Sweet Nostalgia of the 80s - Chapter 53 - Fostering Thieves’ Thoughts

Ronan was just another overworked office drone until a sudden death transported him to a vast, unfamiliar fantasy world—alone, invincible, and armed with absurdly powerful abilities from a game he once played. But reality isn't as simple as a game, and after days of wandering the unending Nim Forest without finding civilization, his optimism begins to fade.Just as isolation threatens to wear him down, he encounters Frieren, a quiet elf girl hiding in the bushes. Their meeting marks the first step on a path neither of them fully understands, in a world that seems empty, yet full of mystery.

She, a genius abandoned by her clan. He, a proud, pampered, two-faced imperial crown prince, a developing supreme ruler of the world. She, tricking him, disguised as a pig to eat a tiger, suppressing him, provoking him. Every time, after playing with him and stirring him up, she’d escape.

“Is Fate the excuse of the forsaken, is Free Will the delusion of the chosen?”Such was a question that Xavier, the Demon King, never had the chance to ask himself. As he lay defeated, awaiting his death, he wondered about the wretched life he lived.'The hero who killed me, the one who held the same ambitions as me. We both wanted good for the people, for the world. We are both two sides of the same coin, yet, fate decided that he will be the one the light will shine on.Perhaps it was me too, perhaps it was my karma for flowing the rivers of blood with my sword. But still... It was fate that squashed the humanity in me first!Damn fate, if I had one more chance, I would've lived for myself more, I wouldn't have taken this arbitrary role of being a necessary evil... This world, this game of destiny... It can burn to ashes for all I care.'As he sunk into the cold embrace of death, a certain [REDACTED] heard his dying wish with amusement and cast their die, reversing the wheel of time one last time and going all in on him on a risky gamble with the stakes of their world.

[You have just awakened your first dragon: SSS-Rank Fire Dragon.]Drahon was born with dragon-like horns, and because of that, his parents abandoned him at an orphanage. Mocked, bullied, and branded a freak, he never knew where he truly belonged.Until one day, while serving punishment, he stumbled upon a mysterious egg...A dragon egg that opened a portal and led him into The Dragon Game.[You have summoned an SSS-Rank Demon wrymling.][You have evolved your SSS-Rank Primordial Frost Dragon into a Multi Fire-Frost Dragon.][Upgrading Fire-Frost Dragon Roar ×10...]Bond with dragons and summon them in battle? Of course. All Ranked 'SSS'Draconic skills? Master them.Monster bosses? Shatter them.Half-dragon, half-monster abominations? Burn them.Mandatory roleplaying? Absolutely. Rule kingdoms, command medieval armies, and go to war.Enemies? They’re just EXP.And just after Level One, he uncovers the shocking truth behind the game’s existence...And discovers the reason for his horns: he’s half dragon, and that grants him the ability to transform into a half dragon, half human form.[You have just slain a cerberus-class half-dragon monster.][Absorbing essence...]And now?He’ll be more than the horned freak they abandoned —He’ll become Dragon Lord.[A/N: It gets much better after level one]