Busted.
"Whoa... there sure are a lot of people here...?"
I gulped, my eyes fixed on the unknown territory I'd never bothered checking before, too obsessed with making money right away. I slowly scrolled through the posts popping up on the screen.
[Chat] Ugh, seriously, almost got my whole party wiped today stepping on a trap while circling the outskirts of the Elf Forest. I wish all the elves would just disappear.
[Question] How do I fix mana backlash when casting 3rd-circle Fireball? Save a newbie, please.
[Info] Dropping the Imperial Capital Guard patrol schedule for tomorrow. Assassins' Guild, take note.
[Chat] Sigh... those Blood Cult lunatics swept away another village with their human sacrifices. Don't the Righteous Sects do anything?
[Question] My master says it's early signs of Qi Deviation—will eating Millennium Snow Ginseng fix it? Urgent, fellow heroes!
"...Hmm. Guess it's not all powerhouses here."
I stroked my chin, lost in thought after skimming the board. This place seemed to be a tangle of all sorts of worlds. From fantasy realms with magic and elves to martial worlds mentioning Qi Deviation and Blood Cults.
I'd vaguely guessed from the big spenders in the market—like 9th-circle grand magi or northern mercenaries—but seeing these raw community posts firsthand hit different. The vibe was just like any Earth internet forum. Whiny newbies, bragging veterans, and troll shitposters dropping threads in real-time.
But one thing caught my eye.
'No way... am I the first Earthling in this trading community?'
No matter how I flipped through the chat board or searched, there wasn't a single mention of Earth, hunters, or gates—your typical modern fantasy setup. Just tales from the Ereinia continent rife with swords and sorcery, or the Central Plains martial world dominated by ki and martial arts. Zero references to cars, smartphones, or computers either.
My heart pounded. Having this cheat-key ability all to myself on Earth? Jackpot.
Time to lurk first. Follow the sacred internet rule: shut up, watch, and learn—at least for three days, quiet as a mouse, scoping the vibe.
I leaned back in my chair, losing track of time as I devoured the chat board. Tower faction wars, Righteous vs. Demonic sect clashes, dwarves haggling weapon prices—way more entertaining stuff than I'd expected.
Snickering at stories from these other worlds for a good while, I suddenly snapped to attention at the heavy throbbing near my heart.
Thump— Thump—
"Oh, right. Not the time to spectate someone else's turf war."
The real reason I'd dove into this chat board was to uncover the truth about the dragon mana in my body.
Time to use the search function. I tapped the magnifying glass icon at the top and typed in keywords.
[Dragon Heart], [Dragon Mana], [Dragon Activator].
After a brief loading spin, hundreds of old posts flooded the screen. But clicking through them made me frown.
[Question] Buying a Dragon Heart. Need it for 9th-circle artifact material. Any dragons selling?
ㄴ You wanna die that bad?
ㄴ Who the hell are you?
[Chat] Red dragon scale went up at the auction house yesterday—price for real?
ㄴ One scale cost as much as a castle.
ㄴ Not even a heart, just a scale scrap at that price? Heart must be priceless then.
All the same crap. Dragon Hearts as the ultimate magic ingredient, stuff you couldn't buy even if you sold an empire—nothing but worthless price talk.
Zero cases of humans harboring a Dragon Heart inside them, or side effects. Hell, the very idea of a person consuming one seemed impossible by their common sense.
"Sigh... weird. You'd think there'd be something..."
I rubbed my neck and let out a deep breath. This wasn't just some lucky stat-booster item to celebrate.
Dulled pain senses, alien heartbeat, boiling combat instincts.
'If this keeps up, will my body stop being human and turn into a real reptilian monster?'
Anxiety hit hard. No time for lurking rules. This was about my life—my humanity.
The board had plenty of newbies sharing knowledge or asking questions. And posting wouldn't dox my name or face.
I flipped on anonymous mode, hid my identity tight, and hit the write button with trembling fingers.
New Post
[Title: Quick question. What happens if a human directly absorbs and uses dragon mana? | Anonymous]
Just curious, but if a person takes in Dragon Heart mana, does it cause body mutations or side effects?
Tension flooded me the second I hit post. What answers would roll in? God, please no major side effects...
Less than a minute after refreshing, the first reply dropped.
— Anonymous
What kinda bullshit is this lololol Trying to troll?
"...Troll? Come on."
Feeling wronged, I fired off replies quick.
↳ OP
Not trolling, legit curious.
↳ OP
Not a dragon, but drank a mana circuit activator made from Dragon Heart? Now there's this weird power source in my heart.
I explained my situation dead seriously. Then, like they'd been lurking my post, replies poured in real-time.
↳ Anonymous
??? Where you selling drugs lol Dragon Heart elixir? You drank that?
↳ Anonymous
Alright, say you got lucky and chugged it. You'd still be alive? Dragons would've sniffed you out and charred you to coal lol
↳ Anonymous
Dragons? You mean those lizard demons from the Western Regions?
↳ Anonymous
Martial world scrubs, stay out.
↳ Anonymous
Mentioning Dragon Heart? Ereinia continent guy? Swallowed a processed heart and lived? You hiding in some other dimension or pocket space forever?
"...Huh?"
A chill ran down my spine as I read the piling replies. "Dragons sniff you out and char you"—that stabbed deep.
The Royal Alchemist from the flask deal flashed in my mind. And the other bidder's reaction—they'd bailed the second Dragon Heart got mentioned.
"That damn old fart..."
I gritted my teeth. He hadn't just used me as a side-effect guinea pig. He'd crafted an elixir from a dragon's reverse scale—their heart—and offloaded the evidence to me in a whole other dimension via the multidimensional market.
If I'd been on Ereinia, dragons might've actually breathed me to ash. Lucky Earth was another dimension, dodging the trail.
Cold sweat trickled down my back as realization sank in.
Then, amid the mocking anon replies, one chilling outlier dropped, freezing the vibe cold.
↳ Anonymous
You. Who are you? Where are you right now?
Short, aggressive sentence. Out of nowhere, it triggered my instincts—danger.
↳↳ OP
What do you want with where I am?
Immediate comeback.
↳↳ Anonymous
I'll verify if you've really got Heart energy. If you're a human worm larva, I'll rip your gut open and reclaim it. Speak now, or your whole nation gets wiped.
"...Psycho."
No bluff—intuition screamed it. Killing intent and rage bled through the text. The other anons mocking me went silent, cowed by the menace.
Then another shaky reply.
↳ Anonymous
Uh...? No way, a dragon?
↳↳ Anonymous
Yeah. I'm Jermad. Popped in to lurk after ages, and some gutless worm swallowed an elixir from my kin's Heart?
↳ Anonymous
Gasp!! Lord Jermad!!?
↳↳ Anonymous
Spill it now. Which country, which nation are you from?
Real name drop? Had to be a legit dragon. My heart raced. What now?
Calm down, think. 'No panic. If trouble was coming, it'd be here already.'
↳↳↳ OP
I... I really had no idea? Hunted monsters in a gate and ate it?
↳↳↳↳ Anonymous
Gate? What bullshit is that.
↳↳↳↳ OP
Gates where monsters spawn. No such thing there?
↳↳↳↳↳ Anonymous
What? You mean demon gates? You opened demon gates too? And I wouldn't know? You lunatics. Where are you!?
I swallowed hard and typed the ultimate shield word.
↳↳↳↳↳↳ OP
China.
↳↳↳↳↳↳↳ Anonymous
Chin...a? Which backwater fiefdom is that on Ereinia continent?
↳↳↳↳↳↳↳↳ OP
Uh... how do I even explain? Just one of the huge, populous countries in the world? Second most populous on our continent...
The board's vibe shifted weird right after my reply.
↳ Anonymous
Hold up. What the hell? This guy's ID is totally different?
↳ Anonymous
Huh? Why's the ID weird? Wait, for real?
↳ Anonymous
This dude ain't from Ereinia or martial world? First digits totally different.
↳ Anonymous
What is this! What dimension are you from!?
"...What?"
Panicking, I stared holes into the screen. Then I spotted it: tiny three-digit codes in parentheses next to anon nicknames. Like IP addresses or server IDs.
The dragon Jermad's was (99.x.2). Martial world users started with (57.x.x).
99 meant their dimension cluster server code.
Trembling, I checked mine as poster.
[(235.x.1)]
Not Ereinia, not martial world—a brand-new dimension code never seen here before.
Earth dimension 235.
↳ Anonymous
...Hoo. Now that's interesting.
Seemed like crimson reptilian eyes were boring through the screen at me.
"Shit, properly screwed now."
My mistake. Thought they'd dismiss me as a lying newbie, but nope—right there in plain sight.
That's why every community preaches lurking first.
The sole Earthling in the multidimensional market.
And I'd exposed myself to the most dangerous bastard.