I woke up on my desk. I checked my watch and it was 4:00 in the afternoon. Classes were over. Shortly after, my friend from the other classroom, Marco, visited me. With his bag strapped on his body, waiting for me to leave my seat.
"Czar, You're finally awake, sleepyhead! Have you been reading novels all night? You didn't even realize that the last period is over." He said as he sat down on the chair beside me.
"Pretty much," I replied.
"So, the novel you are reading, is it interesting?" He said.
"Yeah, it is interesting," I replied as I put my belongings in my bag. I stood up from my chair and I tapped Marco on his shoulders. "Let's go to the Library." Marco stood up as well.
"Jeez, at this point, you should go to one of the novels you are reading and live in there as a character or something.." He jokingly said. I just chuckled at him.
We left the classroom and eventually left the school.
As we are walking to the library, I told him about the novel I was reading. He seems interested at least, but I'm sure that he's not gonna pay attention later on, and he will ask me about it later. Like a child that memorizes words on a book, then forgets it a second later.
"So, can you tell me about the novel you are reading? If you say that it's interesting, then I might as well read it," He asked.
"Marco, I've known you for many years. We both know that you're not going to read the novels I gave you after 3 chapters" I replied as I sneered on him
"No. This time, I'm going to read the entire book and I'll even write a short reflection paper about it!" He grinned confidently.
I sighed
"Alright. I'm expecting that paper within next week, okay? I'd be proud if you actually did it"
I started sharing the synopsis of the novel. I took a deep breath and started telling him the story.
"So, this novel is called 'The Prince is a Dragonslayer'. It is about a world that was invaded by Dragons. Humanity is on the brink of extinction, and all of the kingdoms in this world have been ruined, except one. It was the kingdom of Sundria. The King, desperate to protect his kingdom, gave his son, the prince, a holy sword that was made to slay the dragons. And he was tasked to defeat the dragon lord. After many adversaries, he managed to kill the dragon lord, and vanquished the dragons. He was called a hero in his world, and he soon became the next king."
I finished the summary and he looked at me, disappointed. He sighed.
"That's it? It's another one of those fantasy stories where the world is being 'invaded by the enemy then the hero saves the day' trope. How did you find this interesting at all?" He complained.
"It may look boring on the surface, but when you read this novel, the world-building is amazing! The prince travels to different places in their continent to slay dragons, while learning about the history of their world - like how the dragons and humans waged war on another." I happily said.
But judging at his face, he's still not convinced. I then assured him.
"Look, the synopsis may sound boring, but once you read the first chapters of this novel, you will be instantly hooked. I also reacted like that at first, but as I've read through it, I realized that this story is unlike any other tropes you have described. I said, trying to convince him.
"Okay, I'll trust your word since it came from you." He replied.
As we chatted along the road, we eventually reached our destination, the Library. As we were about to enter the Library, Marco's phone rang. He answered the phone and spoke to the caller. A few seconds later, he hung up.
"Sorry Czar, my mom called me. She said that I needed to do some shopping." He said
"Oh, alright. Take care then. I'll bring you the book tomorrow at school" I replied.
We fist-bumped as a farewell sign and waved our hands. He then walked across the street, while I entered the building.
I immediately headed to the second floor, where the solo study desks are located and went to my favorite spot. In the area, no one was there except me. I put my bag in the table, sat down, and immediately grabbed my book out of the bag.
As I grabbed my book, I noticed something strange on its cover.
"H-Huh? The letters on the title.... are glowing?"
The letters are shimmering in light. It was strange. I also felt a presence on the book. It felt like a strange aura was leaking outside of it. I shivered.
I shook my head off.
"I must be imagining things. I'll just read this book." I said to myself.
But as I flipped the book, the light flashed in my eyes - blinding me momentarily. I opened my eyes, and the space around me became distorted. The room warped and the air twisted around me.
My body felt weightless, like I was falling through this empty space. As if someone - or something is pulling me down. My stomach dropped, and my thoughts scattered — as if I didn't know what to do. All I could hear was my pounding heartbeat, and this ringing voice in my head.
"WHAT? WHAT IS GOING ON??" I shouted in a panicking voice, while shaking myself. But my screams were going farther, and farther.
After a few seconds, everything went dark.
After some time had passed, I woke up. I'm still lagged out by the weird 'space distortion' earlier. I stood up, and checked my surroundings.
"This place.... is not the library," I thought
It seems like I was on a forest. Stumbling on my feet, I wandered through the thick forest. Then I saw the light at the end. I quickly ran to that direction and I jumped out. All I saw was a view from the mountains, overlooking the sea and the shore. It was beautiful — but the uncertainty was still lingering within me.
"Where the hell am I?" I asked myself. "What happened to me?"
As the strong breeze of wind passed through my skin, I looked at my hands, and touched my face. It was too real to be a dream.
Then there is one possibility that comes to my mind. It seems ridiculous to believe this, but I asked myself.
"Could this be.... an another world? But what kind of world is this?"
Just as anything could happen at this point, many winged creatures appeared in the horizon — approaching to my area. There are so many of them that there are too many to count. One of them roared so loud that It reached me from afar.
'Ow!" As the loud roars harmed me. I quickly covered my ears in pain.
That sound was all too familiar with me after watching so many fantasy films when I was a kid. It was a dragon. And the dragon's appearance was also familiar to me, Since they looked exactly the ones that are described in the novel.
"Tattered wings, vicious eyes, covered in hardened scales with sharp silver claws, and they are ginormous." I observed.
My eyes widened. The fear struck within me. This chilling sensation crawls through my spine. My chest tightened, I immediately froze — as if my body refused to do anything. I took a step back shortly after, and I stumbled down on my feet. The realization quickly hit me.
"There is no way I'm believing this, but did I get transported inside the novel?"