People believe that dreams are not real just because they are not made of matter or molecular particles. Dreams are real, but they are made up of opinions, images, memories, and lost hopes
-Neil Gaiman
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"…Where is this?"
In the middle of a desert covered with golden sand and surrounded by bright sunlight, a young man in his late 20s stood alone there. He adjusted his glasses and looked around, trying to understand his current situation. He tried to remember what happened last time he was in this situation. The last time he was conscious, he was lying on the mattress at home, taking a nap after a long day. But right now, he found himself wearing street clothes, even wearing shoes and glasses.
“This feeling…isn't imaginary..”
The boy held out his hand, feeling the dryness of the wind blowing across his white skin. The burning sunlight of the sun shone on his short black hair and blinded his eyes. Beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead. The feeling of his shoes sinking into the sand couldn't help but make him uncomfortable. His reason and senses were gradually concluding that this situation was real. He took out his phone and used the map app, but received no response, even though the 5G network was still available.
“…Could it be that I'm under some spell?”
He put the phone in his pocket, then rubbed his face and hair, a stream of cool water flowed out from somewhere. The water soothed his dry face and the heat on his head, helping him feel more alert. Even though he didn't fully understand what brought him to this place. However, it didn't stop him from finding a solution - looking for help.
Swish
“Huh!”
The sound of a large amount of sand falling and rubbing against each other hit the black-haired boy's ears. He immediately looked carefully at the source of the sound. Looking down from the top of a sandy slope, he saw a giant scorpion as big as a car. It has a shiny black shell like Onyx under the sun. The two sharp pincers and the pointed tail full of toxins made him shiver.
“There are no weapons here, so avoid…”
Even though his body was full of muscles, it was nothing to the monster like a living tank. He slowly backed away, walking gently to avoid the attention of other creatures hiding under the sand. After walking a long way, he came across a one-story house about 20 square meters wide. A house of modern design but lonely in the middle of the desert. As a place with only monsters, the house piqued his curiosity. Because there was only horizon and sand in all four directions, there was no direction to look for, so he had to try going in. Inside the house with four white walls and a window, there is no furniture inside. Even so, this is also a good place to avoid the sun during the day and the cold at night.
“…?”
When his eyes turned to the floor, he saw a young man with a somewhat taller physique than him lying upright. Short blonde hair, white but slightly pale skin. His face was full of tattoos, his eyes were tightly closed and his lips were dry and chapped, looking like they were dehydrated. On his body were leather boots and gloves, a cloth shirt covered with leather armor underneath. He walked over to check on the other person, his heart was barely beating, his breathing was almost absent. Even so, there was no rotting smell coming from that unconscious young man. Seeing that, he put his finger into the stranger's mouth. A stream of water flowed into that young man's throat. His skin gradually became smooth again, his heartbeat became clearer and clearer.
“…Huh?” The blonde boy woke up, revealing his purple eyes of Amethyst stone. He looked over and saw a stranger's finger in his mouth.
"Who are you?" The blonde young man blinked a few times then asked.
“A person gets lost and meets someone who is about to die.” The black-haired young man asked calmly. “Can you sit up?”
"Okay." The blonde boy gently sat up without much difficulty, his smiling face did not look like someone in distress. “Thank you for saving me~.”
"…Are you hungry?"
The black-haired boy asked. In his hand was a hot, fragrant bowl of ramen containing eggs, fish cakes, mushrooms and char siu. On top of the ramen bowl is a pair of steel chopsticks for dining.
“Okay?” The blond young man looked at the bowl of noodles and swallowed his saliva, his stomach making a clear rumbling sound.
“As long as I'm still awake, I can have any number of bowls.” The black-haired boy replied calmly, his expression still unchanged.
“So I'm not a guest~.” The other person immediately picked up the ramen bowl and chopsticks to eat. The sound of slurping filled the whole room.
“Do you mind if we talk while you eat?” The young man adjusted his glasses and asked.
“Go ahead~.” He said while holding out the empty bowl of ramen.
“Where on Earth is this desert? And you don't look like a local.” The black-haired young man placed his hand in front of the Ramen bowl. And then the ramen bowl was full again.
“This place is not part of Earth but is also connected to Earth. And like you, I traveled to this place.” The blonde guy continued to eat the bowl of ramen deliciously. ”I'm Jarek, what about you?”
“… Just call me J” the black-haired young man pursed his lips for a second, his eyes glanced slightly downward for a moment before answering. Which brings with it another question. "What do you mean like me? And is this another world or something?”
“This place is a Dream, and you and I are Dreamers.” Jarek still ate non-stop, but still answered clearly. Then he held out the empty bowl of ramen again.
“Dream? Dreamer?” J frowned, not understanding the ambiguous answer. His hand still helped the ramen bowl fill up again.
“This place is a Dream, born from the sleep of one or more individuals. And Dreamers are people who can make dreams come true or enter other Dreams.” Jarek finished his bowl of ramen and pointed his chopsticks at J. "You can make this bowl of ramen as proof."
“…In my case, I call these phenomena Raw Magic transformations. And depending on how Raw Magic is used, they classify it into different Classes.” J sighed and gave the opposite analysis while filling the bowl of ramen again. “And the way you say it, this is a different world… I can only do this, what about you?”
“Transform yourself into other creatures, and create inorganic objects.” The blonde boy still enjoyed the taste of the food and his stomach was filled. ”Because I can't create water, I'm dry as you can see. And the food is running out.”
“I see…” J rubbed his chin and thought for a moment. ”What did you come here for? Like is there any way out of here?”
“I came here to find a way to help lost people like you escape from here, as well as prevent this Dream from attracting more victims.” Jarek walked towards a wooden door that was located on the floor and had the same brown tone of wood. He opened it and showed that there were many human skeletons underneath. His eyes looked at what used to be that person with sadness. “If we don't stop this nightmare, there will be many more people like you who will end up like this…”
“…” The black-haired guy frowned and frowned. He rubbed his hands over his face, leaving a lot of cold water running down. ”So how to get out of here.”
“You wake up yourself, someone wakes you up from where you were sleeping, or you have to wait until your sleep ends.” Jarek closed the hatch and walked back with the empty bowl. “If needed, I'll help escort you until you wake up, what do you think?”
“…Maybe I'll have to ask you.”
When J finished the conversation, Jarek had already finished his 20th bowl. The tattooed blond guy also received a lot of ramen ingredients. He bagged and vacuum-sealed them, then filled them in a cooler. Now J finds it strange that Jarek's blonde hair was originally only neck-length, but is now waist-length.
“I'm thinking of going to check around, join in, J?” Jarek asked once he was out the door. Next to him was an armored military vehicle that was pale yellow like sand. On the top of the vehicle are two heavy machine guns (HMG) installed.
“It's not safe here alone if you run into things like scorpions.” J walked slowly out the door.
“Then take these things for protection.” Jarek threw over a battle rifle with several magazines and a silencer. He also included a few grenades. “Do you know how to use it?”
"Have."
The black-haired boy attached the magazine to the gun and loaded it, but did not forget to lock the gun so as not to accidentally pull the trigger. Grenades are worn through belt slots, guns are strapped to the shoulder. The two got into the armored car and Jarek acted as the driver. The car rolled and then went away from the house.
“So where are you going?” After a moment of silence and using his phone to take pictures of everything around him, J opened his mouth.
“Find the source of this Dream, its owner and find a solution.” Jarek held the steering wheel in his hand and responded. ”Push away their nightmares, this bad Dream will come to an end.”
“Wandering through a world full of sand and lacking search tools is annoying.”
J sighed and looked back at the window. The next second, a giant cloud of cable beetles appeared
from under the sand. They suddenly emerged and started chasing the car!
“Please take the wheel for a bit.”
“Huh?”
Jarek quickly grabbed J's hand and grabbed the steering wheel, climbed onto the roof of the car and used a machine gun to shoot back at the monsters. Parallel to the series of bullets exploding like fireworks from the gun, the black-haired boy reluctantly became the driver. What's worse is that this is not what J is good at, especially driving on sandy terrain. Regardless, his foot still pressed hard on the gas pedal, his hand still turned the steering wheel to avoid rocks and cacti over 3 meters high!
Bang bang bang bang bang
BOOM
Hundreds of bullets were fired, creating a rain, accompanied by dozens of grenades that exploded like a storm. Every time dozens of bullets were fired from the barrel or a few grenades exploded, a black scorpion fell, and then several more appeared. A continuous cycle continued until the whole number of scorpions was so crowded that it was filled with smoke and dust. The entire area on the sand was decorated with the black color of scorpions. They chased after the car like a wave wanting to sink the lonely boat in the middle of the sea!
“I'm afraid these guns and bullets aren't enough…”
Jarek said as he grabbed another rocket launcher. At this time, the blond guy has 8 different arms. Two hands use heavy machine guns, two hands use rocket launchers, and the remaining two hands launch grenades. Even so, it didn't seem like the arthropod tanks were willing to let the two boys go.
“How long do we have to run away like this!” J gritted his teeth, his heart felt like it was on fire. His hands were still trying to turn the steering wheel to avoid rocks and trees.
“Try hard, my friend!”
Understanding that the situation was getting worse, Jarek tried to reassure his companion. In his four hands appeared four C4 bombs tied with TNT bars. He lit the fuse of the TNT bars and threw it towards the scorpions.
BOOM
The explosion of the bombs created four pillars made of sand. Many scorpions fell, the remaining few then stopped pursuing. The car went a short distance without seeing any more scorpions.
“Phew, it's fine.” Jarek breathed a sigh of relief. He climbed down back into the cockpit, his limbs had returned to normal like a human's. “Thank you for holding the rudder~.”
“…If you weren't stuck with me, you'd probably just fly into the sky and drop bombs.” J was silent for a moment and then replied with tired, bored words. "Or become something really small, dig deep into the ground to hide from them, or maybe build a helicopter, for example. ”
“Don't underestimate your own merits like that.” Jarek grinned and patted the black-haired boy's shoulder. ”But you're right, maybe using a helicopter would be better. Stop the car.”
"Already."
J immediately stepped on the armored vehicle's brake and brought it to a stop. He gave a bowl of water to Jarek and then left the cockpit to get some fresh air. Even though there was a breeze, the hot wind outside didn't help him get better. The only benefit of this desert wind is that it helps J reduce motion sickness.
“Ha, cool water after a fierce battle is the best.” Jarek drank the entire bowl of water, let out a cheerful sound and threw the bowl away. "Time to prepare the helicopter-"
Swish
Several scorpions emerged from beneath the sand. One of them stood up right underneath the car. That vehicle was completely overturned to the surprise of both!
Bang bang bang
POW
Without anyone saying anything, J immediately unlocked the gun and shot an entire magazine at the enemy. Jarek swung a punch at the scorpion's face. One animal collapsed immediately after having a hole in its head, and the other was injured quite a bit by the bullets as it struggled and screamed. And J fell to the sand with the gun still firing and the barrel pointing up to the sky!
“Is this HMG gun so shocking?” J tried to sit up with his shoulder sore from the butt of the gun. But he also did not forget to retreat far away from that arthropod creature.
POW
Another punch from Jarek swung straight into the scorpion's face, causing the monster to be sent to its resting place.
“As expected, you could easily handle them yourself…” J sighed, mixed with relief and disappointment.
“It's my fault for not giving you the right weapon.” Jarek smiled reassuringly. “But… it's been a while, maybe you'll wake up soon- Get away J!”
“Huh?”
J was stunned and couldn't understand what was going on. A pair of claws emerged from beneath the sand. It clamped down tightly and then broke the black-haired boy into three pieces!
“J!”
Jarek screamed at the sight of his companion's blood pouring onto the sand. Death came so suddenly, J couldn't react in time to do anything but open his eyes.
POW
Unlike Jarek's previous punch, this time the scorpion did not just have a hole punched in its body. Its body was crushed and sunk into a sand pit, only its claws were intact.
“J… can you still hear me…”
