Chapter Summaries

Jiang Yu and his companions asked Giovanna about Cocona’s distress and learned that the Family had treated her with a special drink that suppressed negative emotions but caused forgetfulness and drowsiness. Giovanna handed them more of the blend to deliver to Cocona, and the group prepared to return to the Dreamscape.

• Jiang Yu, Yanqing, the Foxian girl, and Argenti found Giovanna, the head dream-entry nurse, and asked about Cocona’s condition.
• Giovanna said Cocona had received treatment for her emotions and that its side effects included forgetfulness, drowsiness, and slow reactions.
• Giovanna explained that a special SoulGlad blend temporarily suppressed Cocona’s negative emotions so she could function normally.
• Jiang Yu volunteered to deliver more of the blend to Cocona, and Giovanna gave it to him.
• As Jiang Yu and the others left for the Dreamscape, Giovanna warned him not to drink the blend out of curiosity.

Jiang Yu and his companions visited Cocona, who claimed she had recovered and asked them to retrieve a lost record from the Dream Hotel. Meanwhile, Stelle woke in a strange dreamlike room and reunited with Firefly, who suspected they were inside a Dream Bubble.

• Jiang Yu brought Giovanna’s Emotional Comfort Special Mix to Cocona, but she insisted she had recovered and warned him not to drink it.
• Cocona asked Argenti, Jiang Yu, Yanqing, and Huohuo to retrieve a record she had lost in the Dream Hotel, and they set out together.
• After the group left, Cocona watched them go and said she would leave her Dreamscape earnings as their reward, while Cirrus watched from her shadow.
• Stelle woke in a strange, enclosed room, found that she could not send a message, and heard voices calling for Mikhail.
• Stelle left the room and found Firefly beside a fallen monster; Firefly said the place felt like a dream and might be a Dream Bubble.

Stelle and Firefly navigated the uncanny Dreamscape, using a Dream Bubble to cross a broken path and solving a puzzle before a treasure chest triggered a piercing alarm. Meanwhile, Jiang Yu, Argenti, Huohuo, and Yanqing entered the Dream Hotel, defeated distorted Dreamjolt Troupe members, and recovered Cocona’s record, which Jiang Yu restored; then they heard a strange noise.

• Stelle and Firefly explored the uncanny Dreamscape and used a Dream Bubble to create a bridge across a collapsed passage.
• Stelle and Firefly gathered scattered puzzle pieces, completed the puzzle, and opened a path through the rooms.
• Stelle opened a treasure chest in a dark room, causing a piercing alarm to sound as the chest vanished and the lights came on.
• Secretary Tong opened the Dream Hotel to Jiang Yu, Argenti, Huohuo, and Yanqing, who made their way to the lobby.
• Jiang Yu, Argenti, Yanqing, and Huohuo defeated the distorted Dreamjolt Troupe members and found Cocona’s damaged record, “Imagine a Rose of the Future.”
• Jiang Yu restored the record, and the group looked up after hearing a strange noise.

Stelle and Firefly struggled through a shifting hotel maze and were attacked by a monstrous creature, until Jiang Yu burst in and struck it down. The monster escaped, leaving Jiang Yu, Yanqing, Argenti, and Black Swan facing the bewildered girls and the mysterious woman.

• Stelle and Firefly searched a succession of identical rooms as eerie music, alarms, and strange television images pursued them.
• A many-eyed monster emerged from the shadows, defeated Stelle, and seized Firefly.
• A mysterious woman restrained the monster with crystalline arms, allowing Firefly to escape.
• Jiang Yu crashed through the wall and struck the monster so hard that it flew into another wall.
• Yanqing and Argenti arrived, but the injured monster crawled into a shadowy doorway and escaped.
• Jiang Yu scolded Yanqing for not attacking, while Argenti remarked that Jiang Yu seemed to have made the monster cry and Black Swan watched in confusion.

After reuniting with Stelle and the others in the chaotic primal Dreamscape, Jiang Yu tried to treat Firefly’s Entropy Loss Syndrome with his power of Abundance. Black Swan warned them that the peace was temporary and offered to guide them out.

• After the monster left, Stelle reunited with Jiang Yu and asked how he had arrived in the Dream Hotel.
• Jiang Yu explained that he had entered through a dazzling doorway while searching for a record for Cocona.
• Stelle asked Jiang Yu to treat Firefly’s Entropy Loss Syndrome, and he agreed to try using the power of Abundance.
• Jiang Yu manipulated the Memoria and slapped Firefly’s hand, but neither of them could tell whether the treatment had worked.
• Black Swan approached and warned the group that the primal Dreamscape remained dangerous, then said Himeko had asked her to bring them out.

Jiang Yu returned Cocona’s restored record, but Cirrus sensed her determination to die and brought Jiang Yu and his companions into her inner world. There, they followed Cocona through a dangerous landscape and witnessed a memory of her singing being praised.

• Jiang Yu and his companions returned from the Dreamscape to Oti Mall after Stelle and Firefly went back to reality.
• Jiang Yu gave Cocona the restored record, and she said she wanted to fall asleep listening to it and never wake again.
• Cirrus engulfed Cocona and the others in ghostly flames, then brought Jiang Yu, Argenti, Huohuo, and Yanqing into Cocona’s inner world.
• The group saw Cocona run ahead through her perilous inner world, where her body became a surging wave of memories.
• Tail and Cirrus held back the wave, revealing a memory of an old man praising young Cocona’s singing and musical talent.

Jiang Yu and the others followed Cocona’s memories from her first singing lesson to the crushing pressure her parents placed on her dreams. Cocona gave up studying music and took a job at a luxury store in Golden Hour, but her memories continued.

• Cocona’s singing teacher praised her talent, urged her to pursue a larger stage, and promised to teach her everything in their final lesson.
• Cocona later told a friend that she wanted to pursue music after graduation.
• Cocona’s parents dismissed her ambitions and pressured her to abandon music.
• Cocona took a job at a luxury store in Golden Hour and could not decide how to spend her own wages.
• Jiang Yu and the others watched Cocona’s memories in silence and continued following her apparition.

Jiang Yu and the others entered Cocona’s memories and learned how workplace cruelty and Pound’s disappearance drove her to despair. They stopped her from following the voices urging her to leave, returned with her to Golden Hour, and encouraged her to sing her song as a crowd gathered to listen.

• Cocona’s memories showed her success at the luxury store turning into torment from jealous coworkers and a difficult boss, while she felt she had lost herself.
• Cocona remembered how Pound entered a dangerous competition to fund their plans for freedom, failed to repay his debt to the Family, and never returned; she then threw away their tickets and record.
• Jiang Yu, Huohuo, Yanqing, and Argenti found Cocona at the rooftop’s edge, where she said she wanted to leave and the murmuring voices urged her to follow them.
• Jiang Yu told Cocona they would help her win, and Argenti held her hand; after Cocona acknowledged the God of Beauty’s unparalleled beauty, the gray world filled with light and life.
• Back in Golden Hour, Cocona thanked the four and agreed to sing “Imagine a rose of the future,” drawing a growing crowd whose applause helped her sing with confidence.

Stelle returned from the strange Memory Zone Dreamscape with Black Swan and reunited with the Astral Express Crew, while Jiang Yu and Argenti also came back to reality. Black Swan explained that Penacony’s orderly Land of Dreams was built by the Family over a chaotic, dangerous Dreamscape, and the crew compared what they had seen upon entering the dream.

• Black Swan brought Stelle back to the Reverie and told her that Firefly’s fate could be checked when they met again.
• Stelle reunited with March 7th, Himeko, and the others, reassured them that Little Fish was safe, and recounted Sparkle’s deception while disguised as Sampo.
• Black Swan told the crew that Sparkle had not caused the strange Dreamscape and explained that the Family had shaped Penacony’s Land of Dreams from its original chaotic form.
• Jiang Yu and Argenti arrived after waking from the Dreamscape, and Himeko asked everyone to recall what they had seen when entering the dream.
• Old Yang remembered a clock, March 7th remembered the deep sea, Stelle remembered schools of fish, and Jiang Yu blurted out seafood.

Black Swan revealed that Penacony’s Dreamscape was sinking into the Memory Zone, and the Astral Express Crew considered who might be manipulating the crisis. Silver Wolf sent them coordinates to a hidden map and warned that Sam and other factions were making their moves, while Jiang Yu planned to investigate Firefly and keep Robin safe.

• Black Swan explained that Penacony’s Dreamscape was sinking into the Memory Zone and warned that its guests might be in danger.
• Black Swan asked to cooperate with the Astral Express in exchange for memories, and Himeko discussed the offer and Penacony’s suspicious invitations with the Crew.
• Jiang Yu recalled that Firefly was Sam and worried about what Something Unto Death and Robin’s apparent attacker meant for events to come.
• Old Yang ruled out Argenti as a likely intruder and played Silver Wolf’s message, which provided coordinates to a hidden map and warned that Sam and other factions were acting.
• Jiang Yu decided to follow Stelle to investigate Firefly and asked Argenti to keep an eye on Robin, then assigned Argenti a task.

The Astral Express Crew agreed to enter the game with Black Swan as their guide while Welt stayed behind to negotiate with the Family. Stelle returned to the Dreamscape with Black Swan, who reassured her about her companions and explained that Jiang Yu could control memoria with extraordinary skill.

• The Astral Express Crew agreed to cooperate with Black Swan and use the pursuit of the Stellaron Hunters as their reason for entering the game.
• Welt stayed in reality to handle negotiations with the Family while the others planned to meet in the hotel lobby.
• Jiang Yu asked Stelle whether Firefly had returned to reality, and she said she thought Firefly was safe after passing through Black Swan's exit.
• Black Swan waited in Stelle's room, mistook her wandering thoughts for worry about Firefly, and struggled to comment on Jiang Yu's unusual treatment method.
• Stelle entered the Dream Pool, and Black Swan accompanied her into the Dreamscape, where she promised to ease Stelle's discomfort and said she could sense the others through their jewelry.
• Black Swan said Jiang Yu was powerful enough to withstand Death and had remarkable control of memoria, which Stelle considered unsurprising.

Stelle and Black Swan searched the chaotic Memory Zone for the lobby, where they met Acheron and fought off Memory Zone Memes. Elsewhere, Jiang Yu forced a Shell of Faded Rage to guide him toward the lobby.

• Stelle found that March 7th was not in the nearby room, and Black Swan explained that the Memory Zone’s layout was chaotic and their companions were far away.
• Stelle and Black Swan encountered Acheron asking Dreamjolt Troupe members for directions in the hotel hall.
• Jiang Yu asked a Shell of Faded Rage to show him the way to the lobby, slapped it into a wall when it attacked, and made it agree to guide him.
• Black Swan, Stelle, and Acheron fought off a group of Memory Zone Memes, and Acheron defeated them without drawing her blade.
• Acheron asked Stelle and Black Swan why they were there.

Stelle, Black Swan, and Acheron traveled through the distorted Memory Zone together, while Black Swan searched for their friends and sensed Jiang Yu causing widespread destruction. The chapter left Jiang Yu racing toward the lobby on a dinosaur-shaped Meme, smashing through the dreamscape as frightened Memes watched.

• Acheron told Stelle and Black Swan that a Masked Fool had sent her into the primal dreamscape, and she agreed to travel with them.
• Black Swan taught Stelle and Acheron how to navigate the Memory Zone, but they found a twisted corridor instead of the lobby after leaving an elevator.
• Black Swan sensed the dreamscape's structure and searched for the Family, Stelle's friends, Firefly, and Jiang Yu.
• Black Swan discovered Jiang Yu riding a dinosaur-shaped Meme toward the lobby and demolishing walls, floors, and other obstacles.
• The surviving Memes whispered that Jiang Yu had turned the Memory Zone into a wreck and feared he might return to attack them.

Stelle, Black Swan, and Acheron followed Firefly’s traces through the Memory Zone, where Black Swan discovered Jiang Yu was safe and wreaking havoc. They found Firefly in the Dream Hotel lobby, but Something Unto Death attacked her until Jiang Yu burst through the floor in the Shell of Faded Rage and knocked the monster away.

• Black Swan struggled to explain Jiang Yu’s astonishing rampage through the Memory Zone, then reassured Stelle that he was safe.
• Black Swan opened a passage using Firefly’s lingering thoughts, and Stelle, Acheron, and Black Swan traveled through it to the Dream Hotel lobby.
• The three found Firefly, who greeted them with a gentle smile.
• Something Unto Death emerged from a starry haze, seized Firefly, and tossed her into the air before attacking her.
• Jiang Yu burst through the lobby floor in the Shell of Faded Rage, struck Something Unto Death, and Stelle caught Firefly as she fell.

Jiang Yu reunited with Stelle, Firefly, Black Swan, and Acheron in the Primordial Memory Zone after driving off Something Unto Death. Firefly improvised an explanation for her return, and Jiang Yu asked Black Swan to help find Himeko and March 7th.

• Something Unto Death fled into the darkness after being struck by Jiang Yu's Purple Tyrannosaurus.
• Jiang Yu reunited with Stelle and Firefly, asked about Firefly's treatment, and suggested they check its effects with Bailu in reality.
• Black Swan questioned why Firefly had returned to the Primordial Memory Zone, and Firefly claimed the Dreamscape had changed around her after she recalled a key detail.
• The others accepted Firefly's explanation, while Acheron sensed that Jiang Yu exerted an unusual influence like a movable reality anchor.
• Jiang Yu asked Black Swan to help locate Himeko and March 7th, and she agreed.

Aventurine met Stelle in the lodging-area lobby and revealed that Acheron was an Emanator who brought death and the end. He began explaining why he considered her dangerous, leaving the account of Afrit’s death and the mysterious Galaxy Ranger unfinished.

• Black Swan opened a doorway near Himeko and March 7th, and Jiang Yu rode the Shell of Faded Rage through it.
• Acheron, Stelle, and Firefly followed through the doorway after Black Swan located the group.
• Aventurine told Stelle that Black Swan had kept her away from Acheron and sent the Galaxy Ranger elsewhere.
• Aventurine revealed that Acheron was an Emanator, though he could not say which Path she served.
• Aventurine recounted that Afrit and the Ever-Flame Mansion had been wiped out, then said a mysterious Galaxy Ranger had arrived on Penacony using a music box.

Jiang Yu found March 7th in the Dreamscape and rescued her from pursuing Memory Zone Memes by charging through the hotel on the Shell of Faded Rage. March 7th did not know where Himeko was, so their search for the rest of the Astral Express Crew continued.

• Argenti remembered the lump of Afrit recovered from the Ever-Flame Mansion and planned to show it to Little Fish when he returned.
• Jiang Yu rode the Shell of Faded Rage through the Dream Hotel, smashing through walls as he searched for March 7th.
• Jiang Yu found March 7th being chased by Memory Zone Memes, and the Shell of Faded Rage knocked the creatures aside.
• March 7th recognized Jiang Yu and told him she did not know where Himeko was because the Astral Express Crew had been separated upon entering the Dream Hotel.

Jiang Yu and March 7th encountered a strange, disorienting darkness while searching for Himeko in the Dreamscape, leaving March 7th unable to perceive the world around her. Meanwhile, Aventurine tried to draw Stelle into his plan to protect Jiang Yu, but Stelle was shocked by what she found in a Dream Pool.

• Jiang Yu took March 7th on the Shell of Faded Rage to search for Himeko near the lobby.
• The Shell of Faded Rage smashed through the ceiling, bringing Jiang Yu and March 7th into darkness filled with mist, distorted lights, and warped sounds.
• March 7th suffered stabbing head pain, lost her senses, and abruptly stopped responding to the world around her.
• Aventurine told Stelle that he suspected Acheron and offered her a choice between leaving Penacony or hearing his second proposal.
• Stelle followed Aventurine to a hotel room, where she stared in shock at a girl in the Dream Pool.

Sunday saw through Sparkle’s disguise as Robin and rejected her offer to impersonate his sister, vowing to bring the Watchmaker to justice. Meanwhile, Aha and Fuli watched an immense being trapped in a chaotic current of memories, and Aha left to play with Little Lan and Little Taiyi.

• Sunday discussed the Death incidents with Sparkle, who had disguised herself as Robin, before identifying her and ordering her to leave.
• Sparkle offered to appear at events in Robin’s place, but Sunday refused and said the Family had its own arrangements.
• Sunday declared that the Watchmaker had exposed himself and vowed to bring him down personally.
• Aha and Fuli observed an immense being in the Asdana Galaxy and discussed its origins and its passage through the Memory Zone.
• Fuli said the being was stuck in a chaotic current of memories, but insisted its condition had no impact.
• Aha left Fuli to play with the Cat Cakes, and Little Lan and Little Taiyi bounced over to join him.

Aventurine showed Stelle a memory of Robin dead in the Dreamscape and argued that Acheron might be able to bypass the Family’s protections. He left Stelle with his contact details after explaining his goals and urging her to consider what to do amid Penacony’s growing turmoil.

• Aventurine showed Stelle a projection of Robin’s death in the Dream Pool and warned that death could spread through the Dreamscape.
• Stelle worried that Jiang Yu could be in danger, while Aventurine directed suspicion toward Acheron as a possible killer.
• Aventurine explained that the Family’s Harmony defenses should prevent Dreamscape deaths, but suggested Acheron might be powerful enough to evade them.
• Black Swan confirmed that Aventurine’s memory was genuine and had not been altered.
• Aventurine told Stelle that he wanted to protect a child and reclaim the Frontier Prison for the company, and that Robin’s death could help expose the Family’s secrets.
• Aventurine gave Stelle his contact details and left, telling her to get in touch after deciding what to do.