Mind Storm

Led by Selena, the Sleeper exploration team, now down to only eight members, began advancing toward the center of town.

The Dreamscape Lantern swayed slowly in the seemingly eternal gloom, its hazy, blurred light spilling over the silent, deserted streets. Daniel and the others remained on high alert, watching at all times for any strange changes in the surrounding roads. Gawain silently followed alongside the team, his gaze fixed on Selina Gelvin.

Patty, who loved to run in the Dreamscape World; Patty, weak in the real world yet still trying to smile; and this "Patty" before him, solemn-faced and holding a lantern—three shadows circled through his mind, overlapping with the scene before him and gradually forming a strange impression—

He seemed to see Selina Gelvin holding Patty's hand as she walked at the front of the team.

He shook his head, casting that rather unreliable association from his mind. Then he looked up, his eyes reflecting a streak of light rising at the far end of the street.

It was dawn.

Daniel and the others stopped as well, staring in uncertainty as a brilliant radiance suddenly tore through the darkness at the edge of this town that seemed trapped in an eternal night. The light rapidly expanded in their view and, almost in the blink of an eye, became endless golden-red dawn, lavishly spilling across the town's uneven rooftops. Then the golden-red dawn turned into pale golden sunlight, completely driving away the dark shadows between the streets.

A colossal sun slowly rose at the horizon, blazing with boundless light as the darkness retreated.

"Daybreak..." Daniel stared blankly at the magnificent sight of the rising sun, seemingly too stunned by its grandeur to speak. But he quickly came to his senses. A long staff materialized in his hand, and within seconds,