The Illusionist Abducted by the Dragon

Aisha could never have imagined that after finishing a quest to slay some gnolls today, she would be singing songs and eating bread on her way back to the city, only to be suddenly snatched away by a giant dragon!

And not just any dragon, but the one with the worst reputation: a Red Dragon!

Cracked horns, deep crimson scales, wings burning with flames, and eyes like molten lava.

These features all pointed to one terrifying name—the Calamity of Wuwang, the Ancient Red Dragon, Drogo.

The fall of Talin City, the annihilation of the Lion King Knights, the disappearance of elven treasures, the burning of the Temple of the Goddess of Magic...

A series of horrifying disasters had forged this dragon's infamous name.

But why would an ancient dragon, instead of attacking the capital or kidnapping a princess, snatch her, a mere second-tier illusionist?

To eat her?

Impossible; if he wanted to eat her, she should be reaching his rectum by now.

Surely he couldn't be after her ability to cast minor illusions.

Could it be...

She suddenly looked at the giant dragon in terror, then turned to look at the small dragon, a preposterous thought spreading in her heart.

It wouldn't fit, no matter how I think about it, it just wouldn't fit.

She was carried further and further away, the salty scent of the sea carried on the wind; they had already reached the ocean.

A few hundred meters ahead lay a volcanic island, and the dragon spread his wings to slow down; that must be the Dragon's Lair.

I'm sorry, Mother, your daughter probably won't be coming back.

The dragon's claw pinched her and placed her onto a stone platform, followed immediately by a dragon's roar.

The powerful pressure made her heart thump violently, and she nearly fainted.

After the roar, a goblin with brownish-green skin crawled out of the cave, scrambling and rolling to the dragon's feet to communicate with Drogo.

Aisha knew these were the dragon's servants; evil and powerful creatures were never short of followers.

The goblin stood up and walked toward her with a lecherous gait.

It's over. This is even worse than my worst-case scenario. Dying under a dragon's claw would at least be quick, but who knows what fate awaits me in the hands of a goblin.

So, snatching me was just a reward for his servant.

In stories, shouldn't a hero appear at a time like this?

Someone, save me! I'm only nineteen; I don't want to die yet.

Maybe I should just bite my tongue and end it; at least I'd have some dignity.

Ah, it hurts, I can't bring myself to do it.

The goblin drew closer, even rubbing his hands together; the grime under his fingernails was physically repulsive.

Aisha closed her eyes, unable to face the cruel reality.

"Respected Miss."

Huh? What did she hear? She opened her eyes nervously; it wasn't an auditory hallucination—the goblin was actually speaking human language.

"My great master wishes to hire you as his Chief Toy Illusionist for a salary of fifteen silver coins per month. Do you choose to agree, or do you choose not to refuse?"

"Huh?"

Xu Linsen, also known as Drogo, former game designer, current Ancient Red Dragon.

His hobby is money, his faith is money, and his XP is also money.

This pure pursuit of wealth comes partly from a dragon's nature and partly because humans are the same.

If it weren't for earning a little more, who would be willing to be woken up by their phone on a weekend morning, grumbling as they replied "received"?

After transmigrating, driven by a craving for gold coins and possessing a body that was a "little bit" too good, he quickly entered the comfort zone of the dragon race.

Rob!

Of course, since he still had a human soul, he mostly sought wealth without taking lives, targeting nobles primarily.

Although his reputation was fearsome, leading to all sorts of exaggerated or fabricated crimes being pinned on him, he didn't care.

For many years, he had been in a state of "I don't eat beef."

Until he accidentally burned down a temple of the Goddess of Magic.

After that, an eighth-level warrior appeared at his lair and issued a challenge.

He admired the man's courage, so he decided to spare the warrior's life and send him away.

Then he watched as that warrior pulled an eleventh-ring spell scroll out of his bag.

He immediately realized who he had provoked and decided to run for it, though he still lost half his life escaping.

While recovering from his injuries, he reflected deeply; the risks of fighting and killing were just too high.

Although an ancient dragon was already a top-tier combatant in this world, it was difficult to protect himself if he truly provoked some deity.

But he had lost a lot of property, and not getting it back went against dragon ethics.

In his distress, he remembered his former boss, a man who lacked humanity; they had dabbled in games, film, and music—all sorts of entertainment industries. Their reputation was rotten to the core, but they were rolling in money.

This was much faster than robbing!

Before, he was either fighting or on his way to fight, and it wasn't until he slowed down that he realized the entertainment in this world was ridiculously barren.

It was like a mountain of gold sitting right in front of him, yet he never knew to dig.

It was time to let the natives of this other world taste the pacifying effects of consumerism.

He first tried a lower-cost approach, launching a series of novels.

Such as The Demon Lord's Runaway Lover, My Father-in-Law Is the Lionheart King, and Becoming a God Starting as a Tentacle Monster.

The final returns were not very good; although there was profit, most people weren't used to buying books just for fun, and they only circulated within noble circles.

Nobles, concerned about their reputation, couldn't display such books openly, leading to rampant piracy and an inability to sell the originals at a high price.

"Refreshing" novels were still a bit too advanced for this world.

After reflection, he decided to cultivate the blue ocean market, organically combining innovative products with the local ecosystem to complete industry iteration and empower his business.

In plain terms, he would find what already existed here and improve upon it, making it easier for the market to accept.

Thus, he chose the toy industry.

First, the penetration rate was high enough; as long as it wasn't an especially impoverished family, children would have at least two or three toys.

Second, the ceiling was high enough; young masters and misses often spent several gold coins just to buy a single handmade toy.

To investigate the market, the dignified ancient dragon arranged for his orc subordinates to buy toys everywhere, the more varieties, the better.

After studying them, he found that the toys in this world generally focused on appearance, with very little innovation in gameplay.

He planned to combine magical elements with toys from Earth to achieve a dimensionality-reduction strike on the fun factor of local toys.

But after tentatively drafting a few types of toys, he quickly faced a problem: what about the magic?

Dragon magic was all about "explosion is art."

The magic of goblins and orc shamans was in a subtle state of "I think it works," making it extremely unstable.

The magic of the undead was somewhat cursed; how big of a heart would a parent need to buy that for their child?

In the vast Dragon Island, there was no one who knew non-violent magic.

So, he "invited" Aisha.

Aisha was stunned. What was wrong with this world?

She was snatched by a dragon while walking down the road, and the reason was that he wanted her to be some kind of toy illusionist.

What happened to the greedy, evil, despicable, and arrogant villain?

Although she wasn't allowed to refuse and didn't know what this job entailed, to be honest, a salary of fifteen silver coins a month was truly tempting.

Her family of four spent no more than fifty silver coins a year.

She worked as an assistant in a laboratory and occasionally took on subjugation quests; if she was lucky, she earned ten silver coins a month.

No, Aisha, Aisha, what are you thinking? That's the Red Dragon Drogo! What if "toy illusionist" means an illusionist used as a toy by goblins?

She instantly recalled countless filthy stories that only bards told during late-night shows.

She made up her mind: even if she died, she would not agree to the evil dragon's request.

"Absolutely not!" Aisha's voice trembled as she said this.

The goblin turned back to ask for his master's opinion.

"Roar—"

"Twenty silver coins."

"I... my ideal is to pursue the truth of magic; I, I will not collude with an evil dragon."

"Roar—"

"Twenty-five silver coins."

"Serving the great Ancient Red Dragon is an important step toward the truth of magic!"

A moment later, a subordinate contract was placed in front of Aisha.

The terms were even better than she had imagined; she had originally expected a slave contract.

Violating the contract wouldn't result in a loss of life, only financial penalties.

This red dragon was much more like a human than the hypocritical beasts in many dark mage towers!

After signing the contract, she could communicate with Drogo through her consciousness, aided by the magic within the document.

She saw Drogo shrink suddenly to a height of two meters, likely using some treasure that could alter his physique.

He then pulled a treasure chest out of the cave and slapped it; the chest opened its giant mouth, revealing sharp teeth and a tongue.

Was he actually using a mimic as a storage chest?

Aisha looked on in shock.

Drogo reached out a claw to rummage around, pulled out a small trinket, and tossed it to Aisha.

She caught it and took a look; it wasn't a magic item, just two hemispheres joined back-to-back with a string tied in the middle, looking somewhat familiar.

"Your job is to make this toy trigger illusions," Drogo's voice sounded unexpectedly pleasant in her mind, "I call it a Yo-yo."