Karan found himself in the village square once again. As he breathed in the cool and fresh air, he fell in love with it once again.
I wish this was real. He thought. Then I would settle here. Forever.
The crowd in the square had changed since the last time he was here. To start, only a small number of people were in the square. And those who were, they now didnt look like the run-of-the-mill civilians that he spotted the last time.
People in the square were in groups. Most of them were wearing a vest of sorts, which looked like it was made of leather. They were carrying weapons like spears, swords, axes, batons, blunt clubs, something straight out of a history book. Some of them were so armed that they looked like cosplayers from Halloween.
"Hey there," Karan turned around. There was a young man, in his twenties, standing behind him. "Are you new here? Would you like to party with us?"
Karan was lost for words for a moment, "There is alcohol in this world?" Previously, he was here, he pratically spend like 10 or so hours practicing the bow. He only roamed around a little bit, but he never came across any bars or pubs.
The man laughed, "Clearly you dont play a lot of video games… Party means teaming up. Do you want to team up with my group? We can show you the ropes."
Karan looked behind the man; there was a group of seven. They all looked in their twenties, and they all looked capable enough. So he asked the man, "Why do we need to create a group again?"
"The beasts, of course," The man said as if this was the most obvious thing in the world, "They are ferocious. Many of us lost our lives when we went alone. So it makes sense to just go in a group,"
It did make sense.
Which made Karan ask the most important question of the whole equation, "So, how do you guys distribute runes among yourselves?"
"We distribute based on everyone's contribution," the man said.
Karan didnt liked the idea, so he shook his head, "Thank you for the offer. But I would rather team up with the other guys that I met the other day,"
"Oh," the man looked a little bit dejected. "Alright then," then the man turned around and went back to his group…
***
Karan was heading towards the armory. He wanted to buy a short bow for himself and then go hunting. The prospect of going for a walk in a green forest excited him even more than hunting.
It was when he saw a bizarre scene.
A group of three came out of the house in the village. They just walked straight out of the house, without even opening the door. It was as if the house was an illusion, and one just needed to simply walk through to get to the other side.
Curious about the house, Karan tried going through the door, but found it impossible. To his touch, the door and walls of the house felt solid.
How the hell did those guys.. His thoughts froze as a woman appeared out of nowhere, through the door. She collided with him, and they both fell to the ground.
"The fuck are you doing, you knob," the woman squealed.
Karan immediately got up and gave his hand to the woman, "I am sorry.. I was.. Lost in thought," the woman huffed, but still took his hand.
As the woman stood up, Karan recognized her. She was Tamika Popov, the youngest of the Popov Family, one of the ruling families of District 3.
Tamika was a woman in he late twenties, brunette with brown skin and freckles around her nose. He had seen her a couple of times, as she lives near his friend's house.
"Dont stand in front of the door like a gonk in the future," she said as she pulled herself up.
"I am sorry.. I saw people coming out of the house, and was trying to find a way in," he said, making her give him a strange look.
"You cannot see inside?" she asked curiously. Now her anger was gone, replaced by curiosity.
He shook his head, "The door is solid. I cannot go through it."
She squealed with delight, "That is interesting. Someone did mention the other day…"
"What?" he asked, "If you dont mind me asking,"
"What is your level?" she asked.
Karan answered with some deliberation, ".. Level.. 3"
"Yes." She said, "Everyone started at 3. I am a level 5 now. And I can enter this place. This is the library."
"A library?" he was at a loss for words. He looked around, and the place looked normal. Not to mention, there was no signage of the Library anywhere. So he asked, "This place has a library?"
"Yes. Someone said the Dramscape Community Sub thinks that this whole village has a lot to offer. And as one levels up, they would be able to unlock more things."
Her words made Karan remember, The More You Advance, the More You Will Understand. The More You Understand, the Less the World Will Protect You.
At first, he thought those were simple words; but if she speaks the truth, those words just started making more sense now.
"If you dont mind… Can I ask you something?" He said, unsure how to frame his question.
"What do you want to know, rookie?"
"Is this place… real?" he asked, thinking about the absurdity of his question, "Is it really real? I recognize you, Lady Tamika. Your presence here, in my dream.. It does not make any sense."
Tamika laughed, "Go to Dreamscape Sub after you wake up. There are thousands of people who are experiencing the Dreamscape. If you think that this is your dream, then what are the chances of all those people seeing the same dream?" With that, she patted his shoulder and walked away.
Karan then asked himself, saying out loud, "How… Is this even possible..."
A part of him was analysing the conversation that he had, trying to find any signs of lying. Then again, should one even trust something that he saw in a dream?
Shaking off his thoughts, he started moving again with purpose. He felt, even if this place is not real, who cares? While he was here, why dont he just enjoy himself? Everything else is not a priority right now…
Standing at the edge of the village, Karan saw that there was a translucent dome surrounding the village. It was acting as a barrier through which he could easily get through. And beyond the barrier was a very lush green forest, dense enough to get lost easily.
He had bought a small bow for himself, along with a quiver that could hold 20 arrows. The quiver cost him 800 lesser runes, which was kind of expensive. But he figured that it was worth it, considering that the quiver was capable of replenishing 1 arrow per 5 minutes.
There was a ton of stuff available in the Emporium that he did get his attention, but for now, he figured that this would be enough.
With a bow hanging from his shoulder and a quiver on his back, Karan started walking deeper into the forest. And it was after walking a few feet that the forest hit him with sensory overload.
Karan had enhanced senses, and they were shooting off randomly.
Weird smells permeated his nose; some of them were coming from the ground under him, some of them were coming from plants, barks of trees, and a weird sticky liquid that was dripping from those barks. Hell, even the sound of bugs hit him like a freight train.
The air was not making things easier as well; the canopy of trees was so dense that it was not letting the sunlight in. Because of this, the forest had a musty air to it, which felt alien to him.
Remembering the training he endured, he took in deep breaths. Got his mind, accustomed to the weirdness of this place. Which also made him question, Is the bush similar to this?
District 1 was the only place on Earth which the original vegetation from before the war era. Located on the continent of Australia, it was a place where all the rich and powerful lived. Karan had never been there, but he figured that it would be similar to this. At least the pics of the Bush seemed similar to what was before him…