Damiano fell asleep thinking about the possibility of entering another nightmare.
The next morning, he had to go to school as usual. Fortunately, it was already November 15th, and there wasn't much left before the school year ended.
He showered, got dressed, had breakfast, and grabbed his backpack. His father had already left the house for work.
He was the second to leave the house. He had always liked punctuality and hated rushing to get somewhere on time, which was why he always left at least an hour early and took everything calmly.
He reached the metro stop after about six minutes of walking. He swiped his card and waited for the next train to arrive.
Inevitably, his gaze was drawn to a large poster pasted on the wall.
It showed a beautiful middle-aged woman with a wide smile on her face. She was surrounded by many children, all smiling.
She was dressed in white, and the background was a very beautiful landscape.
Below the large image, written in big letters, it said:
[No one will be left alone when night falls.]
Maria Solenne, a Sleeper in service of the Custodians of Sleep. She, along with several others, was the public face of the Ministry of Nightmares of his country, Karsen.
Damiano couldn't help but admit that this image had always comforted him when going to sleep in this world.
Even more so now, remembering that Maria's name also appeared in the global Sleeper rankings.
Damiano boarded the first train that arrived and quickly focused on his phone.
When he arrived at school, he took off his headphones. He knew how strict this stupid school was.
As he entered his classroom, he was greeted by the usual noise of a high school. As always, many people were already gathered in their own little groups.
When Damiano sat down, he felt an arm rest on his shoulder.
"Happy birthday, man!" A long-haired guy smiled at him while hugging him. "And tell me, my friend… are you planning to enter a nightmare?"
"Of course not." Damiano shook his head while looking at Michael with one eyebrow raised. "Not everyone is a lunatic like you."
Michael had many tattoos and piercings on his body, and a long time ago he had openly declared his intention to enter a nightmare.
The guy was a total weirdo, but that was exactly what Damiano liked about him.
He didn't care about pretending to be someone else.
"He's right." A very fat guy on the other side nodded like a little chick. "When the nightmare asked me to enter a practice one, I ran away screaming."
"That's because you're a coward, Porki," Michael replied disdainfully. "I want to see what the nightmare has prepared for me. I'm excited."
Damiano shook his head with a smile.
"Besides," Michael said as he sat next to him, "I need the money."
Damiano remembered that every Sleeper who registered with the Custodians of Sleep received a monthly stipend just for being registered.
One of the government's tools to encourage Sleepers to register.
"Did you guys see the new episode of New Age last night?" Porki quickly changed the subject. "It was amazing!"
Damiano smiled a little and nodded.
Porki was a total geek, and Damiano didn't mind admitting that he was one too—though not so extreme as to do cosplay or behave strangely.
"There you go again with your stupid conversations." A tall, muscular guy with a military-style haircut sat near them. "You should be paying attention to the latest news instead of those little cartoons."
"Art," Damiano corrected him with a smile. "It's called art."
"What news?!" Michael asked Randy quickly. Everyone knew that Randy's father was a high-ranking military officer, so they assumed he had access to a lot of insider information.
"They say the country of Verdam has obtained more than fifty new prodigy Sleepers," Randy unpacked his things and settled in. "We're falling further and further behind compared to other countries."
"That's true," Porki nodded, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "But it's also true that in those countries, crime is at historic highs, and nightmare-related accidents are getting worse."
Michael scratched his head with a frown.
"It's a price to pay," Randy said with a firm expression. "Can you imagine what would happen if one of our neighboring countries declared war on us? We'd be defenseless with the laughable number of Sleepers in our region."
Everyone fell silent, because they knew it was true.
"No one wants to declare war," Damiano tried to calm them down. "Everyone knows the horrors of war, and we're in an era of peace and balance."
"No one wants war, you say?" Michael asked sarcastically. "And what about those lunatics from the Nightmare Cult?"
His words left Damiano speechless. The Nightmare Cult was a dangerous religious and fanatical movement that idolized nightmares, whose sole purpose was to allow nightmares to invade the real world.
"I'm talking about countries, not those lun—" Damiano had to stop mid-sentence.
The desks in the classroom began to tremble slightly before a violent shock shook the entire structure of the school.
"BOOOOM!"
A thunderous sound shook the classroom and shattered all the windows. The students threw themselves to the floor amid screams of panic and terror.
Seconds passed, and everyone remained on the ground, not knowing what to do.
Suddenly, an emergency alarm began to sound throughout the school, and the loudspeakers urged them to evacuate in an orderly manner.
"Shit!! We really are at war!" Porki shouted, torn between fear and desperation.
"Of course not!!" Damiano shouted back when he saw all the students in the classroom starting to panic.
He didn't want chaos to spread.
TUKU! TUKU! TUKU!
Everyone quickly turned their gaze to the windows, where they could see several fully armed helicopters flying over the school and disappearing into the distance.
"Shit…" At this point, even Damiano was a little scared—especially for his family.