I'm Trapped in the Block

’If I just keep waking up, I’ll reach reality eventually.’

’This is a dream. Wake up.’

’This is a dream. Wake up.’

...

The Sect Leader repeated this process over and over until he reached a layer that felt particularly strange.

’So real.’

The dreams often gave him this feeling, but a closer look would always reveal that something was off.

In a dream, things that were completely out of place would appear.

And this time, the Sect Leader found just such a thing.

At that moment, his phone was dimly lit.

He had set his phone to "Do Not Disturb" because he didn’t want to take any calls.

But right now, there was an incoming call. The caller ID read "Mom."

This was extremely out of place. He had cut off contact with his parents a long time ago.

The Sect Leader loved writing novels. After graduation, he hadn’t found a suitable job, and his parents wanted him to help out at the family’s general store.

But working at the general store was incredibly busy. He’d have to get up early to receive goods and then mind the store until late into the night.

It seemed like a leisurely job, but any random customer could interrupt his train of thought.

The noisy customers left him with no mental energy to write his novels. He could only write what he loved late at night when things were quiet and there were fewer people.

Even so, his parents scolded him daily, until one day, after a huge fight, he stormed out...

The call on his screen was about to end. The Sect Leader snatched up his phone and answered it.

They were both silent for a long time.

"Are you okay?" His mother’s tone had never been so gentle. Before, all she ever had for him were coarse bellows of anger.

’Too out of place.’ This was the second thing that felt completely wrong.

"Your father is sick. It’s terminal. Come back and see him," his mother pleaded.

The things that happened in dreams were always like Korean dramas, with all sorts of bizarre developments. Hearing this, the Sect Leader’s interest was actually piqued.

When he slowly made his way back home, he was greeted by the sight of his mother’s ashen face at the front door.

"Where is he? Couldn’t have died this fast, right?"

the Sect Leader asked with a smile.

His mother stared at him, her eyes filled with an incomprehensible hatred. She rushed forward, grabbed the Sect Leader’s collar, and yelled:

"Do you have any conscience at all!"

The Sect Leader only broke free when other relatives rushed out of the house and pulled his mother away.

’Is this really necessary?’ He didn’t understand.

His uncle walked over, slapped him right across the face, and said through suppressed rage, "Go see your dad one last time."

"Haha, he’s really dead. I knew it."

The Sect Leader ignored his uncle’s bloodshot eyes, walked straight into the house, and saw his father lying on the bed.

’This is so unreal.’

"This plot development is just too ridiculous." The Sect Leader was now certain this was a dream, but he wanted to play along a little longer.

He leaned his face close to his father’s body, held a hand under his father’s nose to check for breath, and then pried open his eyelids with his fingers, trying to see if the pupils were dilated.

The Sect Leader’s actions drew gasps of shock from the surrounding relatives, but he paid their reactions no mind.

Not until his uncle grabbed him and slammed him against the wall.

"You animal! You’re just like your biological father—a complete animal!"

His uncle punched the Sect Leader in the face, knocking him to the ground, all while cursing, "You’re just like that beast, utterly devoid of humanity."

Lying on the ground with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, the Sect Leader laughed.

"Hahaha, biological father! Who is he? I’m going to find him."

’This layer of the dream is getting interesting.’

Ignoring everyone’s attempts to stop him, the uncle rushed over to the Sect Leader’s mother.

"You tell him yourself. It’s time he knew." The uncle’s voice was full of helplessness and exhaustion.

His mother gave a stiff nod, retrieved an old letter from a cabinet, and handed it to the Sect Leader.

"Go. Go find your biological father. You’re not welcome here." Her numb eyes showed no emotion.

At this point, all the relatives were glaring at the Sect Leader with open hostility.

He took the envelope and left without a backward glance.

The envelope contained the true identity and address of his biological father.

’He’s in the rich district?’

The Sect Leader’s curiosity grew. He took a car to the address on the envelope.

After getting out of the car, he discovered it wasn’t just a rich district, but a sprawling Manor.

’Just like in the TV shows.’

After he stated his purpose, the guard at the gate notified a butler to lead him in.

Along the way, the Sect Leader took in his surroundings, marveling at how dreams could always be so unexpected.

The butler led him into a room where a middle-aged man with an extraordinary air was sitting. The man’s gaze was scrutinizing as he invited the Sect Leader to sit before him.

"Give me the envelope." His tone brooked no argument.

The middle-aged man’s expression didn’t change one bit, even after he finished reading.

He put the letter back in the envelope, set it aside, and then slowly began to speak.

"Back then, I was attacked by a business rival, fell into a river, and lost my memory. It was your mother who saved me. I was very happy during that time."

Although his tone was full of nostalgia, his expression remained cold.

"Later, after you were born, I regained my memory during an accident. I felt terrible about your mother, but my family was in peril, so I had to leave temporarily. I never expected so many years to pass. And now you’re all grown up."

He took a piece of paper from a drawer and handed it to the Sect Leader.

"This is a non-disclosure agreement. Sign it, and you won’t have to worry about a thing for the rest of your life."

The Sect Leader took it, intrigued.

The agreement was all about relinquishing inheritance rights, keeping family secrets, and so on. In exchange for accepting its terms, he would receive a handsome monthly stipend.

Looking at the cold man before him, the Sect Leader couldn’t help but retort, "They were right. You really are an animal."

The Sect Leader was thoroughly annoyed. He casually tore the agreement to shreds and threw it in the middle-aged man’s face.

In a dream, he could do whatever he wanted.

"I’m done playing with you."

The Sect Leader kicked the door open and walked out.

On his way out of the mansion, he noticed everyone was looking at him strangely, as if they pitied him. No one escorted him out, so he had to find his own way to the Manor gate.

The guard opened a small side gate, indicating he could leave.

However, just as he brushed past the guard, he heard the man give him a cautious warning:

"Be careful."

Hm?

’Be careful? What’s that supposed to mean?’

The Sect Leader didn’t think much of it. After leaving the Manor, he prepared to head back to the main road to catch a cab.

But just as he was passing a remote intersection, a fully loaded dump truck came barreling down the narrow road!

It was coming from the direction of the Manor!

’Great, now the car crash!’

That completed the trifecta: terminal illness, amnesia, and a car crash...

Cursing inwardly, the Sect Leader forced himself to wake up, opening his eyes just before the dump truck hit him.

Before him was the familiar ceiling.

And beside him, his faintly glowing phone...