"Rumble—!!"
As Dragonia trembled, the 100× manifestation of the Divine Domain Forbidden Zone finally projected into reality.
This time, no one panicked.
They erupted.
"Holy—it's real!! An A-rank resource, 100× manifestation!!"
"You might not believe this, but the peach tree in my grandpa's yard looks bigger now…"
"What does a 100× manifestation have to do with your peach tree?"
"Either way, a whole Forbidden Forest appearing at 100×… Dragonia's forest coverage is about to explode. What does that do to the ecology?"
"Honestly… the air feels fresher. Might be placebo."
In truth, there was no need for the public to worry too much about ecological shock.
At Dragonia's top level—
after hearing Ning Xiaocheng's report, the Elder Long nodded repeatedly.
"Good. As expected of Divine Domain resources… they're directly filling what we lost."
When the Divine Domain opened, under Will of Blue Star, global resources were stripped and redistributed.
Dragonia had lost a lot overnight.
Forest resources were among the first to take a hit.
But now, with this manifestation—
that missing coverage surged back in a single wave.
And unlike some of the older, slightly polluted resources—
these newly manifested forests were cleaner, higher-quality, and more alive.
More forest meant more habitat.
More habitat meant healthier ecological cycling.
Better water retention, more stable food chains, even microclimate improvements—
and industries tied to forestry benefited indirectly.
And of course, beyond resources—
there were points.
And A-rank chests.
Foreign leadership circles went green with envy.
They understood perfectly what a forest like that meant for national strength.
But what could they do?
You can't beat them.
You can't argue them down.
So they swallowed the bitterness—
and focused on what everyone truly wanted to know.
What would Dragonia pull from the chest?
Back in the Divine Domain — the first A-rank chest
In front of Adrian Vale, a transparent crystal chest appeared.
Its surface flowed with streaks of light—beautiful and unreal.
One look and you could tell:
priceless.
The livestream turned feral.
"It's here!! Loot box arc!!"
"An A-rank chest?! Is this the first A-rank chest in the Divine Domain?!"
"Forget A-rank—other countries probably haven't never even seen B-rank!"
"Dragonia's stream really is a different genre…"
"Stop talking—open it already!"
"Please tell me he finally gets attribute points…"
"Attribute points? Nah. He'll never pull those."
"I don't care what it is—just PLEASE don't be another item again…"
Raven Shaw glanced at Adrian, amused.
Then she smiled like she was up to no good.
"Little guy… call me big sister and I'll open it for you."
Adrian didn't bite.
Not her bait, anyway.
He'd already realized something—
with black hair, black eyes, and that "Black Reaper" aura…
his old outfit felt wrong.
What he should be wearing was a black suit.
But where was he supposed to find a suit inside the Divine Domain?
Cosmic irony.
Still, he didn't dwell.
He placed his palm on the crystal chest.
Click.
A crisp sound—
and the flowing light exploded into blinding radiance.
The stream immediately started cursing.
"WHO TURNED ON THE FLASHBANG?! EXECUTE HIM FOR FIVE MINUTES!"
"Every chest opening is a free eye-laser to my retina!"
"Amateurs—your boy put on sunglasses beforehand."
"Okay smartass—what do you think he's pulling?"
"I don't know, but I do know he's not getting attribute points."
"Please don't be a tool again, I'm begging."
The light finally dimmed.
"Humm… humm… humm…"
The glow condensed into a humanoid silhouette.
No attribute prompt.
People could already guess it was an item again.
Adrian, however, looked genuinely interested.
The light peeled away.
Black fabric.
Long lines.
A sleek, elegant cut—
"…A suit?"
Then Will of Blue Star spoke.
[Congratulations! Dragonia contestant Adrian Vale has opened an A-rank chest!]
[A-rank item: Elegant Reaper!]
[Description: Reapers are the synonym of bloodshed… yet even a Reaper can be elegant.]
[Traits:]
Resistant to cold, heat, and filth; extremely flexible; auto-repairs when damaged; adapts to wearer's size.
When worn together with Reaper's Clear Mirror, greatly boosts the wearer's overall attributes.
The person-shaped light vanished completely—
revealing a full black formal set.
Only the tie carried a faint gray-white accent.
Even without putting it on, you could tell it was higher grade than Adrian's old "Black Reaper" outfit—more refined, more lethal.
Then a second object floated up.
Small.
Delicate.
A pair of glasses.
Will of Blue Star continued.
[A-rank item: Reaper's Clear Mirror]
[Description: A Reaper is never corroded by slaughter. Even in the abyss, a Reaper's mind remains like a mirror.]
[Traits:]
Calibrates vision to peak precision; darkness and chaos cannot block the wearer's sight. Keeps the wearer in a constant calm state—mind always clear.
When worn with Elegant Reaper, greatly boosts the wearer's overall attributes.
In the studio, the guests nearly shouted.
Sienna Blake: "My god… an A-rank item?! That's the first A-rank tool we've seen, right?!"
Captain Ryan Cole: "And it's a set. Flexible enough not to hinder combat… and those glasses—constant calm? That trait is insane."
Dr. Elias Hart: "In a place like the Divine Domain, a mind-state stabilizer alone is practically a divine artifact."
They weren't exaggerating.
For Adrian, that "calm mind" trait was exactly what he needed.
It directly countered the mental turbulence of Semi-Complete Kakuja.
Perfect.
Adrian didn't hesitate.
He touched the suit.
It dissolved into light and wrapped around him—merging smoothly with what he wore before.
When the glow faded—
Adrian looked completely different.
A suit didn't just change clothing.
It changed gravity.
He looked taller.
Cleaner.
Sharper.
The teenage edge vanished, replaced by mature restraint.
Then he picked up the glasses and put them on.
Behind the lenses, his dark eyes looked deeper—like a shadow behind a veil.
The System pinged immediately.
[Detected host's outfit matches Ken Kaneki. Acting Sync +3%.]
[Current Acting Sync: 53%.]
Adrian's lips curved.
Black hair.
Black eyes.
Black suit.
He looked like he belonged to the dark.
Click.
He adjusted the glasses with one finger.
A cold, faint smile.
In that moment—
Elegant Reaper stopped being a name.
It became a definition.
The livestream detonated.
"BRO WHAT IS THIS DRIP?!"
"THIS is the Black Reaper!!"
"Wearing a suit in the Divine Domain… looks like he's on vacation."
"Vacation? Who vacations in a suit?"
"Stop talking—he's just insanely handsome!"
Raven stared too, then smirked, eyes shining.
"Little guy… you're getting prettier and prettier."
Adrian glanced at her.
Before he could answer—
Will of Blue Star rang out for every contestant:
[Leaderboard settlement in under 6 hours. Countdown begins!]
[5:59]
[5:58]
[5:57]
A countdown banner appeared in the stream UI.
The world erupted again.
"It's settling already?!"
"Three days passed like three years…"
"What happens next…?"
"With 360k points, Dragonia's chest has to be at least S-rank, right?"
"SSS+ maybe?!"
"SSS+ is the top—no way it's that easy."
"Either way, the reward will be insane."
Adrian and Raven looked strangely calm.
Almost indifferent.
Like none of it mattered.
The scent… stronger than Raven
Then Adrian's nose twitched.
"…That is…"
A scent.
Not blood.
Not centipede.
Something special.
And worse—
it was more tempting than Raven's.
Close, too.
Adrian moved before thinking.
Raven frowned.
"Little guy?"
He didn't answer.
He just walked toward it.
Closer.
Closer.
Then—
Ding.
A strange chime echoed in the darkness.
"Humm… humm… humm—"
A sudden white glow burst out—
lighting the entire cave like daylight.
The livestream froze.
"Hidden boss?!"
The light faded.
And the object revealed itself.
An oval, egg-like sphere, about the size of an ostrich egg.
Smooth shell, no patterns—
yet it radiated light like a lighthouse.
The chat guessed wildly.
"An egg?? What is this doing here?!"
"I thought it was a hidden boss…"
"Is it… a centipede egg?"
Adrian's interest sharpened.
The glasses reflected the light, hiding his expression.
Raven stepped closer too, studying it.
Her fingers rested under her chin.
"This thing… don't tell me it's—"
Will of Blue Star cut her off.
[Congratulations! Dragonia contestants Adrian Vale and Raven Shaw have encountered a Divine Domain organism. Analyzing…]
[Name: Dragon Egg (about to hatch)]
[Rank: ??? (appears to surpass SSS)]
[Traits: Cannot be identified. Rating unknown. Name unknown. Appears to be a mutated Divine Domain organism. Results blurred. Preliminary species: Dragon. Infinite potential.]
[Current status: Incubation. Hatching soon.]
[Imprinting behavior detected.]
The livestream went nuclear.
"DRAGON?! That's a dragon egg?!"
"Surpasses SSS?? What the hell?!"
"It's hatching?! That's a god-tier pet!"
"What does 'imprinting' mean?"
"It means the first living thing it sees becomes its 'parent.' Like chicks."
"BRO—Adrian and Raven are about to be parents?!"
"Congrats—free dad DLC unlocked."
The egg began trembling.
Crk… crack!
A thin fracture appeared.
It was really hatching.
Raven's throat tightened.
As a scholar, she knew what imprinting meant.
The idea of being called "mother" by some unknown lifeform—
made her feel… strange.
She stole a glance at Adrian.
For some reason, her cheeks felt warm.
Adrian, on the other hand, looked cold.
Emotionless.
But if you watched closely—
there was a flicker in his eyes.
Something hungry.
Because the moment the shell cracked—
the scent exploded.
Sweeter.
Denser.
More violent.
A thought slammed into him:
Break it. Eat it.
RC cells surged.
A hunger he hadn't felt even during the slaughter returned in a single wave.
If he ate it… what would he become?
His eyes gleamed.
No one noticed.
Everyone was staring at the egg.
The cracks spread.
Crk… crk… crk—
Then—
CRACK!
The egg shattered.
Shell fragments scattered across the ground.
The white light faded.
A first sound escaped the newborn—
"SSS—!"
…It sounded awful.
Then—
"SSS-SSS-SSS!!"
That screech made Raven's brow twitch.
This did not match her mental image of a "cute baby dragon."
And finally…
the newborn emerged.
The entire world froze.
It was—
black.
Ugly.
So ugly you couldn't tell head from tail.
And that screech…
it sounded disturbingly familiar.
The chat said it first.
"WHAT IS THIS DEMON? You're telling me that's a dragon?!"
"Why does its cry sound like… centipedes?"
"Mutated… it mutated from the centipede nest??"
"I thought we'd get a mythic Dragonia dragon… I got THIS??"
"Let it grow! It'll be cool later!"
"Black dragon + Black Reaper = insane aura!"
"And it has 'surpass SSS' potential! It'll be a monster later!"
Raven forced herself to accept it.
Potential mattered.
She opened her mouth.
"Little guy, it may be—"
Swish!!
Adrian moved like lightning.
He grabbed the little black thing in his hand.
The livestream went blank.
And then Adrian did the one thing no one could believe.
"Gnh!"
He bit into it.
He ate it.
Right there.
One clean, brutal motion.
The newborn screeched—
then vanished as Adrian chewed.
No hesitation.
Only instinct.
Three bites.
Two swallows.
Gone.
Nothing left.
Raven stood there, expression empty.
The livestream didn't process it at first.
Then it detonated into chaos.
"…Huh?"
"HUH?!"
"HE ATE IT?! HE ACTUALLY ATE IT?!"
"BRO THAT WAS A BEYOND-SSS PET!"
"It hadn't even imprinted and he ate it!"
"It was a BABY—even if it was ugly—"
"I can only say… Adrian is Adrian."
Dragonia's leadership circle froze too.
They'd just been imagining a beyond-SSS trump card—
and Adrian swallowed it like dessert.
Foreign leadership circles—especially the God-Nation Alliance—
went from grim silence to hysterical joy.
"He… he ate it?!"
"That idiot ate it!!"
"HAHAHAHA!! A brainless Divine Domain beast—only knows how to eat!"
"If he's this stupid, we might still have a chance to surpass Dragonia!"
They laughed like they'd been given salvation.
But back in the cave—
the System chimed.
[Detected host has consumed a special organism. Acting Sync +5%.]
[Current Acting Sync: 58%.]
Adrian's heartbeat spiked.
Five percent.
From one bite.
That was bigger than the A-rank suit.
And more than that—
he could feel a change inside him.
Not a full sublimation.
Something added.
Something dragon-like.
If he focused—
new shapes almost formed in his mind:
claws.
wings.
a Kagune structure that could let him fly.
Then—
"Rumble—!!"
The cave shook violently.
Raven finally snapped out of her shock.
She didn't even get to question him.
The tremor grew heavier.
As if a mechanism had been triggered—
a colossal bronze stone gate erupted from the ground.
Rising.
Rising.
Until it towered before Adrian and Raven—
and the entire world.
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