It was a pulsating pain on the rear of his brain that never disappears. It would subside for a few minutes to make him believe but then it would destroy that hope making him tense his arms, legs and fists. It wasn’t only pain since it would either be minor involuntary seizures and constant biting. He would just lose control of his jaw muscle group.

Izo looked like a lunatic, felt like a lunatic and he was a lunatic.

‘Ah the fish. No, not fish. A trout.’

He could see it’s black and brown scales. It’s eyes were dark and it would briefly be invisible at times. To Izo however he could also see the short and fat human at the same time. He was both of them at the same time.

‘Now, I know why Dream State Consciousness required mental resilience.’

As of this moment, a clown and a man in a gorilla suit were dancing Argentine Tango while rose petals rained on them from the sky. And in their passionate movements, they were lost in rapture. Soon, they positioned their posteriors against each other. They shook it up and down while the loose clown suit and the fur bounced in rhythm. Despite being males, they had a large back too.

‘Uh.’

He knew they weren’t real. It was disheartening seeing the twerking in front of him now.

“Are you ok, young man?”

“Not really. I hope you can cover for me a bit Sung Soo.”

“They did say the difficulty wouldn’t be too hard. Why can’t the two of you control yourselves?”

Sun Hee was also not completely fine. While the both of them had slept late last night, their tiredness were in different hues. Izo was tired tired while Sun Hee was happy tired.

She earlier asked for his hand. He was unsure of the husky’s plan but Izo helped her still. When they touched their palms, the heat of water being boiled was felt.

By her words she was ‘vibrating the air molecules’. None of the others who practiced the mana art had even done so.

‘She’s probably more insane than schizophrenic me and hers won’t disappear in time.’

Somehow Izo, who only practiced “Being One with Soul” a few times, succeeded. His body wasn’t ready for it, his mind wasn’t expecting and his soul was flabbergasted.

He had not yet told anyone other than Jane to report his condition. After that it was already too close to the start of the Contrived Levels. The only comfort was that the book stated that it was completely normal to have after effects while practicing Dream State Consciousness and they would disappear in time.

[ Contrived Levels are open! Good luck candidates! ]

The black gates appeared and Izo, Sung Soo and Sun Hee were partnered up. Petro had four of his followers. Nabih, Svana and three other Atlanteans. Most of the Earthlings however formed 3-4 teams.

Izo’s team was wearing a t-shirt, combat pants and vest combo. They also bought a canteen of water, matches and a few fall-back options. Izo chose to follow Sung Soo’s advice in this case.

“Good luck!”

Petro drew a cross and his team was first to enter.

Nabih sneered as he disappeared within the black gate. Svana gave a thumbs up to Izo as the other Atlanteans followed.

“Let’s enter you two.”

Sung Soo beckoned them.

“Izo.”

Sun Hee grabbed his arm. There was no faint smiles or that light hearted feel a minute ago. The husky was a wolf as of this moment.

“Safety first, ok? This won’t be the Nexusphere. The enemies here would be real.”

“You too. Safety first.”

She hovered her palm over his face and the moist hot air entered his pores. It was like washing his face with warm water.

Izo looked at Sun Hee and instead found a fairy of the forest. Lithe and mirthful, joyful and caring. It was definitely his schizophrenia acting up but he found it somewhat fitting.

The three of them entered the gate passing through the veil.

*

“Hello Yellow Tassel the bejeweled reptile here! Welcome everyone! For those who are watching at the comfort of their homes, we hope you have you have food and drinks ready. For those on the frontlines, we thank your service!”

It was the same quadrupedal reptile from the opening ceremony with his deep but soothing voice. He was in his cozy cot and his tail longer than his body was swaying in the air.

“Today is the start of the Contrived Levels among the explorers of the future! Some of the names you will see today will surely become giants of world discovery and great heroes in the future! They will be the great ents shouldering the downpour of the future but in their seedling states!”

“Let us also welcome our special guest and co-host for today who had just recovered-“

Bang!

A cloud of dust covered the vision of the viewers and it was immediately parted by a giant rocky body twirling in a circle.

“The drama! The tension!”

“Director Talcum!”

The mage golem glowed with green and yellow as he roared to the audience. Surpringly

The 40.3 billion audience shot up to 45 and the comments sections were filled with exclamation.

[ -Director Talcum, the man of culture, the artist polish!

-Come on say it, say cinema!

-This guy. So loud in his stupid comments. ]

Every corner of the Nexusnet was talking about the Explorer training.

“Director Talcum, what are your initial thoughts about these batch of future explorers?”

“A battle between future titans and the lurking dragons. Three worlds worth of heroes. I am here to watch!”

“I agree. Personally, I’m most excited about Jae of the Cilae. She is poised and experienced. Powerful yet kind. A ‘warrior princess’ in every manner of the word.”

What the viewers could see changed into a forest. Jae stood with four other Cilae people and they were surrounded by 50 half goat half humans.

“As you know these are satyrs that have lost their minds. Not only are they infectious to their fellows but they are also highly aggressive. They would be a good challenge for the warrior princess.”

The colors of the scene changed to black and white except for the five candidates’ bodies which were blue.

“Jae is about to unleash her Ceramic power.”

The #1 candidate punched a large tree at an angle where it would fall towards the most bunched of the satyrs. Then they aggressively sprinted in the same direction and broke through.

“Director Talcum, what do you think of their tactic based on your experience?”

“Smart. They chose to limit the numbers that they will fight and pick them off slowly.”

They fought for a time and when they were about to be surrounded, they fell back. Quickly enough, all the satyrs were felled.

“It’s unfortunate these satyrs fate. They will be buried respectfully. Director, who are you most interested in watching among the newbies?”

“It can only be one. A calming voice from an impoverished hero. A riser of the tides, a master people’s man! Izo Shelley!”

[ -Huh? Is this another name for a top ten?

-Dunno. ]

5 billion people who felt curious searched for the candidate.

[ -#730? Is Talcum talking about this guy?

-Is this paid advertisement?

-If the man of the arts says so then I believe so!

-I’ll tune in later when its more exciting. ]

A footage of the argument yesterday appeared. #7 Petro and #10 Nabih’s arguments played while the history of their races was shown to the public.

[ -You don’t get to say sorry. You don’t deserve to become God.

- I only hope that you can watch me prove my sincerity to better the world. ]

The still of Nabih pushing his fingers on Petro’s nose was shown.

[ - “We have to live on the current, faltering and sad present.”

“While remember the painful pasts, we shouldn’t be ruled by them.”

“Only, then can we rise up to the future! Look not for blame but for solutions!” ]

The words from the man who was dwarfed by the camp, swamped their resentments away. Flooded it out to the sea and repurposed it for a better wave of unity.

[ -I like this man. His words are real.

-Tough talk. Hope he can back it up.

-Let’s see how good he is first.

-Weird man. Weird. ]

Talcum stood up and raised his right fist to the air.

“Whatever may come, we citizens of the Nexus must do our best. Rise up to the future.”

The 45 billion viewers that dropped to 43 at this point but the comments became a lot more active.

The footage shown changed to a barren wasteland. Hot steam vents escaped from cracks on the ground. Twenty green humanoids were camped in their yurts. They had deep voices and were incredibly rowdy.

“These are battle orcs everyone.”

“And they don’t even realize they are in the sights of a hunter.”

High up 50 meters away a team of three, armed well enough to multiply their battle effectiveness, was watching the orcs. The older gentleman looked well built and trustworthy. The younger woman looked valiant and brave without affecting her cuteness.

Izo Shelley who Talcum called the Riser of the Tides was currently sleeping while in a piggyback position.

“…”