The shop looked fake.
That was the first thing Hiko thought.
Bright neon lights. Floating holograms of smiling beasts. A giant rotating sign above the counter that read:
"MYSTERY BOX – RANDOM TAMED BEAST!"
The interior felt like a scam.
The kind of place that sold dreams for money and regrets for free.
Goru stared at the display boxes stacked behind the counter.
Each one was the size of a small backpack, glowing with sealed mana.
"…This is definitely a scam," Goru said.
Hiko nodded. "Yeah. One hundred percent."
They stood there for a few seconds.
Then both of them slowly looked at the price tag.
3000¥.
Goru blinked. "That's… actually cheap."
Hiko squinted. "That's suspiciously cheap."
The cashier was a sleepy-looking guy with purple hair and dead eyes.
"Random means random," the cashier muttered. "Could be a slime. Could be a dragon. Could be a cursed chicken that explodes."
Goru's eyes lit up. "Did he say dragon?"
Hiko hesitated. "He also said cursed chicken."
Goru pulled out his phone. "We survived Goram Swamp, a shadow beast, and a Calamity sorcerer. If we die to a chicken, that's just fate."
Hiko sighed. "…Fine. But if it's a rat, I'm blaming you."
They placed the money on the counter.
The cashier didn't even react.
Just pressed a button.
One box floated forward.
Black.
Smooth.
With glowing runes carved all over it.
The moment Goru touched it—
The box vibrated.
Not lightly.
Violently.
The mana pressure leaked out like a heartbeat.
Hiko's eyes widened.
"…That's not normal."
The cashier suddenly sat up straight.
"…Wait."
Goru froze. "What do you mean wait."
The runes on the box started shifting.
The color changed.
From white.
To blue.
To gold.
To something that didn't even have a proper color.
The air in the shop bent.
Customers turned around.
One person dropped their drink.
The cashier's dead eyes slowly widened.
"…No way."
Hiko swallowed. "What."
The box split open.
Not with light.
Not with sound.
But with silence.
Inside was an egg.
Not white.
Not black.
But every color at once.
Blue scales.
Crimson lines.
Golden veins.
Purple crystal patterns.
The shell itself looked like reality had failed to choose a single design.
The moment the egg appeared—
The shop's mana alarms went insane.
The walls started vibrating.
Even the city barrier above them flickered.
The cashier slowly stood up.
"…You… you just pulled a Diverse Dragon."
Goru's brain stopped working.
"…A what."
The cashier's voice trembled.
"The rarest possible outcome."
"Rarer than winning the lottery."
"Rarer than pulling two SSS relics in a row."
"Statistically… this shouldn't exist."
Hiko stared at the egg.
"…Is it strong?"
The cashier laughed.
A broken laugh.
"Strong?"
"A healthy Diverse Dragon at full growth is a Calamity Rank."
"Some records say… equal to a Radiance."
The shop went completely silent.
Goru slowly turned to Hiko.
Hiko slowly turned to Goru.
They stared at each other.
Then both of them exploded.
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
"WE JUST BOUGHT A GOD FOR 3000 YEN?!"
Goru grabbed Hiko's shoulders and started shaking him.
"WE WON LIFE!"
Hiko was shaking too.
"WE BROKE THE SYSTEM!"
People around them were staring like they had just witnessed divine fraud.
The cashier sank back into his chair.
"…I should've closed this shop earlier."
They ran.
Not walked.
Ran back to Tengen High with the egg between them like a sacred relic.
Students turned around as they passed.
Teachers felt the mana.
Security barriers reacted.
Even the campus mana grid spiked.
By the time they reached the main building, alarms were half-activated.
Goru was sweating.
"Hiko, I think the school thinks we're a terrorist attack."
Hiko hugged the egg tighter. "Worth it."
They burst into the training hall.
Rougen was there, leaning against a wall, half asleep.
"…You two look excited," Rougen muttered.
Goru nearly tripped running toward him.
"SENSEI."
Rougen opened one eye. "You're loud."
Hiko carefully lifted the egg.
"…Can we keep this at school?"
Rougen glanced at it lazily.
Then froze.
Then stood up straight.
Then stared.
For a full ten seconds.
"…Where did you get that."
"Mystery box."
Silence.
"…You're lying."
"It was 3000 yen."
Rougen stared at the egg like it personally insulted the laws of reality.
"…That's a Diverse Dragon."
Goru nodded aggressively. "YES."
Rougen rubbed his face.
"…You just skipped about ten thousand years of summoner evolution."
Hiko asked carefully, "So… can we keep it?"
Rougen sighed.
"…As long as it doesn't kill students or destroy the academy."
Gold's voice suddenly came from behind.
"Too late for that."
They turned.
Gold was standing there, arms crossed, staring at the egg with a faint smile.
"…You two are unbelievable."
By the next day…
The entire school knew.
Class 1-C walked into their classroom like celebrities.
Every student was staring at the egg placed carefully on a reinforced mana platform.
"…That's fake."
"No way that's real."
"That's a myth-tier beast."
Hinata approached slowly, eyes sparkling.
"…It's beautiful…"
Mira whispered, "It feels alive."
Dain's shadow curled toward it.
Even Daizen was speechless.
Hinata hesitated. "…I have a Growth Increaser spell. It helps beasts mature faster… but safely."
Goru looked at Hiko.
Hiko nodded.
"Do it."
Hinata placed her hand gently on the shell.
Soft green mana flowed into the egg.
The egg glowed.
Warm.
Like a heartbeat.
And then—
Two months passed.
The egg cracked during lunch.
Literally.
One moment everyone was eating.
The next—
CRACK.
The entire class froze.
Mana exploded outward.
The shell shattered.
And a small dragon emerged.
Blue scales.
Rainbow patterns.
Crystal horns.
Six wings instead of four.
Eyes glowing with layered colors.
It sneezed.
And a mana shockwave knocked over three desks.
Everyone screamed.
"It's so cute!"
"It's terrifying!"
"It's both!"
The dragon was already Rank 2 at birth.
Which was insane.
But then—
Everyone rushed it.
Too many people.
Too much attention.
The dragon got stressed.
Its eyes flashed.
And—
FWOOOSH.
A small multicolored flame shot out.
Burned Daizen's shirt.
And his hat.
Daizen stared at the ashes.
His eye twitched.
He raised his fist.
Then stopped.
Lowered it.
"…I almost hit a Calamity Dragon."
He punched himself instead.
The dragon tilted its head.
Then curled up in Hiko's arms.
Purring.
Gold watched from the doorway.
"…Congratulations."
Rougen smirked.
"Class 1-C just adopted a future natural disaster."
And from that day on—
The Diverse Dragon officially became a member of Class 1-C.