After receiving the prize money and shaking hands with his fans, Yuta headed to the waiting room to change some clothes and head home as soon as possible. Questions floated around his mind as he tried to rationally gauge the situation and to top it all off, something inside him was telling him to panic. Right now, the most important question was the genuine identity of the Dreamcatcher— whoever they are, they will unravel the mystery behind the murders in the neighboring cities.
And this guy, Kazunari, is the key to how the Lucid World and the real world are connected. Yuuta was sure of it.
"To think that a game that's supposed to be played in a lucid dream is actually a different world altogether... where did they get access to this? Or do our lucid dreams grant us the connection to that world? Whatever it is, I have to find out." With that in mind, he headed home at once. Because he was too preoccupied with what Kazunari told him, he forgot to act like a blind person when he was crossing through the streets.
When he got home, he didn't speak a single word to his dad or his younger sister. He went straight to his room. As for them, they just thought that maybe Yuuta badly wanted to play Lucid Dream Server since it was the weekend. In the end, they didn't ask Yuuta anything and just let him be. A few seconds later, they heard a beep coming from Yuuta's room, telling them that he had already logged in. In response, they went online on youtube, eagerly awaiting the time when Yuuta would appear again in the 24/7 broadcast of the game Lucid Dream Server.
.....
Yuuta couldn't believe that he just heard that notification in real life. Even now that he was already in-game, what happened to him left a lot behind imaginations. And adding to that, he met someone who is actually from the Lucid Dream Server, a man named Kazunari, The Assassin.
Meet me at the Spirit Jungle. He could still remember what Kazunari told him, verbatim.
"What's going on. Is a Dreamer playing tricks on me? No, he's most definitely an NPC. I've seen his character description and he's most certainly an NPC. Unless he knew my ability and decided to hide his real identity... no, that's even more impossible. No one knows my identity except me. Had he known, he would've easily countered all of my strikes." Yuuta said to himself. After all, the only way someone could counter his skills is if they had the same skill as his.
A few things were clarified in Yuuta's mind after he used his skill, the All-Seeing-Eye Skill, twice. One of its functions isn't that useful for a normal Dreamer but to Yuuta, it was extremely handy. And that function is— the ability to match the opponent's strength and speed when it comes to a fight. Yuuta knows that that's one of the many functions of the All-Seeing Eye Skill and he was certain that there is more than meets the eye on that skill. However, he needs to use it a few more times in order to unlock its secrets.
That aside, he had to find out about this Dreamcatcher thing and in order to do that, he had to go to the Spirit Jungle and converse with this Kazunari guy. Yuuta doesn't know much about the guy but he determined that he might be someone he could trust. After trading blows with him, he could tell that Kazunari is the type of person that would challenge himself— an honest person that would let his hard work do the talking.
"That's why he can't be a nice person, but that doesn't mean that he wouldn't ask anything in return. He might ask me something about the real world— that would be the best-case scenario."
...
"Yuuta, where are you going?" As soon as she got out of the house, Yua saw Yuuta sneaking around the place, deep in thought. However, Yuuta didn't hear him. Because her curiosity was piqued, she decided to follow Yuuta.
'I wonder what he's doing.' Yua said to herself as she turned back, hurriedly grabbed a coat, and went on her way to spy on Yuuta. She felt a pang of guilt as she realized that what she was doing was sneaky, but the adventurous girl she was, she ignored it at once.
As if walking on literal eggshells, Yua tiptoed behind Yuuta, who was at least fifty meters from where she was. There was no turning back. Holding her breath, she sneakily observed Yuuta. 'If he were paying attention, he would've found me by now, but for some reason, he's too deep in thought.' Yua said to herself, becoming even more curious due to Yuuta's suspicious behavior.
...
In real-time, it was already almost late in the morning but in the Spirit Jungle, the time was closer to twilight instead. That's because a day in real-time is two days in the Lucid World. As the sky turned a mesmerizing purplish hue, the Spirit Jungle became even more creepy. For some reason, even the leaves started turning a nice purplish tint. As the lush trees swayed in the breeze, they gave off an unusual rustling sound, enough to leave goosebumps over the whole body. This is just one of the strange things that happen at night in the Spirit Jungle, giving the inhabitants of Lucid more reason to not venture near the place.
Yuuta felt the chills run up and down his spine but somehow he didn't feel the least bit frightened. He assumed that it was part of the rewards when he and Yua managed to map out the entire Spirit Jungle. And as for his new skill which allows him to see Evil Spirits, he decided not to use it. 'Ignorance is bliss or so the saying goes. If the holy element users were afraid of them (and to add to that, these holy element users have the power to get rid of them), then it'd probably be better if I don't catch a single glimpse of them.' Yuuta cautiously waved his Black Grsrzy Scarf around, hoping that the charm would work again and the Evil Spirits would leave him alone.
"You're here." A voice of a man suddenly spoke behind Yuuta.
In a split second, Yuuta already knew that he was Kazunari, the man who told him to meet up. But for some reason, he sensed another presence a few meters behind him, making him a bit wary. "Please stay here, Kazunari-san. I think someone followed you."
Kazunari covered his mouth as he glanced around and yet he couldn't sense anything. He stole a glance at Yuuta and then whirled his head around for the second time but there was still nothing. For a moment, he thought that maybe a high-rank Evil Spirit is spying on them but he didn't pursue the thought. After all, Evil Spirits don't have a single care in the world, why would they go so far as to listen to the conversation of two people?
Furthermore, Kazunari is an Assassin-type. If someone were sneaking behind him, he would've noticed his/her presence from a mile away.
In a flash, Yuuta broke into a sprint, catching the spy off-guard as he suddenly appeared in front of her.
"Eek!"
"Yua? What are you doing here? It's dangerous out here at nighttime." Yuuta was surprised to see someone he knew. But after seeing Yua's reaction, he managed to piece the puzzle together. "Don't tell me, you found me going to the Spirit Jungle and you decided to follow me again? You should've called out to me so we can go together. What if something happened to you?"
A tear almost left Yua's eyes as she hung her head like a sad puppy. "I'm sorry, I tried calling out to you but you were so deep in thought that you didn't respond."
"Still, what if someone dangerous called me out here? You might've put yourself in danger. without knowing."
"A friend of yours?" Kazunari asked, pointing a thumb at Yua.
"More like a party member. She's one of my closest friends and partner." Yuuta introduced. He left out the specific details about Yua and her origins since he still didn't fully trust Kazunari.
"I see, Yua, nice to meet you. I'm just going to talk to your partner for a bit. You can join in on the conversation if you want." Kazunari extended his hand but Yua was too cautious to shake it. "That is— if Yuuta allows you to. Is this a sensitive topic, Yuuta?"
"Of course it is, but she already knows a few details about it. It wouldn't hurt if we tell her the specifics. Besides, she's my partner, I plan to tell her everything as soon as I can. With her included in this meeting, it would save me a lot of precious time." Yuuta casually answered even though he knew that what they were going to talk about was dangerous knowledge.
"All right, that's fine with me. It's not like I'm secretive about this topic." Kazunari continued. "But before anything else, let me introduce myself. I'm Katana Kazunari, leader of the King's Elite Intelligence Service. Of course, you know me by my title, the 'Assassin'. That's just my alias in your world though."
Yuuta nodded along, but he already knew of Kazunari's identity right from the start.