After I Died, I Recarnated as a dragon lord

Chapter 1: The Last Fantasy

"Ooh! Dammit!"Leo cursed loudly, throwing his hands up in absolute exasperation.

His voice echoed sharply against the cramped, dimly lit walls of his bedroom, which were covered in faded posters of legendary heroes, soaring dragons, and magical landscapes.

"Why is this main character so incredibly weak? I stayed up all night for this? I was expecting to see a legendary, overpowered warrior, not this absolute piece of crap!"

He aggressively repositioned himself on his worn-out mattress, pulling a heavy blanket tighter around his shoulders. The glowing display of his monitor illuminated his face, casting a pale blue light over his tired features.

Leo was a hardcore, unapologetic anime lover.

To say he was a fan was an understatement; he was the type of person who kept a meticulous calendar of upcoming releases, always aiming to be the absolute first to stream any new anime movie or series the exact minute it dropped globally.

This specific movie had been released just two days ago, and Leo had been avoiding internet spoilers like the plague until he finally found a high-quality stream. He lived for these moments.

While the real world around him was mundane, gray, and painfully predictable, the animated realms offered an escape. Leo believed in fantasy elements with every fiber of his being. Reincarnation, ancient dragons, reality-bending magic, mythical realms, and legendary creatures—he devoured stories about them all.

Deep down, a part of him always felt like he had been born into the wrong universe.On the screen, the narrative took a sudden, dramatic turn. The music shifted from a somber, tragic melody to a thumping, high-tempo orchestral arrangement.

The main character, who had been beaten down and bloodied, slowly pushed himself up from the dirt. A strange, luminous aura began to ripple around his feet.Leo leaned forward, his eyes widening.

"Yeah! Okay, hold on... he’s not as bad as I thought," he admitted under his breath, his previous irritation completely melting away as he watched the protagonist’s true skills spark into action.The animation quality spiked beautifully.

The main character drew a massive, ornate broadsword, the blade catching a brilliant, simulated glow.

"If only these things were actually real," Leo thought aloud, his voice dropping to a soft, wistful whisper. He stared longingly at the screen

. "It would have been so much fun. Having real powers, casting magic... it’s just so amazing."He rested his chin in his hands, completely captivated.

Well, truth be told, which anime lover wouldn’t wish for exactly that? To escape a boring, painful reality to possess magical abilities, to continuously grow stronger through sheer will, to ride on the back of a soaring mythical dragon, or to become a powerful ruler surrounded by fiercely loyal allies. Who wouldn't want to trade a normal, exhausting life for a grand adventure?

For a moment, Leo felt a rare wave of complete relaxation wash over him. In his life, anime movies were the only things that truly possessed the power to quiet his racing mind and make him forget his earthly troubles.

As the movie progressed, his initial skepticism was entirely replaced by pure, unadulterated admiration for the main character.The protagonist’s skills, his movements, his overwhelming power—it was absolute perfection.The setting of the movie shifted to a massive, desolate valley under a blood-red sky.

The main character, revealed to be an ancient emperor possessing absolute sovereign power, stood completely alone against an endless, terrifying army of monstrous orcs. The creatures roared, brandishing crude iron axes and spiked clubs, their massive bodies shaking the very ground.Yet, the emperor didn't flinch.With a single, explosive step, the main character launched forward into the monstrous horde.

His speed was utterly unmatched, reduced to a brilliant streak of silver and gold light on the screen. He practically teleported into the frontline of the enemy, his sword slicing through the massive orcs as if they were nothing more than soft pieces of bread.

Terrified screams and guttural death rattles echoed from Leo's speakers as the main character slaughtered multiple monsters in a matter of seconds. Every swing of the blade was an exercise in flawless martial art.

"Damn! He’s amazing!" Leo screamed at his monitor, throwing a fist into the air. "He’s literally slicing through them like a piece of cake!"

The animation cut to a dramatic close-up of the emperor's glowing eyes. He spun on his heel, launching himself toward an even larger contingent of heavily armored orcs. With a blindingly fast motion, he unleashed a flurry of multiple slashes directly into the empty air.

At first, it looked like a missed attack, but within a fraction of a second, the latent mana of the world reacted violently. Waves of condensed, razor-sharp energy erupted from the blade.

Through the pure manipulation of mana, the air itself fractured into visible, glowing arcs of destruction.Each individual slash instantly took position in mid-air, floating for a microsecond before rocketing toward the advancing orcs.

The slashes moved with a terrifying, supernatural unison. They twisted and turned through the battlefield as if they possessed a living, breathing consciousness of their own. Instantly diving directly into the mid-sections of the front-line monsters, the energy blades cut clean through armor and flesh, ending their lives in a single heartbeat.

"Yeah! Amazing move!" Leo shouted, jumping slightly out of his chair, completely swept up in the adrenaline of the scene.

"Keep going! Cut that b*tch down!"On screen, the battlefield was a chaotic symphony of dark fantasy warfare.

Deep crimson blood rushed out from the orcs' severe injuries. Some of the massive beasts collapsed instantly, clutching their severed mid-sections, while others stumbled blindly, trying to hold together different parts of their broken bodies.The remaining monsters hesitated.

The sheer, overwhelming brutality of the emperor's power forced a collective shudder through their ranks. They looked at the mountain of their fallen kin, their savage confidence wavering. However, their bloodlust and sheer numbers quickly overrode their fear. Realizing they still heavily outnumbered a single human, they let out a synchronized, earth-shaking roar and launched forward together, intending to completely overwhelm him.

Their monstrous faces twisted into wicked, confident grins as they pressed onward, a tidal wave of muscle and iron closing in from all sides.The main character simply lowered his sword, his expression entirely bored.

~You monsters really have guts, charging me like that,~ the emperor spoke, his voice vibrating with absolute authority through the audio track.

~In that case, I shall give you all a final gift—a quick death.~

The main character sprinted forward to meet the horde, his body leaning low to the ground, his magnificent sword glinting brightly under the harsh sunlight of the animated world. A brilliant, blinding magical light suddenly enveloped the entire length of the blade, crackling like wild lightning.

With a series of multiple, instantaneous strikes that turned the screen into a kaleidoscope of flashing colors, the charging army was completely wiped out. The environment settled into a heavy, silent stillness

."Wow... what an amazing move," Leo whispered, his voice full of genuine awe. He was leaning so close to the screen his nose was nearly touching the glass.

"This is seriously one of the best main characters I've ever come across in years."He blinked, waiting for the transition to the next scene.

"Is it over?" Leo thought aloud.

THUDDDDDD!

Suddenly, a violent, cataclysmic shockwave blasted through the animated surroundings on screen. The sound design was so intense, the bass so profoundly deep, that Leo felt the phantom rumble of the power vibrating right through his desk and into his own chest.

~You human! How dare you slaughter my men!~ the new orc bellowed, his voice a guttural, terrifying roar.The emperor simply tilted his head, a cold, mocking smirk playing on his lips.

~You mean those weaklings?~ the main character asked, his tone dripping with absolute mockery and disdain

.And with that declaration of war, the massive orc started running at full speed toward the emperor, his twin battleaxes held perfectly in position, ready to cleave a mountain in two.With an answering burst of speed, the main character sprinted directly toward the oncoming titan.

As they closed the distance, the space between them seemed to warp. The two entities attacked mercilessly, their respective weapons colliding into each other with a deafening metallic screech. Bright, violent sparks flew across the screen with every single clash. The choreography was breathtaking.

The emperor used his agility to deflect the massive axe blows, while the Orc King used his sheer physical enhancement to match the warrior's speed.Blood spilled out violently across the screen.In that exact same second, Leo felt an odd, sympathetic pang.

He tightly clenched his own chest, wincing with a sudden flash of vicarious pain as he watched the animated blood continue to pour out of the protagonist.

"Ouch, that's gotta hurt," Leo muttered, his hand pressing firmly against his sternum.The emperor lowered his head, his long hair casting a shadow over his face. But he didn't fall. Instead, a low, dangerous chuckle escaped his throat.

~I see nothing but hollow pride,~ the emperor said, his voice dropping to a demonic whisper. ~You insolent fool. I wouldn't dream of going down without cutting you to pieces first.~

Leo, completely lost in the magic of the moment, found himself gripping his shirt, his heart hammering against his ribs. He felt so deeply connected to the scene that he actually spoke the protagonist's feelings out loud, roleplaying along with the screen.

"I wouldn't go down without cutting you..." Leo whispered enthusiastically.On the screen, a magnificent, brilliant golden mana began to flare violently from the emperor’s body, lighting up the entire dark canyon.

~Ultimate Move,~ the main character began to chant, his sword singing a high-pitched note of condensed magical energy.

"An ultimate move?!" Leo exclaimed, a massive smile breaking across his face, pure happiness and hype slowly rising within his chest. "Oh man, things are about to get real interesting!"

The emperor raised his sword high above his head, the golden mana condensing into a single, infinitesimally thin line of absolute destruction.

~Tenth Form: Devastation.~

The moment the words left the character's mouth, the entire color palette of the anime inverted. Everything on the screen completely froze. The wind stopped, the falling dust suspended in mid-air, and the Orc King's triumphant expression locked in place. In a literal blink of an eye, a golden flash crossed the screen, and the emperor was suddenly already standing perfectly still at the back of the Orc King, his sword slowly being sheathed.

~Your brutal life ends now,~ the emperor commanded.

CLICK

.The sword snapped perfectly into its scabbard. In perfect sync with the audio cue, the Orc King’s massive head was cleanly cut off, sliding from his shoulders before the entire screen faded into a dramatic, pitch-black silence. The credits began to softly roll.

"Amazing!" Leo cheered, his voice breathless with excitement. "His speed was so cool! I didn't even notice he moved! I'm seriously amaze—"

But before he could even finish his sentence, a sudden, violently sharp pain shot directly across his chest.It wasn't a phantom pain from the movie this time. It was a localized, white-hot agony that instantly made Leo double over, his hands desperately clenching his mid-section.He tried to take a breath, but his throat locked up.

The air in his room felt entirely like solid lead. He couldn't breathe. A wave of cold, primal terror washed over his mind. He was suffocating. He couldn't escape this.Leo had been deeply sick for a long time now. He had a severe, chronic respiratory illness that progressively destroyed his lung capacity.

Every now and then, his lungs would experience sudden, violent spasms, completely cutting off his oxygen supply and making it momentarily impossible for him to draw air. He knew how dangerous it was. In fact, he was supposed to have headed straight to the hospital earlier that afternoon when the initial wheezing had started.But he had been completely captivated by the release of the movie.

The flashing lights, the grand fantasy world, and the thrill of the adventure had made him completely forget his real-world fragility. He had chosen to ignore the warning signs for just one more hour of escape.And now, his body was paying the ultimate price for his negligence.

He collapsed from his chair, hitting the hard floor with a dull thud. The monitor above him continued to cast its cold, indifferent blue light over his struggling form. He thrashed weakly, his fingers clawing at the carpet, desperately trying to force his lungs to expand, but they refused to cooperate. His chest felt as though a vice was crushing his ribs into splinters

.'So... is this really how everything ends for me?' Leo thought, a profound, heavy grief crashing down upon his consciousness. He looked around his dark, messy room, realizing how entirely isolated he truly was. No family nearby, no friends to hear him, nothing but a room full of fictional heroes.He internally scoffed, a mental laugh twisted with deep bitterness.

'I've always lived such a miserable, lonely life.'He had spent his existence watching other people—even fictional people—live out grand, meaningful destinies while he sat in a dark room, slowly wasting away from a broken body. It felt so incredibly unfair.Slowly, hot tears began to roll down his pale cheeks, driven by a mixture of intense physical pain and overwhelming mental frustration. He didn't want to die like this. Not on a dirty floor, alone, at the edge of a forgotten night.

"I guess... it really is the end for me," he thought, his final defense mechanisms giving out.

With that final, sorrowful realization, the violent pain in his chest began to strangely numb, replaced by a heavy, freezing coldness. His vision started to blur rapidly, the rolling credits on his monitor dissolving into indistinct shapes. The room faded away, his strength completely evaporated, and then, slowly, Leo lost consciousness, sinking into an absolute, silent void.