Chapter 34: Dream

Aria had a dream in which she was a floating spirit-like creature, with the ability to travel through places with ease.

It started with her room.

She gained the ability to float, her movements similar to that of Dianthe's.

She became confused. Obviously, because she was put in this foreign situation.

The dream was vivid. It was lifelike.

Yet, at the same time, it was unclear and gibberish.

She felt like she wasn't truly Aria.

The world was dead. Only she was alive, but this spiritual version of her, although it contained her soul's essence, wasn't complete.

Like a prototype, it only mirrored her.

But it couldn't be her.

Before long, the dream world warped.

The room shifted and turned, and she was brought to an all white space where nothing existed.

Out of nowhere, bubbles of scenarios popped up. Familiar scenarios.

Words were said, actions were done. Everything was covered in a blur, but Aria's brain was able to process the scenarios.

After all, it was her memories. The things she once went through.

What she experienced before undergoing the betrayal.

Even until now, she still remembered.

The memories they shared. Her, the team, and the entirety of people she helped during her life.

Back then, every moment seemed fleeting and not as important.

However, now that she was sent to an unfamiliar environment and had to force herself to adapt with haste, the precious memories began to appeal to her.

"My team.. My comrades... My students..." With a shaky voice, Aria called out to the people living inside the memories.

She watched the flashing screens with great interest.

Her progress, her adventures, her entire life was documented into scenes.

Each scene was made compact and short, only directing the important parts. Nonetheless, she was able to complete the missing parts by herself as she had once lived through those bubbles.

Her team, which was renowned for their greatness.

Her comrades, who fought alongside her to achieve Unity. These did not only include the ones she was the closest to, but also a barrage of external allies who played their parts in her life.

Helping her no matter how hard the adversity was. It was only because of these people that she persevered and was able to grit her teeth through all the challenges.

Lastly, her students. Out of the hundreds of pupils she taught, three were the most prominent.

Yerenica, Zeno, and Yosef.

The scenes went on and on. Aria kept watching.

It brought her a sense of melancholy and sadness. Her interactions with people she knew varied.

After all, it was life. Life had ups and downs.

It wasn't always smooth. The path to the top was rocky and thorny, but she kept on going.

Meeting new people was part of the delightful moments.

She and these acquaintances had a bond closer than family. Especially with her students.

If she didn't have them, there was no way she could've achieved what she did.

As Aria scrolled through the memories one by one, she began to realize something crucial.

So many social interactions were made.

Trades was a big part of it all. Research required funds, and she had made countless friends in multiple fields to help her progress.

She was reminded to the time she wanted to survive alone just because of Azef's heartbreaking reveal.

Now that this dream brought her attention back to the importance of these relations, she thought it over.

Did she really have to ostracize herself thanks to Azef.

That would be blind.

Although Azef had once betrayed her, weren't there her students? The children she saved, nurtured, and taught with patience?

The ones who grew up to become powerhouses of their own fields and came to her rescue once she was in need?

She couldn't just throw away feelings of familial bonds and relations just because of Azef's mistake.

She remembered the reason why she helped others.

Because her teacher, who raised her from the stage of infancy into adulthood, taught her to do so.

To give back to the world.

It wasn't a matter of personal grudges and distasteful actions.

If someone hated the world just because of someone's huge mistake, what would the world become?

The small world, filled by hatred and misconceptions, it would fall in a short time.

There were things that could not be done without a team effort. Without the help of many people in succession.

Besides, she quite liked [Golden Insignia]'s environment.

Although it couldn't bring her the best resources available, the team was far more welcoming and better than she expected.

The team members suited her, they could accommodate to her plans and was very realistic.

They all had their own objectives and motivation.

That was better than having a team that concealed their intentions and would stab you in the back.

According to Lein, the Association was full of crafty souls, who would do anything to achieve their own set of goals.

She herself did not have a set of goals, but knew what she wanted to do.

For now, she wanted to get as strong as possible.

And [Golden Insignia] was more or less capable of helping her to do so.

She shut her eyes, trying to stop the dreams. She got the intention.

However, it didn't stop.

The next time she opened her eyes, a different scene played out.

It was a map.

A map of the current world.

"This..." Aria's mouth gaped in shock.

From the originally clean slate, tiny dots started to appear.

Subconsciously, Aria was able to tell that the dots were gates- dungeon gates of different levels.

Time passed. The map's dots grew in numbers.

The 'gates' had their multiplication abilities raised.

Countless gates, spanning over the wide world. On the map, it showed up as dots of different shades of the color red.

At the very end, it covered every surface of the Earth, leaving no spaces blank.

Millions of dots. Covering the entire Earth.

Not just the lands, but also the waters.

'Is this.. the future?'

The future, or the past?

Aria knew that gates didn't exist back in her time, but nothing prevented these membranes from appearing in the time span within her slumber underground, inside the coffin.

Maybe life had restarted. Life got wiped out, and came back by rebuilding everything from the very start once more.

That was absurd and nonsensical, but these days, Aria felt like she could believe anything.

Nothing was sure.

However, looking at the state and progression, Aria was able to infer one thing.

The situation was similar to the current modern history, whether it was the past or the future to come.

The first appearance of weak gates associated with the color light pink.

Followed by it, the emergence of a darker shade, which was bright red.

'Today's situation would the most similar to...'

Aria played back the diagram and stopped in a certain timeline.

In Seoul, there was one dot.

One dot darker than the rest.

And the dot was carefully placed in the position she knew very well.

Having memorized the map, there was no mistaking it.

Gangnam.

The dot was in Gangnam, and the color, which was supposed to belong to the A-ranked dungeons was strangely different from the other A-ranked dungeons she saw appear in other countries.

What did that mean?

'Gangnam's gate..' Aria noticed the abnormality.

A darker color meant that the difficulty was raised.

In that case, since Gangnam's A-ranked gate was darker than the normal A-ranks, where did this special case stand in?

Between the realms of A-rank and S-rank?

If that's the real reason...

Aria opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to make sense of what was shown towards her.

What did it try to convey?

Clearly, there would be no such thing like this 'coincidence'.

Whoever, or whatever was behind the appearance of gates must've had their own plans, just like how Aria and the rest had their motives.

Then, was this dream shown to her because she was a <Player>, thus granting her special privileges?

Aria mused with interest.

Was this a warning?

Because she wished to participate, did the System try to warn her through making her understand how different this dungeon was going to be? How cocky the humans were, to send a singular team to fend this threat off?

No matter what the reason behind it was, she had decided to see this 'special' gate through.

Whatever came out of it would have to be accepted.

Aria scoffed.

She wanted to take her attention off of this matter. Her decision was rock soliD.

However, she also recognized the map's great value. If it was a map of the incoming future, she had to comprehend it for the better good.

She had carefully seen the clip, afraid that she would never be able to come back to it.

Memorizing it with haste, she recorded the possible 'predictions'.

"How do I wake up from this dream?"

Before she realized, she was no longer floating.

She was no longer thinking, she was talking out loud.

She was inside the body of a regular human being.

No, that wasn't right.

Because the body was..

The body was awfully familiar to her.

The body of the young Aria Schreiner.

"No way..."

Clad in black robes, her facial features were covered by a large hood as she stood in front of a well.

Her body was small and lithe.

Clearly, she hadn't entered the teenage years, let alone adulthood.

With that fact, she was able to remember one thing.

One person who accompanied her through childhood, but ended up passing away in her teenage years.

The wise and benevolent master of hers.

Who taught and raised her the rules of the world, the one who imparted her with the mission of achieving Unity.

When she was still stuck in a daze, a voice called out to her and made her jump.

A gentle, but firm voice. It was exactly the figure she woke up to for years.

The figure she lost.

Turning her head slowly, she was a bit scared to see the truth.

This was all a dream.

A lifelike dream, but the truth couldn't be ignored.

The man was long dead.

However, when her eyes fell onto the figure standing below the door frame of a house where so many of her memories were stored, her mood soured as she felt her tears well up from the sheer emotions.

"..Master?" Aria's eyes widened.

Her master was there in person, looking at her fondly.

Aria wiped her eyes and rubbed it until the organs were red. Even so, her master's figure did not disappear.

What in the actual hell was this dream?