Caius’s POV
After the purple light engulfed me—piercing through the solid walls of the train as if they were made of glass—I felt an irresistible urge to sleep, and in a single moment, I fell into a deep slumber.
When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in a place completely different from the bathroom I had been in.A place from my past life, one that still lived vividly in my memories.
I was standing still—or to be more precise, I had been walking and had just stopped now.
Around me, the world was bathed in sunset hues, while the noise of a crowd flooded my ears.
I was in the middle of a small crowd of high school students surrounding me from all sides as they exited through the school gate.
I turned my head to look at the familiar buildings of the high school I had attended in my past life.
"So the flower works after all." I muttered, turning my gaze back toward the crowd.
I walked through them, ignoring their presence as I left the school... well, the book had clearly stated that I should ignore the crowds.
And I wasn’t crazy enough to take risks in this strange world.
But honestly, everything felt far too real.
The sensation of air brushing against my hair, the clothes against my skin, the bag on my back—everything felt incredibly real, nothing like a dream.
I left the crowd behind and walked slowly through the familiar city streets.
Now I had to find the center of the dream and destroy it.
And of course, I knew exactly where it was.
After all, this was my dream.
I walked along the worn-out streets beneath the setting sun, avoiding construction pits that had been abandoned midway due to poor management in this city.
Pedestrians moved around me naturally... well, almost.
Sometimes, you could notice strange things—like the narrow alley I passed by.
I glanced inside briefly, only to see a wall at the end of it, and on that wall were several human-shaped shadows... yet there was no one there.
It was as if they noticed my gaze, as they began trembling violently against the wall.
I quickly averted my eyes and continued on my way. "Creepy."
I wasn’t in a hurry—why would I be?
Time flowed differently here compared to the outside world. Days here could amount to just a few minutes in reality.
So I had plenty of time.
It was worth noting that Elliot had spent over a hundred days inside the dream before somehow adapting and awakening a new ability that granted him mental resistance. He wasn’t strong enough to escape the dream directly.
So, through sheer willpower, he destroyed the center of his dream, only to find himself in the next moment facing the Demon of Dreams with his real body.
After a fierce battle, Elliot ultimately won and freed everyone from their dreams—only to discover that Professor Lucas and the other members of the Void system were already close to taking every Relic and escaping.
The reason Elliot was able to defeat a rank 5 monster was that the Dream Demon’s physical body was weak compared to monsters in the real world. After all, this monster wasn’t specialized in combat.
Well, when I say weak... I mean weak compared to rank 5.
In any case, after avoiding all those strange phenomena, I arrived at my destination.
A ten-story residential building stood before me. I paused there for a moment, staring at it, before entering through the open gate to find a long staircase ahead.
There was no elevator, so I used the stairs.
The echo of my footsteps resounded throughout the stairwell, which felt strangely hollow.
After some time, I reached the sixth floor and stopped in front of the door to one of the apartments.
I searched my pocket, pulled out a key, and inserted it into the lock... but didn’t turn it.
The hand holding the key trembled slightly.
I clenched my teeth in irritation. "What’s wrong with you now?" I muttered to myself.
I hesitated to open this door and see what lay behind it... them.
I stood there for who knows how long.
In the end, I managed to shut off my emotions, just as I always did.
I turned the key, opened the door, and stepped inside.
Immediately, I was greeted by the familiar smells of food my mother used to cook, along with the sound of conversation from within.
I walked forward slowly, the voices becoming clearer.
"Mom, can’t I just eat dinner now? I’m really hungry." It was the voice of a grown girl.
"I said no, and I mean no. We’ll wait for your brother. He’ll be here soon." A woman replied in a firm tone that allowed no argument.
There was a dull thud, as if someone had slammed their head onto a wooden table, followed by some complaining."Fine, just let him get here. I’ll teach him a new lesson today—titled: Don’t be late again." Her voice was filled with annoyance.
"Stop bothering your brother all the time." This time, it was a man’s voice—deep and calm.
I moved closer and stopped at the kitchen doorway, where the voices were coming from.
With some hesitation, I stepped inside.
There was nothing fancy or remarkable—just a simple kitchen with a dining table in the center, and two people sitting there waiting.
A man holding a newspaper, reading it attentively... my father.And a girl resting her head on the table in boredom, muttering to herself... my older sister.
Meanwhile, my mother walked over and placed some dishes on the table.
The moment I stepped inside, they all looked at me.
"See? I told you he’d be here any moment now." My mother said, while my sister lifted her head from the table, turned toward me, and gestured with her hand for me to come closer.
"Come here. Your big sister will teach you some important lessons."
I stood frozen in place.
Not because I was afraid of her or anything like that.
But because something was wrong...
Their faces weren’t clear.
Fog...Fog that concealed all of their features.