It was a day like any other. The world seemed as though it was going about its usual routine: bustling cities, crowded streets, the hum of technology keeping everything in motion. Yet, there was an air of unease, a whisper among the masses that something was wrong—something they couldn't quite put into words. The sky had started to darken a little too quickly, the sunsets had become too vivid, and the earth felt just a bit too still.
Then, without warning, the news broke.
A global announcement flashed across every screen, every news outlet. Scientists, who had spent decades studying the signs, had come to a chilling conclusion: the Earth was dying. Not from a sudden catastrophe, but from a gradual decay. The planet had exhausted its resources, its core was weakening, and the atmosphere was slowly deteriorating. Time was running out, and humanity had no way to stop it.
Governments scrambled to find solutions, but it was too late. The damage had already been done. Panic swept across the world, but in the midst of it, something strange began to happen. People didn't just fall into despair—they fell asleep.
At first, it seemed like exhaustion, a collective weariness from the weight of the news. But as the days passed, the sleep didn't end. Entire populations were drawn into a deep slumber, and no one could explain why.
In the world of dreams, something even stranger occurred.
Every person who had fallen into this mysterious sleep shared the same dream. They were standing in a vast, endless desert under a sky that shimmered with unnatural colors. The landscape was barren, save for distant, looming structures—buildings that seemed both ancient and futuristic. The wind carried whispers of voices long forgotten, and there was a sense of foreboding, as if the land itself was waiting for something.
But most peculiar of all was the feeling that whatever happened in the dream also happened in the real world. People could feel the heat of the desert sun on their skin as if they were truly there. The longer they remained in the dream, the more it bled into their waking lives. Injuries sustained in the dream left physical marks. And worse, if someone died in the dream, they would not wake up.
In the dream, there was no clear guide, no clear way out. It was a world that seemed to exist in a constant loop, with people finding themselves walking the same paths, facing the same trials, over and over again.
Among the millions of dreamers were a diverse group of individuals who would come to realize that they were somehow connected to this strange world in ways they couldn't yet understand.
Character 1: Yumi Takahashi
A young woman in her twenties, Yumi was an aspiring artist living in the crowded streets of Tokyo. She had been fascinated by dreams her entire life, always sketching the strange worlds her subconscious created. But the dream she found herself in was unlike anything she had ever experienced. When she first stepped into the desert, her thoughts were filled with confusion. Was this real? Was she still asleep? Her heart raced as she realized the danger of this new reality. The desert air was scorching, and the structures ahead seemed to pulse with an ominous energy. She wasn't sure if she was still alive or if this was all just a manifestation of her mind.
Character 2: Kaito Mori
Kaito was a former scientist who had been studying the Earth's declining health before the global crisis hit. He had been one of the first to warn the world about the planet's impending collapse. Now, he found himself in a world that seemed to mock his scientific understanding. In the dream, he was no longer a researcher, but a man struggling to survive. His scientific knowledge didn't seem to apply here. He had a sense that this was all connected to the fate of the world, but he couldn't yet piece together how.
Character 3: Hana Sato
A middle-aged teacher from Osaka, Hana had always been a person of logic and order. The dream, however, defied all sense of reason. She wandered through the dreamscape, trying to make sense of her surroundings, but it was as though reality itself was twisted. Her role as a teacher had been to provide guidance to others, yet in this strange world, she found herself lost. Still, she couldn't ignore the faint feeling that there was someone else out there, someone who might have the answers.
Character 4: Tetsuya Nakamura
Tetsuya was a man in his thirties, a soldier who had served in conflicts across the globe. He was no stranger to danger, but this dream was unlike any battlefield he had ever known. The dream's landscapes shifted in unsettling ways, and the stakes felt higher than anything he had faced in the real world. In the dream, he discovered that his combat skills were just as necessary as they had been in life. But the question remained: Was the battle here any different from the war for survival on Earth?
Character 5: Akira Fujimoto
Akira was a quiet, introverted high school student from a small town. He had never been particularly good at making friends, and he often found solace in his books and video games. But in the dream, Akira discovered a strange sense of purpose. The world felt both alien and familiar, and it was here that he began to form connections with others, a stark contrast to his solitary life back on Earth.
Character 6: Mei Lin Zhang
Mei Lin was a tech prodigy, barely in her teens, but with a sharp mind that had already made her a legend in the world of programming. She found herself in the dream, surrounded by strange machines and unrecognizable technology. The dream seemed to be a digital labyrinth, and Mei Lin was determined to hack it. But the deeper she delved, the more she realized that the rules of this place were far more complex than any code she had ever written.