Volume 4—Chapter 107: Why Don’t You Wake Up!
Author Note: I've been contemplating how to move forward with the plot without ruining the concept. I decided to push it through. This volume will be lore drop upon lore drop upon another lore drop. I hope you guys enjoy it. And this volume is not even nearing the end, probably will be the longest volume yet.
I work a lot on the concept and the read map. Weird that in the previous version, Volume 1-4 is contained in one volume with 60 chapters. I really stretch it and expand upon it now.
Hope you enjoy.
Hello there, Aria here… Again.
Let’s talk about a dream… You know, lucid dream usually dreams where you have absolute control. Some even say you become a god in it
This dream, however, feels like something I cannot control easily. I always thought a lucid dream meant I could do whatever I wanted, but this one does not work that way. There seems to be a rule. I cannot exert absolute control, only make suggestions and see how the world reacts to them.
That is what I did before the star detonated.
I changed the setting. Instead of destruction, I turned it into something like a talent show. I became the judge. Emilia, the witch, became a contestant and was asked to show her talent. Caroline was there too. I was sure I had thrown her away, far from the scene, yet she still followed behind and ended up as the only audience member.
Emilia’s talent was a magic show. Real magic, not an illusion. It was beautiful and elegant. For a moment, the dream felt stable.
Then she aimed a beam straight at me.
And the scene shattered again.
Guess where we suddenly end up? It looks like New York City. Times Square, to be exact. Or at least, it used to be. The place is ruined. Buildings are damaged, the streets torn apart, and in the sky, there is something wrong.
A portal is opening.
It looks like breaking glass in space. How do I even describe it? Imagine a transparent wall, like glass, struck by a rock. Cracks spread outward from a single point. Except this time, the cracks are not in the glass.
They are in space itself.
Yeah. A crack. A crack in space. That feels like the right word.
From that crack, monsters start pouring out. A goblin. Wait, no, that looks more like an orc. And that thing over there… what even is that? Tentacles? Why does it have so many? And that one is huge. Way too huge. How did something like that even fit through such a small portal?
“You really did not take me seriously…” Emilia said.
“Ah… sorry about that,” I replied. “I just wanted an enjoyable dream.”
“Enjoyable, huh?” Emilia said coldly. “Was it enjoyable to twist this world and connect it to every ruined world possible?”
Ruined world? So that is the setting now. But why is she blaming me for it?
“It’s not my intention to make the world like this,” I said.
“I doubt you are even aware of it,” Emilia replied. “This is not the first time you have done this. You erase your own memory regarding your plan and remain oblivious to it. No one would ever suspect you as the culprit.”
“What the heck are you talking about?” I asked.
“I was fooled once by this stunt of yours,” Emilia said. “I will not be fooled a second time.”
She fell silent for a moment, as if thinking. Then she continued.
“Your plan probably has something to do with that girl named Syena.”
Syena? Why is she bringing her up now? I mean… sure, I had a strange interest in her before, but still.
“The Authority of Fate,” Emilia went on, “and your Authority of Reality. Once those two are combined, your control over causality becomes absolute. I do not know what you are planning with that kind of power. But knowing you, I doubt it is something good.”
“So wake up already,” Emilia said sharply. “And take me seriously.”
Suddenly, without me noticing when it formed, a massive golden sphere appeared in the sky.
Oh. That was sneaky.
That whole conversation was just to distract me.
“Hear me, Noesha,” Emilia said, her voice echoing. “Or should I call you by your current name, Aria. Wake yourself up and stop all this madness.”
The golden sphere launched straight toward me.
Okay… what am I supposed to do with this huge thing?
Now that I look at it properly, it feels similar to that star from earlier. The pressure, the presence. But this one feels different. It does not feel like it is going to detonate. More like it exists to be there.
An inevitability.
Well… at least I am the only one here with Emilia. Aside from the monsters, I guess. So there should not be any casualties, right?
…Why am I even thinking about casualties?
This is a dream. There should not be casualties. Things should not matter this much.
Still… what should I do?
I try to will it away, like I have been doing with everything else in this dream. Change the scene. Change the outcome. But it does not work. The golden sphere refuses to disappear, as if it is anchored to something deeper than the dream itself.
“Heh… why don’t you just change the causality and get rid of it?” Emilia said.
Then, almost immediately, she followed up.
“You can’t,” she said. “Because you know it deep down. Changing it will doom this world.”
What… is she even talking about?
Enough thinking. I need to do something.
“Uh… excuse me!!” a voice suddenly shouted from behind me. “You guys know I am still here, right?!”
I turned around.
Caroline.
She is fighting one of the monsters crawling out of the portal, barely holding her ground. Right… she is still here. Of course she is.
And then I notice something strange.
Why are the monsters ignoring Emilia and me?
Why are they all going after Caroline instead?
I feel like I need to do something.
Caroline is essential to my plan.
…Huh?
What plan?
The moment I think that, my mind feels foggy, like something important is just out of reach.
Before I realise it, my hand moves on its own.
I raise it toward the golden sphere and make a stopping motion, like I am pressing my palm against invisible glass.
The sphere stops.
It freezes in midair, perfectly still.
Huh… so it worked.
Maybe this is the dream correcting itself. I guess even in a lucid dream, I am not truly free.
“Hmmm… why don’t you wake up already?” Emilia said.
Wake up?
From this dream?
No… that is not what she means. I can feel it.
“Hey! Can you two stop fighting and help me?!” Caroline shouted again.
I glance between her and Emilia.
“Hey,” I said, trying to sound casual. “Can we stop fighting for a second? Maybe help little Carol over there?”
…Sigh.
Even in a dream, I have to negotiate.
“Heh. I will not fall for your scheme,” Emilia said flatly.
This is such a hassle.
“Maybe… I should wake up.”
The moment I think that, the golden sphere starts to tremble.
Author's Note
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