[Congratulations on becoming the first in this virtual world ranking!]
[Please open your supreme reward chest!]
—Darkness.
When Yami Tsukishiro opened his eyes, the first thing that greeted him was a dazzling treasure chest, radiating an almost divine glow.
A system hint followed immediately.
So the ranking really does come with something special, he thought, already guessing the truth.
Without bothering to speculate further—whether it was trap or blessing—Yami simply reached out and opened the chest.
Golden light burst forth, illuminating the void.
Floating above it was… a colorful stone, pulsing faintly.
"…What?"
There was no description. No guide. Just silence.
Yami narrowed his eyes, then stretched out his hand to take it.
The moment his fingers brushed the stone—
[Ding! You've been exposed to a memetic object. Do you wish to instantly assimilate it?]
"…Hah?"
He froze. This was new.
Still, he gave his answer. "…Yes."
[Ding! You have obtained the SS-class meme: Star Dragon King. Do you wish to fuse it?]
"...???"
Yami blinked. He was certain that stone itself wasn't originally a meme. It must have been rewritten into one by the dungeon itself.
Which meant there was no way of knowing what the stone really was in the first place.
No point in hesitating now. "…Fusion."
The instant he spoke the word, agony tore through his body.
"Hsshhh—!"
His blood felt like it was boiling, every vein scorching from within. Flesh and bone cracked, reformed, shattered, and rebuilt in a cycle of destruction and rebirth.
The sheer intensity forced him to grit his teeth, his consciousness flickering.
Time lost meaning in that sea of pain.
Finally—after what felt like an eternity—the torment ebbed away.
Yami gasped for breath, drenched in sweat.
When his vision cleared, he was no longer in that void but back on his bed. The sheets clung to him, soaked through.
Not blood, not anything grotesque—just the heavy, sticky sweat of a body pushed to its absolute limit. Like the feverish exhaustion of a night spent burning with illness.
He lifted his arm, relief and excitement mixing in his chest.
With a thought—golden dragon scales rippled across his skin. His hand twisted, reshaping into a gleaming dragon claw.
He could feel it, the vast and terrifying power coiling inside him. A power that could transform his entire body into that of a dragon.
The system panel appeared before him:
[Name]: Yami Tsukishiro
[Rank]: Sixth Level
[Title]: Shadow Monarch
[Race]: Human (?)
[Magic Stones]: 137,000
Yami clenched his new dragon claw, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
"…So this is what it means to carry the power of the Star Dragon King."
[Meme]
SS-Level: Star Dragon King (Lv. 1), Shadow Monarch (Lv. 6)
Yami scrolled further down, the specifics of the Star Dragon King's abilities unfolding before him.
[Meme]: Star Dragon King
[Rank]: SS-Level
[Abilities]:
"Star Dragon King's Aura" — A sovereign's pressure that subjugates lesser beings.
"True Vision Dragon Eyes" — Eyes that pierce through all illusions and deceit.
"Starry Dragon Power" — The authority to command the stars themselves.
"Star Dragon Body" — Transformation into a Star Dragon, a form beyond fixed shape.
The descriptions matched the instincts he'd felt coursing through him earlier. But what caught him off guard was the difference in essence.
This wasn't the typical "Western Dragon" archetype he had expected. The Star Dragon body wasn't bound to a single form—it could manifest as a colossal Western dragon, a divine Eastern dragon, or anything in between. A shifting, cosmic being molded by his will.
And most importantly… it drew power from the stars.
Yami glanced at the night sky outside his window. The constellations seemed to shimmer with joy, resonating with his very existence.
"Not bad," he muttered with a small smile.
The dragon claws dissolved, returning to human arms. For now, testing could wait. A hot shower was calling his name.
"Bzzzt!"
His phone buzzed on the counter just as he stepped into the bathroom. With a flick of his shadow, he pulled it inside.
A notification popped up—friend request accepted. Sender: Inoue Takina.
Almost instantly, he was dragged into a group chat.
The name made his eyebrow twitch.
「Yami Tsukishiro's Harem」
"…Really?"
Before he could comment, messages rolled in.
Takina: Chisato! What's with this group name? Change it.
Chisato Nishikigi: Eh, what's wrong? It's fun, isn't it? Oh, friendly reminder—I'm literally sitting right next to you, Takina. You could just talk to me directly, you know.
Takina: …
Yami typed lazily.
Yami: How's the situation on your end?
Chisato Nishikigi: Hi~! All good here. Smooth landing.
Mizuki Nakahara: Same for me. Though before we returned, we entered some weird pocket space and each opened a treasure chest.
Yami: Oh? I had one too. Your chests must be different, right?
Chisato Nishikigi: Mm. You guessed it. Mine was a gold chest—I got some kind of strange stone. No idea what it does. But it looks important. Everyone got one.
Takina: Mine was silver.
Mizuki Nakahara: Bronze.
Kurumi: Bronze here too. Looks like only the top three got something special.
Yami's fingers froze over the screen.
Yami: Wait. When you touched the stones… nothing happened?
Mizuki Nakahara: Right. The system said they can only be used in the next virtual world.
Yami leaned back, silent.
So he wasn't wrong—the stone itself wasn't the "meme." It was the dungeon system that had transformed his stone into the Star Dragon King. Without that freak interaction, he'd be in the same boat as the others.
But one phrase from Mizuki's reply stuck out more than anything else.
Yami: Virtual world… you mean there's another one?
Mizuki Nakahara: As much as I hate to say it—yes. That seems to be the case.
Yami smirked. "Heh. Interesting."
But Mizuki wasn't finished.
Mizuki Nakahara: By the way, Tsukishiro-kun, I contacted you mainly because of some intel from above. Something big. Listen carefully.
Mizuki Nakahara: We spent three days in that virtual world. But in reality… not even a second passed before we came back.
Mizuki Nakahara: And tonight, the moment we returned… worldwide accidents occurred. In total, over 8,000 people died yesterday. All at the same time. Down to the exact second.
Yami's eyes narrowed.
Eight thousand deaths, simultaneous, worldwide.
That was no coincidence.
"…So the game has already started bleeding into reality, huh?"
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