At the edge of the world, in an uncharted territory so forbidding that neither humanity nor any living creature could possibly set foot, a single dragon surveyed the world from atop a sacred peak that pierced the clouds and aimed to rend the heavens.

“────”

To this dragon, "living" was mere inertia—a monotonous, meaningless existence. It harbored an unfathomable loathing for its creator, who had brought such a futile and worthless self into being, and spent its days wasting time without purpose.

As a creature who could be said to be "dead" in spirit, it sought to find the meaning of life through diversions, even now.

Though "diversion" might sound innocent enough, for beings like these—endowed from their creator with omniscience and omnipotence, the very fabric of the world's laws—most activities amounted to little more than trifling amusements. They were mere distractions to squander the eternity-like span of their existence.

For them, this was what "living" entailed.

Dragons of the same kind would generally gather at this sacred peak. Sometimes they conversed, sometimes they clashed, and sometimes they devised new ways to kill time. However, such meetings were exceedingly rare, occurring perhaps once every few centuries. Today, as usual, the only dragon present on the peak was the one known as the Dragon of Chronos.

“────How boring.”

The dragon’s first utterance as it gazed down upon the world was a languid lament. It yawned widely, then tilted its head back to gaze skyward, though even this was hardly enough to stave off boredom. Another great yawn followed. If only one of its kin had been present, they might have served as a conversation partner. But as previously mentioned, the dragon was alone here.

Where the other dragons might be, or what they were doing—this it did not know. Nor did it care. Eventually, they would show their faces at this sacred peak, or so the Dragon of Chronos believed. Unlike its peers, it was somewhat of an indoor type, spending most of its time here. Once again, it yawned deeply and looked to the sky.

On this peak, bereft of any diversion worthy of the name, the Dragon of Chronos occupied itself with what its moniker suggested—chronomancy. Among the seven dragons that existed, each bore a unique power. This dragon could steal glimpses of the past and the future, and manipulate the timeline as it pleased.

For instance, it could take a self-serving, despicable noble who had met a miserable end and send their consciousness back into the past with all their memories intact.

“Now, how has that one fared, I wonder?”

To the creatures crawling upon the earth, such a power was akin to that of an omniscient, omnipotent god. But to the dragon, it was merely a whim, a passing fancy, to exercise its abilities. Lately, its favorite pastime had been observing the second life of one such foolish young man.

Sending him back to the past on a whim had been entertaining enough at first, but the young man’s subsequent struggles exceeded the dragon’s expectations.

“To think he’d pick a fight with the Shadow Stalker...”

Recalling the scene, the dragon chuckled softly to itself. The laughter grew louder, unstoppable—a mirth it hadn’t felt in two centuries.

Rare moments like these were why the dragon couldn’t give up its chronomancy. On several occasions, the Dragon of Chronos had nearly destroyed the world with this power. Yet even the danger and thrill of such acts were part of the joy of observation.

For the ordinary creatures striving to live in this world, it was nothing short of a nightmare. But for this being, gazing down upon the world as a transcendent species, it was simply a privilege.

And truly, it was of no concern to the dragon. If the world were to perish due to a mere "diversion," so be it. Its stance was unapologetically self-centered. Yet it was allowed, for it was a transcendent species, permitted to gaze down upon the world.

Thus, the young man who had been whimsically granted a redo in life was about to reenter the academy—home to countless traumas from his first life.

“Well now, what strange and wondrous things will he show me this time?”

Just one insignificant human life—yet it thrilled the dragon to no end.

Once again, atop the sacred peak, the dragon smiled serenely. At this moment, it felt certain that it was truly alive, more than any other being in existence. That certainty filled the dragon with joy and satisfaction.