Chapter 1: The Necklace of Dreams – Arianna

Arianna’s fingers traced the delicate silver chain of the necklace resting against her collarbone. She had found it by chance in an old antique shop, its deep sapphire gemstone calling out to her in a way she couldn’t explain. That night, when she had worn it to sleep, she had her first dream of him.

Cassis.

Tall and strong but lithe, with dark hair and golden eyes that burned with determination. His body was scarred from countless battles, each mark a testament to his survival. She had watched him fight from behind a glowing screen in a dark room, her presence unseen but her words, her voice, able to reach him. The system that governed the world of awakeners had deemed her a virtuous deity, granting her VP—Virtuous Points—whenever she did good deeds in her waking life. With these points, she could buy Cassis weapons, armor, potions—anything to keep him alive. There were other deities as well. Evil deities, who thrived on destruction, earning EP. And the unpredictable chaos deities, who accumulated CP by simply doing whatever they wanted, not caring for the consequences or if it was good or bad.

But none of them mattered to her. Only Cassis did. When the system asked her if she wanted to become Cassis' exclusive patron she jumped at the opportunity, although it took a bit longer to convince Cassis. But the advantages of having an exclusive contract between a patron and an awakener, like cheaper and better items and more power given to Cassis, sealed the deal even for the solitary man. 

For ten years, she had guided him, spoken to him through the screen, urged him forward, worked hard at being virtuous in her real life and bought him anything that would help him survive. She had seen him rise from F-rank to A-rank, a lone warrior in a world consumed by destruction. She had begged him to trust others, to find teammates, to let someone else bear some of the burden. But he was stubborn.

Tonight was no different.

“Cassis, you can’t keep fighting alone,” she shouted at the blue screen in front of her, her frustration mounting as she watched him engage in yet another reckless battle.

“I don’t need anyone else,” his response flashed on the screen, curt as always.

Arianna clenched her fists. “You’re going to die one day if you don’t get allies. Do you even care about your own life?”

Silence.

Then, his reply: “I’ve survived this long without help. I don’t need to change anything.”

Her heart ached. Why is he like this? She had spent years worrying about him, watching him come close to death over and over again. She couldn’t take it anymore.

“Fine,” she screamed, her voice trembling. “If you don’t find teammates, I won’t come back.”

The words sent a wave of coldness through her chest. She could choose not to wear the necklace to sleep. She could sever their connection. If he wouldn’t listen to reason, then maybe he needed to understand what it was like to be truly alone.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I mean it.”

A long pause. Then his final message: “Do what you want.”

The dream shattered, and Arianna woke up in her bed, heart pounding.

The next morning, the fight still weighed heavily on her mind. Anger and sadness churned inside her, but she had to push them aside. She had to go to work. Being an accountant wasn't the most exciting job, but she had enough excitement in her dreams, and it paid well enough. Her job felt more like a break than anything. After all, after work she had to try to be a virtuous person to earn VP. Not that she wasn't a good person, but being virtuous in everyday life was tiring, and it didn't even make her popular with people because she sometimes had to say uncomfortable truths. Some even derisively called her a "goody-two shoes". But what could she do? She was pretty much an innocent teenager at 17 when she first started these dreams. The system deemed her virtuous because she had done her best to stop her father from worrying about her. 

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"No use crying over it. Seriously, I wish Cassis would acknowledge the hardships I go through for him." She shook her head. "Don't wallow in self-pity. Cassis has it a lot worse than me. Just why can't he take on some teammates to help him?" Throwing on a coat, she looked at herself in the mirror: her brown hair was shoulder length and neatly styled, her blue eyes were the same colour as her mysterious sapphire necklace. She always wore it. And she would wear it again tonight. She already missed Cassis and worried form him.

After her short inspection in the mirror, she stepped out of her apartment and into the bustling city streets. On her way to the subway, she barely noticed the people around her. Her thoughts kept circling back to Cassis. Had she been too harsh? Would he finally understand how much she cared?

It was still dark outside, as it was winter. She waited at the traffic light until it turned green and stepped onto the crosswalk.

A deafening honk. The screech of tires.

Her head snapped up. A car was barrelling toward her, too fast, too close. There was no time to move.

Her breath hitched. This is it.

She closed her eyes. But she could still see the bright lights of the car speeding towards her.

And then—

Warmth. Strong arms wrapped around her. The scent of fire, and something unmistakably male flooded her senses. Her feet weren’t on solid ground anymore. It felt like she had fallen, yet she wasn’t hit and she wasn’t in pain. Was this what they called shock?

Her eyes flew open, and she found herself staring into golden eyes she had only ever seen through a screen. “…Cassis?” she whispered. But something was wrong. He wasn’t the battle-hardened warrior she had watched last night. He looked younger, unscarred by time and hardship, just like the him from ten years ago when their patron – awakener relationship began. Her mind reeled. Where am I? What’s happening?

Then, Cassis’s grip on her tightened, his voice rough and filled with something she couldn’t yet understand. “Who are you?”

Arianna blinked, stunned.

She stared at his face, searching for any hint of familiarity in his golden eyes. But there was only wariness, confusion—and something darker, something almost… haunted.

“I'm … Arianna,” she whispered, her voice barely audible.

His body tensed. “Arianna?” He frowned, his eyes narrowing as he studied her face. “That’s not possible.”

A lump formed in her throat. “I—I don’t understand. What’s going on? I was crossing the street and then—” Her breath caught. “The car—did I get hit?”

Cassis’s expression darkened. His grip on her loosened just slightly.

She shook her head, trying to make sense of everything. “Where am I?”

Cassis hesitated before replying, his voice guarded. “This is Avaria.”

Her stomach dropped. “Avaria…?”

It couldn’t be. That was the world from her dreams—the world Cassis lived in, the world of the system apocalypse. But it had always been just that: a dream. A fantasy she had watched from the other side of the screen.

She swallowed. “How old are you?”

Cassis frowned at the strange question but answered, nonetheless. “I’m 28.”

Her heart pounded. “That means…”

Arianna pressed a hand to her forehead. She was really here. And if Cassis was 28, that meant it was the very beginning of the apocalypse.

“I’m 27,” she finally said, her voice shaky, just wanting to say anything. She didn't want to think about the implications of physically being in Cassis’s world at the beginning of the apocalypse. 

Cassis stared at her. “You’re younger than me?”

“Yes.”

Before either of them could say anything else, a low growl echoed through the air.

Arianna’s breath hitched as a group of small, hunched figures with green skin emerged from the trees, their yellow eyes gleaming with malice.

“Goblins,” Cassis muttered, his jaw tightening.

Arianna knew what that meant. Goblins were weak compared to the horrors that would come later, but Cassis had yet to awaken. He was just a regular human right now.

The people around them started screaming as one of the goblins killed the first person and started eating him. The other goblins advanced and people ran away in a panic.

“We need to run, too,” he said, setting her down and grabbing her wrist.

Arianna didn’t argue. With her heart hammering, she ran alongside Cassis, plunging into the chaos of a world she had once only watched from afar.