“Darkness… can’t see.” I muttered as I woke up with an extreme headache.

I tried moving my head around, my muscles feeling extremely sore and weak. I blinked trying to remember what happened.

My memories came in fuzzy and sporadic. I tried remembering my name… Juniper, yes, that was my name, but why did I find it so hard to recollect more?

As I tried remembering more, flashes of my past started appearing in my head like a picture album. I tried focusing on one memory of my family. I remembered dinner together the previous night but for some reason the faces were blurry. I tried picturing another memory and again, faces were blurred out, like if censored. Every time I tried, I couldn’t remember any of my meaningful memories.

I started to panic. Hyperventilating, I realized I was still in complete darkness without any idea of where I was. I panicked even more and started struggling. As I moved around my weak limbs came in contact with a hard surface.

Am I in an enclosed space? I’m not claustrophobic or anything… but this is all a bit much, why the hell am I in a box?

I struggle even more while shifting around in the enclosed space when suddenly I hear a crack, light pushing through the small gap. I focus my very weak arms towards it and attempt to punch a bigger hole. It took some effort but I eventually managed to poke my head through the opening.

After the initial blinding flash of light I start taking in my surroundings.

“Where… where the hell did I end up?”

I looked around at what looked like a forest, however, this is definitely unlike any forest I had ever seen before. As I took in my surroundings I was struck by its beauty. The colors here were more vivid than anything on Earth, with leaves in iridescent hues of green that seemed to shimmer in the light. Occasional flashes of bright yellow and pink flowers added a surreal contrast, making the scene almost dreamlike.

https://i.imgur.com/YGXssVb.png [https://i.imgur.com/YGXssVb.png]

As I remained dumbfounded by the scenery I suddenly remembered my situation. I took a look at the box I was in, and realized it was actually oval shaped, hold the phone...

“This is an egg. Why the hell am I inside of an egg?”

I tried to stand on my legs but despite my huge effort I ended up tumbling on my back, what remained of the egg cracking beneath my weight.

I regained my balance by crawling on four paws, which seemed oddly natural for me. Wait a minute, paws? I looked at my hands and what I saw were oddly cute claws attached to a paw covered in amber scales.

I stared at it for a solid minute, before regaining consciousness and remembering seeing a pond not far from me earlier.

I slowly made my way towards it crawling on four legs, which was a lot harder than I wanted to admit. Eventually making it to the water I looked at my reflection.

Staring into the reflective surface of the pond, I was met with a sight that was both majestic and bewildering. Reflected back at me was the striking visage of a… lizard? My scales were a brilliant shade of amber that caught the sun's rays. My neck was long and arched gracefully, adorned with a lighter underbelly. The eyes that gazed back at me were golden.

I jerked back from the water and jumped back.

“Have I become some sort of giant lizard? I must be dreaming right now, surely this is all just a bad dream.”

I looked around and found a sturdy looking tree just a few steps away.

“If I hurt myself, surely I will wake up.”

I locked on the rough looking bark of my target and charged on, hitting it straight on with my head.

Condition: Concussion (minor)

It hurt, it really hurt. Now I started to regret doing this as I started feeling slightly dizzy. As I sat down and focused again I finally realized that there, in the corner of my vision, there was a notification saying that I had a minor concussion.

This feels like a game, also if I didn’t wake up… does this mean this is all really happening? Did I really turn into an amber colored giant bearded dragon? That’s what my current appearance reminds me of anyways. An adorable but huge bearded dragon. After all, I must have been the size of a black bear. That’s one hell of a lizard.

While I thought of this I noticed that the condition notification had vanished. I vaguely remembered certain rpg games showing statistics in a table manner, so I thought that maybe I could get the notification to come back if I found a special trigger for it.

“Stats… Character… Ability…” I started trying to recite words from memory that I thought could be inherent to the games I remembered.

“Panel… Info… Status…!”

Suddenly a screen popped up in front of my vision.

Name

Juniper

Race

Stolen novel; please report.

Dragon

Growth

Cub

Body

2

Classes

Level

Reflexes

2

First

none

-

Cool

1

Second

none

-

Mind

1

Third

none

-

Mysticism (racial)

1

Fourth

none

-

After a moment of disbelief that this had actually worked, I looked over the information displayed.

After glancing over my name entry my eyes focused on the “race” section.

Dragon? I sure didn’t look like one! Where are my wings? I thought dragons were supposed to have wings. I’m just a glorified lizard.

I mulled over my lack of wings for a few more moments before moving on. Next I focused on what I assumed were my stats. Their names remind me vaguely of a game I used to play… can’t remember the name, maybe I’m just imagining things. All in all they are pretty low, but then again I am not yet a day old.

Finally I looked over the “classes” section. Well not that there was much to look at… they were all empty.

I wondered what the ranks meant for each class but just as I was once again lost in thought I heard a rustling sound.

I turned towards the noise only to see what looked like a giant crab covered in moss appear from behind a bush.

https://i.imgur.com/n0FZA0h.png [https://i.imgur.com/n0FZA0h.png]

Of course there had to be a strange creature appearing from the strange plants surrounding me. Shame on me for thinking that a crab would fit in the palm of my hand, or paw I guess.

The crab stood there unblinking, looking towards me.

“Hey you! I don’t want any trouble here, beat it.” To be completely honest I had no idea why I just tried talking to a crab, but just as I was about to formulate a new plan of action, the creature bolted forward.

Isn’t that a bit too fast for a crab? Oh wait a minute…

“... Ooof!”

I cried out as the creature jumped at the last second and slammed full force into me, sending me tumbling a few steps back.

Damn… that hurt.

I immediately picked myself up to face the crab.

This is real, Juniper. You better not get headbutted to death on your first day.

I focused again just in time to see the crab prepare to charge again.

This time I was prepared. As the crab hurtled towards me, I sidestepped with surprising agility, feeling the rush of air as the creature passed by.

My heart pounded in my chest as I turned to face the creature. It skidded to a halt and pivoted, its stalked eyes fixing on me again with an unsettling focus.

"Alright then," I muttered to myself, "if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get."

I squared my stance, lowering my center of gravity, preparing to counter its next charge.

Once again, the crab lunged at me. This time, as it gathered its monstrous legs beneath it, I anticipated its move. I feinted left and then sprang to the right, my claws extended. The crab, caught mid-lunge, couldn't correct its course.

My claws met its side with a satisfying slash aimed at its joint. The softer shell gave way under the force of my strike. The crab let out a sound, a strange, gurgling cry that seemed to echo through the forest, and for a moment, I hesitated. But this was the law of nature, survival of the fittest and I couldn’t afford to back down now.

The creature, now wounded, became more cautious, looking at me with its eyes focused on my every move. It charged again, but this time it was a feint, and I barely avoided a snapping claw that aimed for where my head had been moments before.

My own instincts sharpened, honed by the adrenaline and the thrill of the fight. I roared, a sound that I felt more than heard, vibrating through the trees and the very air of this alien world. The crab hesitated, and in that hesitation, I found my opening.

I lunged forward, not with hesitation but with all the ferocity of my newfound form. My claws found the joints of its front claw, the weak point in its armor. With a forceful twist and a pull, I disarmed the crab, quite literally, as one of its massive pincers came away in my grip.

The creature let out another nasty cry as it turned around and started to crawl back into the forest.

Oh no you don’t.

It didn’t take much effort to chase down the wounded crab who was now much slower than before. The creature tried to guard with its remaining arm, but it became all too easy to avoid it and strike at its remaining joints. I kept hitting the crab more and more times, occasionally pulling away another limb, until it let out a final cry and slumped down on its thorax.

Experience +50 First Emerald Pincer slayed, experience has been doubled.

Warning

Unable to add experience points due to no class being selected. Please select a class from your status panel.

“Finally…”

I let out a deep sigh as I finally released the tension on my muscles and sat. All the fatigue finally caught up with my body as my adrenaline levels started dropping.

Just as I started looking at the new notification on my status panel, I heard a grumble noise come from my belly. I was hungry, very hungry.

I pressed a clawed hand to my stomach, the sound of my own hunger echoing through the now quiet forest. Glancing warily at the crab remains, my nose wrinkled in distaste.

With effort, I pushed myself to my stand and turned away from the site of the battle. The forest seemed to watch with a thousand unseen eyes as I made my way back to where it all began: the remains of the egg that was my cradle in this alien land.

The eggshell was large, the fragments scattered where I had emerged into this life. I hesitated, the thought of eating an egg—my egg—was weirdly cannibalistic, even if I was no longer human. But then, the hunger gnawed at me again, more insistent this time.

I leaned down, my snout just inches from the broken shell, and took a tentative nibble. To my surprise, the taste was... actually good. Rich and filling, the sustenance it provided was immediate, and my body responded gratefully to the nourishment.

With each bite, strength returned to my limbs, and a sense of rightness settled in my stomach.

If this is survival, I guess I will have to adapt to it, one eggshell at a time.