Author Becomes Character (Revised version)

One of our "rest days" (which, let's be real, who even knows how long I've been stuck in this weird time loop at this point?) was dragging on, just like every other day. But hey, at least we had some routine going, right? We called it a "rest day," but I'm still not convinced it counts as one since we didn't exactly get to do anything normal. But whatever. It made it feel like I was actually living through a day instead of being stuck in a time warp where hours and days just kind of smooshed together into one big blob. So, you know, progress?

Anyway, most of the day was spent just... talking. About life, about stuff, and honestly, just random nonsense. It was a nice change from the weird, endless sparring sessions. And by "talking," I mean me and this giant, grumpy Dragon sitting together—me on the floor, because apparently that's now my thing, and him in his human form, acting like he was too good for the floor. As usual, we were chatting about anything and everything when, out of nowhere, I threw a bomb into the conversation.

"Did you know that I just got reincarnated in this world?" I blurted out, probably a little too casually for something that's, you know, kind of a big deal.

His reaction was priceless. His eyes widened a bit, and his eyebrow twitched, like I'd just told him I was secretly a dragon in disguise. He froze for a moment, clearly processing my words, and I could practically hear the gears turning in his head.

After what felt like forever, he blinked and shrugged, as if it all made perfect sense. "I guess that's why you've been surviving without a magic core," he said, like he was just casually solving a puzzle. "When I saw you at the beginning, your soul didn't need mana to be tied down in this world."

I swear, this guy could be a walking mystery. One minute, he's acting like a giant, petulant child, and the next, he's making connections I didn't even think about. I stared at him, trying to make sense of his response.

"Wait, hold up," I said, eyebrows raised. "You believe me?"

He tilted his head at me like I was the weird one here. "Were you lying to me again?"

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "Hahaha nope, it's real! I just can't believe you'd believe me that easily."

It felt... nice, honestly. Talking about my life from Earth to someone who wasn't going to laugh it off or call me crazy. Like, I could actually share it without feeling like a freak. It was almost like confessing something deep, like some long-kept secret, but it wasn't heavy. It was light. Easy.

And so, I just kept going.

"Well," I said, looking up at the ceiling as if it could give me some answers, "when I was on Earth, I was an orphan. Never really knew who my parents were... they left me outside the orphanage. So, yeah, I grew up there. And for some reason, nobody wanted me. I was that kid... the abandoned one. You know, the kind nobody picks, like a forgotten toy. But I found solace in reading. Books, manga, manhwa... novels. It was like I could escape into another world. And heck, I even wrote my own story. It was... I don't know, comforting? A way to feel like I had control over something in my life."

I paused, remembering the exhaustion of those days.

"Anyway, one day, after a long day of work and yelling from my superiors (yep, my work life was super fun), I was just sitting there, writing my novel, and... I fell asleep. You might be thinking, 'Why were you writing a novel after work?' Well, I don't know. It was the one thing that made me feel like I had power, like I was the one who got to decide what happened. You know? It was addicting, that feeling of control."

I looked over at the dragon, who was now listening intently, and I felt a weird sense of relief just... saying it out loud. I hadn't even realized how much I needed to talk about it.