CHAPTER — The Morning At New World
Birds chirped outside the window.
The sound was soft, ordinary—too ordinary for a world that had supposedly changed overnight. Luke's eyes slowly opened, blinking against the pale morning light filtering through the curtains. For a moment, everything felt normal. His bed. His room. The familiar ceiling above him.
Then he noticed the time.
9:00 AM.
Luke stiffened.
He usually woke up between seven and seven thirty without fail. Even on holidays, his body clock never failed him. Yet now, the morning was already well underway.
The dream.
Fragments of it surfaced immediately—the darkness, the light, the panel, the words that had burned themselves into his memory.
"No…" he whispered.
He sat up slowly, his heart beating faster than it should. From beyond the walls of his private room, voices echoed through the apartment. The television was on. Loud.
Too loud.
"…Aura System confirmed globally…"
"…reports coming in from across the country…"
"…this individual awakened as—"
Luke swallowed.
The news anchors sounded excited. Overwhelmed. Almost frantic. Their voices rose and fell rapidly, overlapping with clips of civilians shouting, cheering, crying. Names of aura categories spilled endlessly through the thin walls, one after another, as if the world had become a single endless announcement.
Luke pressed his palms against his knees.
It was just a dream, he told himself. It has to be.
Aura Master.
Five star.
Unique.
His chest tightened.
"No," he muttered again, quieter this time. "That's not possible. I'm average. I'm supposed to be average."
He tried to steady his breathing. Dreams felt real sometimes. Especially vivid ones. That didn't mean they were true.
From the other side of the wall, he heard his father speaking, his voice low but tense, followed by his mother's softer tone. The television volume increased slightly, as if to catch every detail.
Luke remained seated, unmoving.
A knock came at his door.
Gentle. Familiar.
"Luke?" his mother's voice called through the wood. "Good morning."
He didn't answer immediately.
His Mother opens the door.
"You woke up late today," she continued, a hint of concern mixed with relief. "It's already nine."
Luke finally managed a response. "Yeah… I know."
There was a brief pause.
The world outside his room felt different now. Louder. Heavier.
"Well," his mother said, trying to sound casual, "everything's… changed, hasn't it?"
Luke's fingers curled slightly.
Another pause.
Then the question came.
"So," she asked gently, "what role did you get?"
Luke's heart sank.
He hadn't expected it to come so quickly. Not like this. The very first question of the new world. The one question he never wanted to answer.
His throat felt dry.
He froze.
On the other side of the door, the apartment was quiet now. Even the television seemed distant, as if the world itself was waiting for his response.
Luke stared at the floor of his room, at the familiar scratches on the wood, at the place where his normal life had existed just yesterday.
He didn't speak.
Seconds passed.
His silence stretched.
And somewhere deep inside him, the weight of the dream pressed closer, threatening to turn into reality.
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End of Chapter.