After Merlin and Sera went home that day, Merlin sat at his desk.
His report was due soon.
He placed a blank sheet of paper in front of him and picked up his pen.
He stared at the empty page.
He had no idea where to begin.
Merlin sighed.
Then his vision suddenly blurred.
He blinked.
The room slowly came back into focus.
"What...?"
He shook his head.
A strange heaviness had settled over his body.
His eyelids felt unusually heavy.
Merlin rubbed his eyes and looked back at the paper.
He placed the tip of his pen against it.
He was ready to write the first word.
He remained like that.
One second.
Two.
His fingers loosened around the pen.
His head slowly lowered.
Then—
Merlin fell asleep.
Everywhere went dark.
Merlin's feet touched solid ground.
He looked around.
He was once again within the limitlessly tall bookshelves of his mind.
The sight had become somewhat familiar.
Merlin sighed.
"So this place exists outside the simulation."
He looked up.
The shelves stretched endlessly into the darkness above him.
"I wonder if I'm the only one with this power."
He began walking between the shelves.
Strangely he knew every inch of this maize of bookshelves he had created. Though it felt endless.
Does this place exist in his mind or was it in the physical world too? Merlin didn't know.
But at least now he knew one thing.
It wasn't part of the simulation.
Merlin stopped.
A faint glow appeared in front of him.
He looked up.
The system's screen suddenly appeared in front of him.
Merlin stared at it.
[You have a New item]
There was something new.
An unfamiliar item had been added to the system.
He narrowed his eyes.
He read the name.
[Leon's Pendant]
Merlin froze.
His expression slowly changed.
"Leon?"
He stared at the screen.
He remembered Leon tossing his pendant over to him just before dieing, the smile he had on his face, like he's accepted his fate. That was all that came to mind when he thought about Leon.
Merlin opened the item.
A description appeared beneath it.
He began reading.
[Leon's Pendant]
[A pendant belonging to Leon, the great mage of Alaric's flock.]
[A pendant with no special abilities except in the hands of it's master. The pendant still carries the hope its master once held—to see the world restored.]
Merlin stared at the screen.
He read it again.
Then again.
His eyes stopped on one word.
Leon.
The system hadn't identified him as a non-existent character or made up in any way.
Just Leon.
Merlin's fingers slowly curled into his palm.
"The great mage..."
His eyes moved back to the description.
Alaric's flock.
Alaric.
He had heard it before.
The captain.
Merlin's expression slowly changed.
He remembered the scene.
The chains.
The blade.
Harvey shouting his name.
"Alaric!"
Merlin looked at the pendant's description again.
This wasn't a random item.
The system had identified Leon as a real individual.
At least...
It seemed to.
Merlin swallowed.
He had always assumed the people in the simulation were nothing more than part of it.
But if that were true...
Why was Leon's pendant here?
And why did it contain information about Alaric?
Merlin stared at the screen for a long time.
Then another thought entered his mind.
If Leon was real...
What about the rest of the crew?
Merlin's expression darkened.
His gaze remained fixed on the pendant.
He suddenly remembered Leon's final glance.
That faint smile.
The way he had thrown the pendant to him without saying a word.
At the time, Merlin had thought it was simply part of the simulation.
Now...
He wasn't so sure.
Merlin closed the description.
His eyes moved toward the endless bookshelves surrounding him.
"I can't write about this."
He thought about his report.
If he told them everything he had experienced, someone would eventually ask questions.
He remembered how everyone glanced at him.
He lowered his gaze.
They'd ask questions he didn't have answers to.
And if the pendant was proof that the simulation wasn't what he thought it was...
Then he couldn't afford to let anyone know he had it.
Merlin looked back at the system.
The pendant remained displayed there.
For the first time, he wondered whether the simulation had actually been showing him someone else's world.
Or perhaps...
Someone else's life.
"Wake up!"
Merlin turned around.
There was nobody there.
He looked between the towering bookshelves.
"Who's there?"
Silence.
Merlin frowned.
The voice had sounded close.
Too close.
"Wake up!"
There it was again.
Merlin's expression changed.
He recognized the voice.
It was his own voice.
No.
Not exactly.
It sounded like it was coming from somewhere far away.
Merlin stood still and listened.
"Merlin!"
The voice became louder.
Merlin's eyes widened.
That wasn't coming from here.
He looked around him.
The voice wasn't inside here.
It was coming from the outside.
"Wake up!"
Merlin's vision suddenly began to blur.
The bookshelves stretched and distorted around him.
"What is happening?"
The ground beneath his feet disappeared.
Merlin reached out instinctively.
Everything went black.
His eyes snapped open.
Merlin shot upright in his chair.
He gasped.
His chest rose and fell rapidly.
For a few seconds, he simply stared at the room.
His desk.
The blank sheet of paper.
The pen still resting beside his hand.
Everything was exactly as he had left it.
Merlin looked behind him, Sera started at him. You can't sleep here, she said.
I was about to write my report, Merlin replied.
Oh yeah? How's that going? Sera said, looking at his paper.
He glanced toward the window.
The sun had barely moved.
"How long was I asleep? He asked himself.
He looked back at the paper.
The pen was still in his hand.
For some reason, his fingers were trembling.
He tried to write something.
Then stopped.
"Earth to Merlin!"
Merlin glanced at Sera, I'm still at the thinking process, okay?
Sera sighed before turning to leave the room.
His gaze moved to the blank paper.
He couldn't write the truth.
Merlin leaned back in his chair.
He stared at the ceiling.
"If that was real..."
He paused.
"...then what exactly did I experience?"
He lowered his gaze.
There was only one thing he knew for certain.
Whatever the simulation was...
He didn't want anyone else knowing what he had seen.
Merlin stared at the blank paper.
He picked up the pen again.
His fingers still trembled slightly.
He looked at the first line.
Then at the rest of the empty page.
He had to write something.
Something normal.
Something that wouldn't raise any questions.
Merlin lowered his head.
He began to think about everything he had experienced.
He spawned in a forest, Met the crew,Found a dungeon, Then fought against an unbeatable creature.. but in the end everyone died, including himself.
His hand tightened around the pen.
No.
He couldn't write any of that.
At least Not the way it actually happened.
Merlin took a slow breath.
He needed a story.
A believable one.
Something close enough to the truth that he wouldn't have to remember too many lies.
His eyes moved toward the window.
The light outside had begun to fade.
Merlin looked back at the paper.
Then he finally placed the pen against it.
He started writing.