### Chapter 451 – Day Off – ‘Dream Kingdom’ (1)
—
– Han Kain
Date: Day 480
Current Location: First Floor, Room 105 – Room of Rest
Sage’s Advice: 333
—
Maybe Miro could resist the time distortion that kept popping up in Room 206.
This revelation shocked everyone significantly.
Soon, Sister Eunsol approached the whiteboard.
1. How Kain found Ahri deep in Paradise.
2. The relationship between the Demon King’s cult and the Demon King.
3. The hidden strengths of the first Order.
4. The reason Miro was sealed.
“Immutable blessings can resist regression or time dilation! For number four, we’ve got a clear answer! Anyone else have a question?”
The teacher responded.
“I don’t think anyone can answer numbers two and three right now.”
For number two, all the cult members figured out I was a fake prophet in the last round and had to eliminate everyone.
In the next round, I guess I’ll need to dig a bit deeper for information before they all go bye-bye.
Number three is probably more something Songee should focus on.
That just leaves question one.
All eyes naturally turned to me, so I started explaining what I was on the verge of saying earlier.
— Flutter!
“Do you remember this painting? The ‘Dream Kingdom’ we got as a reward for finding the artist.”
My teammates nodded along.
“I’ll explain in detail. I’m a bit fuzzy on the exact date, but a few days back when I was in Room 206, Songee and I were in a major dilemma.”
Songee chimed in, nodding.
“With Sister Eunsol, Seungyeob, Jinchul, and Ahri all deep down, we hadn’t heard from any of them in months. Those of us left up top were seriously worried.”
“If they’d died, we could at least think they were gone for good, but the status window clearly showed they were all alive, which just added to the chaos.”
We didn’t know about the time distortion in the depths, so it was super confusing.
“We held multiple meetings. Since Songee couldn’t leave her post as the one managing the city, the idea was for me, Elena, and Mr. Seunghyub to go down and check it out.”
The teacher picked up where I left off.
“After the meeting, it was dismissed. We couldn’t predict the time dilation, but something bizarre was clearly going on down there. If the number of missing people increased, it would be a disaster.”
Ahri cocked her head in confusion.
“So, the folks left up top were in a panic because they didn’t know what was happening down below? And they decided not to go down because it might get worse? So the escape route should be looked for from above?”
“Exactly.”
At this point, Ahri raised a legitimate question.
“Then why did you go down?”
“Ahh, I accidentally used the painting. I was stuck in thought all night, so I couldn’t sleep.”
Once again, everyone’s gaze flicked from the Dream Kingdom painting to me.
They were clearly waiting for my explanation.
“Ummm….”
“…”
“So, how you use this painting is…”
“…”
“It’s definitely a mystical item…”
“…”
“There are a lot of secrets hidden within the Dream Kingdom—”
— Thud!
The old man flicked my forehead with a look of disbelief.
“Are you joking? If you take too long to get to the point, we’re gonna have burnt rice!”
“Uh, just put it plainly!”
“Plainly put.”
“If you meet certain conditions, you can teleport to a teammate’s location?”
“What are those conditions?”
“Both the user and the destination person must be asleep?”
Everyone paused for a moment in shock.
“Huh?”
“For instance, if I want to teleport to Ahri, we both need to be asleep.”
“Teleporting while asleep sounds weird, but when you popped up, I definitely wasn’t sleeping! Or were you really after Miro?”
“I don’t think that’s the case. Miro’s sealed, so…”
Wouldn’t showing up in front of a participant sealed by supernatural means be a no-no for hotel standards?
Amid her confusion, Ahri stumbled upon the answer.
“So, was I entering the soul of the owner a form of sleep? Unable to control my body and my mind being unconscious?”
“Probably?”
“‘Probably’? How vague can you get? Be more certain about it!”
“I’ll have to write more to be sure.”
At this point, I’d only done it once, so I wasn’t very confident overall.
I’d probably need to try it a few more times.
Tonight would be perfect if possible.
…
…
…
—
– Han Kain
Date: Day 480
Current Location: First Floor, Room 105 – Room of Rest
Sage’s Advice: 333
—
I woke up.
Or maybe not?
Focusing my mind suddenly shot my advice number through the roof.
Could it be that my greatness was finally surpassing the Owl?
“….”
Nah, it’s just a dream.
After a light meeting with my teammates, I concentrated once more to have a lucid dream.
Success!
But you know, ‘having a lucid dream’ is way harder than you’d think.
First off, you can’t always just will yourself to dream when you want to.
Secondly, even if you finally dream, waking up inside it isn’t so easy either.
The first part is kind of based on luck, and for the second, you need something called reality checks.
Doing something impossible in real life to realize you’re dreaming.
Some people bend their fingers back, others spin a top, but I have a much easier way.
[User: God of the Hotel
Date: I choose the date
Current Location: Heaven
Sage’s Advice: Who dares give me advice?]
That’s it.
“Alright, enough with the shenanigans.”
I got up and gazed at the painting I’d stuck next to my bed the previous day.
“… phew.”
It looked completely different when viewed from the outside—more surreal, more cosmic, and above all…
Massive.
In fact, just thinking it was ‘big’ made it grow larger before my eyes.
Suddenly, I realized the painting was way bigger than the whole room.
Would it even make sense for a painting on the wall to be larger than the entire room it’s in?
Of course, it doesn’t.
So this must be a dream.
“Open sesame… open up, sesame!”
— Rumble!
As if waiting for my cue, the door to the kingdom swung open.
—
On the other side of the door – I saw five worlds.
Five worlds that were whimsical like a storm, swaying like reeds, and fading like bubbles.
Each crafted by the novice creator’s hands looked like a clumsy model garden but hinted at vast potential.
— Gooooh!
I felt a gaze lingering somewhere, watching everything.
An indescribable being living within our dreams.
Perhaps this was the greatest danger in the Dream Kingdom.
“Phew… Let’s get going.”
I pushed any complicated thoughts into the back of my mind.
To put it rationally, these worlds are the dreams of my teammates, and right now, five of us are dreaming.
First up.
— Splash!
…
…
…
“High School?”
The first dream I entered—Ahri’s—was bizarrely a high school.
Suddenly, I was wearing a school uniform, and nearby, Ahri was also in a school uniform, her head resting on the desk.
“Seriously, how much does she love school that she’s even dreaming about classroom lectures?”
This was totally different from when I first stumbled into Ahri’s dream days ago.
That time, I got caught in an unexplainable whirlpool and suddenly woke up near her…
But this time, it’s the real deal, and back then was just a illusion from entering Ahri’s mental world!
— Knock!
“Wake up.”
“…”
“Hey, Ahri, wake up.”
Ahri dazedly lifted her head.
“Isn’t it cool? How did I get into your dream?! Haha, this is—”
— Thud!
Suddenly, the floor appeared.
Ahri had slammed her hand on my neck, twisting it—
“Urk!”
No biggie!
It’s just a dream, so I won’t actually die!
It doesn’t hurt that much anyway—
“Even if you twist my neck, I’m not dead. Maybe using a gun will—”
“WAH! WHY DO YOU HAVE A GUN AT SCHOOL?!”
— Bang!
“Yikes!”
— Bang! Righteous!
“Stay put! You’re killing a bunch of other people over here!”
“Stop shooting!”
It took three more deaths before I could finally wake Ahri up.
“Wow! So this is the power of the Dream Kingdom, huh? Jumping into a teammate’s dream… So if I wake up from within, I’ll wake up near their location?”
“Why on earth do you bring a gun to school?”
“To shoot people.”
“…Who exactly?”
“Hmm, let’s see, come here.”
Ahri beckoned me to come closer, pointing her gun at me.
“Yikes!”
“Why are you so scared in a dream?”
“Y-You can’t point a gun at me, though!”
“Let’s go back to reality together.”
“Eh? No! Not yet!”
“‘Not yet?’ Oh, I see. You’re trying to visit the dreams of other girls, huh?”
“Wha—no, why did you have to phrase it like ‘other girls’…?”
“Should I go jump into Jinchul’s dream instead?”
“…Let’s just get going. We can recreate the door again from here.”
A moment later, a giant door engulfed the classroom once more.
Next up was Songee.
—
— Crunch! Crunch!
“Yummy!”
“…”
“…”
— Munch! Crunch!
“Too sweet~!”
“…”
“…”
— Gulp! Slurp!
“Ah~ That’s refreshing!”
Songee was clearly having a wildly animalistic time.
A mountain of macarons piled high, carpeted with potato chips, and tomatoes floating here and there, all while Songee gulped down cola every time she opened her mouth.
“Looks like you’re having the time of your life.”
“Right?”
In a flash, Songee had consumed food that must exceed 1,000 calories.
As I stared at her dazedly, Ahri jumped in, explaining for her.
“You may not realize it, but girls tend to hold back a lot to maintain a slim figure!”
“Seriously? Even in a dream, she’s going to town like this?”
“She can do that.”
“Do you dream about gobbling up endless steaks without worrying about gaining weight?”
“…Let’s try waking her up now.”
Songee’s first reaction when she came to was oddly combative.
“Ah! What are you two doing?!”
“…What do you mean, ‘what are we doing’?”
“O-Oh, do you have any concept of privacy?!”
“Privacy?”
“Where’s the privacy in a dream?!”
Turns out, she wasn’t entirely wrong.
“Songee, Ahri wanted to come here.”
Ahri shot up, startled.
“What? What are you saying all of a sudden—”
“Ahri clearly said we had to go into the ‘dreams of girls’.”
“Dude, Han Kain! Don’t twist my words—”
“Shut it, the both of you!”
— Thud!
I’m not joking; the massive roar shook everything as a wave of cola struck and smashed Ahri and me into the wall of potato chips.
I never thought I’d be experiencing something like this in my life.
Even in the chaos, Ahri complained.
“Ah, seriously! Han Kain, your goofy comments are what got Songee upset!”
“Upset? Songee’s just a well-fed Socrates instead of a hungry pig in a dream—”
“Get away from me both of you!”
— Gurgle!
—
…
…
…
“Whoa! I was about to drown in cola!”
“…What a unique experience. By the way, whose dream is this?”
“It’s Elena’s.”
“Looks like she’s really pitching her dreams toward being a star.”
“Hey, Ahri, remember what I said earlier?”
“…”
“Elena’s in a bit of… tricky territory. Considering the characteristics of the sacred sun, this could be a serious issue.”
“…”
“You probably have some insights on this, being an agent from the Administration Bureau.”
“Do you think the agents are just another expression of a genie granting wishes?”
“…”
Unlike Ahri, Elena’s dream was within some expected parameters.
You see, I was sitting at the café on the first floor of the ABS broadcasting station, just like in Room 101.
As Songee and I approached Elena, she quickly noticed us.
She smiled brightly at me as she spotted ‘me’.
“Hey, Kain! We’re about to start the shoot, so let’s head upstairs!”
“Huh?”
“Out of nowhere, it’s already time to shoot?”
Why was she so unfazed that I was in her dream along with Ahri?
Just as I was stunned trying to grasp the situation, Ahri’s eyes widened.
“Whoa! E-Elena is real!”
“What? What’s going on?”
Ahri’s face turned slightly red.
It was a completely new expression.
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