Chapter 79: The Morning After the Dream
Zac sat quietly at the Beginner’s Food restaurant, staring at the food in front of him while thinking something else.
Just after waking up that morning, Marty had sent him a message asking him to meet at Beginner’s Food at eight before heading to class.
What he hadn’t expected... was for everyone to show up.
The exact same group and exact same arrangement. As if the universe had looked at last night’s dinner and decided to copy-paste the save file.
Marty and Kelly were attempting to keep the conversation alive. While the others simply ate in silence.
Daniel and Shobin occasionally listened and answered them.
Adrian somehow managed to make eating toast look aristocratic, and Sabrina kept quiet and only focused on eating.
Meanwhile... Zac wasn’t there. At least not mentally. His thoughts were still trapped in the nightmare from last night.
The chains, tower, blood, and his father’s voice.
His thoughts drifted back to earlier that morning.
***
Early morning in Zac’s room.
After suddenly waking from the nightmare, it had taken him almost fifteen minutes just to calm his breathing.
The dream had felt far too real to leave it at that. "System."
[Hm?]
"Why do I keep getting dreams like these?"
[What dreams?]
Zac’s eye twitched. "Don’t play innocent. I know you saw it too."
The system remained silent for a moment. [It’s just a dream. Leave it as that.]
"How can I?" Zac sat on the edge of his bed, clenching his fists. "The last time this happened, I awakened one of the most dangerous bloodlines in existence."
"And not long after that, I started getting dreams connected to it."
He lowered his head. "My father disappeared eight years ago. Most people think he’s dead, and some believe the Association quietly got rid of him because they claimed he betrayed humanity."
His expression darkened. "Which is complete bullshit."
"He didn’t abandon or betray anyone. My mother, sister, and I believe that he’ll surely come back one day."
"One of the biggest reasons I became a variant...was to find him, and now I get a dream like this."
The system remained quiet.
"You told me there was a possibility my previous dream may become real, so tell me, is there a possibility that this one may also be real too?"
[I can’t answer that.]
"Why?"
[I can’t answer that either.]
Zac let out a frustrated breath. "System! I know you enjoy annoying me and enjoy watching me suffer for entertainment. But this isn’t the time."
[I know. And I’m serious. I cannot give you information regarding what you’re asking.]
"Aren’t you an information system?"
[Yes.]
"And your purpose is to help me grow?"
[Correct.]
"Then why can’t you tell me the information I need most?"
[The information you’re asking about exists beyond this world’s limits. If I tell you things this world itself cannot withstand, then the world will reject you.]
Zac frowned. "What does that even mean?"
[The simple version? Every world has limits of its own and when someone tries to reach beyond those limits, the world starts treating them as a threat.]
[For those people, there are usually only two outcomes. They either get expelled from the world or they are destroyed by the Will of Heaven.]
[And that rule applies to knowledge as well.]
Understanding slowly appeared on Zac’s face. "So if I learn those things, I die."
"Yes. Before you even finish hearing the answer, the heavens will descend upon you."
The room fell silent. Instead of relieving his worries, the answer only frustrated him even more.
"So there really is no way for me to know."
[There is. Just like I always say. Strength.]
[Become strong enough to survive the consequences or to simply ignore them.]
"And how strong is that?"
[I can’t answer that either.]
Zac leaned back against the bed. "Great."
***
"Zac? Zac!"
"Oi, Earth to our overly depressed protagonist." The voice finally broke through the fog in his head.
Zac blinked. "What?"
Marty was staring at him. So was everyone else at the table.
"I’ve been calling you for almost a minute," Marty said. "You looked like a disconnected server."
"Oh." Zac rubbed his forehead. "I didn’t realize. Sorry about that. I was just thinking about something."
"You’ve been acting weird since you got here," Marty said between bites. "Did House 69 finally break your spirit?"
Sabrina glanced at him. "Maybe he’s busy planning how to peek into another girl’s shower."
She said it casually, and normally, Zac would have fired back instantly with an insult of his own.
Instead...
"Don’t meddle in things you know nothing about." The words came out low and cold, with his divine aura exploding outward.
The entire restaurant fell silent. Nearby glasses rattled with trembling tables. Several students looked around in confusion as the pressure descended upon them.
Everyone at the table felt it. But Sabrina was at the center of it.
The moment she met Zac’s eyes, her blood ran cold.
Seeing that small red tent in his eyes, even if it was for a brief moment, she felt as though she wasn’t looking at the boy she had met two days ago.
Every instinct in her body screamed at her to run to save her life. And for the first time in years Sabrina Snow felt genuine fear.
"ZAC!" Marty shouted at the top of his lungs.
But Zac didn’t react at all. The pressure continued to spread more and more.
[Emotional instability detected. Bloodline synchronization increasing.]
Marty forced himself to his feet against the pressure. He grabbed Zac by the shoulders and shook him.
"ZAC!"
Instantly, Zac snapped back to reality. The pressure vanished and the crimson in his eyes disappeared.
The restaurant fell silent once again, but the six people at the table stared at him.
Zac lowered his head for a moment without meeting anyone’s eyes. "Sorry." He stood up immediately and walked out of the restaurant.
Daniel was the first to speak. "What was that?"
Marty shook his head. "I don’t know." He glanced toward the entrance. "I’ve never seen him act like that before."
Sabrina said nothing. She simply sat there silently.
Then Adrian placed a hand over his chest. "I understand now." Everyone looked at him. "It must be my fault. I should not have used my premium fairness cream this morning."
Adrian closed his eyes sadly. "The difference in our beauty must be too overwhelming for him to handle. He was consumed by jealousy."
The table fell silent.
Once again, everyone found themselves asking the same question. "Why do we even listen to this nonsense?"
Marty stood up. "I’ll go talk to him." Without waiting for an answer, he headed outside.
The morning air felt colder than it should have. Zac stood silently beneath a tree across from the restaurant, staring at nothing in particular.
"What the hell was that, System? Why did I react like that?"
[Because you allowed your emotions to take control. Didn’t I already warn you about your bloodline?]
"I’ve said this a million times, but I’ll say it again. Your bloodline is a double-edged sword. If you control it, it becomes your weapon.]
[But if it controls you...You become its weapon.]
Zac lowered his head.
[Ever since waking up this morning, you haven’t been yourself. You’ve been replaying the dream over and over. Thinking about your father, the possibilities you cannot confirm and answers you cannot reach.]
[Little by little, you allowed those emotions to pile up, and eventually they exploded.]
[Your bloodline is not passive, Zac. Whatever you feed it, it amplifies and returns to you many times over. If you give it anger, it will return that anger a hundredfold.]
[Remember this carefully, host. You possess the most terrifying bloodline in existence. One that even gods fear. If you master it, it will make you stronger than you can imagine. But if you allow it to master you, it won’t hesitate to strike exactly where it hurts the most.]
Zac stayed silent for several moments. Eventually, he let out a sigh.
[Since you’re feeling so down, let me give you a hint.]
"What?"
[You should be happy.]
"Why? Because I didn’t go fully berserk."
[Because the price for asking whether your father was alive wasn’t zero.]
Zac froze. But this time, a slow smile appeared on his face. "How did I not realize it?"
[Because you were too caught up in your own emotions.]
"System, you know what? I’m sorry for all the negative things I’ve said about you."
[Hold it right there. I don’t need your apology or your gratitude. Just try to be better. And I’m not the one who really needs to hear your apology.]
"What do you..."
Just then, a voice came from behind him. "Zac." He turned around and saw Marty walking toward him with a worried expression.
"Are you okay now?" Zac looked up at the sky for a moment before answering. "Yeah. I’m fine."
Seeing the small smile on his face, Marty visibly relaxed. "What happened back there? It’s not like you at all."
A few moments later, the restaurant doors opened and the others stepped outside. Zac walked toward them and stopped in front of the group. Especially Sabrina.
"I’m sorry. I had a lot going on in my head. I know that’s not a valid excuse, but it’s the truth."
Kelly immediately waved her hand. "It happens to everyone. Don’t worry about it so much."
"Even so..." Zac looked toward Sabrina. "I’m sorry."
Sabrina crossed her arms. "Good. Because you should be. And just like I said yesterday, your little intimidation tactics aren’t going to scare me."
A small smile appeared on Zac’s face. "I expected nothing less from an ice bitch."
"You...!" Before Sabrina could launch her counterattack, Daniel stepped forward. "Zac. We all carry things inside our heads. But a good variant learns to control those emotions before they control him."
Zac nodded. "I know and thank you."
Adrian suddenly spoke up. "So this means you weren’t jealous of my appearance?"
"What a shame. I had already prepared myself for the burden of beauty."
The group burst into laughter, and finally, the atmosphere returned to normal.
Marty stretched his arms. "Alright, enough emotional character development. Shouldn’t we get to our first class?"
"Naturally." Adrian raised his chin proudly. "The future savior of humanity cannot be late. Follow your king." With that, Adrian marched ahead.
The others simply shook their heads and followed behind him.
The girls followed behind the group, leaving a small distance between them.
Kelly glanced toward Sabrina. "You know, I don’t actually think he’s a bad guy."
Sabrina looked at her. "And how exactly did you arrive at that conclusion?"
Kelly shrugged. "My mom always says that people who can realize their mistakes and sincerely apologize for them usually aren’t bad people."
Sabrina snorted. "That’s a very flawed philosophy, Kelly."
"Probably." Kelly smiled. "But I still don’t think he’s a bad guy."
Sabrina looked ahead at Zac walking in front of them. After a few seconds, she looked away again. "Whatever. Let’s just get to class."
Comments