The Dreamer's POV

Chapter 39: The Strange Girl

The girl had a pale face, with long white hair, having hues of pink littered all over it.

Her gleaming pink eyes drew my attention instantly, almost sucking me into its vast abyss.

I felt my heart racing suddenly, not knowing why.

Even the Title effect of <Visionary> could not stop the overwhelming surge of emotions that I felt.

'W-who is... this girl?!'' My thoughts echoed as she gave me a curious stare.

She was currently dressed in a black leather jacket, having a crop top and shorts to accentuate it, and from her choice of fashion, she seemed like a tomboy.

Despite all the chaos, she also didn't seem to be panicking—unlike most of the people I began to notice around me.

Instead of all that, she maintained her curious gaze at me, almost as if something was written on my face.

"U-um, why are you staring at me...?" I finally broke the silence between us and asked.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Her response puzzled me.

Wasn't she staring hard at me just now? Yet from her response, if felt like she was trying to play dumb.

"You're also staring at me, right? I didn't ask you why, did I?" Once again, she hit me with another bombshell.

"W-well, that is..."

Why was I being so flustered? What in the world was going on?

Even when facing Demons with my life on the line, where every second meant certain death, I never felt so overcome with unrecognizable emotions.

I never fumbled so badly.

'Is she more dangerous than those Demons? Or am I just reacting like this because...'

The girl in front of me was very pretty!

"It's okay to stare, sleepyhead. Don't worry... I won't bite." She tapped my shoulder while making an empathetic smile.

'Huh? What's this? I don't understand.'

Why was she calling me sleepyhead? Was it because I was closing my eyes when we all appeared here? Did she think I was sleeping or something?

"No, I was just—"

"It's fine." She looked at me with a widening grin, her eyes narrowing on me as if she would eat me up that very moment.

It honestly felt strangely... oddly exhilarating.

'What am I thinking?!'

"Well, I'm off now. It's time to go meet a couple of others like you."

As she let go of my shoulder, drawing away from me, I felt pulled towards her. I controlled myself, but the intense feeling almost overwhelmed me.

I somehow didn't want her to go.

Before I realized it, I found myself blurting out words I shouldn't have uttered.

"I doubt you'll find many that are like me."

Why did I just say that? I should have just kept quiet and let her go!

The girl's face took on a facade of slight surprise, before finally morphing into a smile. Her eyes narrowed slowly, and her lips curled up widely.

It really made her seem as scary as it made her appear alluring.

"I'm well aware, sleepyhead. You're quite an interesting boy."

"What?"

"I think it'll be fun if we meet again. Don't forget me until then." She waved, suddenly making her way into the crowd.

"W-wait... what's your name?" I asked, my voice hushed, since I didn't want to stir up anything among the audience around me, or draw too much attention to myself.

~Zzt~ A sudden sensation coursed through my head, and I felt a sharp sting pulsating through me.

~I'll tell you my name next time... Mikey.~

My eyes instantly widened, and I felt my body nearly collapse in shock.

'She knows my name?! The only one who should have been able to know that was Lisa and her friends.'

And they were all dead!

A couple of people also knew my name, thanks to the few acquaintances I had made, but I didn't recognize anyone like her.

Perhaps we met on the internet. There was one weirdo I chatted with one time, but that person shouldn't have been able to know how I looked like.

She also called me Sleepyhead.

'I initially thought it was because she thought I was sleeping, but...'

What if she saw my Status Window?!

That would mean she saw my Role and Authority, and perhaps even my Skills. If she called me by that nickname as a reference to that, then—

'But when? How?!'

My eyes widened as soon as I remembered how she was keenly staring at me just moments earlier.

'Fuck! I messed up!'

I was too careless! No, hold on, I wasn't particularly careless.

I was just confused.

I didn't know what was going on until it was too late.

If her ability to see Status Windows was the same as my <Dream>, then was there really anything I could have done?

'Fuck!'

The fact that she also had telepathy made it a real problem for me. The sensation was different from Lisa's type, and she also didn't look like Lisa.

Besides, Lisa was most likely dead, and she wouldn't have interacted with me the way this stranger just did.

'This is too confusing. It's too much.'

Right as soon as I encountered other people, my first interaction with a person turned out to be such a disaster.

A creeping fear began to grow within me. I began to remember what happened the last time someone knew so much about me. It didn't end well.

'No... I don't want that!'

I couldn't afford to be eliminated so early on! After how hard I tried to survive, and after I finally resolved to survive no matter what. I couldn't go back to those desperate times.

No way!

'I have to find her and learn how much she knows!'

If she knew too much... enough to be of detriment to me, then... then... I would have no other choice but to—

~DING!~

~DING~

~DING~

Pinging sounds suddenly echoed throughout the vast field, causing many sounds of movements to reverberate around me.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound, and I was no different.

It came from above.

'Haaa? What is, no... who is that?'

Flying right above everyone was someone I could only describe as an angel.

It had six wings. Two served as a veil to cover it's face, two covered its legs, and with two, it flew in the sky.

It was so glorious and magnificent that I temporarily forgot about my earlier problem and became engrossed with its presence.

"[Greetings, Users. My name is Seraph]." It gave off a melodious voice, the most beautiful I had ever heard before.

Everyone suddenly fell quiet, and the entire space was enveloped in silence.

"[You are all currently in the Neutral Area. A precursor to the Ground Floor of the Tower Of Trials]."

I couldn't see the angel's face, but this was most likely a female. Her words sounded awfully mechanical, but they were pleasing to the ears nonetheless.

"[I will be explaining a few things. So listen carefully]."

And so, in absolute silence, all of us listened to the words the angel would utter.

... Unaware of the trials and tribulations ahead.

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[A/N]

Thanks for reading!

Who is this strange girl? What does she want with Mikey, and just how much does she know?

And finally... what sort of world awaits the survivors of the Tutorial?!