Chapter Text
‘Curse that damn wheel! Curse my Flaw! And just… Argh! Curse Everything!’
Needless to say, Sunny was in a bad mood. And it all circled back to the two Flaws he now had to bear with for likely his entire short life.
Two Flaws! He could hardly imagine a worse fate for an Awakened to have to deal with than that.
'Can't lie. I can't lie? Me? How am I supposed to live if I can't lie?!'
Sunny's very survival was predicated on his ability to deceive and outsmart other people. Even the Spell itself congratulated him on his treachery! Without the ability to lie, he wouldn't be able to achieve anything.
Not to mention, the thing that had gotten him into this predicament in the first place.
Gambler’s Conscience.
Sunny initially didn’t understand what the Flaw entailed, what had counted as a risk? What had counted as a reward? The wording was too vague for him to make heads or tails about it, so he had vowed to try and understand it at a later time.
But he had now gotten a front row seat as to how fatal it was to his current ability to survive. Thinking back on the strange compulsion he first felt when holding those gold tokens, Sunny realized that if there was any incentive involved in him getting a reward, like an addict, he would be forced to jump into the situation regardless of the risk.
That didn’t sound bad initially, Sunny could freely admit to being a greedy individual and willing to gamble here and there for something of value, but what mattered in such situations was that Sunny had the choice to not go through with it, if what he would gain would severely put him at risk. Some things were just not worth it.
He had been in myriad situations where he had longed for something for himself, but wisely chose to not as he valued his life more. Not to mention he had seen a number of gambling addicts disappear after crossing the wrong loan sharks, all because they could not manage their own greed.
And now, Sunny has joined their ilk.
He zipped up his clean police-issued tracksuit and grabbed his hair in frustration. This was truly unfair.
‘No, wait, it isn’t a total lost cause,’ Sunny thought with a minor realization. ‘If I compare that compulsion when I initially rolled the gold tokens and when I rolled the Flaw Wheel… although they were the same, the latter was much more intense.’
Sunny had given into the former compulsion simply because he was still unaware of his Flaw, if he had wanted to, he truly believed that he could have fought it off through willpower alone. Not only that… the second compulsion had only gotten so strong when he initially tried to close away the wheel, as if his very being abhorred the idea of ignoring a clear cut and valuable prize in front of him, regardless of the dangers.
‘So…’ He was in deep thought as he walked to the police station cafeteria. ‘It’s not impossible to fight off the need to gamble, but the strength of the compulsion also directly correlates to the value of the reward, the risk at hand and… my proximity as well?’
All of this was simply a theory, and Sunny would have to run multiple discreet tests in the future, but if that was the case, then his Flaw, while fatal, could still be managed. Which brought a small wave of relief that not all hope was lost.
He still had to be careful, if anyone knew about his Flaw, they could easily drag him into life or death situations and all they’d have to do is dangle something extremely valuable in his face. This made his second Flaw all the more debilitating.
‘I can handle it, outside of my immense potential and my main Flaw. I don’t have any other information that could pose a serious risk to my life, plus I can just keep quiet if someone asks me anything.’ Sunny nodded, a smile already worming its way back onto his face.
And even if they did discover how powerful his Aspect was, it wasn’t a total trainwreck. It’s not like knowing about it could possibly enslave him to another’s will after all, that would be awful.
Sunny also swore off ever touching the Flaw Wheel again, it galled him to admit, but he had gotten lucky that he simply couldn’t lie and hadn’t gotten a Flaw that completely removed his ability to fight or even worse, kill. That would be truly awful.
The golden token he had gained was tempting, but he’d rather roll it on his own time in case he experienced a more noticeable transformation.
Despite the setbacks, everything was still coming up Sunny! He shouldn't let this ruin his mood.
Victory should be sweet after all.
Satisfied, Sunny spotted Master Jet sitting on a table with two plates of steaming synthetic food in front of her. He sauntered over and sat down, The woman raised an eyebrow at him as he did.
She simply waved her hand towards them. “Help yourself.”
Sunny glanced at the cheap gruel and sighed. This was not the first meal he had expected to eat right after becoming a Sleeper, but food was food. With that, Sunny wolfed down the gruel like the starving outskirt rat he was.
While he ate, his thoughts began to wander leading to him stealing a glance at the Master in front of him and he couldn’t help but live by his previous words that she was truly the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, she had zipped up her jacket but Sunny still remembers the way her rather large assets pressed against—
“What are you thinking about?” Jet asked.
Sunny nearly coughed on his food, as she derailed his train of thoughts, giving her an embarrassed smile, he quickly created an excuse in his mind.
“I was just remembering the way your breasts pressed against your tank top when I first woke up.” Sunny answered.
He was silent for a second and then his eyes widened in absolute horror as the mouth of the Master in front of him curved into a chilling smile.
‘That’s–That’s not what I wanted to say!’
Sunny immediately tried to back track, but faster than his eyes could perceive she brought her hand forward and flicked her finger across his forehead.
His head rocked back, Sunny’s whole body nearly blasting off his chair before he forcefully balanced himself back into a seating position. He closed his eyes as tears welled in them and cradled his forehead.
Even though it felt as if his brain got hit with a sledgehammer, that was getting off light when it came to pissing off an Ascended. Sunny prayed he had not just made a powerful enemy.
"Let me give you a piece of advice: don't just say anything that comes to your mind. Especially to girls. It's not like you haven't seen a girl before, right?"
He gave a feeble nod and opened his mouth to speak and apologize.
“I have mam,” Sunny blurted out, then, his mouth moved against his will once more. “But out of all of them you are perhaps the most beautiful I have ever seen.”
Sunny’s face turned red as a lobster and he ducked his head preparing for another blow.
‘This… damn Flaw!’
There was silence for a moment, and then Sunny lifted his head back up when he heard Master Jet laughing, while shaking her head.
“You haven’t met many Awakened I assume? I’m below average going by that standard. Nothing special.”
Sunny simply gave her a doubtful look, making her shake her head.
“As you develop your soul core, the body slowly loses all its imperfections. It’s hard to find a truly unattractive Awakened among the more powerful ones, hell,” Jet glanced at Sunny and tilted her head. “You’re already experiencing the benefits, could have sworn your voice was rather rough when you first woke up, that shower must have cleared everything up. You sound like you belong to a goth band that teenage girls love listening to. You might become a flower boy yourself one day.”
Involuntarily, Sunny’s chest swelled with pride.
“Thanks for that kid, you made this day a lot more entertaining.” Jet chucked again. “Now, if you’re almost finished with your food I’ll begin procedure as per protocol.”
Master Jet spoke and began to inform Sunny on the options available to him. He was entitled to a free counselor to discuss his Nightmare, but he turned the option down, Jet didn’t push and simply asked about its difficulty and after Sunny answered, she expressed pride for him and revealed herself to also be from the outskirts, much to his shock.
Silently, Sunny made the promise to be a Master one day as well.
After that internal declaration, Jet had laid his options out clearly for him; he could either leave now and live his life to the fullest before the Winter Solstice in a month and likely die a gruesome death in the Dream Realm.
Or, he could join the Awakened Academy and learn as much as he can before being thrown into its treacherous expanse, while also meeting his future allies who would likely fight alongside him… or try to kill him instead.
"So, what do you say? Do you want me to take you to the Academy?"
Sunny didn’t get the chance to think about it as the voice of the Spell immediately whispered into his ear at the same time as two windows of runes materialized right in front of him.
[Lost From Light! Two choices have been presented to you, and two Quests have been made in turn! Select your path!]
[Quest: Live out the final weeks of your life in pleasure and indulgence before being thrown into the deadly and harrowing world of the Dream Realm where you will meet a brutal, painful and agonizingly slow demise!]
[Reward: 2 Chaos Fragments, Bronze Token x1]
[Quest: Join the Awakened Academy and prepare for the deadly trials that await you in the Dream Realm, temper yourself so that you will at least meet a possible swift demise instead of a brutal one.]
[Reward: 4 Chaos Fragments, Bronze Token x1]
Ignoring the Spell’s rather dark descriptions of his future, the choice was obvious to Sunny. He had never been one to party after all.
‘So I gain fragments from completing quests, then those 12 I had must have been for my First Nightmare. That’s good to know.’
However, before he could confirm, Jet interrupted him.
“Sleeper Sunless,” Master jet gave him a weird look. “You zoned out on me for a minute there, do you need more time to decide?”
Sunny coughed and hid his embarrassment as best he could, then shook his head.
“No, I’ve already made up my mind. Please, take me to the Academy.”
Right as he said those words, the first window faded away and a strange chiming noise echoed in his ear at the same time as the Spell spoke once more.
[Quest Accepted!]
***
On their way to the Academy, Sunny didn’t speak much, instead he had his eyes closed and was focusing on getting used to the subtle-omniscience his Attributes gave him. He felt parts of the city fly by within his bubble of awareness, amazed by the sheer activity of human infrastructure around him, his range reaching for at least a hundred meters in radius.
He couldn’t even appreciate the fact that he was riding in a PTV for the first time with how occupied he was.
At some point, he felt Master Jet looking at him and she said:
"Since we both come from the outskirts, I'll give you three pieces of advice. Whether you listen to me or not is your business."
Sunny opened his eyes and turned to her.
Master Jet explained how he would be offered psychological counsel again and even a reward for detailing his experiences in the Nightmare via Soul Shards, and she put it in no uncertain terms that he should turn the offer down. Sunny had initially tensed up at the mention of a reward, but relaxed when his Flaw didn’t flare up, however, curiously, he felt a minor twinge that he easily crushed down when Jet explained the risks involved in him divulging his personal details.
‘So the element of risk is crucial for the compulsion to act out.’ That was good to know, it meant that Sunny couldn’t be enticed with just something valuable being dangled in his face. Although if his theory on the proximity of the ‘gamble’ mattered too, her advice would be useless as Sunny could be forced to blurt out everything he knew for the reward, especially considering his other Flaw.
However, he had an idea to overcome that…
Next, Master Jet brought up the class he should take; Wilderness Survival, as she explained it and as Sunny confirmed himself, what mattered more in the Dream Realm was surviving the elements, not necessarily killing as many Nightmare Creatures as he can, especially with how uneducated he was do to his background. He promised to take her words to heart
Sunny saw the gates of the Awakened Academy coming forward, however, Master Jet turned the PTV, into another avenue and seemed to take a longer route to their destination much to Sunny’s confusion.
“Now, Sunless, I don’t normally like to intrude on people’s business, but I’m going to make a few educated guesses here so bare with me.” Jet said, her voice turning grave as her sharp blue eyes pierced him from the rearview window, making him shiver.
“You are free to keep quiet and not confirm anything I say, but I feel the need to guide you on this, and I’ll be looping back to my first point and segwaying into the third. I’ve observed many Sleepers right after they woke up from their Nightmares, and you learn to pick up certain queues based on their actions afterwards.”
“And every Sleeper who’s gotten their hands on what they believe to be an immensely powerful Aspect, always carries a certain air of confidence and arrogance regardless of the horrors they faced within.” Jet said calmly.
Sunny tensed.
“I’m guessing you got something good, really good, and you're feeling like you're the king of the heap, hard not to, considering where we come from,” Jet said, with a wistful tone. “And right now despite your trepidation about the future, you fully believe that you can take the entire world by storm, maybe even reach to the top. Am I right?”
The more Master Jet talked, the more his apprehension rose at how eerily on the mark she was. He was reminded that Masters did not rise to become one of humanities champions by being idiots, you had to be sharp to survive not only the Dream Realm, but other Awakened as well.
Despite that, Sunny wanted to stay silent and not confirm or deny anything, however, the moment he did, a strange pressure began building in his head, he tried to ignore but it soon turned into a blinding pain that he couldn’t ignore.
“Yes.” Sunny said with forced reluctance.
‘That. Damn. Flaw!’
“Hm, glad to see you're honest,” Jet mumbled with surprise before continuing on. “Anyways, like I had said before, Nightmare Creatures aren’t the only thing you will face in the Dream Realm, and let me tell you, no matter how powerful you think your Aspect is, no matter how deadly or insidious, every ability has its counter without fail.” The last parts of Jet’s speech was laced with a hidden bitterness that she tried to hide.
“And unlike Nightmare Creatures, we can think, we can strategize, we can organize, we can manipulate, we know when to group together in the face of a bigger more deadly opponent.” Jet’s words were dark yet each one struck a chord within Sunny’s chest.
“...And yet most important of all, we are human. No matter what your abilities may be, never forget that singular fact Sunless. Especially if you want to live.” Jet finished.
The PTV pulled up to the massive red gates of the Academy, a city in of itself, meant to serve as a way to nurture the future protectors of earth and a culmination of humanity ingenuity in the face of the Nightmare Spell. Sunny stared at it in awe.
Both him and Master Jet got out of the car and he was still awestruck by the size of the structure in front of him.
"This is as far as I go," she said, looking cheerlessly at the walls of the Academy. "I've already notified them. Someone will come fetch you in a while."
There was something sad in the depths of her icy blue eyes. Sunny suddenly felt a cold feeling spreading through his body.
"What's the third advice?"
Master Jet glanced at him, then sighed.
"As I said, our greatest strength is the ability to come together when necessary.” Jet said. “No one can survive in the Dream Realm alone. That's not an opinion, that's a fact. Try to get along with your peers, even if they don't treat you well. It might save your life."
Then she suddenly smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
"You've done well to survive until now. Make sure to keep yourself alive in the future, too."
Master Jet walked away, yet Sunny couldn’t help but call out to her right before she got back into her PTV.
“Master Jet!” She turned back to him. “I can’t really make any promises… but I’ll follow everything you said the best I can. Thank you.”
The woman was under no real obligation to help Sunny, and gained nothing from doing so yet she still did. No matter how cynical he was, Sunny couldn’t dismiss that.
She gave him a small smile, then got back into her PTV and drove off. Just like that, she was gone.
***
Sunny stood in front of the colossal gates, a small part of him still reeling at the fact that this was actually happening, he read so many webnovels and comics on the Academy the incredible adventures Sleepers undergo within its walls. He felt like he was standing before a place of history.
He doubted that the stories he had read were actually accurate to reality of course, and even if they were, it didn't matter, he was here to learn how to survive.
Snow fell lazily on the ground around him, it was cold and silent in front of the gates. Except for Sunny, there was only one other person — another new Sleeper, he guessed.
It was a tall, slender girl of around his age, with clear grey eyes and a detached look on her face. She had strange, silver-white hair that was cut short and neatly parted to the side. Just like him, she was dressed in a police-issued tracksuit and had no personal belongings with her. On her head, there was a pair of old-fashioned headphones. She was calmly listening to music while they waited.
There was a certain vibe to the silver-haired girl. It was sort of… as though she was apart from the world. She looked confident and self-sufficient, but also a bit lonely.
Sunny wasn't going to start a conversation. Who knew what kind of situation he would put himself in due to that damn Flaw? He didn’t need a reputation as a pervert.
After what felt like forever, the gates to the Academy finally opened. The giant piece of sheet metal descended to the ground as a bridge forward, and stopped moving after releasing a series of loud clicks.
Master Jet’s advice was still echoing in his head as he walked forward with grim determination, the silver haired girl walking parallel alongside him.
Before he entered the Academy proper, The Spell’s voice resounded in his ear once more, its tone for some reason was laced with thick mischief as if holding back a laugh:
[Quest Complete! Join the Awakened Academy! Reward - Bronze Token x1]
[Your soul pulses with chaos.]
The same chime he’d heard earlier signifying a new token echoed in his mind, and at the same time, Sunny felt a change over his body instantly. His skin got smoother, his eyes grew a tad bit sharper and his muscles contained just a little more strength then they had not even a minute ago.
A dark smile formed on his face, his determination to survive buoyed by his ever growing arsenal of abilities. His mind focused completely on the coming future.
…And if Sunny had been paying attention, he would have noticed the silver haired girl also perking her head as if listening to someone, her face wearing the same –yet smaller– smile as Sunny’s.