And I Became a Dragonkin - 01

Act 1: The Dazzling Dragon Flames

Chapter 01: Prologue

Sway, sway, flutter…

─The calendar swayed gently in the breeze coming through the window.

Between the two lattice windows in the kitchen hung an A3-sized calendar, featuring adorable animals from Monbulan. 

This month, a corgi with a peachy bottom and a cockatiel were side by side, their cuteness bringing a bit of comfort just by looking at them. 

This was the third year with this calendar series. 

Though next year’s calendar had already arrived, it remained unopened, waiting for the end-of-year ritual of flipping through the pages when it’s time to replace the old one.

The weekly schedule was filled with plans, notes, and messages, none of which were written by me, but I still liked to casually check them every day and week. 

Those little notes often brought me a sense of comfort.

　　　　　　　＊＊

I was walking through the city when it happened.

Boom─a deafening explosion and a sharp shockwave pierced through my body, feeling like it tore through my eardrums.

In an instant, everything in my field of vision froze, and my consciousness blinked out for a moment.

When I came to, I saw the familiar animal calendar. 

For some reason, it was the only thing floating in the middle of my vision, with nothing else around.

(Huh? This… isn’t right.)

This shouldn’t be possible, but I finally noticed it. 

The animals on the calendar had turned monochrome.

Because of that, they seemed less cute.

Their gazes felt cold and distant. 

Why did the calendar feel so cold? 

It seemed to be because of the weekly schedule—it was empty. 

Somehow, this felt impossible. 

But I couldn’t figure out why. 

I couldn’t think of a reason why an empty schedule was wrong.

As I struggled with this thought, my consciousness suddenly wavered, like a TV screen going static.

I tried to diagnose myself, but my awareness flickered in and out.

(Ugh… this… this is really bad. Subdural hematoma…?)

I desperately tried to analyze my situation through my faltering consciousness.

(No… that’s not it… ─this is something worse…)

And then, my consciousness was cut off.

　　　　　　　　＊＊＊

Suddenly, the man’s consciousness returned. 

Something had happened, but he couldn’t remember anything from before he blacked out. 

It was a pitch-black world, or perhaps some kind of… abyss. 

His mind was enveloped in pure darkness.

(What is… this state I’m in?)

It was a hard-to-understand situation, but his thought processes were working normally. 

Even so, he couldn’t feel his hands, feet, or any part of his body. It was a strange and unfamiliar sensation.

(Huh? What is… what am I supposed to do?)

He couldn’t do anything. 

That was his reality. Like a Daruma doll without its eyes drawn in. 

Normally, this would cause panic. But strangely, it didn’t. 

In the darkness, only his sense of self, consciousness, and thoughts existed. 

Despite the impossible situation, he didn’t feel particularly anxious, sad, or angry. 

He found his unusual calmness strange but felt no special emotions. 

After observing himself for a while, a question finally crossed his mind.

(─Who am I?)

He instinctively sensed that something important was missing, probably more than just one or two things.

That much he knew. 

Finally, a sense of crisis emerged. 

But even then, there was nothing he could do.

　　　　　　　　＊＊＊

In the void of darkness, the man kept trying to trace the threads of his memory. 

But most of his efforts were in vain. 

He realized he had lost something important—his time, his existence, and his memories.

With persistent effort, the man discovered only a few vague facts:

• • He was probably Japanese.

• • In his mid-thirties.

Fragmented memories up to the age of about 12 appeared in monochrome, but beyond that, his human memories were empty.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t remember; it felt like they had vanished. 

No matter how much he searched, he couldn’t uncover anything factual.

Even his gender was uncertain. 

He judged himself to be male based on his speech and fragmented memories, but there was no solid evidence.

If someone told him he was female, he could only respond with, “Really?”

He had thinking ability… or so it seemed, but he wasn’t confident.

Without a point of comparison, even that became a question. 

Ultimately, he couldn’t find anything concrete.

Strangely, he had no problems with calculations, reciting history, or reading and writing. 

Yet, the essential “I” was missing. 

The man had completely lost memories related to himself and his relationships. 

He retained knowledge from lessons but had no memories of school. 

It felt like amnesia, but fundamentally different.

Despite this, the man continued his efforts. 

He didn’t feel tired, didn’t need food, and never felt sleepy. 

He simply had nothing else to do.

─So, he had no choice but to repeat the process.

But the results never changed. 

He couldn’t uncover anything more significant. 

Occasionally, blurry fragments of childhood memories surfaced, but they were like out-of-focus photos: a close-up of a skinned knee after a fall, or a picture of poking at an egg yolk with chopsticks. 

They were all like that—distant from real memories, just static images.

And so, he resumed his search for himself. 

Even though he had a feeling he wouldn’t discover anything significant, he didn’t give up.

　　　　　　　　＊

Finally, the man found some video-like memories. 

Each was a few seconds long. 

One of them shocked him. 

It was during surgery—minimally invasive surgery. 

A catheter was being inserted for a stent placement.

It looked like an emergency procedure. 

The scene was not from the surgeon’s point of view but from above and to the right.

(Was I a doctor? But not the surgeon?)

The process hit a small snag, and the next moment, the aortic aneurysm ruptured. 

He didn’t know who was involved or when it happened. 

Yet, that slow-motion scene tore his mind and heart apart.

He stopped his memory search right there.

Immediately after finding that short video, he was overwhelmed by a fierce sense of emptiness. 

His thought processes rejected any further work and shut down.

Note:

*Minimally invasive surgery refers to diagnostic or therapeutic procedures that cause minimal physical burden, using tools like endoscopes or catheters.