Leon's smile froze.
'This can't be possible...'
He took a deep breath as he continued to stare at Sunless.
The bench.
The police station.
This was where it had all begun, where Sunny's journey had started.
"Are we... in NQSC?" Leon asked, his voice unsteady.
Sunless showed him an annoyed look.
"Did the outskirts make you lose your mind?"
Leon stayed silent as he slowly leaned on the bench with a look of disbelief. Looking at the police station across the road, his thoughts went wild.
'Shadow Slave...'
He didn't know what to think.
Everything fit — the scenery, the man beside him who resembled the main character. And this strange state he was in... he had never felt so tired before.
'Nightmare Spell...'
He had been infected.
He didn't know whether he wanted to laugh or cry. His emotions felt mixed together.
Leon blinked slowly, forcing himself to focus. His thoughts were like a hurricane, never settling in one place.
His quiet and boring life became this...
After a while, the noises of vehicles moving around, people passing by, and the sipping of coffee died down. He could hear a ringing in his ears.
Even death hadn't freed him. Of course it hadn't.
His eyes stung, his throat was dry, and his stomach twisted with hunger.
Sure, his life wasn't as bad as people like Sunny, whose whole life was in the outskirts. Life always felt unfair — no matter who you compared it to.
So what if he was in Shadow Slave? His life, or the life of the body he was in, was also miserable. He had realized this body was from the outskirts. The glares he had gotten from those people made sense.
Plus, he was infected by the spell. Even though he wanted to think he would beat the trials — become an awakened — there was no saying he would survive.
Shadow Slave was ruthless. He remembered all the events that could kill someone like him easily. Antarctica, Realm War, and especially the Dream Realm itself.
'What if I end up on the Forgotten Shore? Worse, what if it's Godgrave, or the Nightmare Desert?'
His body shuddered in fear. But he knew the biggest problem right now was the First Nightmare. Many people had died right in the First Nightmare, before they could even reach the Dream Realm.
After a while, his thoughts had calmed down. Leon steadied his breathing forcefully.
If he was dying anyway, why worry? No... he just had to make sure he doesn't die.
'I am sitting next to a literal gold mine.'
Leon's thoughts shifted in hope as he looked at Sunny. What if he could survive the First Nightmare? What if he could become a Master, or a Saint? Sunny could do it. He was from the outskirts, so why couldn't he?
At death's door, everything felt like a possibility. When you were so deep down, the only way left to go was up after all.
Leon looked back at Sunless and replied after so long that it felt too unnatural.
"The spell did."
Sunny turned to look at him with an expressionless face. He then turned back and started sipping his coffee again.
Leon did not know what to think. In his past life, he had come across the novel Shadow Slave. He loved it and read through it... most of it, anyway.
He tried to remember as much as he could.
'Ah, maybe I shouldn't have let it stack.'
He tried to think of something worth mourning back on Earth. The manga he hadn't finished. The next shift he'd never work. The chocolate.
That was about it.
Leon shook his head. There was no point in thinking about the past. He had to think of what he could do here. There were so many major events that spelt death for Leon.
'No, now that I think about it, this could be amazing, I know the future!'
A smile slowly spread across his face. Then he started laughing.
And he couldn't stop.
Sunny shuddered, hearing his laughter. He slowly inched away from Leon, still sipping on his coffee.
Leon could guess what Sunny's thoughts were right now.
'This guy is definitely crazy...'
He stopped laughing as he rested his face on his palm. Of all the ways to die, getting shot over a chocolate bar was probably the worst ending imaginable. And yet here he was. At the start of something.
'But if it is true, I need to befriend this guy as soon as possible. Only I know his untrusting, cunning nature more than anyone in this world. Two worlds even.'
"The spell got you too?" Leon asked.
"Yeah." Sunny replied in a dry tone.
Leon got up and held out his hand.
"Well then, I hope we outskirt rats can survive this together." He said as he smiled.
'Was this too friendly?'
Leon thought as his hand hung in the air awkwardly.
Sunny continued to look at Leon and hesitantly shook his hand. He then threw his coffee cup.
The cup missed the bin by a wide margin and fell on the ground. Sunny rolled his eyes in exasperation, but before he could do anything, Leon walked over to the cup, picked it up and threw it for him.
"Let's go surrender ourselves, then shall we?" Leon said with a smile on his face.
Sunny frowned slightly. "Sure."
The two walked into the police station.
Inside, a tired-looking officer gave them a quick glance and frowned with obvious distaste.
"Are you lost, boys?"
The two looked around curiously, noting the armored plates on the walls. Leon had never entered a police station in his past life, so even he was curiously eyeing around.
"Hey! I'm talking to you two!" The officer said in an annoyed tone.
Sunny cleared his throat.
"No."
He scratched the back of his head and added.
"As demanded by the Fourth Special Directive, I am here to surrender myself as a carrier of the Nightmare Spell."
'Wait...Wasn't it the Third Special Directive?'
Shaking his head, he thought he must have been mistaken.
The officer's expression immediately changed. He looked at Leon, prompting Leon to speak.
"What he said."
He looked at the young men once again, this time with piercing intensity.
"Are you sure you two are infected? When did you start showing symptoms?"
Sunny shrugged.
"A week ago?"
Leon simply yawned as the officer understood the gravity of the situation. His face paled.
Then, with a hurried motion, he pressed a button on his terminal and bellowed:
"Attention! Code Black in the lobby! I repeat! CODE BLACK!"
***
Leon yawned as the officers continued to restrain him. He saw a few officers standing a few meters away from him, holding guns.
His thoughts continued to become hazy and unclear.
The drowsiness made him calm and not panic at the sudden shift in worlds. Even though he could feel the First Nightmare marching toward him, he couldn't feel dread because of how tired he was.
'What a waste...'
Back on Earth, there had been nothing worth rushing back to. But here, there was so much he could do. He could become an explorer, chart places no one had ever seen. Or — if things went particularly well — maybe even the savior of humanity.
He'd settle for explorer though.
On Earth, money was considered everything. If you needed something or someone, money was the answer, and so money was infinitely harder to earn. But in Shadow Slave, you became an Awakened, and the respect you received would be multiplied ten times.
'Oh well, that is if I live past the First Nightmare. I guess this might be goodbye...'
The vault door opened as a gray-haired policeman entered.
"What's your...."
The old man paused and cleared his throat.
"Do you have a name, kid?"
"Leonar, but you can call me Leon."
The old man nodded.
"Any family we need to contact?"
"None," Leon added.
The old man sighed.
"How long can you stay awake, Leon?"
But he didn't get a reply.
The officer asked again. "Leon?"
The officer leaned towards Leon and narrowed his eyes.
"Shit."
Leon had already fallen asleep.
***
Leon opened his eyes. He saw a beautiful woman holding him. His body felt tiny and weak. He looked at the woman.
Her smile was gentle. Too gentle. It carried a warmth Leon had never known — and yet, somehow, he felt it had been missing all his life.
"Leonar..." she said softly, as if she had spoken his name countless times before.
The moment she smiled, Leon felt safe.
And for reasons he couldn't understand, that terrified him. These feelings were unnatural and foreign, and yet he loved them. The warmth he felt in his heart was soothing — he wanted to stay in this moment forever.
'Is this...the Nightmare?' Leon thought, but before he could analyze the situation...
Everything went dark again. The woman disappeared...
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial...]