"Sorry to bother you guys with this uncle's looking over another sleeper right now, so I don't really got much of a choice, haha."
A young man spoke as he eyed a hot cup of coffee. It wasn't to his taste; it had too much sugar and milk, lacking the strong, bitter flavor Qí Míng actually enjoyed.
Qí Míng had medium-length black hair messy yet not unkempt. Like many inhabitants of NQSC, he carried monolid black eyes crowned by deep eye bags, as if he hadn't slept for days. His skin was an olive, almost bronze tone, and his black hair and eyes gave his soft, not-very-masculine face a sharper edge.
"Hahaha, it's quite alright. Hào Rén is quite busy nowadays, huh? Though we and the government do appreciate him stepping up to watch over sleepers. The government's awakeneds are stretched thin, and most independent awakened hardly want anything to do with us. I suppose I don't need to tell you much, huh, little Ming?"
The grey-moustached man, dressed in a Chief Inspector's uniform with ornamental badges decorating the chest, smiled kindly at Qí Míng.
"Yeah, Uncle Hào Rén drilled it in my head by now. Stay on guard people in the first nightmare aren't real. They're illusions cast to test me, so I should focus on my own survival above everything else."
Qí Míng mimicked his beloved uncle's tone.
The Chief Inspector let out a booming laugh but before it could finish, Qí Míng suddenly slumped in his chair. He had fallen asleep.
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your first trial.]
As the voice of the Nightmare Spell rang through Qí Míng's mind, he felt the sensation of waking up even though he had just fallen asleep. Opening his eyes, he saw a vast stretch of barren wasteland. Grey, ashy sands spread endlessly, forming an unnatural desert.
For a brief moment, Qí Míng steadied himself, realizing he was in his first nightmare.
From what he knew, before a nightmare officially started, a scene of the surroundings would usually appear. Then the world would rewind undoing history before placing the aspirant inside the first nightmare, often a reflection of a real moment or a piece of dream-realm history.
But nothing happened.
Time passed, and still nothing changed. A few sand dunes shifted slightly, some growing larger, but nothing meaningful.
Then suddenly
Every grain of grey sand trembled, then moved, then drained, collapsing into a massive, deep sinkhole. As the sands poured downward, the last streaks of grey turned a blood-like red. Chunks of stone and sand took on a pinkish hue as they vanished into the darkness below.
And abruptly, Qí Míng's perspective snapped from a bird's-eye view to one swallowed in near-darkness.
He felt a cold, wet floor beneath him. Turning his head and brushing his hands along the ground, he realized he was lying inside a small room. A thin line of dim light slipped through cracks in wooden walls. Near his feet, a hole big enough for a child to crawl through gaped open.
With small, awkward shuffles, he pushed himself toward it and slid out headfirst.
Outside, a wet stone road greeted him. Pulling himself fully out of the cramped space, he stood, trying to get his bearings.
Buildings surrounded him tall stone structures that boxed him into the end of a narrow back alley. Looking up, he noticed the sky was gone. In its place was a dark, rocky dome stretching overhead.
Understanding dawned slowly, forming a tight knot in his chest.
Ah… I'm under the grey sands. No this is where the grey sands came from. So do I have to find the cause? Or stop the sands?
Muttering to himself, Qí Míng summoned his runes. Just like his uncle taught him, he navigated the glowing text.
Name: Qí Míng
True Name:
Rank: Aspirant
Soul Core: Dormant
Memories:
Echoes:
Attributes: [Hawksight Scholar][Serene Spirit] [Cursed] [Unwanted Child]
Aspect: [Beggar]
Aspect Description: [Beggars are worthless drifters with nothing to their name but dirt and disappointment.]
Qí Míng's mind went blank.
For a moment, he felt like all of this every bit of it—was a joke.
A cruel joke played on him by fate itself.
Letting out a wry laugh, Qí Míng decided to take a look at his attributes.
"Surely my attributes aren't that bad… 'cursed' seems ominous and dark, but at this point I'll take anything with this useless aspect."
[Hawksight Scholar]
Attribute description:[Nothing escapes your attention; patterns reveal themselves naturally. Details linger in your mind, forever turning, always searching for their own salvation.]
[Serene Spirit]
Attribute description:[No matter the turmoil in your mind, your heart remains untouched—steady in its beliefs, resisting any outside influence.]
[Cursed]
Attribute description:[You're born with a fate like any other, yet it seems you were not so favored. Hardship is all you've ever known… though would it truly be a curse if it all ended too early?]
[Unwanted Child]
Attribute description:[You are a child born to no one, meant for no one, yet your soul bears the legacy the weight of a filial son. But really… who would want a cursed child?]
Qí Míng's face turned pale, all earlier hope shattering in an instant.
"What the hell—fuck you, you shitty spell," he shouted in his mind, all while staying alert to his surroundings.