A haggard-looking young man, with unkempt black hair that reached down to his neck, stood in the middle of a busy road. Crowds of people rushed past his figure, some giving him a curious glance due to his slovenly clothes that clearly weren't his size, a clear sign of poverty.
Ash didn't mind their attention. He was more focused on what lay in front of him.
Right now, he stood before a building. The walls of the building were reinforced with thick armor plating and a few gun turrets hidden here and there. At the entrance was a giant sign with the words "Police station" written on it.
aha... It's like reliving history.
This scene was strangely similar to what he had read in the novel. Of course, Ash was much taller than Sunny, standing at around 5'10, on the same level as most of the people around him. Luckily, he had transmigrated here into this world with his original body. But of course he also quickly realized that being directly thrown into this world instead of reincarnating Or taking someone else's body, he had no form of identification whatsoever(like an outskirts rat!), without proper identification, he was restricted in many ways. Many professional jobs, even for a barista, required some form of ID and a bank account—a result of the currency being completely digital.
In the end, due to the economic isolation, he had been forced out into the outskirts, left on his own to survive.
After a full minute of doing nothing but staring at the sign, he finally turned his attention back to himself. Looking at his messy clothes, he quickly patted them down, trying to look as neat as possible. Well, at least as much as he could, with the cheap clothes he currently had on.
After all, a lawyer must look presentable when talking to people.
At this moment, he would kill for his original clothes, those he had spawned into this world with. Sadly, they had been sold by him in order to save enough money to rent the cargo container from the local gang. For the day of his advancement, he couldn't afford to drink the potion in an unsafe environment; after all, he was the most vulnerable right after advancing!
Finally calming his wildly beating heart, he put on a professional smile, like a lawyer about to face his clients, and strode forward towards the entrance of the police station.
"You want something, boy?"
The sudden voice from behind nearly made him stumble. He had expected himself to be the one greeting the officer, not the other way around! But of course, he was nothing but adaptable. He quickly composed himself and turned around, with the same smile he had on earlier.
Fuck this guy; he almost gave me a heart attack! What are you doing outside the police station anyways? Aren't you supposed to be inside, attending to the people who come here for your service?
"Ah yes, officer. I do indeed have something I want." The disparity in the tone difference between the inner monologue and the words spoken could have probably made the devil flinch. Of course, he wasn't sure. After all, there wasn't any devil here to testify, right?
The eloquence of a lawyer prevented him from stumbling on his words.
Perhaps it was just his schizo self kicking in, but he could've swear he faintly heard a distant "No...." From somewhere, as if coming from the depths of the abyss. Was it perhaps the devil himself testifying?
Ash saw the figure of the officer, with a cup of coffee in his hand, and his face, which, at the moment, sported a deep frown, possibly from the disgusting smell of piss, shit, and trash—the smell of the outskirts—which he had brought with him to the police station.
Ash quickly straightened his figure, cleared his throat, and spoke in a calm voice.
"As demanded by the third special directive, I have come here to surrender myself as a carrier of the nightmare spell."
At those words, the officer's expression instantly hardened. He hurriedly walked past Ash, never taking his eyes off him, and walked towards his desk.
"Are you sure you've been infected? How long has it been since the symptoms first started showing?"
Ash simply shrugged.
"I'm as sure as anyone can be. As for how long, I think it should be around 5 to 6 days ago." He had lied. In truth, it had only been around 3 hours since he had drunk the potion and when the symptoms started showing. But the drowsiness was stronger than he had anticipated, and he wasn't sure if he could hold on for more than a day.
The officer's expression once again changed, growing paler than before. There was possibly only a day left before the boy in front of him entered his first nightmare. He hurriedly reached for a button on the terminal on his desk and bellowed:
"Attention! Code red in the lobby! I repeat, CODE RED!"
***
Ash currently sat on top of a bed, a strange mix of a hospital bed and a medieval torture device. Many restraining locks were attached to various parts of the bed, for his hands, forearms, legs, thighs, and waist. Luckily, he was yet to be buckled in.
Unlike the case with Sunny's nightmare, Ash had arrived earlier, giving the officers more time to prepare. This meant that the officers at the station weren't running around in a panic. Although the fear of a disaster was still present, they had been trained so as to not agitate the infected, as that might as well affect his mental condition during the nightmare, which might very well be a death sentence.
This also meant that he had the luxury of being free and unrestrained until the last 3 to 4 hours.
Right now, his mind was occupied, reviewing the information about his abilities as a lawyer. To be honest, there wasn't much, as normal for a sequence 9.
The first is, of course, eloquence. The eloquence of a lawyer seems to lean towards a sharp and confident, firm-in-voice type of demeanor, but it also has major aspects of gaslighting and misdirection, more of a negative type, similar to the theme of the entire pathway.
But it is also very strange. On the surface, it seems non-mystical in nature. But in reality, it also has some passive mystical effects, letting me subtly distort and misdirect the thoughts, attention, and agendas of someone using just my words.
The vault door opened, and an officer walked into the room.
The second is law proficiency. It is quite simple, as it helps me understand laws more effectively, allowing me to find and exploit loopholes in rules.
"So, what's your name?" The voice of the officer made him snap out of his reverie. He slowly looked up to see who had asked the question.
The officer was, as he realized, young, and not the officer that had greeted him at the entrance. His expression was calm, yet the frantic movement of his eyes betrayed the nervousness and inexperience. Right now, he held a clipboard in his left hand and a pen in his right.
For a moment, Ash just stared at him.
Why is this guy holding a clipboard? Am I some sort of lab rat or something? What kind of procedures are these!?
"...So?"
"It's Ashoka," he said with a cough, finally remembering what he had been asked.
"Ashoka? Hm...Sounds like something originating from north Asia, sometime before the spell"
You mean Russia, don't you? Not here as well...wait, isn't NQSC basically in Russia too? Back in his world, people online often mistook him for a female Russian because of his name, something that always bothered him.
"So, what do you know about the first nightmare. apart from the propaganda and the fictions, of course." The officer glanced at his clipboard once again and asked.
Come on, not this! I already know most of what I need to know, more than most of you, even! Fuck it, I'll just make some shit up, probably won't work though.
"Dont worry, officer. I already know most of what I need to know about the first nightmare. You see, I used to work in a bar, near the outskirts, and had the fortune of meeting an awakened there. Since the fear of the spell is very huge during my age, I had asked them about it." Yeah, he was just making some shit up. Why would an awakened come to a bar near the outskirts anyways! This story was full of holes! The officers eyes widened at the revelation. This guy sure was lucky, to have had a face to face conversation with an awakened, as an outskirts rat no less!
"Oh really? What was their name? He asked, ready to note it down.
"Awakened Raymond, if I remember correctly." He lied once again. he was just making up names. The officer quickly jotted the name down in his notes.
Wait, this guy really believes me? How stupid is he? whether I know or not, its your duty to inform me about the basics, regardless. How unprofessional!
Hehe, let's try it right here on this guy. He's stupid enough to fall for it.
After another round of questioning, Ash finally asked:
"If I may ask, officer, why are you holding that clipboard?"
"To write down what you say, of course." The officer had a strange expression on his face right now.
"You know, you could have just noted all of it while reviewing the footage from the camera. Right now, all it's doing is making me feel like a patient or a lab rat, getting his vitals checked."
At those words, the poor officer stammered, "B-but, the captain—"
"He's probably testing you, seeing how aware you are of your own actions and their effects. Look, he's standing outside the door, shaking his head, certainly disappointed. I can definitely sue the department for compromising my mental health right before a nightmare." Ash facepalmed, continuing the act. It seems that the captain and already seen through the deception.
The officer's face paled after hearing the last part.
"That's a sly tongue you got there, brat." Just as he was about to continue on, The door clicked open, and a young woman walked in. She had bright blonde hair with black roots, while her outfit was quite simple and consisted of jeans, a dark green T-shirt and a leather jacket, along with a simple silver chain on her neck.
Tsk, I was so close! I could even feel my potion digest slightly! damn you! He had been trying to gaslight and misdirect the young officer.
'The first principle of acting: a lawyer's words are their strongest weapons.'
"Respectfully, ma'am, but you barely look older than me. Can you really call me a brat? And who might you be, anyways?" Ash already had a guess.
"Tsk, I can call you whatever I want." She Paused befored saying "brat." As if to drive her point in. She walked towards the young officer and took the clipboard from his hands. "Are you blind, or do you have short-term memory loss?" She asked, clearly annoyed. "Your captain gave you the clipboard with the question you need to ask the aspirant written down, just in case you forgot. And even if he did try to sue you, you have sufficient protection against these types of scenarios."
She then glanced at Ash and spoke, "In short, the kid is playing with you. With what he's said in front of the camera, he probably won't do anything, bad reputation and all."
Just as the officer was about to ask who the hell she was—in a polite fashion, of course—She moved, standing in front of both of them, with her hand in her pocket, and introduced herself:
"Awakened Raymond. I'll take over to watch and brief the aspirant of the basics of the first nightmare."
At the name, both Ash and the officer let out a barely audible 'ah.', the officer moving his gaze between ash and the awakened, clearly already realising that he had been lied to.
Shit, my cover is blown! What kind of reasonable development is this? I had definitely just made that name up.
While awakened Raymond was confused by the pair's strange reaction, The older officer walked in and put a hand on her shoulder, whispering into her ear:
"Well, you see..."
***
"You should know that lying like that, especially to avoid being informed of the basic knowledge for the first trial, is punishable. It's different from a sleeper, who can throw there life away if they want, without a care for survival. If they die, at most, they'll emotionally cripple their family, or their body will become a hollow." She moved her gaze from the restraints she was putting on, and looked at Ash.
"But If an aspirant dies, things are different. you'll turn into a nightmare creature, possibly hurting others." She sighed "that is of course if i let you leave this room alive. Anyways, I guess I will give you the benefit of the doubt, for this once. My lips are sealed."
It had been 15 hours since that fiasco happened. Right now, the room was empty apart from Ash and awakened Raymond—who was currently putting restraints on his legs and his thighs. Ash, meanwhile, was sipping coffee from the cup in his hand. His mind was barely awake, letting out one tired yawn after another.
He had been wrong.
The experiences and advice from an actual awakened who had experienced a nightmare were far more valuable than he could have ever imagined. Not only had Awakened Raymond, briefed him onto the basics of the nightmare, which was basically what the officer was supposed to say, albeit more in details.
She had also taught him various skills that might be useful during the trial, which included how to build a fire and a tent, various types of rope knots for various situations, some breathing techniques to help him remain calm during tense situations, some basic tricks to differentiate between normal and poisonous flora, how to reach civilization using rivers and landmarks, among many other things about hiding or scouting nightmare creature. He probably couldn't thank her enough for how much she had possibly helped to prepare him for the nightmare.
After finally finishing with putting the restraints on for the lower half of the body, she sat on the chair beside him.
"Now that the important stuff is finished, tell me, what was your name again?"
"It's Ashoka." He replied, once again.
"How old?"
"Seventeen this year." Awakened Raymond inaudibly murmured something under her breath at his answer.
"Pardon?" He asked, not catching what she had said.
"Uh...nothing. Don't bother. Anyways, do you have someone you might wanna call? Your family or relatives, perhaps?" As she said that, she pulled out her communicator from the pockets of her jacket, offering it to Ash.
Hearing the question, his thoughts stopped. He silently looked at the communicator.
To be honest, he had yet to cry for the reasons of missing his loved ones, contrary to what he had expected from himself. Like, seriously? Not even a tear? In reality, his mind had been too filled with feelings of excitement and dread after arriving in this world. Too occupied with trying to survive, he had pushed those feelings into the back of his mind, focusing on other, more important stuff.
But one could not run forever. The many lonely nights he had spent in silence, staring at the sky, or the bustling inner city filled with colorful lighting, had crushed him with the weight of his solitary existence. He really hoped, as low as the probability might be, that he was not the only one who had come to this world with him, as selfish as it might sound.
"Ah...let's... not bother with that stuff." Despite his best efforts, he could not prevent his voice from cracking a bit near the end.
Hearing his reply, awakened Raymond just stared at him calmly. She had definitely noticed that. Eventually, she spoke, continuing their conversation:
"So, you're from the outskirts, right?"
"Well, yeah. You could've probably guessed though."
"Hm...no wonder. Well, you look quite neat for someone from there, even with those cheap clothes. Tell me, I thought people from the outskirts didn't bother much with how they looked. What happened with you?"
"Well, perhaps it's a habit of mine." He shrugged, "And, anyways, wouldn't you wanna look your best before the most important event of your life?"
"Nope. Not for a nightmare, atleast." That was her answer. Eventually, she took a deep breath and asked;
"Say, Ashoka. Are you scared for your first nightmare?" Her voice soft and calming. Ash just let out a scoff. His previous confidence once again appeared in his voice, a perk of being a lawyer.
"No? Why? It's of no matter whether I'm afraid or not. The spell isn't going to lower the difficulty regardless of my mental health. I'm not planning to die in a nightmare anyways. In fact, I've already thought of the next 10 years of my life after I become an awakened." The words flowed smoothly like butter. All the while, Raymond just stared at him calmly. After a while, she spoke:
"Ah...
"Come closer."
"Pardon?" Ash was confused by the sudden words.
"I said come closer, you damn brat. Now come here before I change my mind." The voice was louder this time, filled with a little bit of irritation.
Ash simply complied, shifting closer toward the edge of the bed. Raymond stood up from her chair and moved towards him. Before he could understand what was going on, he felt himself being tightly hugged by her. For a moment, his mind short circuited at the embrace, falling limply like a ragdoll.
"There, there, Don't worry, you'll definitely survive this trial, just like me, and many others before you. You're the bravest 17 year old brat I've seen, braver than I could ever be." She slowly patted his back with her hands, her voice a mumble, comforting him like a mother, or perhaps an older sister.
Ash's face was already red by now. He didn't know if the increase in blood flow could somehow help him stay awake longer.
Raymond paused for a moment, then continued, "When I was preparing for my first trial, I had also been in a similar police station, mostly alone, and scared shitless. Back then, I would've killed for even a single hug of comfort, even from the officer. But it's too difficult for those who haven't been infected by the spell to understand the dread one feels right before the first nightmare.
"Sadly, the awakened who had come to oversee me during the trial was one hell of an emotionless guy. A smile would've been probably the most he would have given me. Tsk, you should be grateful that it's someone like me here."
After a while, she moved away from him. "But don't get the wrong impression, alright? Although I'm single, I'm not interested in anyone younger than me. I'm not that desperate... Well, probably." The last words were a whisper only to herself. There was definitely some story behind these lines.
Right now, Ash's mind was filled with various thoughts. Eventually, he spoke up:
"Hey, miss, can I call you big sis?" The request definitely caught her off guard as she nearly stumbled from her chair. Eventually she composed herself.
"Uhh...sure? I don't mind. But you also better drop that professional way of talking with me." She probably did mind, but she couldn't bring herself to say that to him. There was a good chance that the boy might not survive, so giving him any kind of comfort wouldn't hurt.
Ash laughed awkwardly and sat back down into his bed. A few minutes passed and they eventually started talking again.
When the frequency of yawns increased, Raymond decided to put on the rest of the restraints for Ash. Seconds ticked by, and his world slowly grew darker.
"Good luck, brat." Those were the last words he heard before he fell into the peaceful embrace of sleep.
Awakened Raymond stayed silent for some time, quietly observing the rhythmic breathing of the sleeping Ashoka, the aspirant.
It was hard. Really, really hard, not to get attached to these aspirants. Masks often fell from faces when a person, no less a child, was about to face probable doom, letting other's see their true self behind the masks.
At their core, a child was vulnerable. Vulnerable to the harshness of the world, And hence, she just could not help but grow closer to these children, despite her best efforts not to.
And it was all the more heartbreaking when, after all she tried to prepare them, they didn't return as themselves. To be there, seeing their bodies morph into something inhumane, to have to stab a blade into the same person you have laughed with, joked with, or consoled. She didn't even work for the government. only gods knew why she volunteered for such a cruel job.
After some seconds passed, she reached for Ash's head and ruffled his hair.
"Let's hope I meet you as a sleeper, rather than a monster I have to kill."
***
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. You have been chosen by the Nation of disorder! Prepare for your First Trial…]
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[A/N: I honestly have no idea for what I'm going to do with the 1st NM. let's just hope I cook up something good, instead of burning the kitchen. The quality of the chapter might've dropped considering it's my first time writing dialogues and all, and the 2nd time I'm writing anything at all. Comment any errors you might find.
Also, I swear i wrote this chapter to only be like 1.7k, why is it suddenly 3.6k words? Eh, who knows? Must be a reasonable development XDD]