Ren Kairo stared at his younger self across the plaza.
Twelve years old. Dressed in pristine inner clan robes. Standing tall with the naive pride of someone who still believed the world was fair if you worked hard enough. It made Kairo want to punch his past self.
Not out of hate but out of sorrow.
Because he knew exactly how that version of himself would die and how many people he'd fail to protect along the way.
[Dream Domain: Ego Convergence Initiated]
[Victory Condition: Destroy or merge with your past self before Dream Corruption reaches 100%]
[Warning: Dream Constructs are sentient. Do not underestimate your memories.]
"Great," Kairo muttered, flexing his fingers. "It's a memory dungeon with my trauma as the boss fight."
He looked around. Qiling Hollow was so real it hurt. The scent of fresh steamed buns. The faint laughter from the medicine shop down the street. The bells from the old spirit well.
All things that were gone. Burned. Crushed. Buried in the ash of his clan.
The Codex pulsed faintly on his soul, flickering like a dying heartbeat.
Even it was subdued here.
As if the Dream Domain didn't like intruders.
"You don't belong here," said a voice behind him.
He turned—and there stood Ren Kairo, age twelve.
Smiling.
Alive.
Eyes full of light that hadn't yet seen betrayal.
"I know what you are," the boy said calmly. "You're a fragment. A shadow born from grief. Another failed cultivation path."
Kairo narrowed his eyes. "No. I'm the real one. You're the illusion."
The boy tilted his head. "If I'm an illusion, why do I remember everything you do?"
A ripple of pressure surged outward.
[Warning: Ego Overlap Detected – Mental instability rising]
[Codex Assistance Limited in this domain]
Kairo breathed slowly. "Fuck, this place wants me to question myself. Classic Dream Throne trick. If I start doubting, I crack."
The boy took a step closer. "Let's test that. Do you remember what father said the night before you were chosen as the Heavenly Child?"
Kairo's lips twitched. "Yes. He said I would make enemies. That glory was a chain. That I should smile in public, but never trust those who bow too easily."
The boy blinked. "…Correct."
He sounded disappointed. Kairo folded his arms. "Listen, kid. I'm not here to prove myself to a memory. I came for the Throne. I'm walking out with it, curse or not."
"You already have the curse," the boy said, voice suddenly sharper. "You just haven't admitted it."
The sky shimmered. The buildings twisted. Warped. Shadows peeled from the walls, forming humanoid shapes—mockeries of people Kairo once knew.
[Dream Constructs Detected – Emotional Anchors manifesting]
[Target Strength: Moderate. Weak to Self-Realization Attacks]
"Yeah, of course," Kairo muttered. "Kill my regrets to progress. How poetic."
The first shadow took the shape of Elder Zhu—one of the five who smiled as they poisoned his father's tea.
Kairo met him with a straight palm strike that detonated spiritual force. The construct dissolved into ash but more came. Dozens. Faces twisted with blame and accusation.
—"You were too slow."
—"You let them die."
—"You failed her."
—"You failed yourself."
Kairo moved like a storm. His current cultivation was suppressed in the domain, but his instincts were sharper than ever. Every motion was efficient. Brutal.
He shattered the version of Yi Meilan that bled from the mouth.
He incinerated the fake Lian Yue that cried as she died.
He knelt only once—before the image of his father, and whispered:
"I know I wasn't enough"said Kairo then he destroyed that one, too. And the world stilled.
Only the boy remained.
Unharmed.
Unbothered.
He clapped slowly. "You're stronger than I thought. But still broken."
Kairo stepped closer. "You're not going to fight me, are you?"
"No," the boy said softly. "I'm going to show you something worse."
He raised a hand and reality folded.
Suddenly, Kairo stood in the real Qiling Hollow—ten years ago but this wasn't the memory of his own past.
It was someone else's.
The perspective warped. He was watching from the eyes of a child—hiding in the rafters of the inner courtyard—listening to elders whisper about sacrifice and selection.
"...the boy is too dangerous."
"He already dreams when he sleeps. Too lucid. If the Dream Throne awakens early, we're all doomed."
"We need to mark him. Bind the dream before it takes root."
Kairo's breath caught.
They were talking about him.
They had known. Even then.
And someone—someone had chosen to seal the Dream Throne fragment in Lian Yue instead.
"She's harmless. Compassionate. Let the key pass to her."
[Codex Update: Suppressed Dream Inheritance Confirmed]
[Ren Kairo was the original bearer. Throne transfer was manually initiated via Soul Loop Binding.]
Kairo's mind reeled.
His entire life had been rerouted.
His destiny stolen and worse—it had been done in the name of protecting others from him.
Back in the Dream Domain, the boy was waiting.
"You see it now," he said quietly. "You were never the monster. But they made you into one to avoid the future they feared."
Kairo's fists clenched. "Then I'll give them a future they should fear."
The boy smiled sadly. "Then we've reached the end."
He stepped forward.
Their bodies began to shimmer—overlap—merge.
[Final Ego Synchronization Underway...]
[Success Condition: Acceptance. Not denial.]
[Dream Throne Awakened.]
Kairo closed his eyes and accepted the child he was.
The child who dreamed of becoming strong.
Not to rule.
But to protect.
He opened his eyes.
The Dream Domain collapsed and floating before him in the void…was a throne made of glass and moonlight.
Cracked but waiting.
[You have claimed the Dream Throne]
[Main Ability: Dreamwalk – Enter minds, illusions, and alternate realities]
[Curse: Memory Bleed – Past and future overlap. Your sense of time will degrade.]
[Codex Special Condition: Curse Refinement Possible]
[Title Gained: Dreamborn Witness]
Kairo stood there for a long moment.
His thoughts stretched too far and too fast. Memories flowed backward. Forward. Images of things he hadn't lived—yet.
A war under crimson stars.
Lian Yue screaming his name in a city of mirrors.
A throne made of void, reaching for him.
Kairo exhaled sharply.
"I don't care if time shatters."
"I'll rewrite it all."