After watching the grand fireworks show, Ye Yan hummed a song as he returned to a secret room in the [ The Reverie ] Hotel.
You're late.
Silver Wolf, blowing bubble gum, lay on the bed, his eyes glued to the game console—specifically, the provocative word "defeat."
"Tch! It's all because of that noise. Who would be setting off fireworks outside for no reason?" Silver Wolf pouted. Anyone would have been startled!
She was engrossed in playing the game when suddenly a loud bang startled her so much that she threw the game console away, and unsurprisingly, she received her "karma."
"Haha... have a milk tea to calm down, I'll help you win it back if you lose."
Silver Wolf accepted the milk tea offered by Ye Yan, the "mastermind," and after just one sip, all his bad mood vanished.
"Hey? By the way, don't you need to meet up with the Astral Express? I've already sent the notification to that guy with glasses."
[Get up! Get up!]
After an unknown amount of time, in reality—[ The Reverie ] Hotel, in a guest room
"You're awake, you little sleepyhead. Looks like you had a good dream."
Xing opened her eyes Mimi and looked at the Black Swan wearing a veil in front of her.
"How was it? Did you dream about me?"
"Is this heaven...?"
Xing hadn't fully recovered when, after being attacked by ' Ye Yan ', she and Firefly arrived in a completely new area.
Then, she fought the insect called [Death], and immediately afterward Black Swan Memokeeper called himself the Garden of Recollection appeared.
If the Black Swan had arrived any later, Xing might have been able to single-handedly kill that bug.
Having been careless and defeated by the fake Ye Yan, Xing was extremely focused when dealing with [ Something Unto Death ] and managed to save Firefly from its clutches.
There was no way around it; ' Ye Yan ' was a killer on first meeting. This imposter actually tampered with the milk tea she trusted most—it was truly unforgivable.
"Welcome to reality— the Reverie —the place you know best and are safest in."
"I'm glad your mental state is still relatively normal and you haven't been affected by that [primitive dream]. You're lucky."
" Firefly... where is she?"
Xing was the first to show concern for her companions.
"Hehe~ You seem quite concerned about that girl. Well, even in the face of death, she did everything she could to protect you... I'm even a little touched."
"I know you have a lot of questions, but don't worry. Before that, let your worried friends know you're safe."
The Black Swan led Xing out of the guest room and into the public lounge area of the [ The Reverie ] Hotel.
"That's suspicious... There's no way it's such a coincidence. That woman is definitely suspicious."
Based on past experiences, Detective March 7th deduces that all mature older women, except Himeko, pose a danger to Hoshi.
"But she did find the star and brought her back to reality... For now, we can only listen to their demands."
Himeko said, "After all, they are the Memokeeper of the Garden of Recollection. They have obviously come prepared. It would be better to be cautious."
" Ye Yan has also lost contact. Has anyone seen him in their dreams?"
Welt adjusted his glasses; such an unfortunate event was unlikely to happen to Ye Yan.
"No... Sigh~ If Teacher Ye Yan were here, we wouldn't have needed to ask those guys from Garden of Recollection to save our lives."
"I'm sorry for overhearing your conversation, Miss Himeko. Look, I've brought the child back as promised." The Black Swan suddenly appeared beside Himeko.
"Xing! Are you alright?!"
On March 7th, the first person to rush upstairs checked on Qi Xing: "I was so worried about you, not being able to find you in reality or in my dreams..."
"I'm glad you're safe and sound. Let me introduce you—Miss Black Swan, the Memokeeper of Garden of Recollection."
Hoshi turned around, quite surprised. "So you're Himeko's friend."
"Oh, no." March 7th rubbed Xing's head; it seemed she wasn't fully awake yet.
" Himeko- neechan said they met by chance while investigating dreams."
"Not yet. But because of you, we might be able to take this opportunity to get to know each other better," the Black Swan explained.
Himeko cut to the chase. "So... Hoshi, how did you end up in a place like that? What happened?"
Xing recounted the series of events that had occurred, and March 7th was visibly surprised.
"How is this possible... Someone actually impersonating Teacher Ye Yan! That's incredibly audacious, impersonating a member of the Eternity... uh, the Church of Eternity!"
"Ahem... So, the person who attacked you was a man skilled in illusion magic, capable of transforming into other people's appearances..."
The Black Swan flipped over a divination card with a scarlet mask. "Preliminary deduction: the culprit is likely the Masked Fools, a girl in Sparkle who infiltrated Penacony."
"Don't worry, that girl won't be trying to take advantage of you anymore. She's probably thinking she's succeeded and is probably gloating somewhere."
Black Swan speculated, but she became Curiosity about what March 7th had said.
As far as she knew, the Chair and priest of the Church of Eternity had already visited Penacony, and besides the two of them, there was even a Church member... How interesting.
"You seem to know the other person very well." Welt became slightly more wary.
"Of course, I know everyone here. In Penacony, everyone can lie... but [ Remembrance ] won't."
"Therefore, I need to clarify one fact: Miss Sparkle ' trick can induce hallucinations, but that eerie dream has nothing to do with her; it originates from Penacony itself."
" Penacony... itself?"
"Haven't you realized it yet? The so-called ' Land of the Dreams '... is actually the result of careful maintenance by the Family through some unknown means, a beautifully designed dream."
The Black Swan looked at Xing, who looked completely bewildered, and gently brushed a strand of her hair aside.
"And the Memory Zone she fell into—that was the true nature of dreams: chaotic, dangerous, mysterious... a labyrinth where the beasts of Remembrance dwell..."
"She's right. Everyone, do you remember the scenery when you entered the dream?"
Himeko gave a hint, March 7th finally realized, "Huh, so everyone saw the same thing? I remember it was a guest room, and then I went through a mirror to a long corridor..."
"[ The Reverie Corridor ] -- that's what the hotel staff called it," Welt remembered clearly.
"Don't you think these landscapes are quite different from the Penacony in your dreams... yet very similar to the dream described by Miss Black Swan?"
"Indeed... I didn't pay much attention to it at first, but looking back, the two have quite a lot in common."
"And, I learned from some regular customers that the first stop after entering the dream was originally [the hotel in the dream], but due to some unforeseen circumstances... [the hotel is currently undergoing renovations]."
"Under what circumstances does a building need repairs?" Black Swan drew a divination card. "Considering what we just experienced, the answer is clear."
" Penacony's dream is [sinking], returning to its original state... plunging into the deep sea."