A Dream

Adam found himself in front of a very dense forest.

The sky was blue and the sun was shining.

He looked behind him and realized that he was at the very edge of a cliff.

An extremely high cliff.

Suddenly, he heard noises coming from the forest.

Trees were shaking and birds were flying away.

He turned around.

"ADAM!"

Someone shouted his name.

He recognized the people running towards him.

The three people had golden hair.

They were his family members.

His mother and his siblings were running towards him.

"Adam!!"

Mika shouted at him.

Adam wanted to say something, to the dear family members that he thought he had lost.

He found that he couldn't move his mouth. He couldn't utter a sound.

He tried running towards them, but his feet remained unmoving.

All he could do was raise his hands towards them.

He tried reaching them, but the distance between them never decreased no matter how much they ran towards him.

He felt a sharp pain in his heart.

His face reddened and he started crying as he tried to reach out to them.

He would have given anything to be able to run and hug them.

To wake up from the nightmare that he had been living since the Dungeon Gates have appeared.

Suddenly, the distance between them decreased.

Adam's eyes widened.

'Is it possible? Will they really make it, here?'

Just as Adam thought that, the blue sky turned red.

It started raining blood.

His family members were getting closer.

And their golden hair was looking more and more bloody.

It brought images back to Adam's head. Images of his deceased family members.

But he decided to discard them.

To forget those memories.

After all, his siblings and his mother were right in front of him.

He did his best to move his body, but still wasn't able to.

His family members were now only about fifteen meters away.

But, even though they were so close, he couldn't properly see their faces.

Their expressions looked blurry.

If Mika and Mina had the same hair length, he wouldn't have been able to tell them apart.

Adam convinced himself that he was too tired.

He convinced himself that that was the reason why he couldn't see their faces and expressions.

He finally managed to take one step forward.

And as he did, a giant Goblin got out of the forest.

It must have been at least twenty meters tall and it took huge strides towards them.

Adam tried shouting. Still, no word got out of his mouth.

All he could do was point towards the huge Goblin behind his family members.

They were now five meters away from him.

The Goblin was behind them by another 10 meters.

They kept getting closer and closer.

Just when they were finally close enough for him to touch them, he tried reaching even further.

But the three of them turned back at once.

The huge Goblin was right behind them, about to slam down its huge club towards them.

Adam shouted "RUN AWA...".

His voice was lost as soon as his family members turned back to face him.

He could see their faces and expressions.

The ones he lost that day.

The ones he thought he would never see again.

Adam's whole body got paralyzed.

His arms went back down to his sides and he couldn't move anymore.

Lea, his mother.

Mina, his younger sister.

Mika, his younger brother.

He saw a beautiful smile on the three of them.

A smile that he thought he would never see again.

As they smiled at him, the people he loved more than anything pushed him away.

Adam fell down the cliff.

During his fall, he saw the smiles on his family members turn into worried expressions as they saw him fall.

He continued falling while looking at them.

Soon, they turned to dust and flew away with the wind.

At that exact moment, he felt his back get wet and cold.

He fell into a lake.

The next instant, he found himself a couple of meters below the surface.

He could now move his body, but he decided not to.

He heard familiar voices calling out to him from outside the water. The voices were hazy and seemed muffled.

He could swim towards them, but he decided to not.

He needed to go to the surface and breath, but he decided no to.

If he went to the surface, he would have to face many things.

He would have to face the world.

His body was getting heavier and heavier.

He was sinking deeper into the abyss.

He looked down at the darkness where he was heading.

'This... is fine...'

As he was staring at the abyss in front of him, the voices from outside got louder and clearer.

Someone was calling out to him.

Two people were calling out to him.

Adam suddenly remembered something.

'Two people. They're...They're waiting for me. They're...depending on me.'

He wasn't sure who it was, but it made him look towards the surface.

The surface was clear and full of light, unlike the darkness he was now deeply embraced by.

"Adam!"

He heard his name.

He heard it over and over.

Every time, the voices calling out to him were a bit clearer.

Adam raised his right hand towards the surfaced.

'Maybe, maybe they need me.'

He was still sinking deeper and deeper.

Suddenly, the water above him became completely clear.

He could see beyond the water.

He could see what was happening outside of the lake he was sinking in.

Just outside, he could see two girls.

The two girls were shouting his name.

One had dark hair.

Adam recognized her.

The other one was much younger.

She had red hair.

Fierce red hair.

Adam recognized her too.

He raised his arm further towards the surface.

His body was getting lighter and lighter.

He soon noticed that the two girls couldn't move.

They were trapped.

Their back was stuck against a spiderweb.

Adam's heart sank.

He began swimming towards the surface.

As he moved closer and closer, he saw a giant spider going towards the two girls.

Adam shouted and screamed as he swam with all his strength.

Only when the spider's legs were close to the sisters' faces, did Adam's hand reach the surface.

He shouted and reached towards the spider's head with his right hand.

He was convinced that with one touch, he could save the two girls.

The two girls were Layla and Salma.

If only he could reach the spider's head soon enough, then everything would be okay.

He reached further, as far as his body allowed him.

He shouted while greeting his teeth.

"AHHH!"

Adam opened his eyes.

He found himself in a dark place lit by a single torch.

He was sitting up, with his right hand raised forward.

He looked to his right. He found Layla sitting about two meters away with a surprised expression.

He looked to his left. Salma was sitting next to him with a face full of tears. She looked like she was pouting.

He looked in front of him.

[ The Hero Who Survived By Sleeping For a Century is saying that this isn't the right way to rest.]

Adam looked at his right hand in disbelief.

'What...was that?'

He wasn't sure if what he had been through was a dream.

'It felt...so real.'

Suddenly, he felt something hit the top of his head. It didn't hurt. It felt like a gentle slap, somehow.

"What is wrong with you? We were super worried you know??" Salma said while trying to hold her tears.

Adam had a very confused expression and turned towards Layla.

She shook her head and told her sister to sit next to her.

Salma sat in front of Layla.

She wiped her sister's tears as she explained.

"You've been asleep for about forty minutes. You were hit by a paralyzing poison, remember?"

Adam started remembering where he was and what had happened before.

"We managed to get rid of two of the queen's guards. The last one attacked you, but you used your Skill on it and turned it to ashes. Since you had used all your Endurance Points, you fell asleep and we stayed here. For a while it was okay, but about five minutes ago, you started moving around in your sleep. Your face was sweaty and your expression showed that you were in pain. We searched your body but found no wound, so we concluded it was a nightmare. We started calling your name and shaking you to wake you up, but that only made you more and more troubled. You started lifting your hands in your sleep. Since I'm not sure how Skills work, I thought it would be best to call out from a bit further. Oh, you also cried a lot in your sleep. That's it really."

After Layla finished her explanation, Adam continued looking at his right hand.

He thought about the dream he had. Or was it a nightmare? He wasn't sure.

"Are you..okay?" Salma asked Adam.

"Yes. I'm sorry for worrying you. It was just...a nightmare." Adam said while looking at the ground.

"Yeah. I have a lot of those." Salma said with a weak smile.

"So, what should we do now?" Layla asked.

"Health and Endurance Points." Adam said while rubbing his eyes.

[ Health Points: 280/280

Endurance Points: 40/140. ]

'No wonder I feel so tired.'

"I don't think...I can fight right now." Adam answered.

"Obviously. Even Salma can't fight now. I think we walk back to where we appeared in the Dungeon. There probably will be some small snakes on the way. I'm pretty close to leveling up so I think I should take them. We rest there for as long as we need." Layla said as she stood up and helped Adam stand up.

"Sure." Adam muttered.

"Kay." Salma answered while holding her sister's hand.

'I wonder if they're the ones who need me?' Adam thought.

They walked back to the entrance of the Dungeon.

Layla got rid of eleven snakes on the way.

The three of them sat down and looked at the bright sky through the holes in the ceiling.

Adam was looking down at the ground.