Chapter 1

I remember it was a fairly peaceful morning. I was in the corner seat of the morning train, on my way to school, slightly dozing off. Then, the next moment, all I heard was panic and chaos. My eyes shot open, and I recoiled at the sudden stop the train had taken.

“What the hell happened?” My eyes darted around, looking out, wondering if it was an accident or something worse. Before even registering the scene amid the fog that had overtaken the surroundings, I heard a voice from inside, neither human nor beastly.

It was a strange growl, one made after skipping several meals in a row. But was I that hungry? I looked to my side, wondering if the girl beside me had heard my stomach (if that’s what that sound was), but she was staring ahead, as if blankly, towards the exit perhaps, her eyes wide. I followed her line of sight, and my eyes landed on…something.

There was a creature in front of the door. Slightly small, with elongated hands and one eye, and an enormous face with no nose. It kept its tongue out, and drops of saliva oozed slowly from it. Before I could react, the girl had screamed.

Its single eye locked onto me, and in one fluid motion, it coiled one of its jelly arms back like it was winding up for something.

I dodged its attack and fell to the other side. The girl who was screaming a moment ago was now nowhere to be found.

“Did it… kill her?”

No, there is no blood.

The creature tilted its head and jumped towards me again.

I had no time to think, so I just ran as fast as I could.

I wondered if this thing could kill me. Did it want to kill me? There were several more along the way. The train was full of such creatures by now, except only this one chased me like I was its favorite toy.

If it catches me, I’m done.

I ran towards one of the shattered windows. If I hit it with my school bag, there could be an opening big enough for me to fit through. I had no idea if the outside was safer, but I had to escape from that creature chasing me.

I probably had only a few seconds to decide if I wanted to even take my chances. Was that thing weak enough to be subdued? It ran wobbly and slow and didn’t seem to have a lot of strength despite its ghastly appearance.

“What the hell is happening anyway?” I let out an exasperated squeal.

The window shattered outward before I could even swing my bag.

I stumbled on the floor.

“Ouch...” wincing, I managed to look at the sight in front of me.

In the gap where the glass had been, a girl floated midair, cape billowing, one arm outstretched dramatically towards the creature behind me.

“Fear not, citizen of Heisenberg. The defender of justice has arrived.”

“…”

The girl leaped forward, landing between us and shot an arrow out of a bow that seemed to appear in her hands out of thin air. And then she shot another. She was taking out all the strange creatures one by one. I sat on the floor, my mouth gaping open. Her rainbow eyes sparkled, and her purple hair soared effortlessly. She seemed to be sparkling.

“Huh…?” Did I accidentally stumble upon a film shoot by any chance? I took another look at the surroundings and deduced that the destruction looked far too real to be a part of a set. But then that girl looked stranger to me than anything else I had seen today.

“This is your special entrance?” An elegant voice came from behind me, “It is so lame.”

Another girl appeared, walking past me and standing in front. She was wearing the same school uniform as I, albeit a longer skirt, with her dark black hair elegantly kept in a ponytail.

“Everyone loves superheroes!” The cape girl spun to face her, affronted. “The defender of justice! The symbol of hope!”

“For who? Children?”

“It’s not for children! What does it even lack?”

“One thing for sure…” Sounding serious, the second girl spun around and continued, “Gore.”

“Alright then!” Cape girl cracked her knuckles and turned back towards the creatures with renewed purpose. “Let’s raise the stakes then.”

Seemingly satisfied, the other girl had turned around and paused at me for a second. Her round glasses couldn’t hide the spark in her dark black eyes, a face I found so strangely familiar. I wanted to scream that gore was definitely not okay to me, but something in me feared her stare.

“You are…human…”

Her words seemed directed at me, so I responded, “Aren’t…we all?” I was half waiting for her to tell me no; that she was not a human. Nothing would have surprised me at that stage.

“You weren’t supposed to be here.” She mumbled, then turned to the other girl, “Hey! Saesha!”

“ALRIGHT.” Cape girl, supposedly called Saesha, punched the air. “I awakened something worth working with”

“You pulled in an outsider!” The second girl’s voice had shifted. “We need to get her out before—”

The ground shook. Or more precisely, it was the train that quivered violently. I felt something slimy under me. Was it my imagination, or did my clothes turn wet for no reason at all? I held my breath as Saesha took a leap midair and jumped down right beside us.

“Look, my master creation, the train monster! Now we must kill it before it can eat us!”

So, it was not my imagination. My hands really were sensing a tongue- and now I really cursed myself for not jumping out the window when I had the chance.

“Did you perhaps forget to take into account the fact that we are already inside it?”

She had a look that said she did indeed, but she shook her head and stood straight, widening her arms, “Then we’ll just have to power up.” There were two swords in her hands when she finished, “Let’s do this, Val.”

“Sorry, but.” She replied flatly, “I have got a girl to protect.” As she said that, she held a hand towards me, and I was inside a green bubble. It was perhaps a shield.

“Why are you protecting an NPC?”

“You…just how careless are you? This is a real human who got pulled into the story.”

“I didn’t make any mistakes!”

The train shook again, and a monstrous roar followed. Saesha looked ahead, focusing on something far inside.

“Fine, just take care of the train thing as fast as possible.” The other girl sighed, her narrow eyes watching me seriously.

“I got this. I am going to burst open its stomach.” She jumped forward, towards a hole, perhaps leading to the stomach? I didn’t care to find out, so I stuck to staying completely still inside the floating bubble.
“You are heavy…” I heard a mumble after some silent minutes had passed.

“I am sorry,” I made an apologetic face, thankful for her bubble more than words could express at that moment.

“I am Vallerie. What’s your name?”

Vallerie, that name sounded familiar.

“I am Reina.”

“You must be confused.”

“I should be…right?” I looked for approval on her face. It was clear to me that these two called the shots, and in no way was I going to offend her.

“I guess it doesn’t hurt if I explain things here. You will forget them when you wake up anyway.”

“So, this is not real?” I should not have sounded as surprised as I sounded back then.

“Here, it is. Because she is here.”

“By she…you mean.”

“Saesha. The girl in a cape. Her powers turn imaginations to reality, and let’s just say…we were taking care of some creatures that hinder her abilities.”

I was fascinated. Now that I was safe, I wanted to know more. As long as the bubble I was in didn’t burst.

“What creatures?” I asked.

She thought about it for a second. “Creatures that are born from nightmares? Does that make sense?”

Looking at the distorted creatures, it did make sense. But it didn’t make sense why I was there, or more importantly, why I wasn’t supposed to be there.

What was up with these two girls who appeared to be the same age as me, wearing the same school uniform, acting like they were saving the world somehow? And they even called me an NPC!

“Do you have special powers too?”

“Here, everyone has powers. Even you.”

“Huh?”

“This is a dream world. If you focus, you can turn your imagination into reality here. But the source of such a thing comes from her. If she stops dreaming, we’ll get thrown back to reality.”

I tried to focus. But focus on what exactly? I had no idea. My mind was warping recklessly. My skirt was soaking wet in the saliva of a creature that reeked. And I was surrounded by two most strange individuals, one of whom had convinced me to act strangely as well.

If I had to focus, I would not be summoning those two small swords like hers, for instance. And I certainly would not be hiding in a bubble. I would perhaps want a sword as big as the train, and I would make sure it got big gradually, so I could perhaps tear it apart from the inside and finally get out of this absurd creature…

“Amazing…” I heard Vallerie say.

I opened my eyes. The sword I had summoned was golden, and its sharp edges pierced the train ceiling as soon as it appeared, tearing it open in one go.

The “Train” let out a roar and was split in two.

My mouth hung open. It was me who did that…right?

Saesha flew towards us and thumped, “Hey, rookie! You stole my kill!”

“Your fault for taking too long. But that was amazing imagination.”

I wanted to say something, but I stayed quiet, wondering what I should do with the giant sword I had apparently created. Should I even do anything? Could I do anything?

“Well, it’s true that it was amazing. What is the name of your sword?” Saesha beamed at me.

“I didn’t consider a name…”

“That won’t do. Ah! How about Clasher? My bow is Viper, and my twin swords are Rednecks. And her Book is called—”

“Caterpillar.” Vallerie finished, sounding proud. “It can perform all defensive tasks.”

“Don’t let her find out that name sounds strange,” Saesha whispered to me.

“I heard that.”

“Uh, speaking of which, we should get away from here now that everything is done.”

Vallerie looked back at me and lent me a hand. I realized I was still inside the bubble, flopped on its floor. She pulled me out and smiled.

“It was nice meeting you.”

“Um! Will I really… forget you two?”

“Most likely. That’s the side effect of having lived a dream.”

“Who knows, if you remember us, just stare at us when you see us, and we’d let you join our gang.”

Gang? My mind was spinning. I didn’t consider them to be part of some mafia underworld organization, and I had wanted no part in that! I had only closed my eyes for a second in fear, and everything had gone dark in that moment.

When my eyes opened, I heard the station announcement. The girl beside me got up. I was on the train, my head tilted to the side, still fuzzy from sleep. Was I dreaming? What about?

“That’s the side effect of having lived a dream.”

A dream…

I remember it! But it was too strange a dream to actually be…real?

Sitting in front of me were two very familiar faces. A girl with silky long purple hair, and a girl with long black hair. They were without a doubt Saesha and Vallerie.

I remembered the faces clearly, but did that matter? Was it not all just a bizarre dream? Perhaps I saw them before falling asleep, and had a dream with them. That sounded less strange than everything else I remembered.

“So, you do recognize us.” Saesha jumped closer to me, clasping my hands.

“She goes to the same school as us; it may be problematic.” In reality, Vallerie sounded way colder, and I shuddered to think how she got rid of her problems.

“It only means one thing! That we three are going to be amazing friends!”

Saesha got closer as she said that, and I leaned backwards, my hands still clasped in her palms tightly.

…I was not going to get involved in any shady business…right?