Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor: Chapters 1–3

He loved his mom’s cooking, but his friends always wrinkled their noses as if the pungent sauces and spices hit them like a physical wave.

He dug out the other device in his pockets that could’ve made a sound—his augmented reality portal-lens from XY Technologies.

He slid it on over his eyes. Its clear interface spanned his vision as a single long lens. Transparent neon widgets for stuff like the time, temperature, and weather popped up along the edges of his view.

Mythrealm did have a phone app version, but the controls were much more cumbersome, so nobody wanted to play with the kid who had to use their phone exclusively.

I mean, there are a couple of different family names that are read as Ying, but his is really rare. ’Cause, you know, most of his kids were killed when his dynasty fell. But if your Ying is his Ying, you’re probably from a surviving lineage!

Maybe the voice was his conscience.
But since when were consciences so loud?

"Welcome back. Had fun?” quipped Aiden from across the small round table, twirling his tablet pen with a lazy grin.

All of them were maxed rank and extremely rare.
Trevor’s jaw dropped as well. “Is that an Exalted level ten hydra?” he exclaimed, drawing looks from a nearby table.

Zack drew his hand back as casually as possible so he wouldn’t seem desperate for his phone.

Aiden stared into Zack’s soul with his striking blue eyes, making Zack’s skin grow uncomfortably warm.

Another flash of lightning blanched their faces.

He stared intently at Zack, as if expecting something to happen.

In vivid detail, Zack saw the deepening grooves of Aiden’s contorting expression, the lashing of his tongue, and the individual flecks of spittle flying out of his mouth.

The frothy twister of water around him hurtled toward Aiden as a single shooting stream.

His black-lined fingers splayed to the sides.

The rainstorm gathered into orbs of churning water beneath his palms.

Stop! Stop! Stop! he mentally shrieked over and over.
His hands and the water sphere faltered a little.

Zack’s breath came in short, hyperventilating spurts.

Once he shoved his way in, he ditched his bag on a chair near the kitchen table like it was a ticking bomb, then bounded for his room and slammed the door behind him.

Zack berated himself for running away without figuring things out.

He couldn’t muster the courage to text any of them.

Looking at him talking about revolutionary display pixels and unprecedented battery life, with his movie star looks, sharp suit, and glinting, expensive watch, Zack felt worse about doing nothing but cowering in his bed.

Now, ten years later, he was a billionaire leading the tech and gaming worlds, so prolific that he was instrumental in convincing the Chinese government to drop some of their strict video gaming restrictions.

Zack was so lost in his dreams for the future that the clatter of the front door almost startled his soul out of his body. He lurched up under his covers.

He’d hardly noticed that the rainy daylight had waned from his window.

Since he was only supposed to eat halal meat, prepared according to Muslim traditions, he could only get vegan stuff from the cafeteria.

He subtly moved his hand near the soup, hoping it would spurt over the brim or something.

“Get more water!” it yelled back.
Zack floundered for the kitchen sink.

Nathan and Mr. Lansbury jolted one after another, as if struck by something in their backs. Red and green smoke spewed from their respective mouths.

Transparent, luminous arrows jutted up from Nathan’s and Mr. Lansbury’s backs.

Her face stayed dull and sullen, framed by her red hijab.

His chest heaved deeply, breaths labored.

With sweeping polygons like a virtual construct being rendered, a young man took shape beside Simon—or Not-Simon, apparently.

QIN SHI HUANG
“The First Emperor of China”
Real Name: Ying Zheng
Lived: 259–210 BCE
Glorious unifier of China. Built the Great Wall, commissioned the Terra-Cotta Army, standardized Chinese writing and measuring systems, invented the “Huangdi” emperor title that all you losers used for the next 2,133 years.

Not-Simon snorted, oblivious to Zack’s turmoil.

“He clearly needs considerable convincing to accept me.”

“Why didn’t you come earlier?” he finally choked out, interrupting their banter.

“We didn’t have the resources then,” the First Emperor snapped. “It took a while for us to regain a foothold in the mortal world.”

“I—I’m supposed to explain this to the police?"
“It doesn’t have to be coherent. Just act terrified and confused at any detailed questions. We’ll take care of the rest.”

He was a genius strategist who helped his dad reunite China when he was only twenty. So he, um, had no problem trouncing a bunch of video game nerds.