Damiano drove for a long time with a vacant stare.
His hands were still covered in blood, staining the steering wheel in the process, but he didn't care.
Once the feeling of relief—of finally being out of danger—faded… guilt appeared.
He had murdered a man.
It hadn't been a quick death or a clean shot. It had been a violent death, carried out with his own hands.
He had never been in a fight, either in his previous life or in this one. He wasn't that kind of person.
In any kind of conflict, his solution had always been to walk away.
His hands trembled, and from time to time he glanced at the knife on the passenger seat. He tried to push the image of that man agonizing and fighting for his life out of his mind, but he couldn't.
He knew this was a nightmare, that the people in it seemed to be taken from a movie from his previous world—but knowing that didn't make him feel any better.
"Fuck!" Damiano slammed his fist against the dashboard, overcome with rage, frustration, and sadness. He couldn't help feeling disappointed in himself, especially when he thought about going back in time to that moment.
Because he knew he would do it again without hesitation.
He had always thought of himself as a good person, someone willing to help others.
But the moment his own life was at risk, the first thing he did was run and save himself.
He knew from the movie that the first person to die would be Tod, the younger brother of the body he was now occupying. Even so, he hadn't thought for a single second about helping him—or even warning him.
He had even stolen his mother's car, because he knew that once he was the only one who hadn't died after leaving Death's list, Alex and his friends would come to him with questions, and by consequence would bring Death with them.
Lost in his thoughts, he drove until he reached a gas station, where he washed up, filled the tank, bought some food, and continued on his way.
While crossing a large bridge, he got rid of his bloodstained clothes and the knife.
Damiano did nothing but drive and stop to refill the tank. Even when he believed himself to be off Death's list, he never stopped looking for signs of Death's imminent arrival.
After two weeks, he stopped at a gas station to fill up and saw something on the TV.
> "That makes six deaths so far in strange incidents involving the survivors of Flight 180," the reporter said, apparently standing outside a hospital where many people had gathered. "One of the survivors is reported missing, although it is not ruled out that he may also have died. This is Stacy McMillan, reporting from New York."
Damiano stared at the screen in shock.
Everyone was already dead. If he remembered correctly, out of the seven survivors, six died in the first movie, while the only survivor died shortly afterward during the events of the second movie.
Bloody letters slowly began to appear in his vision.
[First Nightmare Completed]
[Mission: Survive]
Mission Rating: SS
[You not only survived until the end—you erased your name from Death's list.]
Damiano collapsed against the gas station counter. Relief flooded his entire body as the words appeared in his vision.
Ending nightmare…
Damiano's vision blurred, and he suddenly found himself back in his bedroom at his father's house.
Everything looked exactly the same as when he had left. When he looked at the clock on the wall, he was shocked to see that only one hour had passed since he had entered the nightmare.
He had spent more than two weeks inside that nightmare, but in the real world, only an hour had gone by.
Damiano shifted his attention to the blood-made words that appeared in his vision.
[SS-Rank Mission Rewards]
+1000 Nightmare Points
+0.5 Physical
+0.5 Mind
Skill: Sense of Death
[Sense of Death: Passive skill that warns the Sleeper whenever their life is in danger.]
[Sleeper Forum Unlocked]
[Nightmare Shop Unlocked]
[Nightmare Space Unlocked]
Immediately afterward, his own information appeared.
[Damiano Mars]
Age: 18
[Status: Healthy]
[Rank: Sleeper]
[Stats]
Physical: 1.3
Mind: 1.5
Skills:
Sense of Death
Damiano threw himself onto the bed, completely exhausted—physically and mentally.
He had overcome his nightmare, and in an incredible way.
The rewards were amazing, but he couldn't think about that right now. He just wanted to sleep peacefully, without feeling hunted by Death at every moment.
Although, thinking about it more deeply, life itself was nothing more than a game of running from Death.
"Phew…" Damiano stared at the description of the Sense of Death skill with a wide smile on his face.
He had entered that nightmare with the goal of acquiring a superpower. And while that skill wasn't exactly a flashy superpower, it was an incredible ability.
That single skill gave him enough peace of mind to sleep in his bed, even after the traumatic events he had just endured.
Damiano slept like a baby.
The next day, he didn't wake up until 10 a.m.
He prepared a light breakfast with eggs, sausage, and bread. Fortunately, it was Sunday and he didn't have to go to school.
"Good morning," his older brother greeted him as he came out of his room to get a glass of water.
"Good morning," Damiano replied, still a bit sleepy.
"Oh, by the way… happy birthday," Andre said after finishing his water. The congratulations were as casual as his earlier greeting, as if Damiano's birthday were just another ordinary day.
And personally… that was exactly how Damiano preferred it.
"Thanks."
He hated it when his father insisted on throwing him a party and inviting people over.
Every time people congratulated him with big smiles and looked at him expectantly… he never knew how to react.
He felt very uncomfortable being such an unexpressive person and being forced to smile at every guest who congratulated him.
He hated smiling fake smiles all day long.
"Hey," Andre paused just before going back into his room to play on his computer. "You didn't enter a nightmare, did you?"
Damiano shuddered at his words and forced a stiff smile.
"How could you think that? If I had entered a nightmare, I wouldn't be here talking to you right now."
Andre stared at him for a few seconds, then shrugged.
"You'd better not have. You know how Dad is about that… and what happened with Jason…" Andre stared at the door for a few seconds, his gaze distant. "The old man wouldn't be able to handle another loss."