The Invincible Full-Moon System

Chapter 1590: Dream Market

A prison.

Either a physical one or a mental one.

That is what Rex was expecting to be under Lorayah Village.

Based on what Amanir found—Kealthar sounded like someone important, someone of great standing, someone who could give enough pressure to the Sky City so that they would take care of the empire— more than other places.

It could be a descendant of the main family, or someone close to it.

However, being right about the truth was sometimes not a good feeling.

Abras pulled open the heavy trapdoor with effort, then gestured toward the opening, indicating that the one Rex sought lay below. From where he stood, Rex couldn’t see anything; he couldn’t see what was down there—only a dense, oppressive darkness that refused to yield to the light.

Even his Werewolf vision couldn’t see through it.

So, this darkness must be magical.

”What’s wrong? Afraid of the darkness? Afraid that I’d close it on you? If so, you can still turn around.”

Abras smirked, his tone laced with scorn.

Rex looked at him for a moment and leaped down into the darkness without hesitation.

He fell for ten seconds.

Only the sound of rustling wind could be heard until his feet reached the ground.

Tap!

As soon as he landed, his surroundings changed.

”A crowd?”

Rex could hear the sound of a crowd bantering, like he was standing at the center of a marketplace, and when he stood straight, his surroundings changed exactly into that. He looked around in surprise, finding the thick darkness replaced with the scenery of a marketplace.

One that could be found in the slum.

He stumbled forward, surprised that someone actually bumped into him.

Not because he was offended, but because these people around him shouldn’t be real.

Instinctively, Rex looked up, and he saw that there was no sign of the trapdoor.

Above him was the dark night sky, complete with the moon and stars.

But one absent characteristic stood out, one that made him certain that this wasn’t real.

No Black Rift shrouding the sky.

”An illusion?”

”Hey there!”

Rex turned to the side and was greeted by an innocent-looking woman standing behind him.

She looked ordinary, in her thirties, and had braided brown hair.

Also, she has no scent and no aura.

However, her smile seemed to draw his attention.

”I’ve never seen you around before. Are you new here?”

”New? What even is this place?”

”So, you’re new. If that’s the case, let me properly welcome you to the Drimia Market! You can really find anything here that would certainly suit your taste. My name is Xina,” She placed a hand against her chest, introducing herself cheerfully. ”And since the rule of this market stated that anyone who talks with a newcomer first is in charge of that person, then I’ll be taking you to look around.”

Instead of hearing her, Rex reached for his forehead and whispered to himself.

”What am I doing here...? I feel like I forgot something important.”

Before he could think further, Xina pulled on his hand.

She made him walk, still with her unnervingly cheerful smile.

”I already told you my name, shouldn’t you tell me yours?”

”Rex.”

”Wow, your name sounds mighty. Are you perhaps a strong warrior?”

”Not strong enough.”

”That’s exactly what a strong warrior would say!”

Xina laughed sweetly, pulling Rex’s hand harder through the crowd with a location in mind.

”In that case, you’re going to love the place I’m going to bring you to.”

Along the way, Rex looked around in confusion.

A sense of unease crept in, as if he’d stepped onto a path he was never meant to follow.

Then, a notification appeared.

Rex wanted to read it.

But almost as if Xina knew what he was about to do, she tugged on his hand harder.

”Isn’t the moon beautiful today?”

Xina looked up while walking, inhaling the night air deeply as if she were lucky to breathe again.

On the side, Rex also looked up.

It has been quite some time since he saw the moon as clearly as it is tonight.

”What do you think about the moon, Rex?”

”Dangerous.”

”Dangerous?” Xina covered her mouth and chuckled. ”I’ve never met someone who’d say that.”

Soon, the two arrived in front of a place.

It was a bare-knuckle fighting tavern.

Even from the outside, Rex could already see the ring inside with people fighting fiercely.

”I know I should be showing you around, but I’m completely broke,” Xina said, twirling a few strands of her hair and pulling them over her face with a shy smile. She glanced up at him, eyes hopeful. ”Could you win a match for me so we can look around?”

Rex pulled away, staggering a couple of steps back, ”I don’t think I should. I need to do something.”

Despite saying that, his face twisted with confusion.

He was trying to remember what he was doing, but he couldn’t.

It was akin to a prey that always slipped his grasp whenever he was about to catch it.

”Don’t think about anything. Relax.” Xina placed a hand on his tense shoulder, soothing him with her voice like a lullaby song. ”You’re safe here. Nobody ought to hurt you. Just empty your tired mind— and live in the moment.”

Hearing this, Rex’s expression darkened.

But it only lasted a fleeting moment, replaced by a soft one as he looked up at Xina.

”I’m hurting. I’m in pain.”

”Hurting...? How?”

Xina supported him gently, becoming concerned for his well-being.

He looked fine appearance-wise, but it seemed he wasn’t.

”Can you take it away from me? The pain. But I want you to feel it, so somebody knew that it was real.”

Rex pleaded.

Even his touch on her was becoming weaker, softer, as if he was surrendering himself fully to her.

Naturally, Xina smiled in response.

”Of course. In this market, you can have everything you want as long as you pay the price. But you do not need to think about it right now. I’ll help you.”

Slowly, Xina reached for Rex’s chest.

Her hand surprisingly glowed, though Rex still couldn’t sense a single aura from her.

Just like Rex wanted, she’s going to take away the mental pain he was suffering in silence.

But the moment she did, her eyes widened for a second.

”Eh...?”

She tilted her head in confusion, but that didn’t last long.

”RAARGHKK!!”

Xina collapsed to the ground with a choked gasp that tore into a full-throated scream.

It was the loudest she had ever screamed in her life—raw, ragged, and animalistic.

Agony surged through her like molten metal poured into her veins, searing everything in its path.

There was no room for thought, no space for breath.

Just pain.

Absolute, excruciating pain.

It felt as if her flesh was being ground to dust, each nerve shredded and scattered to the wind. Her bones splintered beneath invisible pressure, her muscles spasmed in betrayal, and her very soul—fragile and unguarded—was set alight, burning with a heat that knew no mercy.

She had anticipated suffering, mental suffering to be exact.

Even braced herself for it.

But not this.

Not this cruel, mind-breaking physical torment that clawed through her sanity like rot in wood.

Her body began to convulse violently, limbs twitching beyond her control, beings bulged to the surface, and then came the foam, bubbling from the corners of her mouth as her back arched, the scream dying into a strangled gurgle.

And still, the pain didn’t stop.

On the other hand, Rex cracked his neck and looked at Xina with sheer contempt.

It was the notification that Rex saw earlier.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember what he was doing because of that Spirit Genesis, but his instincts knew that Xina couldn’t be trusted. So, naturally—he was aiming to get rid of her and see what happened next.

Attacking her was not impossible.

But since he was in confusion, he couldn’t muster the will to kill her.

However, there was no need for him to kill her directly.

Since this Dream Market could grant anything to anyone, and Xina was the conduit to its power, Rex asked her a simple request. To make the pain go away. But he opted for her to absorb the pain by faking it to be a mental pain.

One that wasn’t physical, so he needed someone to acknowledge it.

And she fell for it.

”It has been a damn long time since this body was free from pain.”

Rex stretched his body, feeling more energized than ever.

He had gotten used to the pain for so long that he forgot how it felt not to be in pain.

It was refreshing.

Then, he looked down at the convulsing Xina.

”I knew he’d been suffering because of that strange but useful blue hologram, but witnessing the effect on someone else... It’s clear just how brutal it truly is. This body’s resilience is extraordinary. That hell box wasn’t just torment, it was preparation.”

As soon as those notifications appeared, Xina’s body instantly cracked and dissipated.

Alongside her disappearance was the return of the gradual penalty.

Rex was instantly hunched again as the pain returned.

”I thought it’d last longer than that, but no matter.”

Shaking his head as the feeling of freedom was fleeting at best, he turned around and faced the market.

”What’s a Fragmented Spirit Genesis?”

”Hooh? There’s a feature like this? Cool. Yes, buy it! Buy it!”

”Duke Lorcan’s doings, as I expected.”

Rex nodded.

Clearly, what Xina said earlier was the truth.

As she said, the Dream Market has its rules, and the person who talked with a ’newcomer’ is the one—who would be in charge. So, the rule was real; thus, when Xina disappeared, there was nobody who was in charge of addressing Rex.

”It’s a powerful Spirit Genesis, but it has its weaknesses.”

Though Rex said that, killing the one in charge isn’t supposed to be that easy.

Even its influence happened in an instant.

As soon as Rex stepped into its domain, his memory instantly became fuzzy, and his willpower lowered.

Regardless, now he was free to roam around without any influence.

Rex faced the market and scanned the crowd with the System.

A bright blue light pulsed outward, enveloping anything that it touched, turning them into a holographic blueprint, including the buildings around. Soon, countless stats windows appeared, a detailed summary of the people in the market.

Expecting the people not to be real, Rex was surprised to see that all of them had a status window.

Alas, most of them only stated that they were a Puppet of the Dream Market on their race section.

But what was more surprising was that there were real people here.

People who were still under the Spirit Genesis’ influence, roaming about without a care in the world.

Just as Rex was about to filter the stat windows in search of Kaelthar, he stopped.

His ears perked, and he tilted his muzzle skyward.

Rex sniffed in a deep breath, inhaling all kinds of scent that lingered in the air, exercising his senses to their fullest capacity. He ignored the people around him, focusing on one thing only that he had picked up seconds ago.

Slowly, he exhaled through his mouth.

And then, he glanced over his shoulder with a menacing slowness—his eyes glowing brighter.

A smile tugged the corner of his lips as he fixated on a direction.

”I smell fear... Is that you, Kaelthar?”