climbing the dragon gate, but that was just a metaphor for success, not something that actually happened. If it had, the world would have been no different from a fantasy realm.
The important thing was that such a world-changing event had happened to me.
Suddenly, I thought of my friend.
'No way... Did that bastard pick a fight with me over dragons?'
I had stayed up all night researching everything I could about dragons just to mess with him. Then I used all that information to criticize and mock them. You know how it goes, right? That tired cliché where if you complain that a novel sucks, the author reincarnates you into their story as punishment. Maybe the Azure Dragon had done the same thing—dragged me into this body so I could experience its position firsthand.
'But if that's the case, shouldn't this at least be an Eastern world?'
The place I had reincarnated into was a world based on Western fantasy. At the very least, it wasn't Eastern fantasy.
When I first regained consciousness, I was falling from the sky. My mind was foggy, like waking from a deep sleep. The moment I cracked my eyes open, I found myself plummeting straight down from five kilometers up, flailing helplessly. The two scenes that caught my eye as I fell were what convinced me this was a Western fantasy world.
The first was an island not far from the sea where I was falling. It looked uninhabited, covered in dense forest, but a single structure was pushing its way through the trees. And that building followed Western architectural styles far more than Eastern ones.
The second was even farther out at sea—a massive whale leaping above the surface. It had a thick horn in the center of its head that looked like it had scraped against rocks, leaving scratches. The creature was several times larger than a normal whale. It truly deserved to be called the lord of the sea. The whale soared out of the water like a jumping dolphin, its eyes glowing red as it let out a roar before diving back into the depths.
'That looks more like a monster than a yokai.'
Just as Western mythology had all kinds of monsters, Eastern mythology had its own beasts and spirits. But that whale clearly belonged to the former category. Of course, I would learn more concrete details once I investigated this world further. For now, there was nothing I could do.
The area around where I had fallen was open ocean for at least dozens of kilometers in every direction. The only visible land was completely covered in forest. And more importantly... this was hardly the time to leisurely explore another world.
WHOOOOSH—!!
A red-eyed fish from the deep sea spotted me and charged at incredible speed. CRUNCH! Despite its fierce momentum, the fish was instantly crushed into paste by my claws. And that tuna-sized fish was only the beginning. For roughly a week after I regained my senses in this world, I was constantly under attack from the creatures.
During those irregular assaults, I noticed one common trait among all the fish. Every single one had red eyes—just like the massive one-horned whale I had witnessed while falling. From the depths, I could occasionally feel an inexplicable hostility rising toward me.
After a week, I roughly understood the situation. The lord of the sea had marked me as an enemy. And instinctively, I knew that someday it would gather its entire pod and come for me.
In the end, I abandoned any thought of investigation. Instead, considering the sheer size of the sea lord, I began searching for ways to defend against the inevitable attack.
My friend and I mostly argued, but sometimes we had real discussions.
At the time, my friend had claimed that a dragon's power originated from the mind. I hadn't immediately agreed with him. But after returning home and researching dragons, I came to partially accept what he said.
'A dragon is what an imugi becomes after a thousand years of cultivation.'
After a thousand long years of effort, an imugi finally attains enlightenment and obtains a Yeouiju. Only then does it become a true dragon. In other words, dragons are beings who possess a millennium of wisdom. It is because of that immense mental fortitude that they can command the weather and govern life itself.
Thinking that way helped me understand why I sometimes felt powerless despite having this body.
'It's like an elementary school student suddenly waking up in the body of a self-made CEO.'
A human mind that hadn't even lived fifty years was now inside a dragon's body. Of course it couldn't wield its full power. The body and its abilities refused to obey me, leaving me with a constant sense of helplessness. It was as if part of my body had been paralyzed in an accident.
To overcome that helplessness, strengthening my mental power was crucial. But while that was easy to say, actually doing it was incredibly difficult.
'How the hell do you even train mental strength?'
Physical strength or muscle power could be built through visible training. Mental strength was different. I had never seen any mental training methods back when I was human. So I changed my approach.
Instead of trying to raise my mental strength from a baseline of ten, I began looking for ways to make full use of that ten. There had to be abilities I could wield even with a human mind. In game terms, they would be beginner skills.
Fortunately, I already had a lead on how to develop them.
Ever since falling into this world, I had been feeling a strange sensation throughout my body.
'First, I need to awaken this sense.'
While underwater, an unfamiliar energy flowed through my entire body. It was different from the five normal senses. It felt exactly like the descriptions of mana or qi in novels and webtoons.
A clear, refreshing energy I had never felt before coursed through me. It wasn't identical, but the sensation was similar. It tickled, like burying my body in jelly. I was certain this was the key to awakening the dragon's abilities.
'It's not limited to the sea. Even the air has a similar, though weaker, feeling.'
When I poked my head above the surface, I could sense the same alien quality in the air. It felt like my entire body had become a giant lung, inhaling oxygen. But the sensation was weaker than underwater.
I didn't get greedy. I focused solely on the sensation of water.
'Recall the abilities of the Azure Dragon.'
I thought back to everything I had learned about dragons while arguing with my friend. The knowledge that had dominated my mind for an entire month had not faded. As I carefully reviewed those memories that now felt like pages from a past life, I found a single clue.
I concentrated, trying to expand that sensation. At the same time, I began shutting off other senses that consumed mental energy. I started with vision—the sense that used the most mental power. The moment I blocked even one sense, my scales stood on end and my perception expanded. It was a good sign. At this rate, I would surely hear good news soon.
But I didn't stop there. I experimented with different ways to sharpen my senses. 'Let's try holding my breath while my vision is cut off. It would be even better if I couldn't hear anything. Maybe twist my body...'
I tried various postures, searching for the position that would maximize the expansion of my senses. One by one, I sealed off my five senses so that all my mental focus could converge on that single point.
As expected of a dragon's body, once I firmed my will and focused on what I wanted, my body adjusted accordingly. Soon the world went dark and all sound vanished. With every sense cut off, I felt as if I were the only being left in existence.
Then, in the next moment, a part of my body trembled violently.
It was like a water droplet falling onto a still surface, creating countless ripples.
'This is it.'
I focused on where the droplet had fallen. Astonishingly, I could sense emotions and states from that point. Purity, joy, sorrow, rage. Clarity, filth, stillness, turbulence. Conflicting emotions and conditions swirled together, threatening to overwhelm my mind.
But soon I realized what they meant.
Purity becomes corrupted. Corruption becomes pure again. Clarity is tainted, and the polluted is purified. Stillness grows turbulent, then returns to stillness. They seemed contradictory, but they weren't. More precisely, they were endlessly repeating.
And from the keyword circulation, I understood what this was in relation to the Azure Dragon's power. I repeated it to myself.
'Dragons are beings that govern nature. In other words, they regulate all the cycles of the natural world.'
And the most representative of those cycles was one thing.
'Clouds, rain, seas, rivers, lakes.'
The substance that transformed between gas, liquid, and solid, circulating throughout the entire world. It was water.
My eyes snapped open. All my senses returned to normal. But on top of them, a completely new sense I had never experienced before took control of my body.
I began to move the water according to my will.