Autophagy

[Guyaa has consumed a part of another being's power. It enters hibernation.]

[Guyaa has been forcibly recalled. Cooldown: ??:??:??]

After Guyaa swallowed Edward whole, it turned into a streak of light and went back into the magic circle in Song Lei's hand.

"Huff... Huff..."

Song Lei was left gasping for air because of all the pain and excitement he was feeling. Seeing that it was finally over, he relaxed and laid back down.

"That was hard..." Aston muttered as he walked to Song Lei's side. He, too, laid down on the ground.

"Yep..."

"So? What will happen now?" Aston asked Song Lei. Song Lei looked at Aston and pointed his finger towards the horizon.

"The dream space will dissipate shortly after the main villain has been killed," Song Lei resolved Aston's curiosity. Aston turned his head towards the place Song Lei pointed towards. From far away, the world had started crumbling down into pieces, leaving an infinitely white space. The crumbling was becoming faster and faster, approaching the two of them.

As Aston went silent, Song Lei looked toward the system notifications he had received.

[Congratulations! You've managed to exorcise the Domain-Master Mental Demon Edward Windsor with the help of your friendly Spirit Guardian Aston Windsor. You've leveled up! You've gained two stat points! As you've overcome an incredible hurdle, your 'Tri-force I' skill has progressed.]

[You've successfully cleared a Dream Space by overcoming countless trials. As you've cleared the Domain, Aston Windsor will be freed from his shackles. You'll be ejected from the Dream Space shortly...]

[Your skill 'Tri-force I' is ready to evolve into 'Tri-force II'. Do you wish to proceed?]

After reading the notifications, Song Lei chuckled. He dismissed all of them and postponed the upgrade. He could do that once everything had calmed down. He knew that these weren't all the notifications. Another batch would come up only after he completely exited the dream space.

As the destruction of the dream space kept coming closer to them, Aston looked towards Song Lei.

"Don't forget to come by once we exit the dream space," Aston said. "It will be a bit lonely in the apartment, however, it is what it is, right?"

"Yeah..." Song Lei muttered. He had once again gotten used to being around people in this dream space. Now that he would go back to the lonely apartment, he would once again have to adapt.

During the three years he was here, he had gone through a lot of things.

At first, he was just a random orphan on the streets that tried to live with his little brother. After being recruited into the Organization, he was sent to the Eye Orphanage as a trainee.

He was assigned to Section A, which was the section that the most well-behaved and talented trainees would be.

At first, the place had looked like a normal one in Song Lei's eyes. However, it hadn't taken him long to realize that there was something wrong.

The whole orphanage had been infested by a group of insects that could control people's souls. Fortunately, he met Aston. Together, they were able to put up a fight and take down the society that had been formed by these soul worms.

Every single decision he had made, all the training he had gone through, all of them led him to this day. To this day where he laid down on the ground in glory.

"Hey," Aston disrupted Song Lei's line of thought. By now, all the ground under them had long disappeared. They were floating in an infinite white space where nothing other than them existed. It wouldn't be long before they were both ejected. "See you later," Aston said. He raised his fist towards Song Lei.

"Yeah," Song Lei said with a big smile on his face. He raised his own fist and bumped Aston's...

...

"*Gasp. Blergh!" Song Lei started puking as soon as he felt his senses start coming online. Every part of his head hurt like crazy, making him wriggle in his place. He rolled on the ground in agony, trying his best to keep silent.

One by one, he could feel his senses finding their place. The cold hard floor under his body, the bitter taste in his mouth, The faint light penetrating into his eyes, and the familiar smell of the apartment...

Struggling on the ground for a few minutes, Song Lei finally managed to pull himself together.

'That was...' Song Lei muttered inwardly. He couldn't find the word to explain it in his head. If there was such a word, it would be FAST with all capital letters. Because of the time discrepancy between the New World and the dream space, Song Lei's head felt like it was going through a rollercoaster. It wasn't able to quickly analyze and understand what was going on. He quickly took his phone out and looked at the time.

'It has been ten minutes...' Song Lei thought as he kept looking at his phone. He had experienced three years of time in ten minutes. He felt like it was normal for him to feel awkward. 'Anyways...'

Clearing his head, Song Lei wiped his mouth to his arm and opened his backpack. His sword had indeed involved into The Excommunicator.

'That's awkward...' Song Lei thought. 'So dream spaces aren't exactly like dreams. They still slightly impact the New World...'

'I need to tell this to Aston,' Song Lei thought. After closing his backpack, he lifted his head and looked at the notifications waiting to be read.

[You've been ejected out of the dream space.]

[You've managed to clear a dream space in the Heaven and Hell Apartment.]

[You've cleared a dream space by befriending its spirit guardian. Spirit Guardian Aston Windsor has committed allegiance to you. You've become the owner of the 17th floor. If this is heard by the apartment manager, he may become hostile to you.]

[As you've become the owner of the 17th floor, you can harvest red blood beads from here every now and then.]

[You've acquired a new floor! Now that you have two floors to yourself, you can join the power struggle for the Heaven and Hell Apartment.]

[Power Struggle:

Side 1: Heaven Alliance: 14 Floors, {Unnamed}: 2 Floors

Side 2: Hell: 12 Floors]

[You've founded your faction! Please give it a name!]

'Umm...'

Song Lei was dumbfounded by all the notifications that appeared in front of him. These things were completely new to him. Thinking about the possibility of setting up his own faction, Song Lei gulped loudly.

'I've been getting distracted a lot lately,' He thought. 'My main goal is still to go back to the Old World to find my sister,' He muttered inwardly as he shook his head. He then focused on the notifications once more. 'But for some reason, the thought of going back to the Old World makes me feel empty, sad even.'

'Anyways...' Song Lei calmed himself down. 'Considering all the things that have aspired so far, I will never be able to gather the number of blood beads that are needed to go back to my old world on my own. To do that, I need to form a faction and accelerate my income.'

'However, the name of it isn't something that I can so quickly decide,' Song Lei thought. If the name of his faction wasn't changeable, he would be stuck with whatever name he gave it. He would later note down all the ideas that came to his mind and pick one out of them.

Silently dismissing the rest of the notifications, Song Lei got up. He was currently right in front of the entrance of Floor 17. One more step and he would be inside. Although it looked normal from the outside, it probably wasn't. Not knowing what it would look like, Song Lei stepped onto the floor.

As soon as he did so, a bright wave of light hit his face. He had to block the light with his hands to open his eyes slightly. Going from such a dark place to a bright place, his eyes felt like they were on fire.

It took him a good minute before he could see in front of him.

'Wow...' Song Lei appreciated the design of the corridor. Its layout was exactly the same as the corridors in the Eye Orphanage. However, there were lines of circuits running through it. Unlike the rest of the floors on the Heaven and Hell Apartment, this one was pretty clean and well-kept. Song Lei didn't even feel like he was inside the New World.

'These circuit lines look similar to the ones on Aston's skin,' Song Lei thought. He went up to the wall, trying to touch one of the lines. Only to get zapped by it instantly.

Rubbing his hands because of the pain, Song Lei started walking towards the end of the floor. Just like Isabel's floor, this one had an extra room. That would be Aston's room that stood at the end of the corridor.

Approaching the door of Aston's room, Song Lei held the door's handle....