Chapter 3 - The Return

"Chrome… Chrome… I know this is your summer break but you still shouldn't be this lazy, wake up!"

"Hah!" Hearing the voice that he usually found a bit annoying for waking him up from sleep, Chrome almost jumped out of bed, slightly panting as if he had just gone through a 1-mile run…

"Mom!"

"You don't need to shout that loud if you just want to continue sleeping, I will just leave you be… but don't come complaining to me when your sleeping schedule is ruined again!"

Chrome opened his eyes wide as he stared at his mother, still unsure if it was just him hallucinating. At this point, and after what he went through, he didn't know what was real anymore…

"Why are you staring at me like that?! God! Did you really want to sleep that much?! Whatever, suit yourself, breakfast is ready if you want to join us though…" mistaking Chrome's frantic stare as a strange angry reaction of his, Chrome's mother, Sarah, turned off the lights before heading out of the room.

'Calm down… let's assess the situation first…'

Same as before, Chrome understood that panicking and throwing guesses would only be a useless waste of energy. Faced with a positive change for once, he started regulating his breath as he looked around first.

'This is my bed alright.'

Despite the light being off, Chrome was able to affirm that he was in the same familiar bed and the same familiar room. His heart felt a lot more light as he finally affirmed his doubt.

'I'm back!'

As far as memory took him, Chrome was sure that his abnormal dream, or whatever it was had ended with him crying his heart out in fear of having to live through that dangerous reality alone for the rest of his life. The headache that almost crushed his head combined with the sad feedback that he received from the strange alter had only made it worse that the only thought in his head was sleeping escapism.

However, the bed he slept on was actually his parents' and not his. In addition to his mother's appearance at the start of the day, this much was more than enough for him to conclude that he was back from the dark reality!

Taking a tissue from the box that was on the desk beside his bed, Chrome wiped off the sweat from his face as he hastily left the room to confirm one more thing.

"Oh Chrome, you actually woke up this time… I'm impressed." His father's familiar sarcasm reached Chrome's ears as soon as he reached the dining room. Sitting beside his mother at the table, the second piece of the puzzle had been confirmed!

Seeing both of them waiting for him to appear for a few minutes before starting their breakfast as they usually did, Chrome ran towards the two, giving them both a hug from behind.

"Oh my, what's the celebration-worthy occasion for this to happen…" Sarah smiled lightly as she used her arms to return a semi-hug to her son who seemed to be behaving abnormally today.

"It's nothing, I just wanted to tell you both that I love you." Chrome hastily retrieved his arms, feeling a bit shy about his impulsive action and the words that appeared to come out of nowhere. Unlike him who almost had a mental breakdown, his parents had no idea what he went through.

"Alright, alright, just sit down so we can enjoy this breakfast together," Adam, Chrome's father, seriously said with a smile before muttering in a small voice, " Don't forget to check if he has a fever later, Sarah."

"Dad!"

"Heh, I just couldn't help it. Seriously though, what's different today?" Adam asked while putting a piece of fried egg in his mouth.

"I just had a bad dream…" Chrome was momentarily lost in thought after giving an answer before quickly changing his response, "Actually, scratch that. It was a nightmare."

"Wow, it must have been quite the bad one, if it scared our big boy Chrome into behaving this way!" Bemused surprise appeared on Adam's face as he opened his mouth in fake shock, before going back into his serious tone, "Perhaps I should wish for more days like that."

Knowing that this was just his father's sarcastic nature, Chrome wasn't bothered by it that much, trying his best to enjoy the sight that he was inches away from losing. Moreover, Adam wasn't exactly wrong considering how Chrome usually behaved distantly, it was only now that he started to realize how much he was missing on.

Since the day coincided with both of his parents' days off, Chrome awkwardly spent the whole day with his family, as he, for once, felt that life wasn't all about staying locked up in his room, reading or playing on his phone and fishing out for empty enjoyment…

`~~`~~`~~`

'There's nothing to fear…'

As time passed by unusually fast with how much Chrome had been enjoying it, the sky darkened and the night quickly came. It was time to sleep once again.

While Chrome tried to completely forget about what happened in his dream, he was completely incapable of shrugging off his thoughts about it. His anxiety was suppressed enough to not show on his face, but the remaining fragmented memories in his mind prevented him from calming down as soon as he got into his bed.

'Whatever it is, my reality is still there!'

Fortunately, with this lovely day setting an example, Chrome felt greatly reassured. The dream that he could always wake up from by sleeping was no longer that scary. In fact, it could count as an extra day-time with an interesting twist. As long as he wasn't trapped inside 'that' reality, he could even accept the constant headache and confusion.

"Goodnight, Chrome, have a good sleep!"

"Goodnight mom!" wishing his mother a good night in return, Chrome closed his eyes as his hesitation to fall into deep sleep faded away, totally carefree about what he would wake up to…

`~~~`~~~`~~~`

"Ah… I'm back here as expected."

Waking up this time to find himself in his parents' bed, it didn't take Chrome long to understand that he was once again back to this strange, alter reality.

'It's different this time though…'

Compared to his first time, not only did Chrome feel like he had slept properly for a while before waking up, but he also didn't start the day with receiving more annoying fragments.

However, that didn't mean that his head was back to normal. Rather, everything he received from the last day was still in there, only that it was getting clearer and clearer by the second, turning understandable that they no longer like garbage that uselessly crowded his mind.

'I'm not sure about the memories, but the dream occurrence sequence might be related to my sleep schedule…'

Unlike the last time when he had stayed up till midnight reading, this time he had gone to bed early at 10 PM just like the rest of the house did for the first time in a while. As such, Chrome believed that this might be the reason he got to enjoy a few hours of normal sleep before finding himself here.

'Let's first go through some of these memories first…'

Now that he could translate them into proper information, the complete memories directly fit in Chrome's mind as if they were part of his own memory. According to the now reliable knowledge, Chrome's mind was currently in place of a parallel version of him!

This alter or counterpart Chrome, much like him, was just an ordinary person, albeit not that average though. Just like the current Chrome was, he was in the special class by being slightly better than normal. Getting slightly better grades, being above average in most things he tried out… Unfortunately, still being ordinary was apparently more of a sin in the alter reality, something that Chrome couldn't relate to.

In Chrome's normal reality, not everyone was born to be a genius, he could be happy or just going with the waves with just being above average. However, the alter Chrome who was likely the source of these transmitted memories and feelings couldn't say the same.

In this Extraordinary world where a large fraction possessed miraculous abilities, with even the average ones possessing moderately high Exos Emission rates, Chrome possessed both the lowest Exos Emission and Exos Growth ratings!

In the normal world, even those that had no special talents could still succeed as long as they put more effort in the right place. On the other hand, being born with the wrong statistics or awakening a useless power was the same as being thrown to the very bottom of the ladder.

'I understand you now…'

After going through this short yet hazy memory recap, the majority of the emotions that had gone wild the day before made sense to Chrome now. He couldn't be completely sure since his experience was different, but he would have likely reacted the same if he had lived here from the start.

'Wait… Right! The Pill!'

Finally remembering the one highlighting point of his last hellish day, Chrome ran out in search of the item that his counterpart had so much longing for. If he wasn't recalling it wrongly, he must have thrown it somewhere in the midst of his panic…

'Oh right! By the door!'

Turning to the most logical location where he would have disposed of it, Chrome quickly found the small box lying before the door.

'Ah… what did I do, throwing something this precious…'

Just like Fred had said the day before, this Awakening Pill was actually quite the pricey resource. Although it was still accessible as long as you got the money for it, not all people ended up awakening an ability, especially if they had bad Exos ratings like a certain someone… Of course, there was still also the time needed to get the pill by working as an Ordinary to be considered.

Opening the box similar to the ones used to store expensive watches, Chrome found a medicinal capsule that didn't seem that much different compared to the drugs on his side. It only seemed to shine faintly in an alluring manner that made it look extremely desirable.

With the pill in hand, Chrome only spent a few seconds to fast-read the small instruction paper that accompanied it before walking to the kitchen to grab a cup of water before…

'Here goes nothing!'

Swallowing the pill as he gulped a mouthful of water in anticipation.

...

[ The 'Destiny Structuring Kingdom' ability has been stimulated… ]