De Ruo is a rather mediocre person.
Although he considers himself to have decent emotional intelligence and could be described as kind, his interpersonal relationships are quite average.
No one has ever entered his heart, and in the lives of others, he is merely the most inconspicuous, passerby-like NPC.
His appearance is ordinary, his personality is ordinary, and his circumstances are ordinary.
Perhaps he once put in some effort, but it ultimately amounted to little. After repeated failures, he even formulated a theory of his own to explain it.
His natural talents are sorely lacking—not only does he have no aptitude for learning, but he also lacks the gift for “studying hard.”
Yes, it’s somewhat laughable; yes, he has always believed that effort itself is a kind of talent.
Why is it that the moment he starts studying, he finds it utterly dull? Strange thoughts flood his mind, or he simply zones out, making it impossible for him to stay focused.
Of course, ninety-nine percent of people find studying boring, but why can they grit their teeth and push through while De Ruo cannot?
The answer is that others possess more willpower than he does. So why do they have more willpower? Perhaps it’s due to innate conditions—or, more directly, a matter of genetics.
This is a foolish notion, one that others would likely scorn.
It’s probably just De Ruo accepting his own failures, crafting an excuse for his pitiful life.
Sometimes, he desperately wishes an internet meme could come true: whenever he’s struck hard by life and forced to confront his failures, he could flash a game icon on his phone.
That way, with his knack for humor and a laid-back attitude, he could jokingly brush off his self-loathing.
But sadly, De Ruo has never actually played that game, so he can’t claim to be “in on the joke.”
His life drifts by in a haze. He spends his days scrolling through his phone, unsure of what to do, unable to measure up to those on a proper path. Even when it comes to playing, he can’t outshine others.
He doesn’t enjoy socializing and disapproves of how people interact so superficially—laughing and joking together as if they’re old friends despite having just met, tossing out familiar phrases without hesitation.
It could be said that De Ruo is somewhat detached from society. He doesn’t fully understand it, but he assumes others are probably in the right.
This belief stems from experience, too—most of the choices he’s made in life have turned out to be wrong.
For instance, he shouldn’t have gone out that day. As a result, he was struck and killed by a car that ran a red light.
That damned car didn’t slow down at all, as if a mere fly had bumped against its window, and it sped off without a second thought.
Yet, after his body was reduced to a mangled mess, he opened his eyes once more.
Alright, De Ruo is now a black dragon.
Dying and being reborn as another being in a brand-new world—this was a trope he’d encountered in countless novels, but he never imagined it would actually happen to him.
Before he could even examine his new body, a sharp pain surged through his mind, followed by a flood of memories.
These were long, expansive memories—far exceeding the scope of De Ruo’s own life.
Tananoen was an ancient and immensely powerful black dragon, its nature fierce and brutal.
In the beginning, most of the world’s kingdoms didn’t yet exist. Various races lived in scattered villages and clans, their societies fragmented, their histories lost to time.
Tananoen was born in that era, so the majority of its early deeds went unrecorded. To later civilizations, it was as if it had “always been there.” Ancient records offered no trace of its origins, but by the time new societies emerged, it was already a looming threat.
Over the ages, it unleashed the full might of a pureblood black dragon upon the world, sowing disaster and suffering wherever it went.
From that point onward, history etched its bloodstained name into the annals: the infamous Black Dragon King, Tananoen.
That is, until the 12th century, when a human known as the Seven-Star Hero emerged. After days of fierce battle, the hero dealt Tananoen a grievous blow, severing one of its horns on the spot.
After that clash, the black dragon vanished. Rumors swirled: some claimed Tananoen had suffered irreversible wounds and perished; others whispered that it was unscathed, merely biding its time, killing in the shadows rather than flaunting its power, poised to return one day…
De Ruo, now bearing Tananoen’s memories, can confirm the truth: the dragon was indeed gravely injured. In that battle, the human hero had effectively crushed the beast.
He could even recall the emotions that gripped Tananoen at the time—profound shock, rage, and fear.
So, even a monster of slaughter could feel fear.
Before its decisive confrontation with the hero, the black dragon had always viewed humans as weak, foolish, and beneath contempt.
After all, the humans of this world were still primitive, dwelling in rudimentary tribal towns with mediocre magical talent. Among the myriad races, they stood out for their lack of distinction, barely clinging to survival.
That is, until that human hero—clad in gleaming silver armor, wielding a razor-sharp sword—brought it down.
But the hero made a fatal mistake.
He could have sealed Tananoen away for a long time without risking serious harm to himself, a standard method for handling such catastrophic monsters.
Instead, he chose to put his life on the line, attempting to kill Tananoen outright.
The result? Tananoen was defeated but spared, left alive and unsealed. The hero, meanwhile, sustained deep, irreparable damage.
Decades after the battle, Tananoen’s wounds gnawed at its soul. Once a being of godlike power, it grew weaker with each passing year.
Recently, the Black Dragon King finally succumbed—and De Ruo took possession of its body.
It’s a form diminished in strength but still formidable.
How to describe it? Imagine a maxed-out gaming account, loaded with accolades, stripped bare by an account washer—yet, thanks to its unalterable core stats, it retains significant power.
What kind of future awaits De Ruo? Through the memories of this apex predator, he knows all too well how chaotic and cruel this world is.
To many races, humans are nothing more than food.
Can De Ruo—a loser among ordinary people—survive in such a place?
Bewilderment washes over him.
In a jungle, a girl with a pair of broken horns atop her head gazes blankly at the treetops. The wings on her back flutter irregularly in the air, as if mirroring her master’s troubled thoughts.
The old De Ruo, bogged down by busyness and laziness, had a flabby, frail body that left him winded after the slightest exertion.
Now, everything feels entirely different.
Even in human form, he senses the lightness and boundless strength coursing through him, as if his energy knows no limits.
Gazing at a towering tree dozens of meters away, De Ruo instinctively knows he could reach it in an instant.
Looking up at the canopy, he’s certain he could leap from the ground to its highest branches in a single bound.
It’s a strange sensation—like how people can gauge how far they’ll jump in a standing long jump or how high they can reach, except for De Ruo, those distances are magnified many times over.
And his body isn’t his only asset. Dragons are a race renowned for their godlike physical prowess and magical aptitude.
Magic flows through him like an extension of his limbs, entirely at his command.
In his perception, every fiber of his being pulses with mana. Fused with his flesh, it grants him limitless strength and resilience.
With a constitution like this, it’s no wonder dragons are deemed unkillable. They’re less like creatures and more like sentient forces of nature.
Though Tananoen’s remains are a shadow of its former glory, they still wield enough power to devastate entire regions.
