How to Survive as a terminally-ill Dragon

Chapter 3. The Birth of Dragon Lois (3)

The Mad Dragon, Genelocer.

He was the villain in the original webtoon storyline, responsible for wreaking havoc on half of the Howard Empire before being slain by the protagonist.

And now, that very being known as the Mad Dragon was supposedly his father.

Lois clung to his wavering consciousness and bellowed internally, ‘Damn you, author!’

The webtoon he had been reading before his death wasn’t an officially serialized work but was posted on a personal blog.

It was a webtoon he had stumbled upon simply because there was nothing else to read.

The story of the original webtoon was beyond reproach.

There was just one issue.

‘Did you draw these pictures with your feet?’

The artwork, reminiscent of something done on Microsoft Paint, was the problem.

Especially Genelocer, staring back with a face that belied any comprehension.

‘That Genelocer is this Genelocer?’

Genelocer’s human-like appearance did appear in the original webtoon.

However, comparing the real Genelocer with the one from the original work, it was questionable if anyone could recognize him as the same character.

This was also the reason why Lois had not recognized Genelocer immediately.

‘He’s supposed to have the face that could make actors slap their own cheeks in envy… and you drew him looking like a squid?’

If Genelocer hadn’t revealed his name, and had Lois not recalled the various landmarks of the continent.

Lois might have spent his entire life believing he had been reincarnated as a dragon.

‘Haah…’

Lois let out a long sigh.

“Is there a problem, Lois?”

His father’s voice was filled with such tenderness that Lois was struck by a thought.

‘How can this kind-hearted man be a Mad Dragon?’

In the original story, Genelocer was the embodiment of fury.

He obliterated everything in his path, with his anger particularly explosive when directed toward humans.

Recalling this, Lois became plunged into deep thought.

‘What was the trigger for Genelocer becoming the Mad Dragon?’

The triggering event was definitely described in the original content.

Lois concentrated on recalling the past.

That’s when he had an astonishing experience.

‘Huh?’

He found that the content of the webtoon he had read a long time ago in his previous life was coming back to him vividly.

The artwork and dialogue of the original work.

All of it was there.

‘Is this also the dragon bonus?’

He had no idea what the phenomenon or principle behind this was, but being able to vividly recall past memories was an ability that could only be explained by the dragon’s capabilities.

Lois marveled at the wondrous ability of dragons.

It was a fortunate occurrence, regardless.

Lois began focusing intently on the information from the webtoon.

‘So Genelocer…’

Genelocer was the target and the motive for the original webtoon’s protagonist and his allies.

The maddened Genelocer destroyed empires and kingdoms along with numerous cities within them.

Later, the protagonist, who would come to be known as the Dragon Slayer, and his allies united precisely because they sought vengeance against Genelocer for destroying their homelands and killing their families.

Lois slowly reviewed the original content.

Shortly, scenes and dialogues from the first episode of the original work revived one by one in Lois’s mind.

‘Didn’t the story begin when the protagonist left his village after it had been burned to ashes?’

The rapid progression followed Genelocer’s destructive introduction.

Then came the vengeance-seeking protagonist amid the ruins of his incinerated village.

In other words, the original work’s narrative began only after Genelocer had already become the Mad Dragon.

That’s why Lois found it all the more unbelievable.

“Lois?”

“…”

Look at the affection in those eyes directed at him.

How could Genelocer, with such gentle and benevolent eyes, be considered a Mad Dragon?

With that, Lois formed an assumption.

‘The current timeline must be before Genelocer, no, Father becomes the Mad Dragon.’

Frankly, to even label it an ‘assumption’ seemed ridiculous.

Otherwise, Genelocer wouldn’t be leisurely performing parental duties here; he would be off somewhere causing destruction if the original story had begun.

At that realization, Lois’s face took on a thoughtful expression.

‘This is getting interesting.’

In every novel and webtoon he had read, transmigration typically occurred right at the start of the original story’s events.

But Lois had transmigrated to a point before the original story had even begun.

“My son… Are you feeling ill?”

Lois bit his lip as he looked at Genelocer, who watched him with concern.

Then he returned to the initial question.

‘What was it… Exactly why does Genelocer, no, Father become the Mad Dragon… Ah!’

As Lois pondered, phrases uttered by Genelocer in the original work began to flit across his mind.

‘Destroy them all… Destroy them all!’

‘You humans, with tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of blood and spirit sacrificed, comfort the soul of that child.’

‘If it can console the child who lost their life due to your arrogance,
I shall drench the entire continent in blood!’

Indeed, Genelocer was bellowing those words in the original work.

Triggering a chain reaction of memories, Lois remembered.

‘That’s right! It was said that Genelocer’s hatchling died because of humans.’

A detail he had glossed over while reading the webtoon for the first time.

And that was the existence of the hatchling that Genelocer had and the fact it was killed by nobility from an empire.

‘And that drove Genelocer insane. Wait a second?!’

Lois’s eyes widened and he asked Genelocer urgently.

“Father! By any chance, do I have siblings, like a brother or sister?”

“Siblings? No, you are my firstborn.”

“Then, are there plans for more children after me?”

“No, there are none. Your mother and I promised to raise just one well. And creating offspring doesn’t happen overnight… And currently, your mother is…”

Missing his wife, perhaps, Genelocer’s expression grew distant.

However, Lois had no time to concern himself with that.

Chaos reigned in his mind.

‘Wait just a minute?! If there weren’t any before and there won’t be any after, does that mean I am the first and last child of Genelocer? Which means… that means?!’

As his thoughts intensified, Lois’s complexion turned ghastly pale.

Stagger.

He swayed as though about to collapse.

“Son!”

Genelocer rushed to catch Lois, cradling him in his arms.

Lois, soul seemingly sapped, laid slack like a waterlogged teddy bear in his father’s embrace.

Internally, he screamed in dismay.

‘That dying hatchling… That’s me?’

Too shocked for words, Lois could only gape in disbelief.

Indeed.

His death would serve as the catalyst that gets the original story properly rolling.

* * *

A few days later.

Chew, chew—

“Thank you… I’ve had enough…”

“Why not eat some more?”

“I’m not hungry…”

“Oh dear…”

Genelocer looked deeply troubled as Lois put aside his weaning food and slumped back to his room.

“What could the problem be?”

Until last week, Lois was lively like any other hatchling.

Suddenly, all energy had drained from him.

‘Resembling an ancient dragon at barely a month old…’

His child appeared devoid of any zest for life.

Flap, flap—

Look at those lifeless wing beats.

Pity thickened on Genelocer’s face.

“It’s been a week now… What can I do?”

Ever since the day his son asked for his name, Lois’s behavior had changed.

“The cause is unknown; what can I do…”

Struggling with uncertainty, Genelocer was genuinely worried.

“Could the weaning food be to blame? But other dragons are feeding their hatchlings the same way…”

Genelocer, new to parenting, felt his concern deepen.

Lois slowly disappearing into the distance…

Watching the powerless flapping wings of his beloved son, Genelocer made a decision.

“It might be a bit early but… Suppose a toy gift might cheer him up?”

Resolved, Genelocer vanished into thin air from the dining area.

Meanwhile, back in his room, Lois laid on his belly in the middle of the space.

He had experimented with many postures and found this to be the most comfortable.

His mind was in turmoil; he needed at least his body to feel somewhat relaxed.

Yet the gloom in his heart remained unresolved.

Lois mumbled in a morose voice, “…How did the characters in the novels overcome such feelings?”

In novels and comics, there were many main characters with a terminal diagnosis.

They all shrugged it off and rose up as if it was nothing, but now that he faced the situation himself, the future seemed bleak.

Lois’s violet eyes lost their lustre.

A defeated voice escaped his lips.

“So, I was happy to become a dragon… only to turn out to be a dragon with an expiration date?”

An uncertain lifespan.

This wasn’t just a feature of his past life; it had carried over into his current one.

Flashes of his brief previous life raced through Lois’s mind.

‘What exactly did I do wrong?’

Lois felt unjustly treated.

“Exactly what did I do!”

It was too much to bear.

He had asked for little in both his past and present lives.

All he wanted was to live each day in good health.

Yet the heavens seemed to consider even that too great a luxury for Lois, denying him.

‘To die? Again? This futilely?’

He clenched his eyes shut and took deep breaths.

Then, the memory of the treasure vault filled with abundant gold vividly swept through Lois’s mind.

“All that money… and to die without spending it?”

Visions of the mountain of gold turning to dust unfolded before him.

A sense of futility spread through his chest, and a small spark of defiance flared within.

The diminutive spark transformed swiftly into a strong will, infusing Lois with determination.

He sprang to his feet with resolve and exclaimed boldly.

“I am supposed to die? No! I refuse to die!”

Just as characters in countless stories about regression, transmigration, and reincarnation defied their fated demise.

Just as characters he had seen lived their lives grandly and well.

‘Isn’t there any reason why I can’t do the same?’

Others had faced their fate in stories, why not him?

Especially considering he was a character who transmigrated into a work himself.

“I will cling to life with all my might!”

The inextinguishable will shone in Lois’s eyes, a spark of life reigniting there.

An epiphany and awakening came over him, a week after he came to terms with his reality.

Re-energized, Lois wormed his way over to where his scribbling pad was kept.

Laying flat on the ground, he spread out a white canvas and began to focus on the contents of the original work.

‘I must remember the year when Genelocer appears as the Mad Dragon…’

Logically, if Genelocer became the Mad Dragon after losing his offspring, he must have turned mad close to the year his child—Lois—died.

His mind fast-forwarded through the long webtoon series, searching for the necessary information.

Moments later, Lois’s eyes gleamed as he scribbled something on the white paper.

[3589th Year of the Interdimensional Calendar.]

‘That’s the year! The first appearance of the Mad Dragon.’

And that year, Lois would reach the age of 499, just one year shy of becoming a full dragon.

He surmised that that would be the year of his demise.

‘At the age of 498 to 499. That’s when I die. No, that’s when I am supposed to die.’

But he had no intention of going gently into that good night.

‘I have 499 years ahead. I will survive, no matter what!’

If he could survive, he would be rewarded handsomely.

The reward was the future.

‘My mind holds knowledge of the future beyond 499 years. It’s only right to turn the tables with what I know of the future, isn’t it?’

A fire of determination blazed in Lois’s eyes.

Another reason to survive was added to his list.