The Town After the Bell Rang

After some simple attempts, Gawain confirmed that Daniel's situation was indeed different from his own.

It was not merely that their surroundings differed greatly; more importantly, Daniel did not seem to be in a state where he could leave the network at any time like Gawain could.

After repeatedly failing to disconnect from the network, Daniel reported his condition with a hint of concern. "...My Lord, I cannot sense the boundaries of the real world. The hazy, illusory mist here seems not only to block my five senses in the Dreamscape World, but also to interfere with my ability to locate the real world. If I cannot locate reality, I cannot leave the network."

Interference...

Gawain did not answer immediately, merely analyzing the situation in silence.

He could connect to Daniel's consciousness, which meant Daniel's mind was still within the network. It was merely being shielded by some unknown "force," and the hazy, illusory mist Daniel had mentioned... possessed the properties of blocking the five senses and interfering with one's ability to locate reality. Perhaps it was the manifestation of that shielding force on Daniel's side.

Yet this interference and shielding force clearly had no effect on Gawain, an Outworld Wanderer who had piggybacked his way into the network.

Could this peculiar "immunity" help Daniel escape?

Gawain was not certain. He felt that he at least needed to find Daniel's "location" and make contact with him before testing it.

It was possible to "locate" another person's coordinates within the Mind Network, and this positioning technology had been one of the results jointly developed by Gawain and Daniel—Daniel's successful promotion from Nightmare Mentor to bishop had also owed much to it.

The strange "shielded" state Daniel and the others were in now seemed to have interfered with the network's positioning function