Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: The Dragon Loves Hamburgers
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The day a meteor shower rained down from the sky.
A brilliant streak of red fire painted across the canvas embroidered with twinkling stars.
"...Oh."
This breathtaking spectacle, lasting but a fleeting moment, was sure to become one of the top memories of my thirty years.
I sat at a table in front of the convenience store, munching on a hamburger and blankly gazing up at the meteor shower.
"Excuse me. Wanna see the sky?"
"Huh?"
"A meteor shower's happening. Wouldn't want to miss it."
"Sorry, but I have a boyfriend."
"...Ah, yeah. Suit yourself."
It was too beautiful a sight to enjoy alone, so I'd called over the part-timer to share it. But he mistook it for flirting and left me to watch by myself.
Truly, my only friend who accepts me is this hamburger.
The insane cost-performance of a 30% size-up burger for just 3,800 won was always top-tier.
Of course, that distinct factory smell was unavoidable, but hey, it tasted good enough to overlook it.
"...Huh."
Then, one massive rock broke away from the meteor shower.
It traced a menacing trajectory, drawing ever closer to the city where I stood.
I tried to run, but the meteor hurtling straight for me had already sealed my fate.
As a whirlwind of emotions surged through me,
I took a bite of the hamburger in my hand, true to the saying that even ghosts who die after eating leave a good-looking corpse.
The taste of that cheap convenience store burger... left a powerful aftertaste in my short life.
BOOM——————!!
That day, Seoul's Mapo-gu was erased from the map of Korea.
The day a historic disaster was recorded.
And... the day anomalies first invaded Earth.
Monsters lurking in everyday life, bizarre phenomena, anomalies.
Unknown entities beyond human comprehension poured in through the meteors, then began spawning naturally alongside inexplicable events everywhere.
"I want a hamburger..."
When I came to, I'd beaten the odds with a godawful respawn rate and been reborn as an anomaly.
A pint-sized body like a kid's, sharp horns that could pare an apple peel, a plump tail, size-shifting variable wings, and finally, pastel pink hair with crimson eyes.
A dragon... but way too cute for one, more like a little girl.
Having taken a direct hit from a meteor during the shower and died, I'd shockingly been granted a second life in a new form.
For the record, I had no idea why I knew all this so precisely.
It was just instinctually imprinted knowledge.
"Popopopopopopopopo———."
Maybe someone heard me muttering to myself amid the ruins. A squelching footsteps approached.
"Popopopopopo———popopopopopo—."
"Oh, a person? Ugh, what the hell is wrong with her..."
A woman in a pure white dress, towering at least eight feet tall, lifted her head to look at me.
Her skin was peeling, her eye sockets deeply sunken.
"Popopopo———!!!"
With no visible eyes, she whipped her face around 180 degrees, shedding bloody tears as she menaced me.
"What. Got a problem with me?"
I fiddled boredly with my horn and shot her a sidelong glance.
"Po...?"
Despite her grotesque appearance, she didn't scare me.
Ever since opening my eyes as a dragon, fear had become a blurry emotion.
"Popopo!!!!!"
Soon enough, she sensed something about me, flailed her arms wildly, and tried to flee. Annoyed, I picked up a nearby pebble and chucked it at her head.
Splat———psshhh——!!!
Her head exploded miserably from the sonic-boom pebble's direct hit.
The headless giant body thudded to the ground.
"Not even sharing a burger and you come bother me..."
Blood splattered on my small face; I wiped it roughly with my tiny hand and let out a deep sigh.
"...I want a hamburger."
Stressed out, my thoughts inevitably circled back to burgers.
Thick buns with deliciously grilled beef patties, topped with lettuce, onions, pickles, and all sorts of sauces...
"Mmgh...!"
Hunger made my tail thrash wildly, pounding the ground.
"Burger! I wanna eat a burger...!"
Three days into my rebirth as an anomaly, I'd instinctively realized the only food I could eat was hamburgers.
I'd racked my brain, but even I didn't know why.
All I could guess was that shoving one in my mouth right before dying had something to do with it...
In those three days scouring Mapo-gu's ruins, all I'd found was useless lizard feed.
Tried it—tasted like crap, wouldn't digest, so I spat it out.
"Why is this body so damn picky!!"
Kyaao—!
I snarled at the empty air, spewing flames.
A massive blaze visible from Namsan Tower shot up to the atmosphere before vanishing.
"...Time to get out."
Standing in the heart of what was now a barren wasteland that used to be Mapo-gu, I steeled my resolve.
"Gonna leave this godforsaken Mapo-gu... sniff some city smells... human smells... burger smells."
For three days after reviving as an anomaly, I'd hidden to avoid harming people, but now I couldn't ignore the hunger.
Just hide quietly and live off burgers—no one would complain, right?
I'm not like other anomalies making humans their staple diet.
"Let's go!"
No matter how I thought about it, nothing seemed wrong, so I spread my wings and soared into the sky.
"Ugh...!"
Still not used to flying, I nearly crashed, but somehow escaped Mapo-gu and reached a massive commercial district.
"..."
Yongsan-gu, mecca of all electronics in Korea.
I still couldn't forget that shopkeeper who jacked up prices on my childhood game CDs.
Making me buy Diablo for 90,000 won when it was 60,000 at the local shop... If I ever see him again, revenge.
"How much you looking to spend?"
Mimicking the owner's cocky tone, I scanned for a safe landing spot.
Even now, I hoped no one spotted me flying.
Didn't want to be the star of a headline like [Yongsan-gu: Mysterious Dragon Appears!]
If I got caught... it'd be lizard dissection showtime.
"...I'll just eat burgers quietly and live low-key."
Apologizing in advance to soldiers and cops, I landed in a deserted alley.
"Phew..."
Arriving where people lived as an anomaly ratcheted up my tension; my plump tail and back wings flapped wildly on their own.
"Calm down, calm... Just eat burgers quietly and stay hidden... right?"
Imagining myself hiding away, chowing down on burgers nonstop, a harsh reality hit me.
"But how do I even buy a burger?"
...I'm an anomaly.
All I had were five small pebbles for playing with and this cute, precious dragon-girl body.
Grrrooowl——!
My stomach roared loud enough to echo through the alley, pupils contracting vertically.
...
...
...
"Should I head out to the street...?"
I waited in the alley for someone to ask for help, but it was too quiet—no one came.
Hunger made my wings and tail whip around uncontrollably, stirring up wind.
I'd struggled from ruined Mapo-gu to Yongsan-gu, only to not get a burger? This had to be God's ploy to test me.
"Burger...! Waaah! I want a burger!!"
If I'd been a humanoid anomaly, I could've cosplayed as human and scarfed one down. But with my obvious "I'm an anomaly~!" looks, buying one was impossible from the start.
"Burrrrgggeeeerrr!!!"
Not a residential area, so I didn't care about noise pollution and screeched at the sky.
"Grrr!! Woof woof!! Yap yap!"
Reptilian, but barking like a dog in rage—then,
"Yap yap! Whine!! Grr!!"
"...!!!"
A woman entering the alley spotted me yapping madly at the air.
"...Grr... Huh?"
"......Eek?!"
Our eyes met, emotions clashing; she paled at the blood-smeared dragon.
"A-An anomaly!! Run!!"
"...W-Wait!"
I blocked her panicked escape in an instant, spreading my arms wide.
"Don't go! Tsking!!"
Rushed out too fast, got something stuck in my throat, coughed repeatedly—tiny flames puffed from my mouth, looking threatening by mistake.
...Why a throat catch now?
"Bu... Gah!! Bur-Ger! Hetswing!"
Too hungry, please just one burger... is what I meant, but all I did was menacingly spit fire.
...Hello. I'm Lizamon.
"Tsking!!!"
The woman held back tears, held her breath. As I coughed hard, she charged like a tackle.
"Hngh!"
She'd thrown every ounce of strength to knock me down, but bounced off like hitting a truck, tumbling across the ground.
"P-Please spare me!"
She begged forgiveness in shrieks and fled the alley with gusto.
"......"
In the silent alley, left alone with her abandoned luxury bag, I awkwardly fiddled with my tail.
Just wanted to beg humbly for one burger as charity, but the throat catch ruined it... so embarrassing.
I'd expected rough treatment as an anomaly, but actually getting it hurt.
"I'm not a bad dragon..."
No way she'd come back, so I picked up the bag, rummaged through it with a bewildered look.
Cosmetics scattered everywhere, lemon throat candies, crumpled receipts too old to tell, and con...doms?
Why are these here...
"...Ugh."
No intent to steal, just checking for contact info from the fleeing owner—then,
"......"
I found a crumpled 5,000-won bill stuffed in the corner.
Spotting that rare paper money these days, burger price tags flashed through my mind.
"Convenience store's 4,000 won... Franchises single patties are 4,000 too..."
With burgers under 5,000 won everywhere in Korea, that bill meant I could buy one outright, no charity needed...
"...Hello. This is your friendly neighborhood mugger dragon."
By the time I snapped out of it, the 5,000 won was in my hand.
Not like I stole 50,000; just 5,000, so I'd pay it back someday.
...Gotta return the bag too, obviously.
Anyway, I turned toward the faint burger aroma wafting from somewhere, narrowing my crimson pupils to slits.