Daniel’s eyes slowly opened. Morning light poured through the curtains, and the smell of fresh tea and warm bread filled the air.
He blinked a few times. There was a strange heaviness in his chest, and... oddly, his head hurt. He looked around, a frown forming on his face.
Wasn’t he just in the cave? Then where was this place? Was he dreaming? But he hadn’t even fallen asleep to begin with.
Wait... he didn’t sleep? Then what was he doing before this? Why couldn’t he remember? His memories were a complete mess, tangled together—he couldn’t recall what he was doing before opening his eyes.
"Daniel! Hurry up, son! Breakfast is getting cold!" A familiar yet unfamiliar voice called from outside the room.
It was the voice of a middle-aged man, one he hadn’t heard in years—so long that he couldn’t even remember the last time he had.
A soft smile appeared on his lips. It felt like he had been asleep for a lifetime. His clothes were clean, his sword was gone. The Awakened, the Tower, the Dungeons, the Celestial Domain—all of it suddenly felt like a lie.
He walked downstairs. His mother, Liana, was standing behind the table with her usual warm smile. Elise, his younger sister, sat in her chair laughing with a mouthful of bread.
His father sat on the other side of the table with a newspaper in hand.
"Good morning, my hero," Liana said, placing a cup of tea in front of him.
For a moment, Daniel was speechless. Seeing this scene brought a real smile to his face—a genuine one, straight from the heart.
’So it targets your desires? Or maybe what it thinks your desires are?’
But he didn’t want to think about it. He picked up the spoon and took a sip of tea. Warmth spread through his body. For the first time in ages, he felt true peace.
Hours—or maybe days—passed. Laughter, light, and calm surrounded him. But as each day went by, things started to fade. Faces. Memories. Voices. Sometimes he couldn’t even remember his own name.
Sometimes he looked up at the sky and felt like he was supposed to be somewhere else.
"Brother, why do you look so sad? Everything’s fine here, isn’t it?" Elise asked, looking at him with innocent eyes.
"Yeah... it’s fine. Maybe a bit too fine." Daniel sighed.
She smiled, but in her eyes, a black light flickered. Outside the house, the mist was slowly crawling over the ground. His chest tightened. He knew this would all end sooner or later.
Maybe it was time to end it himself. Could he really bring himself to do that? He didn’t know. Maybe all of this was a lie—but during these few days, he had felt peace for the first time in so long.
No worries, no pain. He could just enjoy the little things he loved.
That night, the family gathered around the dinner table. A candle burned in the center.
"You know... I think it’s time," Daniel said quietly, staring into the flame.
"Time for what, son? Dinner just started!" his father said, raising a brow.
"Daniel, are those dreams of yours coming back again? Don’t worry, everything’s real," his mother smiled warmly.
"Tell me, bro, when are you gonna wake up this time?" Elise teased, giggling.
Daniel looked at her silently, then slowly raised his hand. Suddenly, The Heavens Honor appeared in his grip. The candle flame flickered.
"Daniel? What’s that? Why are you—?"
"Even knowing it’s a lie... it’s still hard," he sighed.
With a single swing, his sword sliced through the air. No blood splattered.
No screams. Only silence.
The bodies fell to the ground... and after a few seconds, their skin split open. From within, long black fingers crawled out—distorted faces, hollow eyes, and twisted forms.
The monsters rushed toward him with muffled screams. Shock filled their many eyes; they couldn’t understand how he’d seen through it.
They were certain his memories should’ve already been erased. How could he still tell what was real?
Daniel struck without hesitation. The sword’s aura tore through the darkness, each swing spreading waves of death that silently shredded the monsters apart.
When the last of them fell, the mist closed in again.
A voice rose from within the darkness—a deep, mocking whisper.
"You enjoyed it, didn’t you? That warm, cozy illusion? You humans are all the same... right up until I start feeding on your minds."
From the mist, a shapeless creature emerged. Its body twisted and coiled like smoke and nightmare woven together. Its countless eyes stared in every direction at once.
"I have to admit, you surprised me. I thought you’d lost your memories and fully sunk in—but it turns out you were just enjoying yourself."
"....."
"This is the first time I’ve seen a monster like you. How did you even manage to drag me into a dream? You know what—forget it. Doesn’t matter. Once we get out of here, we can talk properly," Daniel said calmly.
"You’re a fool if you think you can escape my dream," the monster sneered.
Daniel looked around. The ground felt soft, the sky trembled, and the house he’d been living in for days had completely vanished.
He raised his sword, but when he swung it, the blade dissolved like vapor in the air.
The monster laughed, its voice overlapping into thousands of whispers.
"See? In here, my rules apply."
Daniel closed his eyes, took a slow breath, and for a while, silence filled everything.
Then he spoke quietly:
"This is a dream... so is this my real body or just my consciousness?"
"Of course it’s your real body!" the monster snapped.
"Really? I don’t think you’re that strong," Daniel said mockingly.
The monster hesitated. Its form wavered—it could sense what the arrogant human was about to do.
Daniel smiled faintly and pressed the sword to his own chest.
"Then let’s test it."
He drove the blade straight into his heart.
The world shattered. The mist screamed. The monster let out a terrified roar, disbelief filling its tone.
"No... how—how did you—?! You weren’t supposed to know!"
How did this human realize it?! How could he dare to test something like this?! Didn’t he fear death?!
Unfortunately for it, Daniel truly had no fear of death.
Everything cracked—the ground, the sky, the mist itself—and in the next instant, all of it collapsed into nothing.
...
When he opened his eyes again, he was back in the cave. He was breathing heavily, sweat dripping down his face.
Drael lay in the corner, seemingly trapped in the same dream, still stuck there.
Daniel took a deep breath, ignoring him for now, and looked around.
It seemed they had been wrong about this cave not having a monster.
Well, maybe not exactly wrong—
There really wasn’t a monster in the cave...
The cave itself was the monster.