A young looking man was calmly walking towards a police station. He was far more beautiful than any mundane human with white skin; his long black hair strong like steel swayed as he noticed a young man sitting on a rusty bench.
The young man was cradling a cup of coffee in his hands, his eyes full of exhaustion and defeat. Fang Yuan quickly understood that boy's predicament, after all he was in a similar situation himself.
After escaping to the chaos from the ten Venerable, he transmigrated to a future, dystopian version of his original human world. He was robbed of his venerable immortal physique and his Gus in this world.
In the world of Nightmare Spell he still pursued eternal life. Trying to find a way to get his Gu world's powers back was a task for the future.
Nevertheless he stared at the police station and shook his head, walking into it. He stayed silent for a few moments as officers gave him weird looks.
Soon, the frail boy entered the police station too.
"Are you lost, boy?"
The police officer was not asking Fang Yuan, maybe due to his beautiful appearance; instead they were talking to the frail looking boy.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!"
The youth cleared his throat.
"Uh, no."
Fang Yuan was quietly watching as the frail boy scratched the back of his head and added:
"As demanded by the Third Special Directive, I am here to surrender myself as a carrier of the Nightmare Spell."
Using this moment Fang Yuan also said "As demanded by the Third Special Directive, I am here to surrender myself as a carrier of the Nightmare Spell." in an indifferent tone.
Soon the boy and Fang Yuan were escorted into a bunker as the young boy stared at him with a hint of envy and resentment.
Several policemen were busy putting them in restraints. Soon they were fastened into a bulky chair that looked like a weird mix between a hospital bed and a torture device. The room they were in had thick armored walls and a formidable-looking vault door.
The frail looking boy — whose name was Sunless was also someone with no family to contact in this world, Sunless and Fang Yuan were given briefing about the nightmare spell and first nightmare, but Fang Yuan had already researched well when he showed symptoms so it was just a revision to him.
Soon Fang Yuan felt drowsiness assault him as everything went black.
And then, in the darkness, a faintly familiar voice rang:
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial…]
…
Fang Yuan dreamt of a mountain range, one of them was jagged and lonely, rising higher than others. Soon the moon fell over the horizon. The sun rose from the west, streaked across the sky and disappeared in the east.
"Time flowing in reverse, it seems that the first nightmare has profundities of time path or this world's version of it!" Fang Yuan pondered as the scenery changed again, a pile of bones rose from the ground of the lone mountain, slowly assembling into a skeleton. Other skeletons assembled somewhere far away from that mountain and turned into old men and women.
The skeleton formed into a young man with white hair as other men and women surrounded it, they slowly retreated from the lone man and disappeared from the horizon. The young man with long white hair walked in reverse into a hidden cave in the mountain.
Time slowed, stopped, and then resumed its usual pace.
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial…]
'Ah! How nostalgic'
Fang Yuan found himself sitting on a crude chair with a map in front of him.
"It seems to be a twist on my first life in the Gu world, how interesting." Fang Yuan smiled as he was about to study the map but stopped himself and summoned the runes.
Name: Fang Yuan
True Name: —
Rank: Aspirant.
Soul Core: Dormant.
Memories: —
Echoes: —
Attributes: [Will of Fate], [Sorcerous Soul], [Child of Divinities], [Otherworldly Physique]
Aspect: [Demonic Plunderer].
Aspect Description: [Demonic Plunderer is an amoral thief who takes everything they can to achieve a selfish desire.]
"Quite fitting, the spell seems to have knowledge of other worlds, chances of me getting my venerable status back are quite high." Fang Yuan did not continue this line of thinking, anything beyond it would account to fantasy rather than educated guesses.
Fang Yuan checked his attributes with an amused reaction
[Will of Fate] Attribute Description: "The strings of fate wrap tightly around you. Unlikely events, both good and bad, are drawn by your presence. You are given a goal and are fated to achieve it."
[Sorcerous Soul] Attribute Description: "You have a soul of a creator, as if you were a genius artist in your past life"
[Child of Divinities] Attribute Description: "All except one divine accept you as their child."
[Otherworldly Physique] Attribute Description: "You have a body far stronger, faster and better than others, as if artificially created for you."
Fang Yuan was quite shocked to see such attributes, the spell seemed to know way too much about the Gu world, his attributes mirrored his journey too closely.
His sovereign immortal foetus body had been downgraded into a mortal vessel, but it still has its unique powers.
"What a pity, this world does not allow cultivation of all paths, restricting one with aspects and attributes. The magic is far more rigid than the Gu and cultivation I am used to."
Fang Yuan could not help but find similarities in this universe and video games and webnovels from his original universe, he even felt a bit cheated — as if he was transmigrated in a world far less original than the gu world. But who is he to judge, he has extremely limited knowledge of this world anyways.
Fang Yuan pushed such unnecessary ideas away as he was in a fatal trail, he did not have a lot of time to prepare the ambush.