— This Is Definitely a Dream… Right?

Chapter 1 — This Is Definitely a Dream… Right?

Meaningless work. Day after day, twelve hours straight — working and working without rest. And the boss was always dissatisfied, as if nothing he did ever mattered. There was hardly any time left for sleep. Only one day off a week, and even that was often stolen away when the damn boss called him back in.

“Damn… what has my life become?” he muttered, lying on the bed in his dark room. He was almost thirty and had achieved nothing.

His eyes were closing on their own, but his thoughts refused to let him go.

“Tomorrow I have to get up early again… another day of work… I need to sleep…”

He swallowed a sleeping pill — insomnia had plagued him for years.

And then he fell into a deep, bottomless sleep.

When he woke, he felt surprisingly light and refreshed. In the past several years, he couldn’t remember sleeping this well even once. He opened his eyes, only to squeeze them shut immediately. Sunlight was hitting his face directly, forcing him to squint. Slowly, he sat up, stretching his back, and rubbed his eyes. Then he looked around.

This wasn’t his room.

Instead of familiar walls, he was surrounded by nature — a beautiful, quiet place. Rising from the ground, he began to look around. Not far away, a small river flowed lazily, its clear waters gliding forward without haste.

He was standing on soft grass, the earth beneath it rich and green. On one side was the river, on the other a cliff about ten meters high — maybe more. Across the river lay another patch of green, where bushes heavy with bright red berries grew. Beyond them, another cliff rose high.

It seemed there were only two possible exits. The place looked like a small canyon, or a hidden valley carved long ago by a faster, stronger river. Now the water was calm, and everything felt peaceful — almost magical.

He felt wonderful. Such a deep sleep… such fresh air… such beauty around him.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve dreamed anything like this,” he thought, taking in the scenery. “Everything looks so vivid, so sharp… as if I’m truly here.”

He took a few steps toward the river and stopped at its edge. The water was crystal clear. The depth — about a meter, maybe a little more. On the bottom, he could clearly see smooth stones, plants swaying gently, and tiny fish drifting in the current.

“Water this pure doesn’t exist… What a beautiful dream,” he whispered with a faint smile.

He drew a deep breath, savoring the moment. He had no desire to wake up.

“Soon it will end. Soon this dream will vanish, and I’ll have to wake up…” he thought with quiet sadness.

“How I wish I could stay here forever…”

He sat down by the river and dipped his hand into the water. A faint shiver ran through his body — the water was cold. Real. The vividness of the sensation startled him.

“This dream feels… so alive…” he thought, an uneasy feeling creeping into his mind.

He lowered his other hand into the river, scooped water with both palms, and splashed it onto his face. Cold. Truly cold — as if it pierced his skin.

He exhaled sharply and froze. His thoughts began to spin faster. A strange clarity was dawning on him.

“Could it be… this isn’t a dream?”

“No. No, that’s impossible. How could I have ended up here?.. If this isn’t a dream…”

He wasn’t sure anymore.

Again and again, he splashed cold water on his face. Droplets streamed down his skin, each splash sharpening the sensation, making it harder to deny. His clothes were getting wet — especially his sweater, which grew heavy and clung to him.

“No… this can’t be real,” he thought, a flicker of panic in his chest. “But why does everything feel so real?”

He looked down — and realized he wasn’t wearing his own clothes.

A sweater he didn’t recognize, coarse and old-fashioned, as if hand-knit. Simple trousers, the kind peasants might wear in an old game. No zippers, no logos, no familiar fabrics. Everything looked… out of place.

Then it hit him — a memory from years ago, when he used to play video games as a teenager. Fantasy RPGs… Characters always started out in clothes like these. Peasant clothes. The kind you wore to work the fields.

He smirked faintly.

“What, did I get transported to another world?” he thought half-jokingly. “Like in those cheesy web novels I used to read… Not that I have time for that anymore.”

He shrugged.

“Well then… let’s try. Status window!” he said with a trace of irony.

Nothing happened. No system. No menu, no interface.

“Yeah, right,” he chuckled inwardly. “It would be hilarious if a real menu or system window suddenly appeared… like in a game.”

And at that very moment — it did.

Right before his eyes, a transparent window appeared, framed in a faint glow, sharp text floating within. He flinched, took a step back, and stared at it in disbelief.

It was real. Hanging motionless in the air.

【STATUS】

Name: Alisar

Level: 0

Rank: 0

HP: 1,090 / 1,090

MP: 1,000 / 1,000

Strength: 47

Defense: 30

Speed: 32

Intellect: 41

Magic Power: 24

Magic Defense: 35

Free Attribute Points: 0

Skills: —

Special Skills: — Training Room (Level 1)

At first, he’d felt glad — thinking this might truly be a new world, a fresh start somewhere far away.

But the system window quickly cooled that hope. This was clearly a dream, not reality.

A faint disappointment welled up in him.

“Well, if this is such a realistic dream,” he thought, “it’s better not to linger. The longer I stay here, the more it will hurt to wake up and realize it’s only an illusion.”

How to wake up? Probably pain was the best way, he reasoned.

He raised his hand, clenched his fist, and drove it into his stomach — right into the solar plexus.

Air burst from his lungs. Sharp pain sent him collapsing to his knees.

“Damn… damn, that hurts!” he gasped, clutching his stomach, breath ragged. “But this is just a dream!”

No. This wasn’t a dream. This was reality.

Finally, he was sure of it.