15 Dream/Nightmare
A black-haired man stood alone amidst the ruin, battered and bloodied. His armor was in tatters, clanking as the man dragged his feet. The shining metal was tarnished and scratched, and there were several large gashes in it where blades have pierced it. The man's body was covered in bruises and cuts, one of which barely missed his eye. The sword's pristine silver surface is now crusted with dried blood, the hilt sticky with gore.
He staggers backwards, briefly blinded by the light of the sun
Amidst the rubble of once a grand castle laid what remain of the demon king, his vile body tumbled and smashed beyond recognition.
The saintess, mage, swordman, elf, and dwarf - his friends and allies in this holy quest - were all arrayed around him, their faces betraying nothing but triumph. Yet as he looked at them, he felt nothing but sick dread.
"It's over," the saintess said, her voice ringing. "You've slain the demon king. You've done your duty, Hero."
At her words, the hero felt a sudden, crushing sadness. He had slain the demon king together with his party of saintess, mage, swordman, elf, and dwarf.
And at the end of the battle, his party had betrayed him, stabbing him in the back as he lay defenceless after his final attack that ended the demon king.
The hero felt washed over with a wave of despair. He had spent so much time with these comrades, shared their hopes and dreams, and now they had taken his life.
The pain was like a knife in his chest, and he wanted to scream. But he knew there was no use. He had been betrayed, and he was beyond help.
He looked up at the sky one last time before his eyes closed and found himself looking into the eyes of the saintess.
The saintess looked down at the hero. There was a hardness in her eyes, a coldness that made the pain in the hero's chest feel like a mere pinprick. "Goodbye," she said. "In your next life, don't trust people so easily, oh my great Hero." and then she raised her hand, and the sun went dark.
***
"Why?!!"
Scream escaped from my mouth as I woke up abruptly from my sleep, drenched in cold sweat. My head was spinning, and it took me a few seconds to realize I was still in my own room. I frantically sat up, gasping for air, my heart pounding.
Why did I scream? I couldn't remember what had woken me up. My mind was blank.
Without form or reason my stomach lurched with sorrow, pain and sense of betrayal, second only to what had I felt when I witnessed Ji-Hyeon breathed her last in front of me. The worst thing was I didn't even know why I felt this way.
People said that a dream was ephemeral, but I couldn't manage to recall even a crumb of its content.
"What a shitty way to start the day."
I muttered to myself, rubbing my temples in an attempt to relieve the throbbing ache.
This was the first time I had a dream, and how unlucky I was that my first dream seemed to be a nightmare.
I didn't know if I had some kind of special constitution or something like that, but I've never had a dream since I was born. Not even Ji-Hyeon's death, which traumatized me so much, managed to disturb my dreamless sleep.
Before I met Eros and gained the power of the system, my restful sleep was in where I could find solace from my ever growing weariness and severe depression. But now, it had been robbed away from me as well. Won't they leave me alone, really?! Anger boiled up inside me, and I slammed my fist on the bed frustrated.
What the fuck was wrong with me? I was acting like a child. I had to get a grip.
I tried to calm myself, taking deep breaths in and out. After recollecting myself, I try to use my heightened intelligence to analyse what might be the cause of the anomaly, but after a couple minutes of overclocking my brain, I couldn't find any difference in my lifestyle except from doing my quest yesterday.
Doing my quest?
Eros! Yes, Eros!
He might know something about my current predicament.
I tried to contact Eros in my mind, shouting, screaming, begging, pleading for him to answer me, but all I got was an empty, frigid void.
Why did he always do as he wish and had never there for me when I needed him? Was it because he was a God?!
"Dammit! What a useless god!" I cursed Eros in my mind and decided to give up relying on such an unreliable God.
I opened my status window, hoping that something would give me a clue, but nothing seemed different from what I saw before I went to sleep.
I let out an exasperated sighed and fell onto my bed hopelessly, pulling at my hairs in frustration.
"What the hell is going on… really…"
No answer came from the empty space of my room. Only chilly breeze blowing from the air conditioner whistled amidst the silence.
I suddenly missed the warmth of Yuna's body which permeated onto my skin as we covet each other's affection. I missed her soft lips that could offer me a great sense of comfort. I missed her lingering moans as I drove myself into her.
I used to be unbothered by my loneliness, but I couldn't stand it after tasting the sweetness of her presence.
Before I knew it, my hand had already reached out to my phone, and I subconsciously opened my contact, but ended up chuckling bitterly with a self-depreciating smile plastered on my face as I realized what I tried to do.
"You're such a pathetic bastard, Kim Siwoo. After reject her, you want to make her your emotional garbage dump? What a hyprocritical asshole."
I slapped my cheek as hard as I could, then told myself to get a grip.
I wouldn't solve anything by dwelling in my frustration, and it was more important to plan ahead to prepare myself for the next quest. As for what happened to me earlier, I'd saved it for later when I could get in touch with Eros again.
After making up my mind, I went to the bathroom for a cold shower to calm down my heart, changed into a proper clothes, and prepared to go to the campus for my morning class.
###
My dear reader,
Today I'll release two chapters again!
That's and this is a little update on our missions, yay!
[ Weekly Votes Lv. 1 ] : 200 PS/week (reset every week). Reward: 2 bonus chapters. Current progress: 13/200
[ Total Collection Lv. 2 ] : 500 collection. Reward: 3 bonus chapters. Current progress: 219/500
[ Total Review Lv. 1 ] : 10 reviews. Reward: 2 bonus chapters. Current progress: 2/10
