Cheat Upgrade

"Plop."

Just as Carl was absentmindedly sketching out the details of Hopp's silhouette in his mind, something wet was tossed in front of him.

"The Bag of Holding has the stone slab you use for grilling meat. Restart it. We need a heat source to dry our clothes."

Hopp's voice came from nearby, calm and composed.

She had no idea how many times she had gone through situations like this. If they were outside, she might have been able to rely on experience alone to notice the change in weather ahead of time and take shelter in a building.

"Okay."

Reaching out, Carl felt around the floor and quickly touched the Bag of Holding, soaked through by the rain.

Opening the bag, Carl rummaged through it for a moment before pulling out the stone slab used for grilling.

He infused it with some spirituality. The Flame Rune absorbed the surrounding mana, gradually warming the stone slab.

"Will our clothes scorch if we put them directly on it?"

As Hopp asked the question, the thumping of bare feet on the wooden floor approached from afar.

She came over carrying their drenched clothes.

"I'm not sure, but we should leave some distance between them and the slab. These are the only clothes we have now."

Thinking about how he and Hopp had practically bared everything to each other by now, Carl felt the blood throughout his body gradually heating up.

"Fine, then. Move over to the right. We'll squeeze together and keep warm."

Before Carl could react, something remarkably elastic pressed against his waist.

A force immediately acted on his body through that thing, sliding him a ways to the right.

After that, the dark room fell into a long silence.

The rune infused with spirituality gave off a reassuring warmth.

Steam rose from the clothes hung around the stone slab, making their nostrils itch.

Carl and Hopp each hugged their knees as they sat side by side in the corner of the room, waiting for their clothes to dry.

Amid the dense patter of rain, Carl's consciousness gradually grew sluggish.

He was too tired.

Whether it was the Warrior training Hopp had helped him with earlier or the emergency assembly of the house just now, both had drained a great deal of his energy.

He had been fine while his adrenaline was pumping, but the moment he calmed down, Carl immediately reached his limit.

His head kept swaying back and forth. At last, Carl could no longer hold on and fell asleep.

In the Dream World, Carl's consciousness became clear again.

But unlike before, the light in the Dream World had vanished.

Other than the magical runes in the sky and the models of Enchanted Weapons surrounding him, Carl could see nothing.

Suddenly, something familiar pressed against his waist and, just as he remembered, "nudged" him to the right.

Instinctively, Carl reached out and grabbed the thigh that should have been pressing against him by now.

The soft yet elastic skin made Carl feel as if he were truly gripping a real thigh.

But he knew perfectly well that this was the Dream World. He should not have been able to experience such sensations.

The Dream World could indeed create all kinds of illusions, but they were only illusions. They did not possess the tactile sensations or other physical properties of their corresponding materials.

Carl had tested that many times in previous dreams.

"..."

Feeling the sensation in his palm, Carl fell silent, unsure what to do for a while.

After a long moment, he tentatively thought, Let there be light.

In an instant, daylight flooded the Dream World. Dazzling red skin gleamed with a moist luster, brazenly filling Carl's vision.

"Looks like it simulated more than just touch. Even the appearance is there. Did my cheat evolve?"

Closing his eyes, Carl tried his best to clear away his tangled thoughts.

But the simulated Hopp suddenly pounced on him and used the fighting technique she had demonstrated during training.

Carl was immediately entangled by her, their skin pressed tightly together.

"Calm down. This is just an illusion I created. As long as I calm down, I can... Hiss—"

Pain identical to what he had felt during training struck him. Carl felt as though his arm was about to be dislocated.

Yet because of their position, even as he felt pain, Carl could also feel himself being squeezed between Hopp's chest armor.

"Damn it! How am I supposed to put clothes on both of us? This new feature is perfect for training, but how am I supposed to keep myself under control like this?"

Banging his head against the ground of the Dream World again and again, Carl forced himself to calm down.

But controlling one's thoughts was not so simple, and today the Dream World seemed exceptionally responsive to every thought Carl had.

Previously, Carl could only alter the Dream World when he was fully focused. But starting just now, even slightly pronounced thoughts of his were being carried out by the Dream World.

"Psychic power! Right, I still have psychic power! If I use psychic power..."

Psychic fluctuations spread around him, and Carl's chaotic thoughts began to converge under the restraint of his psychic power.

As the distracting thoughts in his mind dwindled, the illusion of Hopp clinging tightly to him released her grip, climbed off him, and stood to one side.

The entire Dream World fell still, and Carl's thoughts became as calm as water.

At some point, he suddenly felt himself falling into a "deeper" dream.

But before Carl could gain any further understanding from it, the entire Dream World suddenly began to change because of the fluctuations in his thoughts.

His hometown farm, the classroom from his previous life, his parents from both lives, friends, childhood companions, Hopp, the girlfriend from his previous life whose name he had nearly forgotten—countless illusions rapidly appeared before Carl, then vanished just as quickly.

His thoughts began to fluctuate again, and chaotic ideas surfaced one after another.

Who knew how long passed before the Dream World stabilized.

When he opened his eyes again, Carl found himself lying in a room in the Eldeen Reaches.

The decorations around him stirred a sense of familiarity in his heart, as though he had truly returned home.

"Carl~"

At that moment, a tender voice sounded beside Carl's ear. A more mature Hopp than in reality lay on her side next to him, lazily opening her eyes.

Seeing Carl awake, she cradled his arm and placed it at the center of her chest.

Their bodies were pressed close together, like lovers deeply in love.

"What's going on? Is my cheat really Inception?"

Swallowing with difficulty, Carl felt his mouth going dry.

Seeing Carl staring blankly, Hopp gave him a seductive smile and slid closer like a water snake.

At that moment, Carl had a strong premonition that, if he wished, he could do anything with her.

"No. This is too monstrous. Hopp is an important companion. I can't use this special ability to violate her like this in a dream. If I really like her, I can pursue her in reality! Unless..."

The instant that thought arose, the scene around him instantly collapsed.

Carl returned to the Dream World where he had been before, and a realization surfaced in his heart.

This is the second layer of the Dream World. It can simulate a real physics engine and materials to a certain extent. What I just escaped from was the third layer of the dream. The flow of time differs by a factor of twenty between each layer.