Chapter 1:
A Walking Egg
PART 1
I WOKE UP IN THE DARK, feeling dazed and hot like my head was on fire. I couldn’t think straight. I felt trapped and lonely. Despite those awful feelings, an inexplicable sense of relief washed over me.
Then something split with a crack. A single beam of light entered my stuffy, pitch-black world. I peered through to take a look outside.
Seeing through the narrow hole was difficult, but I could faintly make out sunlight filtering through tree branches.
So…I guess I’m in a forest or something?
I tried to stand up, but another cracking sound came from beneath my feet. At first I thought I’d stepped on something. Then I realized I’d actually stepped through something.
I tried to look down at my feet to check, but for some reason my neck was stuck. I couldn’t budge it at all.
What the heck happened to me?
As soon as I wondered that, a display that reminded me of a video game screen popped into my head.
Species: Dragon Egg
Status: Normal
Lv: 1/5
HP: 5/5
MP: 1/1
Attack: 1
Defense: 3
Magic: 1
Agility: 10
Rank: F
Special Skills:
Eggshell: Lv —
Divine Voice: Lv 1
Resistance Skills:
Physical Resistance: Lv 1
Normal Skills:
Roll: Lv 1
View Status: Lv 1
Title Skills:
Dragon King’s Son: Lv —
Walking Egg: Lv —
Um…isn’t this just like that thing that always pops up in RPGs?
Next, a line of text appeared inside my head.
Status Screen has been opened.
Huh? A status screen? What’s going on? What does this mean?
Status Screen displays the numerical value of ***’s abilities in a simplified text box.
Wait, did you just answer me?
Special Skill “Divine Voice” Lv 1 is an ability which explains status attributes and items. It can also provide information regarding changes in status.
What? I really have no idea what’s going on. Hang on—is this a game or something?
Special Skill “Divine Voice” Lv 1 is unable to provide that explanation.
Huh? You keep saying “Lv 1.” Does that mean you can provide the explanation if I level up this “Divine Voice” thing or whatever? Also, who’s speaking to me right now?
Special Skill “Divine Voice” Lv 1 is unable to provide that explanation.
Who are you? And more importantly, where am I?
Special Skill “Divine Voice” Lv 1 is unable to provide that explanation.
This conversation was beginning to feel pointless, like trying to play catch with yourself by throwing a baseball against the wall. The voice kept evading the important questions with canned phrases. I doubted that I was talking to an actual person—it seemed more like a machine. I decided to give up on getting answers from the weird voice inside my head and instead look for someone I could actually understand.
I peered through the crack again.
It’s so hard to see, though. Can’t I do something about this? Not being able to see my feet is especially dangerous—Whoa, I lost my footing! Ouch! I definitely fell from something tall just now!
Apparently I’d been nestled up in a tree. I somehow survived the fall, even though it felt like I fell from pretty high up.
Gained Resistance Skill “Fall Resistance” Lv 1.
Resistance skill… Does that mean surviving the fall powered me up? Oh! My HP decreased from 5 to 3 on the Status Screen! If it gets to zero, do I die? Oh no! This is a dream, right? This has to be a dream!
Gained Special Skill “Klutz” Lv 1.
Now that’s just rude! What’s your problem, Divine Voice? What gives you the right to spy on me and make fun of me in the first place, huh?! Why even bother to call it a special skill when it’s literally just an insult?
Special Skill “Divine Voice” Lv 1 is unable to provide that explanation.
You irritating little… You’re doing this on purpose just to aggravate me, aren’t you? Whatever. I’ll just get stressed out if I let this stupid voice get to me.
I wanted to check out the tree I just fell out of, but I couldn’t look that far up. The crack was too small for me to see much through it and, more importantly, I still couldn’t move my neck.
What the heck is wrong with it, anyway? Oh, hey! There’s a pool of water over there. I’ll go look at my reflection to see what’s up.
I somehow managed to waddle over to the water and look down.
Instead of my reflection, I saw a big egg. It had two small holes for the eyes and two more for the stubby feet. The shell was covered in hairline cracks. By any standards, this was just an incredibly peculiar egg.
Huh? What is that? I was expecting my reflection, not some monster in the water waiting to attack me! Scared the shell outta me… Is this a joke or something? Wait…it’s still there. And when I shift to look, it moves. Is that…me? That’s really me? I’m an egg?! No way! What the heck is going on here?! Answer me, Divine Voice!
Dragon Egg: F Rank Monster. A baby dragon that is sentient even in its unhatched state. Since it is not yet fully developed, it will die if the egg breaks.
This has gotta be some kinda weird yolk…I mean joke. I can’t believe that’s me. This is about as bad as letting a little fetus walk around and think on its own!
It is alert but powerless. Its brain is underdeveloped, and its only ability is rolling.
Hey! Whose brain is underdeveloped? I’m thinking all kinds of things right now, in case you weren’t aware!!
Although quite dangerous when grown, the developing embryo is prized as a delicacy due to its rarity and delicious flavor.
Now you’re calling me delicious? You’re the absolute worst, Divine Voice!
Therefore, it is common practice among adventurers to kill it on sight and take the egg. This is not advised, however, because the parent dragon may be nearby and can follow the egg’s scent.
No! What?! You’re kidding, right? Kill it on sight? I’m an egg, not a cockroach!! And what do you mean, adventurers and dragons? What is going on?!
PART 2
TWO WILD DAYS PASSED, as I ran away from progressively weirder and weirder monsters: hungry black crocodiles and gigantic mean bugs. All I knew for certain was that I woke up in some kind of crazy forest, and I was an egg.
This forest couldn’t be in Japan. I was definitely in some other country. I wasn’t sure which one, but there had to be plenty of places out there filled with hungry black crocodiles and gigantic mean bugs, not to mention klutzy walking eggs and scary four-armed bears.
Okay, so I didn’t really know that much about the world outside Japan. I should’ve studied more. I had no idea things were so terrible overseas. It made me want to cry.
During all this, I gained two more skills: Hunger Resistance and Poison Resistance. I unlocked both of them when I got so hungry I ate a random mushroom I found. I got a terrible stomachache. And I mean terrible. I was totally at death’s door.
It hurt so bad that my whole life flashed before my eyes. Well, all two days of it so far. Afterward, though, getting new skills made the pain worth it. I decided to try practicing my skills, starting with Roll. All I had to do was focus, and then I just instinctively began to move. Before long I was rolling all over the woods. Zoom!
Rolling was so fun that I kept it up. Before I knew it, Roll hit Lv 2. Then I rolled off a cliff and Fall Resistance was Lv 2, too! Nice! The impact of the fall widened the crack in my shell, so I could even see better!
The trade-off was that I almost died.
Hey, Divine Voice? I’m really tired… I just wanna go home, take a shower, and eat a bag of chips. How do I do that?