For a moment, Stelle had a trace of self-doubt, and then, this trace of doubt took root and sprouted in her heart like a sown seed.
Could it be... that her mind really had a problem?
This place is the real one, and the previous... were all fake?
Thinking carefully, it seems that March 7th should be lively, enthusiastic, and silly, right? Welt should be calm and composed, right?
Sunday... although currently in an adversarial relationship, it cannot be denied that he is indeed an elegant and gentle person, no no no... wrong, how can capitalist Sunday be gentle and elegant? What is this situation, her memory is a bit messed up...
"Uh..."
Stelle subconsciously covered her head, feeling her cognition undergoing uncontrollable modifications. Gradually, the past memories began to disappear, and the development of things began to become logical...
—Sunday is a good person, he has paid a lot to change Penacony, and their Astral Express expresses support and approval for this.
This is the idea in Stelle's mind now.
But why does intuition tell her that all this is not quite right?
"Hey, are you okay?"
March 7th looked at Stelle worriedly, her voice getting smaller: "You didn't really have some problem, did you? Don't scare us, if there's any discomfort, just say it, we'll help you solve it."
"Stelle, you look very uncomfortable."
"Or did you suffer some influence? Deep breath, we'll send you to the hospital right away."
"..."
Countless noisy voices mixed together, even making Stelle unable to distinguish the owners of the voices.
Just as Dan Heng stepped forward, approaching Stelle, the latter suddenly shouted: "Don't come over!"
Stelle: "I... my mind is very chaotic now, I can't tell, I can't tell ah..."
"Don't be afraid."
Himeko hugged Stelle from behind, her voice gentle: "With everyone from the train here, you won't have anything happen, whatever happens, we'll face it with you."
The soft touch from her body made Stelle's eyes dazed for a moment, the warmth from Himeko made her drowsy: "Re, really...?"
"Yes, rest assured, all of us will always be by your side."
"Good..."
Stelle's voice became weaker and weaker. At this moment, the companions around her seemed to turn into warm little suns one after another, with gentle light, making Stelle immerse herself involuntarily.
"..."
—"Little gray hair, don't sleep!"
I don't know how long it passed, an anxious voice came from her ear.
Stelle groggily opened her eyes, the first thing that came into view was Sparkle's anxious face.
"Ah? You're still here?"
Stelle rubbed her eyes: "Where are my companions? Where's Himeko? I remember we all fell asleep together..."
Bang!
Sparkle forcefully punched Stelle's forehead: "Are you a bit clearer now? I even dreamed of returning to the original universe! Do you know how desperate I was when I woke up?"
Hm...?!
Seeming to remember something, Stelle immediately became alert. She looked around and found herself lying in the dream pool in The Reverie hotel room. In front of her, Sparkle and Black Swan with a plaster headgear stood side by side.
Hotel room? Wait, what happened before? She was knocked out by In the Beginning There Was Action, then had a strange dream...
"We lost." Stelle stood up and said: "Damn, this Ena's Dream is really evil. Clearly knowing its characteristics, still inevitably sank into it."
Sparkle helplessly shrugged: "No way, even I fell into it. After all, this dream will automatically adjust according to each person's subconscious, subtly modifying your cognition. Ordinary Pathstriders can't defeat it even with all their might."
"Dear, we meet again."
Black Swan waved at Stelle, smiling.
"You are..." Stelle looked at Black Swan, scratched her head: "Black Swan?"
Before this, Stelle had little contact with Black Swan, strictly speaking only two encounters, but the other's signature plaster headgear still made Stelle guess the identity of the person in front of her at first time.
"Mm-hmm." Black Swan smiled: "Dear, it was me who pulled you out of the false dream just now~ Do you want to consider giving some hard work fee?"
Upon hearing this, Stelle somewhat awkwardly spread her hands: "Uh... it's not that I don't give ha, my money... right! My money! My money was all intercepted by Sunday!! This vampire! Doing this, he is to be hung on the lamppost da!"
"I have heard about this." Black Swan turned sideways, revealing a graceful figure leaning against the hotel room door: "Before this, Miss Robin has already told me."
Stelle: "..."
Stelle: "...Cough cough cough, actually... um... er... that... is... aiya..."
She knew Robin is a brother-con, so she planned to say something to salvage it, but alas, she racked her brains and couldn't find any point where Sunday could be washed.
In terms of Sunday's current practices, capitalists in front of him are all new recruits.
"No need to say more, I know what you mean."
Robin sighed: "My brother he... is indeed a bit of a bastard."
"As his sister, I know, if we don't stop him again, he probably really will be hung on the lamppost."
"So I invited Miss Black Swan to help, to wake everyone up."
Stelle looked around, puzzled and asked: "Only us few? What about Uncle Yang and Himeko them?"
Robin shook her head: "Failed, brother's Ena's Dream is far more solid than we imagined. Looking at the entire Penacony now, the people who can stay awake are few and far between. Except for special existences like Memokeepers or Emanators, probably only you two."
"You and this Miss Sparkle seem to have some specialness to wake up from it, the others from the train group... currently can't do it."
Upon hearing this, Stelle touched her chin: Could it be her golden finger passive activated?
Sparkle scratched her head: "Could it be her Elation system worked?"
"But, relying only on us four, isn't the power a bit too thin?" Stelle asked.
Robin clapped her hands: "Oh, almost forgot to say, we are not four people."
"Mr. Aventurine, Miss Acheron, it's your turn to appear."
Da, da, da...
As the words fell, two figures walked out from behind the door, one with sleepy eyes, yawning from time to time; one with arms crossed, a confident and cheerful smile on the corner of the mouth.
Robin cleared her throat, "Now I formally introduce these two, the one on the left is named Acheron, the current leader of the Annihilation Gang, an Emanator of [Preservation]."
"And the one on my right is Mr. Aventurine, he is a senior executive of the company's strategic investment department, and also an Emanator of [Nihility]."