Chapter 5: The World in a Dream

“Kyaaaaaak!!”

“What’s going on!”

“What is it? Did an accident happen…?”

Murmur.

With a sharp scream, the atmosphere around began to become chaotic in an instant.

The academy officials on the podium were all looking around with puzzled expressions to grasp the situation.

But the woman’s screams continued.

And I, who is watching all of this, knows exactly what is happening here right now.

The first episode of the comic.

The magic runaway incident at the entrance ceremony.

An important event where the main character, who was a commoner, begins to receive people’s attention.

With this incident, the story of the comic can be said to begin in earnest.

I quickly got up from my seat and looked around.

Where is it?

Edmond, the main character of this whole story.

He must be somewhere in the auditorium.

After looking around for a while to find Ed.

Finally.

“Found him.”

Far away.

I was able to find a student with unusually black hair, unlike the surroundings.

Immediately after confirming the location.

I picked up the bag I had brought in advance and started running towards the main character.

But because the distance between him and me was a little farther than I expected, the time seemed a little tight.

I have to arrive in time.

‘That’ will start soon.

I have to reach near him before that.

I fixed my gaze only on Edmond and moved my feet quickly.

After running so hard, I was able to arrive safely before the incident started.

Safe…!

And the moment I arrived next to him.

A large amount of mana poured out from the back of the auditorium.

Space began to distort.

“Mana runaway…! Evacuate all the students!!”

Someone belatedly grasped the situation and shouted urgently.

But.

It was already late.

Soon after, as soon as the mana hit my body.

With the feeling of being sucked into somewhere.

My vision darkened in an instant.

“Ugh….”

It’s so f*cking dizzy.

I barely calmed my twisted stomach and shook my head.

It’s not the sensation I expected.

It was mentioned simply as ‘dizzy’ in the comic, so I thought it would be just a little dizzy.

This feels like someone hung me upside down and hit me on the head a few times.

After the nausea subsided to some extent, the surroundings began to be seen properly.

Hard stone floor.

Even the high and thick stone walls surrounding the area.

I feel like I’m trapped in a huge maze.

“Wh, what is this place?”

“What’s going on…!”

Everyone who fell here with me doesn’t understand the current situation and is trembling with anxiety.

And the person who calms them down.

“Everyone. Please calm down for a moment!”

Edmond.

He, who was the first to grasp the situation, began to calm down the surroundings.

His personality is a typical shonen manga protagonist style with a sense of justice and leadership.

And in this crisis situation, a personality like his shines.

“We must all work together to overcome the crisis.”

“Wh, what are we going to do?”

“First, let’s check if there are any injured people. Please check if anyone around you is seriously injured.”

Ed starts to organize the situation quickly.

The other students start to look around according to his words.

But there is something he hasn’t thought about.

Hierarchy is important to nobles.

Even if you lack ability, if your rank is high, you will be quiet.

Moreover, these are still immature noble children who have not yet lost their noble spirit.

But Ed doesn’t look like a noble at all.

Because there is no family with black hair among the nobles of the empire.

Naturally, there is bound to be someone who opposes him.

“…Why should we listen to you?”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Rondel Ashborn. The second son of the proud Ashborn family.”

As expected, a person who expresses dissatisfaction with him appeared.

A man with a wrinkled face and a tilted head.

Judging by his attitude, it’s clear that he spoke to pick a fight.

‘It’s the same up to here.’

The situation is going exactly the same as the comic without a single error.

Then next.

“Wh, what is that!”

-Uooooooo.

Appeared.

A monster with a completely black body suddenly appeared from behind.

A specter that eats dreams.

The students began to panic at the sudden appearance of the specter.

The specter, which began to fly slowly towards us, began to scan us with a gloomy look like a wolf choosing its prey.

And there was someone who bravely stepped forward towards such a specter.

“Just a monster like that. [Fireball]!”

Rondel, who was picking a fight with Ed a while ago.

He proudly stepped forward and activated magic towards the monster.

But.

“Huh, huh…? Why??”

The magic is not activated.

Of course.

Because this is not a normal space.

Rondel began to panic greatly when his magic was not activated.

There is no mana in the atmosphere here.

So naturally, magic is also unusable.

You might think it’s a moment of crisis.

But I know that it’s not that dangerous of a situation.

“Oh, don’t come!!”

In the meantime, the specter quickly flew towards the female student who couldn’t escape.

And the specter, which instantly covered her, was quickly absorbed into her body.

Then, the female student who was attacked by the specter fell to the ground as if she lost consciousness.

“…….”

“Wh, what.”

But even after that, she showed no reaction.

A scene where everyone is frozen with tension.

‘Should I step up at this point?’

I broke the silence and got up from my seat and walked towards her.

And I bowed my head and checked her condition.

The chest that goes up and down regularly to breathe.

The appearance of lying on the floor weakly with both eyes closed tightly was like a sleeping person.

“She’s asleep.”

“I-is that true…?”

“Yes, would you like to check?”

As soon as I finished speaking, the students began to approach this side.

“She’s really asleep….”

“She doesn’t seem to be hurt anywhere?”

“What…? Wasn’t she attacked by a monster a moment ago?”

Specter.

Contrary to that grand name, it’s actually a trivial monster.

It’s just a low-level monster that just enters a person’s body and puts them to sleep.

“Specter…?”

Oh, who was that just now?

You know this?

I knew its existence through the comic.

But it’s usually a difficult monster to know.

Especially for freshmen who are just entering the academy.

In the midst of the murmuring looking down at the sleeping female student, I turned my head at the word that was heard softly.

And soon I was able to find a short female student wearing glasses that were large enough to cover half of her face.

“What is that?”

“Ah, ah…. Th, that…!”

Ed heard her voice and spoke to her.

But she was quite embarrassed, perhaps because she didn’t know he would talk to her.

The female student who stuttered for a long time.

Soon, she began to open her mouth carefully.

“That…. It’s a monster that only appears in ‘Arcana’….”

“Arcana…? Do you mean the ‘Dream Space’?”

“Yes? Ah, yes…!”

“Then could this place be the Dream Space…?”

Dream Space .

Also known as Arcana.

Arcana, which means the world of dreams, is another space that is different from reality with special power.

We are now in someone’s dream.

Ed, who found out that this place is Arcana, fell into thought for a moment.

And soon he raised his head as if he remembered something.

“Everyone. Can you listen to me for a moment?”

“What is it about?”

“I think I found a way to get out of here.”

“…!”

“Really?”

People who start to show a keen interest in Ed’s words that he has found a way to get out of here.

Eventually, he began to explain to the people who gathered around him.

“I think this place is called the Dream Space.”

“What…is that?”

“Simply put, it’s someone’s dream.”

“What is the way to get out of here?”

I wonder if Ed has found the right way.

“Somewhere in here, there must be fragments of the dream’s memories scattered around.”

As expected of the main character.

He found the answer right away.

“Now we will collect them and get out of here.”

After that, we walked into the maze together.

Some fell asleep due to the specters that suddenly popped out in the middle.

But so far, no one has been hurt.

“Careful.”

“Ah…! Thank you.”

I pulled Ed, who almost bumped into a wall that suddenly popped out.

He, who managed to stop just before the wall, thanked me.

One goodwill stack completed.

Since entering Arcana.

I’ve been sticking next to him and subtly taking care of him.

He was distracted by taking care of people, so he made small mistakes, and I helped him and built up goodwill.

I think I can say that I have made some acquaintance with him now.

This is what I wanted.

Making even a little acquaintance with him.

After the entrance ceremony, we will be assigned to classes.

But I will be in a different class from him.

Then, of course, the chances of interfering with his harem will also be reduced.

Building up goodwill with him before the story begins in earnest will definitely help my plan later.

By the way.

‘I think it’s time for one to come out soon….’

Even though we walked for quite a long time, we still haven’t found a single fragment of memory.

Unlike in the comic, where it was shown that it was found easily, the maze was enough to make us lose our sense of direction.

I wanted to find it quickly and move according to my original plan.

But I can’t see that gap at all.

“What is that…?”

At that time.

I heard someone’s voice.

Hearing that voice, I concentrated and began to look around.

And.

Found it.

One corner of the maze.

Finally, I was able to find an object emitting light far away.

There is only one thing that emits light like that here.

A fragment of memory.

I can use that to escape from here.

With a joyful heart, I ran towards it.