Regnum Aetern: Dual Rebirth

Entering this space every night after going to sleep, Adrian had gotten used to its unchanging nature.

Which was why, after seeing a change here for the first time, Adrian became somewhat tense.

’What the...’

Walking forward unconsciously, he came closer to the window and opened it. And the moment he did, a cold breeze swept across his face.

It was night outside, just like in the real world. But the scenery outside was far too dark compared to what the real night scenery of a city on Earth was supposed to look like.

The night sky only had a few stars, few enough to be easily counted, not nearly enough to illuminate the dark world.

The moon also cast its dim glow, but the light felt pale and feeble compared to the light of the new world’s moon.

But the true cause of the dark scenery was not the moon or the stars. It was something else. Aside from the street lamps that seemed to be automatic and the light of his own corridor’s bulb passing outside through the window, there was no other light source.

There was no light coming from any other building.

’What... is all this?’

Why did the dark fog covering the window suddenly vanish? What changed—?

Suddenly, he was reminded of the second ’teleportation’ that had happened today, making his thoughts pause.

He always woke up in the corridor of his childhood home, the same location where he had opened his eyes during the first ’teleportation’. It was obvious that the ’teleportation’ had something to do with this mindscape.

And now that he had experienced another ’teleportation,’ the change in this space was not too strange. It made sense in its own way.

’Wait, does that mean the dark fog in the corridor is gone too?’

He turned around and walked forward, his impatience clear from his hurried steps. Soon, he reached his destination and his steps came to a stop.

A dark hallway stretched before him, partially illuminated by the light coming from the side. He could see stairs to his right, a few steps ahead, just as he remembered. Those stairs were the way to the lower floors.

’There should also be a lift, but...’

He was more familiar with the stairs.

During his childhood in his previous life, he remembered that stairs were much more fun compared to the lift. No, maybe lifts had nothing fun about them. All you had to do was enter, stand still for a while, then leave when the door opened.

But thinking about it now, maybe he had been too energetic as a child and couldn’t stand still in one place.

And things were different now. He would choose the lift in a heartbeat if he had to choose.

But right now, choosing the stairs seemed like the better option.

’I don’t remember where the light switches are, and I’d rather not waste time trying to find the lift.’

So he walked forward and began climbing down the stairs.

Nothing illuminated the stairway, and he had to climb down in complete darkness, where he could barely see a few inches ahead.

After a while, he felt that he had finally reached the end and arrived at the lowest floor.

From there, he walked through the darkness, navigating through it using his memory. Finally, he reached the building’s exit. The door wasn’t locked.

As he pushed the door open, he felt the cold breeze of the night over his skin once again.

He was outside.

With the road illuminated by the street lamps, he could finally see his surroundings. He took a step forward, coming outside, then began walking under the light of the street lamps.

Seeing the world drowned in deep shadows, it gave him a strange feeling. The feeling was hard to describe; perhaps it was something akin to awe.

He could clearly feel that everything he saw existed inside his own mind. Still, walking under the illumination of the street lamps, Adrian felt as though he was the only one who existed in this whole world.

He continued walking until he reached the four-way intersection of the roads. After standing there quietly for a bit, he sighed.

’So the mindscape expanded after the second ’teleportation’?’

If that were true, then how big was the mindscape now? Was it as big as the real Earth? He highly doubted that. That was because he could sense it now.

He was not sure of it at first, but by now, he was certain.

He could now sense how big the mindscape was.

Adrian could now vaguely see the miniature version of it that existed in his consciousness. It felt so strange, as if looking at the world from above like a god and watching your own tiny self existing in the world, all while seeing the world around like a normal human.

It was an experience so strange that his mind was overwhelmed for a few seconds.

But from what he had been able to see, it looked like a vast land surrounded by darkness. He was guessing that it was the dark fog that used to cover the window.

And more importantly, he could recognize the shape of the covered in darkness. It exactly matched the shape of his country on the world map of Earth.

’Does that mean... that the map of this mindscape now includes this entire country and everything beyond the borders is shrouded in that dark fog?’

That was probably the case. He would’ve liked to confirm this fact, but doing so was nearly impossible for him. After all, he wasn’t going to travel to the borders to check.

No, even if he tried, his body would wake up before he could reach anywhere.

And more importantly...

’There is something else too...’

He was unsure of what that something was, but he could sense it. It was the connection itself. It felt as though he could interact with it.

It was hard to describe in words, but it was as though he was now able to influence something that was undefined and intangible.

And so he did. He tried interacting with that connection.

And just as he did, his eyelids suddenly became heavy, and he was overcome by drowsiness. Losing balance, he fell to the ground and closed his eyes.

Adrian opened his eyes and instantly squinted. Sunlight streamed through the wide-open window, illuminating the room with its bright golden glow.

Still lying in bed, Adrian slowly frowned.

’What the hell...’