Wilson Weeks is an ordinary guy.
The few days leading up to his 30th birthday came and went without much fanfare happening. His usual routine of walking around town, looking at different shops, and buying some items or food from them was met with regular small talks with the vendors and owners of the shop. These were ordinary days for an ordinary guy. Some people who knew him better greeted him with a happy birthday in advance, he was glad they remembered.
"11/11/11, 5:55 am, I should celebrate a little." Wilson woke up on his birthday to the sound of his alarm clock, ringing at a very specific time as he was a little bit superstitious. His fondness for numbers may be one of the few things that are not ordinary for Wilson.
He started his day with the usual, a quick breakfast of peppered eggs and toasted bread with a generous serving of ketchup as a dipping sauce, warm tea, and two bananas for dessert. After eating he rests up on a soft chair in his workshop, looking at the mess and enjoying the order in the chaos of his own creation. Wilson works as a furniture maker. He sits and stares at his tools and unfinished furniture, imagining what he's going to do next. For the next 3 hours, he does this, unable to do any actual work until finally giving up and deciding to call it quits for the morning.
He gets up and decides to do his daily walk a little bit earlier. Bringing with him his phone, wallet, and keys, he goes out of his house and starts wandering. For lunch, he goes to his favorite beef stew place which is only a few blocks away. He eats his lunch fairly quickly as he does not want to waste time eating. Continuing his walk, Wilson headed to the market. He peeked over some new items in the appliance store and saw some interesting clothes in a retail store. After a few more steps, he reached the doorstep of the used books bookstore.
His major pastime, collecting books, is something that he does on special occasions. During birthdays, special holidays, and paydays, and whenever he has some extra cash, he goes to the used books bookstore near his home to buy interesting-looking books. Today was a special occasion, his birthday, and he wanted to celebrate it by buying a new old book.
"Idiot's Guide to Leadership… 549 pesos
Woodworking for Dummies… 349 pesos
How to Win Friends and Influence People… 379 pesos
1001 Songs You Must Hear Before you Die… 679 pesos
Solo Leveling… 449 pesos
Complementary and Alternative Medicine… 249 pesos
Dreams are Real… 149 pesos"
"Nothing seems to be good here. Guess I'll go with the cheapest for today, a small birthday present." Wilson thought. "Dreams are Real, interesting enough. What a funny title though."
"I'll take this miss," Wilson said with a soft smile.
"Just 149 sir, thank you!" the sales lady nodded.
Grabbing the paper bag with the book inside, Wilson exited the bookstore. He was not so satisfied with his purchase but he likes to collect any and all kinds of books, waiting to be surprised by their contents. Perhaps this unassuming book would be something.
As he got home, he placed his book on the table near his bookshelf and went straight to his workshop to catch up on work. He was able to make some legs for a chair he was building, and he also started making the seat, leaving the assembly for another day. His quota is 10 chairs, 2 tables, and a piece of single custom furniture once a month to maintain his barely-making-it salary.
After finishing dinner, he opened his newly bought book. The intro says "After reading this book, your life will change."
"Heh. This is really something."
Wilson continued reading the book, it was fairly short. He was able to finish it in 2 hours. "So dreams are real, you only have to believe them and live in them. What nonsense! I wasted my money on this."
He slept.
On his 30th birthday, Wilson still felt ordinary.
On his 30th birthday, Wilson began to dream.
A glorious castle. Unbelievable landscapes. A beautiful woman. Strange and scary-looking monsters. Futuristic space battles. A monk in an ancient temple. Unexplainable events.
Wilson woke up to a fever pitch. "Damn, that was some dream. 11/12/11 3:33 am. This shit is freaky."
[initializing Dream State Consciousness]
He blinked twice. "I'm seeing things, I must still be dreaming."
[Multidimensional Lucid Dream Transmigration 78% stable]
"What the f-!!!"
[activating status]
[Wilson Weeks
Lucid Dream Transmigrator (Parallel Self)
HP 100/100
MP 100/100
ATTACK 10
DEFENSE 10
STRENGTH 10
AGILITY 10
INTELLIGENCE 10
DEXTERITY 10
VITALITY 10
MAGIC 10
SPIRIT 10
TECHNOLOGY 10
LUCK 999
Weapon: n/a
Armor: n/a
Accessory: n/a]
"Status? What the hell is this? A game?"
"Calm down, Wilson. I just need to wake up. This is just a dream."
He walks away from his bed, touching the walls, the table, the chairs, the plates, and the utensils. It all felt real. He moved to the bookshelf and remembered something.
"Shit, is this because of the book?"
He ran back to the bedroom in search of the book, but he found nothing. "I really must be dreaming huh? Dreams are Real. What a concept!"
"So what am I supposed to do here? It's just like real life. What a boring dream."
Wilson stared at the clock. 65/98/32 F:HY am. "Wild. I don't know what date or time it is."
"I should get out and see the new world then."
He picked up his phone, wallet, and keys and headed to his workshop, and checked if anything's changed. Everything looked normal. He grabbed his shoulder bag and took his hammer, chisel, and some duct tape. He didn't know why but he felt that he needed to be prepared. He stepped out of his house, expecting something to happen, but unsurprisingly it was just as if everything was normal.
"All this for the most boring dream! What about those things I saw earlier? Where are the monsters? Where's the beautiful woman? Where's the temple?"
He started walking. As he went to the usual stores, he finally noticed something different. The people had swirling faces as if the parts of the face were put into a blender. Creeped out, he still talked to the people like normal. He was trying to figure out if they answered differently but they all answered the same as he remembered in his waking life. Slowly getting used to the swirly people, he continued walking.
"I should explore more. Maybe I'll find something more surprising if I continue walking further out."
He found himself walking near the cemetery. He found himself thinking of zombies as he walked past the cemetery. Paying it no mind, he continued and found himself at the gates of a church.
Wilson entered the church and saw a lot of swirly people listening to the message of the priest.
"Ask and you shall receive." said the priest.
"I want to have the most bizarre dream." Wilson nonchalantly quipped.
Suddenly, Wilson's vision changed. He saw the world in sepia. He felt chills as he realized that all the swirly people were looking at him, smiling. He felt terrified.
The priest shouted, "Heretics shall be burned at the stake! Capture that man!"
Wilson knew that it was him the priest was talking about. The people slowly walked towards him, but Wilson was already on the run.
He ran towards the street, the world still sepia, he felt as if he was in a horror movie. The people ran behind him, laughing maniacally. He frantically thought of a way out as he gasped for breath running for his life.
"This is a dream, right? Can I change this dream?"
He stopped and faced the people. He took the hammer from his shoulder bag and held it tightly. He was prepared to fight for his life if need be.
"What do you want from me?" Wilson asked.
"Heretics must be burned at the stake!" someone shouted.
"I am not a heretic!" Wilson shouted. He was shivering from fear.
"You are not? Okay then, good luck on your way back home." color suddenly came back into the world. The people slowly dispersed and went back to the church.
"What the!!!" Wilson stared dumbfounded. "It was that easy? The color came back too."
Wilson went back closer to his home, passing by the cemetery, and the stores. He still saw swirly people as he went along his way but he didn't talk to anyone for fear of triggering something.
As he was about to enter his home, he suddenly heard a very loud noise.
A school bus was heading his way!
It ran too quickly for him to do anything.
BANG!
The last thing he felt was his hand severed from his body, still holding the doorknob of his door.
[Multidimensional Lucid Dream ended, nothing gained]
Wilson died.