1 June 2021
12:00 PM (UTC)
Earth
This 'Time' marked the weekly end of the Night. For one year, people had been vanishing and becoming Dreamers regularly. But there was someone who had forgotten the concept of 'regular'. For some people, he probably had died last year.
'This is a dream, this a dream, this… wait, something is wrong,' a thought flashed within Aldrich's mind.
[…
Life Analyzation Failed
Commencing Forceful Termination of the Dream Phase…
…]
But this time, Aldrich had found some time to act on his sudden insight.
"This is a dream. I am sure of it. I remember hearing a sound by the end of the 2nd chant, but I didn't hear it just then."
Aldrich hurriedly came out of the tent. The world looked familiar, and yet everything was wrong with it. Aldrich saw the horizon of this 'World' had been breaking down like blocks of Legos. And beyond it was a dark abyss. Aldrich had a feeling if this breakdown were to spread, he might never wake up. This wasn't the first time Aldrich had gained lucidity in his dreams.
But that had been the first time when he would have to fight for his life while trying to maintain his lucidity.
The most effective way Aldrich had thought of was to put back the fallen pieces. But the rate of two processes, falling apart and restructuring, differed too much. The world's boundary was now only a couple of hundred meters away from him. Even with all the knowledge, Aldrich felt pity for himself for not being prepared enough.
'Is there nothing I can do?' Aldrich thought, looking at the crumbled pieces of his dream some 10 meters away.
'Dying like this won't be that bad, right?' the darkness was now only a few meters away.
At the moment of his imminent death, Aldrich had an epiphany that the only chance to keep his consciousness would be to answer his third question.
'What am I? What am I? I won't get an answer to this question that easily.' Aldrich closed his eyes.
The earth beneath his feet was now a mere rock in an ocean of abyss.
'Then let it be unanswered. I would answer another question.' Aldrich decided.
He reached into his subconscious and pulled out a question, a question that had an answer.
Aldrich looked at the darkness around him and said, "What will I be?"
He spread out both his arms, embracing his death, and shouted, "I WILL BE THE MASTER OF MY DREAMS."
Would people be able to tell the passing of time if there was no reference for it? But Aldrich knew that time had stagnated in that dark abyss.
A sudden wave of sleepiness washed over Aldrich and a point of light flickered in the darkness. A starry fabric, which seemed to envelop a globular object, soon followed the flickering light. Aldrich couldn't move, even his thoughts were betraying him. But he could perceive a mass of veil within the depth of this darkness.
He felt a gaze moving up from his feet. It was like millions of ants had been crawling their way up. The gaze soon reached his chest and his slowed down heart shivered in response.
Chin, lips, nose, Aldrich's eyes, which couldn't be closed now, regretted their decision.
BOOM!!!
Aldrich's mind imploded as his eyes met with that mass of Dark Veil. It's like someone had crushed his head with a bat from all directions.
[ERROR]
[ERROR]
[ERROR]
[…
Rebooting System…
Generating New Class…
Life Analyzation Complete
Assigning Class…
Terminating Dream Phase
…]
*
Milky Way Galaxy
The planet UGF-P02 was a place everybody knew of, and yet they didn't have access to it. One could have called it one of the Galaxy's most sought-after mysteries. But how could one call it a secret when one could have confirmed its existence?
In the galaxy, there was such a place that was neither known to exist nor one could imagine it.
But today an inhuman scream that shook the nearby stars had made it come to light. And in the middle of this place now stood a disappointed old man. The annoyance on his face became apparent when he looked in a particular direction.
Behind him, even in the deep black of space, shadows churned, and a person came out of it. The Shadow-Wearer was the first to feel the quakes in Mana, being the nearest to its epicenter.
"My… My Lord, what happened just now?" the Shadow-Wearer asked.
The old man's chest was now heaving up and down with frustration.
"Did you also get the notification?"
"Yes, my lord, it was for a moment, but I saw 'ERROR' on the screen. I couldn't believe my eyes. How could there be an error with 'Record'?"
The same question was eating the brain cells of the old man.
"Did you tell anyone about me?" he looked at the Shadow-Wearer, calming down his rage.
But his calmness signified destruction to others.
"No, how could I do something so foolish? I assure you, my lord, there is no one except him, alive or dead, who knows about you," the Shadow-Wearer answered.
"My lord, do you think the other galaxies had some hand in it?"
"Humph!!! Do you think it is that easy?" the old man again eyed the same direction.
The Shadow-Wearer became silent. He thought, 'There are still secrets that I am unaware of.'
"Let's go. We have company. Find me another place soon and the sooner the better," the old man ordered.
Both of them faded in the vastness of space.
*
A huge fireball appeared like a mini-sun at the same place where the old man had been standing. And King Alvis came out of it. A mass of light, a tempest of Mana, and a tsunami of pressure soon followed him.
King Antiochus, Queen Eluned, and King Hagen all shared the same puzzled look at King Alvis.
"Did you find anything?" Queen Eluned asked.
As the fastest among his peers, it was no wonder that King Alvis might have chanced upon something.
"No. But the Mana here is being repelled by something." King Alvis gave his opinion.
"Repelled? More like something has scared it away." King Hagen said.
Both Kings eyed each other.
"Is this the time for your squabbling? Don't tell me you didn't see the notification?" King Antiochus said, almost in a reprimanding voice.
"What do you think it meant by 'ERROR'? I searched through all the documents and couldn't find any mention of it," Queen Eluned said.
"I don't know. But I prayed to God, and by his grace, it's nothing bad for Galaxy," King Antiochus said, almost in a preaching tone.
'Humph! Not bad, my foot,' the Queen could only retort in her mind.
"We must find out what happened here. Let's put out a notice to find anything that might seem out of place."
Everybody nodded at King Alvis's proposal and went back to implement the idea.
After some time, one could see a silent ripple in the space, and a person came out of it.
"Why does it feel so familiar? Am I missing something?" the person muttered, seeing the reconversion of Mana.
-------------------------------------------
Author's Note: We have caught up with Prologue 2. Let's see what MC will think about the System