Fantasy Clock～Dream Ruler～

The field of vision is extremely clear, and the consciousness is extremely clear.

It's almost to the point where I wonder if I'm dreaming.

Only the layout of the scene here has nothing to do with the word "reality".

I looked up at the clock directly above. Its dial was facing us and directly below me. However, the twelve people standing on the clock dial did not fall due to gravity.

This impossible phenomenon in reality made me realize again that I was dreaming. With just a little distraction, I forget about dreaming... Maybe that's what makes lucid dreaming so difficult.

"But what the hell is this place?"

There are only 12 different clocks in the sky, and people standing on the clocks seem to be accustomed to this scene.

There are 12 people standing around the four clocks, the least clock has only 9 people, and most of the others are 10 people. The clock where I am is because the twelve beside me are vacant, and there are 11 people in total including me.

Although I could see the people around me, I couldn't hear any sound. Obviously people here are talking about something, but I can only see their wriggling lips.

This deathly silence stung his ears, and the tinnitus began to clamor in his ears to eliminate the silence.

I'm sure it's not because it's too far away from other clocks. After all, I couldn't even hear the voices of the young man wearing a trench coat standing on the number 10 and the magician girl who was the number 9 who were closest to me.

"Hey, can you hear me?"

I try to move my body and walk over to them to check on the situation, but no matter how many steps I take, I end up back on the number 11.

I had no choice but to turn sideways and look under the clock, but the bottom was bottomless, and there was a black cloud covering the top, like a bottomless abyss. This ethereal sense of emptiness, as well as the terrifying height, made me shrink my head.

"Since it's me who is dreaming, just obey my orders..."

I closed my eyes helplessly, imagining that the clock suddenly collapsed, and the people on the clock fell into nothingness, but when I opened my eyes again, this picture did not become a reality.

"I'm so annoyed, which step did I do wrong?"

"Young man...don't waste your time."

Suddenly, a strange man's voice came from a certain direction.

I was startled by the sudden voice in the silence, opened my eyes in a hurry, looked around, and finally locked my eyes on the uncle standing on the number 1 opposite, he was dressed in a criminal police suit that didn't match Xia Tian Clothes.

Although Uncle No. 1 has the outline of a typical European and American man, and although his words are blurred because of the cigarette in his mouth, what he speaks is fluent Chinese that is easy to understand.

I can't describe the feeling...

It was as if he was speaking English, and I was not good at English, but the meaning of the words went straight to my mind beyond the language barrier.

"Do you have any tips to tell me?" I muttered softly.

I don't know what's funny about my words, No. 1 laughed inexplicably.

A lighter suddenly appeared in his empty left hand, but before he moved it to his mouth, the smoke seemed to be ignited by an invisible flame. Then, his index finger moved only slightly, and the smoke obediently moved away from his mouth as if it had a will.

I looked at the slender column of smoke that rose, and I was a little dazed.

"You kid, do you think I'm an NPC in the game?"

Number 1 took a deep breath and let out the smoke. There was a sneer at me in his voice.

There wasn't any movement of air nearby, but the red tie on his chest unnaturally fluttered slightly following his sneer.

"Everyone here is just like you. We are living, dreaming people."

"When an npc introduces his identity in the game, he won't foolishly admit that he belongs to an npc..."

My stubborn insistence made him laugh exaggeratedly again. He glanced at me casually, shrugged his shoulders, stretched out his hand to skillfully pinch the smoke floating in the air between his index finger and middle finger, and brought it back to his mouth.

Number 1 said again in an indistinct voice:

"You just hold on to your worldview that breaks at the touch of a touch... Anyway, you will understand in a short time. I promise."

After all, he didn't look at me anymore, and turned his eyes to the boy beside him. The boy No. 2 next to him has a lazy face and the word "gray" all over his body. Regardless of the fact that the boy seemed to want to communicate with No. 5, he rudely inserted into their conversation.

What is the meaning of his words?

"Hey, speak clearly!"

I tried to communicate with No. 1 again, but I was keenly aware that not only his conversation with No. 2 did not reach my ears, but he also seemed not to hear my voice. He started chatting with No. 2 as if he wouldn't hear me no matter what I said.

Did he pretend not to hear me, or did he really not hear me?

Is this not my dream at all, or is it a world beyond the scope of my dream?

I can't figure it out, what a messy dream!

I try to observe the people around me—these "dreamers" like me in the No. 1 mouth.

In fact, I have been a little short-sighted recently in reality. But now no matter how far away the clock is, I can see everyone in this space clearly.

This shows that I am indeed dreaming right now.

The problem is that what I'm dreaming isn't necessarily my own dream.

...

"Welcome to all the 'Rulers' back to the cracks in the dream world!"

A rather distant sound came from an unknown direction. It was as if someone on the water was separated from the water and shouted to the bottom of the water.

Not only is this hazy sense of distance, but the voice is so vague that it is difficult to distinguish the gender, but the words are surprisingly easy to understand.

I looked around for the source of the sound, so my eyes fell on a new clock that appeared out of thin air not far away...

Maybe that couldn't be called a clock either, more like a pocket watch. Watches and the like.

On that "clock", no one stands on the surrounding numbers. Only one person in a strange costume with his face covered by a clown mask stood in the center of the clash of pointers. Sweets like candy and donuts float around him.

When everyone's eyes focused on him, his vague voice came again:

"I'm sorry to waste everyone's precious time here. However, I also noticed that there is a difference from the last time we met~ For example, there are many newcomers now? It seems that everyone is also putting in their best efforts That’s right! That’s something to be proud of.”

He casually picked up the floating donut and popped it into his mouth. He showed a satisfied expression without hiding it.

Probably because of the "newcomer" he mentioned, many people on the clock where I was were cast ulterior motives at me.

Of course, some people just ignored me on the premise of noticing me.

Among these various dreamers, for some reason, my eyes were drawn by girl No. 7.

The red short sleeves are paired with a beige cardigan, her white arms are criss-crossed, and the silver handcuffs are exposed from the pockets of her gray denim shorts.

The girl's shining eyes also stared at me.

I remember that she seemed to be talking to girl No. 3 earlier, during which time her eyes seemed slightly hostile, but when she turned to herself, she actually felt a little gentle.

Based on the image alone, I definitely don't know such a girl, but I always feel that she looks strangely familiar.

This feeling entangled my thoughts, especially the girl's clear blue eyes, which made me unable to look away.

The girl gently parted her cherry lips, as if she had read something, but I didn't hear anything. Before I could understand what she meant, she gave a strange smile and glanced away.

"Now number 12, which has 4 clocks, is already on the throne~"

Speaking of this, the satisfied look on his face suddenly disappeared, replaced by the blatant anger accumulated on his face.

"But! But! But! There are only ten people on half the clock! What a dereliction of duty!"

As he spoke, he suddenly stretched out his hand, spread his index finger of his right hand almost madly, and pointed to a clock next to me.

The elbow of his left hand turned to a strange angle, and he grabbed his hair in a mess. His voice was mixed with regret and pity, and it was more ironic.

The overall style is hysterical.

"Especially the number nine clock, so far there are only nine rulers. Ah——are you deliberately fooling me, or are you trying to fool the Holy Creator?!"

A chill came over my face, and I looked in the direction of his fingers, only to see that No. 1 on the clock was slightly fat, only a few years younger than me, with a dead face and a calm head.

Not only that, but the faces of the other 8 people were also not very good, and they didn't dare to look up at him. Some people's shoulders even trembled slightly.

"Ah, don't be so scared, I haven't abandoned you yet."

Suddenly, the clown's voice became low, appearing extremely cold.

"Please take responsibility for that "Number 1" and double your efforts. I want you to double, double, until your body is squeezed out...I want you to go beyond the level of madness, squeeze out your own efforts... Do you understand that I worked so hard to kill you!"

The boy didn't know how to respond to the almost crazy passion of the masked maniac, and looked very embarrassed. Probably also noticed the gazes of the people around him, he bit his lower lip firmly, until the skin under the corner of his mouth was stained red with blood.

"Okay~"

The face of the masked maniac was filled with a smile again, seamlessly connecting with the coldness on his face a second ago.

From the crazy mouth of him came a voice full of hope.

"The rulers on the four clocks with a full number of people, please wait patiently for the start of the ruler game, but don't get carried away~ It is possible that the number of people will decrease again. Can you keep 12 people before the start? What about the team? It’s really exciting.”

The mask maniac gloated and shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands, apparently staying out of the way.

"Seniors who invited newcomers in various ways, please do your job as guides well!"

For this man I just met for the first time, I had an inexplicable disgust, and at the same time felt a sense of fear and oppression that was enough to make my stomach sick. As for those he named, I also have some sympathy.

"There are still three days left before the start of the game. Next time we will meet up in two days. Then, let's disband today."

As soon as the voice fell, the masked maniac snapped his fingers and disappeared before our eyes together with the clock, replaced by a beam of pure white light. Tiny particles floated in this wonderful light, and my eyes followed the particles dancing in the light.

I stretched out my hand in a daze, about to hold that ray of light in the palm of my hand. His eyes suddenly passed through the light, and he naturally connected with the girl on the 7th. She teased me with a hint of lazy eyes, making me quickly look away.

The surrounding sounds suddenly entered my ears, and my ears were freed from the silence, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

On the clock with 12 people, there was an almost ear-piercing cheer; the ten people around me had a dull atmosphere, and some people showed blatant expressions of envy; as for the clock with only 9 people named, there was only a sting The dead stillness of the soul.

Suddenly, from the reddish nothingness above, huge numbers fell down, rubbing against the air and making a roaring sound.

I quickly turned my head to look, and found that besides me, many people were also shocked by the movement. The number 12 dropped from the sky just now, and then the number 11 is getting closer and closer to the field of vision...

"what is going on?"

wrong! Don't take it too seriously!

It was just a weird dream, just too real.

Since it is a dream, there is always a time to wake up.

Humans have always been particularly bad at remembering dreams. Maybe when I wake up, everything that happened in this dream will be left behind and forgotten by me as usual.

The young man comforted himself in a self-deceptive way, immersed in his own world, deliberately ignoring the gaze cast by girl No. 7, and even whistling pretending to be relaxed, completely ignoring the movement around him.

"I said... No. 7, the person you brought here is not an idiot, is he?"

The voice came from a boy number 10 in a long trench coat and a deerstalker hat on his head.

His tone and expression, mixed with a touch of irony, seemed to be speaking in a superior tone.

Facing his provocation, the girl named No. 7 hurriedly raised her hand and swung it left and right, but accidentally touched the handcuffs in her pocket, making a crisp collision sound.

"He just hasn't figured it out yet."

The girl's pupils always exude a provocative temperament from time to time, which makes me look at her again. And the answer to my staring was a sigh that I couldn't figure out.

The 11 in the sky fell from behind me, and the numbers fell from the sky in reverse order.

"Hey. I advise you to give up your innocence in dreaming as soon as possible."

The petite No. 9 magician reminded me in a cold voice, with an indescribable indifference in his eyes.

She obviously looks like a young girl in all aspects, and she must not be more than 13 years old, but she puts on such a haughty attitude. It's a little irritating.

"Dreamland, it's not a stand-alone game, boy."

It was the voice of the uncle No. 1 again. He didn't know when he put on the bear doll's headgear. It formed a certain degree of contrast with the criminal police uniform on my body, so that I couldn't put the two into the same picture for a while.

"Be aware of this as soon as possible."

Behind the bear-faced hood, came a voice with a strong smell of smoke.

His words made the gloomy No. 2 man beside him show an echoing smile. Then, the rest of the people also pointed out their own opinions one after another, and the comments that seemed to be "insightful insights" stuck in their ears like thick sores and couldn't go away.

"Enough is enough! It's just a group of NPCs, what are they thinking about themselves?! People living in dreams, let me understand their situation, shut up, and don't judge others like real humans! "

When can I wake up from this dream?

Discussions kept coming into my brain clearly, and I covered my ears frantically, only to find that the voice would still come through clearly when I did this in my dream. It's like covering your eyes when you have a nightmare, and you will see horrible things.

"It's time to wake up!"

As soon as the words were finished, there was an electromagnetic "Zizi" sound behind me, and I turned around immediately, only to see a pure white door appear there.

I looked around and found similar but different doors behind each number on each clock. There are many people who consciously go to the other side through their respective doors.

For no reason, I thought that the place where the door leads to is a dream world that is not connected to each other.

After thinking for a moment, the number "0", which represents the end of the curtain, quietly dripped down like rain.

In an instant, except for the four clocks announcing that the number of people had been gathered, all the other people who had not passed through the door behind them disappeared. My eyes also suddenly went black, and all my physical senses were temporarily lost, and I fell into the abyss of disconnected consciousness.