"...W-what did you say?"
Russell's deep blue eyes dilated upon hearing the words that ca out of his younger sister's mouth. He asked her again to make sure if his auricular sense was on the right track or if it was dysfunctional.
He looked at Freya in surprise and disbelief, waiting for her answer.
"Tsk. Why are you looking at like that, Oppa? I said that the headless woman just wanted to read a book titled [The Forgotten Swordsman of the Ruined Star]. I don't know what would happen if I don't pay back the favor, so can you help get that book."
Confirming the words of his younger sister, Russell almost fainted at the ludicrous reveal that he never thought possible this early in the story.
Trying to compose himself, he casually asked his younger sister.
"...Is there anything else that headless woman had said?"
He clearly rembered the peculiar appearance of the headless woman — holding two won's heads with different hair and eye colors — who was floating on the top of the spire of her presud dilapidated.
"Nothing remarkable, why? What's that book anyway?"
"Sigh... Oppa, I'm getting sleepy. Can I sleep here while you look after ?"
The howling cold winds of the night passed by him and his now lying younger sister, who didn't wait for his response as she quickly fell asleep after saying those words.
At that mont, a familiar sound rang in his ears.
...
[Freya Moon has fallen asleep due to the Goddess of Night's power.]
[Your consciousness will start to fade.]
[You will enter the Cosmic Dream under the permission of the Goddess of Night.]
[mories of the Truth will be partially unlocked.]
[The Goddess of Night greets you belatedly, 'Happy Birthday'.]
Before Russell could process or question anything regarding the cryptic System ssages, his consciousness faded, sending him into deep sleep physically.
...
Waking up, he glanced around and realized that he was not on the roof of their new ho, instead, he found himself in a very familiar place — where the encounter with the Goddess of Night happened.
The Hidden Dungeon, 'Oldest Root of Yggdrasil' had its usual atmosphere; cold, but tranquil; haunting but serene. Russell darted around and saw the familiar roots with a size that was similar to a huge tree trunk, threaded together as though it was skillfully weaved.
"System, what's happening?"
He asked because there was nothing inside the Hidden Dungeon apart from himself, the roots, the illumination of the mysterious light through the roots-made ceiling, and the stone table altar situated in the middle of the circular hall.
He never received a response, which could only an one thing — the Cosmic Dream was not bound by the System.
Scurrying around, with various thoughts surfacing in his mind, he was jolted awake by the sound from the entrance of the Hidden Dungeon.
"What?"
At that mont, Russell's mouth was agape at the sight that screened in his vision. He saw himself, specifically, his self from the past, a few months ago, when he went on a journey to acquire the Seed of Chaos.
This Russell from a few months ago couldn't see him. This puny man with nothing but knowledge from his previous life was scurrying around, trying to find the Seed of Chaos while muttering curses since he couldn't find it.
Seconds, then minutes flew by, this Russell was prostrating himself due to the Goddess of Night's presence; not yet after Her materialization, but only through System's ssage.
The Russell of the present faintly smiled at his past self; he didn't mind the phenonon he was currently in.
'She can't see ... This is a mory.'
He tried to recall the bits of information before he was transported here, at least his soul.
Then, after so ti passed, the past Russell received the mysterious Egg, the Goddess of Night approached him and branded him with the Symbol of Night before he suffered from the loss of consciousness.
The next scene that played in front of the present Russell was more than enough... To shake his entire being and to completely pull him to traverse the mysteries and unveil everything about his reincarnation.
"No... T-this can't be!"
He clearly heard the words spoken by the Goddess of Night while he was unconscious, with his head on Her lap.
Though it was spoken using an ancient language he couldn't understand, and wouldn't be able to understand by any interpreter, Russell seed to sowhat decipher the aning behind it.
"This isn't real... There's no way. W-wake up!"
His scream reverberated throughout the Hidden Dungeon before he woke up, but this ti, he was sowhere unfamiliar which he never knew anything about.
...
In front of a majestic palace, where a dark blue aura or Chaos Miasma was excessively lingering in the air, Russell stood.
His breathing turned rag, not because of the loss of Stamina, but rather because he was panicking due to the previous scene he saw with his deep blue eyes.
Without moving, he scrutinized the exterior of the majestic palace. What he noticed the most was the purple aura that was lingering in the air, mixing with Chaos Miasma. It was sothing he had no idea about.
The purple and dark blue aura was swirling together, intertwining with each other as though fate had ant it to be.
Apart from the swirls of the aura, he noticed a "keep" on top of the palace. There were also two spires on either side, a gigantic door with mysterious rune symbols, and long, wide stairs that seed to be walked only by majestic beings.
Before he could try to take a walk up to the stairs that leads to the gigantic door, his vision glitched, and at that mont, he noticed that he was now standing at the end of the stairs. The gigantic door was now behind him, and he was subconsciously looking down from where he was just a mont ago.
Tap. Tap.
He heard a tapping sound from behind him, this ti, it wasn't the sound of soone tapping a certain human technology he usually heard in his daily life, but rather, the sound of light footsteps.
'T-this... it's not only from a single individual!'
He attempted to look back, but before he could even see the people or beings that were walking in his direction, his vision started to fade.
'H-hey! W-wait-!'
...
Alone inside her dormitory room, Samantha was sitting on her bed, unable to sleep this past midnight when a chilling wind invaded her room through the window.
Samantha spoke to the dignified womanly voice in her head that had accompanied her for a long ti.
Samantha pressed for an answer.
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