The Dreamer's POV

<Day 5 of the Tutorial>

[7:30 AM, Thursday 4th of May, 2023]

"U-urgh..."

I woke up with a dazed, exhausted grumble. I felt my drool fall from my mouth as my eyes took in a scenery that appeared familiar, yet utterly foreign to me.

"H-huh...? What is this? Where am I?" I muttered, looking around me in surprise.

I was in a drugstore; no, not just any kind of drugstore. It was the one I was most familiar with.

The one where a Demon first appeared and killed me!

'There's no System Warning, though. It seems there's no Demon closeby.' Surprisingly, my mind calmly analyzed the situation rather than give in to a primal instinct of fear.

Perhaps it shouldn't have been so surprising, considering one of my Title's effect.

"The pharmacy appears locked tight, so that means I'm safe. The blinds are closed, and from the look of that sturdy metal barrier, it seems I'll be safe here as long as no one is aware of my presence."

So far, my safety checked out. There was one very slight but important detail, though.

"How in the world did I get here?"

The last thing I remembered was being in that dark room, suffering from hunger and despair.

No, there was something else after that. I remembered it vividly.

'Didn't I... kill myself?'

I should have been dead. Why was I still alive? No, why was I here, all alone in this drugstore, with empty packets of food as well as bottles of water and juice surrounding me?

'Could it be... that dream?'

It slowly began to come back to me—the strange dream I had after I died.

The dream felt strangely lucid. I felt like myself, yet I also felt strangely detached from the body.

It was a strange feeling that words couldn't describe properly.

"Wasn't I dreaming that time?" If so, how was I able to escape that hellish place and arrive here?

And judging from how everything felt, it didn't seem like I was dreaming any longer.

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'I have to confirm for myself.' My body ached a little, but I managed to rise to my feet.

I walked toward the Beauty Portion of the pharmacy and found the areas eehre mirrors were located.

Some were already shattered, no doubt caused by the pharmacist in his Demon form, who must have left this place in search of prey.

"Hm? It doesn't seem like I'm in a dream." Now that I had figured out the mechanics of my <Dream> Skill, I knew that it was the only exception to the mirror trick.

My experiences would simply dissolve into a dream for my past self.

'But it couldn't have been a dream. I killed myself. Besides, how this is all playing out is in contrast to how <Dream> operates.'

That was what confused me the most.

'Unless...' My eyes instantly widened as I recollected a certain System Notification that appeared as soon as I died.

"What in the world is <Nightmare>?"

There was only one way to find out.

"Status Window."

In response to my words, the corresponding screen appeared in front of me, allowing me to serve its contents.

[STATUS WINDOW]

- Name: Mikey Rael

- Race: Human

- Level: 1

- Life Force: 2/2

- Energy Level: 1/1

- Combat Ability: 2/2

- Stat Points: 0

- Currency: 100

- Role: <The Dreamer>

- Authority: <Dream/Nightmare>

- Titles: <Visionary>, <The One Who Saw The End>, <Chosen One>

- Skills (Exclusive): <Dream>, <Nightmare>

- Skills (Non-Exclusive): <Nil>

- Items Equipped: <Nil>

- Alignment: Neutral

[Additional Information]

You can experience the events of the world through the 'other plane'. It is a coveted power worthy of desire, but a scary one to possess.

[End Of Information]

"Ah, I see. So I unlocked a new Skill." A whisper escaped my lips.

The details slowly began to dissolve into my mind the more I mulled over my after-death experience.

"Elaborate On Skills."

[Skills]

(Exclusive)

<Dream>: Allows the user to experience future events in the form of a dream. These future events are basically the user's experience. Trauma could be experienced as a result of this Skill. {Note: User may not take his own life or intentionally try to use this Skill. It will not activate.}

<Nightmare>: Allows the user to interact with the present/immediate future. Actions taken synchronize with reality, solidifying their effects. {Note: Using this reduces Life Force, so frequent utilization of this Skill is not advised}

(Non-Exclusive)

<NIL>

"So that's what happened." I sighed, clutching my face while sighing.

For some reason, I wasn't in shock or disbelief any longer. Had I acclimated to those emotions, or was this simply something I was already 'used to.'

It seemed that the <Nightmare> Skill could end up being just as useful as my <Dream>, if used correctly. Unfortunately, the drawback was intense.

"My Life Force, huh? It already reduced"

I had already memorized all the contents in my Status Window the last time I checked it. There was no way I wouldn't have noticed the subtle changes it now had.

"Life Force has dropped from 3 to 2. That's harsh." It wasn't a mere temporary debuff either.

It was permanent.

'I'll have to increase it myself. Looks like this Skill is too dangerous to rely on.'

I could only imagine how dangerous the situation would be if my Life Force got cut down even further.

"Something tells me that this is one of those skills that take more from you the more you use them."

Just because it took only one Life Force from me in my first try didn't mean it wouldn't take more later on.

The fact that the System never specified a definite value of deduction strengthened this concern of mine

"For now, I'll have to keep this Skill in the vault. Nothing good will come out of being reckless with my Stats."

Speaking of my Status Information, it seemed it wasn't just my Life Force that changed. Other than the new Skill I obtained, there was one final noticeable difference.

'My Alignment. It changed.' Previously Neutral Good, it had transformed into simply Neutral.

"I'm not surprised. After what those people did to me... there's no way I can be the same as before."

I was too naive back then. To think I lost everything, and would have died, just because of a single act of kindness.

'Never again!' My thoughts echoed. 'I'm never trusting anyone again. Not in this messed-up world.'

Everyone who desired to survive had to be out for themselves. If I ever encountered another survivor, I had to be certain of the existence of some form of conflict of interest.

'As long as the possibility of betrayal exists... I won't go out of my way for anyone!'

Survival was paramount. Now that I had been given a second chance, thanks to <Nightmare>, I wasn't going to squander it.

'This Drugstore has the supplements and food substances that should last me a week. There should be stocks of stuff in the store too.'

As far as I knew from the Pharmacist who worked here, this place also served as his home; the area at the back, to be exact.

There was no way he wouldn't have all the basics I needed to survive there.

'If I work things out well, surviving the rest of the time allocated to us shouldn't be too hard.'

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[A/N]

Thanks for reading!

I appreciate the support you're all giving me. Let's keep going together, okay?