15 power stones for one more chapter.
25 power stones for two more chapters.
...
Gilgamesh was sitting in Master Jet's car or, PTV, private transportation vehicle as it was called here.
Gazing out the window of the car he looked around the world he had found himself in with wonder.
All the buildings, streets, roads and shops looked like it they were taken directly out of one of those pictures of what the world would look like in the year 2100.
'Wasn't the sky in these Shadow Slave cities artificial or something?'
Turning his gaze towards the sky he didn't see anything out of ordinary, it looked perfectly normal, just as it looked in his own world before...that.
'Which country am I even in.'
Gilgamesh furrowed his brows in thought.
He went through his predecessor's memories of his days spent in school—most of which the OG Gilgamesh spent doodling—seeing if he could glean some useful information about the topic.
He couldn't help but frown at the state of the OG's social life. Poor guy was so anti-social that he didn't even have any friends. Most of his classmates were mere acquaintances, barely interacting with him, as he himself did not try to put any efforts into making any friends.
The anti-social Gilgamesh spent most of his time reading webtoons, studying and fascinating about saving the world and getting all the heroines.
An average, if not, a little pathetic bloke.
'Don't worry my guy, I'll make sure your dreams of saving damsels in distress will be fulfilled.'
It seemed that he originally did not have the red eyes or golden hair that he now possessed after waking up from the First Nightmare.
It was rare for normal Sleepers to get a complete transformation, at most, they became better looking. The only other person who he remembered going through a similar transformation was Nephis.
Gilgamesh thanked his lucky stars at the fact that he was pretty tall, he couldn't suffer like Sunny.
Shaking his head, Gilgamesh realised that he had digressed quite a lot from his original goal of finding the location of NQSC. Focusing, he finally came to a conclusion.
'Ah ha there it is, so the length and breadth of the Northern Quadrant Siege Capital—what a weird ass name for a country— spans all the way from the central parts of Russia, Mongolia, China and even some parts of India with some outposts located near the Indian Ocean to keep an eye on the Nightmare Creatures under the surface of the perilous ocean.'
Its size made sense considering NQSC hosted about half of the remaining population of Humanity.
How did they even have the manpower to defend such a vast area?
The ocean was another interesting thing in the world that he now inhabited. Since only a small majority of Awakeneds had Aspects related to diving and fighting underwater, it was almost impossible to defend against the Gates opening in deep depths below, with modern machinery being useless ten times out of nine against any competent Nightmare Creature.
Defending under the water meant certain death.
And considering the fact that the great oceans occupied roughly seventy-five percent of all land on earth... yeah it wasn't looking good for humanity.
"I'd like to give you both three pieces of advice, whether you listen to it or disregard it, is up to you."
Seeing that Jet had started speaking he turned his attention towards her, forgoing the topic for now and vowing to research it properly later on.
"First: once you're registered in the Academy, they'll offer you psychological counseling again. There will also be a valuable reward for sharing your experiences in the Nightmare and the details of your Appraisal. You'll be able to receive a soul shard, maybe even several of them."
He didn't say anything opting to remain silent instead.
"Are you trying to get me to visit a psychiatrist again?" Questioned Sunny with a frown on his face.
Jet shook her head.
"No, I'm telling you to refuse."
She looked at both of them seriously before continuing:
"You're too green to understand, but out there in the Dream Realm, Nightmare Creatures are not the only danger. Once you grow powerful enough, humans will become an equal threat. The less they know about your Aspect, the better."
Leaning against the wall of the PTV, he mulled over the words of Master Jet. While he didn't necessarily disagree with what she had said—he wasn't stupid enough to reveal everything about his Aspect— he wasn't going to idle away in the shadows and not reveal anything.
Even without his flaw, it was simply unacceptable for him.
"The easiest way to defeat a powerful Awakened is to use their Flaw. That's why young fools in the Academy are encouraged in various ways to share the details of their Aspects. I'm not saying that the government will leak your information, but once two people know a secret, it's no longer a secret. And there's a lot of people working for the government."
He was not planning on revealing his flaw to anyone either way.
"Thank you, Master Jet." Sunny said with a grateful look on his face.
She gave him a nod before continuing,
"Second: there will be a lot of courses to choose from. All types of combat training, deep dives into Nightmare Creature categories and vulnerabilities, basics of various types of sorcery, artifact study and so on."
This time Jet looked solely at Sunny.
"Disregard all of that. The only course you have time to attend is Wilderness Survival."
"Why?"
Master Jet glanced at Gilgamesh.
"It's different for city kids, who learn all sorts of useful things in school and from their tutors. But we don't have that advantage, do we? What was the biggest threat to your life during the Nightmare."
Seeing that Jet was speaking to Sunny, he tuned her out.
Looking at Sunny—was he supposed to look this feminine? No wonder they made memes about him being a femboy—he considered whether it was worth enslaving him or not.
He was mostly against it, not only because he was a fan of Sunny in his previous life but also because it'd hurt his pride if he'd have to force someone to be his slave to make them listen to his command.
How did his flaw even work? What would happen if a Non-Awakened person were to say his True Name, would it still work?
Or what if someone said it from another planet? Did the distance matter at all?
On the matter of planets, what happened to the other planets? If a Gate could open on the moon, then surely there would be some Gates on Venus, Mars, Jupiter, hell maybe even on the Sun as well.
How did the Gates even work anyways? He vaguely remembered something about gates appearing due to the Awakeneds? Something about ranking up and that the Gate of that rank would appear either in the past or future.
This world was truly fascinating, filled with mysteries waiting to hunted and deciphered.
He would definitely uncover all its secrets layer by layer someday.
Master Jet stopped the PTV and walked out of it after telling them to follow her.
Pushing himself off the wall, Gilgamesh put his hands inside his pockets and walked out of the PTV with Sunny following close behind.
When Gilgamesh was out of the vehicle, he finally took his first look at the Academy.
The Academy was more like a city within the city. It was a hunk of metal built like a fortress, with a high wall made of hard alloy, deep moat and numerous large-caliber turrets which were placed in certain positions to create a deadly air-suppression dome.
Though it looked impressive he doubted it would be stopping any colossal titans anytime soon.
"This is as far as I'll go." Master Jet said from beside him, looking at the walls of the Academy cheerlessly, "I have already notified them, someone will be coming to pick you up."
With his hands inside his pockets Gilgamesh looked ahead at the Academy with a serious expression.
He was aura farming.
As a future king and as a person from the twenty first century, he knew the true importance of farming as much aura as possible, no matter what situation or place he found himself in.
Piccolo would be proud.
Gilgamesh turned his head slightly towards Master Jet.
"What's the third piece of advice?" He asked Master Jet, hands still in pockets as he continued to look in the direction of the academy nonchalantly.
Man, he probably looked so cool from Jet's perspective.
Master Jet glanced at him.
"Remember: no one can survive in the Dream Realm alone. That's not an opinion, that's a fact. Try to get along with your peers, even if they don't treat you well. It might save your life."
With that she patted him on the shoulder.
"Both of you have done a good job staying alive till now. Because both of you have come together with me, I'd advise the two of you to atleast become acquainted with each other; Hopefully you, Gilgamesh can protect her and she, in turn can protect you if you both arrive close to one another, you'll never know when you might need it."
Nodding at her words and with a final pat on his back Jet went back to the PTV.
Wait a damn second, he was forgetting something.
"Yo Master Jet, you forgot to give me your phone number. How else am I gonna find you for a date after I am back?"
In the process of sliding the door of the PTV shut, Jet paused, staring at him with an exasperated look that contained a hint of fondness as she shut the door without another word.
"How rude, women these days, am I right?"
He threw a smirk at Sunny who was standing beside him awkwardly.
"Don't worry, if we arrive near each other in the Dream Realm, I'll protect you, afterall it is my duty as a King to take care of my subjects."
Wrapping his hand around Sunny's shoulder, he started leading him towards the gates whilst Sunny tried escape his grip.
'Wait a second... why did Master Jet call Sunny a she?'
...
After discovering that this Sunny was actually a female instead of a male, Gilgamesh was standing in the hall where the induction ceremony was going to take place.
(Image)
'How did I not realise that Sunny was a female,' He glanced embarrassedly at the girl sticking close to him, 'She does have longer hair and a body with more curves than a normal male but I thought that Sunless was just built different.'
Trying to distract himself from his embarrassment, Gilgamesh started looking at the people assembled here, hoping to find either Cassie, Caster or Nephis.
'Didn't Nephis come with us, where did she disappear.'
Looking around, Gilgamesh found her leaning against the wall, wearing headphones with her eyes closed. He hadn't realised how pretty she looked till now. Damn, the people in this world were built different.
(Image)
'Truly, she is a master at the art of aura farming.'
Chuckling to himself, he shifted his focus trying to see if he identify any of the other non-NPCs.
When he was turning towards the side, he saw Sunny slip by him going to make a fool of herself.
Just then he was approached by a girl, looking curiously at him.
"Hey! are you one of the Legacies too? I didn't see you interacting with any of them though, plus you're wearing a normal police issued tracksuit. It's nice to meet you by the way, my name's Elsesa."
She extended her arm forward for a handshake with a smile on her face.
"It's nice to meet you too," He held her hand and kissed it gently, flashing her a charming smile, "My name's Gilgamesh and no I'm not an Legacy, I do however plan on creating my own Clan in the future however, how about I tell you about my plan and you decide whether you want to join me or not?"
She looked at him, interested in what he was saying with the blush still on her face.
Seeing that she was curious about his plan he started sprouting bullshit. With the combined power of [King's Charisma], his looks, natural confidence and his lying skills he was easily able to weave through the conversation even as dozens of people—mostly females—surrounded him after hearing what he was saying and started to ask him questions.
Multiple people started to speak to him at the same time making, Gilgamesh mildly annoyed at all their voices.
Backing away he raised his hands in surrender while giving them a helpless smile.
"Ladies, ladies one at a time please, even though I'd love to speak to all of you, I can't if all of you are speaking at once," He paused for a second, pretending that someone was calling out to him, "Ah, it looks like my friend is calling me, it's been nice talking to you all, don't worry I'll be back after some time."
Gilgamesh swiftly moved away from them with the perfect amount of cool and swagger.
After all a king should be in a perpetual state of aura farming no matter what situation he found himself in.
Once he was far away he finally let out a sigh of relief.
It was incredibly irritating to answer their annoyingly stupid and needless questions.
Why was he even trying to interact with the NPCs anyways? Shaking his head ruefully, Gilgamesh walked away hurriedly.
Suddenly he saw Sunny talking to a female Sleeper, with a couple of other Sleepers around them, curious about what she was saying, Gilgamesh started to walk towards them.
"I even got an armor-type memory in my Nightmare. It's an enchanted robe. Would you like to see it?"
A perverted look appeared on Sunny's face.
"I'd rather like to see you without it..."
The black haired NPC became agitated at what Sunless had said and raised her hand and to strike her delicate face with it.
'Not on my watch.'
Just as her hand was going to hit, Gilgamesh intercepted it, pulling Sunny behind at the same time.
"Nuh uh mongrel, don't try to raise your hand on one of mine."
He released her hand and turned his attention towards the other people in her group.
"She's under my protection, yeah? It's for your own good if you keep that in your brains. I better not be seeing anyone else attempting to hit her, no matter what she says."
He stared at all of them in the eyes with a smile, his body languid and relaxed.
Yet, as Gilgamesh stood there with the shadows looming over the sharp contours of his face, the air seemed to cool down. He continued to gaze at them with his unblinking scarlet eyes, evaluating their worth.
Their value was comparable- no less than that of a pest.
A pressure they had never felt before exerted itself upon their shoulders. The Sleepers gulped, their hearts quickening its pace the longer they stood near him. Unconsciously, they all took a step back.
Gripping Sunny by her shoulder, he lead her away, the terrified Sleepers staring at him unreadable eyes and providing no resistance as they parted seamlessly like the red sea.
'Why were they terrified, all I did was standing there.'
Alas, Gilgamesh could not concern himself wondering about the functionings that took place inside the brains of the mongrels.
Once they a were far away, Sunny scowled, looking up at him, "I didn't need your help."
"I know."
Sunny looked at him, perplexed at what he had said.
"Then why did you stop her from slapping me?"
"Because I wanted to."
Sunless looked even more confused, the idea seemingly alien for her.
She opened her mouth to say something but closed it.
Staying quite, she looked ahead with a thoughtful look on her face.
However she did not pull away from his grip.
Gilgamesh too, started to think if he might have overdone it. After all, there was a thin line between farming aura and being cringe.
You would never know when you crossed that line unknowingly.
Hopefully, he hadn't entered the boundary of 'No one, cringe!' Then again, one could ever be sure.
He'd have to play it more safely in the future.
Gilgamesh spent the rest of his time talking with a few other Sleepers luring them in his new grand plan of making a Clan, while also making sure that Sunny didn't slip away to destroy her reputation further and test her flaw.
Finally, an eternity later, Awakened Rock finally graced them with his presence. He was a huge man with broad shoulders and a bear-like build with brown eyes, hair and beard.
He looked pathetically weak to Gilgamesh, then again, who didn't?
He surveyed the group of Sleepers with serious but calm eyes, who had quietened down after feeling his aura.
"I am Awakened Rock. Sleepers, welcome to the Academy." He began solemnly piercing each of them with his eyes.
"In less than a month, you will be summoned to the Dream Realm. Some of you might think that you are well prepared. You're wrong. The Spell is merciless and cunning. The moment Awakened begin to think too much of themselves, they die. I've seen countless Sleepers like you lose their lives. I've also seen experienced Masters lose theirs. Even Saints are not assured to survive."
Gilgamesh was already bored.
All these talks might be important for the NPCs but he personally couldn't bring himself to give a rats ass about all that useless yap.
If he somehow got himself killed by a pathetic Nightmare Creature then he simply wasn't worthy of proclaiming himself as the 'King'.
The only form that the Nightmare Creatures would be allowed to exist would be in the form of Memories, when he would eventually be ruling the entirety of the Dream Realm.
A new ambition formed in his mind.
'From the Stormsea to Bastion to Ravenheart and Godgrave. Even the Hollow Mountains and the Underworld, I'll conquer it all.'
Gilgamesh clenched his first with determination.
"In the following four weeks, we will do everything in our power to increase your chances of survival..."
Gilgamesh was bought back to reality by the baritone voice of Awakened Rock.
He went back to ignoring him.
Sighing, he stood there patiently. Hoping he'd end his speech quickly, lest he fall asleep.
...
Word Count: 2540.
...
Updated on 27/12/2025
Word Count: 3108.