Dream Within a Dream

"This is everything I've experienced, Your Highness. Please, do not awaken Superpower," Ye Xu said solemnly.

"Did you reveal that you are from another world, and that you would leave this world after staying for a month?" the princess asked calmly.

"Huh?!" Ye Xu was stunned.

How did the princess know?

The princess, seeing his puzzled expression, quickly added.

"We didn't Crossing back from the same timeline. In my timeline, you told me that yourself. Answer my question."

'His Highness seems to have been observing my reaction and providing corresponding explanations...'

Ye Xu frowned deeply, keenly noticing that something was amiss.

'Does this mean she cares about me? Hehe.'

"No! Your Highness, such secrets are known only to you, generation after generation."

The princess paused for a moment, then asked a few more detailed questions with a blank expression.

Ye Xu revealed everything without reservation.

After asking the questions, the Chief God suddenly changed, then she smiled brightly again, "Let's go, let's go save the world."

Ye Xu nodded emphatically, his eyes filled with anticipation.

Over the next ten days or so, he and the princess gathered their strength and utterly crushed the previously invincible Beast Tide...

His power grew rapidly, and his feelings for the princess also intensified quickly.

Time passed by strangely quickly; often, in his daze, a great battle would have already come to an end.

As the thirtieth day approached, Ye Xu stood on the high platform under the watchful eyes of the crowd and personally beheaded Donglicang.

"Savior! Savior! Savior!"

A thunderous roar of cheers erupted. Ye Xu, basking in the glory of the world he had just saved, turned around and, full of pride, extended his hand to the princess.

Before him, the princess looked at him with anticipation.

I don't want you to leave, can you stay?

Ye Xu's smile froze slightly.

Just then, the system's voice rang out, carrying approval, rather than its usual ruthless and boundless grandeur.

Congratulations on successfully saving the world!

This world is truly real!

[You have received the reward: A World!]

You can travel between the Land of Darkness and this place at any time!

The system's rewards are unbelievably good.

Ye Xu's smile returned:

"Sure."

They enjoyed ten happy years together, a time of peace and prosperity, and made vows of eternal love.

Until someone watching from the sidelines couldn't hold back any longer and finally intervened.

Ye Xu, who was grinning foolishly, suddenly felt a darkness before his eyes, an indescribable feeling of compression and detachment from his body, followed by a loss of consciousness, and then a hard, cold sensation coming from beneath him.

He opened his eyes abruptly, blinded by the light, and saw a young man dressed in a dark blue robe.

It's Su Luo.

"Ugh... damn it!"

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Ye Xu collapsed to the spot, uttering meaningless mutterings, before Su Luo plunged a knife into his abdomen.

"Hiss~"

The excruciating pain caused him to spring to his feet, clutching his abdomen and rolling on the ground.

After groaning and struggling for a moment, I removed my hand and found that my Constitution was too strong, and the wound had already healed on its own.

Ye Xu: "..."

Looking up, I realized that the place where I had been lying was a metal laboratory table, which felt cold to the touch.

Su Luo, sitting next to her, was slowly writing something in her notebook.

Are you awake now?

"What's so clear-headed about?"

Ye Xu instinctively asked a question, and then he was stabbed several more times.

"I understand! I understand... It's a sensory experience! Stop poking!"

Ye Xu's intestines were almost spilling out; he was in so much pain that he was covered in sweat.

"What I just experienced was all a dream! I've heard that! There are no senses in dreams, everything that just happened was unreal! Here, there are senses, this is reality!"

"Fake... fake... I'm not a savior, I'm just a man who got kicked and maimed on the roadside..." Ye Xu's voice trailed off after he realized what he had said.

"Not bad. You fell into my hands after leaving the Dungeon. The Dreamscape you just experienced was prepared for you. How did it feel?" Su Luo said with a smile.

Ye Xu's gaze was somewhat dejected.

"I've hinted at it many times in my dreams: the princess's abnormality, the system's abrupt rewards, the simplistic and childish approach to saving the world... but you didn't care at all. In the end, I had to wake you up myself."

Ye Xu remained silent.

"This is a new skill I've learned. Soon I'll be able to Perfect simulate senses and reality. You can try it then... Now, leave my Laboratory."

Ye Xu trembled and stared up at Su Luo in disbelief.

"You... let me go?"

Su Luo nodded.

"I tricked you before! I was already Thousandfold Increase... now I'm Three-Thousandfold Increase. You could kill me with a flick of your finger! You're letting me go?!"

Ye Xu's abilities are unbelievable.

"I'm a pretty magnanimous person. After looking at your Dreamscape, which actually shows you're willing to save the world, I believe you'll make a contribution to all of humanity... You can leave now. This is a new [Return Ticket] from the System Store," Su Luo said with a smile.

Ye Xu left the Laboratory, still dazed and bewildered from Surviving the Calamity.

Back at the Sanctuary, after processing the information, he resolved to improve his strength.

Despite having access to vast resources and a full account, Ye Xu finds himself in a predicament.

Blue- Attribute Skill Books that Attunement your profession can only be obtained by killing monsters, which requires exploring [Dangerous Terrain].

He spent a fortune acquiring top-tier equipment and consumables, venturing alone into the darkness to search for [Dangerous Terrain].

He narrowly escaped death several times, even nearly going insane, but he didn't reveal it.

I can't find any teammates either; all the other professionals are in the Mutual Aid Association.

Ye Xu became fearful and retreated, hiding back in his Sanctuary. He began to spend enormous resources cultivating his confidants, intending to build his own team.

Time flies, and half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

Once he had trained his teammates and obtained Attribute Skill Books from [Dangerous Terrain], he had the courage to participate in the District War.

He signed up, then was crippled by a powerful opponent from another district.

He got kicked and crippled again.

Ye Xu broke down.

He went to great lengths to find Su Luo's address and knocked on the door with high hopes.

The door opened, and he hesitantly asked, "Su... Su Luo, may I try your dreaming skill?"

"Cannot."

Why...?

"Being obsessed with fantasies is bad."

"It's good."

"No."

Ye Xu left in silence, returning to his luxurious yet cold Sanctuary. Looking at his disloyal and weak subordinates, he felt the pale inadequacy of his once-proud Talent.

Look at this vulgar, dark, and boring reality.

Thinking about everything that had happened during this time, Ye Xu stood at the entrance of his Sanctuary for a very, very long time.

After a long while, he slowly raised his head, facing the empty darkness, and whispered, "Su Luo, let's be honest with each other. Let me go back, back to that... Dreamscape I control."

After he finished speaking, the surroundings were silent, and no one responded.

Ye Xu wasn't surprised. "I'm... also in Dreamscape right now, right?"

"I want to make a deal with you. If you let me go back, I'll give you everything I have."

After a long pause, a rational voice rang out. "How did you find that? I simulated this area with precision down to the cellular level; you couldn't have detected it without the right tools."

Ye Xu laughed, "It's all about the senses! I admit the Dreamscape you constructed is very realistic, with pain, touch, and smell... but it's both your strength and your weakness!"

What senses?

"When I, Park Chang, felt my senses were unreal, did you never drift...?"