Approaching the Dragon

After drinking a can of beer, Victor felt sleepy. So he chose to sleep. When he was about to put the body on the bed, someone knocked on the door of his room.

Victor was annoyed by the knock of the room. He thought someone might knock on the door of the next room, so he didn't respond immediately. However, the knock on the door is getting louder and faster.

"Ouch, who are these nights?"

Victor was forced to walk to the door and open it.

Empty.

There was no one at his door. Empty hallway with dim lights. The lights at the end seemed to flicker. The door in front of his room was closed tightly, the occupant was probably asleep.

"Did I hear it wrong? How many times has this happened?"

Victor closed the door of his room again. He can remember horror events very well. This has happened before. When he came home late at night, he heard a knock on his door every time he went to bed. When it was opened, there was no one. He always thinks that someone is deliberately pranking him. The occupant of the next room or someone in his doorstep room may have done it.

However, tonight feels somewhat different. All possible because Ken's horror story has added to the horror in Victor's mind.

Victor tried to ignore his feelings and body goosebumps again. He sat back on the edge of his bed and thought about positive things.

"Tomorrow morning I will get another customer and VIP member, I will get a bonus of millions of rupiah, and I will sign an employment contract as a permanent employee," Victor said as if he was casting a spell.

Victor slept curled up, covering his face with a quilt. His body still got goosebumps constantly. He felt that someone was behind his back, observing him.

Victor couldn't stand it anymore, so he opened the quilt hard, almost like throwing it carelessly. Victor turned his head and found that his room was no longer his room.

"Where is this?"

Victor saw that the ceiling of his room had turned into stalactites. The floor of his room was already bumpy ground. There was a thin light coming in from somewhere.

Victor's heart beat wildly. Since when did it change? Is this just a dream?

Victor stepped foot on the ground. A cold sensation pounced all the way to his bones when the skin of the soles of his feet touched that ground. The soil of the cave is red and blue, as if red and blue wires twist around each other and then harden over the centuries.

Victor didn't dare to get out of bed. The cold sensation just now had made him pull his legs quickly. He looked around, everything was very unfamiliar.

However, Victor thought he was not alone in that place. Because he heard a voice, like someone who was snoring.

"Haloo, is there anyone?" Victor made a sound. He ventured to find out where he was and how to get back to his own boarding room.

"Is there anyone?" Victor called someone in this way. He hoped that someone would answer his question.

The thin light that was the only light inside the place moved, wavy. After that there was a gust of hot wind. If the light in the room had been brighter, of course Victor could see where the wind was blowing. However, because the light was very minimal, Victor decided to take courage.

Victor got out of bed. With his bare feet, he walked the bumpy ground. Surprisingly, the land didn't feel cold anymore. Now, Victor actually feels warm.

Victor stood stunned, feeling the warm sensation from the soles of his feet radiating to the crown. The blood in his body seemed to be pumped and flowed smoothly. His fear also suddenly disappeared.

Victor fumbled for the wall trying to find a way out. He continued to follow the wall until he saw a lake in the cave. The lake water was boiling.

"Why is there a lake in the cave?"

The strangeness was further strengthened by the reflection of the light of the full moon on the surface of the lake. The lake water rose more and more at a certain speed until it touched Victor's feet.

Victor jumped back because he felt the scorching cold sensation again. While the ground that is stepped on is still warm now. He felt strange about the difference.

"Where am I really?" Victor looked left and right. There was nothing but the reflection of the light of the full moon on the wall. The reflection was not even symmetrical with the light falling on the surface of the water.

"I must be just dreaming," Victor thought and then tried to master his consciousness. He closed his eyes and said, "Get up! Get up right now!" He ordered for himself, but it was useless because he was still in the same place.

Then, Victor slapped himself on the cheek. He repeatedly did so that he could wake up and return to his room.

"You're only going to hurt yourself," someone said in a barito voice.

Victor was taken aback. He looked back, thinking that the sound was from there, but nothing but his bed seemed to be the strangest object in the cave.

Victor turned his head again. The lake water shrank and he could see something moving, twisting, like a snake. Victor couldn't see more clearly. Something like fog blocked his visibility.

"Who are you?"

The voice sighed.

"You don't recognize yourself?" said a mysterious figure.

Victor looked at the silhouette in the mist. It seemed that someone was walking up to him. Victor didn't move. He deliberately waited to confirm who was approaching him.

"What do you want?" asked Victor.

"I'm just introducing myself," said the mysterious voice, apparently moving quickly but never close.

Victor tried to expose the mist like a light curtain by the window. Unfortunately, the fog in the cave was not a light curtain, so he could not touch it. The fog is getting more and more and more dispelling the existence of the mysterious figure. Before the figure disappeared, Victor saw a pair of sharp eyes staring at him.

Victor's heart beat quickly. He walked backwards and fell because his hind leg was hit by something. Victor was swallowed by the mist and he felt cold again.

With fear suffocating his neck, Victor attempted to return to his bed. His mind said curling up in the covers would save him.

Victor, who had thought he would die in the cold mist or be eaten by a monster with big sharp eyes, opened his eyes in his room. Victor panted heavily, trying to grab air with his nose. He felt that his body, everything was intact, only his left arm felt numb.

"This is the result of curling up to the left side," Victor complained to his own stupidity. Then he remembered his dream.

"It's the first time such a horror dream," Victor muttered. He thought about it for a moment, but then it dawned on him that he had to go to work soon.

As usual, Victor walked to Falcon Face Mall.

When Victor arrives at the store to start his morning shift, he encounters a visibly relaxed Ken. Ken's appearance always looks elegant. Victor instantly remembered that Ken was the one who could live in Tower 541. That means Ken has a lot of money. Victor sighed, feeling sorry for himself thinking that all the contract employees were mediocre people. Ken has changed his beliefs.

"What's wrong with your expression?" asked Ken.

"It's okay," said Victor who actually felt relieved.

"Do you want coffee? I want to buy coffee at that front shop," Ken said.

There is a Starbucks on every floor of Falcon Face Mall.

"Our CEO is really a profit-oriented person, yes. How could he let Starbucks be on every floor?"

"Why are you suddenly talking sarcasm like that?" Ken warns Victor.

"Maybe it's because I'm tired of living mediocrely. I've never been there, just seen it from afar," Victor said.

"I know," Ken said.

"You are insulting me?"

"No. I know it's a fact, because we are together almost every day, so I can observe where you are going. If I take you there, you will definitely refuse. How? Want me a treat?"

Victor feels that his relationship with Ken is getting closer, even closer than before.

Ken then drags Victor to Starbucks. He told Victor to order his own coffee that he liked. Victor then ordered a cappuccino. He wanted to taste a different taste from americano.

Previously, Victor never knew if the flavor variants of coffee could vary. Then when wrapped in certain labels can increase confidence.

"Why do people buy Starbucks?" Ken suddenly throws a riddle as they walk back to the store. They carry coffee of their choice in hand.

Victor shook his head. "I don't know," he said.

"Don't you feel increased confidence after buying it?" Ken fished, as if he would provide a very rare marketing education.

The left corner of Victor's lips raised slightly. "To be honest, yes. I think people look cool when they carry this glass when they walk around."

Ken snapped his fingers and said, "That's how great Starbucks is in marketing. They can do branding that brainwashes everyone that we would all be cool if we could enjoy Starbucks. Our social class goes up, and we become highly intelligent people.

"Sometimes I think the same thing," Victor said. Then he laughed.

"Good, you're distracted," Ken said.

The mysterious words sliding from Ken's lips made Victor puzzled. "Distracted? From what?"

"I don't know, you know yourself best. I only saw that you seemed afraid of something. Is anyone threatening you?"

Sometimes Ken can be very straightforward when worrying about something.

"Oh," Victor was surprised that Ken read his condition through his expression. His mischievous thoughts again tell him that Ken has feelings for him.