In the room, a young man with red hair was sitting in a weird position, his legs resting on the table. There were several people in the room, all discussing matters while he listened to every detail. His posture looked sloppy, but his ears absorbed every word they spoke.
There was a knock on the door.
He turned his head lazily. "Come in."
A man entered the room and bowed slightly. "Sorry for being late. One of my awakened idiots went missing."
The red-haired man said, "Dordo, you came late for that crap? Do you really still think of them as students now?"
Mr. Dordo waved his hands. "It's not like that, Dean. He just went missing, so I called to ask if he had returned home. Who knew his mother would trouble me so much?"
---
After spending some quiet time with his mom—mostly watching movies until both of them dozed off—Drayen woke up on the living room sofa. A sharp, numb ache shot through his back, and he let out a low grunt.
"Haaw… damn," he muttered, stretching slightly.
The living room was swallowed in dim darkness, the heavy curtains blocking out the daylight. Only the faint outline of furniture hinted at where he was as his eyes adjusted slowly.
As soon as he blinked awake, a familiar line of text materialized in front of his eyes.
[ Good morning, Drayen ]
It popped up out of nowhere—again.The same damned thing that had appeared ever since he returned from the Nightmare Realm.
He gave a long sigh as he began to think about the events of the Nightmare Realm and this window pop-up which occurred from nowhere. He had totally ignored all these things after his memory came back.
The window pop-up broke the silence.
[ Should I continue to call you Drayen, or do you prefer your previous life's name? ]
"Save it as Drayen," he said in a low tone.
"What are you?" he asked, curiosity slipping into his voice.
"What was that nightmare I had?"
"How am I able to remember things from my previous life?"
Drayen had accepted his memories as Rael. Because his instinct—or it was like his soul—was starting to remember the forgotten memories. So he didn't doubt his identity as Rael. But he still had all these questions.
[ One at a time, please ]
[ Let me introduce myself. I am an AI and was bound to Rael. As per his orders, I have rebooted your memory. ]
As Rael was dying, the AI had surfaced in his consciousness—he'd used it to trigger his own rebirth.
"I know that much already. I got the memories of Rael. I'm asking how you were able to do it."
[ The power I used to restore your memories came from a mysterious substance.
I don't know what it is—only that it has been part of me since my creation. ]
Drayen thought about the crystal in the lab and understood everything. Rael had hacked the whole lab, even the CCTVs, so he knew about the mysterious substance mentioned by the AI.
What exactly was that damned substance…?
It could even rebirth a person?
"What about the nightmare?" he asked.
[ That's the Nightmare Realm. The realm that is becoming one with this world. ]
A flicker ran across the window—almost like static. Before he could open his mouth, multiple pop-ups appeared.
[ Previous protocol failure detected. ]
[ Error corrected. ]
[ Returning to original protocols. ]
A new line formed immediately after.
[ Installing all 32 bloodlines… ]
[ 1%… 3%… 21% ]
"Wait—wait, hold on." Drayen shot upright. "Installing what? What do you mean bloodlines?
A cold chill crawled up his spine—the same suffocating cold he'd felt in the Nightmare Realm. His pulse hammered in his ears.
The progress bar continued climbing, completely ignoring him.
[ 70%… 90%… 98%… 99%… 100% ]
[ Task completed successfully. ]
[ Scanning host… ]
The window shifted.
[ Status Window ]
| Host Name: Drayen
| Age: 18
| Gender: Male
| Bloodline: All 32 Types ( 31 Degraded )
| Primary Bloodline: Moon Butterfly (Original)
Drayen stared at the window, unable to breathe for a moment.
All 32 bloodlines?
Moon Butterfly… superior? Original?
None of it made sense.
He was about to speak further, but he felt his soul was drained and tired as he faded out again.
Two days passed quietly.
Life felt strangely normal again as Drayen prepared for university—almost as if the Nightmare Realm, the bloodlines, and the status window had all been a dream. Almost.
He had woken up later that day feeling only drained, not different.
No sudden powers.
Nothing unusual with his body.
Just… exhaustion.
During those two days, he kept talking with the AI—now named Wing. Piece by piece, he began to understand the situation more clearly. The bloodlines had been corrupted—or rather, degraded—because the system had been forced to rebirth him. More power had been consumed during that process, and Wing couldn't tell anything about the mysterious force capable of forcing a rebirth while also granting bloodlines. Its memories were fuzzy and fragmented, so it didn't know much about these bloodlines or the Nightmare Realm either.
He waved goodbye to his worried mom as he stepped out of the house.
A window instantly popped up.
[ Are you going to look for the portal today? ]
Drayen slapped his forehead.
"Again? Seriously?"
"Fuck you, Wing."
He didn't want to think about that complex realm anymore—not today. With that thought, he blocked Wing from talking any further.
It was already exhausting to process all this information from past two days. Although its memories were corrupted, its obsession was strangely alive and well. The AI wouldn't let go of that so-called permanent portal. Right now, he just wanted a breather… and a normal day. With that thought, he made his way toward his class.