The street smelled of rain and exhaust. Neon lights bled into puddles, blurring the faces of strangers rushing home through the drizzle.
Li Wei hunched under his cheap umbrella, balancing a take-out bag and his worn laptop case.
It was supposed to be an ordinary Wednesday night.
Class in the morning, part-time job in the afternoon, instant noodles for dinner.
Then — yelling.
He froze at the mouth of an alley.
Two men in black jackets had a woman pinned against the wall. Her pale fingers clawed at their arms, nails breaking.
"Give it to us," one of them growled, pressing something metallic against her throat — not a knife, but a jagged, glowing shard. Its faint blue light pulsed like a heartbeat.
Li Wei's brain screamed: Not my business.
He had exams next week. Rent was due. Heroes existed for a reason — wasn't this their job?
But then the shard sparked, and the air rippled. A faint smell of burnt metal drifted out. The woman's eyes were wide — not with fear, but with the kind of despair that said help isn't coming.
Li Wei's umbrella hit the ground.
He didn't remember making the decision, only the sprint forward.
The taller thug turned just in time to catch Li Wei's shoulder in his chest. The impact jolted through Li Wei's bones. The man stumbled, dropping the shard — and the world changed.
The alley dissolved into darkness.
Above him, coiled in the void, a colossal dragon of molten gold and midnight scales stared down. Its eyes burned like dying stars.
So… you're the fool who leapt.
The voice was everywhere, vibrating in his teeth.
Li Wei staggered back. "W–who—"
Longyuan, it said. The one who will decide if you die now… or live long enough to regret it.
Something cold and heavy clamped around his wrist. He looked down — a golden bracelet, seamless and ancient, pulsed with light that matched the dragon's eyes.
The dragon's mouth curled into something between a smirk and a snarl.
I accept your offering, mortal.
The darkness shattered.
He was back in the rain-soaked alley. The two thugs lay unconscious, steam rising from their bodies. The woman was gone.
The bracelet was still there. Warm. Waiting.
Li Wei's knees threatened to give way. "What… what the hell just happened?"
From somewhere deep in his skull, the dragon's voice rumbled with dry amusement:
You just joined a war you didn't know existed.
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