The days flew by.
Sunny only had four weeks to prepare for the journey to the Dream Realm, so not a single minute could be wasted. He was relentless, pushing both his body and mind to the limit in a desperate effort to absorb as much knowledge and skill as possible in such a short time.
During the day, he studied with Master Julius, slowly learning how to survive and care for himself in the absence of civilization. His lessons ranged from the most basic—like the different ways to start a fire—to the much darker and more esoteric, like celestial navigation.
Having discovered the capabilities of his Aspect, Sunny secretly gathered information on other Sleepers and practiced shadow control every night.
His shadow had grown independent enough to be sent on reconnaissance missions without direct control. It would slip here and there, eavesdropping on conversations and watching different classes where Sleepers were required to demonstrate their Aspect Abilities.
Then, after Sunny finished dinner and returned to his room, the shadow would come back and share everything it had seen and heard throughout the day.
The only problem with this arrangement was that, despite its apparent sarcasm, the shadow turned out to be rather naïve. It didn't quite understand how the human world worked and often failed to distinguish between useful information and meaningless chatter.
So, most of the time, Sunny received nothing of real value—just juicy gossip instead of important secrets.
That's how he discovered that, at the Sleeper Center, romance was in the air. After all, there were a hundred beautiful young people trapped underground, living in close quarters, with the added spice of a looming, mortal threat hanging over their heads. Of course, for Sunny, that wasn't relevant… but his shadow also reported rumors about him.
At first, Sunny assumed they were about his embarrassing performance during introductions—but they weren't. Or at least, not entirely.
They were about him and, of course… Cassie. He hadn't expected that, but he wasn't surprised either. He had been acting unusually friendly toward the girl. The truth was that, in just a few days, she had grown attached to him. They were currently enrolled in the same class, spent practically the entire day together, and on top of that, he would involuntarily offer to help her move around the academy.
It wasn't a real bother for him, since they frequented the same places. Holding hands whenever they were in public, it was only natural for the other Sleepers to start talking.
Unfortunately, the rumors weren't particularly kind. First of all, he had already been labeled a weird and unpleasant lunatic. How far was that from being seen as a disgusting and perverted lunatic?
The gossip went that he was taking advantage of the blind girl's vulnerability, turning her into his girlfriend and doing all sorts of lewd things to her, keeping her at his side like a trophy.
"Where do they even come up with this stuff?"
Conveniently enough, it actually worked in his favor. He needed people to think poorly of him. Ideally, he would've preferred to avoid being noticed altogether, but in the end, this wasn't something he'd have to worry about. Still, being called all those things stung a little… just a little.
Now, he had a more important problem.
The day had ended. After leaving Cassie in her room, Sunny now found himself in his own, deep in thought.
"This isn't going the way I expected." Sunny frowned slightly.
Part of his plan to stay under the radar involved limiting social interactions to the bare minimum. He had skipped that part entirely on the very first day. Not only that, but he kept doing it.
There was no turning back now. He had integrated the girl into his daily routine. At the start of each day, Sunny would wake up early to walk her to the dining hall. There, he would devour mountains of food—luxury meals by his standards. They would spend most of the day together in class, and his final task each night was to walk her back to her room.
He let out a long sigh and reconsidered his plan. It was now impossible to separate himself from Cassie. That thought kept circling in his head, looking for a solution.
In the end, he resigned himself to how things were unfolding. He had to protect his true name—that was the point of keeping his social ties minimal.
But he couldn't deny it anymore: he wasn't helping Cassie just out of courtesy. He was growing fond of her.
For someone like him, trusting another person was difficult—especially knowing the stakes of his real name. And yet, he had already shared his grief and burdens with her like it was nothing.
"It's not that big a deal," Sunny concluded.
He would simply carry on as things were. Despite the slight change in plans, nothing seemed out of control.
He could allow himself to continue bonding with her. Maybe, someday, he'd even be able to trust her. It wasn't because he thought she was dangerous. On the contrary—he saw her the same way many Sleepers did: someone with a dim future. He wouldn't be hypocritical or idealistic. Her situation was complicated, and realistically, the most likely outcome was that she…
"Enough." Sunny stood up from bed. Clearing his mind, he began his final routine: training his shadow before going to sleep.
XXX
She said goodbye and closed the door. Cassie had ended her day, having been walked to her room by Sunny. It was quickly becoming a habit. She lifted her hands, searching for the nearest wall to orient herself. Once she found her bed, she sat down.
In the short time she had known Sunny, he had turned her life around. From utter despair and resignation, she was now trying to move forward. Her mood hadn't magically improved, but she wasn't the same anymore. Now, she laughed more often. She had something to wake up for.
"All thanks to him," she said, smiling. She felt deeply grateful. He hadn't just helped her climb out of that deep, dark hole—he walked beside her every step. Holding his hand made her feel safe—so safe that it sometimes made her forget her deep despair, even if just for a moment.
Even though she was trying now, she knew that didn't guarantee her survival. Her odds were still extremely low because of her flaw.
But she wanted to try—because the truth was, she was enjoying these days. Having someone after losing her parents felt like a light in the dark. They may have only known each other for a week, but that's how important Sunny had become to her.
If this really was her last month alive, then she wanted to live it—not let it pass while waiting to die.
Now lying in bed, smiling like an idiot, she suddenly realized something and blushed.
"Oh my god…" She opened her eyes and grabbed her chest. "Am I really that easy?"
XXX
The morning had arrived.
With it, the routine resumed. Cassie opened her door and was greeted with a pleasant:
"Good morning."
Smiling in response, she replied,
"Good morning,"
and lifted her arm, offering her hand.
Sunny took her hand gently. Without saying anything else, he led her toward the dining hall.
As usual, Sunny had a mountain of food on his tray, while Cassie had a more modest portion.
"I still don't understand how you can like honey," he said, pronouncing the last word with visible disgust.
"For your information, it's an ancient food," she replied before shoving a piece of honey-glazed chicken into her mouth.
Sunny looked at the girl with a complicated expression—a mix of disgust, surprise, and fear.
"Oh come on, don't look at me like that. You haven't even tried it," she said, trying to stifle her laughter at Sunny's reaction.
Scooping up some honey with her spoon, she offered it to Sunny, stretching out her arm in the direction where she thought he was.
Sunny didn't react. She simply held the spoon there, waiting for him to bring it to his mouth.
"Do it for me."
Sunny began to sweat. He questioned every life decision that had brought him to this moment. Eventually, he gave up. With great dread, he took the spoon and brought it to his mouth.
Over the past month, he had discovered a peculiar kind of submission to the blond girl and her requests. Sometimes she would ask to draw things on his arm with a fountain pen—always with that silly smile that irritated him—yet he would always end up giving in.
The honey touched his tongue. His taste buds reacted. Honestly, it didn't taste bad. In fact, it was kind of good. But no matter how it tasted, he couldn't get the thought of how honey was made out of his mind. His brain replayed the details until the point of deep revulsion. Pulling the spoon out, he grabbed a napkin and wiped his tongue, suppressing the urge to throw up.
"That's fucking disgusting. Don't ever make me eat that stuff again, please," he said, nauseated and nervous.
Sunny, desperate to get the taste out of his mouth, reached for Cassie's cup of coffee with cream and downed it in one gulp.
Cassie jumped in shock and shouted in a hurt and dismayed voice:
"My coffee! Hey! Why'd you do that?!"
Recovering from the surprise, she was now frowning.
"Think of it as payback for making me put that in my mouth," Sunny said, indignant but with a playful tone, wincing from pain—the coffee was still hot and had burned his mouth.
The rest of the meal passed with them chatting, mostly driven by Cassie. Sunny simply followed the flow of conversation. The month had flown by, and today was the last day before the solstice.
Unaware of the looming gloom, both Sunny and Cassie behaved as if it wasn't possibly the last time they would ever see each other.
It was their last day on Earth… at least for a while. At sunset, the Spell would take them again, this time to face the vast expanse of the Dream Realm.
"Oh, by the way… happy birthday, Sunny. I didn't prepare anything special, I'm sorry."
Sunny stopped, surprised.
"I… I'd forgotten. Thank you, but… how did you know?"
In response, she looked away and closed her eyes, exclaiming:
"Girl secret."
Sunny fell into his thoughts.
*Seventeen, huh?*
He'd never really believed he'd live to see that age. And yet, somehow, he had. Life was unpredictable sometimes.
If someone had told him a year ago that he'd spend his seventeenth birthday eating luxury food and sipping real coffee with real cream and sugar—freshly stolen from his companion—he would've laughed in their face. But now, here he was.
Sunny remembered all the people who used to celebrate his birthdays with him, long ago.
He was on the verge of slipping into a gloomy mood, but a sound pulled him back to the present.
"Achoo!" she sneezed.
He lifted his head—he hadn't even realized it had dropped—and looked over to where the sound had come from.
"Oh no… I hope I don't get sick before entering the Dream. Hey, do you think if I got sick now, I'd enter the Dream Realm sick? That would be annoying."
his Flaw kicked in.
"Of course not, you idiot," he replied.
But then he paused. In truth… he wasn't sure.
Chuckling under his breath, he glanced down at his food.
This isn't so bad.
XXX
The moment had come.
The Sleepers had been taken to their rooms and were preparing to enter their capsules.
All of them… except him.
He had asked for a little extra time to make sure Cassie could get into her capsule without any trouble. As always, they were walking side by side, Sunny guiding the blind girl.
The mood was heavy. Cassie had been quiet ever since Awakened Rock's speech—not exactly depressed, but distant.
"We're here."
"It's alright. I think I can get in on my own."
Sunny nodded, standing silently at her side.
Should he say something motivational or uplifting? Her quietness worried him, but there wasn't much else he could do.
"Thank you."
He turned to look at her. To his surprise, her expression was calm. A faint smile tugged at her lips.
Before he could say anything, she hugged him. The gesture reminded him of the first day they met. She had acted the same way back then.
She squeezed him tightly, trembling. He heard the sound of muffled sobs.
Returning the hug, he gently placed his hand on her head and stroked her hair. To be honest, he felt a bit awkward. Not because of the hug—but because he didn't know what to say. This might be the last time they ever saw each other. That thought weighed on him heavily.
He could admit that, over the course of this month, Cassie had earned his affection. He saw her like an annoying but lovable little sister.
They stood there in silence for a while longer, until at last, they let go.
"Take care," Sunny said.
"I will," she replied. "I'll do my best."
Without another word, Sunny left the room, on his way to his own capsule.
Standing in front of it, he paused.
Then looked at his shadow.
"Well? You ready?"
The shadow shrugged and didn't reply.
Sunny sighed.
"Yeah… me too."
With that, he stepped forward and climbed into the capsule.
XXX
In the vast and echoing darkness, he heard:
\[Welcome to the Dream Realm, Sunless!]