Soul Wars

~~{ WSA Beginners Entry 2025}~~ After a disagreement with his brother, Ahriman left the house and headed toward his sister Sugar’s apartment. However, he never made it there. The taxi he was in got into a serious accident with a carrier truck, landing him in the hospital. The doctors, still baffled, called it a miracle that he had survived—but that wasn’t the only strange thing. Before waking up in the hospital, Ahriman had a vivid and bizarre dream. He saw strange, almost unreal things. When he finally came to, he noticed the doctors acting oddly, and even he himself felt different—like something was off. Yet, due to his detached personality, which led him to ignore anything that didn’t directly cause problems in his life, he chose to brush it off and be grateful for his second chance at life. But fate had other plans. That very night, Ahriman started experiencing vivid nightmares. He saw eerily realistic places—places that seemed real, yet were inhabited by grotesque, shadowy creatures. Strangely enough, they ignored him entirely. But what disturbed him even more was waking up in the morning feeling completely unrested, as if he hadn’t slept at all. Even after recovering from his accident, the cycle of dreams persisted, gradually wearing him down. His sleep deprivation became apparent in his body, yet he had no choice but to continue his daily routine—attending college, working his part-time job, and simply trying to function despite his exhaustion. Then, something even stranger happened. In one of his vivid dreams, he encountered a human woman—something that had never happened before. Before he could make sense of it, the dream abruptly ended. His alarm woke him up. I heard it faintly at first—a soft ding-dong cutting through the silence. As it grew louder, the metallic chime seemed to vibrate in my chest, lingering in the still air and pulling my attention toward it. My hands moved involuntarily, silencing the sound. I felt groggy. My body was heavy, my mind still hazy, lingering with a soft, rhythmic thumping. It was already eight-thirty—exactly when I had set my alarm—but I didn’t feel like getting up. Without opening my eyes, I considered sleeping a little longer. Why does my body feel so heavy? And what is this soft thing lying on top of me? Suddenly, memories rushed back into my mind. My eyes shot open. The familiar white-painted ceiling came into view. My room. I exhaled deeply in relief. The dream I had today… It was terrifying in so many ways. The more I thought about it, the more a strange feeling crept up on me. I couldn’t explain it, but— “I feel like beating the shit out of someone,” I muttered. As I stared blankly at the ceiling, a soft, fair hand suddenly touched my face. A hand? Slowly, I moved my gaze downward. “Huh—Haah!” Before I knew it, the words slipped from my mouth. Lying near my stomach, as if peacefully asleep, was the mysterious masked woman. But maybe it was just a hallucination. Because in the very next moment—she vanished. From that day forward, his condition worsened. His nightmares didn’t just haunt his sleep anymore—they began bleeding into his waking reality. His already confused, exhausted mind started to crack under the pressure, pushing him closer to the edge. Until, a week later, she appeared before him again—this time, undeniably real."