Dimensional Overseer: I Can Manipulate DNA!

"This place… it doesn't even feel like a dream anymore," Zane muttered under his breath, eyes narrowing at the surreal landscape around him. The endless stretch of black terrain, the biting silence, the haunting darkness—it all felt too real, too textured. At first, it had made sense to assume it was a dream. After all, he remembered falling asleep. He remembered lying on his bed, his body drained of strength after the exhausting day of assessments.

And more importantly, he wasn't even in his real body. Taller, stronger, faster—whatever this version of himself was, it wasn't the one he saw in the mirror every day.

Logically, it had to be a dream.

And yet…

Each step he took on this strange soil. Every whisper of wind brushing past his skin. The sensation of muscle contracting as he ran, fought, and climbed. Even the way his blood pumped in his ears, thudding in sync with his heartbeat—it was all vivid.

"Dreams aren't this detailed," he whispered. "Even the best ones… they're never this sharp."

Then there was the monster from earlier—the strange humanoid corpse with the crystal impaled through its chest. The blood, the screech, the impact when his foot crushed its skull… He had never seen anything like that before. Not in real life. Not in books. Not even in nightmares.

'Dreams usually only conjure what the mind has already seen or imagined,' Zane thought, his brows furrowed. 'Creating something you've never encountered before… that's rare. Almost impossible.'

He paused, letting the silence settle in again. His thoughts, once racing, now slowed into unease. Something didn't add up. Something was off.

'Where the hell am I?' His hand rose to his face, instinctively brushing away sweat that wasn't even there. 'What is this place?'

He didn't have time to dwell on the question.

Suddenly, a sharp noise echoed behind him. A rustle. A shuffle. The unmistakable sound of something approaching fast.

He spun around.

From the shadows, another one of those crystal-impaled monsters emerged. Its body twisted unnaturally, limbs dragging in unnatural angles as it moved. Then, from the left, a second figure joined the first, lurching out of the gloom like a specter.

"More of you, huh?" Zane said, lowering into a stance. "Fine. Let's do this."

The first one rushed toward him, its mouth gaping wide in an inhuman screech. Zane didn't flinch. In one smooth motion, he leapt forward, twisting midair before landing a flying kick squarely on its head.

CRACK.

The skull caved in on impact. The body fell limp instantly.

As the second one lunged, Zane twisted and drove a punch straight through its face. His hand pierced clean through the rotting flesh and bone like a hot knife through butter.

The creature dropped, and just like the first, the crystal embedded in its chest dissolved into shimmering fragments before vanishing into the air.

Zane stood over the corpses, panting slightly, his hands soaked in red.

"I want to get out of here," he said aloud. His voice echoed faintly in the dead space. "I don't like this. Not one damn bit."

He stared at the blood on his hands—human blood. Red. Warm. Familiar.

'They were human… or at least they used to be,' he realized. The limbs, the faces, even the way they moved—there was something horrifyingly human about them. And then the crystal. That was the anomaly. That was what had twisted them into monsters.

'Is that what caused this?' he wondered. 'Some kind of infection… or curse?'

He shook his head and turned away, forcing those thoughts to the back of his mind. Now wasn't the time. He needed to move.

He began walking again, more cautious this time.

But the peace didn't last.

Minutes later, two more monsters ambushed him. He dispatched them effortlessly. But the feeling in his gut—the creeping tension—only grew stronger.

Then four showed up, cutting him off. He didn't hesitate, slamming his fists and feet into them with clinical precision. Bones shattered. Flesh tore.

But before he could finish them off, three more emerged behind him.

Zane's breath caught. 'They're multiplying…'

He finished off the nearest one with a quick twist of its neck, then pivoted and sprinted forward. He wasn't sticking around to be overwhelmed. Whatever this place was, it was trying to trap him.

'I can feel it,' he thought. 'Something big is coming.'

Then, as if answering his fears, the darkness exploded into life.

Screeches.

Cries.

Roars.

From every direction.

Dozens of voices rose in unison, monstrous and maddening, echoing in the sky like a chorus of death.

Zane's eyes widened. He turned—then turned again. The creatures were pouring out from the shadows like a tidal wave of bodies. A sea of twisted, screaming humanoids, all with those gleaming purple crystals glowing from their torsos.

"No… no, no, no!"

He didn't hesitate. He ran.

His legs moved like pistons, carrying him across the barren wasteland as fast as he could manage. Behind him, the horde thundered in pursuit. Their footfalls merged into one monstrous rumble that shook the very earth beneath his feet.

"Where the hell did you all come from?!" he yelled over his shoulder.

His lungs burned, but he didn't stop. He zig-zagged, weaving around the ones that got too close. A hand reached for him—he snapped its wrist. Another lunged—he ducked and tripped it into the dirt.

But there were too many.

Their numbers were beyond comprehension. They surged toward him in an unrelenting mass. The sound alone was enough to drive him mad—their screeches digging into his skull like nails.

'I need to find shelter—anything—somewhere!'

But there was nothing. No buildings. No hills. Not even a tree to hide behind. Just black dirt and endless sky.

Time passed.

Zane didn't know how long he ran. Minutes? Hours?

His limbs ached. His strength wavered.

And the monsters only grew in number.

Soon, they were ahead of him as well. He was being herded into a trap. No matter where he turned, another wall of flesh and crystal awaited him.

"Dammit!" he snarled, kicking one aside. "Where are you bastards even coming from?!"

They started catching him.

One leapt onto his back—he grabbed its head and threw it into two more. But then another clung to his leg. Another to his arm.

"Let go!!" he roared.

He lashed out wildly, fighting like a man possessed. But for every one he tore down, two more replaced it.

Then… they pinned him.

One after another piled on top of him, dragging him to the dirt. Their teeth sank into his skin.

"AGHHH!!"

He screamed in agony as blood sprayed from his wounds. Their bites were savage, ripping flesh from bone.

"LET GO!!"

He thrashed, kicked, punched—but his strength was failing. The pain was unbearable. The pressure, the numbers—it was all too much.

'I'm going to die here. I'm going to get eaten alive.'

He closed his eyes, bracing for the end.

'Where is this dream going?! Let me out! Let me out!!'

And then—

BOOOOOOM.

A deafening blast tore through the air. A shockwave of pure force slammed into the horde, sending monsters flying in every direction. Their bodies were shredded midair, vaporized by the invisible explosion.

Zane was thrown backward like a ragdoll, tumbling through the dirt. He felt his bones shake from the hit and his bloody flesh smeared the ground beneath him.

"Gahh!" he hit the ground and rolled several times before coming to a stop, coughing and gasping for breath. "What… the hell?!"

He looked up, dazed.

Then his breath caught.

The sky was alight with power. Gigantic bursts of energy rained down from above, blazing streaks of light that carved craters into the land. With every blast, dozens—hundreds—of monsters were annihilated.

Their limbs, blood, and bones scattered like confetti across the dark soil. The smell filled his nose to the brim, almost making him throw up immediately on the spot.

Zane could only watch in silent awe as the world around him exploded.

The deafening chaos lasted for several moments, shaking the very heavens.

And then… silence.

Utter, unnatural silence.

The explosions stopped.

The monsters were gone.

The only thing that remained was the wind—and the craters carved across the land like scars.

Zane's head tilted up slowly. He blinked, dazed and trembling.

Because somehow… he was untouched.

Every blast, every crater, every beam of destruction had avoided him as if it was a deliberate act. As if whatever caused that was targeting everything but him.

The ground beneath his body was the only place left intact.

"..." He blinked slowly, his eyes still wide from shock. "What was that?" He muttered then slowly stood up, fighting the bloody pain all over his body. "Where did that come from?"

Looking to the sky, he saw nothing. It had returned to being pitch black.

"... I'm losing it..."

A//N: Thanks for reading, would appreciate if you support the book with golden tickets and power stones. See you on the next one!