The Person in the Dream

Looking back now, everything remains so vivid.

The cold, sharp electronic beep, the blindingly white ceiling, the smell of antiseptic that was so familiar it was almost repulsive, the busy doctors and nurses, the chaotic shouting in my ears, the sensation of my body burning as if scorched by flames, pain wrapping around me like thorns, making it impossible to even move a muscle.

Turning my head, I could see that slender figure lying quietly on the bed, eyes closed, as peaceful and sweet as a sleeping beauty from a fairy tale, completely isolated from the world as if nothing had anything to do with her.

Gradually, the busy crowd began to disperse, leaving only two blurred figures kneeling by the bed, sobbing.

The electronic sound began to slow, the heat in my body started to fade, and the pain slowly receded, yet I felt no joy at all. The only thing I could do was turn my head, gaze at that figure, and wait for the dark and desperate truth to arrive.

Finally, after a low, long beep, the hospital room returned to its usual silence.

And in that instant, Rhode felt as if his own heart had stopped beating.

Since then, Rhode had never experienced such a feeling again, but now, he was experiencing it once more.

Standing before him was a young girl.

With long, smooth, jet-black hair draped over her shoulders, a slender and frail frame wrapped in a hospital gown, fair skin, and delicate features, she possessed a face almost identical to Rhode's. Her dark, bright eyes radiated a liveliness and clarity that seemed incongruous with her appearance. Her pale pink lips curved into a friendly arc.

Although the two looked almost exactly the same, the difference in gender revealed completely different temperaments. Rhode always wore a serious expression, carrying the steady, calm, and decisive nature typical of a man. This girl, however, fully exuded her feminine side; anyone who saw her would consider her the world's most perfect ideal of a woman—intelligent, beautiful, gentle, and lovely.

"Brother..."

The girl reached out her right hand, looking at the Rhode before her with a hint of confusion.

"Where is this? Why are you here?"

"..."

Rhode opened his mouth but couldn't say a single word. At the same time, the unease deep within him began to slowly dissipate. For some reason, Rhode felt that in front of her, he didn't need to maintain any vigilance at all. After all, she was his sister, wasn't she?

No!

Rhode jolted violently.

His sister had long since gone to that world; this woman could not possibly be his sister.

This didn't match his memories!

For the first time, Rhode felt a chill crawl up his spine. He had never encountered such a situation in the game. Looking back now, his unease perhaps stemmed from the subtle contradiction between the game's background descriptions and the player's own personal experience. NPCs in a game certainly couldn't peer into the depths of a player's heart, so they could only settle for imitating a simulacrum. But now, he was not in the game, not in that virtual world, so everything had changed!

However, Rhode quickly calmed himself down again. He stared at the girl before him, remaining silent.

What should he do?

In the game, the Shadow Phantom simulated the player's reflection, so there were no obstacles—you just slashed at it. But now? Standing before him wasn't his shadow, but his sister, which made Rhode feel somewhat troubled. Although his reason told him that what was before him was merely a phantom, a hallucination rather than a real existence, the girl in front of him was far too real; it was truly difficult to treat her as a fake, illusory object.

"Brother?"

The girl stepped forward half a pace and extended her right hand.

"Why aren't you speaking?"

In that instant, her figure seemed to flicker. Rhode felt the thick fog around him begin to dim, the air growing heavier, making it difficult even to breathe. He instinctively opened his mouth, but the air rushing into his lungs was bone-chillingly cold, making him cough uncontrollably.

And just then, deep darkness slowly emerged within the originally white fog. It spread rapidly like a drop of ink falling into clear water, and soon, the shadows completely engulfed Rhode's figure.

"W-will Mr. Rhode be alright?"

Standing in the distance, watching the fog ahead turning dim, Mace couldn't help but ask with concern. He clutched his travel bag tightly, his eyes darting around. The fog here had always been a faint white, but now that it had turned so black, even a merchant like Mace could tell that something was wrong.

"..."

Lize did not respond to Mace's question; she only clasped her hands tightly against her chest.

For a moment, she really wanted to rush in and see how Rhode was doing. After all, her adventuring experience was far richer than Mace's, so she naturally saw at a glance that the current situation was absolutely abnormal. But just as she was about to move, the words Rhode had said before leaving echoed in her mind once more.

"No matter what happens, you must absolutely not risk rushing in, even if you see my shadow. Unless I walk right up to you, do not even move a muscle. The Shadow Phantom is a very cunning and dangerous monster. I don't want any accidents to happen to you, and to be frank, no matter your motives, doing so would only bring me more danger."

It had to be said that Rhode's words, combined with his calm and cold expression, were indeed very hurtful. Even Lize felt a pang in her heart at that moment. However, she was a professional mercenary after all, and she understood these principles. After all, this was a matter of life and death; nothing was more important than life itself.

In the end, Lize just sighed softly and said nothing.

But her hands gripped even tighter.

And at this moment, within the pitch-black fog, the girl's outstretched hands had already wrapped around Rhode's neck.

"Brother? Why aren't you speaking?"

The girl's smile was just as sweet as in Rhode's memories. Although so many years had passed, she was still the same as in his recollections, wearing that sunny, gentle smile. She had always been this way; she had never changed.

Rhode took a step back. He could even feel the girl's body heat, her face already right before his eyes. In a daze, Rhode felt as if he had returned to seven years ago. Back then, she was just like this, sitting on the bed, hugging him coquettishly, asking him to tell her about the outside world.

"Just like before, will you tell me about the outside world? How did you come here? What kind of place is this?"

The girl's voice was still so gentle, reaching deep into Rhode's heart.

And just then, looking at the girl, Rhode suddenly smiled slightly.

If Lize were here to see this smile, she would surely be stunned into speechlessness, because ever since Rhode had arrived in this world, he had never once shown a smile. But now, he was smiling.

Seeing Rhode's expression, the smile on the girl's face grew even thicker.

"Bro..."

But this time, she did not finish her sentence.

Because a white, sharp blade had sliced through the darkness in the blink of an eye, piercing through the girl's body.

"---!!!"

A psychic shriek erupted from the depths of the soul. The girl's form began to distort uncontrollably as she retreated rapidly, and the blackness that had saturated the dense fog followed her, receding in tandem.

"Hoo..."

Rhode took a light breath, yet the smile on his face remained unchanged. As he raised his hand, the pitch-black ring on his index finger could be seen radiating a magical glow.

"Thank you very much for letting me relive such a beautiful dream."

Watching the girl retreat, Rhode's tone remained as flat as ever, revealing nothing of his true inner thoughts.

"However, I'm afraid I'm in a hurry."

Even as he spoke, Rhode's hands did not stop. In fact, the moment the girl began her rapid retreat, his right hand lashed out. The brilliant Moonlight Blade erupted from his sword, flying straight toward his target.

For the severely wounded girl, there was no way to dodge this strike. Her body leaned to the left, a shocking wound running from her chest to her shoulder. For an ordinary person, this would have been fatal or at least crippling, but it was clear that the girl before him was no ordinary person.

Staring at the silvery sword energy, the girl opened her mouth in despair. Accompanied by a piercing shriek, the black mist surrounding her swirled and condensed before her, forming a barrier. At that very moment, Rhode's sword energy arrived.

"Clang!!"

The wall of black mist shuddered violently and grew significantly thinner, while the silvery sword energy, obstructed by the mist, failed to strike its target. Seeing this, a flicker of relief appeared in the girl's eyes—but it quickly turned to terror.

One, two, three points.

The mist wall, having already withstood one Moonlight, finally collapsed completely after the fourth ray of the Shatter Blade. The subsequent beam of light pierced through the shattered mist, cold and merciless, once again penetrating the girl's body. This time, the severely wounded girl could no longer escape; she let out a miserable scream and collapsed to the ground.

At that moment, Rhode's figure appeared before her.

Rhode was very familiar with the monster known as the Shadow Phantom. It was not inherently powerful; in the game, it was only troublesome because it copied the player's own abilities and skills.

In reality, although the Shadow Phantom had managed to catch Rhode off guard by diving deep into his mind to seek out a mental projection, it lacked the strength it possessed in the game. Originally a boss that players could solo-farm, it now lacked even the ability to copy player skills, so its performance was predictable.

Rhode's heart sank slightly. It was fortunate he had activated the Ring of Will in time; otherwise, it was hard to say what kind of damage the Shadow Phantom might have inflicted. It was not a powerful monster, but every word it had spoken to him had struck home, and every question had made Rhode hesitate, even causing him to briefly doubt whether the person before him was truly his sister. Fortunately, Rhode had experienced such boss scenarios many times in the game, so his subconscious still felt that something was off. Had it been anyone else, they likely would have fallen completely into the trap.

In that sense, the Shadow Phantom was indeed a very dangerous monster, but such mental-type monsters shared one major weakness: their constitution was generally weak.

The Shadow Phantom lying on the ground had lost its previous appearance. The girl's face began to twist, her features blurring, and when she opened her mouth, one could see a deep darkness within. Even her limbs showed signs of dissipating. Watching Rhode walk slowly toward it, the Shadow Phantom looked up at him, filled with fear, and opened its mouth once more to emit a psychic shriek.

"---!!!"

The invisible, violent attack tore through the air, but turned into a harmless breeze before the transparent barrier surrounding Rhode.

The barrier of the Ring of Will was not just for show.

Seeing the attack fail, the Shadow Phantom let out a desperate scream and scrambled to its feet, attempting to retreat and escape once more. But before it could merge into the thick fog, Rhode raised his longsword again. With a flash of movement, he arrived beside the Shadow Phantom in the blink of an eye and thrust his sword down.

The pristine blade pierced the Shadow Phantom's body without resistance. The intense pain forced a sharp, miserable scream from the creature. It opened its mouth wide, where only two pitch-black voids remained in place of eyes, and the interior of its gaping maw was nothing but emptiness. Combined with its distorted face, it looked exceptionally horrifying.

Yet, seeing this face, Rhode's heart settled. After all, the Shadow Phantom had been wearing his sister's face the entire time. Although he had suffered no trouble thanks to the protection of the Ring of Will, he couldn't help but feel uneasy just looking at that face. Now, seeing this twisted visage, Rhode's judgment was only further solidified.

At that moment, the screaming Shadow Phantom suddenly thrust out its right arm. The limb, which had been the length of a human's, suddenly elongated, whipping toward Rhode like a lash.

Rhode was clearly prepared for this. The moment the Shadow Phantom reached out, he shifted his footing, narrowly dodging the attack. Then, Rhode's figure turned into a bolt of lightning, charging straight in.

Facing Rhode, who had activated Shadow Blink, the Shadow Phantom had no time to react. Its right arm had only just lashed out when Rhode was already before it. Terrified, the Shadow Phantom reflexively raised its left hand to block, but it was already too late.

Star Beacon, activated.

At the tip of the snow-white blade, a point of radiance like a star suddenly erupted. It tore through the darkness, leaving a brilliant trail of light in the air. In an instant, even the dense, suffocating fog was parted like butter sliced by a knife. As the radiance reached its zenith, the shining blade whistled downward.

"------!!"

Split completely down the middle, the Shadow Phantom finally ceased its struggle. Its form shuddered, and it let out a desperate wail. Then, its blurred body shrank violently, and as it was compressed into a bright ball of light, it exploded outward. Intense fluctuations mixed with specks of light danced in all directions, causing even the dense fog to retreat. Then, like melting snow, they vanished without a trace.

Only then did Rhode lower his longsword.