The Player's Dragon Hunter
The term Dragon Hunter referred to those rare heroes who had actually slain a dragon—creatures so elusive that most people never even glimpsed one in their lifetime. In some kingdoms, the title alone was enough to earn a noble peerage. It signified that the bearer was an exceptional talent, lacking nothing in either martial prowess or intellect. Beyond that, hunting a dragon—the colossal, overwhelmingly powerful beast—had been tied to the honor of every warrior and knight since ancient times. As a result, Dragon Hunters were objects of universal admiration.
Naturally, no mere academy cadet could possibly hold such a title.
‘Besides, you can’t even find a dragon anywhere near the academy. What kind of Dragon Hunter…’
Even as that thought crossed his mind, Kyle recalled the terrorists who had attacked the academy not long ago. When he had left the auditorium to rescue Arthur, a dragon had been flying through the sky. At the time, saving Arthur had been the priority, and the headmaster had already taken off in pursuit, so Kyle had paid it little attention…
‘She’s saying she killed that dragon?’
Kyle looked down at Sera with clear skepticism. Feeling his gaze, Sera tilted her head from side to side. She was certain she had introduced herself properly, yet this infuriating muscle-brained idiot was completely ignoring her.
“Hey, are you even listening?”
“I heard you.”
“I said I’m Kim Sera, the Dragon Hunter?”
“So what?”
When Kyle shrugged as if he had no idea what she was talking about, Sera recoiled slightly, goosebumps rising on her skin, and glared at him.
“Whoa— even your tone is exactly the same. That’s actually creepy.”
“Same as who?”
“Ah, there’s this one person. You wouldn’t know them. Anyway—” Sera continued, finally explaining why she had come looking for him. “I’m here to scout you!”
It was a direct recruitment offer.
Sera was a Player.
After a certain incident, she had found herself reincarnated into the world of Dairos Academy, the game she had loved most. It was everything she had ever dreamed of back on Earth. Using every bit of knowledge she possessed as a Player, Sera had managed to enroll as second in her class, achieved astonishing growth, minimized casualties during the terrorist attack, and even helped the headmaster defeat the dragon. For that achievement, the headmaster had bestowed upon her the title of Dragon Hunter, granting her the chance to advance even further as a Player.
‘I couldn’t save Arthur, but… that was part of the original story anyway…’
However, she had failed to accomplish what countless Players in Dairos Academy had tried and failed to do: saving Arthur. She hadn’t even considered attempting it in the first place. The enemy attempting to kidnap Arthur was at the Expert level, and unlike the young dragon that had clear weaknesses, this opponent had none she could exploit. Even if she somehow matched the Expert-level specs and challenged it, the enemy would evolve into a near-Master level. It was simply an impossible difficulty. As a result, everyone who played the game had accepted Arthur’s death as an unchangeable part of the story.
But then—
“What? There are… no missing persons?”
“That’s correct. A few people died, but… there are no unidentified individuals. The casualty report has been thoroughly completed.”
“Th-that can’t be right.”
Sera stared at the investigator in disbelief. The investigator shook his head, seemingly understanding the situation. He probably thought she was a child refusing to accept that her family member was dead rather than missing. How tragic.
He opened the victim list once more and spoke.
“There are no missing persons. Whether dead or injured, everyone affected is on this list.”
“But… what do you…”
Thanks to the investigator’s kindness, Sera was able to examine the victim list from beginning to end. Shockingly, Arthur’s name was nowhere to be found.
Did that mean Arthur didn’t exist in this world at all? Had her arrival as a Player twisted the original fate?
True to her nature as a Player, Sera immediately sprang into action. And that was how she discovered that Arthur did, in fact, exist.
‘What the— Arthur is here?’
Amazingly, Arthur was real. Which meant Arthur had survived an encounter with a near-Master level enemy. How?
Finding out wasn’t particularly difficult. With her knowledge of the original story and the authority granted by her Dragon Hunter title, she could uncover most things. Sera immediately began a detailed investigation into the recent terrorist incident and was able to dig up the name Kyle Meyer.
In the original story, he had been a completely insignificant character—an NPC who was Yuri Grace’s fiancé but ultimately had her stolen away by a Player. Yet somehow, this Kyle Meyer had killed one of the terrorists and had been imprisoned during the subsequent investigation.
‘No way…’
She couldn’t find out exactly who Kyle had fought or which terrorist it had been, but Sera instinctively sensed that the opponent Kyle had faced was Damian—the one who had tried to kidnap Arthur. Once she assumed that, every piece of the puzzle clicked perfectly into place. Why Arthur hadn’t died. Why there had been fewer casualties than expected.
Of course, there was still one thing she couldn’t understand.
‘How the hell did this guy beat a Master?’
An Expert? Sure, that was believable. Experts were common enough even within the academy. But a Master?
There were only two Masters in the entire academy, and that number would not change unless a Player specifically raised an NPC to that level.
‘He was a total nobody in the original story, a character who didn’t even have a name… What on earth changed?’
She investigated thoroughly, wondering if perhaps another Earth Player had possessed him like she had. Digging into a noble’s background wasn’t easy, but fortunately she was second in the academy and in the Magic Department. She had both the justification and the skill to get close to Yuri, Kyle’s fiancée and the top student in Magic.
“Yuri! I have something to ask!”
“……What is it?”
“It’s about Kyle…”
Yuri clearly found talking about Kyle with Sera extremely uncomfortable, but Sera paid no attention and relentlessly pried for information. Since no one had ever dared to demand things so boldly from the cold-natured daughter of a ducal house, Yuri unconsciously ended up revealing everything she knew about Kyle.
After successfully gathering information on Kyle, Sera became convinced that he was not a Player like herself.
‘Hmm… He acted rudely to His Grace the Duke the first time they met, and at ten years old he spoke casually to a prince?’
If he had been a Player like her, such behavior would have been utterly unthinkable. Being rude to a duke and speaking informally to a prince? One wrong move and it would be off with his head. Noble or not, there would be no mercy. No Player would act so recklessly. At least, not if they were thinking rationally and logically.
‘Then… did the world bug out?’
For whatever reason, her possession of this world had caused some kind of change in Kyle, allowing him to become a Master. That scenario was entirely plausible. If so, Kyle was essentially a jewel lying on the ground waiting to be picked up. If he had become a Master because of her, then probably no one else knew about it…!
The chance to recruit a Master who currently belonged to no faction. There was no way a hardcore gamer like Sera would let such an opportunity slip by. She immediately went to find Kyle.
The moment she met him, Sera was certain of one thing above all else.
‘……He’s huge.’
The bug was definitely real.
Anyway—upon meeting Kyle, Sera immediately ran up to him and made her recruitment offer.
“You’re mine!”
“What?”
“Ah, that’s not quite right. Contract with me and become my—.”
“What kind of nonsense have you been spouting this whole time…”
He had run into his old childhood friend. Seeing her face did bring back memories, and old recollections did bubble up one after another. But that was as far as it went. He had already lived fifteen years in this world, and those far-from-peaceful fifteen years had been more than enough to weather away the memories and feelings from his time on Earth.
“Is that all you wanted to say?”
“No, that’s not it… Um— I need you! Kyle!”
“Oh, I see. Sorry, but I don’t treat women with smaller chests than mine as people.”
“Huh?”
As he said that and walked past her, Sera came running after him—tap tap tap tap—and began pointing at him with a look of utter disbelief. Her trembling finger aimed straight at him as she carefully opened her mouth.
“Y-you… you you you… it’s you?”
“Yeah. It’s me.”
“Stop messing around… Really? It’s really you?”
“Who are you supposed to be?”
“Kang—.”
“I’m Kyle Meyer.”
Watching Sera almost say his Earth name, he coldly cut her off. Sera looked up at him with eyes that were half-filled with tears.
“……It’s really not you, is it?”
Staring down at the teary-eyed girl, Kyle let out a small chuckle.
“Does it look like it’s not?”
“……Ah, aah—.”
Realizing she had been tricked, Sera began to seethe with resentment. Then, just like she had in his final moments back on Earth, she screamed and ran off.
“You stupid idiot— go dieeeee!”
Watching his childhood friend scream as she fled into the distance, Kyle let out another small laugh.
He had thought that was the end of it.
“Due to the recent terrorist attack, some classes have been changed. Starting today, Professor Taylor will be teaching your basic magic studies class. You may form pairs with whoever is called next. First, Max……”
“Hey, we meet again here.”
“Oh wow.”
It was the first period after the terrorist incident. In the newly created class, he ended up paired with Sera.