01 / 05 / 2019 - Daito, Osaka Prefecture, Japan.
???????. Friday. Golden Week.
There was a distinct sensation of sinking. A heavy, irresistible plunge into the endless depths once more.
But this time, Akane could feel his own clarity and sapience.
It was tiny, small and fragile as a lone firefly drifting through an absolute, crushing darkness.
There was no light, nor any vision to anchor him, leaving him entirely alone with his thoughts. He found himself wondering, as he often did, where exactly he was.
Was this his own personal Limbo?
"…"
Then, in a single, instantaneous flash. Like a needle piercing through a tight membrane, the hazy wick of his consciousness caught fire, burning brighter and sharper.
"…?"
A subtle tickle brushed against his face, soft and gentle, like a passing hand.
As the physical sensations of his body flooded back out of the darkness, his eyes twitched beneath his closed eyelids. His head felt incredibly dizzy and heavy.
Had it been a long, exhaustive sleep, or merely a fleeting instant? His mind struggled to process information, idling sluggishly in the quiet.
His fingers twitched against the ground, registering a sharp yet remarkably soft texture against his palm.
Slowly cracking his eyelids open, his blurred vision flinched as a brilliant, piercing light flooded his sight, accompanied by a shifting shadow.
'Leaves…? A tree?…'
Akane's expression twisted into quiet confusion, his brow furrowing.
Small, fragmented shadows were obscuring the light source above, swaying gently with the breeze and dancing across his vision.
After a long moment, the stubborn haze blocking his thoughts finally began to dissipate.
Connecting the dots shortly after, his eyes widened slightly. He recognized this.
A deep semblance of familiarity washed over him as specific memories resurfaced, mapping this exact scene to a very specific place.
No... that wasn't the sun. This was—
Lifting his head slightly from the ground with a bit of difficulty, and feeling entirely sore and heavy across his limbs, hence, the broader horizon opened up before him.
Far away, as far as the eye could see, were countless winding green hills, their grasses swaying rhythmically under an unidentified, pervasive light.
His crimson-ashen gaze went wide.
This was unmistakable.
'My mindscape!'
Akane propped his upper body up, glancing briefly at the ground beneath him. He was lying on a bed of lush grass, completely sheltered by the overhanging leaves of a massive tree.
It was obvious that he had awakened right beneath the sole, lonely tree of his inner world.
Shifting his position to lean comfortably against the rough bark of the trunk behind him, he tilted his head back toward the sky.
It revealed a boundless expanse of blue and white, stretching infinitely toward the horizon without a single visible sun.
Akane's lips twitched at the particular thing on his sight, two doors stood up on the green far away, each occupying their own hill. Shifting his gaze once again.
No sun, yet there was light. A boundless grassland, a single lonely tree and all of it combined to define the geometry of his mindscape.
The atmosphere was windy and chilly, the light warm but never overbearing. A perfect, absolute balance.
Akane squinted, focusing on the sharp, vibrant freshness of the grass. His hands unconsciously squeezed the blades on either side of him.
Each barely an inch tall, simultaneously sharp and soft to the touch. This was all real. Perhaps entirely too real.
"Obviously, it's just a 'Mindscape'…"
He muttered the words absentmindedly. It was unbelievable, after all of this, the scent, the tactile feedback, the sheer density of detail.
Gazing around the infinite space, it became clear that his previous assumptions about this place being blurry or unformed were nothing more than an ignorant misconception.
'This is the third time...'
Enjoying the rare pocket of peace, his tense posture and facial muscles gradually relaxed back into his usual blank, unbothered composure as he fully surrendered his weight to the trunk of the tree.
Leaning there, Akane systematically recalled the historical record of his visits to this place. The first time had marked his awakening as a [Reader]. The second time had occurred when he assumed the form of a [Dragon].
And this time... this time was his advancement.
Slowly, his brow furrowed as a sudden, stark realization clicked into place.
He was currently in the dead center of the advancement process.
His face froze for a few seconds. But then, as if a quiet internal switch had been flipped, the stiffness smoothed out, and he relaxed once more.
His expression returned to its default, unreadable state; an outside observer wouldn't have been able to discern a single shift from his plain demeanor.
Noticing a distinct structural pattern to the phenomenon, Akane's eyes narrowed into thin slits as he intentionally sank deeper into his own consciousness, searching for the underlying data.
Deep within the undulating darkness of his mind, familiar streams of knowledge quietly surfaced, manifesting before his inner sight exactly as they always did.
…
You have moved past the threshold of observation.
A Reader perceives. A Scholar acts on what they perceive, hence, entering the grand stage where the known and unknown converge, where passive witness becomes active inquiry.
This is not elevation so much as commitment: you have decided that understanding is not enough unless it is tested, recorded, defended, and built upon.
The definition of Scholar has shifted across ages and traditions. Some say it is the one whose mind cannot rest at a convenient answer.
Some say it is rigorous devotion to texts, to observation, to practice, to the discipline of asking better questions than the ones you started with.
What endures across every definition is this: a Scholar values truth over comfort, and precision over speed.
The behavior and configuration by which sapient beings acquire, process, and act upon information.
This property does not originate in the body. It inhabits the Silver Sea of Collective and the Starry Sky of Existence as a fundamental of sapient existence, which is the invisible architecture that separates a being that reacts from one that understands.
The abstract made concrete. The argument given weight.
An Aspect is not granted. It is grown, cultivated at the intersection of your understanding and your will, shaped by the particular way your mind has learned to move through problems.
Abstract principle becomes embodied fact. What you believe about the nature of knowledge takes on a form you can deploy, defend with, and build upon.
…
'That's it…?'
Slowly opening his eyes in a wave of disorientation, the corner of his eye twitched. It wasn't as if he had been expecting a massive physical transformation, but still—
Akane paused for a moment, as if struggling to make a decision. Then, with a quiet click of his tongue, he lifted his right hand and began to physically check his own body.
Pressing a hand against his stomach, he felt the same firm, normal layer of muscle. Moving his hands up to his lean but tightly compressed chest, everything felt entirely standard.
Struggling to contain a look of deep irony, Akane moved his hands to his face; it was smooth, silky skin, completely unaltered.
"What am I even doing…"
He muttered to himself as his hands fell back down onto the soft grass. Akane's head hung low.
It was only now that he noticed he wasn't wearing his usual clothes; instead, he was clad in nothing but a plain white shirt that closely resembled a patient's gown.
The realization earned another strange, self-deprecating glance from him.
Shaking his head, Akane forced himself to think. Since there were no noticeable external changes to his anatomy, the transformation had to be entirely internal.
But then a much more pressing question entered his mind: How long have I actually been asleep then?
At that thought, a sudden sense of urgency flared in Akane's chest. He snapped his head up, scanning the infinite horizon.
The rolling green scenery suddenly didn't feel quite so fragrant or comfortable anymore.
He needed to wake up and get back to reality immediately, after all, there was a whole family waiting for him; he didn't want to be in a coma again.
Think! How was he supposed to force a manual exit?
Standing up quickly, a trace of agitation began to bleed into his movements. He tried to analyze his previous exits.
The first time, he had been pulled out as suddenly as a snapping cord.
The second time, he had physically touched the lonely tree, which triggered a distinct sensation of being violently sucked backward.
"It's too unreliable…"
He placed his hand on his chin, unconsciously biting at his fingers. He forced a deep frown, trying to calm his racing thoughts.
Even the tactile sensation of his teeth against his skin and the wetness of his saliva felt entirely real, hence, infuriatingly so.
Those previous methods of exiting had been completely subconscious. And as he had just noted, the subconscious was unreliable.
'Calm down, Akane…'
Dropping his hands to his sides with a heavy sigh, Akane closed his eyes to carefully inspect his internal state.
Since he had managed to maintain perfect cognitive awareness during this specific advancement, there had to be a new variable here that he could actively control.
Once again, his awareness sank into the undulating, bottomless darkness of his inner mind.
Various lines of glowing data flashed past his vision; here were the complex pathways of his own thought processes.
Everything was flawlessly organized; each individual process acted like a shooting star possessing its own intense gravitational pull, drawing relevant pieces of information directly into its orbit.
They were calculating, each according to their own assigned decision.
Akane drifted seamlessly through his own cognitive arrays.
Truthfully, since he was already occupying a literal mindscape, he wondered how the deeper mechanisms of his mind could even differ from the environment outside.
If the grassland was the outer shell of his mindscape, then what was this space he was floating through now? The core engine of his cognition?
Thinking idly, Akane navigated the vast, dark space, searching for anything anomalous or uniquely valuable.
The distinct, attractive conceptual weights of [Reader], [Scholar], and [Dragon] were easily identifiable in the dark, humming with their own special frequencies.
But as he moved across the void, Akane suddenly froze in place.
Even though he lacked physical eyes or standard vision within this deep layer, his conceptual senses caught something entirely unprecedented directly ahead of him.
Stood still for a moment, hesitation briefly flashed on the self, is this his goal? Too be good for a coincidence, mentally shook his head, Akane then began to slowly move.
Approaching the anomaly cautiously, the foreign data began to reconstruct itself, feeding a stark realization back into his consciousness.
It was a thread. A single, foreign strand swirling away into the unknown.
This shouldn't be here. This specific thread did not belong to the architectural design of his own mind.
He knew the structural layout of his brain and this space inside and out; he was the sole architect of this entire space.
Reaching out with his metaphysical senses, he carefully attempted to test the frequency of the strand. But the moment his awareness brushed against it—
'!!!'
It instantly triggered a violent vortex.
Like a needle piercing through a pressurized membrane, his thoughts were suddenly sent into a wild, destabilizing spin.
An immense, leaden heaviness pressed down onto his mindscape, aggressively fighting to crush his clarity and tear at his consciousness.
His core self remained fiercely persistent. Like a stubborn candle wick fighting against a roaring gale, Akane desperately tried to hold onto his awareness as the internal scene began to violently recede.
He held on until the light was entirely snuffed out, and everything went black.
———
Akane's Room.
"HAAAHH—!!"
Akane's head snapped upward as he gasped loudly for air. Instantly, a wave of violent dizziness and full-body soreness rolled over him, causing his muscles to flinch.
"Ack—!!"
What the hell? His mind was still stubbornly anchored to that final, chaotic scene in the void, remembering the sensation with terrifying clarity.
Squinting through the localized pain radiating across his limbs, he forced his thoughts to stabilize.
He immediately minimized his movements, leaning heavily against the backrest of his chair.
His face was twisted in a grimace, but he forced his eyes to scan the room to register his current situation.
The space was bright as the light on the ceiling was lit up. The window, which he had left wide open that morning, was now firmly shut, and the sky outside had completely darkened into night.
'What time is it? More importantly... what day is it?'
A cold spike of dread hit his stomach. Gulping dryly, Akane lowered his gaze to the desk. His laptop screen was still glowing softly in the bright light.
Directly beside the keyboard was a cleared space on the wood, and there was a faintly visible, red imprint where his face had been resting.
The corner of his eye twitched. He had completely blacked out the exact second he hit "Publish."
Letting out a slow sigh, he felt his cheeks deflate in sheer soreness. As he shifted, he realized there was a heavy, unfamiliar weight draped over his shoulders and back.
He looked down. It was his thick white blanket, meticulously wrapped around him while he was unconscious. It had to be either his aunt or Irina.
Instantly, his heart leaped into his throat.
"Elecia," he muttered into the quiet room, his voice raspy. "Confirm. Are you there?"
He focused his gaze on the laptop screen, which had remained unusually silent. He waited, bracing himself for her response.
"I am here, Admin," Elecia's calm, steady voice resonated from the speakers. "I was respecting your current state, as you appeared highly disoriented and confused upon waking. Consequently, I refrained from interfering until you explicitly called for me."
She paused for a fraction of a second before continuing. "Before you ask, allow me to narrate the timeline of events following your loss of consciousness. However, would you prefer to view a screen recording of your system metrics prior to the blackout, or do you simply require my verbal summary?"
Hearing her unbothered, operational tone, Akane felt the tension in his chest loosen significantly. If Elecia was this calm, it meant the world hadn't ended while he was asleep.
"Let's just go with the summary. Keep it simple."
Sighing, Akane clutched the edges of the slipping blanket, pulling it tighter around himself as he leaned back into the chair, awaiting the report.
"Understood, Admin. You have been unconscious for over eight hours. You experienced a total cognitive shutdown at exactly 12:06 PM and collapsed directly onto the desk."
"Prior to the shutdown, your physical body stiffened completely before impacting the workstation. This triggered a minor panic within my parameters. Consequently, I contacted your aunt, Risha, to ensure your physical safety."
"I explained the situation using limited disclosures, revealing that you were in the middle of an intensive processing task and had suffered a temporary faint. As a direct result of this, Risha has been entering your room every two hours in a state of severe anxiety."
"I have attempted to calm her down via text interface, but it appears my decision to share your operational status merely accelerated her psychological distress. I have cataloged several notable behavioral reactions from her, but we can save that data for later."
"In short: I also utilized my core inference models to run a localized scan on your vitals. Your physiology is entirely healthy; there are no anomalous medical readings. No one has entered this room aside from Risha during her two-hour check-in intervals. Shall I notify her of your awakening now?"
Akane stared at the screen. His expression transitioned seamlessly from genuine gratitude, to absolute somberness, and finally settled into a flat, deadpan stare.
On one hand, he was incredibly grateful. As long as Elecia was monitoring him, he had a safety net.
The fact that she was capable of high-level independent problem-solving was invaluable, though, and honestly, a bit terrifying.
But on the other hand...
Resisting the overwhelming urge to facepalm, Akane let out a long, exhausted breath. He couldn't even find the energy to nitpick her choices. He was completely at a loss for words.
"What is her status right now?" he asked quietly. "Is she resting? If she is, don't notify her. It's too late."
He paused, clearing his throat. "Also... thanks. For what you did."
"According to a brief spatial scan," Elecia responded smoothly, "she is currently awake and watching television downstairs, though your siblings remain in their respective rooms."
"Irina is currently reading a book and taking notes, though her heart rate indicates she is still quite agitated. Meanwhile, Ayato is—"
"Hey, hey, hey—enough!" Akane cut her off, scoffing at her entirely unruly behavior. "There's no need to spy on everyone in the house. I didn't even know you had that kind of scanning range."
Shutting down her impromptu surveillance report, Akane sighed once again, rubbing his temple.
A profound silence settled over the bedroom. As the initial disorientation finally faded, a sudden, some kind of joy pulsed and rippled through the quiet void of his chest.
He was a [Scholar] now.
The deeper mechanics of the class were still a mystery, and the transition had raised far more questions than answers; all in all, it was a brand-new path.
A tangible upgrade. He could feel an intense spark of curiosity burning in his mind, desperate to test his newfound self.
A slow, uncharacteristic smile curved the corner of his mouth, genuinely looking forward to what tomorrow would bring.
"So," Elecia's voice chimed in, breaking into his thoughts, sounding entirely pleased with herself. "Does my performance merit a five-star rating, Admin?"
Akane's smile flattened instantly.
"Get out."