Darkness surrounded Kyle, thick and suffocating.

Gradually, his awareness returned as he woke up. His eyelids fluttered, then slowly opened. The first thing he saw was a luxurious ceiling, an unfamiliar one.

"W-where..."

His voice came out hoarse, as if he hadn’t spoken in days.

Kyle frowned slightly, his eyes struggling to focus.

`This ceiling... I’ve never seen it before...`

His eyebrows furrowed instinctively as he tried to sit up. But the moment he moved—

"AGHH!"

A sharp pain pierced through his chest, and he fell back onto his back immediately.

His teeth clenched as his hand moved on instinctively and pressed gently against his chest, thick bandages wrapped around his bare chest, from his shoulder down to his lower belly.

Kyle lay still on the bed and forced himself to breathe despite the pain.

`...Right.`

He gradually recalled what had happened, the cave, the room lit by sunlight streaming through the ceiling, and the magical sword stuck in the stone.

Then Arthur.

Kyle clenched his jaw.

`That damn dwarf!`

He could still clearly remember the look on the hero’s face when he saw Kyle holding that sword. It was as if his mother had been stolen from him.

This was the first time Kyle had suffered such a serious injury. He could have died in that moment.

Kyle frowned a little.

Now that his mind had calmed down, he realized the huge mistakes he’d made back then.

He had been overcome by rage toward that hero after he’d nearly killed Weston because of his selfishness. He’d followed them into the cave without thinking about what he was doing, and he had even grabbed that sword without caution.

Only now, he understood just how dangerous that had been. What if that sword had been a cursed one? The kind that kills its wielder or manipulates their mind?

But the biggest problem was...

[Skill activation failed.]

Kyle had never seen that screen before. In every situation up until that moment, against animals, monsters, humans, the minions of a three hundred year old dragon, the skill had always tried. Even when it failed, it had never displayed a warning like that.

Although he didn’t understand what was wrong with his skill, he knew the biggest mistake he’d made.

He’d relied too much on the system.

Kyle sighed slowly, ignoring the way that small movement tugged at the wound.

He raised his hand a little and noticed the mark on the back of his hand. Kyle felt a connection between himself and the mark.

`Nightmare.`

The mark pulsed slightly and glowed as if responding.

It was the Nightmare that had pulled him out. He was absolutely certain of it, the memory of claws digging into his coat, the sudden, violent lift, and the cold mountain air rushing into his face as they broke through the cave ceiling.

After that, things became unclear... until he woke up on this ceiling.

Kyle slowly turned his head to take a look at the rest of the room.

"Hmm?"

The room was large and regal, as if it belonged to nobility. And there was no one in the room but him.

`Was I saved by some noble?`

As he marveled at the room, Kyle heard the door open and turned his head toward it.

A young boy, who appeared to be about thirteen, entered with long, curly blue hair that reached his shoulders.

The boy looked up and met Kyle’s gaze. That’s when Kyle noticed his blue eyes.

`Is that... a whale?`

There was a faint symbol of a whale in the boy’s eyes. If Kyle’s vision hadn’t been so sharp due to his stats, he wouldn’t have seen it. After all, his intelligence stats heightened his senses even further.

As soon as the boy realized Kyle was awake, he froze in place, then hurried out of the room, leaving Kyle alone once again.

`What the hell was that?`

Kyle didn’t wait long alone before the door opened again. But contrary to his expectations, it wasn’t the boy who entered.

His eyes widened as he watched a beautiful woman enter the room.

Her light blonde hair was tied in a long braid that hung down her back, and she wore a white dress that was slightly tight around her hips.

Kyle didn’t know if the dress was tight or if her hips were wide. But what caught his attention most was the white cloth covering her eyes.

Despite that, he felt as though she were staring right at him, as if she could see him. Before he could say anything, she spoke.

"So you’ve finally woken up." Her voice was calm and sweet.

Kyle didn’t speak for a moment, then opened his mouth and spoke, despite the pain.

"Are you the one who saved me?"

The woman nodded. "You’re right. We found you with a serious injury while you were riding your bird."

"Bird?" Kyle raised his eyebrow in question.

The woman chuckled softly. "Yes... your dream monster."

Kyle’s eyes widened. `A dream monster?! How does she know that?!`

When the shell of the Nightmare Egg turned into sparks and entered Kyle’s mind, he suddenly learned about the bird he had bonded with through the system.

It was a monster that existed during the Age of Chaos, when legendary monsters roamed the earth, and humanity was on the brink of extinction.

It was called the Dream Bird because it lived within dreams, manipulating them and feeding on them.

In fact, the word "Nightmare" was coined by humans to describe terrifying dreams specifically because of this beast.

The problem is that this monster was supposed to have gone extinct with the end of the Age of Chaos tens of thousands of years ago, and no ordinary human should know about it now.

So how could she know its name? Or even what it looks like?

Kyle stared at the woman, who seemed to be enjoying his surprise a little. Without hesitation, he immediately summoned her status screen.

The moment he glanced at it, his eyes widened instantly.