Start of the Academy.

Asher walked up to the bathroom for a shower. As he opened the door, he found a pale-looking, black-haired boy shouting at his shadow.

"What do you mean, 'no'?! You just moved your head! Do you think I'm a fool?"

Asher looked at the main character of the novel with a smile, though he tried to maintain a stoic face, but he was way too happy to finally meet Sunny. The emotional amplification didn't help. "Were you just talking to the ground?" he asked with a warm smile, unable to suppress a chuckle.

Sunny's face turned a bit pink as he saw himself half naked while pointing a comb at the ground. "No.. There is a misunderstanding!" Sunny retorted. Asher's face cracked into laughter, which he struggled to contain. "What were you talking to then??" Asher chuckled with tears in his eyes.

Sunny's face turned into a grimace, his expression pained. "M-My s-shadow.." Asher had a "Are you a lunatic?" look, which made Sunny want to dig a 6 ft hole and bury himself out of embarrassment. Asher reached out, patting Sunny's shoulder in a gesture of camaraderie. "Man, you need therapy," he said, his tone warm and affectionate.

Sunny clenched his jaw as he nodded due to his flaw. "If it has something to do with your aspect, I won't pry," Asher added as he looked at the pale Sunny before nudging him to leave the bathroom.

Once out, Sunny said in a seethed tone, "Just because that bastard is a bit good-looking, it doesn't mean he can pity me!"

"I heard that," Asher said in a disappointed tone through the door, making Sunny scuttle out of there.

Asher chuckled before he turned to his side, catching sight of the mirror before him.

Reflected back at him was a 16-year-old boy with porcelain skin and bleach-white hair, adorned with random azure highlights. His striking sapphire eyes seemed to hold the universe within them.

"I LOOK SO HOT!" The comment was picked up by a sprinting Sunny who snorted under his breath, "Narcissistic bastard."

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Seated next to Sunny, Asher found himself clad in a clean, police-issued tracksuit, the fabric unfamiliar against his skin. He wrinkled his nose in distaste, trying to mask his displeasure as he surveyed the unappetizing meal before him. "Ewww! This is the food I eat after I come out of a nightmare?" he voiced his complaints with a grimace he was trying to hold back.

Sunny nodded as he continued to gobble up food. Pushing his tray aside with a frown, Asher shook his head. "Are you sure you won't eat?" Jet asked, her expression unreadable as she observed the scene before her. Asher met her gaze with a determined nod.

"Alright then, I'll begin. As per protocol, I am obligated to inform you of a few things. It is mostly a formality. First of all, concerning your Nightmare…"

She glanced at a hungry Sunny and then at a frowning Asher, then sighed.

"You are entitled to receive free psychological counselling. No matter what traumatic experience you have encountered, there is no shame in asking for help. Your mind is as important as your body — it's only right to keep it healthy. Are you interested?"

The frown on Asher's face instantly broke into laughter, which was supposed to be a chuckle, as he pointed at Sunny while lightly banging the table. "This guy definitely needs some!" He laughed at Sunny, whose frustration was evident, clenched his teeth and shot Asher a feral glare.

Don't look at me like that! You were talking to the ground!" Asher continued to laugh. Jet gave Sunny a weird look.

Sunny, his embarrassment palpable, shot back at Asher with a hint of defensiveness. "You bastard! You were also yelling about how you were so hot in the bathroom! You are also weird," he retorted, his cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

Asher stopped his laughter as his face turned red in embarrassment, which made Sunny smile with his arms crossed.

"I shall take it that both of you deny the need for psychological counselling. You can also talk to me. Was it very hard?" Jet asked while looking at Asher.

Asher gagged as he remembered the Skinwalker, "It was disgusting." Jet nodded as she turned her gaze to Sunny.

"It was simultaneously much worse than I expected and exactly as bad as I expected," Sunny replied.

"That's a good attitude. I won't pry any further. Us outskirt rats are way more resilient than people think." Jet said with a rare smile. As Asher had anticipated, he found himself categorized as an outskirt rat, his name conspicuously absent from any records.

As for how they knew his name, Asher had no clue. Jet informed him that they found him at the doorstep of the police station and after a bit of inspection, they determined that he was in a nightmare. What did surprise Asher, though, was that he came to the police station as Sunny. 'Isekai luck, I guess,' Asher thought with a smile.

_______________________________________________________________

"Isn't this basically a city?" Asher asked with his mouth open. the imposing gates of the massive red academy loomed overhead, a symbol of power and prestige. Beside him, Sunny nodded in agreement, his gaze lingering on the grandeur of the scene before him.

Surveying the snowy landscape that stretched out before them, Asher couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation tinged with nervous excitement. That's when he saw a familiar face.

Silver-white hair that was cut short and neatly parted to the side while wearing a pair of old-fashioned headphones.

'The one and only… Changing Star.'

Asher saw Sunny looking at her with curious eyes. With a playful nudge to Sunny's abdomen, Asher remarked in a teasing tone, "Does somebody have a crush?"

Sunny turned beet-red as he said in a hesitant tone. "No.."

Grinning mischievously, Asher tousled Sunny's hair and he leaned to whisper, "But she looks hot!"

He wasn't lying. Nephis' beauty is extremely understated in the novel. She could easily step on any model back on earth. Sunny looked at Asher with a grimace as he scoffed, "A weirdo like you has no chance."

Nephis, who was currently listening to music, picked up a familiar whiff. She opened her eyes and glanced at Asher with a stoic face, 'He is like me…' she thought after recognizing the Dreamspawn odour.

Asher gave a wry smile to Nephis as his face turned green, prompting him to side-eye Sunny, "Hey Sunny, did I tell you I am awfully introverted?" He said with a twitching smile. Sunny took a step back with a perplexed face, "Never could have guessed, and why the heck are you calling me by my nickname you jerk!" Asher sulked as he said, wiping his imaginary tears. "I thought we were friends.."

"Keep thinking, and look! That girl went onto the bridge, we should follow her suit." Asher's face turned into a grimace, "You want to follow her? You creep! I knew something was wrong with you the moment I saw you talking to the ground."

Sunny felt the urge to punch the white-haired youth beside him but restrained himself as he followed Nephis. Asher couldn't help but laugh as he saw Sunny get ticked off. 'It's really fun to mess with him..'

___________________________________________________________________

"Sunny! I am going to die! There are so many people, my sixth sense is telling me that I am in danger!" Asher exclaimed, clutching onto Sunny's thighs for support. Sunny grimaced, "What the fuck is your sixth sense now?!"

Asher's face instantly broke a grin as he pointed his finger upwards dramatically, his nostrils flaring with exaggerated confidence. "An introvert's intuition."

Sunny blinked twice before forcefully separating himself from Asher. He scoffed as he showed Asher a middle finger as he left, leaving a weeping Asher behind.

In half an hour, Asher saw Sunny get slapped by several women and punched by many men. Of course, Asher already knew this would happen, yet it was as humorous as ever. He was also pulled into a few conversations, which went like this:

"What happened in your nightmare, Asher?"

"Oh yeah, I am very curious as well!"

"I got trapped on an island full of transgender men who were itching to rape me every chance they got. I had to run around the island for a month before my nightmare was finally over. It was disgusting."

"And here I thought killing an awakened monster was horrible."

"You have my sympathy."

"Yes, that sounds very traumatic."

"It was."

Or:

"Ash~ you're certainly a looker. Wanna get to know each other~?."

"I am friends with Sunless."

"Oh. Haha.. Let's talk another day.. Haha."

Overall, he was a pretty likeable guy. His looks gave him a bit of confidence and he had the power to back it up. He still couldn't initiate conversations with unknown people, but it was actually very easy to talk when he had time to think about what he was going to say ([Nimble intellect]). That's when he heard chuckles.

"Poor bastard. Not only is he weak, he's also lost it…"

Asher turned his head to see Sunny arguing with a bunch of guys. Among them was a man with brown hair and emerald eyes. 'That must be Caster..' he thought as he walked up to them.

"Something else? Uh… Well. Oh, right! I communicated with a bunch of gods, even though they were all dead. I made one of them wake up. He gave me a blessing! I was blessed by a god, do you all understa-?!" Sunny was interrupted as Asher placed his hand on Sunny's mouth. "I am sorry about my friend here. He lost a part of his brain after his nightmare. He is a great guy once you get to know him!" Asher chuckled.

"Who might you be?" Caster asked with a smile. Before Asher could respond, one of Caster's goons laughed while pointing at a struggling Sunny, "Do you also have a divine aspect like your friend here?!"

Asher chuckled, "No no, I have a mere Ascended Aspect."

Caster and his goons' eyes widened in shock. Sunny stopped struggling as he looked at Asher in a new light. 'I thought for sure that this guy would die in the dream realm! But with an Ascended aspect, he might live.'

Caster gave a warm smile as he replied, "I see then looks like we are rivals then."

Asher simply nodded as he watched Caster and his goons leave. Asher grimaced as he let Sunny out of his grasp. "You do know that they didn't believe you, right?" Sunny said. Asher nodded as he replied, "Yes. They are probably talking crap about me and you right now."

Sunny nodded, happy with his performance.