The Dream II

After separating from the girls, the five boys followed the directions displayed on their VSBs and headed deeper into the academy grounds.

Unlike the lively commercial district surrounding Beginner’s Food, this side of the academy was noticeably quieter. The sounds of conversations and laughter gradually faded behind them, replaced by the rustling of trees.

After several minutes of walking, the road ahead split into multiple directions.

Without saying anything, Shobin raised his wrist and tapped his academy ID card against the screen of his VSB.

The bracelet emitted a soft light as several holographic windows appeared above it. After scrolling through the academy information for a few seconds, he looked up.

"It seems the academy has two residential districts. The teachers’ residential area is located on the opposite side of the academy city from us."

"The student residential district is divided into eight sections. The four sections on the left are for female students, and the four sections on the right are for male students."

He glanced back at the map floating above his wrist. "And according to this, we’re assigned to the fourth male section."

"Hmm..." Adrian said. "The Academy should have provided a superior and separate place exclusively for nobles."

Daniel snorted. "If they put all of you nobles together, you’d probably start a civil war over curtain colors."

"Aren’t you a noble too?" Marty asked.

"I am," Daniel said, "but don’t lump me in with that arrogant bunch."

Ignoring their bickering, Shobin turned onto the road to the right, the others following behind him. As they passed through the first three sections, Marty looked around curiously.

"It seems every section has the same kind of houses," Marty said. "Honestly, I expected giant apartment buildings with hundreds of rooms."

"Same here," Zac said. "I thought we’d be assigned to some huge hostel with multiple rooms."

Adrian snorted. "Just as I said. You are all simply accustomed to mediocrity."

"Think about where we are. One of the top five academies in the world. How could you possibly cling to the expectations of your former lives?"

Shobin looked around. "Yeah, I get that, but I still didn’t expect individual homes for every single one of us."

Daniel nodded. "Variants value privacy more than almost anything else, especially when it comes to their arts, training methods, and abilities. That’s why the Academy gives everyone a separate house."

"Well, when you put it that way, it actually makes sense," Marty said.

Eventually, they arrived at the entrance to the fourth and final male section. A stone arch stood over the road leading inside.

Carved into the center was a large metallic number. ’2595’

Daniel looked up at it. "It seems the academy changes section numbers based on enrollment year."

"Yeah, I read that in the academy profile too," Shobin said. "So everyone who entered the Academy this year belongs to this section."

Beyond the arch stretched an enormous residential district. Identical houses stood on both sides of the road, arranged with almost unsettling precision. Street lamps illuminated row after row of homes disappearing into the distance.

"This place looks like a massive gated community," Marty said. "Just how many houses do they even have here?"

Shobin glanced at his VSB again. "According to the Academy database, each section contains around two hundred to three hundred houses."

"That many?"

Shobin took a few steps forward before Daniel suddenly stopped him. "Wait. My VSB is directing me somewhere else."

Shobin frowned and checked his own device again. "But mine is showing the exact direction I’m walking."

Marty pulled out his Academy ID card and tapped it against his VSB. "Well, mine’s sending me somewhere else too."

Adrian checked his next. "So is mine."

Zac finally spoke. "It seems the Academy wasn’t interested in creating happy neighbours."

"It seems we have to go our separate ways now," Daniel said.

Marty nodded immediately. "Yeah. See you all tomorrow."

Adrian raised his chin proudly. "Sleep well, peasants, so that you may serve me adequately tomorrow." Having delivered his royal decree, Adrian walked off in his own direction.

Daniel wished everyone good night and headed toward his house, and so did Shobin.

Marty finally looked at Zac. "Go home and sleep. Please don’t cause any more trouble."

Zac raised an eyebrow. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

Marty pointed accusingly at him. "The last time I left you alone, an entire floor got destroyed."

Zac looked genuinely offended. "That’s not entirely my fault."

"But you were still the cause, right?"

"Well, that..."

"Just try not to become tomorrow morning’s announcement, please, Zac. I beg you."

"Okay, okay, fine. Don’t worry."

With one final look of concern, Marty finally walked away.

Now standing alone beneath the soft glow of the streetlamp, Zac checked the direction of his house on the VSB and started walking.

Five minutes later, he stopped in front of a small house standing quietly before him.

It had a modest front lawn, a narrow path leading to the entrance, and a backyard hidden behind a wooden fence.

From the outside, the house looked painfully average. Nothing about it screamed one of the top five academies in the world.

"Well, beggars can’t be choosers." Muttering that to himself, Zac stepped onto the lawn and looked up at the number engraved on the front door.

Seeing the number, his feet stopped walking, and his body froze. "You’ve got to be kidding me."

The system immediately burst into laughter. [Ahaahaaa...haahaaa...]

[Is this what humans call fate having a sense of humor?]

Carved proudly onto the door for the entire world to see was a single number. ’69’

[Ahaahaaa...]

[Wait, check carefully. Maybe it’s 96. You do have a long and glorious history of confusing sixes and nines, don’t you?]

"Fuck you!"

Zac stepped forward and pressed his academy ID card against the lock panel, and with a soft click, the door slowly opened.

He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "Well then, time for exploration." Five minutes later, "Okay, this is a lot better than what I expected after seeing the outside."

The house had a large living room with more than enough space in case he ever had guests. Beyond it was a dining area with an actual dining table. Connected to that was a surprisingly modern kitchen.

To the left sat a bedroom with a large bed and a separate bathroom.

But more than anything else, the first floor contained a huge practice area, complete with reinforced alloy foundations and impact-resistant walls. "Looks like the Academy expects students to keep training even when they’re at home."

"Not bad. Not bad at all."

"I think it’s time to end this day." With that, Zac grabbed a blanket from the couch, walked straight to the bed, and immediately collapsed onto it.

***

A huge raven suddenly flew past Zac’s face. For a split second, panic surged through him.

When he searched below, there was no bed beneath him and no ceiling above him.

He was floating in the air. "What the...?"

His body hung motionless as if gravity had simply forgotten about him.

"Where am I?"

"And how the hell am I floating?"

Above him stretched a sky buried beneath thick ash-colored clouds that churned slowly overhead like smoke trapped beneath an invisible ocean.

There were no stars or moon.

Below him flowed a river of bubbling black liquid, and every few seconds, the surface hissed violently as bubbles rose and burst.

Steam drifted upward, carrying with it the smell of rust and ash. The river stretched beyond the horizon in every direction.

Scattered throughout it stood hundreds upon hundreds of towers built in the same ancient style.

Dark gray stones looked worn down by time unknown. Eroded by whatever horrifying substance flowed beneath them.

The towers stood like gravestones for a civilization that had been brutally erased from history. Even at a glance, Zac could tell they had stood there for thousands of years.

Mummified corpses hung from chains attached to the towers, and others had been nailed directly onto the stone walls, completely decayed.

There was no vegetation or life to be seen anywhere except dozens of dark ravens with crimson eyes circling overhead.

The place felt less like a ruined world and more like hell itself.

"Save me..."

A weak, broken voice echoed in the distance.

Zac immediately turned around. "Who’s there?" but there was no reply. After several seconds the voice came again.

"Save me..."

Zac spun in another direction. "Who are you? Where are you?"

And then a thought suddenly struck him. "Why does this voice feel familiar?"

Without warning, a powerful force grabbed him and pulled him through the air. "What the hell?!" Even though he tried to resist, the force was so overwhelming that he couldn’t stop himself.

It dragged him across the wasteland toward a tower far larger than all the others. The massive structure stood at the very center of the endless ruins like the heart of the entire nightmare.

A moment later, Zac was pulled through the entrance. The instant he crossed the threshold, every sound from outside disappeared.

The interior of the tower was almost completely dark, with only faint traces of light entering from outside.

Then Zac saw a man kneeling at the center of the chamber.

His arms were stretched apart and bound by chains, and his legs were shackled. Layer upon layer of iron restraints covered his body as though whoever had imprisoned him feared even the possibility of movement.

The man hung there motionless with his clothes torn and stained with dried blood. Large pieces of flesh were simply missing.

Bruises, cuts, and burn marks. Almost every injury imaginable covered his body.

"Who..." Zac swallowed. "Who are you?"

For several seconds, the man didn’t move. Then slowly... He lifted his head.

The moment Zac saw his face, he stopped breathing.

"No."

His legs refused to move and his mind refused to think.

"It can’t be."

"Dad...?"

The man looked at him, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"Zac...save me."

"Dad!" Zac rushed forward. The man also tried to reach toward him.

But before Zac could even touch him... The world shattered. Everything around him cracked apart like broken glass as he felt his soul being violently ripped away.

"No!"

Zac shot upright in bed.

Peep! Peep! Peep! Peep! Peep! Peep!

The alarm beside him screamed into the room.

So did Zac’s heart.

His face was pale and his entire body was drenched in sweat. Even his hands were shaking.

He stared silently at the room around him for several seconds.

Then finally muttered, "Why the hell do I keep getting these weird dreams?"