"Hey - hey - Attention all passengers -"
"The Express is about to jump—The Express is about to jump—Please sit tight and hold on, Pom—!"
Inside the Parlor Car, everyone had prepared themselves.
Some sat properly and held on steadily, while others still challenged their own limits, standing alone in the center of the car and clenching their fists tightly.
"5,"
"4,"
Stelle glanced at Leon fiddling with the incense burner not far away, at Welt who was chatting and laughing, and finally at March 7th in front of her, then silently closed her eyes.
"3, 2, 1——"
As Pom-Pom's countdown ended, the familiar sense of weightlessness followed.
The Express entered the wormhole, shuttling through countless star domains.
At that instant, Stelle couldn't help but frown. Some indistinct fragments flashed through her mind.
Some were unfamiliar, some familiar, all very fragmented.
Keen-eyed players could only roughly capture and recognize two frames that were Acheron and Robin respectively.
"…"
After waiting for the weightlessness to disappear, Stelle slowly opened her eyes and was immediately stunned.
What greeted her eyes was an unfamiliar room.
She got up from the sofa and observed the entire room in confusion, but there was no one in sight.
Her gaze swept back and forth, and Stelle's eyes suddenly fixed on a person who suddenly appeared. She heard the other party speak—
"Another one…"
A woman, tall and slender, with an abnormally long weapon at her waist.
The moment she saw this woman, a wave of familiarity surged in Stelle's heart.
Why did she look a bit like the person in Leon's memory… No, no!
The hair color didn't match, and the facial features, especially the pupils, had noticeable differences. There were also no Oni horns.
"What do you mean 'another one'?" Stelle asked.
"…Follow me."
The other party didn't answer and turned around on her own.
"What is this place? Who are you, and where are you taking me?" Stelle did not follow but continued to ask.
???: "These questions are meaningless, but I will try my best to explain for you: This is the boundary between reality and the Memetic Realm, a… dream realm."
"At this moment, you and I have accidentally shared the same dream, appearing in each other's thoughts. This is the Land of Dreams' initial greeting to us."
"Don't worry. You will soon wake up from this dream, forget everything that happened here, and only a faint melancholy will remain."
"There is no need to mind it. This kind of forgetting happens every morning. It is something we have long grown accustomed to."
Stelle: "…So?"
???: "…So, follow me. I will take you home. At the end of the left corridor, I will wait for you there."
The woman spoke content that made Stelle even more puzzled in a calm tone and slowly walked out of the room.
After the other party's back disappeared, a trace of confusion and thought flashed across Stelle's face.
"(Why does she feel… still a bit like Raiden Mei?)"
"(It's probably just an illusion…)"
"(I remember Welt said that in the universe there are countless similar yet different worlds, and in these worlds, there are also countless similar yet completely different people.)"
"(In different worlds, one can meet people with similar appearances but personalities that are not entirely the same, or even completely different.)"
"(Later it was… these people have similar trajectories in their fates?)"
"(Forget it. The urgent task is to find that woman and figure out what happened. Don't think too much for now.)"
Stelle first took out her phone and checked it, confirming there was no signal before walking out of the room.
She turned her head to look at the left corridor. Sure enough, that person was waiting at the end.
As she got closer, the other party introduced herself.
"Galaxy Ranger, Acheron… This is how they address me. Feel free to use it."
They…?
No matter who it referred to, it sounded like this wasn't her real name, but a title given by others?
Although Stelle really wanted to ask, she also knew it wasn't the right time, so she chose to give her own name.
In an imitative way—
"Nameless, Stelle. This is what everyone calls me, but right now I prefer others to call me Galaxy Baseball Girl."
As soon as her words fell, Stelle noticed Acheron's steps pause for a moment.
"Nameless… Nameless…"
Acheron murmured. Extremely distant yet blurry memories flashed through her thoughts.
Stelle tilted her head: "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing…" Acheron shook her head slightly and continued forward. "Follow me. It's just ahead."
After passing through the long corridor, she stopped in front of a door.
"Open this door… and see the magnificent dream realm, while you still remember."
Stelle was somewhat puzzled by this but didn't say anything.
However, the scenery that greeted her eyes after opening the door left her dumbfounded.
"This… Oh my god…"
Behind the door at the end of the eerie and quiet corridor was actually a spacious hall with luxurious decorations.
It was just too deserted and lifeless.
"Over here."
While Stelle was dazed and observing, Acheron had somehow walked to a wall at some point.
She indicated the golden gelatinous substance under her feet that looked like a slide.
"You first."
"(Does she mean… I should walk onto the wall?)"
"Why not?"
"(She can hear what I'm thinking?)" Stelle's gaze sharpened.
"Mm… Why not?"
"That's a huge problem! Eavesdropping on other people's thoughts is rude!"
Stelle complained while gritting her teeth and walking across the golden slide.
The next second, the world spun.
She found herself really standing on the wall, and her perspective was normal.
Amazing.
Acheron remained silent and did not answer Stelle. She brushed past her and continued to lead the way.
Seeing this, even though Stelle had countless thoughts, she could only suppress them for now.
She didn't sense any hostility from the other party, nor any ill intentions toward herself.
"You're not eavesdropping on my thoughts anymore, right?"
Acheron said softly: "No, I have blocked the corresponding senses."
"…"
Stelle was numb. So before, her inner thoughts were automatically broadcasting themselves?
But she also confirmed that the person in front of her couldn't be Raiden Mei. At most, she was one of those similar yet different people Welt mentioned.
Following Acheron, they turned left and right on different walls and finally arrived at another hall.
In this hall, Stelle saw some figures, including two familiar people.
Silver Wolf and Dr. Ratio.
"We're almost there. Can you still walk?" Acheron asked calmly.
Stelle withdrew her gaze and raised the corners of her mouth: "I've already gotten on the wall. I feel great."
"Very humorous. Since you still have the mood to joke, I'll take it that you're fine."
Acheron nodded almost imperceptibly and slightly quickened her pace.
"Don't stop, don't look back, don't look down, and don't look up."
"Stopping is impossible."
Seeing Acheron run off with the quest prompt icon above her head, Ah Xian wasn't in a hurry. She walked over to Silver Wolf and SAM nearby.
After talking, she discovered it was some riddle-like content.
Then to Sunday and Robin, and then to Dr. Ratio and Aventurine.
She couldn't understand it at all. Completely incomprehensible.
She thought that was it, but unexpectedly, at the very end there were still Black Swan and Sparkle.
These two actually had interactions?
With curiosity, Ah Xian pressed F.
???: "Memokeeper… Do you think you can leave safely?"
???: "I'm sorry, my desired dance partner… I already have someone in mind."