Dreamworld

The system panel increased in size and began displaying all the items listed for sale. At one glance, David was able to see various kinds of things that he would otherwise never see in real life.

There were all kinds of cold weapons for sale, from daggers, swords, maces, crossbows, shields, wands, and even staffs. There were also defensive items for sale, such as full body armor, gauntlets, pauldrons, and greaves among other things.

When David's gaze landed on all the fantastical items, his eyes widened and he mumbled in disbelief, "What… the… actual… fuck?"

He didn't know if he was inside a game or something. Suddenly, he saw small numbers and letters displayed below each item. "DP…. What the hell is that?"

Each item displayed the letters DP followed by numbers that ranged from hundreds to thousands. The next moment, a new system notification popped up in front of him.

[Dream Points are the form of currency that will be used between the host and the system. All items, books, scrolls, and memory fragments can be purchased from the shop via DP]

"I see.…" David rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "So that's what DP is." He suddenly thought of something and asked, "How do I earn DP?"

[Dream Points can be gained through gathering information in others' dreams and using said information in an effective manner]

Seeing the system's answer, David's eyes suddenly lit up. He muttered to himself, "So DP can only be gathered by visiting others' dreams…. And the way to visit their dreams is through my innate ability, Dream Walking!"

It was all beginning to make sense to him now. Everything in the system was interrelated. He felt like the system was preparing him to utilize his Dream Walking ability to its full potential.

Speaking of that unique innate ability of his, he still hadn't used it yet. The last two days, he had been so busy analyzing the dream in which he lived as a wyvern that he completely forgot about his ability.

He shook his head and focused on the main reason he had opened the shop in the first place. He scrolled through all the items, looking for something that could help him increase his talent.

But the more he searched, the more his eyebrows furrowed. He found magical potions, one-time-use attack charms, and even memory fragments of animals and wizards, but nothing that could increase his talent.

Agitated, he couldn't help but ask the system, "Is there anything that can increase my talent?"

DING!

Surprisingly, the system came through. Soon, a new notification appeared in front of him.

[Dark wizard, Duke Hellmut's memory fragment is currently locked]

[Requirement to unlock this section of the shop: Advance to Rank 2!]

As David read the new notifications, he felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He clenched his fists as his eyes shone with resolve. "Good! As long as there's a way, all I need to do is persevere. No matter what it takes!"

Each rank was further divided into four stages: initial, middle, upper, and peak. Currently, David was a mere Rank 1 wizard at the initial stage, and with his medium-grade talent, it would take him at least a few years to reach rank 2. But he believed patience was one of his strong suits, so he would just diligently wait.

He willed the system panel to disappear and got to his feet. Now that his worries had been addressed, he felt much more relaxed. Right now, he was too eager to try out Dream Walking.

When he had unlocked the ability, knowledge about it had been transmitted to his brain by the system. Since it was only level 1, he needed to first fall asleep in order to activate it. Thus, he made himself some ramen noodles for dinner, hurriedly ate, then jumped on his bed.

He tried his best to fall asleep, but the sheer excitement coursing through his veins prevented him from drifting off. Suddenly, he had an idea. He decided to practice the meditation technique in the Tome of Nightshade. Soon, he began breathing in a mysterious sequence, and before long he felt a wave of tranquility wash over him.

He then stopped breathing the way described in the tome and, within a few moments, he had finally fallen asleep. However, the next moment, his eyes snapped open and he mumbled, "I… failed?"

But when he looked around, he was flabbergasted. He was still in his bedroom in Staten Island, everything looked the same but at the same time, it was vastly different. For one, all the colors were saturated to the extreme. And if he stared at one spot for long enough, kaleidoscopic patterns would form.

He got up from his bed and mumbled in disbelief, "What the fuck? Am I tripping?"

The next moment, a new notification from the system popped up.

[Welcome to the Dreamworld!]

"No fucking way!" David screamed. "This is the dreamworld!?" He suddenly recalled the system's description of this metaphysical plane and incredulously mumbled, "It overlaps the waking world…. An echo of the universe." He then looked at himself, and much to his bafflement, he realized that he could see through his body!

"Is this my spiritual body?" he muttered as he inserted his arm inside his own chest, and surprisingly, it went through! He suddenly had an idea and walked toward the wall. He slowly put his hand inside it, followed by his whole body.

Before he knew it, he had walked through the wall and was standing on the sidewalk outside!

He looked around the street and found that it was the exact same as the waking world, the only difference being the color saturation. Then he looked up to the sky and was instantly mesmerized.

"Beautiful...." Only one word escaped his lips as he viewed the majestic night sky. In the dreamworld, the entire milky way galaxy was visible. The stars were visible to the naked eye in all their glory. He had never seen anything so breathtaking.

David stared at the night sky for a long time until he finally came back to his senses. "Shit, I almost forgot I had to earn dream points."

He aimlessly wandered down the street, trying to figure out what exactly a dream looked like. Another thing he realized was that there were no people or cars here in this mysterious world. He found that strange, but didn't think much about it.

Unknowingly, he found himself in front of a homeless shelter. He entered the building and found a large hall filled with dozens of beds. The beds were empty and the building was devoid of any people.

However, atop a few beds, he saw small white orbs. Intrigued, he walked near a bed and carefully observed the white ball that was glowing with an ethereal light.

He mumbled in a daze, "Could this be a dream?" With that, he stretched out his hand and gently touched the white orb. The next moment, the space around the orb vibrated and twisted, then sucked him inside of it.

David had disappeared!