“What the —” I groan as I blink, slowly awakening from what should have been a restful sleep. “How did I end up here?” I was back in my apartment and fell asleep late after binge-watching Youtube videos. So why am I in the middle of the street? A breeze makes the nearby leafless trees rustle, and almost makes me jump in fright.
“It’s way too silent.” The unusual silence is the first thing that jumps at me. This city is always busy, even at late hours. But there’s no one on the sidewalks, no car engines rumbling in the distance. It’s like I’m alone.
Which doesn’t make any sense!
“What happened to me?” I look around. My head is thumping for some reason, which isn’t reassuring. Was I drugged? Kidnapped? I check my body to make sure that my kidneys are still where they should be, but I don’t see any new scars on my pale skin. “Well, at least I got that going for me,” I mumble with a wry smile. First of all, I should stop standing in the middle of the road like an idiot, or I am going to get run over. The only sources of light are the pale Moon hanging in the sky along with the glow of the streetlights. It would not be surprising if a tired driver ran me over because he did not see me in time.
I let out a deep sigh and head for the sidewalk. “Now, what should I do?” As luck would have it, I don’t have my phone on me, so I can’t call for help. I only have the clothes on my back and — no shoes! It’s like I got pulled out of bed without noticing!
“Shit, I’m going to hurt myself!” I groan. Stepping on a rock or a shard of glass would hurt a lot, so I better be careful. I also realized that I do not have my apartment keys. Which means I can’t go home. And I can’t call anyone for help since I don’t have my phone!
“Damnit!” I shout at the night sky. At least it isn’t too cold — Wait a second. I should be shivering since I’m only wearing a t-shirt and no pants. I’m in my underwear in the middle of the street, and I’m not cold at all!
Something is wrong. I will be the first to admit that I’m used to cold temperatures, but this is too much. I should still feel the sting of the cold air, but — Now that I think about it, I don’t feel anything at all. There are no sensations beneath my feet. The expected roughness of the sidewalk isn’t there. It’s like I’m walking on nothing, which is very disorientating now that I notice it. My skin isn’t tingling because of the cold, there are no gusts of wind that brush past me.
It was weird before, but it is becoming alarming. Maybe I was drugged and kidnapped? That would explain the complete lack of feelings. Whatever anesthesia the kidnappers used may still be circulating through my veins. I have not noticed any scars, so I ran away?
Fuck, I should hide somewhere! With my luck, some lunatic with a dirty scalpel is looking for me! I prepare for a sprint, grimacing as I ignore the damage my feet are about to endure and —
***Welcome, Heir of the Twilight World.***
A large, half-transparent blue window with white text inside appears right in front of me. All the tension accumulated in my body vanishes as I let out a laugh. I wasn’t kidnapped! This is a dream! Now the sensation of not touching anything makes sense since I’m lying in my bed.
“So this is what lucid dreaming is like?” I say to myself. I never looked into it, but it should be similar. A world that looks real but feels off, with small inconsistencies here and there. In my case, it’s the lack of people and that blue window.
“What should I do now?” This is the world of my dreams, so I should be able to do what I want. I narrow my eyes and focus, but the harem of big-breasted women I expected to appear is missing. I shrug, it was worth a try. Now let’s see if I can fly!
It takes a few minutes of jumping around like a frog on amphetamines for my disappointment to become evident. “What is this bullshit!” I grumble. I’m unremarkable even in my unconscious, huh? Another blue window appears out of thin air to take me out of my morose thoughts.
***The Twilight World is a world between moments. A world that is frozen in time, yet a reflection of reality. It is your domain where nothing can intrude.***
***The Twilight World is now accessible with a Twilight Portal.***
***Acquired Skill: Twilight Portal!***
***Twilight Portal(1): Allows the Heir of The Twilight World to enter his domain. 01:00:00/01:00:00 remaining. Cooldown time: 6 hours.***
That’s all I can come up with? Some random blue windows that —
An alarm clock takes me out of my dream. I let out a sigh as I rub my eyes. I’m back in my apartment, back in my comfortable bed. I yawn as I get up, that was fucking weird. I thought lucid dreams would be pleasant experiences where the imagination could run unhindered, but I was wrong. All I got was an empty city and blue windows!
“I played too many video games,” I chuckle as I look into my fridge for something to eat. There’s not much in there, I need to get some groceries. “Man, if only this Twilight World stuff was real. Then I could raid the supermarket without paying a dime!” I chuckle, but I stop laughing when I spot something that I never thought I would see again.
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***The Heir of The Twilight World can ferry items between his domain and reality, as is his birthright.***
***Items that transferred between worlds must be in contact with the Heir. Items taken from the Twilight World do not influence items in reality.***
“What the — ” My brain freezes for a moment. Am I still dreaming? Is this an Inception type of deal? I pinch myself but only get a sore forearm. That means that this is reality. I sit down and close my eyes. “Am I going insane? Should I tell someone about this?”
I shake my head, telling anyone I see random floating text in front of me is a one-way ticket to the insane asylum.
“I’m too tired and not woken up yet,” I nod to myself. That is the most likely explanation.
I can’t help but think, what if this is real? What if I got some superpower because of a dream? That sounds insane, but— I need to try it out, or I’m going to be obsessed with this until I satisfy my curiosity. I’m lucky that I don’t have any roommates, or I wouldn’t be able to endure the shame of trying to access another dimension in the middle of my kitchen.
I take a deep breath to calm my rapidly beating heart. Why am I so excited over this? The Twilight World is not real. It’s a delusion born out of my subconscious. I need to get on with it so I won’t obsess over this dumb idea in the future. I focus and think about the Twilight Portal.
The world becomes darker. The budding sun rays disappear and change into the dim darkness of dusk.
***Welcome, Heir of the Twilight World.***
***Countdown : 00:59:59 ***
“What the fuck!” I sit back down. What the hell, don’t tell me that this is real? It can’t be! I look out of my window, the sky is dark and the Moon covers the dead city with its pale glow. The countdown window at the corner of my vision is the only thing that proves that I didn’t wake up from a silly dream.
I exhale. This situation is insane, but it feels too real to be fake. I open my fridge again and grab the carton of milk. It’s my last one, so I should end up with two cartons once I’m out of this place. Now, how do I get out of here? Do I think about the Twilight Portal again —
The world regains its colors in the next moment. I blink a few times since the sudden change in lighting hurts my eyes. I stare at my fridge. This moment is the most important moment of my life, and it hinges on a carton of milk. My hands are trembling as I open the door of the appliance.
I drop the container. There’s an identical carton of milk right in front of me.
“Holy fuck!” I fall on my ass, unable to process the implications of what is happening. How is this even possible? I have so many questions! Why was I chosen for this? My parents are not remarkable people, and my family tree is as average as they get.
“Calm down Zach, calm down.” I speak to myself as I put my hand through my short blond hair. This is the biggest thing that has ever happened to me. I can think of so many possibilities, so many ways to exploit this.
But first, I need to understand it more. Let’s focus on this countdown. How does it work? What happens when it runs out?
***The countdown represents the amount of time the Heir can spend in his domain. The Heir will reappear back into reality once it runs out.***
*** If the countdown has not reached 0, it will replenish over time at a rate of half of the amount of time spent in reality.***
Those blue windows are surprisingly helpful. My milk carton experiment also showed that my location is shared between the two worlds. If I entered the Twilight World in my kitchen and went to the parking lot, then I would appear in the parking lot in reality. If those windows answer my questions, then maybe they can help me understand who I am? Why was I chosen for this?
***The Heir lacks qualifications.***
Great. It would have been too easy if I had proper explanations right away. I let out a sigh and lie down on my floor. What about the countdown? Can I increase it? One hour is a long time, but it wouldn’t hurt to be longer.
***The Skills of the Heir can be upgraded with suitable energy sources.***
What energy sources? Do I need to stick my hand in an electrical outlet?
***No.***
***The Heir lacks qualifications.***
I retract my earlier statement. These windows are borderline useless. How am I supposed to find out? It’s not on the Internet, that’s for sure. I guarantee that searching 'suitable energy sources for magical floating blue windows' will not lead to any result.
Then, another question. The window in my dream described the Twilight World as an area frozen in time. Does that mean that it will stay the same way forever?
***Incorrect. The Twilight World is a frozen reflection of reality. It will reflect the state of reality when the Heir enters his domain. Objects taken out of the Twilight World will not be present in the Twilight World until 24 hours have passed. Show the Object Return Timer? (Y/N)***
“Sure,” my answer is accompanied by a blue window fluttering at the corner of my vision. It isn’t intruding on my field of view, yet it’s like I can always see it no matter where I look. That’s going to take some time to get used to it. “Alright, then what if there’s a nuclear apocalypse or something? Do I get to decide if the Twilight World takes on the current reality?”
***The Heir lacks qualifications.***
I groan, “Of course. I should have expected this.” Still, I can work with that limitation. I can pretty much make unlimited copies of anything I want as long as I wait a day. I get up and look out of my window. The city is waking up, and the streets are filling up with people.
I focus on the street and the world shifts.
***Welcome, Heir of the Twilight World.***
***Countdown : 00:58:59 ***
The people are gone, replaced by crumpled piles of clothes. A couple of cars, now lacking drivers, crash into each other. The dull glow of the streetlights gives an eerie feeling to this desolate landscape. I sit on a chair and keep observing this world, the Twilight World.
I have so many questions, yet so few answers. Why do I have that power? Are there others like me? How does this power even work? I shake my head as I exit the Twilight World. Life resumes its normal course, and the once dead streets are now back to how they should be.
An alarm clock takes me out of my reverie. “Oh shit!” I completely forgot that I had to go to college. It seems a bit useless to bother with this when I acquired a reality-bending ability, but my studies are almost over. It would be a waste to stop since I'm so close to the end. I head for the shower before grinning, “Hey, I can avoid paying my water bill now!”
The world becomes darker as I step into my shower.