It had been an hour since Orren woke up in a hospital room in NQSC.
The doctor had rushed in soon after and explained everything to him.
Apparently, he had been unconscious for almost a year.
At first, when he was found lying in an empty alley, they assumed he had entered his first Nightmare and brought him to the police station.
However, when weeks passed and he showed no signs of waking up, they eventually concluded that he had simply fallen into a coma.
He also learned more about the previous owner of this body.
Just like in the Nightmare, the current Orren Veil had been an orphan, though his parents had left behind enough money for him to live comfortably until he became an adult.
That same money had also covered the costs of his hospital stay.
The doctors were amazed by how well his body had held up despite being in a coma for almost a year.
His condition was far better than expected, and because of that, there was no reason for him to remain in the hospital.
He was free to leave and return home, or rather, the home of the other Orren.
Another strange detail was that the body in the Nightmare had been almost completely accurate.
His current body was fifteen years old, with brown hair, fair skin, and a height of around five feet five inches.
‘Never thought I’d have to go through puberty again.’ He yawned and looked outside the window.
Even though it was only three in the afternoon, the sky was already darkening.
“Why am I still sleepy?
I literally woke up after almost a year of sleep.” He rubbed his eyes and sighed.
“I guess it’s the mental exhaustion.” The door opened, and a nurse stepped inside.
“Your discharge documents have been completed and sent to your communicator.
You are free to leave, Mr.
Veil.
I wish you good health.” “Thank you.” After exchanging a few more words, Orren left the hospital.
The moment he stepped outside, he was stunned by the view before him.
The city looked like something straight out of a science fiction movie from his old world.
Towering buildings, advanced vehicles, and technology that surpassed anything he had seen before filled his vision.
‘So this is what the future looks like.’ Luckily, his communicator already contained his address, so getting home wasn’t difficult.
He simply took a tram and paid using the credits stored inside his communicator.
After arriving at the location, he checked the house number on the gate before entering.
The house used a biometric lock, and his fingerprints were enough to open the door.
Inside was a simple two-story house with modest furniture.
It wasn’t luxurious, but it was more than enough for a single person.
The only problem was the dust.
The entire house was covered in it, which wasn’t surprising considering nobody had cleaned it for over nine months.
Orren was also not someone who liked doing unnecessary things.
If something wasn’t immediately important, he usually ignored it.
Looking around, he quickly found his room, but the state of the bed made him stop.
It was just as dusty as the rest of the house.
‘Cleaning can wait.’ Luckily, there was a sleeping pod in the room.
His parents must have bought it for him, though since he had no memories of them, he couldn’t be sure.
He opened the pod and stepped inside.
‘It’s quite comfortable.’ The exhaustion that had been following him since waking up quickly returned, and his eyes started becoming heavy.
Before falling asleep, however, he remembered something.
The memory he had received at the end of the Nightmare.
He summoned its runes.
Memory: [The one who remembers].
Memory Rank: Transcendent.
Memory Type: Tool.
Memory Description: [A plain dark wooden mask carved from an unknown black timber.
It possesses no markings, no decoration, and no visible craftsmanship beyond its simple shape.
Yet, the longer one looks at it, the more it feels as though the mask is looking back.
The wood bears faint traces of countless memories that do not belong to its wearer.
Forgotten faces, lost voices, and fragments of distant moments seem to linger within its grain.
It was not forged, nor discovered.
It was given.
A final gift from someone whose existence should have vanished with the end of the Nightmare.] Orren stared at the description for a while before summoning the memory.
The same dark wooden mask appeared in his hand.
It was exactly the same one Irene’s mother had given him before the final battle.
The Spell had turned it into a memory and brought it back with him.
For some reason, seeing it again made him smile faintly.
The Nightmare had been brutal.
He had fought, killed, and struggled every single day just to survive.
Many of the people he met had disappeared the moment the trial ended, leaving behind only memories of what had happened.
But this mask remained.
A reminder that those experiences were not meaningless.
“Thank you.” He whispered the words softly while looking at the mask.
Soon after, exhaustion finally overcame him, and Orren closed his eyes.
For the first time in almost a year, he fell asleep without having to worry about what would try to kill him when he woke up.
At least that’s what he thought.
…… [Welcome to the Dream Realm, Orren!] “FUUUUUUCCCCCCKKK!!!!” A string of curses immediately followed, some of which even the Spell probably would have preferred not to hear.
“FUCK YOU, YOU PIECE OF **** ******** ******* ********** ********* ******* **********, LET ME REST.” One moment he had been thanking the Spell for turning Irene’s mother’s mask into a memory, and the next moment he had been thrown into the Dream Realm and appeared on a small island in the middle of nowhere.
‘Seriously?
I don’t even get one night of sleep?’ Before he could complain any further, he felt movement behind him.
His body reacted instantly, and almost before he realized it, all his memories had been summoned, including the wooden mask.
He stood there with his weapon in hand, his posture resembling a cornered beast as he stared at the figure that had just swum to the edge of the island and crawled onto land.
‘What kind of freak is this?’ The figure was completely naked, but thanks to his Aspect ability, Orren could still clearly identify him despite the darkness.
It was a human.
“Oi, exhibitionist.
Put on some clothes, would you?” The person immediately summoned a skintight armor over his body and looked at Orren with slight annoyance.
“I am not an exhibitionist.
The Spell dropped me into the water like this, and as you can see, I am human, so would you mind putting the weapon away?” Orren didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he carefully observed the person in front of him.
Something about him felt familiar, though he couldn’t immediately figure out why.
‘Do I know him?
He seems familiar somehow.’ The boy looked young, probably around the same age as him, and they were even close in height.
However, what caught his attention more was the strange movement of the shadow beneath him.
‘That shadow is weird.’ After a moment of silence, Orren lowered his weapon, though he didn’t dismiss it.
“Yeah, alright.
You can come over.” The figure cautiously stepped away from the water and moved toward the center of the island while keeping some distance between them.
Eventually, both of them sat down, neither willing to fully lower their guard.
Several moments passed before Orren decided to start the conversation.
“Who are you, and how did you end up here?” The other person hesitated briefly before answering.
“I am Sunless, but you can call me Sunny.
It’s the winter solstice, so the Spell sent me to the Dream Realm.” For a moment, Orren didn’t react.
‘Sunless?’ His mind went blank as the realization hit him.
‘Did he just say his name is Sunless?’ Internally, he was already cursing his terrible luck.
‘I don’t even have the damned [Fated] attribute, so why does the Spell keep treating me like this?’ Then another thought suddenly clicked into place.
‘Wait.’ The reason he had been so exhausted after waking up from his first Nightmare.
The reason he had still felt sleepy despite being unconscious for almost a year.
‘It was because it was the winter solstice.’ He had simply been too focused on everything that happened after waking up to notice.
“And who are you?” Sunny asked.
Orren took a moment to calm himself before answering.
“I… I am Orren.” Sunny simply nodded and didn’t ask anything further.
Orren understood why.
Sunny was cautious by nature, and with his Flaw, he had every reason to be suspicious of others.
Trusting someone wasn’t something he could easily do.
Looking at him, Orren couldn’t help but feel some pity.
Sunny was just a child forced to mature far earlier than he should have been, and the road ahead of him would only become more brutal.
“Don’t worry, you can calm down for now.
Let’s wait until the sun rises, and then we’ll figure out where we are.” As he said that, Orren dismissed his sword and laid down on the ground, staring at the starless sky above.
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