The campfire's warmth vanished before I noticed.My breath turned cold, my body weightless—as if I were a dead soul drifting through the void between dreams and the living.
I knew this feeling all too well.It was unmistakably the Dream Rift—the boundary where reality collapses into illusion.
[Open your eyes.]
The voice came like thunder rolling through my skull,low and commanding—a sound that didn't echo in air but in my blood.I wanted to resist,to stay inside the darkness where even fear had died,but the voice belonged to something that would not allow disobedience.
Before I knew it, the warmth of the campfire could no longer be felt.My body drifted, weightless,as if I were a dead soul wandering in a place without gravity.I knew this feeling well—the border between reality and illusion.I was clearly falling once again,deeper into the rift of dreams.
[Open your eyes.]
Someone began to wake me.I thought it might be Veltis, but it wasn't his voice.It was one I had never heard before.It was certain now—my consciousness had once again entered the world of the Dream Rift.
[I said, open your eyes.]
The low, resonant voice that echoed againcompletely dominated my consciousness.
[You bastard, I said open your damn eyes.]
I tried to ignore the commanding voice and kept refusing to open my eyes,but it was a meaningless resistance.My eyelids began to lift slowly,moving against my own will—as if my body were being used, manipulated by that voice itself.
"Aaaagh!"The moment my eyes opened completely, I screamedas though my throat were being torn apart—because I was trapped in a darkness that did not allow even the faintest trace of light.I tried with all my strength to escape the darkness,but the more I struggled,the deeper I was dragged into the abyss.In the end, I shut my eyes tightly,as if running away in desperation.
[Hey, you idiot! That's not what I meant!!]
When I refused to open my eyes out of fear,the owner of the voice that had forced them open before began to shout in anger.But shouldn't I be the one who's angry right now?Why is he the one shouting?I had never experienced something so absurd in my entire life.I wanted to open my eyes, grab him by the collar, and shake him until he shut up—but a strange instinct told me if I did,I'd probably get beaten to death until I was nothing but a blood-soaked pulp.
[Again!! Open!! Now!!]
Driven by the voice that commanded me once more, my eyes opened.
[Urgh…]
In an instant, a flash of light cut across my vision—and my head was severed from my body.My head, separated from my body, drifted upward;I could feel my own face fluttering away like a butterfly.The moment I realized it, I shut my eyes again.
[Ah… honestly… you really are a troublesome Sinbearer.Just like the others from different worlds—why are you all the same?]
The voice that had ordered me to open my eyes over and over againnow began mocking and ridiculing me instead of asking if I was all right.The humiliation was unbearable.I wanted to glare at the owner of that voice, grab him by the collar, and pick a fight.I didn't care who he was anymore, or what authority he might hold.Even if I ended up beaten to death, I couldn't stand it any longer.
[Tahat!!!]
The moment I opened my eyes, ready to confront the owner of the voice,someone clad in solid, heavy steel armor charged toward me,leading with a sharp and gleaming sword.It all happened in an instant—before I could block or evade,as if he had been waiting for this exact moment,the knight swung his sword with all his might.The blade pierced through my neck.
[Ghh…!!]
I couldn't even breathe.The blade was so sharp that my severed neck couldn't even feel pain.The strength drained from my body, and my vision dimmed.
[Ah, really… another one of those Sinbearers.Why are all of you from other worlds such a pain?]
The Dream Rift—it had always been a world of fear and despair that brought only death to me.I had experienced countless deaths within the Dream Rift,to the point that even dying no longer shocked me.And yet, I was still afraid—because true death, I knew, would be far worse than this.
[Hey, Sinbearer. This is the last time. Just open your eyes. Please.]
What meaning was there in resisting any longer?No matter how hard I tried,I was already trapped within the world of the Dream Rift,drawn in by my divine sense.
[There you go. Wouldn't it have been easier if you'd just obeyed from the start?Now, open your eyes.]
Like a player conceding the inevitable end of a chess game,I slowly opened my eyes.
Before me stood my mentor—the man who had given me a new life, my father-in-law—and behind him, another version of myself.The two of them paced restlessly in front of a small cabin whose door was firmly shut.On their faces, fear and worry clasped hands and danced togetherin a grim expression that would not rest.
[Waaah... Waaah...]
From within the closed cabin came the cry of a newborn.Yes—it was the moment my daughter was born.My past self and my father-in-law froze,their anxious steps halting as they stood before the door, desperate to rush inside.
[Waaah... Waaah...]
The newborn's cry echoed louder.The faces of the two, standing like stone statues before the door,were filled with hope and joy.
[Clack.]
As if answering their silent prayer, the door finally opened,and an elderly woman stepped out,gently holding the newborn wrapped in a pure white cloth.
[Waaah... Waaah...]
"A beautiful baby girl," she said softly.
Tears welled in the eyes of my past self and my father-in-law,so heavy they seemed ready to spill at any moment.
My father-in-law, seeing the tiny figure of my daughter wrapped in white,didn't know what to do with himself.Every movement was careful, tremblingas if he feared she might break at the slightest touch.Watching that moment once again within the Dream Rift,I felt tears stream down my own cheeks.
[Don't you wish to go back?]
The voice that had remained silent until now finally spoke.I nodded quietly, slowly, without saying a word.
[Now that's more like a Sinbearer.]