CHAPTER 3: DRELLUSION

9:15 PM - JEA-YONG'S BEDROOM

*CREAK*

"Hah... it's been a long day."

  Jea-Yong exclaimed with an exhausted tone, shutting the door behind him as he walked into his room. He removed his bloodied shirt and tossed it on the floor before heading toward his bathroom.

*BAM*

"I've got a lot to do tomorrow, huh? Guess it's going to be a drag to get anything done with all the chaos outside."

  Jae-Yong said as he raised his hand, grabbed the bathroom door handle, and opened it.

*CLICK*

*CREAK*

"...I'll need to gather enough supplies to sustain myself until the chaos dies down or the aliens attack Earth. Either way, I will survive until I complete my revenge."

  Jea-Yong said, standing in front of his bathroom mirror and staring at himself. While staring, he noticed a blood splatter on his face.

"Tch... that bitch got blood on my face."

  Jea-Yong muttered with an annoyed expression as he turned on the tap, and water began to flow. He splashed water on his face, washing away the blood.

[DING!]

"What!??... What the hell is that?!"

Jea-Yong questioned, quickly pulling out a knife taped to the bottom of the bathroom sink. He glanced around the bathroom with a cautious expression.

*VROOM*

Suddenly, a gray game window projection appeared in front of Jea-Yong.

"DIE!!"

Jea-Yong yelled as he thrust his knife at the strange projection. However, the blade passed through the mysterious projection, stabbing nothing but empty air.

"What?! Why can't I stab it?" 

Jea-Yong said as he continued stabbing the game window with no effect.

[GLOBAL NOTIFICATION - HELLO, DEAR CITIZENS OF EARTH. IT SADDENS ME TO SAY THAT MY BARRIER MASKING THE MILKY WAY FROM HOSTILE LIFEFORMS IN THE UNIVERSE HAS BEEN BREACHED BY ???**@###. SO, IN ORDER TO INCREASE YOUR SURVIVAL CHANCES, PROTOCOL 'EVO' WILL NOW BE IMPLEMENTED...]

"What the hell is this thing saying?" 

Jea-Yong thought, with a confused and curious expression.

[PERSONAL NOTIFICATION - AWAKENING SUPERNATURAL ABILITY NOW... 10%... 20%... ERROR! ERROR!]

[SUPERNATURAL ABILITY RANK IS EXCEEDING EARTH'S LIMITS... 50%... 60%... 90%... 100%]

[ERROR]

[ERROR]

.

.

.

The projection window became covered with [error] prompts. It seemed like it was about to crash, but then suddenly it returned to normal.

[DING!]

[PERSONAL NOTIFICATION - U-CLASS ABILITY HAS BEEN AWAKENED - DREAMWALKER-NEXUS.]

[GLOBAL NOTIFICATION- NOW THAT YOUR ABILITIES HAVE BEEN AWOKEN, PLEASE TRY TO SURVIVE.]

*VROOM*

After saying those words, the window suddenly disappeared, as it had appeared.

"Huh? What was that all about? A system window... Well, after today's events, I doubt I will be surprised by anything anymore." 

Jea-Yong said as he walked out of his bathroom, into his bedroom, and fell onto his bed.

*BAM*

"... I'll just sort out my thoughts tomorrow. For now, I just need to sleep... zzzz." 

Jea-Yong thought as he dozed off.

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------

*BLINK! *

"!!!"

Jea-Yong's eyes shot open, wide and alert, and the first thing he noticed was a different ceiling from his bedroom's.

"Where the hell am I?"

Jea-Yong questioned as he shot up from the floor, with a cautious expression and glanced around his surroundings quickly.

"... School chairs? Why the hell did I wake up in a classroom?" 

Jea-Yong thought to himself after realizing where he was. He glanced around the classroom, looking for any clues about the school's identity.

*SWISH*

*SWISH*

"Class 12-E... Golden Harmony Academy... this name. This is the school where 'that' happened to my sister." 

Jea-Yong said, his expression furious, after noticing the school's name written on the teacher's podium at the front of the classroom.

*PITTER-PATTER*

"!?"

Jea-Yong flinched as he heard loud running footsteps coming from outside the classroom's hallways. He turned his gaze toward the classroom's glass panels, seeing many students in uniforms running through the hallways with excited expressions.

"...What's going on?"

Jea-Yong questioned as he walked to the closed classroom door, grabbed the handle, and slid the door open.

*GRAB*

*SWOOSH*

"Hey, is it true what's happening in class 10-B?"

"Of course, it's true! Can't you see almost the entire school is going to watch the show? Remember to record everything on your phone so we can post it on Tac-tok and get some views."

Two students said as they rushed through the hallways.

"Class 10-B, wasn't that my sister's class when she attended this school? Well, it doesn't matter anyway. All of that is in the past now. The only thing I can do for her now is take—"

Jea-Yong's words were interrupted by the mention of his sister's name by the two girls who had just run past him.

"I heard that bitch Mi-soo-Yong is getting wrecked by Yeon-woo-Park Seonbaenim. Kekeke."

"Humph! It's about time that bitch got what's coming to her, always pretending to be pure and kind, even when she's not even that pretty. Kekeke."

The two girls said as they snickered.

"..."

Hearing what they said about his sister, Jea-Yong's face turned dark, and the sky outside the hallway window could be seen turning dark with purple bolts of lightning flashing in the clouds.

*RUMBLE*

"No! Now is not the time to get angry. I have to find out what the hell is going on with this place. I noticed a while ago that although I am standing in the classroom doorway, none of the students who passed have even glanced at me once, which is weird. It's like they don't see me..."

*WHOOOSH*(clouds outside dissipating)

Jea-Yong said as he extended his hand to stop one of the students passing.

*WHOOSH*

"???"

But to Jea-Yong's surprise, his hand phased through the student like a ghost.

"It seems my suspicion is right; I am in some type of illusion or dream? It can't be a dream because I can remember what I did before I woke up here, and knowing I am in a dream while dreaming should have woken me up, but it hasn't. Which means I am not dreaming." 

Jea-Yong concluded in his mind as he walked into the hallway and followed where the crowd was headed.

—---------------------------------------------------------------

MOMENTS LATER- CLASS 10-B HALLWAY.

*SMACK*

"What's happening in there?"

Jea-Yong muttered in a curious tone after seeing how engrossed the crowd of students gathered in the hallway was. They had their phones out and were fighting to record what was happening in the class.

(Woah! From the sound, that must have hurt. Did you record that Ji-won?) [Note: () - Background conversation.] 

(No, I got pushed and missed it.) 

(What did you say, fucker!? If I don't get my content for my Tac-Tok, you will be on gum-licking duty.)

"..."

Jea-Yong watched in silence for a while before walking forward toward the classroom entrance. As he moved toward the entrance, not surprisingly, he phased through the students in his way.

(Hey! Stop pushing! I can't record anything, you fucking loser!) (What did you just call me, you fat limp-dick bitch!)

*WHOOSH*

"It really worked... I knew it would, but it feels strange to walk through people... But now I can see what's going on in this class."

  Jea-Yong said as he arrived at the entrance and walked into the classroom.

—----------------------------------------------------------

IN CLASS 10-B.

*SMACK! *

*WHACK! *