After taking a daylong nap to recover from his injuries, Khrx sat in front of the letter, frowning at the image printed on the paper. “Looks like a demon of some sort. Height, about four feet. But it has tiger ears? A tiger-like tail too? It only has fur on its head. What the hell is this thing? Is this really what a surface dweller looks like? I lost to a furless, scaleless, gill-less, wingless, fangless, clawless creature? Wait, no. It has two tiny fangs.”

Khrx grabbed his head with both paws and groaned. “Ugh. Alright, fine. That helmet won’t fit on me unless I turn into something like that.” He glanced at the metal contraption on the ground before sighing. “Even if Luke is tricking me somehow, I can always fix the appearance in a century.”

Khrx closed his eyes as his bones cracked. His scales popped and contorted, compressing against each other while retreating into his skin. His body shrank to the size of a child as white ears sprouted out of the top of his head. His tail turned white with black stripes running through it, fur emerging from his skin. When the transformation was complete, Khrx opened his eyes, revealing a pair of golden irises. He touched the top of his head, picking at his white hair. “So weird. I feel like a pile of snow. Creatures without scales are so soft. Won’t I die if I trip and fall?” His tail brushed against the ground. “And this tail is way, way too thin.” He closed his eyes, and his tail puffed outwards like a fox’s. He nodded to himself as he ran his fingers through the silky fur. “Much better.”

Khrx stumbled as he approached the metal helmet but steadied himself after taking a few steps. “Some wings would be nice,” he grumbled to himself before sitting below the letter. He grabbed the helmet, stared at it for a second, and sighed as he put it on. Darkness engulfed his vision as slabs of metal slid into place, completely sealing his head. Right when he was about to rip it off, a white light flickered, and he found himself standing in an empty room. “…What the hell is this? Some kind of teleportation magic?”

Khrx lowered his gaze and raised his arms. Then he turned around and extended his hands. “I can’t feel the cavern wall,” he muttered and furrowed his brow. He grabbed his neck, then touched his face. “The helmet’s gone too?”

Someone coughed, causing Khrx to raise his head. A string of strange sounds permeated the room, causing Khrx to frown. “This language sounds a bit like a birdsong. Damnit. Couldn’t Luke have included some kind of transcribing tool?”

A ringing noise caused Khrx to jump. A floating translucent rectangle appeared in front of him with a series of hieroglyphs he couldn’t recognize. Below the rectangle, there was a green button and a red button. “Red,” Khrx said, pressing the red one. The rectangle disappeared. “Everyone knows red is superior.”

A second later, there was another ringing noise, and the same rectangle appeared. Khrx pressed the red button again. Then again. And again. And again.

“Dammit! Fine,” Khrx muttered after the seventeenth time he pressed the red button. He pressed the green one and snorted as the buttons disappeared, the translucent rectangle remaining in place. “See? Red was superior. The green one doesn’t even get rid of the box.”

“What the hell are you saying, you dumb newt?” a voice asked from the box. “Did you reject my calls because you liked the color red!?”

“Calls?” Khrx asked. “Oh. This is some kind of communication magic.”

“It’s not magic. Whatever,” the voice said. “I told you we could talk in person after you put on the helmet, right?”

“Where’s Fufu!?” Khrx roared at the box. His voice was higher pitched than he intended, most likely due to his childlike form. “You bastard! Give me back my Fufu!”

“Oi, oi,” the voice said. “I’m blackmailing you, remember? You have to do things for me to get her back.” There was a pause, followed by a squeaking sound. “If you don’t…” There was another squeaking sound.

“Fufu!” Khrx shouted, lunging at the translucent rectangle. He passed through it and crashed into the ground face first. “How dare you touch her!? Let go of her!” A series of squeaking sounds rang out in response, causing Khrx to claw at the rectangle. “Gah! When I get my hands on you, Luke…”

“The only way to get her back is to listen to my demands,” Luke said and chuckled. “Unless you want to go outside again? I saw the news. There’s even a video of you getting your ass kicked. Want to see it?”

Khrx spat on the ground. “What do you want?”

“There’s a game coming out in a few days,” Luke said. “I want you to play it with me.”

“You kidnapped Fufu because you wanted me to play a game?” Khrx asked, his mouth falling open. He stomped his feet and roared at the rectangle. “You couldn’t have just asked nicely!?”

“You would’ve said no,” Luke said. “And I really need your help.”

“Fine,” Khrx said. “Just give me back Fufu right now.”

“I can’t do that until my goal is achieved,” Luke said. “I know how lazy you are. And I need you to be at your best while playing. Fufu will remain in my hands as motivation for you.”

Khrx ground his teeth together. “You’re a bastard, you know that?” His brow furrowed as he frowned. “But I don’t get it. Is the game that hard? You know how good I am at things even when I don’t put in any effort.”

“You’re good,” Luke said. “But our enemies are superior in numbers.”

“You mean,” Khrx said, crossing his arms, “your enemies. They’re not my enemies.”

“They blew off your tail and skinned it,” Luke said. “Are you sure they aren’t our enemies?”

Khrx wet his lips with his tongue. “Okay. Our enemies. What kind of game is it?”

“It’s a roleplaying game,” Luke said. “Hold on. I’m going to send you something. Press the green button this time.”

A ringing noise filled the room as another translucent rectangle appeared below the first one. There were two buttons, and Khrx pressed the green one. The rectangle expanded vertically, forming a door. A human wearing a suit walked through, stepping in front of Khrx. The first thing the human did was snicker. Then he placed his hand on Khrx’s head before bursting out into laughter. “The mighty dragon emperor,” the man said, still snickering, “has, has become—”

Khrx frowned as the man fell over onto his side, clutching his stomach while rolling around. “The hell is this?” Khrx asked, stepping on the man’s chest.

The man giggled before clearing his throat. “Ahem. Khrx. It’s me, Luke.”

“Bastard!” Khrx said, lunging forward and clasping his hands around Luke’s neck. “Where’s Fufu!?”

Luke laughed and easily pried Khrx off his body.

“W-what?” Khrx asked, his eyes wide. “How…, how are you so strong!?”

“Me? Strong?” Luke asked, raising an eyebrow as he stood up, still holding onto Khrx’s arms. He lifted the struggling dragon-turned-beastkin into the air. “You’re a child right now. I’m an adult. The AI adjusts strength according to physique. In this world, you’re weaker than me.” Luke released Khrx, the dragon-turned-beastkin falling onto his tail.

“You tricked me!”

“Yes.”

“Gah! You despicable bastard. I’ll eat you! How do I leave this world?”

“There’s a menu you can access to logout,” Luke said with a smile. Then he shrugged. “Well, you’d know if you could read Rokean.” He sat down in front of Khrx and narrowed his eyes. “Anyway, I’ll get straight to the point.”

Khrx fell silent and sat cross-legged, copying Luke. “Speak.”

“The world has gone under a serious change,” Luke said. “You and I, we’re like fossils. The surface dwellers rule the lands now; their total population exceeds ten billion. They aren’t all united, splitting off into packs and forming over three hundred countries, each with the ability to kill you and me without batting an eye. In fact, the surface dwellers could render the whole world uninhabitable. They have these things called nuclear bombs that are hundreds to thousands of times stronger than the missiles that hit you.”

Khrx shivered, his tail stiffening.

Luke sighed. “The scariest part is that anyone can use them. They don’t have to be a hero. They don’t have to be a magician or a priest. A newborn baby can press a red button, and you and I would die without being able to do anything.”

Khrx swallowed but didn’t say anything.

Luke continued, “And that’s why, I want you to play the game with me.”

Khrx stared at Luke.

Luke stared back.

“…Is there something wrong with your head?” Khrx asked. “How does playing a game even vaguely connect to what you were just saying?”

“What? Weren’t you listening?” Luke asked. “Are you sure you’re not the one with an addled mind? I said that the surface dwellers could render the whole world uninhabitable with their nuclear bombs. They don’t want to do that, but they can’t fight any wars or resolve conflicts with force. So all the countries signed an agreement. They’re going to create a game in a virtual world called [Resolution]. All conflicts will be resolved in there instead.”

“And you want to play that game,” Khrx said. “I get it now. So when do I get Fufu back?”

“When we create our own country,” Luke said. “That’s my goal. We’re going to be the best at [Resolution] and found a country for people like us—monsters.”

“And you’re allowed to do that?” Khrx asked, tilting his head.

“Don’t worry about the details,” Luke said. “Thinking and managing doesn’t suit you very well. Let me handle the complicated stuff; you’re just a hired goon.”

“I really don’t want to help you anymore,” Khrx said, narrowing his eyes.

“Oh no, poor Fufu,” Luke said with a cough. “All alone in the dark. I wonder how she’ll feel if she finds out you abandoned her.”

A growl escaped from Khrx’s throat as his eye twitched. He muttered, “Bastard…”

“Excellent,” Luke said and reached into his suit. He pulled out a book which he placed in front of Khrx. “Here’s a Nacient to Rokean language dictionary that I personally wrote. You have one week to become fluent in Rokean. That’s when the game goes online.” He flipped the dictionary open. “You can press on the words to hear their pronunciations.”

Khrx thumbed through the dictionary and sighed. There were a lot of pages. “This is always the worst part about waking up—learning new languages sucks.”

“I only included important terms you need to know to play the game and maintain casual conversations with people,” Luke said. “It’s also why I had you assume the form of a child. People won’t expect too much from you.”

Khrx snorted. “That’s a lie. You just wanted to bully me.”

“Yeah, you caught me,” Luke said while standing up. “I’ll see you in a week, probably. I have lots of preparations to make. Now that I got you onboard, I can get that lich emperor to agree. Then there’s that fallen angel and spider matriarch.” He clicked his tongue. “I didn’t think the surface dwellers would finish creating [Resolution] that quickly.”

A glowing door appeared in front of Luke, and he stepped through, leaving Khrx behind with the dictionary in his lap. As soon as the door disappeared, the voice from earlier started droning on in Rokean. Khrx sighed and flipped to the first page of the book. “Shut up, voice. I’ll figure out what you want in a few days.”

***

Awakening Cycle 1,072,362: Day 2.

Dear Diary,

I need a new best friend, not one that resorts to blackmail. Today, I’m learning a new language called Rokean. Thankfully, its syntax is quite easy to grasp. I still miss Fufu. I hope she’s not scared.

Love,

Khrx