I WAS The Rank–1 Hero Chapter 49: Hope [1]

"[Quantum Manipulation]"

The mont I activated my ability, sothing went wrong.

My vision flickered.

The world around slowed down. My limbs felt weightless, refused to move from my will.

'No—Not again?!'

Dammit!

A familiar sensation coursed in : loss of control.

My body refused to move. I could feel myself standing, but... I couldn't command my own muscles.

A cold sweat broke out on my forehead.

This wasn't exhaustion.

This was an interference.

'It didn't want to escape.'

A presence, that was faint but undeniable strong, pressed against my consciousness.

Sothing was keeping here.

'Think, damn it!'

Then, suddenly rembered.

I activated another skill.

'[Limited Sense]'

But—

[Host consciousness fading...]

[Resorting...]

[Success...]

A familiar voice echoed in my mind.

'It's the voice Sera told about.'

[Limited Control – Ti Left: 02:00]

The weight from my consciousness lifted.

My control returned.

"Cough!... Haaah! ....Haaah!"

I gasped, my breath was ragged, my vision finally cleared and focus.

Sera stood before , her grip tight on the pendant Aegis. The small clock-like artifact in her hands spun rapidly, its golden-hands fluctuating between two positions.

Twelfth Hour: Dream.

Thirteenth Hour: Paradox.

'Hmm?'

A thought suddenly clicked.

'Dream...?'

Sera had explained it before. Aegis can identify both Authority holders and their respective Authority.

Which ant only one thing—

"This isn't a real place," I muttered, my voice hoarse. "We're inside a prison created by soone with the Dream Authority."

Sera's eyes widened. "What?"

I ignored her and turned my gaze upwards.

The massive crystal hanged from the ceiling pulsed with ethereal yellow light, bathing the city in its golden hue. It had seed natural at first, but now...

I stretched my hand forward, focusing my quantum perception I analyzed the emitted light.

And then, what I saw, proved all my hypothesis valid.

The photons—

They weren't real.

They had no wavelength, no energy.

The light itself was an illusion.

I clenched my fists. "Of course..."

It all made sense.

The reason I never sensed any living beings when we first arrived in the Demon Continent.

The reason we were able to breathe underground without proper ventilation.

The reason this city had remained untouched for centuries.

Our bodies aren't actually here.

This wasn't an underground ruin. It was a dream prison. Our minds were here—our consciousness's—but our real bodies were sowhere else.

That realization sent a chill down my spine.

"We're being kept in a forced sleep," I said. "Sowhere, our real bodies are trapped.

Sera inhaled sharply. "Oh? Then how do we wake up?"

That's a good question.

The answer is simple, but the process is overly complex.

If I could sohow locate my own brain's real activity, I could trace the neural patterns back and sever the connection trapping us here.

But... there was a problem.

I had no idea where our real bodies were.

Still, I had one option left.

I closed my eyes, diving into my own neural network. I saw nurous electrical impulses sparked across the synapses of my brain.

My perception shifted from the dream world to the real, infinite maze of thought patterns raced in my mind.

I saw all the mory fragnts.

And then—

I reached the connection.

The thread that linked my consciousness to this dream world.

Now... I just had to break it.

But how...?

Should I overload my brain activity?

It might work, I could continuously sends an electric impulse in my brain, accelerating it, and destabilize the dream holding .

But, the risk are dangerous... too much overload might damage my consciousness.

If not then... what should I do?

I have no other choice left.

Yes. Let's do that.

I need to find the source.

I focused on the connection.

A thin black threads appeared on my hand.

It was my will.

Reaching out to it, I traced it back.

'There...'

Just a bit more...

'Push harder.'

If I could just destabilize the anchor—

[Error...]

'Huh?! What?'

The sa voice rang in my mind. Buzzing non-stop, throbbing my brain.

[Caution: Host interference detected]

[Stabilizing Host body...]

[Stabilizing failed...]

What was happening?

A pain rushed through .

Imnse pain.

"Ughh!!"

I greeted my teeth.

'Just a little bit more...'

The dream world rippled.

The ground beneath shook.

It was working.

"Human?" Sera's voice was distorted.

The place is collapsing.

Everything around turned into waves and particles, absorbed by the crystal on the ceiling.

I too noticed myself turning into photons.

My vision, fractured.

And then—

Darkness.

A sharp cold sensation rushed through .

My breathing rushed.

Air—real air— filled my lungs.

I opened my eyes.

I wasn't underground anymore.

I was back in front of that glowing tree.

No, not only — Anna, Aria and Julius was laid on the ground, unconscious.

Their body intertwined in the vines, each vines glowing with green-yellow light.

"Human?" A voice ca behind , I turned around.

Standing their was none other than Sera, the queen of elves.

She returned too, to the real world.

"Miss Sera, how did yo—"

"Run!" Sera shouted, warning about sothing.

But it was too late.

A bright light engulfed us.

An overflowing energy surged through the whole forest.

It took a while to understood what just happened—

The glowing tree just blasted, it's essence surged through the whole forest.

The seer light generated by it, illuminated the sky, which once hid by the tree.

But what happened next, didn't make sense.

The essence generated due to sudden blast, gets absorbed by my body.

All of it.

The brightness surrounding us now turned to darkness.

***

On the sa ti:

Five figure moved through the dense forest.

They had been walking for nearly three hours now.

The one leading them, Hope, walked at front, while the other four trailed behind him.

Justice, unable to hold back his frustration any longer, demanded, "How long do we have to walk!?"

Hope didn't answer.

Justice clinched his first. His irritation growing each second.

Then, Pride spoke up. "Where exactly are we going?"

This ti, Hope responded almost imdiately. "To the south."

Pride's narrowed her eyes.

She hadn't expected an answer—at least, not from him.

She knew this wasn't the real Hope. And yet, sothing about his voice unsettled her.

It wasn't just a imitation.

It felt real. Too real.

Her thoughts drifted elsewhere, a silent plea escaped her mind.

'Zane... where are you?—'

Then—

Hope halted.

And so did they all.

A sudden chill ran down their spines.

Cold sweat beaded on their foreheads.

Rumble! Rumble!

Then, the earth trembled.

The entire forest shook.

The sky above scattered with yellow-green light, illuminating the whole forest for a split second.

The light grew, before suddenly it collapsed on its own, almost as if being absorbed by sothing in the south.

Hope smiled.

A quiet mumble escaped his lips, barely audible to others.

"An Authority holder."

End of Chapter.