Where am I?

Brain freeze!

His head throbbed with freezing pain, like he had swallowed a bucket of cold ice cream down his throat and the effect was freezing his brain.

He slowly fluttered his eyes open, but his vision was blurry and so he couldn't see so clearly.

He tried nonetheless, trying to force them open, trying to see.

Echoes of voices plunged through his mind, scattering, vague and incomprehensible.

He blinked repeatedly, trying to see what was in front of him.

His eyes finally opened.

He was laying on a bed, now staring at the ceiling, trying to comprehend what was happening.

Some seconds ago, he was at the forest where they defeated the skeleton monster, and now, he was here, in this room?

A large mirror stood by his right, on the wall, and beside it was a table where two swords lay.

Drahon managed to get up, still sitting on the bed though.

The ceiling was plain, not a single thing hanging on it, not even a fan or bulb.

Drahon blinked twice, trying to come to reality.

Beside the bed was a much smaller table than the one beside the mirror, and on it was a piece of paper.

Drahon picked it up, curious, and read what was written on it:

'Open the door and go to the hall'

Drahon stared at it for a much longer time than was needed to read the contents. He dropped it back on the table and chairs, walked slowly to the window, trying not to think too much or begin to wonder:

'Where am I?'

He just wanted to let things unfold itself.

He looked at the large mirror and could see himself on it. Still the tall teenager with…. Horns?

Drahon touched his head, wondering why his horns were still on his head.

The Horn Shroud skill had ensured him that it would cover his head for as much as he wanted and can only be visible in battle, so why could he see his horns?

If he was going to go to the hall with one, it would be very suspicious, and the players might wonder why it was on him.

When he had entered the portal and arrived at the hall where they were briefed on the game world and the major types of dragons, the place had been so crowded it was hard to see each other.

And he was crammed between a lot of people who didn't pay his horns attention, even the lady who had been talking, no one had noticed his horns.

But now, if he was to walk through a lot of people to the so-called hall, he would be seen very clearly for sure, and that could give him out.

Not that it was anything to be ashamed of, but someone with horns would be considered weird, and he did not want that.

He looked around the room more fervently, trying to find perhaps a cap or something he could use and cover his head.

A shelf full of books lay at the far end of the wall at his left-hand side, and as he went to it, trying to find something to wear and cover his horns, he saw a row of books which he ignored, not even wanting to take a glance at the cover.

Finally, after scouring desperately, he found a hat.

To be honest, he would have preferred a face cap as that would make him cool, but this too was okay.

The hat wasn't like the normal ones he knew. The only ones he knew were wizards' hats though. He couldn't really form a picture of a hat in his mind that wasn't a wizard or a witch's hat.

He was even surprised that he found one, as he hadn't actually expected to.

He had expected a bucket or a really large cup, at least something that concealed his horns.

The hat was round and the brims were well trimmed. It was also brown in colour, and if one was to take a wild guess, one would say it was a cowboy hat, as it had this striking resemblance to it. Like something you could wear in the wild west and take crazy shots with it.

Drahon flipped it upside down and looked inside before deciding to put it on, just to be safe and not to take any risks.

Seeing nothing, he put it on and went back to the mirror, looking at himself.

The hat carried a resemblance of a cowboy's alright, and Drahon could almost picture himself in the wind west, a gun in his hand.

But that wasn't the purpose. Imagining about crazy stuff wasn't the purpose too; the purpose was to conceal his horns, and his hat had done just that.

His horns still had a bulge though, two bulges actually, and that was from his horns.

Drahon shrugged. It wasn't that noticeable by the way, and it was big, so he was sure no other player would suspect a thing.

He went back to the table and picked up the paper, then he read it again:

'Open the door and go to the hall'

You know, he hadn't been so obedient.

The words were open the door and go to the hall.

It was a command actually, and here he was, trying to cover his horns.

It was not that he cared anyways. Level one had been so weird and vague it just didn't make any sense. At first, the dragon game had sounded like somewhere to enter, make friends, have fun, with a sprinkle of danger.

In all the novels he read at the orphanage library where people entered into video games, it was just to explore and not to be controlled by some in-game voice or having to see a lot of people die.

People might die, but not so quickly as he had encountered in the dragon game.

And that was what made this game world super weird.

But he would have to see and find out. Moreover, the voice had told them that level one was more of a trial, like a starter, to the real stuff…

Right?