It's so dark. Thanks to this tiny orb, I can barely see my surroundings.
I can sense many rocky footsteps....The sound is growing more and more distinct. Their presence, I can see it little by little.. they're entering inside my instinctual awareness...
Don't tell me....those statues are coming after me?!
The scroll, I knew it's a curse!
That orb, what is he trying to do? Did he plan all of this...?
"No," The glowing ball chuckled
Ah..I forgot that he's a telepath, I guess he's reading my thoughts all the time.
"Your mission has begun," He whispered with a smirk in his glowing, golden face.
"A survival test?"
"Bingo, that's sharp of you"
A decent compliment.
"There are no unfortunate consequences if I die right? This is just a dream, isn't it?"
"It depends."
"Anyways, refrain from asking, prioritize your life first."
I raised my brows, unsatisfied with the orb's answer.
"Hey, do I look like I'm joking right now? Seriously, you're going to be dead meat here if you can't see the "science" behind it."
"Here's my only advice to you: What you believe becomes your reality."
"I see."
I looked around, and it seems like I'm in real danger right now
The statues encircle me, leaving no room for escape
What should I do? Pray? Fight? Meditate?
The glowing ball, my only light amidst the darkness, vanished in a second, signaling the real start of the challenge.
I ran immediately, even if I couldn't see anything.
I felt an arm trying to stop me from running away, I tried to dodge, successfully keeping my distance away from them.
Not knowing my directions, I accidentally tripped.
Are these...rocks?
Finally! I can make a fire!
I rubbed two rocks together consistently, a fire ignited.
Now I have light, the next thing I need is a weapon.
I took another rock. I hammered it on the floor until it broke into two pieces.
The tip of the rock is sharp, it hurts like hell.
Judging from the outside look, I can say that the statues' durability are quite high.
If that's the case, then I can only deal a small damage, since rock is my only weapon—
Shit! The statues are coming this way again!
Without a second thought, I immediately attacked the first statue.
What? I can't touch nor attack it!
These statues...Are they invincible?!
I attacked all of them simultaneously, and none of my attacks were effective.
What if I fight them with bare hands and legs? Will it work?
As a former monk, I'm a master of martial art called Shaolin Kung Fu. It's time to apply it here.
Preparation....Qǐ Shì – 起势
Stand upright, feet together, hands at sides.
Inhale slowly through the nose.
Bring hands up in front of chest (palms facing inward) in a calm prayer-like motion.
Exhale gently, lower hands into fists at waist (ready position – standing Mabu).
Next, Gong Bu + Lunge Punch (Gōng Bù Chōng Quán – 弓步冲拳)
Step left foot forward into Gong Bu (Bow Stance).
Simultaneously punch forward with the right fist (Chōng Quán).
Punch level: shoulder height
Rear hand chambers at the waist
Exhale sharply on the punch.
The first statue, driven by an irresistible force, crashed loudly on a pile of stalagmites.
It worked!
Come to think of it.....what is the difference between fists and rocks? Both are sturdy though, so why rocks have weaker damage?
Discarding my negative thinking, I continued my same fighting style on the rest of the statues.
All of them are fractured. However, they're not dying!
Immortal? This is impossible!
Unexpectedly, Glowing orb's piece of advice appeared in my mind
"Here's my only advice to you: What you believe becomes your reality."
What you believe.....becomes your reality...
Maybe these statues don't exist at all, do they?
If they don't, then explain these cracks in their stone bodies!
A dissonance fills my head, beliefs contradicting one another
Fck! I can't concentrate—
A lieutenant statue smacked my head with his stone-made rifle
I feel dizzy—
This feeling again?!
Now I remembered, before this dream, I felt this dizziness before.
Maybe I might wake up in the real world!
Or worse, death.
"Here's my only advice to you: What you believe becomes your reality."
Ugh..!!
It appeared again!
Ugh..! Ugh!
If I believe they don't exist, they will not exist?
Is that what you're trying to say, bouncy glowy?
I prevented myself from falling, maintaining my balance.
I've been in training for years, it's embarrassing to see that a monk will collapse by getting hit with a damn rock!
I stand straight, closed my eyes, and focus on my inner mantra
"These statues don't exist, they're not real."
I repeated this affirmation more than 10 times, without opening my eyes
I sensed something near me. No, ignore it, it's not real
Come to think of it, this is just a dream
"These statues don't exist, they're not real" I repeated
While reciting my affirmation, my danger instincts weakened....
My thoughts stopped wandering.....
It's so calm and light...it feels like I'm a wind, dancing around the atmosphere
This sense of security, I never felt this every time I was in danger!
Feeling confident and secure, I gently opened my eyes.
I glanced around, checking every corner of the cave
There's nothing inside?
The glowing ball emerged, feeling delighted
"Congratulations—You unlocked the belief of Nihilism!"
"Is this a joke?"
"I'll explain"
"You're in an intangible, spiritual form called "dream"."
"In dreams, you can't make use of any tangible things like rock, the first thing you used for fight."
"I've been watching you all the time, it fascinated me when I saw you use a martial art called "Shaolin Kung Fu". It is deeply associated with the religion "Buddhism". That's why, in this dream, it is considered a spiritual weapon."
"Remember, kid. Intangible works with the intangible. Emotions and beliefs are also intangible. Remember when you used the affirmation about "believing in nothing"? It works with the statues because, in the place where they've been all the time, called "dream", is intangible in nature, it is fought by an affirmation which is also intangible."
"I see, so that's the meaning of the hint you gave me earlier."
"What you're seeing is just an illusion of your old belief systems, not the absolute truth."
"You're inside the cave, and you came out, breaking your old beliefs."
"To clarify, the statues are the illusions of your false beliefs, and your new beliefs that do not contain any cognitive biases or fallacies, which is close enough to the absolute truth, fought these myths."
"This is the allegory of the cave, by Plato."