A Dream? Let Me Have Another Bite!

Charle felt as if he were dreaming—a dream so real it was almost impossible to distinguish from reality.

He dreamed of the lightless depths of the sea, where a dried, foul-smelling seabed stretched for millions of miles, littered with countless jagged rocks.

He dreamed that at the end of that seabed, a vast and ancient city lay sleeping.

An ancient temple stood at the heart of the city. All manner of grand, frenzied, absurd whispers seeped out through its tightly shut colossal doors.

Among those whispers, he was certain he had heard a familiar word.

"R'lyeh..."

Before Dak drank the Sublimation Potion, he had told Charle that he could find the ruins left behind by the Ancient Ones in R'lyeh and use them to concoct the Sublimation Potion.

And now, in this dream, that word appeared once more amid those whispers.

Standing in this unfamiliar world, Charle felt his heart gradually sink.

Could Dak's mad cry before he lost consciousness have been real?

Had the Sublimation Potion succeeded?

But even if it had, the eruption of the Eternal Blazing Sun should have left Dak without even bones behind.

As that thought arose, Charle saw a disgusting mass of writhing flesh on the seabed in his dream.

In only a few moments, Dak, clad in black robes, grew out of that lump of flesh.

But unlike before, numerous tiny tentacles extended from Dak's body, green slime dripping from him from time to time.

Charle's pupils contracted sharply.

"Dak, you're not dead?"

"Did you do all this?"

Dak seemed utterly confused as well.

"Charle, my friend, why are you looking at me like that?"

"It was clearly you who pointed out the path to sublimation for me. Look, I now possess a beauty beyond anything I ever had before. Why do I feel that you find me so repulsive?"

The next moment, Dak seemed to come to a realization.

"Ah, right, of course. You have yet to sublimate, so you still stubbornly cling to human prejudices."

"How tragic, my friend. Such an exceptional mind trapped within a human body. But fortunately, I will soon set you free."

Dak spoke with immense excitement.

"The Ancient Ones who once ruled this world—their era is about to return."

"Under the witness of the Ancient Ones, I have already formed a connection with you, my friend. The true me will descend into this world through you."

"Then, the Ancient Ones will return one after another, and you will become the gateway that opens this great era."

As he grew more excited, the tentacles on Dak's body began waving uncontrollably like octopus arms.

Some of them had already swung right in front of Charle.

As he listened to Dak's endless, excited speech, Charle's body began to tremble faintly.

With obvious superiority in his voice, Dak sighed.

"Do not try to resist. Do not try to escape. A connection witnessed by Them cannot be severed, even after I have sublimated."

"Charle, whether you wish it or not, embrace me. Embrace the Great Old Ones. This is your only choice..."

At the same time, as Charle watched the tentacles waving before him, a thought inevitably surfaced in his mind.

"The main ingredient of the Sublimation Potion is that disgusting green slime. According to Dak, it was a relic left behind by the Ancient Ones."

"Judging from Dak's current state, the Ancient Ones probably don't consider this stuff precious. In other words, the Deduction Points it can be converted into aren't worth much to the Ancient Ones."

"Then what if I eat one of those tentacles?"

"The Deduction Points I get should be far greater than from the Sublimation Potion, right?"

Once that thought emerged, Charle no longer found the tentacles before him disgusting.

All he saw were massive amounts of Deduction Points swaying around in front of him.

In his mind, he called out.

"Deep Blue."

The mechanical prompt that followed immediately put Charle completely at ease.

He had no idea what method Dak had used to make him have such a realistic dream, or how he had entered Charle's dream to play god and spook him.

But since the Deep Blue System was still responding, Charle could dig in without worry.

Charle raised his head. Looking at the tentacles in front of him, he could no longer hold himself back.

He licked his lips and broke into a blazing smile.

"Embrace?"

"No, no, no, Dak. I'm too happy. An embrace isn't enough to express my joy."

"I'm going to celebrate my way!"

The next moment, Charle reached out and grabbed a tentacle that was dangling back and forth before him.

"You're this tempting and still waving around in front of me? Decided—you're the first victim!"

In an instant, Charle opened his mouth and bit down hard.

The moment he bit down, Dak, who had been endlessly extolling the glory of the Ancient Ones, suddenly froze.

Countless tentacles began flailing about in panic.

"Wait, Charle, Charle, what are you doing?!"

"What did you do?!"

Charle clutched the tentacle and buried his head in it, chewing away.

With every bite of tentacle he swallowed, a continuous stream of Deep Blue's prompts rang out in his mind.

"Deduction Points +200..."

"Deduction Points +200..."

After only a few bites, the Deduction Points Charle had exhausted deriving the Eternal Blazing Sun Spell surged by more than thirty thousand once again.

Charle's eyes nearly turned green, brimming with desire.

Just a few bites had yielded this much. What if he ate an entire tentacle?

What if he ate all the tentacles on Dak's body?

Wouldn't that be worth hundreds of thousands, even millions, of Deduction Points?

And what if he ate the Ancient Ones and Great Old Ones Dak claimed would descend into this world through him one after another?

Wouldn't the Deduction Points go through the roof?!

Charle raised an arm high.

"Dak, my dear friend, you're truly loyal. Even after making it big, you didn't forget about me."

"Having a friend like you is truly my blessing, Charle's blessing."

"Quick, my friend, let me have a few more bites. I'm really starving!"

After Charle gnawed off a section of one of his tentacles, Dak fell into unprecedented panic.

"My form... it disappeared?"

"What the hell are you?!"

Just as Charle opened his mouth wide, intending to tear off another large chunk of tentacle, the tentacles on Dak's body rapidly retracted.

His entire body vanished at incredible speed as well.

Charle looked around. Confusion first appeared in his eyes, followed by resentment.

"Dak?"

"My friend, where are you!"

"Why did you leave?"

"Didn't you want me to embrace you and congratulate you? My welcoming ceremony isn't over yet, so why did you leave?"

"You won't even let me finish one tentacle. You lied to me. You never considered me your friend at all!"

"Dak, don't go! Let me have one bite, just one more bite!"

Then Charle said quietly.

"But don't forget, as you said, we have already formed a connection beneath the gaze of the Ancient Ones. Even you cannot sever it."

"We will meet here again, Dak. You can't hide from me forever."

"No matter where you are, I will find you."