The next thing I knew, I was standing in the middle of a forest. "What the—?" I spun around, and as usual, my bad foot failed me just when I needed it most. I landed on my butt with a thump. I felt a familiar surge of exasperation. Not only was one leg an inch and half shorter than the other, but the foot turned inward at the ankle. That messed with the muscles and tendons, making the entire leg weaker than the other. I'd been used to it all my life, but it still sucked. Sitting in a weird forest was just as useful as standing. I craned my head up to look at the sun-dappled trees overhead, then around. No roads. No park. Just more… forest stuff. Trees and bushes with a smattering of grass. Where was I? How did I get here? Two warring theories flashed behind my eyes. The first was basically me being transported here in a column of glitter ala Star Trek. The second, more realistic, theory said that the too friendly guy had bopped me over the head and dumped me in the woods somewhere. And I had survived. Somehow. I looked down at myself. I wasn't injured. No bruises, and not so much as a wrinkle to my clothing. Star Trek theory: 1 Creepy serial killer theory: 0. Except Star Trek wasn't real, and I was really in a forest. There was a bush within arm's distance. I reached out and touched a branch, feeling the leaf in between my fingers. Real. Not plastic. "No, seriously, where am I?" I grabbed for my phone which had fallen beside me. The cracks had spread and the screen was black. The last fall seemed to have been one too many. I felt my first trickle of fear. How was I supposed to call for help, or figure out where the hell I was without GPS? I remembered the message I had mistaken as an invitation for a beta from the Monster Duel devs. A strange feeling took hold in my chest. I was a disabled gamer who made her spare cash off of mobile games. Hello, of course I’d read my share of Light and Webnovels. Isekai’s were my jam. I had accepted an invitation and found myself here. It seemed more reasonable than Star Trek transportation. Some experimentation was in order. I cleared my throat. “System?” A message popped up before my wide eyes: Welcome to your new world, where adventure favors the bold! Travelers from other realms have changed the course of our history before — for good and ill. Now the world has become stagnant and a new voice is needed. How will you place your stamp? That was.. wow. I felt like I should be afraid. A normal person should be afraid. Maybe overwhelmed. Shocked. Wishing to go home? I felt none of that. “This is awesome!” I struggled to my feet again, grinning like an idiot. No more group homes where I hoped the newest in the constant roommate carousel wasn’t too emotionally maladjusted. No more fighting monster duels on the mobile app of the week until someone invented a bot crafty enough to game the system, or the devs locked all advancements behind paywalls. No more worrying about which college I had to attend, but couldn't afford. What if this world had magic. What if I could fix my foot? “Does this world have magic?” I squeaked. The message remained the same. Okay. Well, the plus side was I wasn’t dealing with a snarky god or system admin gone haywire. I cleared my throat. “Information Sheet.” Nothing. “Profile.” Nada. “Status?” Suddenly a new screen flashed in front of my eyes. I read through it greedily. Name: Harmony St. Claire Race: Human (Traveler) Age: 17 Level: 1 Occupation: None Craft: None Dragons: 0/5 “Uh, what?” It felt like I was saying that a lot recently. But seriously, what kind of a profile sheet was this? I’d been hoping for something D&D style. Some nifty and illuminating stats, at least. Actually, my constitution and strength would be shit. My intelligence would be up there, placing probably me somewhere in a mage class… Kind of predictable. Then again… should I really be complaining about magic? “Except I have no mana, or empty spell slots…” I picked at my bottom lip. “What the heck is with that dragon slot?” As if on cue, I heard a rustle from one of the nearby bushes, followed by a cracking sound. Abruptly, the profile disappeared to be replaced by a new message. New Quest: Stranger in a Strange Land (ongoing quest) You just arrived but there is no rest for the wicked (should you decide to be). Defeat the egg-sucking dragon and begin your adventure! Reward: 1 Opal Crystal

“How can a crystal be made of opal?” I was no geologist but that sounded funky. Also, egg-sucking dragon? I've said it a lot, but: Um, what? A second ominous crack came from the bushes. I hesitated, unconsciously rising to my toes as my body debated whether to fight or flee. I couldn’t face down an angry skater boy in a park without calling for help. How was I supposed to face down a dragon? No. The Harmony who’d been on Earth had the option of running away. Or better yet, plunking down in a safe spot and dialing emergency services from her cell phone. Either I was going nuts or I had been magically transported to a new world. Either way, whatever was in that bushes couldn’t be worse than what I had waiting for me back home. The place where I had to sleep with one eye open in case a crazy roommate decided to set my hair on fire because of the voices in their heads told them so. Where my biggest ambitions was to scrape up enough money through gaming to afford my own studio apartment before my group home kicked me out when I turned eighteen. Where my future was bleak and the possibility of it getting better was slim to none. I would quite literally rather face down a dragon. In fact, I was going to do it now. Cell phone in hand, I strode forward to the ominous rustling bushes. I peered through a gap in the leaves. At first I thought I was looking at a snake. The biggest snake I’d ever seen. Covered in jewel like red scales, it was long and... snakey. It's body easily stretched six feet from its pointed snout to the tip of its tail. It was the tail that was rustling the bushes — eagerly flicking back and forth as it used its long fangs to pierce the shells of a clutch of huge eggs. And if you’re thinking: Harmony, I used to watch the Discovery Channel before it turned into a modern day freak expo. That is not how snakes eat. You would be correct. Because this was not a snake. The tiny flappy wings halfway down the long body was the first clue. The second was the ridge of short, dark spines down its back. The third was when it turned its pointy head, unhinged its creepy long jaw, and spit fire at me. I screeched and jumped back. Unfortunately, my bum leg failed me again and I landed… on my bum. Thankfully, the bush took the damage. Liquid fiery spit smoldered the green leaves, but the foliage didn’t catch on fire. It probably had some sort of natural fire resistance, which was good because it grew in the same forest as actual dragons. If this was a hallucination, it was a wild one. The egg-sucking dragon, satisfied it had scared me off, turned back to the clutch. I heard another crack as it bit into a second shell. Furiously, I thought ‘Quest Menu’ and my quest popped up. I read through it again. Yup. Defeat the egg-sucking dragon. “This is so unfair!” I whined at the system. “How am I supposed to defeat a dragon longer than I am? Aren’t I supposed to get a cool OP cheat power or something? A magic sword? A ring that makes me invisible but also slowly evil? Hello?” Nothing. All I had was my cell phone which didn’t work, my wallet which had a debit card and a two dollar bill, and my trusty bottle of pepper spray— Wait. In a flash, I was on my feet and unclipping it from my jeans. I turned the little nozzle and made a test spray because it was like a million years old and I’d never used it before. After a dripping spurt, it misted like a champ. Pepper spray wasn’t lethal — especially this Wal-Mart batch, but it was better then nothing. I was brought here for a reason. That meant I had the tools and know-how to succeed. Surely transporting someone across a universe or reality was expensive, magic-wise. I refused to believe I had been set up for failure during my very first challenge. Either that or my mind had totally broken and I was about to pepper spray someone’s weiner dog. Crack! Another egg gone. There weren't that many eggs in the clutch. I had to act now. Bravely using the still smoldering brush as a shield, I grabbed one of the branches and shook it, letting out my fiercest shout. “ARRRRR!” The egg-sucker dragon had been looming over the last uncracked egg in the clutch like an evil villain. Hearing my shout, it whipped towards me and spat another goblet of liquid fire. I ducked, throwing up my hands, and felt a tiny sting as a droplet hit my palm. “Ow!” I rubbed it against the leg of my jeans. It had left a red mark. The bush I'd been hiding behind was looking worse for wear, but I was able to break off a non-burning branch. Then I stepped forward to swat at the dragon’s snout. “Go away! Bad dragon! Shoo!” The dragon hissed—a rattle sound that sent a shiver up my spine. It bit at the branch and got a mouth full of leaves for its trouble. Its throat flexed and I could see it working up another glob of fire. I swatted it again and saw the first ominous glow at the back of its throat. Bringing up my right hand with the pepper spray, I depressed the nozzle. A misty reddish stream struck the egg-sucker dragon straight on in the face. The thing sneezed and then coughed out its fire. Fun fact: Pepper spray is flammable. And so is the outside of an egg-sucker dragon. The end… was pretty grizzly. I don’t know if the egg-sucker was trying the stop, drop, and roll method or if it was just panicking, but all it managed was to light the grass underneath it on fire. Thankfully, the blaze didn’t catch the trees or nearby brushes — the natural fire retardant, probably. But, after a few gruesome minutes, the egg-sucker was done for. Ding! Part one of Quest: Stranger in a Strange Land complete! You have defeated egg-sucking dragon and have saved (1) egg. Due to the method of quest completion, your reward has been upgraded! Reward: Opal Crystal (Fire) It was a beautiful rainbow crystal a little longer than my pointer finger. When I turned it to the light, the face shimmered in a dozen watery hues from aqua to lilac. When I turned it the other way, the colors shifted into a cascade of warmer colors, from pink, to amber and deep rose red.

“Wow. I bet you’d be worth a pretty penny in a shady pawn shop.” Weird how the mind worked. Thinking of pawn shops made me think of the Monster Duel auction house. That reminded me of my last duel where I won the lady Golem. And that reminded me of monster eggs… I glanced down at the clutch of eggs I’d just horribly killed a dragon to save. … Oh my god, I killed a living creature. Shouldn’t I feel bad about it? I felt like I should. Except it had spit fire at me, and it was eating helpless eggs… Okay, I didn’t feel bad, but I still turned so I didn’t have to see the body as I bent to examine the eggs. The egg-sucking dragon had lived up to its name. Four of the five eggs had two puncture marks like a vampire had gone to town on the shell. Three of those were cracked wide open showing hollow shells. One, which the egg sucker just started eating was still full of… um, well, it might have once been yoke? Or maybe a fetus? Now, only brownish liquid goo leaked out. My very unscientific guess was that the egg-sucking dragon pumped venom through those long needle teeth to liquify whatever was growing inside before it sucked it out again for dinner. So gross. I wished the dragon hadn’t died so painfully, but I was glad it was dead. The last egg was completely untouched. As I said before, it was big. Think: Jar of peanut butter. The CostCo size, not the fancy health organic tiny jars. … I could go for a peanut butter sandwich. Anyway, it was a soft cream color with green spots all over. It reminded me of a real life Yoshi egg. “Should I call you Yoshi, or is that culturally appropriative?” I asked and then realized I was thinking of actually keeping the thing. And why not? Its mother or father wasn’t around to protect it from the egg-sucking dragon. I was it’s hero. On the other hand, I had no idea what was in this egg, where I was, how I was going to feed myself, or even if this world was real. Maybe I shouldn't burden myself with a pet. On the other-other hand, the mysterious message had talked about dragon taming. This world had dragon-ish egg-suckers, and this looked suspiciously like a dragon egg. On a hunch, I pulled out my brand new quest reward opal crystal and pressed it gently to the shell. Ding! Would you like to use this bonding crystal on Fennec Dragon egg? Yes/No I grinned. “Yes, please!”