Klain was dreaming; he was aware of it. He still remembered his vision of the young child the old man talked about and the enormous mountain that seems to extend as far as the universe goes. Klain tried to recall the vision. But, every time he tried, a wave of dizziness would attack his mind, threatening to make him vomit what he ate earlier.

Klain waited for the dizziness to subside and gave up trying, but instead looked around him. As he observed his surroundings, Klain realized that he was seemingly floating in a pitch-black place, with nothing visible insight but his body. The darkness also made it impossible to determine the width and height of the place he was in.

Seeing this, he tried to walk forward. But just as he was about to try to move, an invisible resistance that bound his limbs suddenly tightened and planted his foot harder onto the ground.

“Hmm?” Wondering what this could be, he tried even harder. Suddenly, as he exerted greater effort in raising his foot away from the ground and moving a step further, the shackles bounding his limbs grew even tighter and tighter and hotter, threatening to melt his skin and crush his bones…

“AHHHHHH!” Klain let out an agonizing scream as he felt an otherworldly pain flaring within the flesh of his limbs as the invisible shackles binding it grew extremely hot and tight, threatening to melt his flesh and crack his bones if ever he tried to move even harder.

Immediately stopping all attempts to move a step forward, his body became limp as he fell onto his knees with sweat pouring out of every pore of his body and droplets of tears flowing endlessly from his bloodshot eyes, onto his cheeks, and falling down into the darkness beneath him. Hearing that no sound of his tears sounded to hit a surface, another fear appeared within him as he imagined falling deep into the dark abyss. Klain trembled uncontrollably as he thought of the possibility.

Seconds later, he felt the searing and crushing pain subside within his limbs as the invisible shackle loosened its grip. He looked at both of his arms and legs and saw no damage at all, as if it did not happen. Breathing deeply, Klain shuddered strongly as he remembered the agonizing pain of one’s skin melting and bones slowly being crushed. It all happened and subsided so quickly, but the pain was so intense. It was even a miracle that he did not collapse from the pain.

“I wish I did.” Klain laughed weakly, as if he was one step from losing his sanity.

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Feeling that the pain was no longer there, he tried standing up, but realized he had no strength. His legs were all wobbly and numb, while his arms were unable to generate enough strength to push him upwards. He was just there; sprawled on the ground, exhausted and lifeless.

Unable to do anything, he thought of what happened.

“I can move my limbs freely in place as long as I don’t try to move forward. I have no idea if the same would happen if I move backward or to the sides…better not try.” He thought of experimenting with moving in another direction other than moving forward after he recovered; but he quickly shoved away these thoughts, not wanting to gamble and risk experiencing the agonizing pain again.

Realizing all of these, there were still three sets of questions that left him confused. “First, what is this place, and is this even a dream? The pain was too realistic! Second, what were those things that he felt binding his limbs, and why is moving forward so painful?” As Klain once again remembered the pain he felt earlier, his body trembled, so he forcibly suppressed it and thought of the most urgent and important question he must answer:

“But most important of them all, how do I get out of here? Aren’t dreams supposed to end at the last second when the person dreaming is about to die or experience extreme pain?” He quietly mumbled as he grew fearful of his situation.

“Am I… stuck in my dream?” Klain’s body shuddered uncontrollably as he thought of being forever stuck in his own dreams, unable to wake up. He suddenly remembered his real body outside this dream and recalled that he collapsed in the middle of the…meadows.

As this realization hit him, he suddenly felt cold sweat trickling down from his forehead as he realized the dangers of being outside the city walls, all the more when he was nothing but a small child.

Of course, he remembered the old man he talked to earlier, but he also remembered that the old man was already dying and might as well be a lying corpse beside him, so it did not matter if the old man was there or not because it would not change his situation.

Casting away his thoughts about the old man, Klain tried to think optimistically of his situation and tried to forcibly wake up. With his limbs out of service, he screamed frantically as he attempted to wake himself up.

“WAKE UP! I SAID WAKE UP, GODDAMMIT! LET ME OUT OF THIS FUCKING DREAM!”

Klain Shouted desperately as his voice cracked and tears once again formed from his eyes as he was lying down floating in this dark abyss of a place, weak, powerless, and giving up.

As he was in this position, remembering the dangers of being outside the city’s walls while unconscious, another grim thought appeared in the depths of his mind. He sucked in a breath of cold air as he thought of another possibility…

“Am I…dead?”