Secret World: I Became a God Through Lies

Chapter 352 Night Class in Illusions: The Strongest Army
"If knowledge is forbidden, then it should use dreams as its boat and the heart as its lamp to sneak into every sleeping room."

—Excerpt from "Dream Lesson Notes: Chapter One - Star Pattern Penetration Theory"

The capital city has never been as quiet as it is tonight.

It wasn't that the streets and alleys were deserted; rather, the entire city was waiting for that light to appear.

Whether it's the shadowy Pota Street along the edge of the city wall, or the cold and damp Black Iron Harbor in the Silver Trade District;
Whether it was the dockworkers' sheds piled high with bottles or the cold, oppressive church orphanage;
Whether it's poor students huddled in their attics or disgraced nobles in their closed manors... tonight, tiny yet resolute lights simultaneously illuminate the darkness.

The lamps were simple and unadorned, mostly cast in brass, with a faint blue flame flickering on their wicks, like a long-dormant longing finally breaking through the soil—

They are called dream lamps.

—At the Foggy Harbor, a drunkard awakens.

Sobutia, a dockworker nearing fifty, has lived a muddled life, and his only friends are wine bottles.

For him, fate markings and star charts were merely myths told by nobles.

But tonight, when that lamp was lit beside the dim yellow oil lamp, he felt his heart pounding violently for the first time.

In his dream, he stood silently in the center of the classroom, before a blackboard. He heard the whisper of the wind, a sound heavy and solemn:
"Sobutia, do you yearn to know where your destiny points?"

He couldn't answer, his face already streaked with tears. His hands gripped the lamp tightly, and for the first time, a clear longing flickered in his cloudy eyes.

"I want to know, even if I die tomorrow."

—A girl in the church's orphanage, in the library.

When Rita was fourteen, she was taken away by the church and became a "Star Calamity Testee" tormented by the fate mark experiment.

At that moment, she sat on the edge of the bed, using her frail body to shield the small lamp in her textbook. Her fingertips trembled slightly, her heart filled with a mixture of fear and longing.

The dream lamp lit up without hesitation, its dim blue light illuminating the "heart pattern" draft she had secretly drawn on the edge of the paper.

The deepest voice in her heart began to whisper:
"I want to learn. Even if it's just once..."

That faint voice, however, was like a rushing river, uncontrollably breaking through the dam of her soul.

—The boy at the blacksmith's shop on Broken Tower Street.

Sixteen-year-old Vax, whose family has been slaves for generations, has never owned a card of his own.

He had been forged into a silent character by the heavy hammer. But at this moment, as he grasped the Dream Lamp, his fingertips felt as hot as burning iron.

In a beam of light, a book titled "Analysis of Fate Patterns: Level 1: Introduction to the System" clearly appeared.

His breathing hitched.

He wanted to read it, he had to read it. He couldn't wait to open the cover, even if he would forget everything when he woke up—but he had finally read it in his lifetime.

On the same night, hundreds and thousands of similar stories unfolded throughout the capital.

The Dream Lantern appears precisely in the hands of those who harbor longing, without any postman or accompanying instructions.

They simultaneously grasped the lamps and whispered the words that had been hidden in their hearts for many years:

"I want to learn about life lines."

At that moment, the dream quietly began.

They stepped into a sea of ​​fog: some awoke at the bottom of dry wells, others awakened under the shade of trees.

Some people stepped onto the silver bridge paved with starlight, walking step by step toward the island that was faintly visible in the distance.

They were filled with fear, doubt, or devotion. But when they took the first step, fear transformed into determination, and doubt into anticipation.

They finally understood that this was more than just a dream—

This is an awakening, an uprising of destiny.

Tonight, the capital trembled silently, because of countless small yet resolute hearts.

For the first time, it is issuing a challenge to itself and to the world that it will never back down.

The Sea of ​​Dreams was calm and still, but at this moment, ripples began to spread slightly.

In the distance, amidst the mist, an island slowly emerges, surrounded by a faint, star-like glow.

Its name is—Night Class Island.

The holders of the Dream Lanterns paused and stopped upon stepping onto the island.

Here they saw a black stone platform floating in the void, with orderly rows of phantom desks below it, and fragments of incomplete life patterns and scattered star map pages floating around.

They held their breath, their gazes meeting intensely, speechless yet both understanding that this lesson was about to change their destinies.

The island had no doors or walls, but the light of the dream lamps gradually gathered, and the night gradually transformed into a magnificent and silent lecture hall.

The distant and resonant tolling of bells echoed from all directions of the Dream Sea, as if summoning the start of some kind of ritual.

A slender yet composed figure stepped onto the podium.

She wore a silver-white robe, and her blue scholar's robe with life patterns accentuated her clear eyes. Her long golden hair swayed gently like starlight.

Holding a slightly gleaming copy of "Introduction to Fate Patterns: Old Testament Edition," she stood there like the first star burning in the dark night.

A sudden, low gasp arose from the crowd:
"It's her! It's Her Highness the Princess...it's Liseria!"

Some people couldn't hide their excitement and wept softly.

“I once heard her lecture at the Door Mirror Academy… She really was willing to speak for us.”

However, when Liseria slowly raised her hand in greeting, all sounds immediately fell into absolute silence.

She smiled slightly, her voice gentle yet carrying an irresistible power:

"From this moment on, I am no longer your princess. I am your mentor, and more importantly, your fellow traveler."

Her gaze swept over everyone in the audience, and the fragments of broken life runes began to slowly rotate under the guidance of her words:
"You have come here to truly understand the meaning of destiny patterns, to grasp the mysteries of the uncanny, and to question this world—"

"To whom should destiny truly belong?"

With a flick of her finger, a bright and clear destiny line appeared in mid-air—the simplest "double star destiny chart".

"Today, I will tell you how to identify life lines, how to write secrets, and how to make the star chart truly your own power."

She began to teach the basic structure of the life lines, the rules governing the movement of the stars, and even explained every single, most complex term.
They were all broken down into plain language so that even illiterate dockworkers could understand them instantly.

Her tone was calm, yet it cut through the deep-seated fear and helplessness within them like an invisible blade:

“Fate markings have never belonged to nobles. They should belong to every person with a brain, blood, and a beating heart.”

A child, around ten years old, reached out a finger and touched the destiny chart in mid-air, exclaiming excitedly:
"Teacher, I understand! So the life line is the light I've been chasing in my dreams!"

In the crowd, a young black market slave asked in a low voice:

"Teacher, I don't have a family mark. Can I really have my own destiny mark?"

Liseria looked at him with unwavering eyes, her voice soft yet powerful:
"The star chart never asks whose child you are; it only asks whether you dare to believe in yourself."

In the crowd, a girl whose voice had been taken from her by the church gently shook the dream lamp in her hand, emitting a dreamlike sound:
"I have lost my voice... Can you still impart life runes?"

Liseria nodded gently in response:
"In dreams, light is language; if you are willing to share it, you can tell the whole world."

As the lecture drew to a close, Liseria slowly wrote a line on the empty blackboard that burned with the flames of destiny:
“If the secrets are not given to the people, they become the shackles of oppression; if the markings of destiny are not taught to all living beings, they become an endless curse.”

The crowd stared at the words and read them aloud in hushed tones, as if reciting a long-lost, sealed truth.

She closed the book, surveyed the room, and calmly said:

"Tonight, you are no longer bystanders, nor are you supplicants."

“You are all lamplighters, and I am merely the one who brought you the first spark of fire.”

The bells rang again, ending the dream that had shaken everyone's hearts.

People rose to their feet and paid the highest level of respect to Liseria with their life crests.

She returned the greeting deeply, bowing her head to her waist.

At this moment, she was neither a princess nor a mentor, but the brightest flame of destiny in the entire Dream Sea.

Her gift is dedicated to all ordinary people who dare to defy fate.

After the dream lesson, the capital city remained outwardly normal.

But in its unseen corner—in the cracks between the bricks of Broken Tower Street, behind the abandoned iron railings of the orphanage—

In the dark corners of the black market, abandoned books, pages of Dream Lesson Notes seeped into the entire city like a gentle rain.

Dockworker Sobutia opened his eyes and was surprised to find that he could recite the complete five sets of life pattern phrases from memory.

His fingers trembled as he wrote symbols on the port wall with black coal, which were quietly copied by dozens of people within days.

The church's dream interpreter stood before the wall, frowning as he examined it. Finally, he shook his head and sneered, "It's nothing but the superstitious symbols of ignorant sailors." Little did he know that this was precisely the starting point for the awakening of that group of "ignorant sailors" under the dream lamp.

In the orphanage, Rita, who is mute, uses the tip of her pen to draw "dream lesson diagrams" on the back of a piece of paper, and the children around her imitate her.

The orphanage supervisors thought they were reciting doctrines, but the children were unknowingly learning the first real incantation of their lives.

Soon after, the Basilica of Our Lady was on high alert and secretly formed a "Dream Investigation Team" to begin a city-wide investigation into the source of the Dream Lamp.

They initiated a silence ritual, attempting to trace the instructor's movements in their dreams.

However, this was destined to be in vain.

Because the power of the Dream Lantern comes from the Dream Sea controlled by the God of Fate. This power has now been handed over to Lilia and Calvino.

The foundation of dreams does not lie in reality.

The deeper the investigators delve, the more they stumble upon endless emptiness.

On the seventh night of the Dream Lessons, a strange thing happened at the black market on Pota Street:
A ragged young man stood in front of the gambling table, throwing out a mysterious card that glowed with a blue light. Each time he threw it, he accurately predicted the outcome of the game, leaving the onlookers amazed.

Someone exclaimed in a low voice, "The awakening of the mysterious... could it really be an ordinary person?"

The boy smiled, flipped the card between his fingers, and whispered:

"This is what I learned from my dream class—the world is a game, and you hold the cards in your hand."

The card glowed faintly:

[Fate-Based Mysteries: The Gambler's Eye]

On the same night, on the impoverished, dilapidated street of Dita, a young mother named Atiya was weeping uncontrollably while holding her seriously ill child.

She suddenly remembered the spirits in her dream lesson, and with trembling hands, she drew the life-binding patterns taught in the dream lesson and lit the lamp wick with her heart.

A verdant sprite flew out of the lamp, gracefully landing on the child's chest and gradually absorbing the illness.

The child calmed down and his breathing returned to normal.

Atiya's tears welled up:

"I have no noble blood, but I can save my own child."

Card runes appeared in her palm:

【Life-type Mystery - Dream Grass Elf】

Beneath the ruins of the Silent Library, a group of former wandering teenagers spontaneously formed a small organization called the "Morning Class Faction".

They take turns copying notes from the dreams, and during the day they teach what they've learned in the dreams in hidden alleys. They were once street urchins, pickpockets, and book thieves, but now they call themselves:

"Dream Lantern Followers. We record the boundaries of the world, we knock on the door of destiny."

As they completed the "Multiple Door Lock Fate Diagram," the three teenagers simultaneously awakened a mysterious power, and the cards lit up in the night:

[World-Type Mystery: The Other Side of the Gate]

The spark of revolution had no slogans, no flags, and no explosives.

Only paper and words, dreams and mysteries, knowledge and awakening.

Among them, some became copyists, secretly copying the life charts they learned in their dreams and posting them next to wells on the street;

Someone became a guide, explaining the structure of life lines to the children on the street corner in the tone of Liseria's voice from memory;
Some became guardians, using their newly awakened mysterious powers to conceal the Dream Lantern and the secret notes of Night Lessons before the patrol arrived.

They need no commands or organization, because they are already a unified community.

They are no longer the weak who "wait for others to save them," but people who have begun to take control of their own destiny.

So they began to address each other by name:
"Lamplighter."

They were neither students, nor religious believers, nor members of any political party.

They were simply people who were willing to light each other's dreams in the darkness.

Thus, the lamplighter, in the most humble posture, walked in the darkest corner of the capital, yet in the proudest manner, ignited the hope of the entire world.

This is a revolution in the truest sense.

It shed no blood, yet it struck straight at the heart of fate.

That night, the flames of the Dream Lanterns finally blazed brightly throughout the entire capital.

On the fifth night of the Dream Lesson, the island of Dreams was teeming with people, numbering in the tens of thousands. Liseria's voice emanated from the edge of the dream, like a glimmer of light piercing through countless layers of mist.

The church was shaken. The council was filled with doubt and uncertainty. Even the lower-ranking nobles in the royal palace began to whisper among themselves at banquets, speculating about who was behind the "Dream Lamp."

But there is no evidence.

Because all of this only happened in a dream from which there is no way to trace it back.

Further out in the Dreamy Sea lies a small, secluded reef island called "Silent Reef".

In the heart of the island stands a floating wooden platform, above which a few faint dream lamps sway, their soft light rippling like water.

Calvino sat cross-legged, holding a mysterious fishing rod in his hand. The fishing line was lowered into the dream sea, but the float did not move at all.

"Siming, do you really think there are dream whales in this dream sea?" Calvino raised his head and asked lazily.

Si Ming leaned against a pile of old books beside him, holding a yellowed ancient scroll in his hand: "Class Reflection and the Formation of Collective Consciousness".

Hearing Calvino's question, he did not look up, but said in a low voice:

"You're not fishing for a whale, you're fishing for a symbol."

Calvino scoffed: "We who manipulate fate should least believe in symbols."

Si Ming put down his book, his smile carrying a calm and profound meaning, and cast his gaze toward the distant island of Night Class.

Ten thousand dream lights shine on the island, as if countless ignited stars have gathered into a dazzling sea of ​​stars.

His voice was deep, yet possessed an undeniable power:

“We built an army for her.”

Calvino frowned slightly, a hint of mocking curiosity in his expression:
"The army? You mean, those dream school students who come to class?"

Si Ming shook his head slightly, his gaze intense and profound:
"This is not an army in the ordinary sense. They do not carry swords, raise flags, or shout any slogans."

"They only do one thing—study."

Siming slowly stood up, as if the entire Dream Sea rippled with his words:
"They study horoscopes and astrological charts, learning the meaning of their existence, and also the lies woven to shape their destiny;"

They were no longer afraid, no longer blindly obedient, and no longer believed that 'fate cannot be changed';

"They began to realize that their own will was their strongest weapon."

Calvino fell silent. He put away his fishing rod and turned to look at the island in the distance, its lights illuminating the surrounding landscape, as if he had finally realized something:
"So...they are what you call the 'revolution'?"

Si Ming nodded, his voice as firm as iron:

"The most powerful army in the world is not the army of soldiers armed to the teeth, but the army of people who have a firm belief."

"The will of the people is the sharpest sword."

Calvino couldn't help but chuckle, but his voice held a hint of awe and understanding:
“Siming, you’re talking like a clergyman.”

Si Ming turned his head, his gaze incredibly clear, even containing a hint of cold threat:
"I have never believed in God. I only believe in living people who are willing to burn for their dreams."

On the distant Dream Island, Liseria had finished her speech. She slowly stepped down from the platform, and the children in the last row stood up at the same time, solemnly bowing to her with their life runes.

She gently waved her hand in return, her voice soft yet clear:
"You don't need to worship me, you just need to believe in yourselves."

“I am not your princess, not your god, and certainly not your savior.”

She slowly raised her head, gazing at the thousands of illuminated dream lamps, her eyes burning with passion:
"I was just the one who lit the first lamp."

The next moment, the sound of the waves of the Dream Sea condensed into whispers, countless voices intertwined, transforming into a deep and solemn response:

"Lamplighter."

Si Ming stood quietly on the reef, his gaze fixed on this silent revolution.

He knew that sparks were igniting at the bottom of the sea of ​​dreams.

This fire will not be extinguished; it will eventually spread throughout reality, burning every high wall that controls destiny to ashes.

"Star charts do not discriminate based on social status, and destiny lines do not believe in gods."

Once knowledge illuminates people's hearts, the script of any empire will begin to tremble.

—Excerpt from "Night Class of Fantasy Dreams: The First Night of the Lighting Declaration"

(End of this chapter)