Vincent sat in the sterile, minimalistic office, his gaze flicking to the strange, almost too-clean walls. Ellen, the therapist, was seated across from him. She is young—he could tell by her soft features and the way she moved, with a kind of quiet energy. But there was something else about her, something that made him uneasy. Mysterious, like a puzzle with missing pieces. And yet, despite the strangeness of it all, he felt a pull toward her, as if she knew more than she let on.
“███ ████████” Ellen began, her voice calm and steady, “█ ██████████ ██████ ████ ██████ █████ ███████”
Vincent leaned back, running a hand through his messy hair. “Yeah… Dreams, if you can call them that. Nightmares. They’ve been getting worse.”
Ellen nodded, her gaze piercing, though her expression was gentle. “████ ██ █████ █████”
Vincent hesitated for a moment. He hadn’t spoken about his dreams to anyone before, but something about Ellen made him want to open up. He told her about the alleyways that twisted like they were alive, the figure with impossibly long limbs, and the sense of something lurking behind him in the shadows. The sensation of being hunted, followed, and never able to escape.
As he spoke, Ellen listened carefully, her eyes never leaving his. She wasn’t taking notes, wasn’t distracted. It was like she was absorbing every word, processing them in a way that was more than just clinical.
“█████ █████████ ████ ████ █████ █████ █████” Ellen asked, leaning forward slightly. “██████ ████ ███████ ████ ████ ████ ████████ ██ ████ ████████████”
Vincent narrowed his eyes. “Yeah… How did you know?”
Ellen smiled softly, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “██████ ███ ██ ████ ████ ████ ████ █████ ████ ███ ██ ███████████ ██ █████████ █████████ █████████ ██████ ███ █████ ██ ████ ███.”
Vincent shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “What do you mean by that?”
Ellen’s expression grew thoughtful. “██████████ ███ █████ ███ ██ ███████ ██ ████ ██████ ██ █████ ███████████ ███ █████ ████████████ ███████████ █████ ██ ██████ ██ ████ ███ ██████████”
For a moment, Vincent felt a surge of frustration. “Tell me what? That I’m losing my mind?”
“███” Ellen said quietly, her gaze steady. “████ █████████ ██ █████████ ██ ████ ██████ ████ ███ █████ ██████ ███ █ ███ ███ ████ ████ ██ ████ █████ ██ ███”
Vincent frowned, feeling the weight of her words but not fully grasping them. He wasn’t sure if she was helping or making things more confusing. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that she knew more than she was letting on.
The next day, Vincent found himself walking through the city, his mind still lingering on Ellen’s cryptic words. He wasn’t sure if her explanations had helped at all, but they stuck with him, gnawing at the back of his thoughts.
As he turned a corner, he nearly bumped into someone—Nina.
“Oh, Vincent! What a coincidence!” she said, her voice cheerful but with a calculated undertone.
Vincent paused, eyeing her skeptically. “Nina. Didn’t expect to see you here.”
Nina smiled, her eyes twinkling mischievously. “Just passing by. You know how it is.”
Vincent knew exactly how it was. It wasn’t a coincidence at all. She had set this up, somehow. But he didn’t press her on it.
“Care to join me for breakfast?” Nina asked, tilting her head. “There’s a café just down the street. My treat.”
Vincent hesitated, but Nina’s persistence wore him down. “Alright,” he finally said, feeling that he didn’t have the energy to argue.
The café was small, tucked away from the busier streets. They sat at a corner table, sipping coffee as Nina chatted animatedly. At first, she didn’t mention the guild or recruiting, which surprised Vincent. Instead, she talked about the dungeons.
“You know, the dungeons have been getting harder to clear,” Nina said, her tone serious now. “Before, A-rankers like me could handle A-rank dungeons solo. But now… even groups of A-rankers are struggling. It’s like something’s changing. The monsters are getting stronger, and it’s happening fast.”
Vincent raised an eyebrow. “Why haven’t I heard about this?”
“It’s not public,” Nina replied, lowering her voice. “The major guilds are keeping it quiet to avoid panic, but it’s happening. And it’s going to get worse.”
Vincent mulled over her words. He wasn’t involved in the dungeon world, but he knew enough to understand that if the dungeons were getting harder, it could spell disaster for the city. For everyone.
Before he could respond, the door to the café swung open, and a tall man with an arrogant swagger walked in. His eyes locked onto Nina, and a cocky grin spread across his face.
“Well, well, if it isn’t Nina,” the man said, walking up to their table. “And who’s this? Your new boy toy?”
Nina looked visibly annoyed, her smile faltering for the first time that morning. “What do you want, Alex?”
Alex—an A-ranker from the Silver Talon guild, Vincent realized—smirked. “Just wondering why you’re wasting time with this guy when you could be spending it with someone more… your level.”
Vincent didn’t react, calmly sipping his coffee. “I’ll be leaving once I finish my breakfast.”
Alex’s grin turned into a sneer. “I think you should leave now.”
Vincent looked up, his gaze steady. “I said after I finish.”
Alex’s expression darkened. He loomed over Vincent, his presence threatening. “You got a death wish or something?”
Vincent ignored the tension, taking another bite of his breakfast. Nina, despite her clear annoyance, remained silent, watching how Vincent would handle the situation.
The air in the café grew thick with tension, customers watching the scene unfold with bated breath. Alex finally lost his patience. His hand twitched, and in a flash, he swung a fist toward Vincent.
But Vincent was faster.
Just as Alex’s fist was about to connect, Vincent stood up, finishing his last bite of breakfast and placing his napkin on the table. He calmly pushed his chair back and turned to Nina.
“Well, that was a good meal. Thanks for the breakfast, Nina,” he said with a faint smile.
And with that, he walked past Alex, completely unfazed by the encounter. The café remained silent as Alex stood there, his fist frozen in mid-air, stunned by what had just happened. Even Nina looked surprised, her eyes wide with curiosity and something else—admiration.
