OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Chapter 531: DREAM



***

Time ticked by and preparations were underway.

Everyone's reaction to the news wasn't much surprise, but rather an expectation fulfilled.

They all heard Emir's words before mentioning such things, it was natural.

Kiera was one of those people.

She, Emma, and Jake were chosen to be the main force of this secret mission.

Of course, Lyra and Ragnar were too, totaling them to six.

And today, which was Saturday morning, she was about to join them in the dining room as per the request of her boss.

He mentioned that something very important was about to happen.

But, as she reached in front of the gate and stepped in, she was met with the one last thing she could have ever expected.

The others in her group, including her boss and his older sister, Lily, sat around the table, appearing to play a card game.

They all stared down at their cards like they held the fate of the universe in their hands.

Kiera rubbed her eyes, questioning the sight.

For some reason that was beyond her, Emir had decided that playing this game, whatever it was, was considered highly important.

Once she stepped forward, the group looked up, noticing her.

"Ah, Kiera! Come sit! We almost started without you."

Wordlessly, the confused girl stepped closer, and Lyra placed down her card, gesturing for her to play.

"Ib-but-"

Lyra pulled her along next to the chair, interrupting her.

"Go join them for a game, I'll sit this out. Playing against me is a guaranteed loss."

Not knowing what to say, she sat down in a stutter, next to Emir, who pointed a box to her left.

She turned, glanced at it, and brought it closer, reading the label.

"Nightfall Shadows..."

Below that, the rules were written.

This card game was themed around Hunters, Beasts, and Ruins, a classic.

The game had a day-and-night cycle where the 'Hunters' had to kill the 'Beasts' before they were wiped out.

'Beasts' could only kill at night, and the 'Hunters' could only do so in the morning, voting together on who they had to kill.

There were nine possible cards: two Beasts, two Hunters, and various special cards like the Spotter, Mapkeeper, Masked Rogue, Relic Thief, Bastard, and Raving Drunkard.

Understanding everything in under a second, Kiera glanced at her card again.

{Beast.}

Oh boy...

This was going to be fun.

Everything about why they were doing this receded to the back of her mind.

It was not like she needed to know, she would do anything Emir told her either way.

"Ready guys?"

Kiera glanced at the rest and then quickly nodded as they did.

"Alright... Ly, if you would."

Lyra stood behind Emir, and began to speak:

"Night falls and everyone goes to sleep."

""

"Spotter, wake up."

11

"Check two cards in the center of the table."

|| ||

"Spotter, go back to sleep."

"Masked Rogues, wake up."

"..."

"Look for your fellow Rogue."

"Masked Rogues, go back to sleep.

||||

"Beasts wake up."

Kiera opened her eyes.

"If you're alone, check one card in the middle."

She moved as quietly as possible only and checked one of the cards in the center, it was a Masked Rogue.

That confirmed two things to her, the obvious was that she was the only Beast in the group, and the less obvious but still pretty obvious was that no Masked Rogue was sitting around the

table.

...This could work.

Or it could crash and burn spectacularly.

"Beasts, go back to sleep."

"You all wake up."

As soon as the night phase ended, Emma piped up with a bright smile:

"Alright, I'm the Mapkeeper, and..."

She checked the card.

"I'm still the Mapkeeper."

Everyone nodded-Emma was an awful liar, and it was obvious by the confident look on her

face that she was telling the truth.

So they handed her the Mapkeeper token. Easy enough.

Next up was Lily, another terrible liar.

She pushed her card forward and said:

"I'm the Spotter. I checked two of the middle cards, and guess what? I found the Bastard and...

Beast."

Kiera kept a poker face as she listened.

She knew Lily wasn't lying since there were only two Beast cards, and that meant that the

Bastard card was truly in the center.

It was perfect.

Now she knew all three center cards.

She leaned back casually, trying to look totally innocent.

Then it was Emir's turn to speak. He leaned forward with a grin and said:

"I was the Relic Thief. And I swapped with Lily, so now I'm the Spotter, and Lily's the Thief."

There were a few raised eyebrows around the table, but it seemed plausible enough, so they swapped tokens between him and Lily.

Kiera had to bite her tongue to stop herself from laughing-Emir had that mischievous look

in his eyes, and she could already feel a setup coming.

Ragnar went next.

"I was the Raving Drunkard."

He shrugged.

"Swapped with a center card, no idea what I am now."

He pointed to the card he'd taken from the center, which Lily had confirmed was the Bastard.

This got him a nod from Lily, who backed him up.

That meant he was probably safe, for now at least.

Then it was Jake's turn, and he was looking straight at Kiera, eyes narrowed.

"Alright... What are you?"

Kiera threw on her best innocent look and said:

"I'm the Masked Rogue. And I didn't see anyone else during the night phase, so I'm guessing

I'm the only one."

Immediately, Jake scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Bullshit. I'm the Masked Rogue, and there's no way you're the other one."

...Ah, right. There were two Masked Rogues, not one. She messed up.

"Hey, maybe we both just missed each other when we woke up? Like, maybe you blinked, and

I didn't see you?"@@novelbin@@

"Yeah, sure..."

He crossed his arms.

"I'm pretty sure I'd know if I saw you."

"Are you calling me a liar, Jake?"

She asked, feigning offense.

"I swear, I saw something when I woke up. I thought it was you."

Jake just shook his head, giving her an unimpressed look.

"Nope, you're lying. You're the Beast."

It was on.

Kiera's mind raced, her fingers tapping against her card.

How was she going to play this? If she couldn't convince them she was innocent, she'd be

toast. But then, a light bulb went off in her head.

"Alright."

She glanced around at the others.

"What if there's no Beast at all? What if we both just got it wrong in the Masked Rogues

phase?"

Jake let out an exasperated laugh.

"Nice try, but, no, to me, it's more likely that you're lying."

Emir leaned back, observing the exchange with amusement.

"I dunno... if I had to trust one of you here, it'd be Jake. I still didn't forget that you took an

Aether core from me for 150 million~."

He shrugged, as if the decision was totally obvious.

Kiera resisted the urge to glare at Emir.

Of course, he'd take Jake's side...

She was tempted to start pleading her case, but something told her to play it cool.

If she pushed too hard, it'd just make her look more suspicious.

So instead, she leaned back, arms crossed, and gave Jake a long, skeptical look.

"Well, I know what I saw."

She raised her chin defiantly.

"Believe me or not, I'm a Masked Rogue. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it."

The clock was ticking down, and everyone was getting fidgety.

It seemed like Jake, Emir, and Ragnar were set on voting for her, while Emma and Lily were

still on the fence.

She had to try one last thing to swing the votes her way.

"Think about it..."

She glanced at Emma and Lily.

"Jake claimed to be a Masked Rogue only after I did."

She gestured at Jake.

"He didn't know which card to claim so he panicked and chose to throw me under the bus."

Jake looked genuinely exasperated.

"Oh, come on! She's just grasping at straws now."

"Well, let me hear your defense!"

She shot back.

"You've only been piling on me while not defending yourself at all."

"Alright, alright, that's enough."

Emir held up a hand, glancing at the clock.

"Time's almost up. We need to decide." Kiera held her breath as the final seconds ticked down.

She could tell Emma and Lily were still undecided, at this point the only chance she'd survive

was a miracle.

The timer beeped, signaling it was time to vote.

"One... two... three!"

They all put their hands down, fingers pointing at their chosen suspect.

Kiera quickly counted and realized three people were pointing at Jake-herself, Emma, and

Lily.

Meanwhile, Jake and Ragnar were pointing right at her.

That meant Jake had the most votes.

A miracle.

Kiera's heart leapt in victory. She slapped her card down, grinning triumphantly.

"Well, well, well! Looks like we got you, Mr. Fake Rogue~."

Jake's jaw dropped, but he flipped his card over with a scowl. {Masked Rogue.}

There was a collective gasp around the table. Kiera's smug grin froze on her face.

He actually was a Masked Rogue.

She was fucked.

The next round came and she was immediately voted out.

There was nothing she could say to defend herself.

Kiera flipped her card, revealing... {Relic Thief.}

...What?

Everyone looked towards their leader. "Ahahahhahahaha!"

Then Emir burst into laughter, flipping over his card.

{Beast.}

He leaned back in his chair, grinning like he'd just won the lottery.

"Ah... I stole from you, Kiera. Guess I played a better Beast than you did."

Kiera could only stare in disbelief as the realization sank in.

All her last-minute arguments had played right into his hands.

The whole time, he'd let her take the heat, just waiting for the perfect moment to reveal the

truth.

"Oh, you—" she started, but her own laughter cut her off.

The whole table burst into chaos, everyone either cheering or groaning over the reveal.

"Alright, fine..."

Kiera rolled her eyes as she accepted her defeat.

"You got me good, Boss Man."

He gave her a smug nod. "Better luck next time, 'Rogue.'"'

She giggled at that and finally asked the main question on her mind:

"So... mind telling me why we're playing this game?"

Lyra tapped her shoulder and answered in his stead:

"It's to find who's suitable for a little mission... in preparation for our big heist."

Kiera raised a brow.

"Who's it going to be?"

Emir clapped his hands.

"You, of course. You can lie a little... which isn't something everyone can do."

While the others grumbled at that jab, Kiera looked down.

She wasn't the best at lying, that was obvious, and Lyra was here, but it was apparent that she

didn't want to do this "mission."

Lyra would kill their targets instead of talking to them, and Emir didn't ask her in the first

place.

He wouldn't have someone he embraced be involved with such filth.

"But what about Sparrow production? Who'll take over my role?"

Emir simply pointed at Lily, his little sister.

"She can manage while you're not around."

Lily puffed her chest.

"I'll do it much better, you'll see! I even taught mom a few things~."

Click!

And speaking of...

"What are you guys doing?"

Laura had arrived, her eyes scanning the group until it stopped at Emir.

"...Oh, sweetie you're here!"

Emir nodded at her.

"Hey, mom."

She quickly stepped close.

"Are you hungry? No? Let mama cook you some food."

He stood up and hugged her, not caring for the others around them.

"Of course, of course, we might as well cook breakfast for all the family, let's go."

Laura let out a soft giggle, nudging her son gently before stepping back. "Alright, let's not keep them waiting then."

She murmured playfully, taking his hand and leading him toward the gate.

The atmosphere in the room was warm, almost golden in its glow.

Everyone seated at the table watched them go, their smiles lingering.

It was rare to be in the presence of such people-people who carried something beyond

words, beyond status or power. Just... presence.

And then-

Click.

Just as the gate shut behind them, it happened.

Everything stopped.

Not just Emir and Laura. Not just the dinner table. Not just the house or the city.

The entire planet.

The gentle hum of background noise-the wind rustling through trees, distant voices in conversation, the murmur of the world itself-cut out in an instant, like someone had pressed mute on reality.

Emir's fingers twitched. He hadn't willed them to move, yet they did, reacting to something

unseen, something vast.

The air rippled.

A shift.

Like the fabric of existence had been peeled back for just a second, revealing something else

beneath.

And from that something, a figure emerged.

White.

Not just in color, but in concept-like an absence of everything except presence.

No features, no shadow, no form that made sense, yet there was no mistaking it.

'He' stood there. Right in front of Emir. Close enough that, if time weren't frozen, a breath could stir the space between them. And then, without explanation, he spoke.

One word.

One command.

One truth.

"DREAM."

Emir's world shattered into light.