I was feeling bad for myself when a message appeared infront of my eyes. Just, hovering in the sky, like a helium-inflated balloon.
One long tablet with sharp edges and beautiful designs with rose gold, which matches the hue around the screen that was moving with the wind, and something was written on it.
+
[ The Exclusive skill False Awakening has been activated. ]
+
The letters extruded from the screen, emphasizes the message. I didn't even fully sink the information in me when another screen - complimented the one before and mysterious - appeared in front of me.
+
[ The Exclusive skill False Awakening has recovered your reasoning. ]
+
' huh? Exclusive Skill.?' It seems I got an Exclusive Skill and as it's name suggest, these are Exclusive skill, which means they are unique for every individual, and I am surprised that I got one.
In this world, people who have Exclusive skills can be counted in three-digit, which shows how rare they are.
Billions of people inhabiting a planet but only less than a thousand people have Exclusive skills. Normally only powerful higher existence has exclusive skills, which define them. An Exclusive skill is like a signature skill.
Higher existence, The gods, choose their names and positions based on their exclusive skills.
Well, thanks to the Exclusive skill I got, I feel a lot calmer now. I took a long breath and tried to lift my back with the support of my elbows.
" Sigh..." a sigh left my mouth that I couldn't hold, after what I saw.
Out of all the things I could have seen, all I saw was her back. She was standing with her back facing me. It was like she was trying to give me some privacy. I cleared my throat with a cough.
"Cough. You can look towards me. I am not some little girl. "
Feeling calmer now, thanks to my Exclusive skill. I felt like all of this is becoming tedious. I should not be wasting my time here and should be doing something.
" Oh really? But by how fast your heart was beating and how softly you whisper, I could have mistaken you for some little girl. "
She spun around, her arms crossed on her chest supporting the weight of things that only women know. A simple smile rested on my lips as I lifted my body further and sat on the ground with crossed legs.
" Well, It looks like you have already recovered. "
Persephone's chin went up as she spoke and it felt like I was some peasant who has denigrated his queen.
" Recover? I was just a little surprised that's all. "
A tint of annoyance bulged on my forehead, and I formed a sly smile as I teased her back.
" With how you blushed. I could have mistaken you for being more than surprised. "
Now that I am calmer, I could retort to her. Persephone's mouth opened a little but had nothing to say, so it just went back up. Her squinted eyes pierced at me, she seemed offended but still in the midst of all that I noticed a hint of red on her slightly pointed ears
I finally got back at her. Feeling a sense of achievement, I put strength on my calves and pushed up on my feet to stand up.
Focusing back on what happened. I spoke while patting my back thighs and hips, trying to get the dust off them before putting my hand in my pockets.
" What happened? I kind of felt like my soul was trying to merge with your soul. "
Persephone turned her head to her left, releasing a build-up of air through her nose as her chest fell with it.
" ...It wasn't that your soul was trying to merge with mine. Your soul was trying to devour my soul. "
I squinted my eyes and raised an eyebrow. I thought she was trying to tease me again, but I noticed the expression on her half side of the face which was facing me, and realized that she was being serious.
Words suddenly got stuck in my throat because It was just like she said and I had the same feeling. But I thought, what a person - who just started breathing in this world - would know, but if she felt the same then It might be possible.
What I said and What she said were technically the same thing, but devouring a soul is a lot more serious than merging with another soul.
" It seems you have a very strong soul... But the pull-- "
Persephone, who was still gazing towards the sea. Her words reached my ear as she mumbled on her own, but I could not hear what she said at the end, it was too low for me to hear. I was also thinking about something similar and I was going to ask what she said but Persephone shook her head.
It looked like she was denying her own thoughts, so I shut my mouth. She was still thinking about something so I turned my head to look around, eyeing everything around me, taking in the air, the smell of shore, tasting a little bit of salt on my lips, and there was only water, as far as I could see.
I recalled that Persephone said, this Island is situated between Atlas and Oceanus, also that Atlas was relatively closer than Oceanus.
Technically, I could go anywhere, as no country had any restrictions to enter. Anyone can visit any continent or country, by giving basic information.
Each nation, country, and continent claimed to have enough military and someone to patrol the street from each hour to each dot second, and also recruit enough new recruits to replace the retirees.
Even if Oceanus is an underwater country, I could still go there, but humans and its residents can easily be distinguished there. Underwater habitats have different physical appearances than terrestrial people.
Even though they all once were normal people. Dark matter made people there go some physical changes to easily adapt underwater.
I concluded that the surface continents seems safer if I want to be discrete. I need to be careful, I am too weak to be impulsive now. I closed my eyes again to focus on whatever I could remember from my dreams, and if I remember correctly, Atlas's major citizens are Demi-humans.
Most of the surface continent is occupied by humans, especially in Modern Continent, it would not be irregular for a human to be present on any part of the land.
As much as I would like to go to a Sci-fi like futuristic city. It is half a world far. I guess I will be going to Atlas.
Even though I have dreamt about this world. It will be much easier If only I could remember it more easily. It was hard to recall ten years old information.
Sigh...
I sighed, there is nothing that I could do. I took a step forward to walk toward Persephone, as my eyes opened and instead of a beautiful face, a new fancy-looking tablet - similar to the rose-gold one - appeared in front of me. But this one was of different shades of light blue which gave the effect like it was frozen.
+
[ 1 New message has been received. ]
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I got another message, no wait a minute, it's not like other messages. They were more like notifications of tasks complete but this one was an actual message.
Surprised, my eye widened a little as I closed my hand into a fist, the fabric of my pants brushed against my skin.
I just arrived from a different universe. Who can send a message to me here? Who is it? Who could knew that I would be here?
I was already curious as to why no Higher existence or employees have sent a comment to me. It might be because I am on an isolated island. There was nothing interesting to see here. At least not until I arrived from another universe.
The beautiful crystal screen slid upwards and another similar crystal screen - faded - appeared in its place, as slowly it cleared and the message became readable.
[ Do you wish to check the message? ]
Impatiently, I said Yes in my mind, curious about the message sent to me and hoping to find some answers.
Once again like before, the screen slid upwards with the first screen and another blue crystal screen appeared slowly clearing the fog and revealing the message.
[ You have one message from ▟ ▀ ▞ ▌]
As soon as I finished reading, all the screen disappeared in a blink and another big blue crystal, with beautiful carving, appeared with a flash.
[ Hello,
Sorry, I don't you how to address you. You might don't know who I am. I was one of the fans of your work. The World you dreamt about was really interesting, thank you for dreaming about it.
I know the audience criticized it but I know you still loved your dream. I also think it was amazing.
I want to thank you for not giving up and bringing your dream to reality.
▔ blank_2711
*P.S- I made a copy of what you wrote. So I am sending you it as an attachment, I hope it will help you. ]
I was shocked beyond comprehension. The message itself was way too much of a shock to me, but I was more surprised to see the Handel name at the end of the message, 'blank_2711', skepticism grew inside me.
It was the i.d of the person who encouraged me the most when I posted my Journal online. How did this message was sent? and How did this person knows that what I wrote, was about my dreams? I never told anyone. No one knew about it, not even my own parents.
Another irregularity surfaced in my mind. Why there was an i.d name at the end of the message but strange letters at the notification panel?
At some point, my head went down and I realized that I was looking toward the ground. I noticed something again flaring at my eye level and I only raised my eyes to look at the message.
[ 1 attachment has been sent. Do you wish to view it? ]
Considering different ridiculous hypotheses, I hesitated at first. There were so many questions in my mind and this all seems very suspicious but also mysterious. My eyes turned to Persephone, she still seems to be in her thought. Maybe still thinking about the how my soul tried to devour hers.
Curiosity then got the best of me, and I wished to open the attachment. I was excited.
The screen obediently slid upwards and another appeared in its place.
[ Attachment: Battle_Though_the_Dream_World.txt ]
'Battle Through the Dream World', a melancholy settled on me as one corner of my lip went upward. It was the title that I had gone with at the time, when I decided to put my story online. Now I realize how much of an amateur mistake that was.
It really sounds like a book where a protagonist would be going through rash life to conquer some kind of mystical world. There was a high audience at the beginning when I first published it, but it dropped to 3 digits around two hundred chapters, then it was just fifty around chapter eight hundred.
After the Thousandth chapter audience was around twenty to thirty people, but the dream is all I had. so I never stopped and wrote more than Four thousand chapters.
I still remember people commenting that the Novel is too long and they want to read about some protagonist. The book was like a history book listing important events of a mysterious world in great detail.
Some encouraged me to keep publishing more chapters. But after Two thousand chapters, they got sick of it. There were only five or six people who were still reading it. 'blank2711' was the only user that was still reading after four thousand chapters. Even I didn't know why.
I pulled my hand out of my pocket and reached for the screen in front of me. My finger made contact with the screen - I didn't even feel like I touched something - I just knew that I had to do that.
For the second time, all the screens disappeared and another screen appeared with a long list.
[ Dream_1 Dream_2 Dream_3 Dream_4 Dream_5 Dream_6 Dream_7 Dream_8 Dream_ 9 Dream_10 Dream_11 Dream_12 Dream_13 Dream_14 Dream_15 Dream_16 Dream_17 Dream_18 Dream_19 Dream_20 Dream_21 Dream_22 Dream_23 Dream_24 ..... ..... ... ... .... .... ..... ..... ..... ..... ... ... .... .... ..... ..... ]
It was packed with it, it was like going through a web novel online, but something was different. Realizing that it was not the chapters I posted. Because when I uploaded my 'battle through dream world', they didn't have 'Dream' as the title. It was not the story I uploaded back on my planet. It was my journal.
This whole message situation became even more suspicious to me. Anger and confusion welled up inside me, what is happening here? My hand went straight toward where 'Dream_1' was.
I clicked on the first dream and then it went dark as I heard a voice.
' I had a weird dream today, it was so real. I don't know what to think of it '
I heard the first phrase I wrote in my journal. Resounding in my head. In my own voice.
I could only focus on the screen before me and my surrounding seemed hidden in a bright white mist.
As I read further, my own voice echoed in my mind like a narrator.
***
[ In the vast universe, where the possibilities seemed endless. In that same universe, there was a planet named ' Teraa '.
It was the most normal planet anyone could think of, humans were the ones who lived on this planet. Humans stood on top of the food chain, and many took that fact for granted.
They lived their lives as usual. Children went to school, most of the adults were going to their jobs, and housewives were taking care of their homes. Some people were robbing other people, some were indulging in their pleasure.
Everything seemed normal and then suddenly waves around the surrounding changed. Everything became silent like it was a vacuum in the middle of the space, and then, chaos broke out... ]
My face crumbled with cringe. I wrote the starting chapters too dramatically, I comforted myself.
I heard the words that I wrote in my head. It felt like I was watching a narrative movie with my voice to some extent.
Still unable to focus anywhere else, I tapped where Dream_2 was written.
' I had a similar dream again, it felt so real. Nevertheless, It was amazing. I saw a beautiful girl in it, Is this what people call a Dreamgirl? '
I again heard The first phrase written by my ten-year-old self. I felt embarrassed hearing it. Then another Narrative scene took place.
[ Dark Matter was spreading across the universe, most people were too confused to understand anything. In the city of New Haven, Connecticut, a girl could be seen running on one of the college halls. She was around of age 24 years.
The girl had blue hair falling till her waist. Her body was well matured with all curves at the right places. She had a fairy-like face but coldness could be seen deep within her eyes. She was in her lab coat and blue shoes, which she had over a white blouse and dark blue jeans.
She was running through the corridor and she was not the only one. Students, Teachers, Staff-faculty, everyone was running all over the place to find a secure location to hide. An announcement was going on.
" Students are requested to assemble in the auditorium hall. Teachers are to guide the students to the auditorium hall. People are requested not to create panic. I repeat-- "
The girl's shout can be heard in the middle of the chaos.
" SARA!... SARA!... ...SARA WHERE ARE YOU?! "
She reached the end of the hallway. Everyone was running past her. She looked around then she heard the voice of the person she was searching for.
" HEY! ICE PRINCESS HERE! "
Ice princess was the nickname her friend Sara gave her. It was because of her popularity and the cold attitude she have around her.
" Good. I found you, quick we need to get out of here. "
" Wait, Crystal. Go where? they are telling us to assemble in the hall. "
" The Yale is being surrounded by zombie-like creatures. Normally I would have stayed but if they really are zombies then even a scratch is fatal. I don't think staying with so many people is a good idea. "
Sara thought Crystal was right. Crystal always thinks with a rational mind, so she instantly trusted her.
" So where should we go? "
"Let's go to the opposite direction of the auditorium hall. "
" Lead the way Ice princess. "
Little did she know, 'Ice princess' will be the name that the world will remember for centuries.... ]
It was similar for other chapters, each focusing on people who became important figures in my dreams. For the rest of the Ten to twenty dreams, I only saw how everyone managed to escape from their situation. Each one was like an introduction of them.
Lifting my both hands - from the mist covering my lower portion - and folded one arm on my chest and the other supported the weight of my chin.
Thinking, how many chapters were only introductions, I Eyed the whole tablet, looking for a random number. Then fingers left my chin and went where 'Dream_50' was sticking out from the screen.
[ Both leaders were walking through the forest with some people behind them, it was a dense forest. Normally nobody would have dared to come so deep into the forest.
But the new people who came to the temporary base said there were some items that can be used for transportation deep in the forest. With the world changing so much, normal vehicles didn't hold up, they required some other method.
" Is it a really good idea to trust new people? "
A boy around age 25 with emerald hair and blue eyes spoke. He had an average body. He was wearing a leather jacket on a military uniform. Despite his thin body, he had an extremely handsome face and with his emerald hair, he looked almost like an elf. He had a friendly aura and seem very approachable.
" Peter, Aren't you just afraid that we will find strong monsters inside? "
" Sara you don't have to tease me like that. I just want everyone to be safe. "
The emerald hair boy's name was Peter. He was also second in command in the ranking. Peter and Sara were arguing when an ice-cold voice was heard.
" Stop it both of you, we need to find the items here. "
" Crystal I don't want to repeat what I said earlier but we are in The Amazon. This used to be home to the most deadly animals before cosmic arrive 2 years ago and now it will be more dangerous. "
" Crystal, since childhood we know how cautious peter is but he is right. We also used so much fuel on our helicopter to come here. "
Another Person was Crystal. She is the leader of the group.
" Shhh... I heard some movement. "
Hearing Crystal's words, everyone got into a battle stance.
Then a shadow emerged behind the tree. The expression of everyone present there changed as soon as they saw it.
The shadow was 5 meters tall.