1 A Dream… Or?

"Huh? Didn't I go to sleep just now?!"

Chrome rose from under the thin blanket, his head turning as he looked around in confusion…

'Strange… Why don't I feel sleepy anymore?'

As far as he remembered, Chrome was sure that he had just left his head to the pillow after staying up till midnight reading his favorite Webnovel. How could he possibly wake up as soon as he fell asleep?

'Is it one of those nights?'

Seeing how rays of sunlight were already making their way into his room through the window, Chrome contemplated the probability that his mind was in a state of 'Sleep Misperception' where some of the regions of his brain would be wide awake while he was supposedly asleep, causing him to underestimate his sleeping time… At least that was what he knew from reading that one article he found after frequently experiencing such sleepless nights.

'I don't feel sleepy though…'

However, unlike the normal occurrence that Chrome was used to, waking up while not feeling that he had slept at all and being physically exhausted on top of that. This time around, he felt like he had just experienced one of his most deep sleeping nights. Only his conscious mind seemed to miss up on that fact.

'Also, isn't it summer break?'

Other than the strange 'didn't really sleep' thought in his mind, Chrome was most surprised about the fact that he had automatically woken up at 8 AM, the time he usually woke up to school. His mind also kept strongly telling him that he had to go to school today!

'Then… The only logical explanation would be that I'm lucid dreaming!'

After thinking it through for a minute, Chrome finally came to a proper answer, albeit disregarding the notion that this was the most realistic lucid dream he has ever had that it didn't feel like one. He simply accepted the conclusion as it is before starting to think about how he should proceed forward…

'I guess I should follow the dream's intention for now.'

Considering that his last year in high school was already finished, having already enjoyed his summer break for a whole month as he started preparing for his upcoming year as a university freshman, Chrome decided to follow the dream's direction to settle the abnormal nostalgia that caused this dream to manifest. He could also, maybe, meet some of his cut-off friends?

'Even if it's just a dream, let's try enjoying this rare realistic occasion.'

Chrome had already considered himself to be experiencing his mind's reaction to his longing, so it was only right to accept the peculiar response. As such, he moved out of his bed, dressed up, grabbed his bag, and left the house after making sure his keys were in his pocket.

'There is no telling how long this dream would last after all…'

Taking in mind the fact that a lucid could last anywhere from days to weeks or even years, Chrome didn't wish to be stranded out of the house… Especially in such a strange dream.

Believing it to have something to do with his subconscious mind, Chrome selectively ignored that there was no one else in the house other than himself as he headed out on his way to school with some peace of mind.

`~~`~~`~~`

"Attention everyone– Do not head towards District—, a — break has been detected. I repeat, a — break has been…"

'As expected.'

For some reason, there were some weird speakers spouting nonsense all over the streets. The static noise made sure that Chrome didn't get to understand a single sentence, so he simply decided to ignore it. No matter how realistic a dream was, there always had to be some fragments from his subconscious inserted into it.

Aside from that, Chrome didn't notice anything unusual on his way to school. After a walk that only lasted for about ten minutes thanks to the school being close to his home, Chrome calmly strolled through the gate before entering the building that his class was located in, quickly making his way to his destination.

However, as soon as Chrome entered the classroom and took in the fairly familiar faces of his classmates, strange thoughts and fragments of illogical memories started to emerge in his mind. A phenomenon weirdly similar to how he felt the sudden urge to go to school once he woke up.

Thanks to this sudden influx of information, the way he looked at his classmates and his impressions of them felt varyingly different. Sitting in the left corner of the class, a certain huge guy gave rise to some unpleasant feelings despite having had barely any interaction with him. While on the other end of the class, a girl that sat in the chair next to his gave rise to some warm feeling…

The second part didn't seem too bad, that was… if not for the fact that he almost never interacted with girls!

'This dream sure had a lot of strange elements to it…'

The thought of this being anything other than a dream strayed further from Chrome's mind as the number of the little inconsistencies compared to his normal day increased. In reality, he subconsciously disregarded that thought from the beginning as it would only cause him to fall into perplexion. It was still better to wait and see if this dream would end on its own.

The familiar Teacher, who was one of the few that didn't give a different impression than the one that Chrome was used to, made an entrance, directly getting into business.

"Hello everyone, I hope your break has been going well! I know that some of you are cursing me deep inside for waking you up this early, but it's out of my hands that the Extra Academy's tests will be starting in two days." The Teacher paused, stealing a glance at Chrome before continuing, " Plus, I have some pretty good news for all of you!"

Hearing the Teacher utter the strange academy's name as he looked in his direction gave Chrome a sudden sense of longing for a reason that he didn't know of yet…

"But teach, most of us aren't even awakened yet! It's useless for us to come here since we can't even take part in the test…" the student sitting in the chair in front of Chrome said in a sad tone as if someone had just added salt to his wounds. It was only then that Chrome realized the existence of the closest friend he had in school.

'Why did I forget him…?'

"I agree with him for once. Not everyone should have the privilege of coming to the acceptance examination's prep like us, heh," the big guy that felt unpleasant to Chrome sarcastically stated his words like a fact. A big grin filled his face as he smugly stared at both Chrome and his friend.

'What's this actually about? Why do I feel included in his mockery when I have never spoken to this point?'

"Stay silent Fredrick! You can forget about attending yourself if you keep throwing such remarks in class." The Teacher frowned, sharply directing his words at the big guy.

"Whatever…" Fred turned his head to the window as if suddenly getting bored before silently muttering under his teeth, "This is the last day you would get to protect them anyway."

"There is also no need to think about it negatively, Bryce. As I just said, the reason I asked you all to come today is to share some good news with all of you," the Teacher resumed his speech as he smiled at Chrome's friend.

'Why do I suddenly feel hopeful?'

"However, before we get to that, I still need to do the prep class's introduction. I will be brief since you have already finished the 'New History' course."

'Do I finally get an explanation?'

At this point, the belief that this was still a dream was nothing more than a fragile delusion that Chrome used to shield himself from the panic and overthinking that would come from denying that. He could only wait in hope for what would possibly either explain everything or bring an end to this silly hallucination!

The Teacher, whose name Chrome remembered to be Link, brought the chair beside the whiteboard and put it behind the podium before. Sitting down, he took a deep breath before narrating, "As you all know, humanity is no longer normal, or as some believe, we have long ceased being humans to begin with."

"All of this started 20 years ago. The day of great happening that brought about the Extraordinary Night. The night where a vast light lit up the dark sky, waking up the entirety of the human race with a large fraction of them experiencing abnormal conditions."

"No longer suffering from back pain, reversed aging, chronic allergy disappearance… After weeks of research and thousands of inspections for the people that experienced the possessive abnormalities, the scientists were able to confidently ascertain that the cause behind this was actually a strange energy wave that most of the human bodies had started to produce in response to the strange light that illuminated the sky that night," the Teacher's lips took a turn upwards as he iterated.

"These energy waves later came to be known as Exos were confirmed to have a slight improvement effect on the human body, providing its emitter with better health, slightly increased physical strength, stronger immunity to diseases as well as an overall heightening of bodily functions…"

"These sudden benefits were directly reflected in the growth graph of humanity as a whole. The emergence of Exos not only increased the people's productivity, but also greatly lowered the death rate, especially for older people. It was undeniably a great blessing for us all. However…" The Teacher's smile turned to a frown just as he was about to continue his words.

"Reportedly 5 years later, on the exact same day that the Extraordinary Night took place, a comparatively similar phenomenon took place where the darkness in the sky covered the whole world for an entire minute, changing the world that we were barely starting to get used to, alerting the world of the Awakening Day that soon followed."

"Certain humans possessing higher Exos emission rates started gaining supernatural powers, coinciding with the opening of 'Gates' all over the world. The door that poured out what threatened to return the casualty rate to its heydays before the emergence of Exos, increasing it even further!"

'Is this really still a dream?!'

Hearing the paradoxically familiar and unfamiliar words, Chrome felt his head tighten in response…