Panicked Dreamers

1 June 2021

"Good evening Sir, how may I help you?" A pretty receptionist asked.

Aldrich felt a little out of his zone in the monumental building. This was the stuff he hadn't handled for a long time.

'I will contact Mr. Edwin later,' Aldrich took a mental note and said, "Good evening, I am here to register for a Dreamer's Licence."

"May I know on which night you had awakened?"

"Today."

"Ok, Rookies are being handled on the 3rd floor. Please fill out this form and wear this badge," the receptionist said, handing over a white badge to Aldrich. He headed over to the 3rd floor, and the first thing he noticed was the huge number of black-suited agents.

"Oi, you! Yes, you. Loitering is not allowed in the halls."

One of the black-suited agents ran towards Aldrich, but then he noticed the white badge. "Ah! Sir, please follow me."

The agent took him to a corridor filled with doors. There were light bulbs over the doors, some were lit up in red color and some in green.

"As you know, Sir, we need to issue licenses every week. So we had to trim down the process to the most essential parts only." The agent explained, seeing that it was Rookie's first time here. He took Aldrich to the waiting room at the end of the corridor. The waiting room felt like an exquisite conference hall, with its pricey sofas and decorations.

"Sir, please wait here. On hearing the number behind your badge being called, head to any of the rooms with a green light on."

The waiting room was full of such white badges, but Aldrich noticed a group of people seated on the sofas by the two exit doors. By the look of their eyes and expressions, Aldrich realized they weren't part of the security personnel or the Rookies.

'Hmm, the look of superiority? Must be members of Guilds. Why else would they be interested in Rookies?'

Aldrich took a seat at the far end, taking out his mobile. 'Here it is! I wonder what Mr. Edwin has been up to since last year.'

'That's odd. Why didn't he pick it up?' Aldrich thought, hearing the automated voice response.

"Excuse me."

"Yes?" Aldrich looked up and found a man with a big smile on his face.

"I am Raymond, a Tanker." The man said, puffing his chest.

"… and?"

Aldrich could see the sheer disappointment in the man's eyes for a second, but he soon hid it behind that big smile.

"Well, you are a Rookie so you wouldn't know, anyway. Let me help you out."

Aldrich didn't like the way that Raymond had blatantly put a hand on his shoulder. But he was also curious about some things.

"Can you see those men on the sofas?" Raymond pointed with his chin, "Well, they are here for geniuses."

"Geniuses?" Aldrich had known what a genius meant, but he had found out that the meaning of the word 'Genius' differed with different people.

"Yes, geniuses. They are here to recruit Rookies with exceptional Stats. They are representatives of some of the top Guilds."

"Then why aren't you there with them?"

Raymond's mouth twitched at this sudden remark.

"Haha, you are right. I am also here to recruit, but I am here to give this opportunity to Dreamers like you." Raymond had already misjudged Aldrich's capabilities by Aldrich's looks. But it wasn't a bad sort of mistake.

A normal person who looks normal, behaves normally, and talks normally must have normal capabilities.

Raymond took out his business card and handed it over to Aldrich.

'Rising Sword Guild.' Aldrich had already seen posters of this guild in his hometown.

"You seem to have heard of it." Raymond proudly guessed, and continued, "Look over there, that one-armed man drinking tea."

Aldrich took his eyes off the card and saw a man, far away on a single-seater.

"He is from the Royal Blazing Guild. He doesn't need to recruit. Genius Rookies go to him by themselves. Humph! Like they have a chance."

The derision on Raymond's face was quite visible. And Aldrich had always been smart enough to get the underlined meaning of things. Raymond had been saying unconsciously that he was Aldrich's best bet to join a Guild and he shouldn't dream too high, even if he was a genius.

"Number 37."

"Thanks for the invitation, I will think about it." Aldrich stood up, and his eyes briefly met with the one-armed man's gaze. The eyes of the representative were shining with a blue glow of incomprehensible symbols. And Aldrich saw him shaking his head in disappointment.

'Hmm, Perception?' Aldrich thought, guessing how the one-armed man had been guessing other Dreamer's abilities.

Aldrich entered the room, and a middle-aged lady greeted him.

"Hello young man, it won't take long."

The room was small but big enough for a table, two chairs, a CCTV camera, and an armed guard. Both Aldrich and the Middle-aged woman took their seat, while the guard had taken the position behind Aldrich.

"Don't mind his presence. We had faced some issues in the past, so now he must be with us as per the new rules."

The middle-aged lady pacified Aldrich. It was one of those lines that had come out of an employee reflexively.

"So, are you familiar with the procedure?' the lady didn't wait for an answer. "You would tell me the Class you are applying for and then show me the Attribute."

Aldrich's eyebrows rose at the mention of the Attributes. It would be a tragedy if someone were to see his Perception.

"The one thing the ADA values the most is a Dreamer's privacy. Just show the Attribute which applies to the Class you are applying for."

"I am applying for Mage Class," Aldrich replied, seeing the Tablet that the lady had taken out.

"Hmm, a mage, huh? According to the rules agreed upon by the World Authorities, you would have to show me the Correspondence Attribute."

The lady saw the questioning look on ALdrich. She said, "The ADA has established that to register as a Mage, the Correspondence value of a Rookie must be 10 or higher. I know the values might change drastically in the future. But as Baron Edmund had once said, if one were to go against the path of his Class then the chances of his survival would be very slim."

Aldrich nodded in approval.

For the first time, Aldrich summoned his Stat window in front of others.

"RECORD."

Aldrich's eyes flashed with the vibrant blue color of runic symbols. The armed guard behind gripped his pistol even more tightly. An unseen wave passed through all the buildings. It covered the surrounding roadways, the various stalls and shops, and all the things in the spherical radius of 200 meters.

The one-armed Dreamer from the Blazing Royal Guild was still sipping his tea when suddenly the hair on his neck stood up. His hand on the teacup clenched involuntarily, and it exploded in thousands of little shards. One could not surmise the horror that had come from his face just by seeing it. And his sudden reactions had already scared all the people in the waiting room.

Aldrich gave the command to show the Correspondence Attribute. And the value materialized in front of the lady, but seeing her composure, it became apparent that she had seen this many times.

"15. Hmm, it's an average value for a Mage. Ok, that would be enough. I recommend you to join our Beginner Course for New Dreamers and choose a Guild from this list." After handing over a list to Aldrich, she said, "You can approach any Guild representative in the waiting room at your leisure. But before that, collect your license from the reception."

'Well, that was pretty fast. Someone must have put their brain to use while mapping the process.'

Aldrich went back to the waiting area, as the exit could only be accessible from there. But the commotion there took him by surprise. Guards, Dreamers, and recruiters had been running here and there. And one of them was the man who had tried to recruit Aldrich.

"What happened?" Aldrich asked.

Raymond had been opening and closing his Stat window when his 'future Guild member' came to him. "Ah! The recruiter from the Blazing Royal Guild suddenly said that a Statue had come alive somewhere."

"What?"

Aldrich still remembered the horrible scene in that video. But he also knew that no Statue in this city was a Dungeon yet.

"Yes, you know he had lost his arm during one of such incidents. And he had the same feeling now, like being watched by someone from all the directions."

'Damn.' Aldrich knew what had tipped off the recruiter. It was his Perception.

'I need to learn how to control this.' Aldrich quietly left the area and collected his Licence.

*

11:00 PM

USA

Mr. Edwin came home after a hectic day at the guild. After the Night, he needed to wash his hands swiftly in the coming current of opportunities. And yet, somehow, his client hadn't contacted him since then. Nothing could have been a bigger blow than that to Mr. Edwin.

A year had passed, hoping to return to his earlier lifestyle. Most of his vibrant white hair had turned to a dull gray.

"Mom, Mom, Daddy has come home." The only thing that had held his will together was his daughter. The 13-year-old ran past all the toys and into the arms of Mr. Edwin.

"Dad, are you a spy? Or a secret agent?" the little girl asked, expecting a pleasant surprise. The sudden question had surprised Mr. Edwin when his wife came out of the study room.

"What she's been watching these days? Spy? Agent?" Mr. Edwin said, pinching the cheeks of his daughter.

"It must be my mistake. But it's your fault too. You told me that your old mobile doesn't receive any calls. But this afternoon someone named 'ATF' called. I couldn't pick it up, but she must have heard me jokingly mentioning Anti-Terrorist Force or something like that. Weird thing, I couldn't call back at that number."

Mr. Edwin's mind couldn't process anything, since his wife mentioned that his old number had received a call. The next moment when he came to his senses, he was holding the old worn-out mobile. He hastily opened the inbox, praying to God that he had received some messages. There were two unread messages there, and two messages meant two tasks.

His old dying heart finally resounded with a lively rhythm.