It was supposed to be a normal Friday evening.
The kind of evening where Yeong-Su, an average guy with an above-average obsession with MMORPGs and instant noodles, could hang out with his two best friends and forget about the horrors of school, student loans, and his eternal rank of Bronze II in League of Battles.
"Bro, I'm telling you, if I had just five more minutes, I would've clutched that last team fight," Yeong-Su said while balancing three oversized bags of snacks on his arms like a grocery gladiator.
"You literally tried to 1v5 a squad while screaming 'For the Alliance' like a budget anime character," said Jaemin, adjusting his glasses and sipping on a bubble tea like the judgmental sidekick he was.
"Because I am the protagonist!" Yeong-Su declared, almost slipping on the sidewalk. "Watch—one day I'll get isekai'd and become some kind of overpowered dragon warlord or something."
"Please," snorted Haneul, the third member of their trio, arms folded. "If you get isekai'd, it'll be as a slime that sells vegetables in some fantasy Walmart."
The three of them burst out laughing as they rounded the corner near Yeong-Su's apartment building. The night sky was clear, the air filled with the comforting scent of fried chicken from the corner shop, and all seemed perfect.
And then the ground exploded.
Like literally exploded.
A circular magical symbol burst open beneath Yeong-Su's feet, glowing with strange runes that looked suspiciously like a mashup of hieroglyphics and chicken scratch.
"IS THIS A PRANK?! JAEMIN! YOU DID THIS, DIDN'T YOU?!"
"Bro, if I had magic, I'd be summoning free food, not you!" Jaemin shouted, trying to grab him—but it was too late.
With a flash of blinding golden light and a woosh sound that could only be described as "budget teleportation sound effect," Yeong-Su vanished.
---
Yeong-Su blinked.
Then blinked again.
And screamed.
Because what he saw in front of him was himself—but not as himself. As some majestic, terrifying, fire-breathing dragon… version of himself.
He had massive crimson wings, glowing white-red scales, and a tail so long it could probably destroy a small city if he sneezed wrong.
More importantly, he was looking at himself from afar, like a third-person cinematic had activated in real life.
And in that cinematic… he was sitting on a throne.
A THRONE.
A Giant Throne made of molten obsidian and gold, high above a massive audience of people bowing their heads.
People… no—dragons.
Dragons in human form. Long white hair. Glowing crimson eyes. Every one of them beautiful enough to be K-pop idols, except they were emitting enough raw power to turn Earth into a charcoal briquette.
And Yeong-Su—no, Dragon King Yeong-Su—was sitting in the middle of it all like he belonged.
"Okay, okay, calm down. Deep breaths," Yeong-Su thought, trying to steady his trembling claws—wait, claws?! "WHY DO I HAVE CLAWS?!"
He looked down at himself and confirmed his worst fear: he wasn't human anymore. He was a whole dragon, a giant glowing lizard with majestic wings and some kind of crown etched into his forehead.
A voice echoed from the crowd.
"The summoning is complete," a dragon in white robes said, bowing dramatically. "Our Dragon King has finally returned."
Yeong-Su's dragon eye twitched. "RETURNED?! I'VE NEVER BEEN HERE!!"
Suddenly, the dragons began cheering, raising their hands, wings, and god-knows-what-else. "ALL HAIL THE DRAGON KING!"
"Wait, wait, wait! I'm not your King! I'm a college dropout who's never kissed a girl and only rules over a Discord server!" he tried to say, but all that came out was a majestic roar that shook the heavens.
The dragons cheered harder.
Then it got worse.
A second dragon walked up to the throne—this one tall, elegant, and emitting a vibe like a strict anime mom. She bowed slightly. "My Lord, the humans have arrived. Shall we prepare the feast?"
Yeong-Su froze.
"Wait… feast? What feast? Who's being feasted on? Not… my friends?!"
He turned, horror creeping across his majestic snout.
At the far edge of the throne room, in a glowing golden cage, stood Jaemin and Haneul.
"...Yeong-Su?" Jaemin blinked. "Why do you look like a boss from Dark Souls?"
"ARE THOSE HORNS?!" Haneul shouted. "You're a DRAGON?!"
Yeong-Su screamed internally. This isn't how game night was supposed to go!
---
The throne room grew silent again.
One of the dragons whispered beside him, "My King, the humans speak to you."
Yeong-Su started sweating—somehow, dragons could sweat, he was sure of it.
"What do I say? What do I say?!" he panicked, trying to remember anything from anime or RPGs. "Should I say... 'You are the chosen ones'? No, no, too cliché. 'Bow before me?' No, they'll think I've gone crazy. What if I say 'You are now part of my harem—' NO, BAD IDEA."
The elegant dragon next to him asked softly, "My Lord, do you wish to devour them for their courage?"
Yeong-Su choked.
"DEVOUR?! I haven't even had dinner yet! And they're my FRIENDS! What kind of monsters are you?!"
Still, he couldn't just say he was a college student turned dragon by accident. That was peak cringe.
Then, as his panic reached peak comedy levels, Jaemin banged the cage bars.
"HEY! Dragon Boy! Say something! You gonna let us out or not?!"
Yeong-Su paused.
Blinked.
And with the confidence of a man who had no clue what he was doing, stood up, flapped his massive wings, and boomed:
"I… AM THE DRAGON KING! And you… HAVE BEEN SUMMONED FOR—uh… A GAME NIGHT! YES! WELCOME TO MY CASTLE!"
There was a long silence.
Even the dragons were confused.
"A… game night?" whispered one dragon.
"Yes!" Yeong-Su said with too much enthusiasm. "We shall… play games! Board games! Card games! Dragonopoly! For honor and glory!"
Jaemin and Haneul looked at each other.
Jaemin nodded. "Yep. He's lost it."