(MC's POV)
I still remember the dream I had that day. It felt too real—horrifying, like something out of a horror movie. The emotion I felt still lingers inside me, vivid and raw. It felt like I was teetering on the edge of lunacy, as if I were going mad.
---
(A few days ago, in the dream)
It was pitch black.
There was no one.
As I walked through the door and entered my room, a chill crept up my spine. Goosebumps rose on my skin as I slowly realized—I was dreaming. A dream that felt too real. Everything was in its place… except for the mirror on my desk. I hadn't put that there.
I knew the rules of lucid dreaming: don't look into mirrors.
But this mirror… it gave off black smoke. I felt watched—intensely watched.
I don't properly remember what I did next.
Did I run away?
Did I lie down on my bed?
Maybe I tried doing yoga?
I don't think any of it worked.
Bam.
Sleep paralysis hit. Like always—when I have those ultra-realistic, nightmare-fueled lucid dreams.
And the next moment, when I was breathing in and out, I woke up.
At least, I thought I did.
There was no sweat, probably because the AC was on. Everything seemed real. But I didn't realize that, that too was a dream, a dream within a dream. Maybe it was the dread, maybe it was my heartbeat racing faster and faster—as if it were about to explode. I could feel it.
Panicked, I remembered the gods from my previous life. I began to pray, one by one. Slowly. I couldn't recall the whole slokas, but I remembered from a video that chanting would make the demons go away. I prayed. Repeatedly. Desperately.
And then… peace.
My heart softened. The panic dulled. I spiraled again—into the second descent of my nightmare.
---
"Hellooooooooooooooooooo!" I screamed.
There was no one. Only the empty void.
"##%&*(#%&@%&^%&(^$%!"
I started to pray again—over and over—to dull this strange, unknown fear. It grew louder, deeper, darker.
There was no one to save me.
No one to pull me from the abyss.
And then came the sound.
"ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo"
It kept rising. Louder and louder. My fear grew with it. The cold—it was unbearable. There was no warmth. No comfort. Only the rise of my darkest thoughts.
Is it even worth it?
Are they even worth it?
Why?
I questioned myself in the void and sank deeper into my shadows.
But then—madness.
I laughed.
Once.
Twice.
Then again, and again—until it became madness. Laughter. Raw and real.
It felt… funny. Hilarious. I kept laughing. And as I did, the sound—the terrifying, endless drone—began to fade.
My laughter filled the space. This lonely, cold void began to feel comfortable. This loneliness felt familiar and safe. I wanted it to last longer.
It was magical in the worst, most twisted way. I hadn't felt that kind of clarity in… forever.
Slowly, maybe because the fear was fading, I began to ask myself—
Why did I even fear this?
Was this even scarier than the real world?
Even if it was my subconscious... what use is fear?
When we die, don't we all end up in a place like this?
Isn't this the truth behind life?
I laughed again. And again. My laughter echoed in the dark.
And just when I thought it was over… a feeling surged inside me.
Maybe I angered something.
Something inside me.
An entity.
And I began to wake up.
But just before I opened my eyes, I remembered a scene I once read—something about regret. And I thought:
"Alas... I didn't accept that entity inside me. Now I'll probably have the same nightmare again. What a pain."
---
I opened my eyes to the dim morning light inside the bus as we entered the district.
We were nearing the bus stop. But the goosebumps—they returned with me. I still felt the chill.
I turned my head toward the source of the cold, and without thinking, I shouted,
"FUCK YOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"
As I slammed the cooler off—one of the culprits behind that vivid nightmare.
"Manners, boy. Manners," grumbled a crazy-looking droid nearby. It glared at me as if it were venting its frustration.
I looked at it and gave a small bow of apology as we reached the stop.
I stepped off the stupid bus—
The one that had broken my peaceful nightmare.
The one that had woken me from that world.
But the entity…
It's still in my head.
Waiting for me.
In my next nightmare.