The weight of what he'd learned settled inside him.
Ahead, a new door slowly creaked open, glowing faintly in the darkness.
The fifth dream awaited.
Leon opened his eyes and found himself in the middle of a bustling city.
Tall buildings stretched up into a gray sky, crowds moving all around him, people walking fast, their faces blurred but their presence overwhelming.
He looked down and something was wrong.
He was small. Much smaller than everyone else.
As he raised his hand, he noticed faint glimmers of light streaming from the people nearby, like a soft glow surrounding them. But from him? Nothing.
Then, something strange caught his eye.
His hair was falling out, clumps of it drifting slowly to the ground, revealing raw pink skin beneath.
His teeth loosened painfully in his mouth, some falling and clattering to the pavement.
Every step sent sharp jolts through his body, aches he hadn't expected.
He tried to stay calm, scanning the crowd for answers.
But eyes were on him. Whispered laughs turned into cruel, loud mockery that echoed in his ears and shook his entire body.
His limbs trembled uncontrollably.
He swallowed his fear and started to walk forward, because standing still meant nothing.
He had to find something. Anything.
Then, every hair on his body stood on end, his scalp prickling like static electricity.
He froze.
A brilliant lightning bolt split the sky and struck just behind him, shaking the ground with a deafening roar.
Leon jumped back, heart pounding, knowing this dream was far from over.
While crossing a busy street, a car that had been parked suddenly bolted toward him.
His heart leapt. But he didn't panic.
He was careful, doubting every step, every move.
The moment the car shifted, he stepped back quickly, just out of harm's way.
But it wasn't the only time. Accidents kept on coming.
Each time, the accidents came closer.
It was like the world was against him.
Leon kept walking, Suddenly, the world shifted.
He found himself in a vast space filled with people wearing the same clothes, uniforms.
He realized this had to be a college.
He told himself. "It's part of the same one. Maybe the answer's here."
He stepped inside.
Almost immediately, a group of students surrounded him.
They punched, kicked, and pushed.
In the real world, Leon would have stopped them easily.
But here? He was small. Weak. Slow.
He couldn't fight back.
Frustration boiled inside him.
Was this why others failed? Because they couldn't defend themselves in this fragile form?
A shadow fell over him. The kick aimed at his ribs never landed, one twin caught the attacker's ankle mid-swing and twisted.
The other stepped between Leon and the crowd, arms out, her voice sharp and commanding.
The circle broke, and for the first time since entering the dream, Leon felt air in his lungs.
They were larger than everyone else, towering over the students, and their light shone brighter than any Leon had seen in this dreamscape.
Their presence calmed the chaos.
Leon's heart steadied.
Maybe help had finally arrived.
Leon felt something powerful wash over him, the admiration, the love, the respect the dreamer held for those two figures.
It was stronger than anything he'd ever seen.
Suddenly, he understood.
The fifth dream was a memory of being saved at the lowest point in life.
A time when everything was falling apart, struggling in a strange town, hearing a language he couldn't understand, losing hair and teeth, feeling small and unwanted.
The dreamer saw himself as less than others, ugly, undeserving, a target for the world's cruelty.
That's why the lightning struck, the car bolted, and the accidents kept coming. The world felt like it was attacking him.
But then, something changed.
The twins appeared.
They lifted him up when no one else would.
They were the turning point.
The reason he could stand again.
Then everything began to vanish.
The city, the twins, even the crowd, they all faded until only two doors remained, standing side by side in the emptiness.
Leon blinked, confused.
Two doors? Both leading to the sixth dream?
He shook his head. No. There has to be a catch.
If he tried, and failed, everything would crumble to dust.
He hesitated.
Minutes stretched. Ten minutes passed.
He still hadn't chosen.
The doors began to fade.
Panic surged.
He needed to choose.
Suddenly, a horrifying sight caught his eye.
His own head lay on the floor, severed, lifeless.
The twins stood behind it, silent and still.
This is the end. I failed.
But then, something unexpected happened.
Light started pouring out from the severed face.
A new body began to form, shimmering, glowing.
This new form stood tall, radiating the same brightness as the bullies and others he'd seen before.
Not as bright as the twins, but rising.
A body reborn.
Leon's heart raced.
Maybe failure wasn't the end.
Maybe it was a new beginning.
After one door vanished and the other remained, Leon thought to himself.
Death in a dream means change.
By hesitating to choose a door, he was like the dreamer, hesitant to change his life from its darkest place to something better.
The real change came from others, how people had shaped him, pulled him forward.
And even his hesitation? That was part of the process.
It wasn't failure, it was a step toward the next stage.
The remaining door was the way forward.
To the sixth dream.