Chapter 152

Within my field of vision, I saw a wooden chair and table, and on the table was a small catechism. The Catechism is in my hands…

With a wry smile, I sat down and picked up a quill. I knew that people's fates weren't predetermined, and I had to figure out how to destroy the Catechism. Time passed quickly, but I couldn't come up with a good plan. Even if I get rid of this, how will I get out of here?

Just as I thought I should simply write my escape into the book, I heard it again. The eerie, metallic click of footsteps grew closer, as if someone was walking toward the room. The sound quickly reached the door, and I held my breath, my lips dry and hands trembling. My instincts told me that whatever was on the other side of that door meant to harm me.

Squeak.

The door creaked open. I had just enough time to hide under the table. My body was small, so I could easily fit, but the space was also so small that I knew I could be found easily.

The click of footsteps echoed again.

"Where are you?"

My hands, still clutching the Catechism, were slick with sweat. I was frozen stiff, like a stone. Think, think. How do I deal with this person?

"Come out obediently." A machine-like voice echoed in my ears. The footsteps grew closer and stopped right at the desk.

"…How to deal with that person?"

The man pushed the chair back. Bang! He slammed a bladed axe he was holding into the ground.

"Don't hide, crawl out."

"Don't be nervous. It's just… "

Just then, the man knelt down, his face inches from mine. "Were you hiding here?" His creepy, snake-like eyes stared at me from across the table. His mouth was stretched into a grotesque, inhuman smile. His lips weren't moving, but his hard, mechanical voice penetrated my ears.

"Why are you hiding here? Did you think you could avoid me?"

"…"

"Tell me, why are you hiding here?"

This man resembled the terrifying ghosts I had encountered in my childhood dreams. I bit down on my teeth, trembling with fear. His hand slowly wrapped around my neck. He grabbed me like prey. Am I going to die like this?

As his hand moved in slow motion, I realized the trap. Wait. Is this man the ghost from my dreams? Why did this man, not the Pope or a priest, show up to threaten me?

I bit my lip. I looked as if I was obediently accepting my fate, and he sneered. "It seems you've become quite docile now." He gripped my neck and scratched me with his long nails. Blood began to flow.

But then I realized something important. It doesn't hurt! I felt nothing at all. If this were my real body, I would be in agony, even in a subspace like this. I frowned as his hand dug into the nape of my neck. What the hell? Why doesn't it hurt?

I also realized the second clue I had missed: the last thing I did before coming to this place was go to bed. Piecing the clues together, I came to one conclusion. I looked at his sharp nails scraping my neck and asked him, "Hey, this is a dream, isn't it?"

His mouth opened in a strange, gaping expression. "If this is my dream," I continued, "I am the owner of this dream. You're an uninvited guest."

"What?"

"So take your hands off me."

With a bizarre snap, the man's grip on me loosened. He opened his eyes in surprise. I stared at him, my confidence growing. This was a lucid dream. If this was my dream, everything here would bend to my will.

"Stop that. Move over there and roll on your side."

The grotesque man stopped with a rattling, slow-motion sound. He then followed my command and began to roll sideways. I burst out laughing at the ridiculous sight. He rolled with a squeak.

"The sound of your body moving is also a bit annoying."

"Ugh…"

He had no choice but to obey. In a dream, I could do anything I wanted. I stomped on his waist as he rolled. "That's enough. I have a lot of work to do."

I shrugged as the man disappeared in an instant, crumbling like a sandcastle. I had eliminated the intruder, whether he was a minion of the Pope or someone else.

"The saboteur is gone. Now, let's create a happy ending." I sat down at the table and tapped my fingers on the wooden surface. This was my dream, and I was its master. "I can do anything in a dream." I could create what I needed right now.

"I need a pen to write with in the Catechism, and a box that no one can open."

Suddenly, in front of me appeared a pen and a small box.

Let's start writing. I held the quill in my hand, my teeth gritted with determination. It was time to write the future, and I had to be careful. On the last page of the Catechism, I wrote:

The shackles of the contract that bound Dominic are released, and he becomes human.

Dominic, Meldenik, Isaac, Mirissa and Axion, Henry, Carrat, Haley, Cassian, the Emperor and Empress, the children of the academy and the friends at the stationery store… all of them are long…

I stopped writing and took a deep breath. I couldn't know my children's futures, or my own. There would be pain and difficult obstacles, like the Pope, along the way. But in the end, we would find happiness.

I picked up the quill again and finished the last sentence.

… I lived happily ever after.

My hand trembled as I wrote the final period, and I let out a long sigh. The words I had written swirled on the page like a whirlwind.

'Goodbye, Dominic.'

I quietly said my contractor's name in my heart. No response came.

'And goodbye again. Let's be happy together as human beings, all of us.'

Now that I had written a happy future, it was time to dispose of this dangerous item. I threw the Catechism into the box and slammed the lid shut.

"It's a bit unfair that all paths in life are predetermined." The past can't be changed. But we can move forward by correcting past mistakes. We can enjoy the present and create our own future.

I stood up from the chair. There was no more time for appreciation. It was dangerous to stay in a lucid dream for too long. There was only one way to wake up. To create a powerful shock.

"I need a window."

As soon as I thought of a window, a large one appeared where a wall had been. I took a deep breath, looking out. Let's pretend this is the third floor. If I fall, I'll break at least one leg. After locking the Catechism away in this dream forever, I jumped out the window. It was time to wake up.