The Dreamer's POV

Time Left: 30 Days, 4 Hours]

<Current Number of Participants: 5,009>

I was grateful.

The fact that I didn't listen to reason, despite the overwhelming odds, but chose to follow my instincts instead, made me smile in relief.

If I had given up then… how would I have reached this point—just a few more seconds away.

I had thought wrong in assuming there were no traps.

The real trap was impatience and fear. The fear that came about when using reason.

I could have just as well been wrong. But somehow… I was right.

What a cruel trap.

In any case, I was here now, face to face with the results of sticking to my desperate hopes, and… it was strange.

Two options in the form of doors currently presented themselves before me.

<Dream> and <Nightmare>.

<Dream> was white as clear milk, pure and undiluted. As for <Nightmare>, it was as black as cold ink.

Both of them contrasted each other as they stared at me.

"What is this?" I murmured unknowingly as I watched this arrangement with genuine surprise.

I thought I would be meeting a treasure room, but why was my Authority being displayed in front of the doors?

'Is everyone who makes it this far going to experience something similar?'

Yeah. Perhaps that was it. Maybe the treasure being given depended on the Authority of the person involved.

'Then, with my path being divided into <Dream> and <Nightmare>, I guess I have to pick one…'n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

I rubbed my chin for a moment to decide what path to take.

If I were to talk about the more powerful of the two Skills, it would be <Nightmare>, but the penalties for using it made it too dangerous.

<Dream> was indeed my safest bet, but I couldn't help but consider what <Nightmare> would hold for me if I went down that route.

After waiting for a while of deliberating, I finally settled on what choice to make.

"Why not go for both?" A grin formed on my face.

Thanks to my <Fallen Foe> Skill, I could be in two places at once.

Plus, since the rooms were right beside each other, I wouldn't need to worry about the distance required to control my minion.

'Having a useful Skill really comes in handy at times like this…' My thoughts trailed and my smile broadened.

Gaining the two treasures was also another part of quick thinking.

"<Fallen Foe>" I whispered.

[ERROR]

<Unable to Activate any Skills due to Interference>

"E-eh…?"

W-what was going on right now? '<Fallen Foe> isn't activating?'

No, that wasn't it.

It said… I wasn't going to be able to activate any Skill due to interference.

'Ah, now that I think of it… <Visualize>, <Immersion>, and <Dragon Eyes> have also been deactivated.'

I initially thought nothing of it, but now… with the System telling me that they couldn't be activated, I found my heart racing quite a bit.

"<Teleportation>" I spoke gently.

[ERROR]

<Unable to Activate any Skills due to Interference>

"<Elevate>"

[ERROR]

<Unable to Activate any Skills due to Interference>

"<Viscosity>"

[ERROR]

<Unable to Activate any Skills due to Interference>

No matter what I tried…

[ERROR]

<Unable to Activate any Skills due to Interference>

[ERROR]

<Unable to Activate any Skills due to Interference>

[ERROR]

<Unable to Activate any Skills due to Interference>[

ERROR]

<Unable to Activate any Skills due to Interference>

[ERROR]

<Unable to Activate any Skills due to Interference>

[ERROR]

<Unable to Activate any Skills due to Interference>

… It yielded the same results.

"Ah…"

It was at this point that I realized just how pointless it was.

"I really can't use any Skills."

This had never happened before! Situations, where a Skill of mine failed, had occurred once or twice, but this was talking about a complete shutdown of all of them.

'What Interference could be causing this?'

The issue wasn't simply the fact that I was more reliant on Skills than actual Stats in my overall areas of competence, but also the fact that <Dream> was also a Skill.

If <Dream> wasn't working here, didn't that mean… I had everything to lose now?

A loud gulp echoed in my ears as I stared at the two doors once again, my body slightly trembling.

Reason told me to take steps back, but I couldn't—no, wouldn't—move.

Something existed behind this door, and I intended to find out what it was.

'I won't die…'

There was a part of me that worried that this level of danger was too much for me, but once I realized that this was probably another test of this treasure room, I calmed myself.

I had to keep going forward since I already came this far.

"Alright, Mikey. Let's choose…"

Since the circumstances had become this skewed against me, I had to go for the safest option.

"I'll go with <Dream>," I mumbled, taking a slow step forward as I reached for the knob in front of me.

The pure white <Dream> door reacted to my choice, and shimmered with light.

I touched the doorknob and felt some sort of electrifying sensation course through me. It guided me to keep moving forward, and so I twisted the knob and opened the door.

Greeting me was nothing but blank light, but what dwelled inside felt too inviting to resist.

And so I took a step, then two, and ultimately three… and ventured into the unknown.

Unsure of what awaited me.

*******

[Moments Later]

I found myself in another corridor, one very similar to the one I just left.

However, the difference between this one and the previous one, was the odd sensation that coursed through me.

It felt like I was being watched by something… or someone.

And, without my Skills with me, I knew I was absolutely vulnerable. Still, I kept my chin up and made my body move.

The blankness of the room wasn't very distracting since I had gotten used to it, so I simply kept walking.

I feared it would take an eternity to get to my destination, especially since I couldn't hurry the process with Skills, but thankfully, this time it only took exactly five minutes.

Yes. I was counting the whole time.

When the five minutes were up, I encountered a similarly blank hall at the end of the corridor.

The hall wasn't that huge, but its emptiness added to its conceived size.

Nothing existed in the hall except something that stood at its center.

A lectern.

An obsidian black lectern was placed at the center of the room, proudly standing in the blank hall as if it were afloat in nothiness.

However, it wasn't simply the lectern that caught my eye. It was the item that sat on its smooth surface that caused my eyes to widen slightly.

A book.

The lectern held a book that called me to it. Enjoy exclusive chapters from empire

And… before I even realized what was happening… I answered the call.

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[A/N]

Looks like we are about to see something interesting.

An upgrade, maybe? Next chapter will be quite interesting for sure.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers!