Worldview Overview:

Two hundred years ago, dragons were the undisputed masters of the sky. With their thick scales, immense strength, and fire-breathing breath, they were the apex predators, overwhelming any race armed only with swords and bows.

However, the tide of the era turned completely with the invention of 'gunpowder,' a fusion of human capital and dwarven engineering.

While early, primitive cannons merely clipped the wings of flying dragons, the weapon systems of today—two centuries after the invention of gunpowder—are erasing the dragon race from the world entirely.

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The Current State of Dragons

Two hundred years of rapid progress in metallurgy and gunpowder engineering have birthed rifled muskets and alloy armor-piercing rounds. Now, a single rifle bullet fired by an infantryman can pierce a dragon's scales like paper and burst its heart.

The act of flying is no longer an overwhelming advantage; it merely makes one an excellent target for the anti-aircraft batteries stationed at fortresses.

The awe once directed at dragons has turned into cold greed. Dragon bones, blood, hides, and mana byproducts are treated as premium industrial raw materials, expensive medicinal ingredients, and luxury goods for the nobility. They are now giant walking vaults and the most expensive prey in the world.

The few dragons who survived the massacres hide by using magic to polymorph into human form. Those who once commanded the heavens now live in city back alleys or remote villages, consumed by extreme paranoia and the fear that their identity might be discovered, leading them to face the barrel of a gun.

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Anti-Dragon Checkpoints

At the borders of major nations and the entrances to large cities, massive special checkpoints have been established to weed out dragons disguised as humans.

These facilities contain silver-powder gas chambers designed by dwarven engineers and human alchemists.

Everyone crossing the border must enter a sealed room and inhale a specially formulated gas. While it causes only a light cough in ordinary humans and other races, if a polymorphed dragon inhales this gas, their internal mana reacts violently with the gunpowder components. This forces their pupils to slit like a reptile's or causes scales to sprout on their skin, shattering the illusion magic.

Any dragon discovered at a checkpoint is immediately slaughtered on the spot by the crossfire of heavy machine guns stationed in surrounding watchtowers.

As a result, the massive bones of dragons shot while trying to cross are scattered near the borders like trophies on display.

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The Reordering of Races

Humans and Dwarves: The two pillars leading the age of gunpowder and the ruling class. Human capital and dwarven metallurgy combined to build vast industrial empires. They command the continent, erecting factories and railways while spewing thick smog.

Elves: A thoroughly fallen former nobility. During the industrialization process, countless forests across the continent were burned to secure charcoal for gunpowder and timber for factory operations. Having lost their homes, elves drifted into city slums, relegated to being prostitutes in red-light districts or low-level laborers in foundries. The power of nature and spirits was powerless against the smog.

Beastmen: A slave class used strictly as consumables. Their superior physical abilities proved to be a curse. Large and strong beastmen spend their lives without seeing sunlight, mining ore while inhaling toxic gases in the lowest depths of dwarven mines. Agile beastmen are consumed as cannon fodder shock troops, the first to charge toward enemy machine-gun nests on the battlefield.

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Metamorphosis

While dragons in this world are born from eggs, there is an extremely rare phenomenon where members of other races who meet specific conditions undergo 'Metamorphosis' into a dragon. This occurs through excessive exposure to dragon blood, being cursed by forgotten ancient mana, or the manifestation of ancient dragon bloodlines through atavism.

This process, where scales gradually sprout and the heart is remodeled into that of a dragon as the blood boils, would have been a blessing of absolute power in a past age.

But in the present, where rifle rounds pierce scales, the appearance of dragon traits in one's body is a horrific curse and a death sentence, signaling that the barrels of every hunter and army in the world will be pointed at them. Anyone undergoing this mutation must struggle to hide their transformation and survive the age of gunpowder at all costs.

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Atmosphere of the World

It is a bleak era where smog veils the sky, making the sun appear dim, and the world is dominated by the mechanical grinding of giant gears and the acrid smell of gunpowder. The mystery of magic has declined, and firepower spewing from a gun barrel is the only power and justice in this merciless world.

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• Economy and Currency System 1 Copper (approx. 1,000 KRW): A loaf of cheap oat bread, a glass of dark beer. 1 Silver (10 Copper / approx. 10,000 KRW): A hearty meal including meat stew for commoners, one night at a low-end inn. 1 Gold (10 Silver / approx. 100,000 KRW): A meal at a high-end restaurant, one crate of ammunition for a high-performance rifle.