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102. Nightmare
“Is it because I didn’t work?”
Not long after the portals changed color, I was tossing and turning in my sleep every night.
I was experiencing insomnia for the first time in my life.
It was probably due to the dreams I had.
However, I could not remember it.
I kept waking up feeling suffocated and angry, heavily panting.
The pillow and blankets would be soaked with sweat.
To top it all off, a feeling that I had forgotten something important would wash over me.
It’s already been a week since I’ve started to suffer from insomnia.
I felt that it cannot go on like this.
I thought that I should at least try to sleep by tiring out my body first.
For that reason, I finally visited a dungeon.
The location I arrived was that level 34 dungeon in Gapyeong, which was the place I visited every day until the fight with the radical faction was over.
Since it wasn’t a dungeon that was officially registered with the association, the surrounding area was desolate.
Of course, even if this dungeon was officially registered, no one would be insane enough to go.
This was the place where I fought with Ghost.
The memory of that time briefly passed me by.
Even though 3 months had passed, it felt like it happened yesterday.
The monsters of this dungeon would also be 1.5 times stronger than before.
However, the experience and the loot they drop did not increase.
Without a doubt, mankind was at a greater disadvantage than before.
“Coming to the level 34 dungeon for a workout. If anyone heard this, they would be shocked beyond belief.”
I entered the snow white interior of the dungeon.
****
Just like when I used to hunt nonstop, I hunted for 12 hours long.
Was it due to my abnormally high stamina stat?
Instead of swinging my sword, I used only magic to hunt in this dungeon.
My body wasn’t tired in the slightest.
I didn’t need to use Mega Cure, a spell known for its high healing power. Heck, I didn’t need to use almost any for of heal at this rate.
“I can’t drink alcohol or medication for this either. Think I’m going crazy. I wonder if I can sleep tonight….”
As I muttered complaints, I headed to the market to sell the bloodstones.
The owner of the market was quite pleased after looking at the A ranking bloodstones I brought.
Due to the increased difficulty of the dungeons, it must be difficult to even see B or A ranking stones.
Our current society operated on bloodstones as an energy source.
The rate of consumption was the same as before, but the supply was beginning to dwindle.
Due to that, the price of the stones rose.
From Ho Jin, who returned to the the association, I received Awakened credit.
Since I did not go to school, my activities as an Awakened was on an indefinite halt.
Thanks to that, I could no longer obtain the credit worth the value of the stones under my name.
It was illegal to use fake credit, but for someone like me who was an integral part to the fight that decided on the fate the nation, should they let this much slide?
Ho Jin had the same idea as me and gave this for me to use.
This was technically illegal, but this was common sense of the world.
As I said before, a lot more money was put onto the fake card than before due to the rise in prices for the stones.
“Since the monsters became 1.5 times stronger, the price also rose by 1.5 times. What an amusing world.”
Even after seeing the amount of money deposited to the credit, I didn’t feel anything.
After all, I had more than enough money.
It was just that I found this situation to be ironic.
Humanity suffered greatly at the appearance of the monsters.
For 41 years, many lost their lives and their homes.
But now humanity could no longer live without the drops the monsters gave out.
I knew that humankind was known for their ability to adapt, but I couldn’t help letting out a sigh.
The money earned here would be donated to the efforts of repairing the areas that were destroyed by the monsters.
The first time is always difficult, but the second time and onward are easier.
Mother’s generosity was big enough already, but I was continuing to support the effort myself.
I knew that it this was to help others in need, but it felt like I was consoling myself.
Charity.
Well, money doesn’t change a person’s morals.
I returned home after.
The estate was like the one you’d find in movies or drama, about twice the size of your average school.
The metal gates the size of a house opened, leading into a road that headed straight for the estate.
The garden was well taken care of with flowers blooming all over.
Statues were found sparsely in the tranquil garden.
The center was a fountain that was frozen until recently, thawing out as if announcing the arrival of spring.
It had already been a month since I’ve arrived at this home, yet I still found myself doubting if this really was my house.
The structure was composed completely out of nanomaterial.
Even amongst nanomaterials, it was of the highest grade.
It was the same material used when crafting S ranking weapons and armor.
That level was enough to withstand a level 200 Holy Missile, and on top of that, the structure was double layered to further increase durability.
The portal explosions started to decrease, but one could never be fully prepared.
I immediately prepared to sleep.
Physically I wasn’t tired in the slightest, but my urge to sleep had reached its peak.
This was something that no amount of magic could solve.
It was never like this before though.
I had to worry about if I could sleep at all or not.
Just like that, I laid down and unlike my worries, it didn’t take long for me to fall asleep.
****
“Those who died at your hands…”
“……”
“The screams of my brethren….”
“…..”
“I’ll rip you to shreds and spread your remains all over the demon realm…..”
“……”
“99 days…. Sacrifice…. Destruction……”
“…… Ah. So annoying! I finally fell into deep sleep after so long.”
It felt like I was still in a dream.
No. It could be reality.
I felt as though I was in between sleep and consciousness.
I wasn’t completely asleep nor was I completely awake.
Almost as if someone was giving a speech in an empty lecture hall, that voice kept ringing in my head.
I couldn’t hear it clearly, but I could tell that it was directed towards me.
Who was it?
Was this the dream that kept interrupting my sleep each day?
I attempted to locate the source of the sound.
It was then.
The darkness that blocked my view began to dissipate, allowing me to see in front of me.
I was standing alone.
From a third person’s view, I could see myself from afar, looking off somewhere in a lonely expression.
The self that I saw was standing on a plain that didn’t seem to end.
In front of myself stood a wall as red as blood.
The wall was insanely high, enough to make me appear like a dot.
I couldn’t be absolutely sure, but the terrain looked desolate and ruined.
The soil looked so lifeless that not even weed seemed to be able to grow on it.
Almost as if I had fallen off a cliff, the self that I saw was staring at the ground hopelessly.
I appeared as if given into despair with my shoulders loosened.
I wanted to ask myself what happened and why I was here, as well as who was it that was talking to me up to a moment ago.
However, almost as if my body was bound and silenced, I could not move or make a sound.
I could only look at myself from far away instead.
It was then.
Something began to approach the self that I saw from all directions from the edges of the plain.
They were monsters.
It didn’t take long before monsters poured in like the tidewaters coming in, surrounding me completely.
There were so many that it didn’t seem plausible.
After they came near me, the self that I saw kneeled before the blood colored cliff. 1
‘Damn! What are you doing! Kill them all!’
‘You know this isn’t the time to do that!’
‘Hurry up and use your skill!’
I couldn’t talk, but I continued to scream inside my head.
I would be busy enough handling the mob of monsters surrounding me, but I could see that the self I saw was kneeling down as if given up on everything.
This couldn’t be reality.
However, the emotion I felt made me feel rage beyond possibility.
That only lasted a moment though.
What I originally thought to be a cliff began to move.
The wall suddenly rose up straight into the air.
Calming my anger, I looked at it.
However….
“O….Oh……”
I couldn’t help but be in disbelief at what I saw.
The scene before me didn’t make any sense.
What I thought to be a wall that was raised into the air was actually a giant sword.
Behind that was the darkness that I thought was the limit of vision’s distance.
However, it was the owner of the sword.
Raising the sword without much effort, blood began pour down like rain from it.
I looked at the owner’s form carefully.
Other than his or her massive size, the form looked exactly like that of human.
As he or she raised their form, more of the form came into view out of the darkness.
Not a single thread covered his or her body.
However, I could not tell if the form was that of a male or female.
He or she did not have any of the characteristics that were unique to each gender.
Countless wounds covered the giant body.
Since the sizes and locations of the wounds all differed, I could tell that the wounds weren’t all from a single battle.
A purple aura was emanating from the body.
The heavy feeling that accompanied the aura was more than enough to threaten most opponents.
On top of that, something was sticking out above the shoulder blades of the body.
‘No!’
-SLASH!
“…….”
I woke up from my dream with that.
Calming down my ragged breath, I had sweated enough to soak the bed sheets.
The last thing I remembered from my dream was being sliced apart by that giant blade until I could no longer recognize my own form.
I was enraged as if it had actually happened, and it was difficult to control my anger.
Was it just a simple dream?
It was then that I heard Jong Ho’s voice.
“Yo. Are you okay, Min-Cheol?”
“Ha….. Ha……”
“What kind of a dream did you have to sleep talk that violently?”
“Ha..… Ha…..”
I did hear Jong Ho’s voice, but I hadn’t snapped out of it enough to reply back.
Normally, I did not remember my dreams, and it was my first time having a dream this vivid, so it was difficult to snap out of it.
“Whew…. Who….”
“Did you have a nightmare?”
“Whew……”
“…….”
Things turned out in a way where Jong Ho hyung was now living here.
He did not have a family.
Since he wasn’t that attached to his previous residence, he eagerly accepted my offer.
On the other hand, I felt reassured that I had a powerful Awakened at my side.
A brief moment later…
“I had such a vivid dream.”
“Oh boy. Look at all that sweat. You haven’t been sleeping much for the past few days. Isn’t because you’re tired from that?”
“I’m not sure…. but….. even the pain I felt was so realistic. What time is it?”
Jong Ho spoke as he wiped my sweat with a dry towel.
“23:30.”
“……”
“Guess you went to sleep early because you were tired.”
“No. The last time I checked the time, it was at 23:20.”
“…….”
“It was too long and vivid of a dream to believe that it was only 10 minutes long…..”
After that, Jong Ho brought sleeping medication and water, then left the room.
Even for a long time after that, I blankly stared into an empty space and muttered to myself.
“Who subjugated me into such a helpless state…..”
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