Chapter 2: Hope

A groggy feeling rose in Haruki’s head. His eyes flew open to a pristine white ceiling.

‘Where the fuck I am?’

He pushed himself up and surveyed the surroundings. A pure white room with nothing but a bed exclusive to him.

“You idiot. How can a dragon almost die in a truck crash? You’re… such a hopeless kid.”

A woman’s voice echoed, saying some not-so-nice things about a dragon almost dying in a truck crash.

Haruki turned to his right and his eyes stretched in disbelief.

A woman sat cross-legged on a red couch holding a pipe in her hand. Her ruby hair cascaded down to her raven dress, which barely covered her long legs. Her most eye-catching feature was the black horns curving behind her head, giving her the appearance of a demon from a fantasy manga.

She was hands down the most beautiful woman Haruki had ever met. The statement was considerably heavy coming from a guy with decent experience in two worlds.

The woman’s lips curled up in a bright grin, as her crystal-clear golden eyes narrowed to slits. “You won’t be getting out of this with compliments. Tell me. Why did you not use the system?”

‘Did she just read my mind? What System?’

“Yes. I did.”

Mind reading was the worst kind of privacy invasion in his humble opinion.

“Who’re you? What is this ‘System’ and ‘Dragon’ you keep talking about?”

“Huh? You don’t remember me?”

“I don’t think I met you before.”

Haruki wasn’t the type to forget a piece of art like her. Could she be the goddess who reincarnated him?

A whirlpool swirled inside her eyes before her pupils widened in shock. “I-It can’t be.”

“What happened, love?”

“I… I forgot to activate your system.”

“...”

This goddess was on another level. No, she was on another plane of existence. She reincarnated him but forgot to activate his cheat.

Such blasphemy!

“I’m sorry.”

“First of all, who are you?”

“Arch, the mother goddess of all dragons and luck.”

The goddess of dragons and luck reincarnated him. This was shady. Too shady for his taste. He was one of the guys who read every sentence of Terms & Conditions so it didn't come to bite him in the ass later. A goddess wouldn't reincarnate him without a reason. It sounded like she was making excuses. Otherwise, why would she not notice for seventeen years? Then again, he was a normal human with more than average strength. He wasn't a wuxia protagonist or an idiot who would scream at a goddess for this. She might just swat him out of existence just for that.

“I can understand your suspicions. The reason I chose you is something personal.”

Personal? Did his handsome visage charm this goddess?

“Keep dreaming.” she rolled her eyes.

‘What a bummer.’

“So, any reason you have hauled my dead ass here?”

“It was to save you. Though it was unnecessary since someone else already helped you.”

“Who is it?”

“See them for yourself after I send you back. What were you doing chasing women around the city when your mother worked her ass off every day? Don’t you have a conscience?”

Haruki chased women to find someone else other than his mom. He didn’t want to creep out his only family because of his forbidden feelings. With a handsome face and decent body, his luck with girls wasn’t that bad. He received love letters now and then. But the girls in his school didn’t turn him on. Only the mature women did, and none of them wanted a long-term relationship with a student like him. With his experience, he could easily start a successful business. But he was too lazy to even try. Even if he did, his mother wouldn't have accepted the money for she had an EX-class stubbornness.

“Were you watching me this whole time?”

“I was,” she answered in a matter-of-fact tone. “I also remember you jacking off to incest hentai. It was a little… weird.”

To think she even watched that part of his life—her dictionary lacked the word privacy!

"It was just once..." he said. "Okay?"

“You, do you really love your mother… as a woman?”

“Of course, I do. Now you’re being an idiot for asking an obvious question,” he ignored her deep frown and continued, “What did you want me to do in Nasuverse?”

He refused to believe a mean woman like her sent him to Nasuverse out of kindness.

“Conquer the world.”

“You wanted a normal human to conquer a world full of gods and spirits. Not to talk about the Ultimate Ones of other planets.”

A planet’s consciousness was known as the Ultimate One such as Type Mercury and Type Venus, but Gaia and Alaya weren’t a part of them. Earth had a blonde vampire instead. It literally took the definition of ‘Fighting against the whole world’ to another level. Not to mention she didn't activate his cheat.

He stared at her with disappointment in his eyes.

“I did say I turned you into a dragon,” she said, pouting her cheeks. “I just forgot to activate your abilities. It would still be a bit difficult, but you could have managed just fine with the System.”

Abilities and System… Haruki got more and more curious about this System she kept mentioning.

“Are you so bored that you’d send a random guy to conquer a fictional world?”

“I have my personal reasons. Let’s leave it at that. I’m about to send you back with your new abilities. Try not to die before conquering the world.”

“Yes, Ma’am! Can I ask another question?”

“If it’s about your mother,” she said with a sigh. “I cannot help you in any way. My powers will break the fragile fictional world held together by imagination. The only way I can interact with it all is through you. The Holy Grail, even if corrupted, can resurrect your mother.”

There was some hope. Turning that into reality would require a shit ton of effort. He will still need a servant to participate in the war. The war had long started, and the servants should’ve been summoned. Sakura informed him a week earlier about everything. He’ll have to settle with one of the seven servants.

‘Who do I choose though?’

The strongest and the most arrogant blonde antagonist and Heracles were out of the question. They will never cooperate. Archer was fated to be summoned by Tsundere Tohsaka. That left him with Lancer, Saber, Rider, and Caster.

Lancer was a cool dude, someone Haruki could get along with. Artoria was the ticket to an easy victory, and Rider was strong enough to give the legendary King Arthur a run for her money. Caster was the weakest servant as every other servant had something that could resist or counter her magecraft. However, she was also the one Haruki liked the most. She was one of the most tragic characters in Greek mythology. Besides, who doesn’t love and cheer for an underdog?

“Actually, you will find a servant near you when you wake up.”

“Who is it?”

“Find them yourself.”

She caressed his cheeks with her warm hand. He found it oddly familiar. Before he solved the mystery of the familiar sensation, his eyes started to droop.

‘This goddess and her fetish for knocking me out.’

Haruki still couldn't wipe the grin off his face.

‘Fuyuki Holy Grail War, here I come!’