Warmth. That was the first thing Jin Huang noticed.
Warmth against his cheek, beneath his arm and wrapped around him like an expensive blanket.
Jin Huang frowned. Why was he sleeping while standing up?
No. He was sitting.
He blinked slowly, then blinked again.
His vision cleared in fragments, revealing gd in his immediate vicinity. An unbearable amount of gold.
Gold walls and gold pillars. Gold floors polished so brightly that they reflected the entire room like a mirror.
He squinted.
Was that… a dragon carved into the ceiling?
No. Several dragons... and they were moving!
Jin Huang's eyes widened. Those were not carvings.
Massive golden-scaled dragons coiled around towering pillars that disappeared into the heavens above, their luminous eyes half-lidded as they watched the hall below like silent guardians.
He jerked upright, and something soft slipped from his shoulder and fell into his lap.
It was a silk blanket.
He stared at it. Then cautiously looked around. That was when he realized he was sitting on a throne.
An actual throne.
A massive structure of white jade and gold sat atop an elevated platform, overlooking a court so vast it resembled an entire city housed beneath a roof.
Thousands of figures knelt below him.
Some were human. Others were spirits, winged beings, horned creatures and armored giants.
Phoenixes perched along distant pillars. A serpent large enough to swallow buildings coiled around one side of the court.
And at the very center, an elderly man was still kneeling mid-sentence.
"…and therefore, Your Majesty, I humbly request that the western sea dragons be swiftly apprehended, brought to the Heavenly Chef, dipped in various spices and promptly barbecued for your consumption."
Silence filled the hall. The old man looked up carefully.
Jin Huang stared at him. The old man stared back, blinking.
Jin Huang slowly turned his head to glance at the others in the court, then looked behind him.
Then beneath him.
Then at his own robes.
He was dressed in flowing garments of black and gold that shimmered like liquid sunlight, with an ornate crown sat slightly crooked on his head.
Several rings glittered on his fingers.
He looked back at the old man. "I'm sorry. What?"
The old man immediately slammed his forehead into the floor.
"Forgive this servant if he has spoken poorly! My mother always said I needed to take my time and sound my words-!"
Instant panic erupted throughout the court as winged guards rushed the old man, grabbing him by his arms and leading him to the dungeons.
Surely, execution awaited him.
His voice echoed through the halls, "SIRE! PLEASE! I HAVE A SPEECH IMPEDIMENT! I BIT MY TONGUE THIS MORNING, LORD! I- I- SIRE!"
"No- wait- uh." Jin Huang was had been trying to speak up, but the guards had long vanished with the old man.
He stood abruptly, and the entire court visibly trembled.
"Why is everyone so scared?!"
Terrified silence was their only answer
He rubbed his face. This had to be a dream. Or maybe he was dead. Or concussed.
He vaguely remembered being hit in the face repeatedly by…
His expression faltered.
By who?
Something stirred in the back of his mind.A battlefield. Ash. A shadow. Someone that looked like-
The thought vanished completely before he could fully grasp it.
Jin Huang frowned deeply. Whatever it was had felt important before he forgot it.
He began wondering why he couldn't remember clearly, but then someone spoke up.
"Your Majesty?"
Jin Huang looked down. A woman was standing near the throne platform.
Her silver hair flowed to her waist, and elegant antlers rose from her head like branches of moonlight.
She was a celestial deer spirit. For some reason, his mind accepted that information immediately.
She bowed gracefully. "The ministers still await your ruling."
"My ruling on what?"
She blinked.
"The western sea dragons, Your Majesty."
Jin Huang stared blankly, then gazed toward an enormous blue dragon kneeling among the ministers.
He looked back at the deer spirit.
"…there are sea dragons involved?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"…and barbecue?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Well..."
The entire court went deathly silent, waiting with bated breath.
"Barbecue sounds delicious. Let's go with that."
The deer spirit fell to one knee and nodded, "As Your Majesty wishes, your humble servant will make it so. It shall be the dragons' great honor to be eaten by He who governs the Heavens."
Jin Huang froze.
"What do I do? G-Govern what?"
She gestured outward, a soft force causing the massive palace doors to slowly open.
Jin Huang turned, and instantly forgot how to breathe.
Beyond the court lay an empire that stretched beyond sight. Golden cities floated among the clouds.
Phoenixes soared between towers. Titans hauled entire mountain ranges in the far distance.
Rivers of liquid light flowed through endless kingdoms. Dragons ruled the skies. Millions upon millions of beings bowed the moment he stepped forward.
A thunderous cry erupted from beyond the palace.
"GLORY TO THE ETERNAL KING!"
"GLORY TO THE ETERNAL KING!"
"GLORY TO THE ETERNAL KING!"
The heavens themselves seemed to shake.
Jin Huang stood frozen at the top of the palace steps, gentle wind tugging at his robes.
Countless lives knelt before him.
This was absolute power. Absolute wealth. Absolute authority. Everything he could ever imagine.
Despite the strange emptiness clawing at the edge of his thoughts…
Despite the lingering feeling that he had forgotten something precious…
A slow grin spread across his face.
"I can't even pretend this isn't awesome."
Three months passed. Or perhaps three years.
In that world, time flowed like honey; slow enough to savor, fast enough to lose track of.
At first, he treated ruling as though it were a joke. He made absurd decrees just to test whether anyone would object.
"From this day forward, all royal banquets shall include roasted duck."
"It shall be done, Your Majesty."
"The palace kitchens must remain open at all hours."
"It shall be done, Your Majesty."
"I want the eastern cloud dragons to stop fighting the cloud giants over control of the weather."
"It shall be done, Your Majesty."
"I want someone to explain taxes to me."
That last one had caused an elderly minister to weep tears of gratitude.
Everything was effortless. Everyone obeyed.
If he wanted music, music came. If he wanted treasure, mountains of treasure arrived.
If he wanted rare delicacies, entire nations competed to present them.
If he wished to see a celestial circus of many-headed serpents, immortal clowns and unicorns balancing on balls, he would see just that.
At first it was incredible. Then it became comfortable. Then it became routine.
Eventually... it became unbearable.
Jin Huang sat atop his throne of white jade and gold, thousands kneeling below him as always.
They praised and adored him, yet he had never felt more alone.
The musicians played flawlessly as the dancers moved perfectly. The food tasted exquisite, and his kingdom prospered.
The people worshipped him, but every smile felt rehearsed- every conversation hollow
Every interaction ended with bowed heads and fearful obedience.
No one argued, no one challenged, no one dared to laugh at him, or tease him- no one treated him like a person.
Only a god.
"Gods," he surmised, "must be really lonely."
"Your Majesty?"
Jin Huang looked up.
The antlered woman stood beside his throne, as beautiful and composed as ever. "Your afternoon entertainment has arrived."
He stared at her, "Do you know my name?"
She blinked. "My king?"
"My name."
There was silence, and she lowered her head. "You are the Eternal King."
"Yeah, but that's a title," he sighed.
Suddenly, he stood, causing her to gasp. His heartbeat quickened as he looked around the grand hall.
At the kneeling ministers. At the dragons. At the spirits. At the thousands of faces.
"Does anyone here know my name?"
No one answered, and no one moved. The silence was suffocating.
Only then did the memory strike him like lightning.
A battlefield. A shadow wearing his own face.
Faintly, the words echoed in his mind.
My path is mine.
Jin Huang staggered backward, and the throne room blurred.
"No…" He looked at his hands. They were the hands of someone who had been handed everything.
"Damnit... this isn't real."
The entire court froze. The deer spirit's expression cracked for the first time.
"Your Majesty…"
"This isn't real," he repeated, suddenly frustrated.
The sky outside began trembling as the golden towers flickered. Dragons froze mid-flight due to the illusion beginning to strain.
The deer spirit stepped forward desperately. "You have everything here."
Jin Huang laughed bitterly, "That's the problem, isn't it? I have everything I could ever dream of."
As he spoke, he looked around at the endless kingdom. The wealth and power he now had. The worship.
The perfection.
Strangely, all he saw now was emptiness. A beautiful prison built from his shallow fantasies.
He had no equals- no friends. There was no more growth. No more struggle.
Just a throne surrounded by kneeling strangers.
His voice softened. "I have everything, but I also have nothing. Not even a life. I'm just... living."
He spat the last word out as though it had deeply and personally offended him.
The palace cracked, its golden walls fracturing as the sky shattered like glass.
Panic erupted across the illusion. The creatures screamed and the kingdom collapsed.
The deer spirit reached toward him. "Your Majesty! Save us! Save your kingdom!"
Jin Huang smiled sadly, then shook his head.
"Even if I'm wrong, and this is real... I'd gladly sacrifice it all to go back to what I had before."
The entire world stopped.
Then, it shattered into endless light.