Chapter 89: Being Filled In (2)

Chapter 89

It was like a thunderbolt had crashed deep within Asher’s mind, flipping the switch of his brain off for just a second.

Just one second.

Then it flicked back on as his mind desperately tried to process what Mia had just said.

"Huh? Five months passed?"

Mia lifted a brow in confusion.

"Who said anything about months? I said five years have passed."

"Five days?!"

"Huh?"

Mia stared at him for a moment before clicking her tongue in realization.

’Denial.’

"Asher, I said—FIVE FUCKING YEARS HAVE PASSED!"

Mia screamed the words with all her might.

And somehow, it seemed to work.

Asher’s hands trembled.

His fingers loosened around the black knife, sending it clattering onto the floor.

"Fi-Fi-Five yea-years?"

His lips quivered as if he were afraid to say the words out loud.

As though speaking them would somehow make them real.

It wasn’t needed.

They were already real.

"Bu-But how? How? How is this possible? I left.... I left...."

His gaze slowly sharpened as he suddenly recalled something.

He had spent two years inside the Nightmare.

And if time moved differently within it, then perhaps it was plausible for a significant amount of time to have passed in the real world.

But five years?

He had lost five years of his life simply because he kept forgetting his memories inside the Nightmare.

He couldn’t even celebrate his eighteenth birthday.

Five years?

His mother’s and brother’s bodies, which he had left in the morgue, must have been buried in some random cemetery by now.

So many things could have changed.

So many things had changed.

And all because he had been fucking asleep.

Seemingly enjoying the attention and warmth he received from his fake family inside the Nightmare.

Five years!

The number kept ringing inside his head again and again, just like when he had been trapped in the Nightmare and desperately trying to remember important details.

Slowly, he looked at Mia with a trembling gaze.

"So I have been living in your house for five years?"

The woman nodded.

"Yup. I cleaned you, changed your clothes, and fed you as much as I could."

For a moment, the shock of the time that had passed vanished as Asher’s eyes widened.

"Changed me?"

Mia frowned.

"Yeah? Or did you think these new clothes magically appeared on your body? Moron."

Asher’s hands slowly crept across his body as he shifted backward, as if he wanted to sink into the chair.

"Wh-What did you see?"

Mia was taken aback by the question for a moment.

"I saw something small... fool. I did it with my eyes closed. I’m not a pervert like you."

"Oh," Asher uttered with a relieved sigh.

"Tch."

"....."

Silence immediately descended upon the living room as Asher picked his knife back up and stared at the weapon with a frown.

’So this thing is the Hollow Watcher? Tch.’

Then, with a heavy sigh, he set the knife aside before lifting his head to look at Mia’s tired eyes.

The first few times they had officially met, she had looked tired, but not nearly as exhausted as she did at that moment.

’What had she been up to?’

Grabbing her cigarette, Mia took another puff before tilting her head toward the boy.

"And I reckon that you have a lot more questions to ask?"

Asher nodded.

"What’s going on? You look tired? And-and you mentioned something about the world being at war. What’s that about? And what’s all this business with Daywalkers and Eidolons? I honestly... I’m confused about a lot."

Mia heaved a long sigh, her shoulders loosening as she looked toward Asher.

"Okay. I will impart as much knowledge as I can to you. Knowing that you are now a Daywalker, I will have no problem telling you these things, so brace yourself."

She took another drag from her cigarette.

"You’re learning a lot today."

"....."

There was a brief pause from the woman as she watched Asher lean forward slightly, his attention completely focused on her.

Taking a huge puff from her cigarette, Mia rubbed her face before finally beginning.

"Fifteen years ago, the Shadow God made his first appearance. But the problem was that he didn’t physically appear. Every single person in Vespers heard the same voice—the same announcement inside their minds.

It spoke about some experiment and a curse, blah blah blah. A year afterward, sleep became dangerous for anybody within Vespers.

If you fall asleep, you get drawn into a Nightmare."

Mia paused dramatically before continuing.

".... Now, nobody knew what the other would face in these Nightmares. That was because Nightmares varied from one person to another. You could be forced to fight constantly, solve a specific problem, or maybe go through some form of mental torture.

We don’t know everything about the Nightmares. All we know is that the majority of people who get pulled into them don’t survive, and their deaths birth Shadows.

Most commonly, they become Shades upon death in the Nightmare."

Asher nodded along, listening intently.

Mia continued.

"But what the people of Vespers didn’t really know was that the minority—the remaining three to five percent of those who survived the Nightmares and actually woke up—became something more."

Mia paused again to puff her cigarette before continuing.

"Each Nightmare an individual faces is governed by an Eidolon. Your Nightmare is crafted by the Eidolon, and the rules of the Nightmare can’t be changed once they’re set.

Upon surviving or completing the Nightmare safely, you are appraised and, in the process, rewarded with that same Eidolon that created your Nightmare.

How and why this works, we don’t know."

Mia inhaled deeply before slowly exhaling the smoke.

"... All we know is that these people who complete the Nightmares are termed ’Daywalkers’.

And they can never be pulled into a Nightmare again.

They are now immune to Nightmares."

"Wait. For real?! We don’t have to face a Nightmare again?!" Asher asked, an excited glint flashing through his eyes.

Mia simply nodded.

"Yes. That’s right."

She drew in a sharp breath before continuing.

"We Daywalkers all have this floating interface called the ’Veil Interface’. This allows us to track the amount of Essence we reap from each Shadow creature we kill."

"Er... what is the use of this Essence?" Asher asked curiously.

He had been thinking about it just a moment ago.

Mia looked at him before smiling.

"Each Essence you accumulate brings your Eidolon closer to an evolution."

She leaned back slightly.

"So that’s what it does. Kill a Shadow creature to grow stronger."

A small smile appeared on her face.

"Simple, right?"