In his dream, Dan Heng saw a familiar face.
"Five people, three prices to pay, and you're one of them."
That familiar voice, that familiar figure—just seeing him again made Dan Heng feel like his PTSD was about to flare up. Anxiety and fear gripped his heart.
In the dream, Dan Heng instinctively summoned his spear. To him, this was just another exhausting battle, and if he had the choice, he really didn't want to fight anymore.
But as this thought crossed his mind, dream-Dan Heng seemed to remember something.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bucket almost as big as himself. He had no idea how he managed to pull out such a large bucket, but that wasn't important. All Dan Heng wanted was to ease his burden a little.
The bucket was filled with a dark brown liquid. Seeing this strange liquid, Dan Heng's body reacted instinctively.
In that instant, the spear in his hand transformed into a pink, cutesy bunny staff. Facing the enemy that had plagued him for who knows how long, Dan Heng finally made up his mind.
In the dream, Dan Heng vaguely recalled one of Pei Guang's many ramblings.
Pei Guang: "Being invincible is a debuff! The last immortal and invincible being became a rock floating in space, giving up on all thought. So, don't seek invincibility or immortality. Immortals are prone to being controlled. When you encounter seemingly unstoppable, eternal beings, just control them mindlessly."
And how to control them? Obviously, with the bucket of coffee Dan Heng had mysteriously conjured up.
Dreams are all about subconscious actions, and Dan Heng was no exception. He couldn't control his dream, but his dream-self could act based on the knowledge he'd absorbed in the real world.
Since meeting Pei Guang, Dan Heng had been repeatedly surprised by his strange, yet somehow logical advice. Though he wasn't sure this would work, according to Pei Guang's logic, it was worth a shot. After all, why not try it on this annoying enemy that had tormented him for so long?
At that moment, Dan Heng walked up to the phantom he had killed countless times.
Dan Heng remembered something. The bunny poked into the enemy's body, lifted it into the air, and slammed it back into the ground. Then, he raised the coffee bucket and shoved it into the phantom's mouth.
"Drink up! Have plenty."
"Aren't you tired of all this fighting? Take a break. Don't worry, there's more where that came from."
"Drink! Come on, drink it!"
Perhaps he had been tormented for too long. As Dan Heng watched the enemy glug down the coffee, a smile crept onto his face, and soon he was laughing out loud.
"Drink up, plenty more where that came from."
"Don't stop! Keep drinking!"
"Drink harder!!"
But just as Dan Heng watched the phantom choking down the coffee, he heard a familiar voice calling out to him.
"Dan Heng! Dan Heng! Wake up! Wake up!!!"
In response to the voice, Dan Heng groggily opened his eyes, catching a brief glimpse of a flash of blue light.
His head ached a little, but when he saw who was standing beside his bed, Dan Heng relaxed.
Pei Guang was there, watching him closely, while March 7th and Stelle peeked into the room from the hallway, their faces full of concern.
Dan Heng rubbed his head. "What's going on?"
Pei Guang explained, "We heard some shouting coming from your room, followed by laughter. You kept mumbling things like, 'Drink! Can you handle it?' and 'Can you take it?' We got worried something had happened to you..."
March 7th, after confirming there was nothing strange left in the room, shyly stepped inside. "When we got back, we noticed something was off, so we broke in. Dan Heng, are you alright?"
Dan Heng shook his head. "I'm fine, I just had a… good dream?"
He noticed the odd expressions on Stelle and March 7th's faces, and when he glanced at Pei Guang, he began to sense something was off.
Dan Heng asked, "Did I… talk in my sleep?"
Pei Guang nodded. "Yes. How are you feeling now?"
Dan Heng thought deeply, "I feel... tired, but also refreshed. I haven't slept this well in a long time."
He let out a long breath. Although his body was drenched in cold sweat, mentally, he hadn't felt this rejuvenated in ages. However, due to how intense and strange the dream was—and the interruption from outside—he temporarily forgot the details.
But as he tried to recall, he vaguely remembered a pink bunny and Blade's voice? Wait, what? Blade making that kind of noise? Impossible. Absolutely impossible. There was no way that lunatic would sound like the dream version of him. It must have been his imagination going wild in the dream.
Pei Guang, noticing how relaxed Dan Heng seemed, nodded with understanding. "I know exactly what you mean. That feeling is like putting on a brand-new pair of underwear on New Year's Day. So refreshing!"
Dan Heng pondered Pei Guang's peculiar metaphor. But when he thought about it, Pei Guang's description was strangely accurate.
Yes, although Pei Guang often said things that were hard for others to comprehend, he always managed to hit the mark when it came to describing feelings.
What's important on New Year's Day? A fresh start. And changing underwear? It's about feeling cleaner and healthier. The mental satisfaction and physical freshness—it did align with how he felt right now.
Dan Heng replied, "Your analogy... while crude, is not without merit."
Pei Guang grinned, "Exactly! By the way, Dan Heng, now that you're awake, we swung by the space station earlier to collect the reward for Stelle's side quest. We got some amazing puppets—take one!"
Dan Heng was about to refuse when March 7th chimed in, "Come on, take one! Trust Ah Guang. The things he asks us to take always turn out to be unexpectedly useful."
At that moment, Dan Heng fully remembered what he had dreamed of. The bucket of coffee flashed in his mind, and he recalled that he had asked Pei Guang for a bucket of coffee. In that instant, Dan Heng understood.
For Dan Heng, if having a puppet could help him deal with a major nuisance like Blade, then taking one wasn't such a bad idea. Plus, with a puppet, if he managed to catch Blade, he could leave the puppet to keep forcing him to drink coffee.
With that thought, Dan Heng stood up, "Alright, let me see what kind of puppets you have."
Pei Guang excitedly said, "Come! Take a look. These puppets are really precious. We went through a lot to catch them."
Dan Heng nodded, "Okay."
Just as he got up to check out Pei Guang's puppets, his phone buzzed from a special notification.
Instinctively, he checked his phone and saw a message from an "old friend."
Looking at the content and the event being promoted, Dan Heng fell into deep thought.
Silver Wolf of the Stellaron Hunters having a showdown with the 'Player Guang' at Herta's Space Station? Player Guang? Guang... Pei Guang?!