Shadow Draconis

<April 2025>

Day after day, it's always the same dull routine. Classes, lectures, the same faces. Every single moment feels like a copy of the last. It's starting to drive me insane.

DING-DONG

"Class is over, students. Pack up your bags," our young teacher with glasses announced as he left the room.

I lazily gathered my books and stuffed them into my backpack. Just as I was about to sling it over my shoulder, Akemi—my classmate with bright red hair and a carefree smile—approached me, hands behind her back as she stepped closer.

"Hey, Kaen! Wanna walk home together like usual?" Akemi asked, flashing me her usual bright smile.

My face felt like a furnace. I kept my eyes low and mumbled quickly, "Uh... thanks, but I can go by myself."

She tilted her head, speaking softly but insistently, "Kaen, won't you come with me? It will be pretty lonely, being alone.."

I shrugged, feeling embarrassed but having no option but to relent, "Umm... alright, I'll come."

"Yay!" she squealed with excitement.

As we were preparing to leave the classroom, Ryo sauntered over with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. His usual gang trailed behind him. He grinned and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Oi, oi, oi, where are you going? On a date?" he teased, turning to his gang. "Look at this, guys, who's going on a date!" His laughter grated on my nerves.

Akemi shot him a fierce glare. "Mind your own business, Ryo," she snapped.

But Ryo just laughed again, that weird, unsettling laugh of his. Without warning, he grabbed my collar and threw a punch at my face.

The blow was sudden. For a second, my vision blurred, and I stumbled, heat rising in my cheeks—half from the punch, half from humiliation. I wanted to hit back but froze, as I always did in these situations

"Ryooo! Stop it. Let him go and come to my office, now!"

Ryo backed up, glaring at me one last time. "You're going to pay for this, dog," he muttered before turning and stalking off toward the office. I said nothing, and Akemi and I left the classroom.

We walked along the riverbank in silence. After a while, Akemi smiled and broke the quiet.

"Kaen, Kaen! Tell me about yourself."

"Umm… about myself? Like what?"

She grinned. "What's your hobby?"

"Hobby? Uh, I like writing web novels."

Her eyes lit up. "Wait—actually?! What's it about? Romance? What is it called?"

"Nah, fantasy. It's called *The Dragon King*."

"Oooh, okay! That sounds cool. Oh… wait."

"Huh? What happened?" I asked, puzzled.

She laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck. "I completely spaced out! My house is right here. Guess I'll see you tomorrow!"

A strange relief washed over me as soon as she left, but as soon as she was out of sight, it dissipated.

"Ahh man! I'm so tired. And today's the contest result day… I hope I win and get my money back."

DING DONG

"I'm home," I shouted as I made my way through the door.

My mom was sitting in her usual spot, glued to the TV, and my dad was preparing dinner.

"Mom, how many times do I have to tell you? It's bad for your eyes to be sitting in front of that television all day," I sighed.

My dad didn't look up from the stove, but I could hear the weight in his voice. "You getting that prize money today?" he asked, not even bothering with a greeting.*

"Umm… maybe today," I replied, trying to sound hopeful.

I trudged up to my room, dropped my bag, and changed out of my uniform. Just as I was about to leave, my phone buzzed with a notification. Checking again, however, there was still nothing.

Feeling uneasy, I sat down, booted up my laptop, and logged on to the website where I'd been serializing my web novel. It was gone. I refreshed the page. Then again. And again. My heart started pounding. No. This can't be right. I opened another tab, typing in the website name. Still nothing. That's when I noticed the flood of angry comments below a YouTube video titled, "New Webnovel Website Scam."

I clicked one and almost went into a heart attack. The video stated, "This web novel platform has conned many authors, deleting their novels and stealing all the money they invested. Watch out for these scams!"

What the hell? No, no way! How is this possible? Scammed?! I shouted, my voice reverberating in the vacant space. I banged my fists on the wall in frustration and pleaded, "Got scammed… how do I tell my father? No way…" Tears fell from my eyes as hopelessness overran me.

Desperate for a solution, I turned to Google and started searching for "how to earn money as a student." A lot of results appeared.

The student can earn some money by doing a lot of things, but if he wants more, then he should become a hunter. A hunter is paid based on his rank.

Curious, I searched for how to become a hunter in Japan, and my search led me to an article about their net worth.

'Hunters possess many different abilities, both combat and non-combat. The strongest hunters are known as National Level Hunters, and there are only five in total. According to the official database, they are so strong that they compare to the military power of a whole country.'

Fighters: Purely a combat type

Assassins: Purely a combat type

Rangers: Purely a combat type

Tankers: Purely a combat type

Mages: Can be both combat and non-combat

Healers: Purely a non-combat type

Miners: Who mines in dungeon

To officially register as a hunter, one must be born before 2008 and fill out an online application on the "www.who.com" website. There isn't any registration fee, but you'll receive a PDF of your form that you can print out and take with you to the W.H.O. official office when you're due for your exam.

The amount of money a hunter makes depends on the quantity of resources mined in the dungeon daily.

Hunter there, staring at the hunter article, my mind racing. Maybe… maybe this could work. It wasn't writing, but it washavemething. And right now, I had nothing to lose.

[Hey readers I hope you are doing well, Don't buy Chapters From 21st chapter to chapter no 27 because it was my first novel and I just put here what came in my mind there is nothing good about it, I will continue the story from chapter no 28th but it will be now good]