Chapter 7: “Earth Just Called

The courtyard was a mess.

Chunks of molten stone lay everywhere. Fire ogres were running around in circles screaming things like, "IT'S THE END!" and "I LEFT MY SNACKS IN MY ROOM!"

Yeong-Su stood at the edge of the impact crater, still wearing his royal sleeping robe (it had tiny flaming chickens on it).

Jaemin and Haneul were behind him, holding glowing umbrellas like this was a tourist attraction.

"…What is it?" Haneul asked.

"I don't know," Yeong-Su said, cautiously approaching the crater. "But if it's a flaming alien baby here to challenge me to another duel, I swear I'm retiring."

Kaelira appeared beside him, perfectly calm, as always. "Your Majesty, the object appears to be… mechanical. Not from this world."

"Mechanical?" Yeong-Su blinked. "Like, tech? As in, Earth stuff?!"

Kaelira nodded.

Everyone leaned in.

There, at the center of the crater, was a metallic pod. Half-open. Smoke rising. A weird blue glow humming from inside.

Yeong-Su squinted. "Wait a second…"

A familiar voice groaned from within.

"…Ugh. Why does everything smell like… lava?"

A human hand reached up. A figure slowly climbed out.

Short brown hair. Hoodie. Sneakers. Confused expression. Phone still in hand.

Yeong-Su's eyes widened.

"SUNG-HOON?!"

---

Scene: The Royal Panic Chamber (yes it exists)

Minutes later, everyone had gathered in a smaller, stone-lined war room filled with glowing crystals and loud whispers.

Sung-Hoon sat in a floating chair, still clutching his phone and blinking at the fire chandelier.

"Okay. What the ACTUAL flaming chicken is going on?" he said.

Yeong-Su paced in front of him, panicking. "Dude. Bro. Buddy. You were in the gaming lobby with us. We were just arguing about pizza toppings. You can't just fall from the sky now!"

Sung-Hoon looked at him. "And YOU can't just sit on a throne like you're an anime king with main character hair! WHAT HAPPENED?!"

Jaemin raised his hand. "Yeong-Su got isekai'd. Turned into a dragon. Became king. Accidentally won battles by sneezing. The usual."

Haneul added, "Also we fought a lava ogre army. Ate mystic ramen. He unlocked wing powers during a panic attack."

Sung-Hoon blinked. "You're all insane."

Yeong-Su pointed at the pod. "That thing brought you here. It's tech. But this world doesn't have tech. So how…?"

Kaelira interrupted. "Upon scanning the artifact, it contains an unstable dimensional residue. Very likely from Earth. Possibly… a teleportation misfire."

Yeong-Su turned to Sung-Hoon. "Did you mess with something? Download any cursed games recently?"

"I JUST TRIED TO INSTALL A DRAGON MOD," Sung-Hoon shouted.

Everyone stared at him.

"…Well," Jaemin muttered, "that aged well."

---

Training Room Disaster

A few hours later, Yeong-Su brought Sung-Hoon to the Royal Flame Dojo.

"This place was designed for training new dragons, fighting styles, and rage management," Yeong-Su explained, pulling open a giant golden door.

Inside was a massive arena, with floating lava rocks, fire hoops, punching statues, and one dragon practicing Tai Chi in slow motion.

"So," Yeong-Su said, "maybe you got powers too? We need to test it."

Sung-Hoon frowned. "I feel normal."

"Normal by Earth standards," Haneul said, tossing him a training orb. "You might accidentally nuke something just by sneezing. That's a thing here."

Sung-Hoon sighed. "Fine. What do I do?"

Yeong-Su handed him a scroll labeled 'Beginner Fire Tricks for Accidental Royals' and stepped back. "Okay! Start by channeling your aura—"

BOOOOM!

The scroll exploded in Sung-Hoon's hands.

Everyone ducked.

The explosion ripped through part of the training room wall, revealing a panicking dragon using a tiny umbrella to shield himself from debris.

Sung-Hoon stared at his hands. "I didn't DO anything yet!"

Yeong-Su slowly stood up, brushing off ash. "Congratulations. You've been gifted the power of spontaneous fire detonation. I call it 'Oops Magic.'"

Sung-Hoon groaned. "I want a refund on this reincarnation."

---

Later – Castle Rooftop

That night, Yeong-Su sat with Sung-Hoon on the roof, staring up at the magical sky full of floating stars and glowing flame comets.

Sung-Hoon looked around. "So… you really rule this place now?"

Yeong-Su nodded slowly. "Somehow. I keep getting challenged. People explode. I panic. Then I win. Kind of like life but with more lava."

"…And you're okay with that?"

"No. I'm exhausted. But… I think I'm starting to care about it. The dragons. The realm. The spicy ramen bowls that float to your table."

Sung-Hoon chuckled. "It's not the game we logged into, huh?"

"Nope," Yeong-Su smiled. "But it might be better."

Suddenly, a scroll burst into flames mid-air and dropped between them.

Yeong-Su caught it. Unrolled it. His eyes narrowed.

"What is it?" Sung-Hoon asked.

Yeong-Su stood up, his robe glowing.

"A dark army is rising in the west. And the message ends with: 'Come face me, False King.'"

Sung-Hoon stood beside him. "Another villain?"

Yeong-Su cracked his knuckles. "Yup. But this time, I'm not going alone."