Chapter 1: Klaus

Chapter 1: Klaus

Inside of a messy room, which clearly hadn't seen a broom in a while, a young man was glued to his phone.

"Wow, G3 seems like he's going to kill everyone Sunny loves in this new Volume," he muttered to himself as he set his phone down.

Having just finished Volume 8 of Shadow Slave, the young man's mind was racing with thoughts on how the plot was going to progress. 

Basically, nothing bad had happened to the protagonist in this volume, which made him fear the future. 

Did the author get a girlfriend or something? Why was he suddenly being so nice to his boy Sunny?

"Welp, time to get to work," he mumbled to himself as he glanced at the time.

It was around 9 PM, time for his night shifts at work.

Klaus was a full-time university student. After a disagreement with his family, he had decided to become completely financially independent from them and had begun working night shifts since then.

It had been about a year since that decision, but it had severely affected his social life. 

From someone who frequently attends social gatherings, he had become someone who barely even went out to meet friends. 

Sure, his friends understood his situation, but Klaus knew that the time he spent apart from them was not something he could easily salvage.

There was also the small fact that the girl he had a massive crush on—his best friend—was overseas continuing her education.

With all of these pressures slowly weighing on him, living had become more of a chore than anything else. 

He didn't even have a proper reason to live, other than out of spite and ego.

He refused to believe that he would let life take him; if he were to die, he would die on his own terms.

There had been moments when he wanted to end it all, but his egotistical attitude usually pulled him back.

Colour him surprised when he began reading novels to kill some time while travelling between school and work, and he found a character he could actually relate to.

Someone who was petty to the point where even Fate abandoned him, yet he chose to stay alive out of spite.

Spite against the world.

Out of nothing but pure, utter pettiness.

Someone who didn't have a purpose in life, yet slowly began to find one.

Klaus loved how that character grew—from someone who only cared about himself to someone that the world could not live without.

This fictional character inspired him, despite Klaus's own struggles. 

No matter how dire the situation was, through sheer cunning, the character stayed alive.

Recently, Klaus had been asking himself, WWSD—What would Sunless do?

If he were in Klaus's situation, he wouldn't complain whatsoever.

Klaus was alive, with a roof over his head, and would eventually lead a modest life.

Sure, the next couple of years would be hard, but it wasn't as if everything would be bad permanently.

Klaus had never fully adopted that character's mindset, but for him, it was less about thinking like him and more about… the feeling of having a friend.

To Klaus, the characters in that book were more than just mere characters.

Unfortunately, no matter how sad it sounded, they were his friends.

…

"What the hell?" Klaus thought, as he opened his eyes and suddenly felt sluggish.

He didn't actually know where he was or how he had ended up there, but he found himself fastened into a bulky chair that looked like a strange cross between a hospital bed and a torture device.

Officers with what seemed to be automated rifles were stationed around him, and most of them appeared extremely nervous.

"Where am I?" he questioned, and someone who seemed to be the head of the officers frowned slightly while quickly moving closer.

"You are inside a police station where you surrendered yourself as the carrier of the nightmare spell."

As the officer spoke, Klaus's eyes widened in shock, momentarily forgetting his fatigue.

What did she mean, surrendering himself as a carrier of the spell?

What the actual hell was going on?

But he couldn't think clearly as the voices around him slowly faded, and he was whisked away into the dream realm.

[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial…]

…

As Klaus opened his eyes again, this time filled with energy, he was surprised to find himself in what appeared to be a cave.

Inside the cave, the air was cool and damp, carrying a musty scent of earth and decay. Jagged stalactites dripped rhythmically from the ceiling, their drops echoing softly in the stillness.

The uneven ground was a mix of loose gravel and slick stones, while fungi cast an eerie green glow on the walls, revealing faint, ancient carvings and the skeletal remains of forgotten creatures.

The profound silence was occasionally broken by the distant sound of dripping water and the skittering of unseen creatures, adding to the cave's timeless, enigmatic atmosphere.

"Well, this is definitely… interesting," a loud, ancient voice called out to him.

Klaus couldn't believe he had missed this figure, but sitting in front of him was what seemed to be a…human male that someone reminded him of a monkey?.

It was not just any normal type of human, though. The man's muscular frame was powerful and imposing, even while seated.

The man wore a traditional martial arts uniform, its simplicity underscoring the sheer strength and agility of its presence.

Despite the eerie surroundings of the cave, the man exuded a sense of effortless confidence and readiness, its posture relaxed yet brimming with the latent power of a seasoned martial artist.

There was a headband wrapped around his forehead further confirmed Klaus's suspicion about who this being was.

(Introduction of the First Protagonist: Klaus)

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