『 [ Miss Robin! We meet again. ]
[ Preparations for the Charmony Festival are going smoothly, right? We're all looking forward to it. ]
Robin and Sunday approached a woman who looked very happy.
[ Very smoothly. Thank you, and thank you for traveling such a long way to attend the Charmony Festival. ]
Robin said with a smile.
[ Haha, Miss Robin is too polite. ]
[ How could partying day and night with guests from all over the universe be hard work! ]
[ I hate loneliness and can't stand a boring life. This Dreamscape, full of fun, suits me perfectly. ]
This woman was obviously very satisfied with life in the Dreamscape.
[ If such days continued forever… would you get bored? ]
Robin asked the woman a question.
[ Of course not! ]
[ Who would complain about having too much happiness? ]
[ Every day I can wear beautiful clothes, experience all kinds of Dream Bubbles as I please, eat whatever I want without gaining weight, never get sick, never get old… ]
[ As long as you can afford the room fee, this is the greatest paradise! ]
The woman was full of praise for the Dreamscape, thinking it was simply the best place in the world.
[ But… you should also know that the things you can bring back to reality from the Dreamscape are very limited. ]
Robin reminded her.
[ So I just won't go back! ]
[ It's enough to enjoy myself to the fullest in the dream. ]
[ I'm not a long-life species. My life is only sixty or seventy years, and there are too many things to worry about… ]
[ It's not easy to live a happy and good life. ]
[ Only in this sweet dream can I be my own master and truly control my own life… ]
[ Having tasted this kind of sweetness, why would I ever want to go back? ]
The woman clearly didn't care about reality at all. As long as she could enjoy herself in the dream, she felt it was enough.
[ … I understand. I sincerely wish you happiness. ]
Robin fell silent for a moment, then spoke sincerely.
[ I also wish Miss Robin's performance a complete success! ]
[ I'm off to the Blue Hour for the ball. See you later! ]』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
Paimon: "Every day I can wear beautiful clothes, experience all kinds of Dream Bubbles as I please, eat whatever I want without gaining weight, never get sick, never get old…"
Paimon: "The… the life she described… Wuwuwu, Paimon is so envious!!"
Amber: "Uh… it really does make one's heart flutter…"
Eula Lawrence: "As expected of the Dreamscape… The things she mentioned only exist in fantasies for us."
Lumine: "No wonder so many people don't want to leave once they go in."
Lumine: "I feel like anyone with slightly weak willpower would be firmly bound by this life of luxury and dissipation in the sweet dream, right?"
March 7th: "Who asked this to be the place most people desire?"
March 7th: "I have to admit, such a life is indeed incredibly good…"
Stelle: "It's good, but not exciting enough."
Stelle: "So it doesn't suit me."
Stelle: "For me, this place only offers a temporary sense of novelty."
Stelle: "Once the novelty wears off, I'll get sick of it."
Stelle: "I think following the Express on adventures everywhere, seeing different sceneries everywhere, and fighting different enemies is more interesting!"
Welt Yang: "Mn, my thoughts align with Stelle's."
Welt Yang: "For us Nameless, this place is only suitable as a vacation spot for resting."
Himeko: "The trailblazing footsteps of the Nameless never stop, so of course, we wouldn't be willing to stay in one place forever."
Venti: "Ehe, actually, why I also think the life of a Nameless is much more interesting than life in the Dreamscape."
Sunday: "It is a pity that the Nameless are all heroic figures."
Sunday: "You all have goals you adhere to and do not feel lost."
Sunday: "But the vast majority of living beings in the universe are, after all, ordinary people…"
Furina de Fontaine: "Ordinary people don't have such magnificent lives, so they are more greedy for sweet dreams…"
Furina de Fontaine: "But as Miss Robin said, it's all fake."
Acheron: "A fake life… does it really have meaning?"
Robin: "If I were to answer this question, I believe it does not."
Hanabi: "Hehe, you guys really like to split hair.s~"
Hanabi: "Real, fake, is it really that important?"
Hanabi: "As long as you gain something from it, then you don't need to care if it's true or false."
Hanabi: "For example, everything you experience in the sweet dream… do you really feel it's meaningless?"
Stelle: "GOOD!!! Director Hanabi hit the nail on the head. As expected of the most outstanding Elation-seeker of the current Masked Fools!"
Stelle: "APPLAUSE FOR DIRECTOR HANABI!!!"
March 7th: "???"
March 7th: "You're just sucking up, aren't you?!"
March 7th: "Were you bought off by her?!"
Hanabi: "Hehe, I promised Little Gray Hair a VIP seat at the Director Hanabi birthday party I'll hold later, and gave her some small privileges to make money!"
Stelle: "Sorry, Director Hanabi just gave too much, too generously."
Stelle: "I HAD NO ROOM TO REFUSE!!!"
Silver Wolf: "Damn, your integrity really is something you throw away when you want and pick up when you want!"
Hotaru: "I really didn't expect Miss Hanabi, a Fool, to say something so philosophical…"
Hotaru: "Indeed, even the illusory experiences within the Dreamscape have precious meaning to me."
Hotaru: "It cannot be replaced, nor can it be denied."
Aventurine: "Mn, although my experiences in the dream weren't exactly pleasant."
Aventurine: "I still obtained some very important things."
Aventurine: "From this perspective, even if it's just an illusory dream experience, I still find it meaningful."
Stelle: "We don't even need to say much."
Stelle: "In the Dreamscape, we are also continuing to Trailblaze!"
Stelle: "And the experience of Trailblazing is never meaningless!"
Robin: "Your answers make my eyes light up every time."
Robin: "Sure enough, compared to you all, my perspective was still somewhat limited."
Welt Yang: "Not necessarily limited, but perhaps Miss Robin, you mostly stay in reality, and the things you see are things that happen in reality."
Welt Yang: "Therefore, you faintly reject the falseness of the Dreamscape."
Welt Yang: "However, just as Miss Hanabi said, sometimes we don't need to distinguish too much between the fake and the real."
Welt Yang: "Because both have the meaning of their existence."
Welt Yang: "And we can all find our own meaning within them."
Zhongli: "In the final analysis, it is because the perspectives from which things are viewed differ that completely different conclusions are drawn."
Zhongli: "So, sometimes, we really do need to put ourselves in others' shoes and think about problems from their perspective…"
Paimon: "That's right, that's right!"
Paimon: "Then I hope the next time you go out with us, you can stand from our perspective and think about it properly!!"
Paimon: "How embarrassing it is for others when you don't bring Mora and make them pay the bill!!"
Zhongli: "This…"
Venti: "Pfft, dying of laughter."
Xiao: "…"
....
『 [ Sigh… ]
After the woman left, Robin sighed deeply.
[ It seems the guest's words just now failed to satisfy you either. ]
Seeing Robin like this, Sunday knew she still couldn't approve of the sweet dream.
[ No, what she said makes sense, and I can feel that she is happy from the bottom of her heart, it's just… ]
Robin stopped speaking, hesitating.
[ You want to say… ]
[ She thinks she has become the master of her life, but she has merely abandoned reality to flee into the sweet dream. Once she loses its protection, she will instantly revert to her original form. ]
Sunday guessed what his sister wanted to say.
[ Mn. ]
[ After all, she also mentioned the room fee… didn't she? ]
Robin nodded.
[ But the paradise in our hearts… should not have an end. ]
Sunday shook his head and sighed.
[ The paradise in our hearts… ]
[ Should not just be an ethereal dream. ]
Robin also chimed in with a complex expression.』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
Stelle: "I'll say something harsh."
Stelle: "The paradise in the hearts of you two is too idealized."
Stelle: "Compared to the sweet dream, I think that is even more ethereal."
Stelle: "Rather, the paradise you speak of really only has the possibility of being realized in a dream."
Stelle: "As for reality…"
Stelle: "I think when you can punch various Aeons and kick various Emanators, then you can realize this dream."
Dr. Veritas Ratio: "Ultimately, you are not strong enough."
Dr. Veritas Ratio: "You do not possess the strength and qualifications to create this paradise."
Dr. Veritas Ratio: "Therefore, even if you built such a paradise in reality."
Dr. Veritas Ratio: "Its essence would be no different from a Dreamscape. Once it loses protection, it will similarly turn into an ethereal bubble."
Robin: "Yes… I understand now…"
Robin: "This can only ever be a beautiful ideal…"
Robin: "But, I am willing to struggle for this ideal for my whole life!"
Robin: "This is the meaning I seek!"
March 7th: "Ha, Miss Robin has figured it out…"
March 7th: "Then what about Mr. Sunday?"
Sunday: "…"
Aventurine: "He figured it out long ago, too, but if he doesn't try, he won't give up."
Nahida: "A paradise without an end… does that mean a Dreamscape without an end?"
Lumine: "Huh?"
Lumine: "No end… could it be another endless Samsara?!"
Paimon: "No way, does Mr. Sunday also want to create a Sabzeruz Festival?!"
Paimon: "Letting the people in the Dreamscape be immersed in the dream forever, constantly looping?!"
Stelle: "Good grief, this Sabzeruz Festival you guys are talking about sounds pretty wicked."
Sunday: "You have misunderstood. I never had the idea of making people loop."
Sunday: "Because that would be equivalent to depriving them of their future within the Dreamscape."
Nilou: "Phew… that's good then. I feel like Mr. Sunday wouldn't possibly do that kind of thing either."
....
『 [ … ]
This time, Robin and Sunday came to the side of an old man who was silently watching the scenery.
[ The scenery of this Dreamscape is truly beautiful, isn't it? ]
Robin spoke to the old man.
[ Oh? It's actually Miss Robin… What an honor. ]
[ You are right. ]
[ Although time in the Dreamscape doesn't flow, seeing it often brings new perspectives… I have new feelings every time. ]
The old man's face carried a look of emotion.
[ A philosopher who is good at thinking… ]
[ I hope I haven't disturbed you. ]
Robin said very politely.
[ No, my days are numbered. On the contrary, I hope someone can keep me company and talk… ]
[ Especially a noble lady like yourself. ]
[ If it's convenient, would you like to chat? ]
This old man really wanted to chat with Robin.
[ I'd be happy to. Let's just chat casually then. ]
[ You mentioned just now that your days are numbered… ]
[ Forgive my presumption, did you come to Penacony because of this? ]
Robin asked with some curiosity.
[ Hehe, yes… ]
[ I've been on the battlefield. When I crawled out of the Sukhousian mothership, I incidentally stuffed some radioactive scrap metal into my head. ]
[ And then? ]
[ My comrades are all gone, and my hometown melted in a few neutron radiation bombardments. ]
[ Hmph, everything's gone. It was really impossible to go on living… ]
[ But I heard someone here had a way, so I came over. ]
The old man told his story.
[ That is too regrettable… I hope The Family can resolve your difficulties. ]
Robin sympathized with the old man's plight.
[ The Family has indeed helped me a lot. I must express my utmost gratitude for this. ]
[ They arranged a comfortable room for me, the most advanced life-support device in the galaxy, and a full reinforced platoon of nurses. ]
[ Now my body is fixed in the Dreampool, surviving on the life-support device. ]
[ The me you see is complete, with a clear mind, no different from a normal person… ]
[ But the me in the hotel is not like this. ]
[ My true appearance… ]
[ Heh, Miss Robin, I hope you never see it. ]
The old man shook his head while sighing and explaining to Robin.
[ So… ]
[ You are going to live in this Dreamscape forever, right? ]
Robin hesitated for a moment, then asked.
[ Hehe, being alive is already a stroke of luck. ]
[ Dream or not, it doesn't matter. After all, I have no choice. ]
[ My world was already broken and might disappear in the next instant, so no matter how fake the Dreamscape is, it is a paradise to me. ]
[ I cherish every moment here. ]
[ Ha… I really envy these eternal, unchanging things. ]
The old man looked on with longing, turning around to admire the scenery again.
Seeing this, Robin and Sunday left silently.
[ That old man's story… is too sorrowful. Fortunately, this sweet dream has indeed left a thought of happiness for the rest of his life. ]
After leaving, Robin couldn't help but say to Sunday.
[ This is the meaning of the existence of Penacony's sweet dream. ]
Sunday believed that the old man had just now perfectly interpreted the meaning of the sweet dream's existence.
[ But the sweet dream has limitations after all. ]
[ It is only a haven for the frustrated, and cannot eradicate the pain from the source in reality. ]
Robin was somewhat disappointed.
[ There will always be a way—Penacony is already on the right path. ] 』
『 ....』