Dream realm.

Asher's POV

Stepping into the dream realm, the cold embrace of the water enveloped me like a vice, sending shivers down my spine. 'Yep, the forgotten shore,' I mused bitterly, the familiarity of the sensation doing little to ease the dread that gnawed at my insides. I extended my senses through my [Gravitic Resonance], navigating the murky depths with practised ease. With my innate ability, I quickly found which way was up by going against the regular gravity pushing on me.

Breaking through the surface, I gasped for air, the taste of saltwater mingling with the tang of fear on my tongue. 'I should find an island to rest on,' I resolved, my thoughts already racing ahead with plans. But before I could even begin to swim towards safety, a sudden shift in gravity beneath me sent a jolt of panic coursing through my veins. 'Something is coming,' I realized with a sinking feeling. I instantly used my aspect ability, [Gravitic Nexus], to push myself with gravity and get out of the area.

That's when I felt the true terror of my flaw. In front of me, raised a tentacle. Then another and one more after that. My body froze due to fear, amplified by my flaw. I felt terror gripped me in its icy claws. Rising from the depths before me were tentacles, their grotesque forms twisting and writhing in the darkness. Frozen with fear, my body betrayed me as I watched them approach.

Desperation clawed at my mind as I frantically sought a way to escape.

I quickly manipulated the gravity around me while my body was still frozen. During my training at the academy, I realized that since I could control the gravity around me if I could simply make gravity go the opposite direction of its natural flow and if I made myself lighter, I could fly. Sure enough, it worked. It was extremely risky though, one slip up and I could squeeze myself to death or fall to my death. Since gravity was a force that was all around me, I was effectively using it like telekinesis, except my control was not that good.

With every muscle in my body screaming in protest, I shot upwards, narrowly avoiding the grasp of the tentacles below. 'That perverted tentacle hentai shit almost killed me!' I thought to myself while gasping for air. I quickly used my sight to look around.

"What the hell!"

Turns out, I could see in the dark. "My eyes are actually busted!" I shouted.

*Woosh*

Another tentacle lashed out towards me, its monstrous form illuminated by the eerie glow of the underwater world. My heart pounded in my chest as I dodged with all the agility I could muster, the tentacle missing me by mere inches.

A realization dawned upon me with chilling clarity. My emotions, amplified threefold by my flaw, threatened to consume me in a whirlwind of terror. And as I felt my muscles tighten with the strain, the true horror of my situation became painfully clear.

My body remained frozen, gripped by the overwhelming fear that threatened to consume me from within. With every passing moment, I felt the weight of my amplified emotions pressing down on me like a suffocating blanket, leaving me helpless and vulnerable in the face of danger.

All I could do was manipulate the gravity around me and hope I didn't squeeze myself while flying there. I felt my muscles tighten as I heard multiple muscle tears due to losing a bit of control of the gravity around me.

As I struggled to maintain control, I focused all of my energy on manipulating the gravity around me, using it to propel myself towards the safety of the island looming ahead. Each movement sent sharp pains shooting through my muscles.

With my heart pounding in my chest and my breath coming in ragged gasps, I dared not look back, knowing that any moment of distraction could spell my doom. As I crashed onto the unforgiving ground of the island, I felt a sharp crack resonate through my body, the searing pain of broken ribs tearing through me like a knife.

"FUCK! IT HURTS!" I cried out, my voice echoing in the darkness as I struggled to draw air into my lungs. Each breath was agony, my lungs were under pressure the entire time I was flying due to the gravity. I felt the rib pierce my lungs after every gasp.

"Crap.."

I felt as if I was going to die anyway. Of course, no normal person was going to die with injuries like this in Shadow Slave, but I was but a normal person in mind.

With trembling hands, I forced myself to slow my breathing, drawing upon the techniques of total concentration breathing to dull the sharp edges of my suffering. It was a temporary respite, a fleeting moment of relief in the face of overwhelming adversity.

As I lay there, my chest rising and falling in shallow breaths, I couldn't help but marvel at the devastating power of my flaw.

"Fucking hell.."

Omni POV

[You have slain an awakened beast, Carapace Scavenger.]

"Fww…" Asher sighed as he limped his way to the Carapace. Well.. not exactly limping. His lower body was rather fine aside from trivial muscle tears. His torso, however, was riddled with injuries. His resistance to pain was higher than most people on Earth due to.. *coughs*.. Nephis' treatment towards him..

His hands still hurt due to overexerting himself by flying that much. However, unlike his body, his mind was as healthy as ever. He killed the scavenger by simply sneaking behind it and killing it with [formless] holding his sword. It was hurt so badly that it didn't even have the energy to dig itself and was simply waiting for death. So it really wasn't much of a fight since the scavenger was missing an arm and 4 of its legs. Heck, it didn't even notice the tentacle looming over it until it was too late.

"Ah, shit!" he cursed under his breath, stumbling slightly as a wave of dizziness washed over him. Clutching the hilt of his stone sword for support, he gritted his teeth against the searing pain that stabbed at his temples.

Asher began digging out the shard with his hand since the stupid stone sword was dull! His stomach churning at the unpleasant task. "Yuck!" he grimaced, the taste of bile rising in his throat as he gagged in disgust.

In the 'fight', Asher noticed an imaginary ball of strings of sorts at the top of the Scavenger's eyes area. It is also conveniently, the most notable weak point of the Scavenger. That ball of strings also appeared where Asher struck the Skinwalker. Asher easily deduced that the ball of strings shows the weak points of Nightmare creatures.

"Aren't my eyes just basically Tanjiro's sense of smell?" Asher manically laughed. 'Damn flaw..' (He cursed his flaw cuz he didn't intend to laugh that much)

"I still wonder why it's called 'spectral' sight though."

Asher then turned his head and stared in a certain direction with a blank expression while standing on top of the dead beast. Despite his ability to sense gravity fluctuations being limited to a mere 5.1 km, He could still feel the rift in space-time from miles away. "That must be where the crimson spire is…" he mumbled to himself as he sensed the gate.

"Well anyway, I guess I should store this meat somewhere…" he muttered, casting a rueful glance at the carcass of the fallen beast beneath him. He regretted that he didn't watch a few survival videos before getting transported into the dream realm.

"Well, I guess I should get some more soul shards…" He said as he crushed the one in his hand. The essence slowly flowed into him.

[Your soul grows stronger.]

He discovered that a sleeper's recovery rate is faster than a mundane human's and only increased the more he saturated his core. So his priority was to get soul shard by killing weakened carapaces since he didn't want to die fighting a healthy one.

"How the hell did I even kill that titan!?"

___________________________________________________________________

*TIMESKIP*

It had been nearly a week or so since the winter solstice. It was night and Sunny felt about as comfortable as a cat at a dog show. In front of him were two extremely beautiful girls. Though he knew them better than most, they were nothing but acquaintances to him. He could still not trust them fully and he was sure that the feeling was mutual.

Cassie had a smile the entire time as she was simply happy to be reunited with the few people she knew, to an extent. Nephis leaned against a stone with her arms crossed with a thoughtful look on her face. She was still extremely skeptical of Sunny. Though he was Asher's 'friend,' she still didn't trust him. She didn't even trust Asher completely. Moreover, Sunny was the Academy's infamous pervert.

The atmosphere was very awkward as Asher was missing.

*Uhm*

Sunny coughed to break the silence. "It's seeming that we are only missing that Bastar-, I mean Asher!" He said in a friendly tone. He received little more than a pair of noncommittal hums in response.

"It's funny that we still don't know anything about each other, other than our names!" He said, the desperation evident in his voice as he searched for some semblance of connection amidst the awkwardness that threatened to suffocate them all.

He got no response.

'Where the fuck is that bastard when I need him?!'

He chuckled awkwardly, "Since we're going to be depending on each other, should we share what abilities and Memories we have at our disposal?" he suggested. He was confident that this would get them talking and thwart the ice between them, After all, in a world as crazy as this one, a little camaraderie could go a long way.

.

.

.

The silence stretched on, punctuated only by the soft rustle of the night breeze, Sunny couldn't help but feel a sense of futility wash over him.

'Fuck my life.' he thought to himself as he looked at the night sky with a warm smile on his face.

In a world where trust was a rare commodity and alliances were forged in the crucible of necessity, he finally realised how important social skills are...

Sunny finally sighed, "Fine, I'll start."

And just like that, the conversation went on to be one of the worst decisions Sunny has ever made since after the conversation, the two girls were convinced that Sunny was a desperate pervert.

____________________________________________________________________________

Many miles away…

Perched atop a gnarled tree, Asher sat in contemplation, his eyes closed, lost in the symphony of the dark sea's chaotic yet soothing waves. With a sad smile, he opened his eyes and glanced at his clenched fist, with a sad smile. Then his gaze turned skyward, reaching out towards the twinkling stars scattered across the vast expanse. "I really did hate my old life," he mumbled softly to himself. "Now, I've got a new one. Hopefully, a better one."

But just as his thoughts drifted into the realm of introspection, a glimmer of white light caught his eye in the distance. Instantly, his grin widened, excitement bubbling up within him. "Around a day or two of travel," he noted, his anticipation palpable. But then, his expression shifted suddenly, contorting into a grimace. "Bastard! Sleeping next to two lovely women! He paused as his grimace slowly turned into a pitiful chuckle, "Well actually, both of them are anything but lovely. Monsters!"

Suddenly, his eyes widened in alarm, and he looked around with a furrowed brow. "Wait a minute! Am I having one of those protagonist monologues?!" he exclaimed incredulously, the absurdity of the situation not lost on him.

But in a moment of self-awareness that bordered on the absurd, Asher found himself, clasping his hands together and launching into a lightning-fast prayer. "To all the zero-personality, Iseki MCs," he paused, his words tinged with both apology and hilarity, "I am sorry for insulting your gay ass faces. It's not your fault you all turned out to be NPCs. Blame the world for shaping you into the cardboard cutouts of Kirito! Please excuse me for all the insults I hurled towards you and forgive me for my sins. I do not wish to end up like you all."

He gently opened his eyes and finally said, "Amen."

__________________________________________________________________

[A/N: We finally reached a 100 collections! Thank you!]