Dreams Bring Disaster

The villagers noticed nothing unusual and carried on with their work.

You sighed at the bliss of ignorance and hurried once more toward the Fire-Stealing Priest's residence.

You encountered Yixiu and several other Night Watchers. They had all witnessed the terrifying anomaly and were searching for the source of the disaster.

Not wanting to waste time, you chose to conceal the truth and used your superb acting skills to fool Yixiu.

You arrived at the Fire-Stealing Priest's residence without incident.

You had already given up hope that Lena was still alive. Under the power of the Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World, the beautiful young woman had been erased as if by an eraser, vanishing before your eyes. You had seen it happen yourself.

You entered the room with the Evil Altar. Mother of Beauty and Fertility and her Dream Offspring were gone, and the Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World's body was rapidly fading away. Just as you'd expected, Lena and the Fire-Stealing Priest were nowhere to be seen.

You muttered, "Just as I thought." Thinking of Lena's beautiful face, you couldn't help feeling regret.

A familiar voice came from behind you.

You turned around and saw Lena appearing out of thin air: first her head, then her neck, then her torso, and finally her limbs, as if an invisible paintbrush were drawing her into existence.

Overjoyed, you rushed forward to hug Lena—and take the opportunity to feel her up a little.

Lena saw through your intentions and deftly dodged you.

You asked Lena what she had experienced while she was gone.

You saw the fear in Lena's eyes. She clearly didn't want to talk about it again, but she trusted you and felt some affection for you, so she chose to tell you anyway.

Lena said that after the Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World erased her, the world around her turned gray and white. She could see everything outside, but couldn't affect anything. There was not a sound, and the oppressive silence was so complete that she couldn't even sense time passing. It was as if the entire world had forgotten her, leaving her to endure endless solitude.

Lena said she never wanted to be erased again.

Yang Qizhou shivered.

Though he hadn't experienced it himself, he could still feel what Lena had gone through from her words.

The world turning gray and white, not hearing a sound, unable to do anything, exiled between illusion and reality and left to endure eternal solitude, tasting despair with no end in sight.

How terrifying.

If that was what it meant, then dying would almost be a relief.

"Good thing I don't live on Ancient Earth..." Yang Qizhou once again felt grateful to be living in this wonderful world.

The game continued.

You comforted Lena and said to her tenderly, "I'll protect you."

Lena didn't react as you'd expected, swooning and throwing herself into your arms. Instead, she calmly pointed out that on the Wilderness, where mystery and the unknown coexisted and terror and the uncanny thrived side by side, even gods could fall. You couldn't even beat her, so what made you think you could protect her?

You awkwardly wished you could crawl into a crack in the ground.

You saw the Fire-Stealing Priest return from concealment to reality. He hated you to the bone and went mad with rage, ready to attack.

You had the Key to the Shepherd's Field and could currently command two Root-Court Hounds. With Lena joining them, the three of them surrounded the Fire-Stealing Priest and beat him half to death in no time.

Could they really be that vicious?

Yang Qizhou felt a little uncomfortable. The Fire-Stealing Priest was the big bad of Fire-Stealing Village, a bona fide beginner-village boss. He had nearly killed the game character several times without even showing his face, yet now he was about to be beaten to death in just a few lines.

On second thought, it made sense.

Lena was the captain of the Night Watchers, and her strength was already nearly on par with the Fire-Stealing Priest's. The two Root-Court Hounds were even familiars of the Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World, capable of moving through illusions. As for the Root-Court Hound the Fire-Stealing Priest had commanded, it had disappeared along with the Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World's favor.

With all these factors combined, killing the Fire-Stealing Priest was only to be expected.

Having figured that out,

Yang Qizhou turned his attention back to the game.

The flaming short sword in Lena's hand pierced the Fire-Stealing Priest's chest, while the two Root-Court Hounds bit off his arms. As for you, the useless adventurer, you just stood on the sidelines shouting, "Let's go!"

Lena was worked up. She loudly demanded to know why the Fire-Stealing Priest had betrayed his devout faith in the Ancient Fire-Stealing God.

The Fire-Stealing Priest burst into laughter and revealed another horrifying truth about the Ancient Fire-Stealing God, besides the fact that he was a false god.

The Ancient Fire-Stealing God had fallen asleep and was dreaming. He had been asleep for a long time and had yet to wake. His protection was fading, his divine realm was shrinking, and he no longer had the strength to protect the villagers of Fire-Stealing Village.

The Fire-Stealing Priest said he had done all this to protect Fire-Stealing Village.

According to his plan, the Lord of the Dreamy Hidden World would have become a new god and continued to protect Fire-Stealing Village from the unknown calamities lurking in the Wilderness. But you, a filthy, despicable adventurer, had meddled and ruined everything.

The Ancient Fire-Stealing God's protection would soon fade, and the uncanny terrors of the Wilderness would run rampant through the village. Everyone would die, including you.

Lena's expression shifted, but she said nothing. Instead, she swung her short sword and ended the Fire-Stealing Priest's life.

The Ancient Fire-Stealing God had merely fallen asleep and started dreaming. Was that really enough to make the Fire-Stealing Priest react so pessimistically that he would even betray his devout faith?

Yang Qizhou frowned, then quickly relaxed.

He thought of something.

Ancient Earth wasn't like his own world. Its sun couldn't be looked at directly, the night held great terrors, and even statues could give birth. The unknown, the uncanny, the terrifying, and the horrifying surrounded every living thing from every direction.

If that was the case,

then it made sense that dreams might bring unspeakable terrors and calamities.

The Fire-Stealing Priest's final words had also caught Yang Qizhou's attention... The Ancient Fire-Stealing God's protection would fade, and Fire-Stealing Village would face the unknown terrors of the Wilderness.

That could hardly be called good news.

Setting aside the other unknown beings wandering the Wilderness, there was at least Aliceina, a suspected follower of an Old God, watching the village from just beyond its borders. Once Fire-Stealing Village lost its protection, the earlier fate line would likely play out again, and everything would decay at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Pale text continued to scroll as the game's story moved forward.

After killing the Fire-Stealing Priest, Lena told you to return to the place Yixiu had arranged for you. She had to deal with the aftermath.

You didn't agree, because many questions still lingered in your mind.

You asked Lena, "The Ancient Fire-Stealing God is only asleep and dreaming. Once he wakes up, everything will be fine. Why was the Fire-Stealing Priest so pessimistic that he was willing to betray his devout faith?"

Lena was silent for a moment, but eventually answered your question...

"Because dreaming brings disaster."