The player fell back down, his toes lightly falling on the ground. A blue ripple wave formed around his legs as he touched the lush green grass.
Tiara narrowed her eyes and sensed some power in it. "System, Character Stats," she whispered to herself and the voice echoed in her head.
"Player Name: ButtBoi. Level 12.
Race: Royalty [809th Disciple of the Blazing Phantom Sect]
Skills: Hidden."
Tiara stepped forward as the Monster disintegrated into the air, the golden light emitting from it moving into Buttboi's body, making the air around him glow. Tiara clutched her head as fireworks exploded again inside.
"A Player next to you just levelled up! +10 exp."
Tiara was more than confused now. He had just defeated one monster. "Is this system broken?" She asked, tapping her head.
"No I'm not," the voice echoed inside her head. "-2 exp for doubting the Dream Cultivation System."
"Eh! What?" Tiara screamed and looked at ButtBoi who was now watching her in fascination. He giggled and sheathed his dagger. "Lesson 1: Don't cross the System."
He placed a hand to her heart and she watched in fascination as the same blue wave ran down his arm and hand and finally passing through her beggar clothes into her body. She felt a fiery sensation rushing throughout her.
"What, what was that?" she asked Buttboi. He smirked and took his hand away,
"That Monster was a Dark Dead so it had lots of passive energy (Qi) stored inside. I transferred its remaining HP and energy into me and now I'm transferring some of the HP to you using my ability. I would have transferred the Qi too, but you're not a cultivator yet. And you look ridiculous in that Beggar get up."
Tiara stuck her tongue out at him as the transfer was complete and a screen popped up in front of her.
"Congratulations, you're on Level 1!
Deposited:
200 spirit stone(s)
1 potion(s)"
Tiara smiled at him and caressed the screen which finally showed something other than 0. "Thank you, brother."
He stepped back in surprise, "How'd you know it's me?"
"Only you have a sister who nicknamed you ButtBoi when you were 5," Tiara rolled her eyes, "I was about to meet you at the fountain."
He scoffed, "Yeah at this rate, you would have taken 1 year to reach there. Didn't you get a potion or something? Why didn't you use that to tame the monster when it was still harmless?"
"I…I didn't know what it was for."
He sighed and nodded before pointing to something behind her. Tiara frowned and turned around to see a shining orb glow in the air. She reached forward and wrapped her hands around it. The glow disappeared and what remained was a few loaves of bread and a glass of milk.
Her eyes shone in happiness. She pouted in joy and looked at Mitchell, "F-food…!"
He laughed and nodded, "Go on, take it."
She took a bite out of it and stopped to savor it. "Wow, it actually tastes good." She drank the milk too and a relief rushed through her. All this felt too real. Too vivid.
After she was done and her HP was back on track, she asked her brother, "What is this game? This is wusha based right? What are we doing in the real world right now? Sleeping?"
He nodded, "It's wuxia, Tiara. I'm right next to you, on the hospital chair. But stop thinking about the real world. The more you think about it, the more your HP drops."
"What?" she asked and opened her stats again and sure enough, her HP had dropped by a few counts. Above that, was that timer again.
[Time Left- 00:03:43]
"Oh no we're running out of time," she observed and looked at Mitchell in worry, "You said you'd tell me something, say it fast."
He looked around and spread his hands outwards before closing his eyes and muttering a few words. With a slight twist of his wrists, a fluorescent blue bubble formed around them, cutting out the noise of the wind, the rustling leaves and the birds.
Once the formation was complete, all was silent. Only the low sound of their breaths were heard.
Tiara touched the walls of the small bubble before little words glowed on the surface and disappeared. "Sound Proof."
She nodded and looked back at him, "Now, who tried to kill me?"
"Remember the person you were back then? All feisty and angry every time you saw someone being bullied?"
Tiara nodded, little memories surfacing in her head. Their school had been a bully hub. And everyone just stood by watching the weak get thrashed on by the higher ups. It was mostly the rich boys who were the bullies and the sight of males made her even angrier.
She had made sure she was there to stop every one of them. Sometimes, she failed but most times, it made an impact.
"And…and did you ever think whose life you were putting in danger by doing that?"
Tiara shrugged, "Nobody's. I was just keeping everyone safe. If I didn't then who would have?"
"Wrong. By doing that, you put only one life in danger."
Tiara laughed sarcastically, "Don't tell me it's yours."
"No! It's yours, you airhead! That day of Yuki's 12th birthday party…you crossed with Goren didn't you? And why didn't you tell me?"
Tiara folded her hands and looked away. "So what if I crossed with THE Goren? Why should I rely on you anyway?"
He sighed in frustration and rubbed the bridge of his nose… 'I feel like I'm still talking to a 12 year old.'
"Because!" Mitchell yelled, seeing the timer dwindle down to 1 minute, "Goren is a big shot. You know his dad, right? He can do anything he wanted because he has the money. Seeing a broken pencil stuck in Goren's eyes was enough to trigger his entire family. And when he found out that the person who did that to their son was a girl…."
"So what if I'm a girl! Don't I have hands, legs and a beating heart? Can't I have feelings, happiness and sorrows? Are boys the only ones that can rage? Why not us? Aren't we humans too?"
"That's too many questions, little sis."
"Too many questions that deserve to be answered! Because the fucking male system dominates the entire world. I know what you're trying to say. Goren's dad was the one who tried to kill me, right? Because I was girl who powered over a boy," Tiara laughed in frustration. She was about to say more when the voice beeped inside her head.
"-20 HP for swearing."
"ARGHH!!" she screamed at the System, pounding on the sound proof walls. "I hate this place! Get me out, Mitchell! I said, get me out."
Mitchell simply stood there, watching Tiara throw a toddler tantrum. She fell on the floor and screamed just like the kid she had been.
Mitchell placed a hand on his head and waited for the timer to run out, 'When will this girl ever learn…'
[Time Left- 00:00:03]
[Time Left- 00:00:02]
[Time Left- 00:00:01]
The air around them convoluted and the ground got pulled into the ground, Mitchell and Tiara falling with it. Her screams died down into nothing as the entire game morphed into a flurry of colorful swirls and sparked into black.
Tiara threw her eyes open and panted, taking in short, quick breaths. Her eyes were red and her nose almost bleeding. The finger of her right hand moved now, clutching the white sheets of the hospital bed tightly.
Mitchell opened his eyes slowly and saw his sister in pain. His eyes were slightly red too, and his head throbbed with a dull pain he had gotten used to. It happened every time he Dreamed. It was a side effect.
On Tiara, it was much more severe because it was her first time. Mitchell got up and held her hands to calm her down. He was surprised at the fact that her finger of one hand could move now.
'So,' he thought, 'The doctor was right…'
He grabbed some water from the side table and poured it into her mouth, trying to provide relief but she coughed it out along with more blood.
She reeled and met Mitchell's eyes, her own eyes tearing up, "Don't take me back there again. Please." She coughed again, unable to contain the pain she was feeling inside her body.
Mitchell nodded sadly and bent down to pick up the fallen syringe. His hands curled around it tightly and pocketed it. The doctor had said there would be side effects and despite that, Mitchell had agreed to the experiment. But seeing his sister now, he wondered if he had made a mistake.
But the things the doctor was offering in return if this goes through were quite tempting and Mitchell knew that Tiara was only one of the few people who could make this happen.
Who else had an empty yet developed mind other than a re-awakened long term coma patient?
Mitchell went to the door and knocked on it. The nurse standing outside caught the signal and opened the door. She worked under the Project Dream System too. Undercover, of course.
"So? Did it work?"
Mitchell nodded, "But she is in pain."
The nurse smiled nevertheless, "It worked, that's all that matters," she said and walked inside to administer sedatives to Tiara.
Mitchell stared at the wall in front of him, unmoving. His hands curled into a tight fist, knuckles going white. 'Why did I think for a moment that you all cared for my sister? All you want was the experiment. I bet if Tiara died in the process, you would just shrug it off and go for the next test subject.'
Mitchell gritted his teeth, now deeply regretting his actions and walked out of the hospital. He found an abandoned place outside the parking lot and leaned against the wall and took his cigarettes out.
He closed his eyes as white smoke billowed through his nose, calming him temporarily. The next time he opened them, he saw a sleek black car driving out of the parking lot and stood up straight and threw the cigarette on the ground and crushed it under his leather boots.
It was that nurse. And judging from the things that had happened, Mitchell guessed where she was going. To collect Tiara's to-be Yang pair for Partnered Dreaming.
The brother immediately ran for his bike and kick started it to follow the car into the busy highway. 'I'm not letting you guys off the hook that easily. At least let me see what kind of guy Tiara is going to be paired with.'