A/n: Before you start, I do want to say that the pacing for this novel will be all over the place, Now, secondly, if your a new reader, this is a remake so I ask you not to read the other one for the best experience. That's about it. Yea. Nothing really. Actually though. (I like feedback.)
Anyway! Happy reading!
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Hot.
That was the first thing that crossed my mind as my eyes cracked open, assaulted by a flood of blinding light. My whole body felt like it had been steamrolled—heavy, sore, unfamiliar.
No… that couldn't be right. I'd gone to sleep in my bed.
I was staring up at a boundless, blue sky, the sun glaring down like a merciless god. My skin prickled under the heat. There wasn't a cloud in sight.
Where was I?
Wherever it was… it was hot.
Too hot.
With a groan, I pushed myself up, my back peeling away from scorching sand. Every nerve screamed. My body felt alien, as if it had been swapped out while I slept. I looked down at myself—ragged brown shirt, torn pants, unfamiliar calluses lining my palms.
Then I touched my stomach.
Rock-hard abs.
"…The fuc—"
Panic hit me like a wave.
Sand.Sand.SAND!
It was all sand. In every direction! Before I could comprehend anything, a scorching hot pain shot through my feet.
"Ah!" I gasped in pain, jumping in agony while cursing my situation.
The sand was trying to cook me alive. I scanned frantically for anything to stand on, finally spotting a white rock jutting from the ground. It was still hot, but not molten.
I clambered onto it, exhaling with relief.
Then a whisper brushed against the edge of my mind—calm, surreal, otherworldly.
[Aspirant. Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial…]
My breath hitched.
Then I grinned.
The Nightmare Spell? Shadow Slave's Nightmare Spell?
No way.
I mean, I checked all the boxes:
16 years old? Check.
Depressed college student? Yup.
Tragic backstory? Unfortunately.
Bullied? Absolutely.
I knew it. It was only a matter of time before I got isekai'd. But into Shadow Slave of all places?
My hands trembled. I looked at them—shaking, tingling.
Was this excitement?
—Pant—Pant—Pant
I was hyperventilating. I sucked in a lungful of air, coughed violently, and shook my head to clear it.
"What the hell am I doing?" I muttered, "Oh no. My fans will think I'm some weird pervert." I took a deep breath again. "Let's start this again."
***
A gust of wind tore through the desert, scattering dunes like dust. Dunes broke down as they became one with the storm. Below the tyrannical sun, the air shifted, twisting and turning as the sand grains gently moved.
There sat a blurry speck of a man, seemingly young with long wavy white hair. HIs legs were folded as his hair gently waved along with the wind, revealing pearl-blue eyes.
His lips slowly tugged upwards, making a smirk. "How was that for an introduction?"
Shit.
"It was cool wasn't it?"
No it wasn't.
"…"
…
Asher finally stretched out his hand and slowly scanned his surroundings. Endless dunes rippled in every direction, the horizon shimmering with heat.
"I should probably find a way out of here," he muttered, wiping sweat from his brow. The desert was vast — too vast. "Where am I?"
He frowned, trying to piece it together.
As someone who'd only read Shadow Slave up to Volume 5, he wasn't exactly an expert. Still, something about this place tugged at his memory.
Then it clicked.
"Ah!" He knocked his knuckles together. "This is the region where Nephis met that skeleton!"
But… something was off.
"Wait—shouldn't I have woken up in the waking world first? Before the first nightmare?" His brow furrowed. "Why am I already in the Dream Realm?"
A thought struck him.
"Nightmare Spell…"
He hadn't checked his status yet.
As if summoned by instinct, the word flickered in his mind.
Status.
A chime rang faintly in his ears.
Then—
"Woah"
Name: Asher.
True Name: —
Rank: Aspirant.
Soul Core: Dormant.
Memories: [???].
Echoes: —
Attributes: [Spectral Sight], [Mark of Anomaly], [Nimble Intellect], [Soul Veil], [Dreamspawn].
Aspect: [Weight manipulation].
Description: [the wielder has a control over the weight of matter, enabling them to control and manipulate weight to a small extent.]
Asher's lips twitched a little, "Not bad." But not good either. This definitely wasn't enough to get him through the first nightmare unharmed. Still, he had his questions.
'Why the hell am I a Dreamspawn though? Is it because I came into this world and spawned in a nightmare? And why do I have this memory?' He tried instinctively summoning it. Soon, a pearl-like orb sparked into existence.
He tried summoning the runes for the memory, but nothing popped up. Two more futile attempts later, he returned the orb back to his soul sea.
Then, he tried summoning the runes for his attributes since many of them were a mystery to him.
[Mark of Anomaly] Attribute Description: Your soul is aflame with the curse of Anomaly.
[Nimble Intellect] Attribute Description: 'Your thoughts race where time dares not tread, weaving clarity from chaos before the world can blink.'
[Spectral Sight] Attribute Description: "Where eyes fail, yours wander — tracing the truths that hide behind breath, bone, and veil."
[Soul Veil] Attribute Description: "Untouched by soul or scream, you walk cloaked in silence, feasting on the fading echoes of those made hollow by your hand."
[Dreamspawn] Attribute Description: "You are born of two worlds, belonging to both, but welcomed in neither. Your soul exists on the edge between nightmare and reality."
Asher casted a peculiar gaze on his Attributes, " I see, so the thing responsible for me thinking like this is due to [nimble intellect I'm guessing." He closed his Runes.
"Not bad."
It was still annoying that this attribute were cryptic as hell due to the Nightmare spell but his Attributes were not bad at all. Infact, for an average awakened person, they would have been amazing.
Except, Asher wasn't a normal awakened. He didn't know martial arts! He looked at the blinding sun casting on top of him as hey chuckled.
"Hehe. I'm screwed."
…
The words slowly sank into him as he looked around the barren land around him. His expression crumpled. "I'm fucked." he collapsed onto the rock, simply laying down as he looked at the sky. "I'll have to wait for the night huh?"
It was the only plausible way for him to leave this place, he can't possibly walk on burning sand!
So what now?"
.
.
.
He suddenly jerked without warning as he began to flail his body. "What the fuck is this boring ass nightmare!" he shouted to himself. That's when the earth quaked.
"Huh?"
No, it wasn't that the world quaked… No.. The rock under him did.
'That's strange.' he looked at the look he was on. "Huh?" Confusion filled his face as he saw 2 dark—not to black— orbs floating underneath the rock. Curious, he tried to tap the rock to see if the orbs suspended in the rock would move.
"Hmm.."
The ground trembled once more but the orbs stayed the same. His confused expression quickly crumpled as the rock began to lift itself up in the air. "WHAT THE FUCK!"
He quickly clung to the rock he was on as a figure revealed itself from the ground. Though Asher couldn't see the entire figure, he knew he was at least 8 meters in the air as a golem?- of sorts- held him high. The golem walked a certain direction as Asher tightened his grip around a rock? Seemed the golem had no sense of touch.
Asher himself was shocked with how fast he was thinking. 'This must [nimble intellect]' he thought to himself but there was one thing that was faster than his thoughts, that was infact his mouth, which kept uttering the same thing.
"I'm fucked, I'm fucked, No I'm actually fucked. Royally fucked…"
There was no way he could get off this thing. Sure the golem may have not noticed him for now, but it surely will once he tries to jump off, and when that happens. "Tskkkkkkkkkkkkk…. What should I do…" He looked around, desperately trying to find something, anything to use to get himself out of this predicament.
That was when Asher spotted something in the distance.
And it seemed the golem did too.
The creature suddenly veered to the right, its massive stone limbs crashing against the sand as its pace quickened. Asher gripped the rock for dear life, his arms straining, his heart hammering.
In the distance—figures.
Men draped in loose, wind-swept robes — desert dwellers. Their silhouettes shimmered in the heat, clustered near grotesquely mutated camels that twitched and hissed under the sun. As the golem bore down on them, panic broke out. The men shouted, scrambling behind their beasts, shielding themselves from the monster's approach.
But one man did not run.
He stepped forward.
From the center of the group, he slowly raised a hand to his hood — and pulled it back.
A gust of wind tore through the dunes, catching the edge of his robe. It fluttered off in one clean motion, dancing like a banner behind him.
Underneath stood a young man, tall and lean, his skin bronzed by sun and battle. Auburn hair spilled over his shoulders like firelit silk, tousled perfectly by the desert wind. But it was his eyes that froze Asher — piercing emerald green, glinting with calm fury.
The man unsheathed his sword with a whisper of steel.
He didn't flinch.
He didn't speak.
He stared down the charging golem with the patience of a storm.
"DUDEEEE! THE GUY WITH THE SWORD!! HELP ME!!" Asher screamed, flailing on top of the golem like a confused backpack.
The warrior looked up. For a second, he just… blinked.
Then, to Asher's absolute disbelief, he grinned.
"Hey, foolish one," the man called, voice smooth and sharp like wind over a blade. "How about you help me beat it?"
Asher's jaw locked, panic rising like bile. His grimace must've shown because the man laughed — actually laughed — before shifting his weight and vanishing into motion.
The golem's massive arm crashed into the sand, missing its target by inches as an explosion of grit filled the air. The impact shook the desert like thunder.
Asher squinted through the haze, coughing.
Then, emerging from the golden storm — a silhouette.
The young man strode forward, robe trailing behind him, sword gleaming.
He looked up once more and flashed a wicked smile.
"Don't fret," he said, eyes burning green."This creature can't hear."