A crimson sky. A massive centipede was chasing after a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy in a barren land under that. Its long, segmented body looked hard as stone. Its sharp metallic forcipules gleamed dangerously under the daylight.

And the boy? He was running desperately.

"Fuck... Fuck... Fuck..." He cursed while sprinting. "I know this is a dream. But why does everything feel so real every time?"

The centipede attacked relentlessly, its poison claws slicing through the air. He dodged with everything he had. But some attacks still hit him, cutting his skin. Blood littered the ground.

"Arrghhhhhhhh! DAMN! This isn’t normal. It’s been months. But this dream won’t stop haunting me."

He continued to run. His stamina was draining fast. Then suddenly... His body failed him. A claw pierced through his back. Its tip burst out of his chest, spraying blood.

"Crap... it really hurts..."

He collapsed on the ground. The centipede wasn’t done. It dashed forward and bit his body in half.

"Ahhhhhhh!" He screamed.

His sight started to blur. But just before everything went dark, a figure showed up in front of him. The person looked strangely familiar. He couldn’t remember where he had seen him, though. This was the first time in months that anyone had appeared in this nightmare before he died.

"How long do you plan to sleep, Logan? Wake up already... before you lose everything again." The figure spoke.

’What? Who is Log....’ Before he could finish his thought, darkness swallowed him.

Leon!

Leon!

LEON!

"Huh!" The boy who had been running through the barren land suddenly woke up in the middle of a classroom. Saliva was dripping from his mouth.

"LEON! You slept through the entire class. Why even come here if that’s all you plan to do?"

Leon slowly lifted his head from the desk. His blurry sight cleared slowly. He could see the teacher standing at the front. He was glaring at Leon. The other students around him were laughing and murmuring as if they were watching a comedy show.

"It’s that sleeping monkey again." One of them mocked.

"Look at you," the teacher said, trying hard not to shout. "Only a month left before the final exam. And what do you do? Sleep, sleep, and sleep!"

The students burst into laughter.

"If you continue this, you won’t even get a job as a salesman at a small store." The teacher said angrily.

"Let him sleep, sir." A boy from the back said mockingly. "What else can he do?"

"Yeah. He’s already eighteen. But neither is he good at studies, nor has he awakened any magic affinity."

The class burst into laughter again. Each word stabbed deeper into Leon’s chest. But it didn’t matter to them. Leon didn’t protest or get angry as if he was already used to this.

The teacher sighed. ’He isn’t even trying.’ He thought. ’All he ever does is sleep.’

A moment later, the teacher turned back to the lesson. "Okay, students. Back to class.

As I was saying...

Two hundred years ago, the Earth changed completely. Places that once were full of life are now empty. And it’s all because of those gates. Monsters started coming out from them and started trampling our lives like nothing."

Whatever the teacher was discussing seemed like common knowledge. Yet it didn’t fail to spark excitement in everyone’s eyes.

The teacher continued. "But the monsters weren’t the only change the gates brought to our lives. The gates emit a strange miasma. This changed the characteristics of living beings on Earth. Many people awakened abilities to control different elements and cast magic. That’s how we slowly grew capable of fighting against the monsters.

But not all were blessed with these abilities. Only 60% did. And even among these 60%, there was variation in capability. Some were strong. And some were barely any better than those who hadn’t awakened. You all know the levels that determine how strong an awakened is. F class is the lowest ranking, and S class is the highest. And there is also a limit to the level an awakened can reach through training.

At first, it felt like we could completely close these gates and stop the invasion of monsters with the help of these awakeneds. But as time passed, this aim grew increasingly impossible.

Now, we can only hope for more people to awaken their abilities. So someday, we can live without the fear of being trampled at any moment by a monster."

The teacher’s speech kindled something within all the students. A will to be stronger and help humanity. To be a person others would look up to, like those heroes and MCs on television.

Soon, the class was over.

"That’s all for today, students. Don’t forget to finish your homework."

He started walking toward the door, saying that, but stopped midway. "By the way... The finals are only one month away. Those of you who want to apply for the military training camp should make better use of this time. Besides grades, you at least need to be an F-class knight to pass the admission test. Make sure you remember that."

The teacher left with those last words.

Students stood up while chatting and laughing among themselves. Some snickered in contempt as they passed Leon. Leon remained seated. He was looking exhausted.

Then... A familiar voice called out.

"Hey, Leon. Did you have those weird dreams again? Because you’re looking like a mess."

Leon looked up. It was one of his friends, Henry. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Leon nodded. "Yep. It was that barren land again... and the centipede."

"Maybe you should go see a doctor," Henry said.

"Yeah, I know. It’s definitely not normal to have the same dream repeatedly. And during the dream, I know I’m dreaming. Isn’t that weird? Shouldn’t I be clueless inside a dream?"

"That sounds creepy," Henry said. "You’re already struggling in studies. You failed in the last semester. You have no magic ability either. If this goes on, I think your condition will even worsen."

He paused for a moment, then added, "How about we play video games later? That might help you relax."

"Nah. I think I’m going home."

"Already? It’s still early. At least come to the cafeteria with me. A cold drink might help if you’re not in the mood for games."

"I think I will pass that, too. I’m feeling too worn out today."

"Alright," Henry said. "If that’s what you want. But don’t forget to see a doctor."

"Yeah. I will."

With that, Henry stood up and left the classroom, leaving Leon alone.

Leon packed his things and walked out.

Outside, he slowly headed down the street toward home. ’Who was that man?’ Leon wondered as he walked. ’Why did he feel so familiar?’

He tried to recall the face he saw before waking up, but nothing came to mind. Frustrated, he let out a breath and quickened his pace.

As he was walking, an LED billboard came into view.

A woman in battle armor stood proudly with a greatsword in her hand on the screen. The severed head of a monster lay next to her.

News reports flashed across the display:

[The Fifth Military Unit of the Northern Continent has successfully defeated a monster wave that recently broke out and began rampaging.]

"Monsters have been unusually active lately," Leon whispered as he watched the broadcast, then continued walking. "I hope the military units or the hunter guilds can handle them before those creatures unleash hell in the cities."

He soon arrived at a three-story building that had six apartments. He took the stairs and made his way up to the second floor.

Slipping the key into the lock of the left-side apartment, he gave it a turn.

Click.

The door opened.

Leon walked in and looked around. "She isn’t home yet. I might as well train for a bit... Maybe someday, I’ll awaken an ability if I keep training like this." He let out a tired laugh because he himself didn’t believe those words.

He entered one of the rooms and changed into his training attire. He started with a brief warm-up to loosen his muscles, then dropped to the floor for push-ups.

But after just twenty reps, his arms began to tremble.

"What kind of loser am I?" Leon muttered in frustration. "Why is it that my strength barely improves?"

Gritting his teeth, he shifted to sit-ups. But suddenly...

His consciousness slipped.

Like someone grabbed him by the soul and pulled him through a tunnel of darkness.

When Leon opened his eyes, he wasn’t in his room.

He was back in that barren wasteland.

Crimson sky, lifeless earth...

And...

THE MONSTER