The young man then said, "Hm? The tower? Is that the name of this city?"
One of the guards said, "No, this city is called 'The City of the Beginning'."
"The city of the beginning?"
"Yes, it's called that because everyone who enters the tower has to pass through it first."
"Hm, I see, but what is this 'tower'? Is it the name of the continent this city is on?"
"Not exactly, but the idea isn't wrong."
"It's not a continent? What would it be then?"
"Don't worry about that now. You'll gradually understand."
The young man then said, "Okay." and thought, 'It's true. I don't know why I'm wasting time trying to understand a dream that I don't even know if I'll have again. The best I can do is follow what they're saying so I can wake up as soon as possible.
The guards entered the city with the young man, and he began to look around.
His eyes widened at the size of the city in front of him. It was so big that he couldn't even see the end of the road he was on after leaving the gate.
He then said, "Wow, this city is huge!"
One of the guards said, "Hahaha, everyone says that when they first arrive here."
The young man continued to look around, and soon, something caught his eye again, prompting him to ask, "Why is there no one on the streets? Is there some event going on in another part of the city?"
"No, there's no event going on. You're not seeing anyone because the schools are getting ready to welcome you and the other participants in the first wave."
"Welcome us? What do you mean?"
"You'll understand everything tomorrow."
"Okay."
The three of them then headed towards a large house that was right next to the gate.
As they entered, they walked into a kitchen. The kitchen was quite large and could probably accommodate more than fifteen people at a time.
In the center of it was a table with a large amount of food and several plates around it, some of which were dirty, as if someone had already eaten from them.
The two guards sat down at the table and motioned with their hands for the young man to sit down, too.
He then sat down, and one of the guards said, "Feel free to eat and drink whatever you want. We'll do a short interview while you eat."
"Okay, but I don't need to eat anything. I'm fine. Let's do this interview as soon as possible. After all, as I said before entering the city, a disaster is about to happen. I need to get out of here."
"Oh, that's right. I remember you said that, but don't worry about it anymore. Unfortunately, the disaster has already happened."
"Hm? What are you..." At that moment, the young man realized something. He quickly looked down at his pants and came to understand what the guard meant by that.
He then said, "... When did that happen?"
"When I kicked you in the stomach at the gate."
The young man then put his elbows on the table, leaned his head on his hands, and thought, '... I can't believe that happened. I pissed myself. I'm going to wake up pissed in the subway. Have people noticed? Maybe if I wake up quickly, I'll still have time to get out of the subway before everyone notices ... no, there's certainly no more time. It's been a long time since he kicked me in the stomach. Surely, everyone has seen it by now. Ahhhh, what now? What do I do when I wake up? Do I pretend to be asleep or to have fainted?
Seeing the young man silent for a while, the guard who had kicked him said, "Hey, don't worry about it. We two won't spread the word about what happened. You can rest easy."
The young man then looked in the direction of the guards, thinking, 'What does it matter if you keep it a secret or not?! This is just a dream!' and then said, "... Okay, thanks for that."
"Not at all."
"Well, since the disaster has already happened, I'm going to get something to eat. All this food looks great."
"Hahaha, be my guest."
The young man then began to fill his plate with some of the surrounding food, and as he did so, one of the guards said, "Do you mind if we start the interview?"
"No, go ahead."
"Okay. Let's start then."
The guard then took out a notepad from his pocket and said, "First of all, what's your name? Ah, I just realized I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Hes, and my friend's name is Uson."
The young man then said, "Nice to meet you. My name is Rohan."
"Any health problems, Rohan?"
"None that I know of."
"Single?"
"Yes."
"Have you ever practiced any kind of sport or martial art?"
"Never."
"Never? Not even at school?"
"Well, I've played a game or two of the usual sports, but only when they needed someone to fill in."
"Got it. Well, that's it then."
"That's it?"
"Yes, it's a short interview."
"Got it."
The guards then got up from the table, and one of them said, "Well, we need to go. It's past time to close the city gate."
Hes took a key from his pocket, put it on the table in front of Rohan, and said, "This is the key to your room. It's at the end of the corridor on the left, coming out of the kitchen."
Rohan then said, "Okay, thanks."
The guards then started to leave, but before they could leave the kitchen, Rohan said, "Ah! Wait, I forgot to ask you something!"
Hes then said, "What is it?"
"Well, as you know, there's no way I can keep wearing these clothes..."
"Ah ... don't worry. We've already left a fresh change of clothes in your room."
"That's great, thanks, but there's something else I want to ask."
"There's a shower in there too."
"... Thank you."
"You're welcome."
The two guards then left the kitchen, leaving Rohan alone, which made him think again about what to do when he woke up pissed in the subway.
...
After finishing his meal, Rohan headed for his room.
When he arrived in front of it, he went in and started looking around. The room had a large double bed with a pair of clothes folded on top of it. In the corner, you could see a table with two chairs and a door, which was probably where the bathroom was.
Rohan picked up the pair of clothes and then headed for the bathroom to take a shower. After a while, he came out in his new clothes, went to bed, and lay down.
He then thought, 'Well, as far as I can remember, I've never had a dream in which I slept inside the dream itself, so after falling asleep, I'll probably wake up ... I don't know if I'm mentally ready for that, but I have to accept the facts. In the worst case, I'll have to change the time I take the subway.'
...
Rohan slowly opened his eyes and began to stretch, but after a few seconds, he seemed to remember something and then began to look around.
He then saw that he was still inside the room he had slept in during his dream and said, "What? ... Why am I still here?! I should have woken up from this dream ... unless this isn't a dream!"
While Rohan was in shock at the realization that he wasn't in a dream, he suddenly heard someone knocking on his door.
Soon after, he could hear Uson saying, "Rohan, are you awake yet? Everyone else is ready to take the test."
Rohan then got out of bed and said, "Yes, I'm already awake."
"Good. I'd like to give you some time to take a shower or eat something, but the other participants have been waiting for you for some time, so I'll need you to come with me now."
"No problem."
Rohan came out of his room and saw Uson waiting for him outside.
Uson said, "Come with me."
The two of them went inside the building, and after a while, they arrived in a room where the other guard and four other people were waiting.
Uson then said, "I brought him."
Hes said, "Good. Let's start the test. Stand next to the other participants, Rohan."
Rohan then said, "Okay." and went towards the other four people who were standing next to each other while he watched them.