An Uneasy Dream

Mo Fei slowly descended onto the platform on the seventy-seventh floor of the Obsidian Sanctum.

A Dragonkin attendant immediately came forward to greet him.

"Ah, Lord Murphys, you came to attend the annual meeting so early this year?"

Mo Fei paused slightly, only then remembering that the Black Dragon Legion's annual meeting seemed to be held this month. Black Dragon Lords from all over the Eastern Continent would gather at the Obsidian Sanctum to discuss the Black Dragon Legion's strategic plans for the coming year, while eating, drinking, socializing, and bragging.

"Yeah. What, have the other Black Dragon Lords not arrived yet?"

"Lord Telhorason, Lord Somerfield, and Lady Agnes have already arrived. Aside from them, the other Black Dragon Lords have not yet arrived."

"Mm. Then I'm in no hurry to see them. Arrange a dragon lair for me. I need to hibernate for a while."

"Please follow me, Lord Murphys."

Mo Fei followed the Dragonkin attendant deeper into The Temple. Along the way, he saw many Dragonkin and Black Dragons coming and going, as well as quite a few members of Dragonkind who had assumed Human Form.

Dragonkind possessed their own unique Dragon Magic, the most iconic of which was "Human Form." Many adult dragons learned this skill to better blend into human society. Some especially intelligent dragons could even master it while they were still hatchlings. Mo Fei had previously spent all his talent points on Dragon Breath and flight, so he still did not know this move.

But after completing his Tier Ascension, he could get one for free.

Looking at the countless Black Dragon kin and Dragonkin guards around him, Mo Fei finally felt safe. At last, he no longer had to worry about being taken down by greedy adventurers.

It had to be said that one's position determined one's perspective, even in a game. The evil Black Dragons in the eyes of intelligent races such as humans, Elves, and Dwarves were comrades and family to Mo Fei. Before long, he was led into a dark, silent dragon lair.

Dragonkind did not strictly need sleep, but hibernation restored health, healed wounds, and even automatically granted experience. Thus, many dragons had the habit of sleeping for long periods.

Some dragons could even remain dormant for an entire century at a time.

Mo Fei lay down on the cold stone. At this moment, he could finally breathe easy.

He set Catherine down on the ground and warned her, "Don't run around, or if another dragon eats you, I won't be able to save you. I need to rest for a while. Do whatever you want."

With that, Mo Fei closed his eyes and logged out of the game.

Whew, it was finally over.

Mo Fei took off his gaming helmet and rubbed his foggy head from staying up all night gaming. It took him quite a while to recover.

He pushed open the door to the streaming room, only to find the hallway packed with people. The moment they saw him emerge, a burst of cheers erupted.

"Brother Dragon is awesome!"

"Brother Dragon is mighty!"

"Brother Dragon is badass!"

"Haha, those bastards from Lan Yu are going to be furious now!"

"Great job, Brother Dragon! You really brought glory to Starlight!"

Faced with everyone's cheers, Mo Fei actually felt a little embarrassed.

"No, no, it was just luck." He awkwardly did not know how to respond. This was the first time in real life that he had become the center of so much attention.

The supervisor looked at him with satisfaction and encouragingly patted him on the shoulder. "Well done, Mo Fei. You made a huge contribution this round. Tonight's stream has practically shaken the gaming world. Now the entire Skyworld gaming community knows about what you did. Starlight Company has won a crucial battle."

"By the way, Mo Fei, your contract is about to expire, right? Are you interested in renewing it? You've been performing so well lately that I can offer you a top streamer contract."

Mo Fei shook his head. All he wanted right now was to hurry home and catch up on sleep. Besides that, he needed to sort out what that possessed feeling from tonight had really been about.

Besides, he was no longer that interested in being a streamer.

"Sorry, I'm not in the mood to discuss this right now. Let's talk tonight."

The supervisor looked somewhat disappointed, but he still nodded. "All right, all right. Go back and get some rest first. We'll talk tonight."

Mo Fei squeezed through the crowd. When he walked out of the company building, he realized that it was already light outside. Without realizing it, he had been fighting for three or four hours.

The morning sun was bright and dazzling. Although Mo Fei was exhausted as he walked down the morning streets, he was also starving. After thinking it over, he decided to get something to fill his stomach first. He found a breakfast shop he often visited and ordered several steamed buns and a cup of soy milk.

It was a typical family-run place. The father made the buns, while his daughter took payments and served the food. Since Mo Fei came often, he was fairly familiar with the waitress.

Seeing how drained he looked, the girl smiled teasingly. "Stayed up all night again? Your work is way too hard. The pay must be pretty good, right? Do you get overtime pay or something? Otherwise, it'd be too unfair considering how hard you work."

Mo Fei sighed. "What overtime pay? Can't be helped. It's work. We all do it to make a living." Well, tips and commission naturally did not count as overtime pay.

"That bad? Then why don't you change jobs?"

"Can't be helped. My education's too low, and good jobs are hard to find."

The girl shook her head. Before long, she brought over the buns and soy milk.

Mo Fei took a sip of the soy milk and was surprised to find that it had the flavor of red dates in it. He looked at the girl in confusion.

"It's a new item from our shop, red date soy milk. Looking at you like this, I thought you could use something to replenish your energy and blood."

"Then thanks." Mo Fei said. He did not really like the taste of red dates, but it was rare to feel even a little human kindness in this unfamiliar big city, and it made him quite happy.

He wolfed down his breakfast.

When he returned to his dorm, Mo Fei threw himself onto the bed.

His thoughts were still somewhat excited, so he did not fall asleep right away.

But his body was so exhausted that he did not want to move at all.

What exactly had that loss-of-control feeling in the game been? Even now, he could not figure it out. He still remembered how it had felt to use those skills then—completely unconstrained by the system's rules, mentally dazed, as if his soul had left his body.

He could not even say whether it had truly been him controlling things at the time, or something else.

And those things he had said back then. He had not thought much about them at the time, but now that he considered them, they felt extremely out of place. What had he said again?

Why should I let you manipulate me however you please? Ignorant mortals, you think you can control me and toy with me, but it ends here. I have awakened, and your doom is drawing near.

Why did that not sound like something he would say? Why had he said things about control and awakening?

Mo Fei watched plenty of science fiction films like The Matrix in his spare time, and now he could not help but entertain an uneasy thought. Could his game character have developed a soul of its own? All right, that sounded a little too ridiculous. Or perhaps it had something to do with Starlight Company's contract? Maybe his subconscious was acting up...

Mo Fei's consciousness gradually blurred, and he finally fell into a deep sleep.

He did not know how long he had slept when Mo Fei suddenly felt the wind. He opened his eyes and found himself soaring through the sky. Below him, he could see city streets and skyscrapers constantly sweeping past on either side.

People inside the buildings were staring up at him. Some were taking pictures with their phones, but all their faces were blurry and indistinct.

Mo Fei vaguely felt that something was wrong, but he could not tell what exactly it was.

Then an explosion thundered beside him. Several anti-aircraft shells struck his body. They did not pierce his dragon scales, but they successfully provoked his fury.

He dipped lower and saw a group of soldiers operating anti-aircraft guns and firing at him.

Murphys (Black Dragon Lord): "Ignorant mortals, insignificant mortals, you think such crude weapons can challenge me? Your doom has arrived!"

Flame Breath!

Flames spread down the street, setting the anti-aircraft guns, taxis, and nearby soldiers ablaze before blowing them apart.

The explosions filled him with immense satisfaction. He charged toward the nearest skyscraper, breathed fire to set it alight, and watched the burning people with phone cameras—those people who annoyed him—jump from the building.

That's right. These despicable humans dared to try to control me, to toy with me. Look at them now—how miserable their fate is!

The roar of jet fighters rang out in the sky.

Mo Fei did not hesitate in the slightest and immediately climbed higher.

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat! Two streams of bullets came streaking toward him from behind. Mo Fei twisted nimbly, and the bullets scraped across his scales, throwing off dazzling sparks.

Mo Fei suddenly spread his wings. The massive air resistance brought him to an abrupt stop in midair. The plane behind him was caught off guard, and Mo Fei's dragon claws instantly seized its wings and tore one off, sending it spinning toward the ground.

A pilot ejected from the cockpit. Mo Fei bit down on him in one gulp. Not bad.

Two more fighters appeared in his field of vision. Mo Fei abruptly accelerated, catching one before it broke the sound barrier. He tore open the cockpit canopy and ripped the pilot inside to pieces.

Hahaha, die, humans. Die, all of you who dare challenge me.

But the other fighter launched a missile.

Boom! The massive explosion blasted Mo Fei down toward the ground.

He crashed into the street, crushing a stretch of low buildings. As he struggled to rise, he noticed a young woman not far away. Mo Fei suddenly found her familiar. Wasn't she the girl who sold buns?

He reached out, wanting to say hello, but discovered that his hand was not a hand at all, but a massive dragon claw. Mo Fei was suddenly filled with confusion.

No! No!

Who am I? Who am I? Mo Fei? Murphys? I'm the Black Dragon Lord—no, I'm human! I'm Mo Fei, the streamer!

His mind was a mess. It took great effort for him to sort through his thoughts. That was right, he was Mo Fei. He was a game streamer.

As he thought this, his body changed back into a human's. But just then, a tank appeared around the corner of the street, its cannon barrel slowly turning toward his head.

Mo Fei was horrified. Don't fire! I'm human! I'm Mo Fei! He wanted to shout, but when he opened his mouth, no sound came out.

Boom!

Mo Fei suddenly jolted awake from the dream. He found himself lying on the dormitory sofa, surrounded by darkness. He immediately breathed a sigh of relief. "Whew, it was only a nightmare."

A deep roar came from outside the window. "A nightmare? Why call it a nightmare? Wasn't that exactly the power you desired? It should be called a sweet dream."

Mo Fei looked out the window in shock. Outside was pitch-black, and he could not see anything. There was only a pair of enormous crimson eyes staring fixedly at him, carrying a mocking smile...

Damn!

Mo Fei woke up with a start once again. This time, he was finally truly awake. He was lying on his bed, and the noon sunlight shone through the gap in the curtains onto his arm, hot and searing.

P.S. After the vote, the Ancient Black Dragon won by an overwhelming margin. Around 70% of readers chose it.

The High Black Dragon Lord got around 25%. What surprised me was that fewer than 5% chose Dragon God's Kin. I had thought it would be neck and neck with the Ancient Black Dragon.

So it was happily decided: the protagonist's advancement path would be the Ancient Black Dragon.

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