New Face (2)
Now do you believe me?
The humans, fulfilling their respective Oaths to my words, flinched. These people, hiding behind the barrier of the internet and spewing words merely for their own satisfaction. Now they trembled in terror.
Hmm... Was I too harsh? I pondered briefly.
But I did warn them clearly...
I had asked multiple times if they had the courage to behold my true form, if they wouldn't regret it. Despite that, these were the ones who insisted it was fine and even formed an Oath with me.
Even if they thought me a fake...
It was their responsibility for making an Oath without considering the possibility that I might be real. Clicking my tongue, I looked down at the humans.
A human hiccuping while grilling and eating meat. A human with a pale face playing an instrument called an ocarina. A human dancing some incomprehensible dance with a trembling body. A human half-fainting as they offered a bouquet of flowers. And...
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Hmm...
"Hiccup!" A human with a pallid face stabbed at me with a blade.
I activated my Heaven Dragon Eye to gaze upon that human. Ah, yes... it was this one.
Are you 'MerutangLove'?
"Hiccup!" They looked even more terrified. Why was that? Did they think they'd insulted me? If so, that was needless worry.
I'll forgive what you said yesterday. What does the barking of a lowly human matter to me? It only seems cute. Especially since I know it wasn't said with true hostility...
However, from now on, you must be more careful with your words.
"Y-yes, y-yesyesyesyes..." With simple advice, I raised my head again. Stretching my neck to survey the surroundings, countless humans encircled me, radiating wariness. The emotions emanating from them weren't hostility, but fear and despair.
Staying here longer would only cause harm. I acted too childishly.
A wry smile crossed my lips as I looked down at those bound by the Oath.
Now it's done. You've fulfilled your Oath.
Crash! Thud!
"Hah! Hah! Hah!"
"Eek! Eeek!"
"Urk! Blegh!"
Unable to withstand my presence, they flailed about. Even after reining it in as much as possible... was this the extent? Though their thoughtless words were the trigger, my own impulsive whims were equally to blame for this fiasco.
Shrrk! At my will, pure gold began extracting bit by bit from the Dragon Gold covering my body. Some went to the struggling humans, while the rest gathered beside me into a massive lump.
I addressed the strongest-looking human among those surrounding me.
Child. Are you their leader?
"?!"
The human startled at my words. But true to being the strongest among them, they cautiously stepped forward and replied.
"Y-yes."
This gold is my gift. If my memory serves, humans love gold. From my hazy ancient recollections—since I myself favored it—it's surely true.
Compensation for my childish impulse. Is this sufficient?
"Y-yes..."
Good. With the compensation settled, I turn away. Drawing power, I tear open space. My destination: my lair. Slowly rising, I step into the rift.
Rumble!!
The place I emerged was an underground realm where everything was forged of gold, with scorching magma flowing through—my lair, my domain. Modeled after that one. I immerse myself in the magma at its depths and exhale.
Whoosh! Sizzle!
The rock touched by the blue flames from my maw melts instantly into magma. Soaking in the pleasantly hot magma, a woman with six golden tails approaches from the corner and bows her head.
"Welcome back, Mistress."
Yes.
The peace washing over my skin—no, my scales—drew a smile from me.
A distant past I can scarcely recall now. Memories from long ago, when I reincarnated from human to a dragon's egg. Even my evolved dragon brain couldn't fend off the waves of oblivion. Yet those waves couldn't erase my nostalgia for my homeland.
Crossing countless dimensions, I finally reached it. But my homeland was no longer as my faded memories recalled, and I was no longer human.
After whiling away time in some meaningless gate for a spell (a few years by a dragon's sense of time is indeed brief), a thought struck me.
Even if I've lost my human identity, couldn't I still communicate?
But how? I'd tried communicating with humans from other dimensions before. They all reacted to my true dragon form with fear, greed, or mere awe. Occasionally, there were humans who treated me, a dragon, casually... but I doubted all humans in my home dimension would be like that.
Still, I can't rely solely on an avatar...
An avatar mimicking human form might allow communication... but I wasn't aiming for just one or two humans. I sought to connect with all humans—this entire humanity.
Hmm... Is there no way...?
Two years of pondering passed. Precisely two years, three months, and fifteen days. While browsing news on the computer I'd set up to grasp the human world, 'it' caught my eye.
Internet broadcast?
The idea flashed in my mind instantly. This was it!
Dragon Gold flows from my forepaw drawn out of the magma. Like slime or quicksilver, it cascades under my control, taking form—soon becoming a human shape.
Silver hair shimmering with golden flecks. Golden horns sprouting from the head. A tail clad in golden scales. Smooth skin. Gazing at my avatar, a perfect embodiment of my essence, I raise my forepaw again.
This time, ordinary metals. Mithril, gold, orichalcum, and such(?) commonplace ones. I draw them out thin, weave them into fibers, then combine those into garments draped over my naked avatar.
I inspect the clothing on my avatar. Having lost my human aesthetic sense long ago, I wonder if this suits human tastes. Especially since the design hails from attire I wore in a previous dimension, my concerns grow.
No complaints about the outfit in the last broadcast, so it should be fine... Someone would point it out if it looked bad.
Closing my eyes, I sink into the magma. Simultaneously, I shift my senses to the avatar.
"...Ah."
A drastically narrowed field of vision. Sharply heightened surrounding sensations. But in trade, a marked weakening of physical strength and power... I test the avatar's body with movements, then slowly walk.
A sweltering space brimming with magma that no ordinary human could endure. In one corner stood a black metallic box. I approach slowly, touch its wall, and exert my dominance.
Rumble!
The adamantium wall shifts at my will, engulfs my avatar's body, and transports it inside.
Within the adamantium box: broadcasting equipment galore. Human gear I'd procured directly from the human world by paying with my gold...
Vrrr...!
I activate the devices adeptly, as pre-taught. Lights for the broadcast on, transmission computer booted... and the cooling magic tool crafted by Jae Ye activated. Methodically, the setup completes... and finally, just like my first broadcast two days ago, the stream goes live.
"..."
Hmm... Now what?
Operating the equipment follows learned steps. But using the broadcast to commune with humanity? That's not something from a manual. This, I must pioneer myself.
So what should I...
"??"
Huh? Over three thousand humans watching my stream right now? Yesterday, it barely hit fifty...
"Hmm..."
Though incomparable to my true body, the Heaven Dragon Eye of the avatar conveyed myriad emotions from the humans' comments. Amazement from some, fear from others, awe from yet more... All familiar to me.
I recalled how other humans started their internet broadcasts. Though varied by personality... they all began with greetings. So I decided to do the same.
"Pleased to meet you, children. I am the Heaven-Slaying Dragon, Grand Ragnar."
Was this the 'vibe of today's kids'? Watching the comments flood in rapidly, the thought crossed my mind.