The morning of a future Bangkok. A world where technology had leaped forward, yet the weariness of its people never changed. The low hum of vehicles from the main road, a warm breeze from the air purification system making the curtains sway gently. Sunlight slipped through the edge of the curtains, falling on the same spot on the wall… just like every other day.
He slowly opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling of his small condominium in the middle of a capital city that held nothing memorable.
He wasn't famous. He had no reputation. He wasn't someone the world needed to remember. Just another ordinary person on a planet that spun on, driven by duty.
His life had nothing special about it. Wake up, shower, eat, take the sky train, go to work, work all day, return to his room, launch a game, and then sleep.
And in that sleep… he "dreamt."
"Again…" he muttered softly as he rose from the bed. Dust from the curtains made him sneeze lightly, but heavier was the unexplainable weight in his chest.
He had dreamt since he was a child—vivid dreams, frequent dreams, dreams stranger than anyone else's. Some nights, he felt as though he was in someone else's body. Sometimes, he was in a strange world he had never seen before. And sometimes, he just stood alone, quietly gazing at a grey sky.
Some dreams, he could control—walking, running, fighting, or even saving someone from their demise.
He had looked it up and found that it was called a Lucid Dream—a dream where you know you are dreaming, and some people could control it as if in another world.
But he was beginning to feel… that it was more than that.
—
The sky train station was more crowded than usual this morning. He leaned against a pole, surrounded by people wearing AR glasses, seamlessly connecting the real world with their personal data.
As he zoned out, his eyes caught an AR advertisement on the window of the train car. The image flickered, changing into an all-too-familiar city—a floating city under a pale, blood-red sky, towering spires, and a shadow that swooped past.
He blinked, and the image was gone.
…Was it just his eyes playing tricks? This feeling was happening more and more frequently.
Déjà vu—the feeling of having been here before, having seen this, having known this, but not remembering when or where.
He took a quiet breath and shifted slightly as the train arrived at the station. The doors opened. The crowd flowed in and out, as always. He was swallowed by it in silence.
The employee card scanner beeped as he walked through the office doors.
—
His boss's voice came through his earpiece. "Zen! The morning report?"
"About to send it…" he replied flatly, typing slowly, but his mind wasn't on his work at all.
The night before, he dreamt of… a massive eye staring down at him from above, and a voice echoed in his head.
"Wake up… we still have things to do…"
That voice felt embedded within him, as if it was trying to warn him about something.
—
That night, he returned to his room, exhausted. He took off his jacket, turned on his computer, and logged into a newly released online game.
He hadn't told anyone he was going to play this game, but one name stood out on the PvP leaderboard—Karess.
"This guy again…" he chuckled to himself.
Karess—a friend he'd played games with since high school. They had never met in person, didn't know each other's real names, but no matter what game he played, this guy would always show up.
And no matter the game, Karess was always at the top of the ranks.
He typed in the chat, "Top of the leaderboards again, huh? You're the resident boss of every game."
"Been a while, Kalis. You're always so slow," the other person replied almost instantly.
He smiled faintly before starting to play, but soon his eyes grew heavy. He dozed off while still in the game.
—
In his dream, he was in the city, as usual, but this time it was different.
Transparent butterflies floated around him. A faint light emanated from no discernible source.
Before him stood a man, his back turned.
"Wait… you're…"
The man turned slowly. His face resembled his own, but it was weary, profound, and filled with an emotion he couldn't describe.
The whisper echoed in his head once more.
"We meet again…"
He jolted awake, breathing hard, his heart pounding. Cold sweat drenched his back.
He sat in the darkness, took a deep breath, and spoke softly to himself.
"…This isn't just a dream anymore."
And that… was the beginning of an echo that was about to change the entire world.