The Sleep World

1: Dream Entrance of Alphabeta [12th March, 2013]

Sleep World is a special realm isolated from Reality. However, even though it is not found in Reality it doesn’t mean that everything that ever happens here isn’t real… call this an alternate reality. In this world, gods and goddesses often interact with the mortals and form great bonds with them. This happens especially in the country called Alquarain. There are three regions driving this country: Alphabeta, Quasar, and Rainbow. Alphabeta region is a special place that is brimming with magical energy… and… this is where our protagonist begins his adventures and misadventures.

Gabriel Crimson Fallasleep, also known as G, was outgoing, adventurous, and carefree. He had spiky dark brown hair, the irises in his eyes are brown with a strange red line under his lower eyelids, he was fairly tall, he had a lean body build, and he was fair skinned. He was born from a family of pure-blood magicians. Hearing pure-blood doesn’t mean that he came from a family of magicians who value purity over anything else. In fact, he came from a humble and loving family. He was blessed, loved, and cared for… but he wasn’t spoiled. He was taught to become independent and creative. He valued family, friendship, and protecting the weak over himself. At the age of nineteen, he graduated at Techincal University as an Alpha Agent specializing in hunting and assassination. He also received a gold medal for being third best swordsman in the school.

From the get go, he seemed to be an average person with friends and enemies, but what made him different was that he had been predetermined to do something either great or horrible. Some things were meant to happen while some were not. A few weeks after he graduated, his parents were mercilessly murdered in front of him by two notorious magicians. That was not meant to happen and it almost ruined his destiny. Also, he had a younger sibling who was at the time of their parent’s death was at school. He also found out about the incident and it devastated him but he never blamed his brother for it. Nevertheless, the trauma that G received took a toll on his personality. From his positive outlook in life, he ended up becoming withdrawn, conservative and anxious.

Alphabeta Region is an archipelago of the country Alquarain brimming with magical energy. This place is the best place for magicians for mana is unlimited unlike other archipelagos and other countries. Orchid Wednesday Leya is the demigoddess of this archipelago and in her goddess form she becomes the goddess of beginnings and of destiny. She has a bright shoulder long red hair with bangs extending down to her red eyes stopping just right above them, she also wears a navy blue head band, and like G, she is also fairly tall in height, but her skin tone is a bit lighter than his. She was always wearing a long-sleeved uniform that is red, pink, or a combination of both. In Destiny Island of Alphabeta Region, she had a temple built for her called the Temple of Beginnings. Since she had been living with humans through the span of ages despite her immortality, she turned a part of her temple into an adventurer’s guild and she called it the Dream Entrance of Alphabeta. As years passed, the guild became very prestigious and very powerful. Also, this guild house members who were very trustworthy and very loyal. A lot of aspiring graduates that were hoping to become great adventurers one day apply and visit this temple yearly to receive a godly blessing from her.

Receiving a letter of acceptance from Dream Entrance the day after his 20th birthday gave Gabriel hope for a new beginning after the death of his parents. Strangely enough, he never sent an application form to Dream Entrance. Thinking that they may have made a mistake, he decided to venture outside for the first time after seclusion. He groomed himself and cleaned the house he received from his parents upon graduating. His house is at Ngar Village of Naguilngar Town which is a couple of walks away from the beach. In order to navigate throughout the region safely from monsters and other threats, people of this world use way-gates. However, using the way-gate comes with a price. The currency of this country is called Coronet. Travelling with the use of a way-gate costs 108 Coronets. [1 Coronet = 1000 dollars]

When G used the way-gate, instead of arriving at the temple’s entrance way-gate, he ended up in a strange place.

“Where am I?” He anxiously surveyed the surroundings. “This is really an unusual place.”

The ceiling was light blue like the sky and the floor was dark blue like the ocean. The effect made it looked like there were no walls at all. He decided to roam around for a bit. However, from out of nowhere, the demigoddess suddenly appeared a few feet in front of him giving him a sudden jolt of surprise.

“GAAAH!!!” G’s heart skipped for about ten beats from the shock.

“Welcome Mr. Fallasleep, my name is Orchid Wednesday Leya. I am the guild master of Dream Entrance and the goddess of beginnings. Of course, you already know that…”

…

…

Finally getting back his composure or not, “… I uh… …are we in… you know… so where are we?” he asked scratching his head obviously still puzzled.

“We are actually in my chamber way under the temple,” she showed him the map of the dome temple. “Amazing view, isn’t it?”

“Uh… yeah… this is way different than I ever imagined it to be…” he unzips his bag and takes the acceptance letter out. “I… uh think you have uh… a misunderstanding. I never applied in here.”

“Is that right?” She instead handed him a letter that she took out by using storage magic. “This is your handwriting, is it not?”

As G took the letter from her and opened it, tears started forming from his eyes…

“This was… my handwriting when I was still a kid. Back then, I had a lot dreams and aspirations. Everything fell apart when I wasn’t able to do everything to save my parents…”

“I know,” she approached him and gave him a comforting backrub. “The thing that befell you was not destined to happen. As the goddess of destiny, I assure you that. However, you being here and accepting my offer to become an adventurer is destined to happen. So calm down, Gabriel… this acceptance letter is my birthday gift to you, although it is now… belated.”

“I’m sorry, I got nervous,” he wiped off the tears from his eyes. “I was hoping to reject it but when you told me that this is actually a birthday gift, I find it hard to reject it.”

“That’s better,” she gently smiled at him. “You used to have a gentle smile on your face too, just like me which I got from my father. You should smile often… and one more thing, you don’t need to introduce yourself anymore, G.”

“Why am I here and not at the reception area?” He politely asked.

“I want you to drink this water,” ignoring his query, she hands him a vial. “This water came from the fountain of life underneath this temple. I’m sure you know about its properties, right?”

“The water from the Fountain of Life replenishes the health of the drinker by healing injuries and illnesses,” G recalled his learnings. “If it were to be calculated in numbers, one vial of this volume heals up to 25% of the total health.”

“That’s correct,” she claps her hands to boost his confidence. “Now, I want you to drink it.”

“I don’t see why I should drink it,” G scratched his head, “I’m not injured and this vial costs 243 Coronets.”

“Trust me,” she brings out a table full of vials of life water. “Wait a second…”

“I’m confused…”

“For now you are,” she said as she brought out another table full of it. “When ingested by a normal human being at full health, it does nothing, am I right? You can use magic and you were taught to fight right?”

“Uh yeah, I can.” He curiously answered her question. “What is the point of all of this?”

“Five thousand vials minus the one you had. The point in all of this is to train you hard all in one day. If you are ready, meet me at the gym… right over there, drink the one in your hand without any hesitation and come to me. If you find yourself here later, I want you to check the mark placed in the vial you will be holding and then tell me.” she then walked away from him, far from the tables and manifested a fighting ring.

“She’s going to train me, as in now?” He anxiously opened the vial and ingested the contents. He then hurried to the gym and climbed the ring. “One, I’m ready…”

“Let me tell you this once and do not hesitate,” she gave him a fierce look in her eyes. “Knock me out with the intent to kill… NOW!”

…

“Why am I here again?” He found himself in front of the two tables. “If I find myself here again… I’ll take a look at the mark of the vial that I am holding. I am holding… number Two…”

He anxiously checked the bottle on the first table marked with number 1 and found it empty. He looked at Orchid who was in the ring waiting for him.

He then hurried over in the ring to have his questions answered.

“The vial that I was holding when I got back there is number 2 and I found number 1 empty,” G showed her the vials. “What’s happening?”

“I told you, this is training.” She gave him a familiar fierce look in her eyes. “Let me tell you this once and do not hesitate. Attack me with the intent to kill… NOW!”

…

Awfully similar to G from before, Orchid summoned a knife as she charged towards him to s***h his throat. Having seen this before, G dodges her first attack. However, her second attack made him realize why he had returned to his previous position.

…

“Number… 3…” Anxiously, he swallowed his saliva after realizing why he was back to where he stood. “I died twice now. This is my third life.”

He hurried back to her demanding for answers. Why would she kill him? How was this all possible? Why did he reset to where he was after drinking the vial? What in the hell is happening?

“I told you, this is training.” She gave him that same fierce look in her eyes.

“I know what you’ll say,” he raised his guard up. “I demand an explanation!”

“You’ll have to discover it for yourself, G.” She summoned the knife and started to charge towards him. “I’m going to kill you now…”

“W-w-wait, wait a second. Isn’t it progressing really quickly?”

“It does not,” she changed her stance making G more confused, “actually…”

…

A lot more deaths later…

“Let me see the number, G.”

“You want to see it?” Angrily, with his the lenses of his eyes turning red, he tossed the vial at her and began to charge at her. “I’m coming for you!”

While the vial was in mid-air, she caught a glimpse of the number, “So you’ve died 547 times now,” she dodged a flurry of punches from G. “You can punch but it lacks any form at all.”

“How about you teach me another fighting style not just the basics?” G stealthily loosened his right shoe and makes another formless kick.

Orchid backed off from the kick… but… the shoe flew right straight to her face hitting her for the first time. “You sneaky bastard…” she said.

G gasped for air, “I was able to hit you. I did it b***h!”

“Yes, you did,” she wiped of the dirt from her face caused by his shoe. “You did hit me, but you didn’t knock me out. No matter, you did a good job even when I changed my fighting stance. You’re not used to fist fights, aren’t you?”

“I’m well versed at swords because I aim to become a swords magician, but without any sword for me to use… my primary weapons are my lower extremities.” G glanced at her subconsciously as he started to regain back his confidence. “Is this how you train the others?”

“Just you,” she sighed. “I won’t tell you why, so you’ll have to find out on your own. I don’t want you to be overconfident because believe it or not… I am ranked as the third strongest Sleep god in Sleep Verse.”

“What are we going to do next now?”

“Get a new vial and then drink it when you get here,” Orchid picks up the empty vial. “We will start at vial 548.”

“I think I should call these the Save-potions, instead of vials…” As soon as G returned with the new vial, he asked her, “I want to know something. Regardless if my parents lived or died, am I destined to be here?”

“That is actually right,” she summoned a sword using her storage magic and tossed it over in between his feet. “Now, I want you to show me your skill with the sword. Drink vial 548 to hone your skills further with the sword.”

“I’ll show you,” G drank the water from the vial, “my way of the sword!”

Reaching vial 1750…

“Focus, G. It is not about the number of times you’ve died,” she said the same thing at the start of their sword fight, “it is about the number of experiences you’ve gained and how you value your own life by not dying.”

“I am actually having mental fatigue right now because I kept hearing you say that for I don’t know how many times already,” G gasped for air. “How are you well versed with all of the sword styles known to man? Aren’t you supposed to be the goddess of war because of your ability?”

“Well for me, the ones I told you were my first time ever telling you,” she chuckled, “though it does sound like a broken record from your perspective…”

“To you, you are about to clash swords with me,” G exclaimed. “How can you tell if our sword training is over?”

“If you noticed, when we fought from your perspective, I kept on using very powerful sword techniques.” She takes a second sword out from her storage. “I want you to show me something unique. According to your school records, you made a sword style of your own and actually ranked third overall in the national competition. You could’ve won if you didn’t forfeit the match with you friend. Something that could disable an enemy with two weapons on hand, I want to see your style.”

“I kinda noticed that you know more about me than I ever get to know myself. When I was fighting you, I actually never used it…” G fixed his stance, “Midnight’s Dance.”

“Let’s see what you are made of,” Orchid made her move as well.

Fortunately, showing that technique ended his training. Orchid stumbled to get back after unexpectedly taking a heavy blow from his attack. Her two swords were thrown out of the ring, her left shoulder grazed, and her arms filled lacerations. From the looks of it, G fainted from doing his attack. With the results he showed her, she grinned as her injuries healed fast.

At present time, with G still unconscious. Another god meets with her.

“His eyes glowed red for a bit,” Index Atlas, god of wisdom and knowledge, approaches G who has fallen asleep. “I think he is ready to have his life mapped.”

“Is the golden map ready?” Orchid asks while checking on G. “Index-san, please guide him well…”

“As long as he has this map, I can guide the boy…” Index gives her the golden map and disappears.

…

A few minutes later, G woke up…

“I was hoping to wake up seeing the ceiling of my room in my house,” G groans, “but this is reality.”

“I was about to carry you to a bedroom I prepared for you,” Orchid hands a golden map and an ID emblem to him. “This map will be your guide to the world and that one is the official ID for your Dream Entrance membership.”

“I’m ranked B,” G stares at her confused, “how come?”

“I trained you to value your life and I also trained you to death,” she shrugs her shoulders, “why not? You have what it takes to be at that rank.”

G then checks the golden map, “You are giving something that will get me absolutely killed. Also, it seems like it is defective.”

“The golden map is your birthday gift from one of the gods,” she sighs, “You can use storage magic, can’t you?”

“I can’t store more than 30 items in it…”

“Check it again.”

“Unlimited, it says,” G slowly glances at her. “What the hell happened to me during the training?”

“Your mission,” ignoring his question once again, she hands him a ranked S request and goes over to activate the way-gate. “Go home and take a rest, come back tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you for saving me from self-destruction,” G stands up and takes a look at the request. “You are giving me an S-rank mission. That said, I want you to forget that I ever said thank you to you.”

“At least, you realized that you were only killing yourself with that depression,” she shakes her head. “Anyway, I advanced your salary for this month. Buy the most important things that you need. You look less pathetic than when you arrived a while back. Groom yourself even more and be here before 8 tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I got it. I’m still curious of the things that you are hiding from me, but maybe I can find them as I do more of these missions.”

“Hey about you quests, G. I forgot to include one last thing. The golden map that Index gave you…”

“Uh huh?”

“”It shows you the true map of Alphabeta Region and other regions as well,” Orchid points at him. “I want you to complete this Region’s true map… maybe then… just maybe… it will show you what I’m hiding from you.

“Well that’s nice,” G gives one final check at the golden map, “Hey, an icon appeared aside from Dream Entrance… it said… Isolated Temple.”