Chapter 342

"But this place is very different from the 'beautiful dream' I know—closed off, remote, uneasy, and these floating words—you can see them too, right? Under the family's governance, Pinokangni couldn't have such a place. So, is it a dream bubble...?"

「Liuying shook her head: "No, that's wrong—do you remember? Before we lost consciousness, your so-called 'friend' said this—the true Pinokangni……」」

Note: we used Liuying as per glossary.

He is not my friend.

Translation: 「「He's not my friend. 」」

We keep quotes.

「「He's not my friend. 」」

Firefly's face showed guilt: "I should have suspected him earlier… Sorry. No matter what, the family must be hiding something about the truth of the dreams…"

Translation: Liuying looked guilty: "I should have suspected him earlier… Sorry. No matter what, the family must be hiding something about the truth of the dream……"

We need to keep ellipsis after his… and after …….

Let's produce: 【4】 「Liuying looked guilty: "I should have suspected him earlier… Sorry. No matter what, the family must be hiding something about the truth of the dream……」」

Moreover, you should have noticed it when you woke up, right? Clocks and ticking sounds… my intuition tells me the secret hidden here is probably also related to that mysterious clockmaker.

Translation: 「「Moreover, you should have noticed when you woke up—the clocks and ticking sounds all around… My intuition tells me the secret hidden here is probably also related to that mysterious clockmaker. 」」

clocks and ticking sounds… My intuition tells me the secret hidden here is probably also related to that mysterious clockmaker.

Thus 【5】 「「Moreover, you should have noticed when you woke up—the clocks and ticking sounds… My intuition tells me the secret hidden here is probably also related to that mysterious clockmaker. 」」

If it points to the clockmaker's legacy—then it's closely related to everyone currently in the dream of Pinoconi…

Translation: 「「If it points to the 【clockmaker's legacy】—then it's closely related to everyone currently in the dream of Pinokangni……」」

We need to keep the brackets 【】 as they are. So we keep them.

Thus 【6】 「「If it points to the 【clockmaker's legacy】—then it's closely related to everyone currently in the dream of Pinokangni……」」

Line 【7】: ——

That's just a separator line. We need to output 【7】 with translation? The line is just "——". We need to translate it? It's a punctuation line. According to rules, we must output every line with its translation. So we need to translate "——". What is the English equivalent? It's a double em dash? Usually we keep as "——". But we need to translate? The instruction: translate faithfully — never skip, summarise, or merge paragraphs. So we need to output the translation of that line. Since it's just punctuation, we can keep the same punctuation. So output 【7】 —— (maybe same). But we need to ensure it's a single line. So 【7】 ——

Crimson-Red Eye

This is a title. We need to translate meaning. Let's translate as "Slashing Crimson Red Eye". Keep the period? The source has a full stop 。 We'll keep as period.

Thus 【8】 Slashing Crimson Red Eye.

But we need to output 【8】 Slashing Crimson Red Eye.

The young emperor sat on the gilded throne, his clear eyes reflecting the hazy Pinoconi dream.

Translation: The young emperor sat on the gilded throne, his clear eyes reflecting the illusory Pinokangni dream.

We need to keep punctuation: comma and period.

Thus 【9】 The young emperor sat on the gilded throne, his clear eyes reflecting the illusory Pinokangni dream.

"Minister, look." The young emperor pointed at the dream where Star and Firefly had just stepped into the sky curtain, saying, "I believe Pinoconi's dreams are divided into sweet dreams and nightmares. The family governs the sweet dreams, while those exiled by the family… go to the nightmares, which are exactly Pinoconi's true nature. The dream beneath Star's feet is the true Pinoconi of the nightmare."

"Minister, look." The young emperor pointed at the dream where Star and Firefly had just stepped into the sky curtain, saying, "I believe Pinoconi's dreams are divided into sweet dreams and nightmares. The family governs the sweet dreams, while those exiled by the family… go to the nightmares, which are exactly Pinoconi's true nature. The dream beneath Star's feet is the true Pinoconi of the nightmare."

Translation: 「Minister, look. 」 The young emperor pointed at the dream where Star and Liuying had just stepped into the celestial curtain, saying, 「I believe Pinokangni's dream is surely divided into beautiful dreams and nightmares. The family controls the beautiful dreams, while those exiled by the family…… go to the nightmares, which are exactly the base tone of Pinokangni. The dream beneath Star's feet is the true Pinokangni in the nightmare. 」

We need to keep the quotes and ellipsis.

Let's produce: 【10】 「「Minister, look. 」 The young emperor pointed at the dream where Star and Liuying had just stepped into the celestial curtain, saying, 「I believe Pinokangni's dream is surely divided into beautiful dreams and nightmares. The family controls the beautiful dreams, while those exiled by the family…… go to the nightmares, which are exactly the base tone of Pinokangni. The dream beneath Star's feet is the true Pinokangni in the nightmare。」」

But we need to keep the Chinese quotation marks? We'll keep them as they appear.

"Minister, look." The young emperor pointed at the dream where Star and Firefly had just stepped into the sky curtain, saying, "I believe Pinoconi's dreams are divided into sweet dreams and nightmares. The family governs the sweet dreams, while those exiled by the family… go to the nightmares, which are exactly Pinoconi's true nature. The dream beneath Star's feet is the true Pinoconi of the nightmare."

Thus final English line:

"Liuying looked guilty: 'I should have suspected him earlier… Sorry. No matter what, the family must be hiding something about the truth of the dream…'"

""Moreover, you should have noticed when you woke up—the clocks and ticking sounds all around… My intuition tells me the secret hidden here is probably also related to that mysterious clockmaker."

""If it points to the 【clockmaker's legacy】—then it's closely related to everyone currently in Pinokangni's dream."

——

Slaying Crimson Eyes.

The young emperor sat on the gold-inlaid throne, his clear eyes reflecting the bewildering Pinokangni dream.

""Minister, look." The young emperor pointed at the sky curtain where Star and Liuying had just stepped into this dream, "I feel that Pinokangni's dream must be divided into sweet dreams and nightmares. The family governs the sweet dreams, while those exiled by the family… go to the nightmares, and the so-called nightmare is exactly Pinokangni's true nature. The dream beneath Star's feet is the true Pinokangni in the nightmare."

""Oh, oh, I see!" Minister Onest's obese body leaned forward slightly, his fat buttocks piled with exaggerated praise: "Your Majesty is truly gifted! Such profound insight, even I, the old minister, feel ashamed!"

His voice was sycophantic to the point of being almost grating, but the young emperor seemed to quite enjoy it.

""That's only natural." The young emperor proudly lifted his chin, "I also believe that this person named Mikhail is almost certainly one of the family's exiles."

""Your Majesty, you are wise!" Onest immediately took up the conversation, his murky eyes flashing with a hint of slyness: "In my view, this person must be the leader of the exiles, harboring nefarious intentions, daring to covet the family's control over sweet dreams!" Having said that, his voice suddenly turned gloomy: "Just like……those rebel armies outside the empire nowadays."

The emperor blinked, a hint of confusion appearing on his innocent face: 'Rebels?'

""Yes, Your Majesty." Onest leaned forward, the corner of his mouth curling into a sinister arc: "Those vile traitors, like Night Raid… aren't they just like Mikhail, exiled by the empire's glory yet still coveting your territory?"

The emperor nodded as if half-understanding, a flicker of unease in his eyes: 'I was just saying… I didn't, I didn't think Mikhail would be this dangerous.'

""Extremely dangerous, Your Majesty!" Onest feigned anguish, his thick lips trembling: "They lurk in the dark, waiting for an opportunity, just for you to let your guard down——" He deliberately drew out his tone, watching the emperor's face grow pale, "and will drag you into the depths of the nightmare."

The emperor's small hand clenched the armrest of the throne, his knuckles whitening: 'Then… what should I do?'

Onest's smile twisted like a coiling snake in the shadows: 'The Mikhail in the sky curtain won't lay a hand on your kingdom, while the real 'Mikhail'…… you just need to hand him over to me.'

""……I, the old minister, will crush these rebellious seeds in the bud."

——

""Star and Liuying decided to uncover the truth together."

""Along the way, the white words that appeared out of nowhere kept surfacing: 'I understand… is this a game of hide-and-seek?'"

""That voice followed the two all along, seemingly always searching for the hidden Mikhail: 'Mikhail, where have you hidden yourself?'"

""Mikhail…" Liuying also began to pay attention to this overly frequent name."

""The two pressed forward, and when they came before an upside-down fountain, Liuying marveled at the wondrous sight in this dream, but she stopped and pondered: 'Since just now, these words have kept appearing and disappearing—are they someone's inner voice? And who is Mikhail…'"

""Mikhail… I feel like I've heard that somewhere…"

""I feel like I can sense the emotions contained within… confusion… fear… sorrow… and a weakness so faint it's almost imperceptible…" Liuying swallowed, "a resolve to face death without fear…"

""On the way to find an exit, the white words on the walls kept appearing:"

""Mikhail, you seem troubled… is it something very important?"

""Tell me… Mikhail, this place… is so dark… so gloomy…"

""Don't go, okay? At least take me with you… please…?"

——

Game Life.

Inside the Elcheya inn, Sora and White huddled on the soft sofa. Watching the words constantly appearing on the wall, even though separated by the sky curtain, both could sense the sorrow in the speaker's words.

White frowned slightly, her slender fingers unconsciously gripping the pillow in her arms: 'Brother… that voice… he's trying to hold onto Mikhail… it's very sad, also frightening…'

Sora rested his chin on his hand, thoughtfully, his eyes fixed on the flickering, floating words in the sky curtain: 'Hmm, I guess this Mikhail is probably a very important figure in Pinokangni. Even if he isn't the clockmaker himself, he's at least a core member of the family.'

White rested her chin on her knees, her silver hair cascading down: 'Family… core?'

""That's right." Sora snapped his fingers, "The twin‑tailed girl just said, 'In the true dream…' but isn't Pinokangni itself a dream? Does this mean Pinokangni's dream is nested, with another dream inside a dream…? This dream is like the underlying code of a game—something everyone must follow and cannot bypass."

""This dream, the family couldn't possibly not know about it. And Mikhail appearing multiple times in the underlying code shows how crucial he is." Sora furrowed his brows, "But listening to him, Mikhail seems to be heading somewhere… but where is that place? Could he have returned to reality, forever leaving the dream?"

——

""The two arrived at an empty room, in the center of which hung a damaged painting, two fragments drifting toward different doors; Star entered one of them, where the furnishings were warm and playful."

""A red little bird leapt out eagerly, but after glancing at Star, it realized she was not the person it had been waiting for."

The little bird, dejected, shook its wings and flew away.

""This is the paper bird I folded for you, Mikhail—take it with you!"