Fang Yuan awoke in his dorm room with a dull ache in his head, his body wrapped in the kind of bone-deep exhaustion he knew all too well. The weight of the day pressed down on him, a silent, invisible burden that refused to be ignored. It was the Winter Solstice, the day of the Spell, the day the Dream Realm would take him away again.
He had been through this before, so many times now. But today felt different. Maybe it was the lingering quiet in the air, or the way the other Sleepers were acting—nervous, apprehensive. Everyone seemed to know what was coming, but no one spoke of it.
Fang Yuan wasn't nervous. He had no time for nerves. He had prepared himself for this. After all, what was there to be afraid of? The Dream Realm was just another battlefield. He had learned to survive. His will, his powers, his mind—everything had been honed for survival.
But even still, there was something hauntingly familiar about the slow, crawling unease he felt today. The Spell would take him again. And he would have to face whatever nightmares awaited him in the vast, ruined world of the Dream Realm. He had to survive. There was no other choice.
After a few moments, he rose from bed, pushing aside the tiredness that had threatened to pull him back to sleep. He mechanically went through his morning routine. Cold water splashed over his face, the bitter chill forcing his mind to sharpen. As he glanced at himself in the mirror, he could feel his thoughts starting to form into something sharper, more focused.
Today wasn't just another day. It was the day.
The day that would decide everything.
He dressed quickly, not bothering to linger over his appearance. His mind was elsewhere—already calculating risks, anticipating dangers. It wasn't like he could afford to be distracted. He had trained himself for months to prepare for this moment. He had to be ready for whatever might happen in the Dream Realm, and to do that, he needed to stay focused. His Aspect, his powers—everything depended on this.
The cafeteria was as gloomy as he expected. The air was thick with an unspoken tension, every person wrapped in their own thoughts, their eyes distant and hollow. The usual chatter and boisterous energy that normally filled the space was gone. Everyone seemed to be quietly contemplating the same thing—the inevitable journey they would be making into the Spell.
Fang Yuan moved through the crowd quietly, not bothering to make eye contact with anyone. He didn't want to draw attention to himself. His eyes scanned the cafeteria as he approached an empty table, his senses alert for any sign of danger. There was no reason to be paranoid, but after everything he had been through, he couldn't afford to trust anyone completely. Trust was a luxury he could no longer afford.
He took his seat at the table, eyeing the people around him, but not engaging. As usual, he kept to himself.
That was when he noticed her.
Cassia sat across from him, as usual, with her blind eyes staring out at nothing. The eerie calm she carried with her made him feel uncomfortable. It wasn't that she was a threat, but something about her seemed to see more than she let on.
She had been around him for five weeks now and had make a good friendship with her he never pushed too much because he knew his flaw could very well mess things up and her aspect want something he found deep in even after the time he spent trying.
while fang yuan was sitting on the chair he saw sunny sip of coffee,
*****
Cassia suddenly turned her head and stared at him with her beautiful, blind blue eyes.
Unnerved, Sunny looked around, checking if someone else had attracted her attention, and, after making sure that there wasn't anyone standing behind him, asked:
"W—what?"
Cassia was silent, as though hesitating if she should reply, and then suddenly said:
"Happy Birthday."
'What?'
Sunny frowned, trying to comprehend the meaning behind her words. Then, a flash of surprise appeared on his face.
'Oh, right. It's my birthday today.'
''happy birthday'' he heard fang yuan saying from his side
He had completely forgotten about it. He was turning seventeen today.
'Wait… how did she know about this? and why does he seem so calm ?'
Sunny gave the blind girl and fang yuan a strange look, opened his mouth, and then decided to let the issue go. She was just too creepy and the bastard was a real pain to look at.
"Uh… thanks."
With a nod, Cassia turned away and seemingly lost interest in having a conversation once again.
Which was for the better.
Sunny returned to his coffee, finding it not too bad this time. Of course, sugar and cream were making most of the work. However, he did feel a little bit more awake after drinking it.
'Seventeen, huh?'
Sunny was never sure that he would make it to this age alive. And yet, despite everything, he did. Life was sure unpredictable sometimes.
If anyone would have told him a year ago that he was going to celebrate his seventeenth birthday by drinking real coffee with real milk and sugar, he would have laughed in their face. But now it was a reality.
Unwillingly, Sunny remembered all the people who used to celebrate his birthdays with him, a long time ago. Before his mood turned sour, he decisively dispelled these thoughts and forced himself to smile.
'This is not bad. Let's do it again next year, when I'm already an Awakened.'
Cheering himself up like that, he finished his coffee and left the cafeteria.
There were no classes today, but he still visited the Wilderness Survival classroom and said his goodbyes to Teacher Julius. The old man got pretty emotional when sending him off. He gave Sunny "one last tip" a dozen or so times in a row and even promised to apply for a research assistant position to be opened after the young man had become a full Awakened.
Sunny left thanking him for his time and patience.
After that, there wasn't much to do.
When the sun was close to setting, Instructor Rock gathered them in the foyer of the Sleeper Center and led them outside.
********
In the snowy parks that surrounded the white building, other Awakened were leading their own batches of Sleepers to the same destination. It was the Academy's medical center.
The center looked more like a shrine than a hospital. Its interior contained both highly advanced technology as well as some of the best Healers among the Awakened. For the duration of their first journey into the Dream Realm, the bodies of Sleepers would be kept safe in specially designed pods and sustained by the magical powers of those Healers if anything unfortunate were to happen on the other side of the Spell.
Of course, whether or not they would wake up in the end wholly depended on the Sleepers themselves.
To fang yuans surprise, after entering the medical center, Instructor Rock did not take them directly to the wing containing Sleeper pods. Instead, he led them to a comparatively deserted floor and then opened the doors to a spacious gallery that was brightly illuminated by the beautiful crimson rays of the setting sun.
There, they saw rows and rows of wheelchairs. In each wheelchair, there was a person with a blank, strangely peaceful expression on their face. All these people were completely silent, motionless, and still. They did not show any reaction to the appearance of guests.
They all seemed to be… empty.
In the eerie silence, he felt stange calmness.
Instructor Rock looked at the empty people with solemn eyes.
"There is a reason I brought you all here. Look well and remember. Some of you may know who these people are… for those of you who don't, they are called Hollow."
He gritted his teeth.
"Each one of them was once either a Sleeper or an Awakened. Some of them were weak, some of them were strong. Some were even incredibly powerful. All of them have perished in the Dream Realm."
'their souls are gone,' he realized.
'If you're lucky, once your spirit is destroyed, your body dies with it. But if not, you'll become just like them. Hollow.'
Instructor Rock glanced in the direction where Caster and Nephis stood, and then added:
"So don't die out there."
***
Half an hour later, Sleepers had been led to their personal rooms and were preparing to enter the pods.
In one of the rooms, the blind girl, Cassia, was helplessly trying to orient herself in the unfamiliar space, touching the walls and strange pieces of machinery with her hands. Tears were streaming down her beautiful, doll-like face.
there was a room where Shadow Slave Sunless, Lost from Light, turned away from the sleeping pod and glanced down at his shadow.
In the other room, proud Legacy Caster was staring listlessly at the floor. His lips were moving, repeating one strange phrase over and over again. He was trembling.
Somewhere else, Changing Star Nephis, the last daughter of the Immortal Flame clan, was looking down at her hands. Underneath her skin, soft white radiance was slowly growing brighter and brighter. Her face was contorted in a grimace of harrowing agony.
And finally, there was a room where echo of the forsaken will fang yuan was getting inside his sleeping pod with a determined face.after he climbed into the pod he felt sleep take over him.
***
In the vast echoing darkness, he heard a familiar voice:
[Welcome to the Dream Realm, FANG YUAN!]