Firefly thought for a moment, as if she had suddenly realized something.
"No, that's not right. Do you remember? Before we lost consciousness, your friend said this, 'The real dreamscape... Penacony...'"
Before Firefly could finish, Stelle spoke with complete conviction.
"She wasn't Sampo. She's not my friend!"
Firefly blinked at Stelle, stunned for a moment. Then she let out a long breath.
"I should have suspected him sooner... I'm sorry. No matter what, the Family must be hiding something, something about the truth of the dreamscape..."
"And when you woke up, you noticed it too, didn't you? The clocks everywhere, and the ticking... My instincts tell me the secret hidden here is probably connected to that mysterious Watchmaker as well."
"If it points to the Watchmaker's legacy, then it concerns everyone currently inside Penacony's dream..."
"Let's go. Whether it's to uncover the truth or to get out of here, we have to move."
Firefly's personality and decisiveness clearly weren't as gentle as her appearance suggested. She was a determined girl with her own mind.
Stelle agreed with Firefly's thinking, so she didn't object.
The two of them ran through the dim, enclosed corridors. The surroundings and the oppressive atmosphere gave Stelle an inexplicably familiar feeling, as though she had seen this place somewhere before.
Compared to a sweet dream like the Golden Hour, this place felt more like a strange dream. It might not be a nightmare, but it made people feel as though they were sinking into the deep sea.
The paths were also chaotic and disordered. In some places the ground was broken apart, rising and falling like waves. Sometimes, while walking, a new path would suddenly appear beside them.
And...
Stelle saw a champagne tower standing inexplicably in the corridor.
Or perhaps it was a SoulGlad tower.
The moment she saw it, she froze. A dizzying sensation almost turned her world upside down. For an instant, Stelle seemed to see herself walking on walls, then stepping across the ceiling.
Lost in a trance, she unconsciously walked forward, reached toward the flowing champagne tower, and took out a dream bubble from it...
Her movements were extremely practiced, as though she knew exactly what to do, as though she had repeated the process over and over again.
Only after the dream bubble was in her hand did Stelle suddenly come back to herself.
"What are you doing...?" Firefly asked, puzzled, standing beside her.
Stelle didn't answer immediately. She stared blankly at the road ahead.
The floor had collapsed. Part of it had become dream waves, while the rest had turned into a bottomless abyss.
Then Stelle turned to look at the wall beside her. Lowering her head to the memoria bubble in her hand, vague images surfaced in her mind.
"Maybe... it's worth trying?", Stelle murmured softly.
Then she pulled Firefly over to the wall and held out the dream bubble. A streak of golden light blossomed forth. The radiance of a beautiful dream briefly illuminated the dark deep sea, and a bridge appeared.
Stelle didn't know why she knew what to do.
But without question, there was now a path beneath their feet.
She looked at Firefly in delight, and then the two of them walked onto the wall together.
After climbing onto the wall, they continued forward and successfully found the way.
The two girls traveled through the strange dreamscape. Danger lurked everywhere. Mad machines roamed about, the ground lay in ruins, and phantom fish floating in midair let out hollow cries, as though voices were calling from the distant edge of another world, quietly piercing into people's minds and imaginations.
The words that appeared out of nowhere, along with the voice so similar to Misha's, still hadn't disappeared. They surrounded the two of them. In some places they became especially frequent, like ghosts pressed close behind their backs, letting out chilling laughter.
Then the two of them suddenly entered a room.
There was no road ahead.
Only a jigsaw puzzle with arms and legs stood before them.
They had encountered this thing before on their way to the secret base. As long as they completed the puzzle, a path would appear.
However, when they approached, the puzzle pieces suddenly flew away.
The two chased after the pieces, searching through the rooms on either side.
On the left was a toy room. The lighting was warm, yet it carried an air of sadness.
On the right was an empty, gloomy space lined with bookshelves. The only light came from a quietly burning fireplace. Silent. Lonely.
The two quickly gathered the pieces and completed the puzzle.
A large door appeared before them.
They opened it and crossed another dark, silent corridor. Their running footsteps echoed through the hallway, carrying a chilling sound.
Rushing through the corridor, they pushed open another door.
Stelle and Firefly entered a pitch-black room.
A hazy beam of light shone down from above, illuminating an exquisite and luxurious treasure chest. The tempting treasure sat right in the middle of the room.
The two approached.
Without a word, Stelle lifted the lid off the chest.
She had always been like this.
Wherever she went, no treasure chest could escape her.
However, the instant Stelle opened the chest, a shrill burst of noise rang out. The distorted sound scraped against the girls' eardrums, and at the same moment, all the lights in the room came on.
The treasure chest had vanished.
———
The Dreamscape Reverie Hotel was not an easy place to enter.
At least, not at this stage.
For various reasons, it had already been sealed off by the Family. Normally, Dreamchasers had no way of reaching it.
Which also meant one more thing.
In theory, Nero and the others shouldn't have been able to help Kokona retrieve the record she wanted.
But that was only in theory.
And the most unreasonable person in this world was right here.
The Administrator Secretary kindly opened the door leading to the Dreamscape Hotel for Nero.
As the colorful radiance slowly faded away, four figures gradually emerged from the dreamlike light, becoming clearer and clearer.
The memoria inside the Dreamscape Hotel seemed to tremble slightly because of this.
The arrival of the uninvited guests caused the already chaotic structure of the memoria to teeter on the brink of collapse.
However, it quickly stabilized.
Under the illumination of that magnificent radiance, the memoria was delicately maintained at the very edge of collapse, intertwining with one another to form an almost perfect connection.
Its stability directly surpassed that of the Dreamscape Hotel when it had once been in its normal state.
Nero and the others were unaware of this.
After confirming that the memoria here would not turn into a chaotic torrent, Nero stopped paying attention to it.
The Dreamscape Hotel was dark and oppressive. Strange sounds often echoed through the nearly viscous memoria.
Yet the eerie atmosphere was swept away by Nero's group.
Light reflected from the knight's armor.
His righteous bearing almost sent those bizarre and unnatural sights fleeing in panic.
Nero planned to head for the hotel lobby first.
Argenti walked at the front with him.
Huohuo, frightened by the gloomy atmosphere of the Dreamscape Hotel, stayed close behind them.
Yanqing brought up the rear, keeping watch for any strange things that might launch a sneak attack from behind.
When the four reached the hotel lobby, they immediately noticed something unusual.
A large number of twisted Dreamjolt Troupe monsters had gathered in one place.
There was no need to say what came next.
Nero was the first to charge in.
That was always his style.
He opened with an instant jumping slash that landed immediately, scattering the monsters.
After that, everyone displayed their own skills.
To Argenti and Yanqing, these twisted Dreamjolt Troupe monsters were nothing difficult to deal with.
They dispatched them with ease, leaving the hotel lobby, which should have been full of guests, covered with monster corpses.
Nero picked up the object the monsters had been gathered around and smiled.
It was a record, covered in dust and cracks.
Judging by its condition, it could no longer be played.
Only one song had been recorded on it.
Its title was...
[Imagine a Future Rose]
Nero gently blew away the dust on the record.
As the boy's fingers lightly brushed across its surface, the cracks covering it gradually disappeared.
How strange.
The record was slowly repairing itself, as though time were flowing backward, returning it to its most perfect state.
Argenti watched the scene with shining eyes.
Just then, all four of them raised their heads and looked in the same direction.
"Did you hear something strange?" Nero asked.