Penacony — the train has arrived!
The Astral Express pierced through the memoria of the Asdana system and came to a steady stop before a massive structure—
A hotel.
An entire planet… turned into one.
"Wow! Evan, Evan! Look—this whole planet is a hotel!!"
March 7th's eyes sparkled with excitement.
"It feels so unreal!"
As the train doors opened, the enormous structure unfolded before them.
The Reverie Hotel.
Even back when Evan saw it in-game, it had been shocking.
Seeing it in person?
Even more so.
The Asdana system itself was a sea of memoria—
One of the largest memoria-rich regions in the universe.
And memoria?
Only two major forces truly used it.
One—
The Garden of Recollection, whose memokeepers shaped entire memory worlds from it.
The other—
The Interastral Peace Corporation.
They used memoria to create Light Cones—
Like photographs, preserving powerful memories…
Which could then be converted into combat strength.
The group stepped off the train.
This time, Penacony had invited the entire crew.
Except for the conductor—
Everyone disembarked.
Welt, Himeko, Dan Heng, March 7th, and Stelle.
And of course—
Evan.
Six people entered the grand lobby of the Reverie Hotel.
"Tch… this is insane."
Back in the game, Evan had thought turning a whole planet into a hotel was ridiculous.
Now he knew—
It wasn't exaggeration.
It was reality.
The Reverie Hotel had a unique structure:
One part existed in reality
The other in the dream world
And even just the real-world section alone—
Was already breathtaking.
Only the wealthy or powerful were ever invited here.
"…But is this place actually any good?"
Stelle suddenly raised her phone.
"I checked reviews."
She showed everyone the screen.
[Avoid Penacony's Reverie Hotel!!]
[Stayed for over a month—huge disappointment!]
[Terrible service, poor security, overpriced dream goods, etc.]
[Do your research before staying! Bring enough credits!]
[Rating: 4.6]
"…What?"
Evan stared at the screen, speechless.
What is this—Interstellar Yelp?
There were even photos.
Complaints flooded the page:
Long check-in queues
Lost booking records
Poor room cleaning
Weak security (strangers entering rooms)
Reckless vehicles ignoring pedestrians
And then—
The food.
"Star-gazing pie…"
"Who puts fish on a cake?!"
Evan's mouth twitched.
"And why are the fish staring at you?!"
"And fermented herring lemon tarts?! Who even eats that?!"
March 7th joined in immediately.
"This is ridiculous! That's food?!"
"Is there nothing normal to eat here?!"
Several nearby guests turned to glare at them.
"Shh! Lower your voice—this is their territory."
"Yeah, respect local customs…"
March quickly shut up.
Evan sighed.
Honestly?
The reviews weren't entirely wrong.
The Reverie Hotel's security was indeed lacking.
But that was understandable.
Penacony's security was handled by the Hound Family.
And the dreamscape had twelve layers.
There was no way they could monitor everything.
"Let's go check in."
"Okay!"
"Let's go!"
March and Stelle were clearly excited about the dream world.
Dan Heng remained calm, as always—though after the Xianzhou events, his demeanor had softened.
Welt and Himeko?
The responsible adults of the group.
Even Evan was still "young" in their eyes.
The group headed toward the check-in area.
The sheer diversity here was staggering—
Starships, aliens, mechanical beings, Pepeshi, and more.
Nothing felt out of place.
"Ah—!"
Suddenly, a voice rang out beside Evan.
He looked down.
A boy had just slammed into him—
Pushing a cart at full speed.
"S-sorry, sir! I didn't mean to!"
The boy panicked.
"It's fine," Evan said, patting his head.
"Just be more careful next time."
…The texture of that hair.
Too smooth.
Too… unnatural.
Wait.
Evan froze.
Something clicked.
His gaze sharpened.
"What's your name?"
"I—I'm Misha! A bellboy at this hotel! I'm really sorry!"
Misha.
Misha.
Misha?!
No wonder it felt off.
When he and Stelle were hit—
No one else reacted.
Not a single glance.
"It's okay. We won't blame you."
Stelle smiled warmly.
"I'm Stelle. He's Evan. We're from the Astral Express."
"Astral… Express…"
Misha repeated slowly.
As if something deep within him had been stirred.
A strange feeling rose in his chest.
Familiar.
Nostalgic.
But—
Why?
He was just a bellboy.
He shouldn't know anything about the Express.
He tilted his head, confused.
Meanwhile—
March came running back, fuming.
"That review was totally accurate!!"
"I waited in line for twenty minutes!"
"And the guy in front of us really couldn't find his booking!"
"Good thing ours worked—"
"Oh, but your IDs still have issues. Mr. Yang and Himeko are fixing it."
"Where did you go, Stelle?"
"And Evan, why are you two here?"
"We got bumped into by a bellboy—"
Stelle turned.
"Eh? Where's Misha?"
"He left," Evan said calmly.
"He's working, after all."
"We'll meet him again."
"Don't worry."
Misha.
A bellboy?
No—
That boy was far more than that.
Mikhail.
One of Penacony's founders.
A legendary Trailblazer.
The man who once turned the tide alone.
He had another name—
The Watchmaker.
The one who sent invitations across the universe.
The one who gathered all factions here.
The true mastermind behind Penacony.
Lagwork Sharr Mikhail.
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