Me, the Weakest Member of the Hero’s Party? I’m the Villain Though? - Chapter 2
The Hero’s Party
When I opened my eyes, I was lying in pitch-black darkness. I blinked slowly, waiting for my vision to adjust.
How much time had passed? Only when I could faintly make out my surroundings did I cautiously sit up.
Why does my body feel so heavy?
I could understand feeling stiff since I had just woken up, but this was something else. It felt more like a crushing weight, as if gravity were pulling me down with extra force. My limbs sagged like waterlogged cotton.
Out of habit, I raised a hand to rub my eyes—then froze in shock.
What I saw was absurd.
Blunt fingers were tipped with claws, and my skin was covered in grotesque scales. A reptilian forelimb moved exactly as I willed it to.
“What…?”
I muttered under my breath, but even my voice was low and strange.
Suddenly jolted awake, I hastily looked around. The cave I was in, shrouded in darkness, was in no way fit for human habitation. Whenever I shifted my body, a massive tail slammed into the cave walls.
What kind of ridiculous dream is this?
Faced with this unfamiliar situation, I could only assume I was dreaming. So, I lay still, waiting to wake up.
But no matter how long I waited, I didn’t wake up.
Only after considerable time had passed did I finally have to accept the truth—I had become a dragon.
“A dragon… Seriously, this is insane.”
But realizing something logically and accepting it emotionally were two very different things. I had to steady myself and suppress the urge to deny it, forcing myself to calmly assess the situation.
A dragon living in a cave. It was such a common setup that I felt like I had seen it somewhere before. Most likely, I was inside some kind of fantasy novel. Naturally, this cave must be the dragon’s lair.
In one corner of the cave, there was a pile of firewood. As I searched for matches, a ridiculous thought suddenly came to me.
‘No way. That’s absurd.’
But then again, nothing was too absurd in a situation where I had suddenly woken up in the body of a dragon.
So, I exhaled a breath toward the firewood.
I had my doubts, but flames actually burst from my mouth. With a roar, the firewood ignited, illuminating the once-dark cave.
Inside, books were piled haphazardly like a mountain.
With nothing else to do and no idea what I should be doing, I sat down at random and started reading.
The strangest thing was that, despite not recognizing the language, I could read the text effortlessly.
The first book I opened contained detailed information about dragons. Thanks to it, I was able to learn things I hadn’t known.
The next book was filled with magic spells. Among them, I discovered a polymorph spell that allowed a dragon to transform into a human.
Since my first priority was getting out of this dragon form, I immediately attempted the spell. Of course, I failed at first.
But I didn’t give up. After about thirty tries, I finally managed to transform into a human. I never thought I’d be so happy to see five slender fingers again.
On top of that, with my body much smaller now, it became easier for me to move around the cave. As I searched the place more thoroughly, I even found something resembling clothing.
It was nothing more than tattered rags, worn and frayed, but it was still better than being completely bare, so I put them on.
“Why did I turn into a dragon?”
Returning to where I had first lit the fire, I murmured the question into the empty air, trying to organize my thoughts.
Transmigration.
That was the only word that could explain my current situation.
I had long since ruled out the possibility of this being a dream.
But if my theory was correct, the next question was: Whose body had I transmigrated into?
Come to think of it, I vaguely remembered seeing handwritten text inside one of the books, possibly a name.
Just in case, I picked up the book I had brought with me and flipped to the first page.
[Lysian Felix]
No matter how I looked at it, it was a person’s name. And since this book was inside this cave—my home, apparently—there was a high chance that it was my name.
Lysian Felix. Who was that? I couldn’t recall reading any novel featuring a character with that name.
I didn’t know how long I sat there, lost in thought, when suddenly, a sound reached my ears.
At first, it was barely audible. But it gradually became clearer and more distinct. Tensing up, I followed the sound.
The cave was larger and more labyrinthine than I had expected. After walking for a bit, I stumbled upon a narrow room without a door.
“A… mirror?”
Inside, a massive mirror stood alone.
It looked completely out of place in this cave, shining brightly while emitting a low, mechanical hum.
Filled with suspicion, I cautiously approached it.
And for the first time, I saw my reflection.
Long, jet-black hair cascaded down to my waist. My sharp, slanted eyes glowed with a dark red hue, gleaming ominously.
I was staring at my own face, yet its sheer intensity sent a chill down my spine.
“This… This is really me?”
