The fluorescent lights of the interview room hummed with a sterile, rhythmic buzz. Arjun pushed open the heavy door to find a woman seated behind a sleek, metallic desk. Her eyes, sharp and calculating, didn't leave her tablet as she spoke.
"Come in," she said, her voice devoid of inflection.
Arjun entered and took the seat opposite her.
She began the questioning immediately. Arjun kept his responses as clinical and sparse as possible
After an hour of circular questioning, the woman leaned back, tapping her stylus against the desk. "Is there anything else you'd like to declare for the record? Anything that might affect your categorization?"
Arjun paused. He knew that in this world, some things were impossible to hide forever. If he wanted to walk among the elites, he had to play their game—at least for now.
"Well," Arjun said, his voice calm. "I have a True Name."
The woman froze. Her stylus rolled off the desk and clattered onto the floor, but she didn't move to retrieve it. She glanced sharply at the lie detector readout nearby. The line remained perfectly flat, a steady green light indicating absolute truth.
She swallowed hard, her composure cracking for the first time. "I see. And... what is this True Name?"
Arjun leaned forward, a small, enigmatic smile playing on his lips. "Heavenly Demon."
The woman nodded slowly, her hand trembling as she typed the words into his official file. "Well... congratulations on receiving a True Name in your First Nightmare. That is... unprecedented."
Arjun nodded politely and stood to leave. As he walked down the corridor, he debated the wisdom of his transparency. What can go wrong? he thought. If I'm going to be a target, I might as well be a target they fear.
The next morning, the Academy cafeteria was a cacophony of clattering trays and hushed whispers. Arjun moved through the line, filling his plate with as much protein as the servers would allow. His new body required an immense amount of fuel to maintain the dense muscle mass the Spell had gifted him.
He spotted Diana sitting at a corner table and slid into the seat across from her. She looked up, her expression guarded. Before they could exchange more than a nod, a loud chime echoed through the hall. The large monitors mounted on the walls flickered to life, displaying the official Sleeper Rankings for the new batch.
The room went deathly silent.
1. Name: Arjun
True Name: Heavenly Demon
2. Name: Lucas
3. Name: Diana
...
The silence lasted for exactly three seconds before the explosion of noise.
"A True Name? How did he get a True Name in a First Nightmare?"
"Heavenly Demon... that sounds terrifying. Is he a devil?"
"First Lady Nephis, and now this guy? Who the hell is he?"
Arjun ignored the stares, focusing entirely on his eggs. Diana leaned over the table, her eyes wide. "It seems you're a prodigy, Arjun. Or a monster. I can't decide which."
"I'm neither," Arjun replied, not looking up. "My Nightmare was just... different."
"Don't be modest," Diana said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Only three people in recent history have gained True Names in their first outing. The Smile of Heaven, the Changing Star, and now you. You're standing on the same pedestal as them,initially. Tell me... what did you have to do to earn a name like that?"
Arjun's fork paused. The memory of the hollow sockets of his eyes and the acid-etched bone of his leg flickered in his mind. Diana saw the sudden, dark hesitation in his expression and quickly waved her hand. "Forget it. No need to tell me. Some things are better left in the dark."
Later that afternoon, Arjun arrived at the Wilderness Survival and Combat Class. The training ground was an outdoor arena filled with various Sleepers, all looking nervous. At the center stood Julius, a veteran Awakened with a perpetual, knowing smile. He watched the students with the eyes of a man who had seen civilizations rise and fall.
He spotted Arjun waiting at the edge of the group. "Come in, young man. Don't be shy."
Arjun intermingled with the others, feeling the weight of the silver hair and the blue eyes drawing constant attention. Julius addressed the group in a booming voice. "Listen up! You are all smart, or at least you've survived long enough to pretend you are. You know the value of knowledge in the Dream Realm."
He went around the circle, asking for their individual schedules and soul-core capacities. When he reached Arjun, he lingered for a moment, his eyes twinkling. After gathering the details, Julius clasped his hands behind his back.
"Well, in the time we have together, I plan to make you all immortals. Unkillable. The wilderness is a beast that eats the ignorant, but it bows to the wise."
Arjun suppressed a smirk. Well, I am technically immortal already, he thought, touching the spot where he had stabbed himself only a night before.
By the end of the day, Arjun was exhausted. Julius was a literal drill sergeant; his version of "Wilderness Survival" involved grueling physical conditioning and mental puzzles that left Arjun's brain feeling like fried circuit boards.
He was walking toward the barracks, his legs feeling like lead, when he saw Awakened Rock—a stern man who served as one of the Academy's primary instructors—approaching him.
"Sleeper Arjun," Rock said, his face unusually grim.
"Sir? I was just heading to the combat class," Arjun replied, straightening his posture.
"Change of plans. A visiting Saint has requested to meet with you privately," Rock said.
Arjun's [Danger Premonition] didn't scream, but it gave a low, rhythmic hum. A Saint? Already? "Who is it?"
"Don't worry," Rock said, though he looked worried himself. "She's waiting in the north hall."
Arjun followed the directions, his hand subconsciously twitching toward the space where his sword would manifest. He entered the waiting hall, a grand room with high ceilings and velvet curtains. Standing by the window, silhouetted against the setting sun, was a woman who radiated a primal, overwhelming pressure.
She turned, her eyes locking onto his with a terrifying intensity.
"Hey there," she said, "Heavenly Demon."