Chapter 72: I Will Become Better
Klaus stepped out of the shower with a determined look in his eyes and immediately walked into his room.
He lay on his bed and asked the system, "System, is it possible for me to dream specific things?"
[Host, dreams are hallucinations conjured by the subconscious mind. I cannot help you with what you will and can dream.]
"That is right..." he whispered and added after a pause, "But I am not a normal person. I have stepped into the mental layer of my aura, and my mind is hungry for knowledge..."
[Is Host suggesting that I provide your mind with controlled knowledge so you experience dreams that you wish to experience?]
"Yes... Yes, I am."
Klaus closed his eyes and said, "You must know about the world more than I do, and I cannot chat about it all the time. That would be both ineffective and inefficient."
[So you want to experience all of that through controlled dreams?]
"Yes," he said quietly.
The room fell silent for a while, and then the system’s genderless voice resounded in his head.
[Are you stupid? If you do that, you may become unable to discern between what is real and what is a dream.]
"No, I won’t," he said, as if he was completely sure about that outcome even though he had no actual proof to back it up. Perhaps he was simply relying on his pure willpower or strong sense of self.
[Host, I am here to support you, so I would do what you wish... but are you sure that now is the time for it? You remember what happened last time, right? You had fallen asleep for three nights.]
Klaus’s expression changed, and his brows knit together as he thought of the consequences of what he was about to do.
He let out a deep sigh and said, "I am being too reckless and impatient."
He sat up and rubbed his face before looking around his room without any thought in his mind.
Though as he looked, thoughts appeared on their own.
This was the very place he had awakened the system, and it was still the only part of the world where he could be just Klaus.
Here he didn’t have to be the mysterious Leo Maker or Klaus the ambitious; he could simply be himself without having to play anything else. He didn’t have to be a jester dancing in the king’s court.
As the thoughts stilled like dust after a violent wind, Klaus’s eyes became clearer, and a smile appeared on his lips.
"I have to start being patient," he whispered as he rose from his bed.
Even though he understood that, it was far easier to say than to do, more so for someone like him who had flames of yearning and ambition as large as the sun.
He put on some daily life clothes and left the house on his bike.
A few minutes later, he stopped at the construction site of Maker Finance, and he walked into the small room that had been built there for Martin to stay.
Unlike Klaus and Carl, who continued with their lives as usual, Martin had put all his time into overseeing the construction, and he was already trying to reach out to his previous clients to later help him build the company’s reputation.
A smile appeared on his face, and he walked into the small room.
As expected, Martin was sitting there in a chair.
He had a frustrated look as his left hand held his forehead.
"Why the fuck is no one ready to work with me?" He mumbled in a dark tone. "Is this Darlan’s doing?"
"Probably," Klaus added from behind.
Martin came out of his thoughts and turned his head to him with a surprised expression.
"What are you doing here? Finally free from whatever the fuck you have been doing for the past few days?"
Klaus smiled widely and said, "Heh. Mad?"
Martin scowled and looked away. "What would I be mad for? I am just worried that you may be doing something stupid."
Klaus stopped beside him and asked, "Do you want to know?"
Although Klaus’s tone was lighthearted, Martin could hear the seriousness behind his words.
He looked into Klaus’s eyes for a few moments. For some reason, they felt both clearer and duller than before.
"Tell me," he said seriously.
Klaus moved the chair placed a few steps away from him beside Martin’s and shifted into it before he asked with a smile, "Can you give me something hard?"
Martin stared at him with a confused expression and mumbled in a low, disbelieving tone, "You... did you become a hooker?"
Klaus’s smile vanished instantly as he understood his mistake, and he muttered, "Shut the fuck up and give me something hard like a metal pipe or rock or something."
"Oh... okay," Martin mumbled and rose from his chair.
Then he walked to the spare tools for the construction and picked up a hammer.
"What about this?" He asked while handing the hammer to Klaus.
Klaus took the hammer from him and said with an amused smile, "Hmm. This will do."
Martin frowned and narrowed his amber eyes as he asked, "Why do you need that to tell me what you were doing?"
Klaus grinned and suggested, "You should sit down."
Martin’s confusion deepened, and he shifted into his chair with a question.
"Don’t tell anyone what you are about to see," Klaus said with a serious look.
Martin’s brows furrowed, and he said, "I never do. I didn’t even tell anyone that you once put it into a water bottle while being drunk."
Klaus shot him a deadpan look and said, while raising his hands at his sides, "Seriously? You really have to say that now?"
Martin shrugged and gave him a smile that screamed: I don’t give a fuck.
"Tch," Klaus clicked his tongue and held the head of the hammer in his hand, and then remarked inwardly, ’Exceed strength.’
The next instant, a torrent of raw power flooded his body, and he lightly closed the hand holding the hammer.
At first Martin frowned, but as Klaus squeezed the hammer’s head like clay, his expression changed into utter disbelief.
He stared at Klaus’s hand with wide eyes and muttered, "What the fuck?"