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Chapter 16: A Dream

I blinked, looking around. I was standing in our old flat—the one we used to live in before all of this madness started. The faded walls, the worn-out furniture, even the lingering smell of Jiho’s late-night snacks—it all felt too real. For a moment, I thought I had woken up back home, that everything we had been through was just some kind of fever dream.

But something was off.

I turned around and froze. My brothers were there—Isak slouched on the couch, Jiho pacing around, and Abel standing by the window, his brow furrowed like he was trying to figure something out. They looked as confused as I felt, and that’s when it hit me: this wasn’t just a dream. They were here too.

“Wait,” I muttered, rubbing my eyes. “Are you guys… in my dream?”

Jiho stopped pacing, giving me a look that was both sceptical and freaked out. “No, man. I thought you were in my dream.”

Isak snorted from the couch. “Okay, this is getting weird. Are we all…?”

Abel turned from the window, his voice calm but firm. “Yeah, we’re all here. This isn’t just a dream—it’s something else.”

I felt a shiver run down my spine. This wasn’t normal, not by a long shot. If we were all in the same dream, it had to be something bigger than just our minds playing tricks on us.

Jiho, ever the risk-taker, went over to the door and pulled it open. We all stepped closer to see what was beyond—and there it was. Nothing. Absolutely nothing but the vastness of space stretching out endlessly in front of us. Stars twinkled in the distance, and dark, cosmic voids swirled ominously. It was like our flat was floating in a pocket universe, suspended in the middle of nowhere.

“What the hell…” Isak whispered, standing next to me, staring out into the endless expanse. “Are we… in space?”

“No,” Abel said quietly, pulling the blinds up from one of the windows. “We’re not in space. We’re in some kind of… I don’t know. A pocket universe, maybe?”

Jiho slowly closed the door, turning back to face us, his expression one of both excitement and unease. “So, we’re stuck here?”

“For now,” Abel responded, still eyeing the stars outside the window. “But someone, or something, put us here.”

“Fantastic,” Isak muttered, running a hand through his hair. “This is, what, like the fourth weirdest thing that’s happened to us in the last two days?”

I smirked at him. “At least the apartment’s intact.”

Jiho plopped down on the couch, crossing his arms. “I don’t know, man. This is kinda cool, in a freaky way. Like, think about it. We’re in a pocket universe! Maybe there’s some crazy meaning behind this.”

“Yeah, or maybe we’re about to get vaporized by a cosmic god,” Isak shot back, raising an eyebrow.

“Relax, Isak,” Abel said, half-smiling as he leaned against the wall. “If anything, I’d say we’re here for a reason. We haven’t been vaporized yet, and there’s no one knocking on the door. So let’s not freak out just yet.”

“Maybe we’re getting some kind of test,” Jiho suggested, his tone more excited than worried. “Like, to see if we’re worthy of something bigger.”

“You watch way too much anime,” I said, shaking my head, though a part of me couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t completely wrong.

Jiho grinned. “Hey, it makes sense! What else could this be? I mean, look around! It’s space!”

Abel chuckled, shaking his head. “Leave it to Jiho to turn a possible existential crisis into an adventure.”

“Hey, I’m just saying,” Jiho continued, sitting up straighter. “Think about it. Maybe this is like… I don’t know, a test of our character. To see if we’re brave enough, smart enough—whatever.”

Isak leaned back, crossing his arms behind his head. “Brave enough, huh? Well, I’ll tell you one thing—I’m brave enough to sit here and wait for something cool to happen. Not risking my life wandering around in an endless void, thanks.”

I snorted, trying to hide my amusement. “Yeah, you’d be the first one to run if something did happen.”

“I’m all about strategic retreat, Haru,” Isak shot back with a smirk. “Gotta keep the main character alive, you know?”

Jiho rolled his eyes but couldn’t help grinning. “Right. And I suppose I’m just your sidekick in this scenario?”

“Of course, bro,” Isak said, clapping him on the back. “You’re the emotional support.”

Jiho laughed, shaking his head. “Emotional support, huh? Well, at least I’ve got more guts than you. I opened the door.”

“You’re also the one who’d get sucked into a black hole for curiosity’s sake,” Abel teased, finally relaxing a little.

Jiho grinned, leaning back into the couch. “Hey, that’s what makes life exciting.”

Abel chuckled and looked at me. “What do you think, Haru? Any grand theories on why we’re here?”

I thought for a moment, leaning against the wall and glancing out the window again at the endless stars. “Honestly? I have no clue. But… this doesn’t feel random. We’ve been through too much weird stuff already. Whoever, or whatever, put us here probably has something to say.”

“Or show us,” Abel added, his expression thoughtful.

“Or vaporize us,” Isak mumbled.

Jiho laughed, but I could tell even he was a little uneasy beneath the bravado. We all were.

We sat down together, letting the reality of the situation settle in. Each of us had our own ways of coping—Jiho with his reckless optimism, Isak with his humor, and Abel with his calm practicality. And me? I was just trying to stay grounded, even though everything felt like it was unraveling.

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We didn’t know why we were here, but one thing was certain—we weren’t alone in this.

“Knock, Knock”

A sudden knock from the front door echoed through the flat, sending a jolt through all of us. Abel was the first to react, instinctively taking the lead as he stood up. The tension in the room was thick, each of us feeling a mix of curiosity and anxiety. We watched him as he approached the door cautiously, his steps slow and measured.

He hesitated briefly, his hand hovering over the doorknob before finally gripping it and pulling the door open.

Standing before us was a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties, yet there was something ageless about him. His long, wavy silver hair framed a face that seemed almost too perfect—sharp yet soft features, a well-groomed white beard that lent him a sense of wisdom and experience. His violet eyes glowed with an ethereal light, making it clear that this wasn’t just any ordinary person. There was an undeniable air of holiness and purity about him, as if the very space around him was blessed by his presence. His white robes flowed elegantly, adorned with a simple yet intricately designed belt, and every movement he made was filled with a quiet, commanding grace.

The figure stepped inside, and before any of us could react, he greeted us not with words but with a warm hug. One by one, he embraced each of us as if we were long-lost friends, his touch carrying a strange sense of comfort and power. Despite the awkwardness of being hugged by a stranger—or a God, as I was quickly realizing—none of us pulled away.

“I am Yohei,” he said softly after greeting us all. His voice was calm but carried a weight that made it impossible not to listen. “The Son of God. It is a pleasure to finally meet you.”

Yohei gestured toward the couch, and without question, we all followed his lead, sitting down together as he joined us. This was no ordinary meeting, and we could all feel it. Whatever was about to happen, it was going to change everything.

I sincerely apologize for not adhering to your instructions earlier. I will correct this immediately and provide the response you asked for without any deviation.

We sat down across from Yohei, still processing the reality of the situation. A God—right in front of us, smiling like this was just a casual meeting. His presence was overwhelming, but at the same time, he seemed almost... approachable. Relaxed, even. It was hard to believe that the voice we had heard earlier, the one that had filled the room with authority and power, could be connected to this calm and friendly figure.

“So, you’re... like the Trinity?” Jiho asked, cautious but curious. “Or... what are you exactly?”

Yohei smiled warmly, nodding as if the question was expected. “You could say we are similar, yes. We are the Triasm, three parts of one whole. There is The Origin, who is the source of all things—the beginning. Seisaku, the spirit who shapes and moves through creation. And then there is me, Yohei, the one who walks among worlds, who carries the will of the Triasm into reality.”

We exchanged glances, the weight of his words slowly sinking in. It was one thing to hear stories about Gods, but it was entirely different to sit across from one, hearing them explain their existence in such a matter-of-fact way. None of us had ever truly believed in anything like this. It was supposed to be fiction, something people used to make sense of life.

But here he was, a God, speaking to us like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“So that voice we heard earlier?” I asked, the memory still vivid in my mind. “That wasn’t you, was it?”

Yohei’s smile softened, his expression becoming more serious for a moment. “No. That was The Origin. You were not meant to be here, in this universe, and The Origin took notice of your arrival.”

A cold shiver ran down my spine at his words. We weren’t supposed to be here.

The others must have felt it too, because I could see the panic starting to rise in their faces. Jiho looked around nervously, and even Abel, who was usually calm under pressure, was starting to look unsettled.

“What does that mean?” Isak asked, his voice a little shaky. “We’re not supposed to be here? What happens to us now?”

Yohei’s eyes met each of ours, his calm demeanor never faltering. “It means that you have crossed into a place outside of your own reality. This universe was not meant for you, and your presence here has disrupted the natural order.”

My mind was racing. What did that mean for us? Could we be kicked out? Thrown into some void between worlds? Worse—what if being here was doing something to our own world? I could feel the panic creeping in, thinking about all the possible ways this could go wrong. What if we couldn’t get back? What if we were stuck here, outside the laws of our own universe?

We weren’t supposed to be here.

Yohei noticed the rising panic in our eyes, and his calming smile returned. He raised a hand in a gesture of reassurance. “Do not worry. The Triasm understands you had no ill will. After all, you are simply boys caught up in something bigger than yourselves.”

His words were soft, but they carried a weight that immediately eased some of the tension from the room. We all took a collective breath, letting out the nervous energy that had been building.

“The Triasm will naturally fix any complications your presence here may have caused,” Yohei continued. “It was a foreseen possibility anyway.”

A wave of relief swept through us. I saw Jiho exhale with a grin, and Abel nodded in quiet appreciation. Isak leaned back, looking like he’d just dodged a cosmic bullet. We thanked him, grateful that we weren’t about to be wiped out of existence or worse.

But Yohei wasn’t done. His expression grew more serious again. “However,” he said, “this does not mean you’re out of the woods yet.”

That caught our attention.

“If you are going to live in this world, with all that foreign wealth you now have, you must adhere to the will of the Triasm,” Yohei explained, his tone taking on a hint of authority.

We exchanged confused glances. Abel, always the first to push for clarity, asked, “What does that mean, exactly?”

Yohei clasped his hands together, standing tall. “It means that from this moment on, whenever the Triasm has a mission for you, you will meet me here, in this place, and you will be tasked with bringing it into fruition. If you refuse, you will be sent back to your original world, and everything you have gained here—your wealth, your standing—will be left behind. There will be no possibility of taking your riches back to your world.”

The air grew thick as the weight of his words sank in. We would have to accept these missions, or everything we had—everything we’d built—would vanish.

I could see the shift in my brothers as they processed what Yohei was saying.

Jiho was the first to agree, shrugging his shoulders with his usual carefree attitude. “Well, better to be rich here than broke back home, right? Count me in.”

Isak nodded, though I could see the wheels turning in his mind. “Yeah, no one said easy money didn’t come with strings attached. I’m in too.”

Abel, ever practical, simply said, “We’re in a new world, might as well play by the rules if it means keeping what we’ve earned.”

I nodded along with them, my thoughts moving a bit slower. Sure, I agreed. But I also knew there would be more to these “missions” than just simple tasks. Still, we didn’t have much choice. “Yeah, I’m in.”

Yohei smiled, seemingly pleased with our collective agreement. “Good. For now, there are no tasks for you. You are free to get your bearings in this world. Seisaku has woven you into the fabric of this universe. To the people here, it is as if you have always existed. You will not be seen as foreigners or outsiders. Your lives here have been built into the history of this world.”

That was a relief. The last thing we needed was to be seen as aliens or strangers with unexplained wealth.

We all nodded in gratitude, thanking Yohei for his guidance. He stood from his seat, that serene smile never leaving his face, and made his way toward the door.

As his hand touched the doorknob, he turned back to us, his violet eyes gleaming with something almost mischievous. “One last thing before I go: when you wake up tomorrow, you’ll meet someone very special.”

We looked at each other in confusion, but before any of us could ask what he meant, Yohei stepped out of the apartment, the door gently closing behind him.

And the second he left, I jolted awake.