Chapter 379: NO.142 Someone Misses the Card, Someone Misses the Person

Cheerful piano music, bustling streets, fireworks shooting into the sky.

Just as a city's temperament is determined by the flow of its citizens, this midsummer city possesses a fervor even more vigorous than the heat lingering in the air.

Therefore, the youth inevitably felt some suspicion.

He stood on the street where the crowd surged like a tide, and faintly felt a sense of dissonance.

And a feeling of not fitting in.

In fact, even a pale-skinned, sharp-eyed youth would not attract undue attention from pedestrians in the Yiluo district.

But he still felt an inexplicable sense of being out of place.

Yet he did not know where this feeling came from.

Perhaps this is merely an illusion?

In fact, the youth's face still bore obvious fatigue, his drowsy eyes drifting around.

All of this stemmed from a certain unfounded unease.

It was as if he were stepping not on solid ground, but on a hazy cloud.

Moreover, his head seemed shrouded in mist, leaving him feeling extremely dazed.

His thoughts were sluggish, and he only wanted to go do something—

This feeling was strangely familiar; the youth hadn't figured it out yet, but he also had no intention of yielding to the impulse to act.

He restrained his steps, then from the muffled clamor heard a clear, bell-like impact.

That sound made him turn, and he saw a blue-haired, white-robed woman with long horns gazing at her; her staff, unmistakably metal, bore Dongyan-style tassels and a lantern.

The lantern and tassels were swaying at this moment, and the contact of the staff's tip with the ground was clearly the source of the sound.

He stared at that tiny contact point, seeing no crack that ought to have been there.

The earlier sound clearly came from striking the ground with a solid staff—how could this city's building material be so tough?

……This city…?

「…」

「……」

After a few seconds of silence, he raised a hand to push his forehead, then turned to the dragon woman who had been silently watching him and asked hesitantly, '…Miss Ling?'

"You're actively struggling in the mass dream convergence, like Zhuangzi dreaming of a butterfly—who would have thought Hui Zi's fish? You're quite a remarkable person, Mr. Lin Dun."

Her demeanor was calm and carefree, her vermilion eyeshadow alluring; she was both the incarnation of the Year Beast and someone who vaguely recalled having met him before, and her calm reply let Aomo breathe easier.

This further confirmed his identity as Aomo, and his fragmentary, vague memories became clearer, making up for some of the gaps.

He still hadn't truly recalled everything; rather, his memory and self still bore a huge gap.

If Miss Ling had just shown a confused, uncomprehending reaction, he would truly have doubted—

—doubting that the few memories he suspected were suspect were actually just a dream.

Zhou Zhuang's butterfly dream is no different.

But when Miss Ling's words were straightforward and correct, they gave him the confidence to persist in questioning and to believe in that flicker of cognition rising in his mind.

Then he could understand his present situation.

Just as ordinary people sometimes experience: upon waking they retain an impression, then soon forget it completely, only remembering that they seemed to be playing someone in a faint dream.

The dream's content is not necessarily faint.

But the actual sensation is indeed faint to the point of being inaudible.

Thinking of this, Aomo recalled Qian.

How strange it is—clearly, information about himself is still not fully pieced together, with great gaps that turn blank whenever he tries to grasp them.

He had already recalled the SSSS. GRIDMAN he had watched not long ago.

As for Qian, Cuckoo Terrace is to her much like this city is to him now.

But the difference is that Qian can, like a god, control the world rules of Cuckoo Terrace, whereas he has his self suppressed by the dream.

Once there was a psychoanalyst named Sigmund Freud who proposed the concepts of id, ego, and superego, which numerous schools of psychology have taken as a standard framework.

The 'id', forged entirely from the subconscious, usually rules the dream.

Most of the conscious 'ego', beyond the literal meaning, is also usually pressed into the dream's lower layer.

And the small portion of consciousness that serves as conscience or inner moral judgment, the 'superego', is utterly immobile.

Generally, dreams are like this, but Aomo knows he is far from ordinary.

Although he lacks experience in dream manipulation, he is far less professional than his black-haired horse girl subordinate.

But he has at least had a few experiences of inducing lucid dreams with external aid.

Even if he were dragged into sleep unprepared, upon self-awakening the world should be 'completely renewed', rather than remaining dazed with lost memory.

The last time he suffered such terrible suppression was when he was knocked down by coffee, in a hospital where his mind and body bore a double burden.

So……

"Mass dream convergence?"

He always has a knack for grasping the point.

"How many people's dreams converge here?"

Dreams not his own naturally do not qualify him as a god, but if one follows the plan of a dream-linking server, there is a route to obtain a legitimate account.

Becoming a dream player also means he need not be a bug NPC.

However, Miss Ling's reply was:

"How many people? I'm not really sure; in my haste I merely drew a five‑kilometer radius."

"?"

"I've heard that the people of your world are truly praiseworthy—amazing."

"I'm asking,","Mr. Lindon, have you found the target?"

"Miss Texas and Miss Lapland are searching in reality, and we should also find it in the dream."

"Do you still have contact with the outside of the dream?"

"Inside and outside the dream, there is a me; this is the dream I have unfolded."

"…"

"Aomo merely stared at this woman who looked young but whose age couldn't be discerned, as if trying to see flowers on her face."

"The latter merely looked puzzled: 'Mr. Lindon?'"

"\"Music. \""

"Having uttered those two words, Aomo had already composed his feelings."

"Forcing the other party to admit they haven't learned is pointless; the urgent matter isn't here, the dream players' expectation of relief has been dashed, but moving forward under burden isn't impossible."

"After all, he has already found a clue."

"\"Music? Hmm... Indeed, besides that festive, cheerful folk music, there is also a piano-playing sound. \""

"Poetry is Ling's hobby, and it was once the deepest impression she gave others."

"But for Aomo, who only investigated her information, his understanding of this is not particularly clear or profound."

"Ling also does not need to insert poetic words into every sentence, as if deliberately emphasizing her character setting."

"However, Aomo, who has had considerable exposure to East Yan Culture, also understands."

"Poetry, poetry, the poetry and songs of East Yan are always inseparable; Miss Ling is a great poet, also understands rhythm, and can even compose music."

"As a long-lived being who, like his boss, is also involved in music, it's not surprising that she can perceive and identify that piano sound."

"\"However, are you sure that's the target? \""

"\"Certainly. \""

"Aomo, fumbling in his hoodie jacket and pants pockets, trying to pull out a monster card, but ended up with nothing, his expression somewhat gloomy."

"Entering a dream without following the proper procedure is trash; you can't even bring equipment in."

"That statement is obviously not something to say to someone's face, so he could only continue to maintain his gloomy gaze and say:"

"\"I've heard this song before; it's called 《àquatremains》, and perhaps we should also add the suffix =3EM16=. \""

"\"Just as the literal meaning suggests, it should be a piece for four-hand piano. \""

"Next I want to point out a reader. jpg(x with a shining excellent youth girl"

"The name 'Uma Musume' mobile game, although announced long ago, still makes me go 'grass' each time I see it; why, given there's a Japanese Derby also called 'Tokyo Yūshun', do they continue to use 'shun'?!"

"Because this girl is handsome, right!"

"Sigh, let's just look at ba; if ba's translation is fine, the author plans to swarm like locusts until it shows little chicken feet."

"Once it shows up, we should just continue to turn the clouds."