Exploring the Dream

A sudden wave of headache and grogginess washed over David and he couldn't help but groan. But within a few moments, the pain receded and he massaged his temples. "What the fuck was that?"

When he opened his eyes and looked around, he was shocked to find that he was inside a lavish living room. The walls were adorned with beautiful abstract paintings, luxurious furniture was placed at different spots, and a large crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling.

"Where am I?" he muttered in confusion. He began exploring the room and touched a few objects on the way. Unsurprisingly enough, his hand went through the items because his body was still incorporeal.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "Is this a dream?" Excited, he began exploring the entire room and found that it wasn't much different from the way it would be in the real world. If he wasn't still in his spiritual body, he would have thought that this was the real world because everything looked so real.

All of a sudden, he heard the sound of people chatting and laughing coming from nearby. He followed the sounds out of the living room, then walked down the hallway and soon found himself standing in front of the entrance of a dining room.

Inside, he saw a family of five sitting at a table and enjoying a meal with great relish. His gaze fell on an old man with white hair and a white beard sitting at the head of the table, delightedly chatting with everyone around him.

Instinctively, he knew that he was inside the old man's dream. It was hard to explain, but he knew it. He walked into the dining room and began circling around the people. Seeing that none of them noticed him, he mumbled, "They can't see me?"

In order to confirm his speculation, he stood right next to the old man. He waved his hand in front of the old man but received no response. Then he tried screaming in the old man's ears.

Still, he received no response.

David began to rub his chin and muttered, "Interesting… so they indeed can't see me."

He listened in on the conversation the family was having at the table, but grew bored within a few minutes. They were talking about their day-to-day lives—the old man was giving his son and his wife relationship advice and telling his grandchildren to behave well and to study hard.

David looked at the food on the table and realized that they were eating Italian cuisine. His mouth started watering and he tried to grab a bruschetta from the table, but failed. In the end, he simply grumbled and left the dining room.

He explored the rest of the house and found that all the rooms were empty except the dining room. As he looked at everything around him that seemed to be created in great detail, he couldn't help but marvel, "I can't believe this is actually a dream…."

After exploring the entire house, he decided to step out. His eyes shone with childlike curiosity as he looked at every little thing around him. For some reason, inside the dream, he felt like a fish in water; it felt like home.

As he left the house, he saw a large garden with various types of flowers and small trees planted everywhere. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed when he saw that just beyond the garden, there seemed to be a gray barrier of sorts.

He walked toward the barrier and realized that the gray barrier was surrounding the entirety of the house. As he got closer, he found that the barrier was actually made of smoke. He pressed his hand against it, and surprisingly it didn't go through!

His interest was instantly piqued, as this was the first thing his incorporeal form couldn't penetrate through. Intrigued, he brought his face closer to the barrier and tried peeking through to the other side.

As he squinted his eyes, he was able to vaguely see a small island surrounded by a body of water across the gray barrier. His eyes were filled with disbelief and he exclaimed, "What the fuck is—"

However, before he could even finish his sentence, he disappeared from the dream.

...

David opened his groggy eyes and gazed at the familiar ceiling of his one-bedroom apartment in Staten Island. His vision was initially blurry, but when they regained focus, his eyes widened and he shot up from his bed.

He looked around his apartment in shock, then at himself. When he realized that he was in his physical body, he incredulously muttered, "I'm… back?"

Looking at the clock on the bedside table, he saw that more than seven hours had passed since he went to bed last night. He was flabbergasted! He could have sworn that he hadn't spent more than a couple of hours in the dreamworld, but so much time had passed in the real world.

Another thing he realized was that he could remember everything inside the dream with great accuracy. This came to him as a surprise, because when he dreamed, he could normally only barely remember the contents of it.

The next moment, the notification sound of the system snapped him back to his senses.

DING!

[Congratulations on completing your first dream exploration!]

[+100 DP]

[First dream exploration bonus will be rewarded!]

[+500 DP]

David looked at the system panel with an elated smile. "600 DP! I can finally buy a few things from the shop."

He suddenly recalled the system's notification about how he could gain dream points and his eyes lit up. He hurriedly freshened up and got dressed. He made sure to wear his black hoodie with the hood up; after all, it'd be troublesome if someone he knew saw him alive and kicking.

After getting ready, he left his safehouse and visited the nearest Italian restaurant. There, he bought some breakfast and then left for the homeless center he had visited in the dreamworld last night.

About ten minutes later, he finally reached the place and began looking around for the old man whose dream he had visited. It didn't take him too long to find the person. The old man was wearing ragged clothes and his appearance was extremely haggard as he sat by the sidewalk and looked at the sky in a daze.

As David approached him, he couldn't help but be taken aback at the stark contrast between the appearance of the old man in the real world and the one inside his dream. He crouched down next to him and handed him the box full of Italian food. "Old man, here, have some food."

The old man looked at the box, then at David with some surprise. "Thank you, sir! I wasn't expecting to have breakfast today."

He hurriedly opened the box and, when he saw the contents inside, his hands began trembling. Tears started to well up in his eyes as he looked at the food in shock. He then looked at David and muttered, "You wouldn't believe me but… I actually had a dream last night about this exact food!"

David expressionlessly got to his feet and looked at the tramp. "I know." With that, he turned around and walked away.

The old man looked at David's departing back and smiled gratefully. "Thank you…."

Meanwhile, as David was walking on the sidewalk, a new system notification popped up in his vision and his lips couldn't help but curl up into a smirk. "Sometimes dreams really do come true."

[+100 DP]