Reiner lay down on the familiar mattress, his breathing gradually slowed, and his eyelids fluttered shut.
The room, veiled in the soft glow of a nearby lantern, seemed to lull him into a state of drowsiness.
As Reiner descended further into the deep sleep, his peaceful rest took a haunting turn.
In his dreams, the boundaries of reality blurred, and Reiner found himself in a place where memories and imaginings danced together.
He wandered through the corridors of his subconscious, revisiting scenes from his past and glimpsing fragments of the journey that lay ahead.
His childhood.
His teenage years.
How he spent his youth.
The whole 26 years of his life flashed before him.
However, just when he was about to see the night before his transmigration, it took an unexpected turn.
In these unsettling dreams, Reiner was a silent observer, reliving fragments of Zephyr's life.
'Aren't these Zephyr's memory fragments?'
He witnessed moments of joy and laughter, followed by heart-wrenching scenes of sorrow and loss.
Reiner found himself standing in a quaint kitchen, bathed in warm sunlight.
The smell of freshly baked bread wafted through the air, and a burst of cheerful laughter filled the room. It was a memory from Zephyr's past, a moment of pure happiness.
However, the dream soon shifted, and the warmth of the kitchen gave way to a chilling snowstorm.
Another vivid memory played out like a scene from a forgotten play. Reiner was walking along the cobbled streets of a village, passing by familiar faces and friendly greetings.
Yet, with each step, the people around him began to fade, their voices becoming distant echoes. The village transformed into a bleak and empty landscape, and Reiner was left wandering alone in the snow.
'Did they die?'
As time passed, the dreams became worse and worse.
In one of these unsettling dreams, Reiner found himself in a bright, sunlit meadow, children's laughter echoing in the distance.
He watched as Zephyr played with his elder brother, the two of them chasing butterflies through the tall grass.
The scene radiated happiness and innocence, but it quickly shifted as dark clouds rolled in, shrouding the meadow in an eerie gloom.
The laughter turned to anguished cries, and the butterflies transformed into spectral, disfigured creatures.
'Permafrost Revenants?'
Another vivid nightmare transported Reiner to a cramped, dimly lit room. Zephyr sat alone at a wooden table, his face etched with a weariness that seemed too heavy for his young shoulders.
The room was filled with the hushed murmurs of scholars and the scratching of quills on parchment.
Zephyr's eyes were fixed on a cryptic, ancient text, and he could feel the weight of knowledge pressing down on him, a knowledge he couldn't quite comprehend.
'That text seems familiar. Where have I seen it?'
Reiner tried to remember it, but these dreams were a mosaic of emotions and imagery, leaving Reiner with a lingering unease as he grappled with the mysteries they hinted at.
The fusion of dreams and reality left Reiner in a state of profound contemplation.
The world around him began to ripple and shift, as if it were a mirage in the desert, distorting the boundaries between dream and reality.
'What is this world trying to show me?
Are these dreams a key to understanding why I'm here?'
The hazy images were still passing and it was hard to focus on them.
The transition from the hazy and blurred scene to clarity was a gradual process. At first, the image was like a watercolor painting, with colors bleeding into one another.
However, with every passing moment, it sharpened and became more defined.
Reiner found himself peering into Zephyr's world. Zephyr was seated at a study desk, bathed in the soft glow of lamplight, his eyes fixated on a captivating object before him.
'Isn't that the same test tube?'
It was a glass test tube, its contents illuminated by a mesmerizing, ember-colored liquid.
The way the light played on its surface hinted at something extraordinary, something beyond the ordinary boundaries of Reiner's understanding.
Yet, just as Reiner leaned in, eager to unravel the mysteries that lay before him, the dream concluded with a sudden and unexpected swiftness.
It was as though a curtain had been abruptly drawn, severing his connection to the vision. The vibrant colors of the dream dimmed, the room darkened, and Zephyr's figure faded into obscurity, leaving Reiner alone there.
Reiner awoke abruptly from the vivid nightmares, his body drenched in a cold sweat.
His heart raced in his chest, and his breathing was rapid and shallow.
As he opened his eyes to the dimly lit room, he felt disoriented and on edge, as if the lingering remnants of the dreams still clung to his consciousness.
His forehead was clammy, and his hands trembled slightly.
The room was shrouded in an eerie silence, and the weight of the unsettling dreams still bore down on him.
The tranquility of the night was broken by the resounding chimes of four bells from the nearby church.
Dong~~
The melodious notes reverberated through the air, cutting through the stillness like a beacon in the darkness.
Dong~~
Each tone held a sense of solemnity, echoing across the village and serving as a reminder of the passage of time.
Dong~~
Reiner, who had been roused from his nightmares, found himself listening to the bells with a mix of emotions.
Dong~~
As the final note of the fourth bell hung in the air, Reiner thought, 'Is it 4 a.m., now? Quite early for a nightmare...'
Reiner's mind was a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts, and he couldn't shake the feeling that the dreams held crucial pieces of the puzzle he needed to solve.
As a web novel reader, Reiner knew, whenever some character sees some nightmare, some shit happens soon.
"It's going to be troublesome."