If in a Dream, a Memokeeper

"Do you trust me that much?" Xingsu sat by the hospital bed, looking down at Dunyarzad who was lying quietly.

"Yes, I believe in Mr. Xingsu." Dunyarzad's voice was as light as a breeze, as if it would disappear into the air at any moment.

"But all told, we've only known each other for less than a week, and we've only met a few times in total," Xingsu softly, her tone tinged with a hint of melancholy.

"But... I feel that Mr. Xingsu is very kind, as if we've known each other for a long time..."

"..."

silence

Yes, if a day in a dream counts as a real day, then they have indeed known each other for a long time.

But with each cycle, everyone except Xingsu forgets all of this.

From the second cycle onwards, Xingsu sensed the eeriness of this dreamlike illusion.

As a new day begins, he steps into the still bustling Sumeru City, watching the tourists frolicking and the celebrations repeating at the Sabzeruz Festival, and Xingsu feels only a bone-chilling coldness on his back.

Either his own memories had been altered, or everyone else's memories had been altered. He preferred that only his own memories were faulty.

Unfortunately, this situation is like Chlothar on top of the collapsing sky—impossible.

In one loop, Ying mentioned her strong sense of déjà vu—she always felt that the scene in front of her was familiar, as if everything had happened before.

So Xing Su examined the memories of the three little ones, Linnie, Linnie, and Femini, and discovered that their memories of the Flower Goddess's Birthday Festival were hidden deep in their consciousness.

As the cycle of a new day was about to begin, Xingsu did not let the children sleep, and kept a close eye on their physical condition and memory.

But as the clock struck midnight, the group of people fainted on the spot, as if they had been drugged.

Xingsu carefully examined the group and found that their brains were not completely relaxed, but rather in a semi-conscious state, like a computer in standby mode.

In memory, some of the energy from the dream memories disappeared directly after flowing into the Akasha Terminal.

Xingsu fell into thought.

Children's brains don't fully rest while they sleep, so what are they processing?

But what's the point of extracting energy from memories?

It is obvious that this can be done by relying on the Akasha Terminal, and there must be a motivation for such a complicated process of collecting energy.

So, who has both the motivation and the ability to do such a thing?

The answer is obvious--

A plan to create a god.

Everyone's brains become distributed biological computing power in the Akasha, maintaining this vast dream world while simultaneously calculating for the god-making project.

At the same time, it absorbs dreams to provide energy for the so-called new gods.

How insane!

But Dottore is absolutely capable of doing it.

When Xingsu realized it was a dream, she began trying to figure out how to escape it.

The simplest way is to remove your Akasha Terminal.

Unfortunately, it didn't work.

That's true; how could the removed Akasha Terminal in the dream have any effect on the dream?

Afterwards, Xingsu tried to leave this area and escape this dream.

But when he actually took that step, the whole world suddenly tore apart.

The original earth, sky, and horizon have all disappeared.

Instead, there were countless spatial containers, layered upon layered, endlessly stacked, and suspended in the chaotic Akasha.

Each space is a complete slice of the world.

"Where... is this place?"

Standing above the dreamscape, he could clearly see the outlines, boundaries, and data-stream-like patterns of light and shadow of each independent illusion. Countless fragments of worlds crisscrossed, stacked in parallel, and did not interfere with each other, yet they all existed within a vast sea of consciousness.

He strode through this dreamlike forest, exploring each of the still spaces.

The box I just stepped out of was the grand Sabzeruz Festival of Sumeru City;

Inside some of the containers, the lights of the Port Ormos shimmered in the evening breeze;

Some are quiet mountain paths through rainforests, while others are spacious Akademiya corridors.

But all the dreams were terrifyingly silent.

All the spaces were identical and completely empty.

"It's confirmed now. These are unclaimed dreams, and I can feel the power of memories within them."

It is said that the people of Sumeru do not dream, and they are proud of this, believing it to be a symbol of wisdom.

Ha, what a symbol of wisdom! It's clearly just a dream being harvested. A bunch of people have been used and are even gloating over it.

But we can't escape the dream from here either, so...

In the most extreme way—self-annihilation within the dream, forcibly escaping the dream through one's own collapse.

He succeeded in his gamble, escaping the illusory dream and finding the real Traveler and Dunyarzad.

The Akasha Terminal of the group flickered with green light, appearing quite eerie in the dark night.

Would removing the Akasha Terminal wake them up?

Xingsu's fingertip had already touched the terminal's outer shell; he was just one step away from forcibly removing it.

However, a chilling, unthinkable consequence flashed through his mind.

Like hot-swapping a computer's graphics card, forcibly severing the mental link between the human brain and the Akasha would most likely cause irreversible and permanent damage to the mental and neurological systems of Ying, Paimon, and Dunyarzad.

He dared not gamble, nor could he gamble.

Finally, he put the terminal back on, returned to this endless cycle of suffering, and decided to break the deception from within the dream world.

He tried to reveal the truth to everyone, but no matter how much they believed or how clear-headed they were at the moment, once a new cycle began, all memories would be wiped clean, and all their efforts would be for naught.

The mild approach was no longer effective; he had to try a more radical approach to verification.

So, who should we use for the experiment?

We definitely can't use our own people.

Therefore, Scott became the perfect experimental subject because he had to jump face every time the cycle started.

On the deserted street corner, Xingsu cleanly and efficiently erased all traces of Scott's existence in the dream.

But when the cycle started again, Scott was back in front of him, barking and gesturing wildly.

Does death in a dream not count as real death? Then what about myself...?

Xingsu shook his head; his memory ability was merely a special case that allowed him to freely enter and exit dreams.

The disappearance of a single unit of computing power has little impact on the vast dream system.

He had a fleeting, extreme thought: if all consciousness were erased from the dream, would the dream completely collapse?

Xingsu shook his head abruptly.

The child from the House of the Hearth who was caught up in the dream, she absolutely could not bring herself to do it, especially since the first rule of the House of the Hearth is that one must never draw a knife against a family member.

Besides, I'm not a bastard like Dottore.

"Call..."

Xingsu suppressed the pent-up frustration and exhaustion that had accumulated in his heart for dozens of cycles.

Endless repetition, futile attempts, and unsolvable cycles have long since worn people down.

However, starting from which cycle, this dream is visibly collapsing.

The vendor selling "Seven Sages' Table" fruits and vegetables initially only sold mushrooms, but eventually started selling tables as well.

The alchemy divination stalls started becoming more and more casual. In the past, divination was limited to alchemy materials, but now any material would do. Finally, he didn't even put on an act; he would just put up some random things and give a random result.

Lyney's candies also have problems. The five types of candies are sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty, and they are getting worse and worse. The sour ones are unbearably sour, the spicy ones are unbearably spicy, and the sweet ones are sickeningly sweet.

Even Scott... oh, Scott hasn't changed at all; he still makes you want to punch him the moment you see him.

The dream is gradually crumbling.

Perhaps when everyone realizes something is wrong, this endless dream will end on its own?

but...

Xingsu looked at Dunyarzad was lying weakly on the hospital bed.

She can't hold on much longer.

Dunyarzad already suffered from a stubborn form of Eleazar, and her physical body was already extremely weak. Now, this endless dream was repeatedly harvesting her memories, draining her spirit, and stripping away her life force. Each cycle was ruthlessly eroding the little life she had left.

"I believe in Mr. Xingsu."

Dunyarzad spoke softly once more, this time with a touch of stubborn determination in her weak voice.

"Actually, I realized it a long time ago... This shouldn't be my first time attending the Sabzeruz Festival."

She slowly raised her pale, slender hand, Xingsu immediately bent down, gently cupping her icy palm in his own, trying to transfer a tiny bit of warmth to her.

"Everywhere I went during this celebration, I felt a sense of familiarity; I felt like I'd been here before, and seen there before."

"But I don't want to expose it. I really want to participate in the Sabzeruz Festival one more time... I treat each cycle as the last celebration of my life. I know my physical condition; I probably won't make it to the next Sabzeruz Festival."

Dunyarzad's sleeve slipped down quietly, revealing large patches of mottled black demonic scales spreading and coiling on her fair and slender forearm, ferocious and glaring.

"What are you thinking about?" Xingsu held her hand, and the demonic scales on her hand gradually disappeared.

"I'm sorry to trouble you again... Once my Eleazar Disease has improved, I'd like to visit the Sabzeruz Festival again, with you... and with that Traveler... I hope that this time, I can see Nilou's Dance of Sabzeruz..."

She tightened her grip slightly, her icy palms gently clutching Xingsu's sleeve, her eyes filled with tender apology and reluctance.

"..."

Stop making promises you can't keep!

Why are you setting up so many flags when you're not even going to perform in Liyue opera?

One sentence brought out Xingsu's PTSD.

That was not long after he returned to the House of the Hearth, when he witnessed a child's life slipping through his fingers.

The same quiet hospital room, the same cold hands, the same... time keeps flowing on and on, never to return.

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

Xingsu looked at the time on her watch; another cycle was about to begin.

"Get some sleep, I hope you have sweet dreams."

"You know, the Sumeru people don't dream..." Dunyarzad replied softly.

"Then consider it my best wishes."

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

"Beep--"

Another cycle has ended.

The whole world became quiet.

Xingsu slowly stood up and pulled a dagger from inside his clothes.

Investigating and searching for a solution within the dream would take far too long. But time wouldn't wait for Dunyarzad; her life force was slowly fading away.

The most direct way is to try to shut down the dream system at the Akademiya.

My preparations in Sumeru City aren't even complete yet; am I already facing Dottore head-on?

Xingsu lowered his head to examine the dagger in his hand.

Perhaps it's time to make a decision.

Xingsu raised his hand, pointing the sharp dagger at his heart, and exerted a slight force in his wrist.

"..."

The expected scene of gushing blood did not occur.

Xingsu slowly lowered the hand holding the dagger, turned her head, and looked at the small figure that had quietly appeared in the empty room.

"I've finally found you, Nahida."