"I agree."
[ Hm. ]
[ THE CONTRACT HAS BEEN SIGNED ]
[ YOU ARE THE FIRST DREAMER TO GET THE VOID'S CONTRACT ]
[ 5,000 COINS HAVE BEEN REWARDED ]
[ TOTAL ACCOUNT BALANCE - 5000CC ]
5,000 huh? It's pretty good. I can survive easily now. Well, now Dreamer's Delusion will begin. I need to find Seonyeon and Chaeyoung quickly.
[ I heard you died. ]
"Yeah, that's right."
[ Then how are you going to participate in Dreamer's Delusion? ]
"There are a lot of glitches. We're both bound by the contract, so you can probably see me, right?"
[ Yeah. I'll keep observing you. ]
I'll live.
The scene started fading.
I can change this dream now.
My vision started to feel dizzy.
[ I hope you'll be the finest pr— ]
The scene faded, and I got unconscious.
Wait, I forgot to talk to him about my memories, which he was making me see. He probably saw everything.
The sun was rising. A little bit of dark clouds were visible in the sky. The rising sun was beautiful.
I opened my eyes slowly but surely. Multiple buildings had crumbled. Their debris was scattered all across the place. I was buried under the debris.
[ 500 COINS HAVE BEEN INVESTED IN STRENGTH ]
[ STRENGTH - LVL 3 --> LVL 8 ]
[ TOTAL ACCOUNT BALANCE - 4500CC ]
Strength Lv. 3 wouldn't have been able to push away the debris.
Thud!
I pushed the debris that was laying on me away by using all my strength.
I got up.
A calm and gentle wind was flowing through the whole area. My cloak, which got tattered by the fights and the debris, started flowing in the air slowly and slowly. My hair was also flowing with the wind.
I gazed at the view for some refreshment.
I looked at my dusty hands.
"It ended, eh?"
My face and body were covered with dust. My cloak and clothes were tattered and had dust on them. I looked like a beggar.
I started walking on the debris, as there was no path to walk on.
I need to find Seonyeon and Chaeyoung. I was gone for 3 days, which means I didn't do any of the three quests. I should have gotten a penalty, but I still haven't.
[ THE VOID SAYS THAT YOU WON'T GET A PENALTY BECAUSE OF THE CONTRACT ]
Woah. Did he read my mind?
"How'd you know that I was thinking about this?"
[ THE VOID SAYS THAT HE KNOW EVERYTHING ]
Wow.
[ DREAMER'S DELUSION IS BEGINNING ]
[ SURVIVORS NEED TO GATHER NEAR 63 BUILDING IN 30 MINUTES ]
[ CURRENT NUMBER OF SURVIVORS - 493K ]
It's much lower than I expected. A lot died. Only 493K have managed to survive? In only 3 days, most of the population of Seoul has been wiped out.
This shows how impossible this dream is to survive. Not everyone can survive it.
"Time to go."
Not everyone can come to 63 Building unscathed. Many will die. A few will live. Seoul's destruction is already set in stone, which even I, the author of this Endless Dream, can't change.
I'm not a god, after all, who can save everyone. I doubt that even God can save everyone. Does God even exist? Probably, or probably not.
63 Building was filled with a lot of people. Most of them had made alliances and were working together, while a few were alone.
There were about 5-6K people gathered here. Usually, three locations are provided. You will get the nearest location. I wasn't so far from the abandoned building Seonyeon found, so maybe they also got this location.
The people were looking at me disgustedly. Well, it made sense—I was looking like a beggar.
No one dared to say a word to me. They all had disgusting thoughts of me going on in their heads, but no one could say them out loud.
Because they knew. They knew that this person standing in front of them wasn't someone who can be defeated easily. Do you wanna know why?
All of their clothes were clean, meanwhile mine were tattered. My cloak was flying in the air, my tattered clothes made me look like a beggar, my shoes were dusty. Everything about me wasn't something that could be praised. But still—
"G-Good work!"
"You did a great job!"
"Fight for us like this too!"
"Let's stay together, man!"
"Form a team with me!!"
"Join my team!"
Multiple voices filled the area around me. These voices were praising me. Multiple thoughts covered my head.
Why were they praising me? Did I do something worthy of praise? Am I getting regarded as their savior?
No.
It's not that.
Their clothes were clean because they found places where they could hide. They were hiding for 3 days straight. They didn't have the courage to go out and complete quests. Meanwhile, mine were tattered and dirty, which resembled that I was the only one who went out in this chaos to complete quests and fight monsters.
It was enough to make them believe that I could be their leader.
Haha, what a life. I never got praised for my work, but now I was getting praised just for going out. This world really has changed.
Most of them wanted to recruit me into their teams.
If it was me from before, then I would have probably said some words. But I won't do it in my present self.
I didn't show a bit of reaction to their words and continued walking.
Multiple thoughts were gathering around me—basically, those were the answers to my questions.
Weak. They are all weak. Weak praise the strong. Disgusting. They all disgust me. Why are you even praising me? You know nothing! You know nothing about me.
You don't know the things I faced through. You don't know my past, then how can you exist in my present?
Humans really are disgusting.
...
They started following me, begging me to join their team.
"Please join us! We'll survive!"
"This country needs you!"
Politicians
"I'll make you the minister."
"I'll give you money! Just become my bodyguard and protect me!"
"I'll make you the best politician ever!"
CEOs
"Let me be with you! I'll make you the head manager of my company!"
"Take my money, my company, but please let me survive with you!"
"..Loud."
"Huh?"
"Eh?"
"What'd you say?"
"Mr., are you interested?"
Weak.
"You all are being way too loud. Better stay silent or you'll regret it."
"I'm not your guardian, nor do I know you, so why would I protect such shitty people like you?"
"Get lost."
I started walking again.
They were constantly yapping and begging me to come to them. Weaklings' mindset. They'll be the ones who will die in this Dreamer's Delusion.
Just like that.
I saw in front of me—
A girl with red hair was standing with bruises on her arms, dust on her clothes. She was also wearing a tattered cloak. With her, a little girl was standing too, with the same bruises, dust, and a tattered cloak.
They were standing in front of me.
I smiled gently.
"I'm back."
The small girl ran and hugged me tightly, tears shedding from her eyes.
The girl in front of me was doing her best to hold her tears back, but still, tears were shedding from her eyes.
"You took so long."
I finally met them.
"Hong."