I walked throughout the pioneering town entering the dreams of its residents one after the other.
And beating up all the Dream Demons I found in them.
[Purchased 'Dream Appearance'.]
[100 points have been deducted!]
[You currently have 6012 race points.]
As planned, by the time I reached the tenth dream, rumors about me had begun to spread.
In the tenth dream, an Incubus with the Director's face screamed at me.
-Hiik! The crazy bully!?
"The news has finally spread."
I smiled contentedly. It felt worth it. But I used [Dream Appearance] ten times, so of course it would work.
-Wh-, why are you meddling with our prey?!
"Because you caught my attention. You can think of it as bad luck. By the way, why are you using the Director's face?"
-I heard that if I used this person's face, the beating would be less….
"Dammit. You guys are smart."
I beat up the Dream Demon moderately.
-Kuaak! Why are you still hitting me?!
"Did they tell you that the beating would be less, or that I wouldn't beat you at all? Child from the continent beyond the ocean. If you don't want to get beaten up any more, spread my words throughout your race. A hobgoblin will fall asleep in this town's square today, so bring as many of your people as possible to enter his dream."
-Why….
"I'm the Guardian of the Goblin Race. The Snail Race and the Elf Race are also under the protection of the Goblin Race. That makes me the Guardian Deity of three races. You are about to put my children to eternal sleep, so how can I stay still?"
-A god...?
The Incubus looked up and down at me, his eyes filled with doubt. I smiled brightly and raised my fist, and the Dream Demon quickly came to his senses.
-U-, understood. I will pass your words to my people.
That night.
We carried out the operation as planned.
Uburka would go to sleep, and the Black Dragon Master and I would enter his dream. Likewise, the Dream Demons that I'd persuaded, would enter his dream. In other words, Uburka's mental world would become a meeting room.
"I haven't slept since I became a constellation."
Although he said this, Uburka fell asleep rather fast.
A deserted town.
This small pioneering town, which had been by those who crossed the open ocean dreaming of a new world and had ended up being trapped in their dreams, was silent. Waves crashed against the shoreline, and the cicadas in the village cried to the rhythm of the waves.
"We should go too, Senior."
"Death King."
The Black Dragon Master called my name.
Between the black roars of the waves, and the white cries of the cicadas, her voice pierced through.
"Yes?"
"Your child is sticking to me, you should advise him to give up."
I was a bit embarrassed.
"Uh. You... noticed?"
"You'd be surprised to know how many times I've been proposed to in my life. When it comes to romance, there are not many people as knowledgeable as I am. Nevertheless, I never thought I'd catch the eye of a Constellation, or a goblin."
"Uh. I'm sorry. I knew that it wouldn't be polite to keep it a secret, but I felt like it would be too awkward to mention…."
"I don't have any intention of dating anyone."
The Black Dragon Master straightened her side bangs.
The wind from the ocean blew across.
"Love is the act of willingly allowing someone else to become your weakness. I do not want a weakness."
"Don't you become stronger by loving someone?"
"Yeah. That's true. But are you willing to live a life without Duke Ivansia?"
"...."
"You are in good health. Your life is not in danger. But if Duke Ivansia died, your life would be over. If the Crusader dies, or I die, your structure will collapse. It would be the same even if the Venomous Snake or the Heretic Questioner died."
The Black Dragon Master's fingers swept across the air.
It seemed that she was buying something from the Civilization Store.
"It's hard for me to climb onto a tightrope and risk my life."
The Black Dragon Master looked at me.
"I want my life to be only managed by me. I want to be able to carry things around in my pocket then throw them away if I have to… I'm ashamed to say this to others."
"No, Senior. Thank you for telling me."
"Right. So teach your child to endure the hardship of first love."
My poor son.
You got dumped before you could even confess.
I looked down at Uburka, who was asleep in the square, with a pitying gaze.
"That's enough for the serious talk. Shall we go in and save our children?"
"Yes."
[Purchased 'Dream Appearance'.]
[100 points have been deducted!]
[You currently have 5912 race points.]
The two of us entered Uburka's dream.
3.
When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a dense jungle.
Mm.
The smell of wet soil drifted through the air. It was similar to the smell one might encounter while walking at night after it rained. There were no asphalt or flashy sign boards here, but trees as large as buildings stretched in every direction.
"Welcome, Daddy. And Daddy's best friend."
Uburka was sitting on a large boulder.
"Where is this?"
"This is the place where I trained about 200 years ago. A lot of powerful evil spirits inhabited this place, so I took care of it. I knew that it was dangerous and that it shouldn't easily be approached, but the harsher the training, the sweeter the results."
Uburka boasted openly.
He also didn't forget to flex his chest muscles.
Well, those muscles were big enough to slap the Pacific Ocean across the face….
"The Death King's son has a great attitude."
The Black Dragon Master gave a motherly smile.
"You feel like a younger brother."
"Ugor, younger brother...?"
Uburka tilted his head to the side. Then he turned to look at me.
'Daddy. Me feeling like family should be a good thing, right? It's brimming with potential.'
It's not.
You just got dumped so clearly that it couldn't be any clearer….
Please note that you were just called a younger sibling, you were directly nailed as a [younger brother].
The fact that the Black Dragon Master kept complimenting me in front of you was a way of asking you to give up. Kid. How could you survive in this tough world of love while being so slow-witted?
-Krrr…
The howls of beasts sounded from the jungle.
The three of us immediately stopped chatting and turned our heads.
-....
-…grr....
It wasn't just one or two animals.
The dark, dense jungle.
Hundreds of pairs of eyes glittered like wild flowers blooming in the darkness. Some beasts looked like deer with horns on their heads that were bigger than their bodies. Some looked like serpents with gaping maws.
"You said there were a lot of evil spirits…."
"Those are probably all of the spirits I defeated in the past."
The beasts surrounded us.
For a while, they prowled around us intimidatingly. Heavy breathing. Savage footsteps. Hundreds of beasts exhaled at the same time, and it felt like the air in the jungle became hotter.
"You guys, are you the Dream Demons?"
But Uburka and the Black Dragon Master were the type who had long since lost their cowardice. The Black Dragon Master treated the evil spirits like neighborhood dogs.
"We are the ones in charge of the races from the continent beyond the ocean. We are here to protest your act of unilateral aggression. In fact, I want to ask if you've lost your minds."
-....
"Because you ate their dreams, many children have become dehydrated and malnourished. Their lives are on the brink. There are many children who have already died, and I believe that more will follow them. Call out your leader. I want to hear what you were thinking right now."
The evil spirits turned their heads and looked at each other.
It seemed they realized it wasn't possible to threaten us with numbers.
-I heard that you were Guardian Deities… As expected. You are no ordinary people, seeing that you can maintain your ego in our world.
A large horned deer walked out from the crowd.
As the deer stepped forward, the shadows from the leaves of the trees above spread like fish scales across its brilliant hide.
"Are you the King of the Dream Demons?"
-That's a foolish question. We have no King.
The deer turned to look at me.
"If you have no King, then what makes you qualified to come talk to us."
-Don't judge us by your common sense. You might think we're here now talking to you, but we're not. We're merely using your dreams and following your memories.
The Black Dragon Master frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
-We have no form. We have no appearance. Inevitably, there is no individuality. We can't use words you don't know, nor can we take the image of people you don't know.
I thought of the ten Dream Demons I'd beaten up so far.
"Their reactions were pretty vivid. And their tones were frivolous."
-All of the Dream Demons you met reflected your own feelings. If their tones were frivolous, it was because your tone is frivolous. If they didn't like being hit, it's because you don't like being hit. Stranger, we are nothing but mirrors.
"…so they were all copying me?"
-That is the case.
I was shocked.
"That's impossible! I'm not frivolous! I'm a hunter with a reputation for being serious and cool!"
"...."
"...."
"What is it? Why are you two looking at me like that?"
"Nothing at all. Death King."
"I didn't say anything. Daddy."
"See that! My colleague and child agree with me!"
The deer opened his mouth as though it was watching an interesting sight.
-We have no interest in your reputation. Stranger. There is only one thing we are interested in, the near infinite dreams of your kind.
"So you're only interested in our dreams?"
-Your dreams are exceptionally delicious.
Crunch.
The deer stomped on a centipede crawling across the jungle floor with its hoof and crushed it.
-The things that we've been eating until now are only the dreams of beasts. It's bland, like eating porridge. On the other hand, the colors of your peoples' dreams are endless!
The deer licked its lips.
-Before we met you, we were like savages. With little intelligence, and poor memory… We didn't even know that another reality outside of our own existed, nor were we aware that we were a parasitic race that lived in the dreams of others. Thanks to your dreams, we were able to achieve rapid development.
I understood what the Dream Demon was saying.
"Then shouldn't you be grateful to our children? Although it wasn't intentional, they helped you get smarter."
-We have already repaid them enough by giving them the happiest dreams.
"There's no point to that kind of happiness. They're all going to die."
-Happy dreams and a miserable reality. It seems you prefer the latter.
The deer chuckled.
The laughter from his animal vocal cords sounded very strange.
-However, your people, that we've met so far, seem to have a different idea. Why don't you wish for their happiness, stranger?
"Although that sounds plausible. But in the end, it sounds like you just want to keep eating delicious food."
[getid]
-It's amazing that you can remain conscious in our world, but it's impossible for you to deal significant damage to us. And it's even more impossible to stop us.
The deer had an unfriendly expression on its face.
-Don't worry, We have no intention of making your race extinct. After we cross the ocean, we will limit our consumption so that you can continue to go from generation to generation. However, your dreams are too enticing, so we might end up consuming a bit too much.
Good.
I understood completely.
"In other words, we cannot defeat you, so you'll just do whatever you want."
-That's one way to interpret it.
In the first place, people only became humble after you put them in their place.
I guess that principle was true even for Dream Demons who lived in the dream world.
"I'm glad you're so easy to understand."
-You talk as if you can defeat us.
"Right."
I opened the Civilization Store.
"I don't know how amazing the dream world that you live in is, but…."
And purchased an item.
[Purchased 'Person Possession'.]
[2000 points have been deducted!]
[You currently have 4012 race points.](TL: It should be 3912)
"Although I look like this, I've already seen many worlds. Children."
I can't wait to see what it's like to be a Dream Demon.
With a grin, I looked at the deer.
"Use item. Person Possession."
Suddenly.
A world of infinite dreams appeared before my eyes.