It was late-night routines like this that made me forget about the problems in my life. My four friends and I were chatting about silly, unimportant things while leaning against the wall of the "Air Fresh Mart" convenience store.
"How much did you lose this time, huh?" Misk asked.
"...150,000 Units," I mumbled, my voice barely audible.
Misk burst into loud laughter at my answer.
"150,000 Units? Is that why you look so exhausted today? You're like a walking corpse," Misk said, gripping my shoulder.
"Was that your last unit?" Mont asked.
"Yeah, I've got nothing left," I replied.
"Huh? Then how are you going to pay next month's rent? It's almost the end of the month, isn't it?" Sandra asked.
"I'll talk to my parents," I said.
They stared at me in silence.
"Your parents? Are you sure?" Noel asked.
"I don't have any other choice," I replied.
"Sigh... Here, I'll give you 100,000 units," Sandra said.
"...Sandra, are you sure?" I asked.
"Yes. If you get rid of this, I won't give you any more," Sandra said.
"Thank you so much..." I said.
Sandra smiled at me.
"Uwogh, 100,000 units... Are you sure about this, Sandra?" Reint asked, his eyes gleaming as he held Misk's head.
"Akh, get your hands off my head!" Misk snapped, shoving Reint away in frustration.
"But Sandra, weren't you planning to install this unit in the Union Legacy?" I asked, worried.
"It's fine. Helping a friend comes first for me," Sandra replied with a smile.
"So, Arin, what's your prediction? Did you get any leaked data from Borg?" Mont asked, adjusting his glasses.
"Borg...? Can we really trust that idiot?" Misk scoffed.
"Likely, by next year, 2090, the Margaryn currency will skyrocket past 900%," I stated.
"Really?! I'm already holding 400,200 units of it!" Reint exclaimed.
"This is still just a prediction, but this time it's based on data provided by Borg, so there's a high probability it will actually happen," I said.
"Alright, what's the proposed split?"
"20%, 80%," I replied.
"You sound very confident," Misk remarked.
"Trust me," I said.
"Alright then. As Aria suggested, we'll transfer 80% to Margaryn and divide the remaining 20% proportionally among the rest of us. Agreed?" Mont asked.
"Yeah," the three of them replied.
"Ah, I want another beer. This cold is piercing my bones," Misk said.
"Let's go!" Reint replied, leaning against Misk's back.
Clang
The view of the empty Air Fresh Mart parking lot instantly transformed into a dark, castle-like chamber.
"Eh..."
Thud
I collapsed instantly, stunned by what had just happened. Sandra, Mont, Misk, Reint—they vanished in an instant, along with the entire area around me. It all happened so suddenly that I was still clutching my soda. I didn't blink, nor did I lose consciousness.
"Is this the afterlife? Did I have a heart attack?"
I immediately fled through the dark room, finally spotting a glimmer of light.
As far as the eye could see, this was unreal, utterly unreal.
"What... What's actually happening?"
A vast hall stretched before me, its ceiling supported by hundreds of pillars. An endless carpet covered the floor, and a piercing silence filled the air. I slowly descended the stairs.
If this was a dream, I wanted to savor every moment of it.
"Hello!! I come in peace! Who's in charge here? I just want to ask something!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the entire chamber.
"New currency..."
She was above me. I looked up. He held a spear, and his face... it resembled my high school gym teacher. It seems dream figures can sometimes be drawn from real life.
Wait, her pants and cheeks were stained with blood.
She tossed a coin down from above. I ran forward and caught it with both hands.
"Can I take this coin back to my real world when I wake up?" I asked.
"I've killed 120 guards here. Three of them managed to stab me, hitting vital organs... Aria, I'm sorry I couldn't keep our promise," she said, turning to look at the pillar beside her.
"Hey..." I said.
She fell heavily, and I quickly ran to her side. She looked at me with eyes full of affection. For some reason, I felt overwhelmingly sad.
Eh, why is this body so heavy...? It feels like a real corpse.
"I'm sorry for leaving you here. I'll wake up soon, so you'll disappear too. Rest peacefully."
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!"
After finding my way out of that place, a man's anguished scream echoed loudly from within, a cry filled with tears, sorrow, and suffering.
Startled, I tried to go back inside to see what was happening.
"Welcome. I've been waiting for you."
A man dressed in the elegant fashion of the 1800s emerged from the darkness. I couldn't make out his face, still shrouded in shadow. Before he could fully reveal himself, I realized an arrow was lodged in my neck.
Blood gushed from my mouth.
"It hurts... why does it hurt so much?"
I collapsed.
The man's silhouette loomed over me.
"You won't wake up in your world. You'll wake up in mine."