Chapter 3: Planning for the Future
[A/N: I accidentally wrote celestial body as the combination of bone weave and soul weave; rather, it should be bone weave and blood weave. I also had already posted an auxiliary chapter explaining his attributes.]
Amon looked at his reflection in the mirror—long black hair, with partial golden strands woven in. The body he now inhabited wore earrings, a keepsake from his mother, which made him look even more feminine.
He felt a strange sense of guilty pleasure as he stared at himself. He liked that he looked good like this... but also hated that he looked like a twink. From the original body's memories, Amon couldn't judge why he looked this way.
Not wanting to think too deeply about it, he stepped into the shower and peeled off the clothes—not his own, but a standard-issue police tracksuit. Not that his original clothes could even be called clothes by his standards.
As the water ran over his body, Amon looked down at himself. Thin. Frail. Like a twig.
He sighed.
His thoughts drifted to the bigger picture—his situation.
'Okay... I've been transmigrated into the world of Lord of the Mysteries. But why?' He shook his head under the stream. 'No time to think about that now. My first priority should be surviving the Winter Solstice... which is happening in a month.'
He began listing everything he knew:
'I've been transmigrated into LotM. This might be the First Epoch. The Evernight Goddess is protecting me. People here get infected with something called the Nightmare Spell, which gives them trials. Wow... the power system here is actually really cool. Nightmare spells—damn.'
He shook his head again. 'Focus. I think I got Celestial Worthy's powers. And I think he's awakening inside me. If I can get transmigrated here, I should be able to return too. I'll wait for Klein to arrive, then we'll figure out a way back together. The whole "pathways" thing might be because there's a huge age gap between this epoch and when Klein transmigrates.'
[A/N: Yes, he's wrong. But think of it this way—if you knew only about LotM and woke up in the SS world as CW, wouldn't you think you were in LotM too? This is everything he knows.]
By the time Amon stepped out of the shower and got dressed again, he had resolved to return home—no matter what it took. He dried off quickly and slipped back into the tracksuit, then made his way toward the cafeteria.
As he entered, he noticed a table where three men and one woman sat eating. Two of the men immediately stood and ran toward him. Amon recognized them—his brothers, Benson and Adam.
They wrapped him in a tight hug before he could react.
It was... complicated.
These two were murderers, yet they genuinely loved the original owner of this body. Amon could feel it, even without digging deep. He knew that, in their shoes, he might've done the same. But the image of the crying girl by her dead father's body lingered in his mind.
He thought about telling them the truth—that their brother was gone. But in the end, he stayed silent.
He didn't return their hug, either. The original owner had never shown them affection like that. But Amon could sense, from the residual feelings, that he'd loved them deeply.
After a long moment, Adam pulled back and said, "Let's go back to the table."
Benson nodded, and they all returned to sit. At the table sat Jet—and a thin, short boy who was shoveling greyish mush into his mouth with unnerving enthusiasm.
Synth paste.
Amon couldn't believe anyone could eat that. He knew from the original memories just how disgusting it was.
'How the hell is he eating that with a straight face? No... he must be from the outskirts too,' Amon guessed as he took a seat.
Once they were settled, Jet spoke, "So what are you guys planning to do? Are you joining the academy or not?"
Amon didn't hesitate. The Dream Realm was dangerous. He needed strength. "Yes."
The kid next to him also nodded.
Jet gestured between them. "Amon, this is Sunless. Sunless, meet Amon. You're both from the outskirts—you should watch each other's backs."
Amon looked at Sunless. The boy had a smug little smirk on his face as he met Amon's eyes.
(Sunny's POV)
Sunny watched as Benson and Adam hugged Amon, then led him to the table. He took one look at Amon's appearance.
'Huh. Definitely a twink,' Sunny thought bluntly.
Then Jet spoke, "Amon, this is Sunless. Sunless, meet Amon. You're both from the outskirts—you should look out for each other."
'Another outskirts rat who cleared their first Nightmare. But whatever. I've already got a True Name and a Divine-rank Aspect,' Sunny thought smugly, the expression bleeding onto his face.
(Amon's POV)
Amon frowned slightly at Sunless's smug expression.
'Why is he looking at me like that?'
It was weird. But Amon didn't think too deeply about it.
Jet broke the silence again. "It's late, but you know what they say—us outskirts kids are tough."
Sunless called out, "Wait, Master Jet—you're from the outskirts too?"
Jet chuckled, "What, you thought my exquisite behavior and good looks meant I was some noble's daughter?"
Amon didn't comment, simply observing them. Benson and Adam stayed quiet as well.
Later, Amon and Sunny sat in the back seat of Jet's PTV as she drove them in silence. She had invited Benson and Adam to join them, but they declined. Adam had promised to visit Amon at the academy the day before the solstice.
After a long silence, Jet finally spoke.
"Since we're all from the outskirts, I'll give you three pieces of advice. Listen carefully if you want to survive."
Both Amon and Sunny nodded.
"First," Jet said, "they'll offer you psychological counseling at the academy."
Sunny cut in, "So... should we take it or not?"
Jet didn't seem bothered by the interruption. "No. Don't take it. And never share personal information with the government. The easiest way to kill an Awakened is to exploit their Flaw. Do you think I became a cop because I wanted to? There are better ways to make money."
Sunny leaned back with a grin. "Yeah, I wouldn't wanna be a government dog either."
Amon's eyes widened. 'What the fuck, Sunless? You trying to get yourself killed? You're talking to an Ascended!'
But Jet just laughed it off.
Amon exhaled, relieved.
"Second piece of advice," Jet continued. "You'll get to choose classes—combat, rune reading, all that. But you two should pick wilderness survival. City kids got training in school; we didn't."
Then she asked, "What was the most dangerous thing you faced in your first Nightmare?"
Amon's heart skipped. 'Wait... people remember their first Nightmare? But in the memories I got, there was nothing about it... I thought no one remembered!'
Sunny answered, "The cold."
Both Jet and Sunny looked to Amon.
He quickly responded, "The heat."
Jet nodded. "Exactly. You can run from a creature, but you can't outrun the environment."
Amon and Sunny both took that to heart.
They arrived at the gates of the Awakened Academy—massive, looming over them like a fortress.
As they stepped out of the PTV, Sunny asked, "What's the third piece of advice?"
Jet replied, "No one survives the Dream World alone. Make friends."
Then she drove off, leaving the two boys standing before the academy.
[A/N: plz review and comment. This way I will be able to improve, also please correct me when the timeline is wrong or something like that. I want this to be as close as the original novel, but I will give the main cast my own character development.]