Dream bubbles shimmered in hues that shifted with the nature of the dreams they held.
At the same time, this Phase was crammed full of dreams born from every corner of the world and every era, using chaotic space and disordered time as its X and Y axes within.
In Natsume-san's understanding, this was what the Dream Phase looked like to her.
If it were someone else, the Phase might appear completely different. The way one perceives the world is always deeply intertwined with their own worldview.
Her awareness lingered amidst countless bubbles. Natsume-san didn't need to replicate the dreams within them in her own mind; she simply kept gathering the information flowing from these bubbles.
Truthfully, Natsume-san had no idea whose dream she was observing, or from where or when. Her physical coordinates were useless here in this bizarre Phase, lacking any point of reference for the first time.
A Phase with space-time rules similar to the physical universe probably could serve as a positional reference. In situations like this, Natsume-san's petite frame acted somewhat like an anchor point to the real world, preventing her consciousness from getting lost in the vast ocean of the Phase.
"A dream from the era of King Arthur in Britain. The language back then was quite different from modern English, you know."
"Legends of the sword in the stone, the magician Merlin, dragon-slaying knights, and ladies of the lake... The imagination of ancient people isn't bad at all."
A spark of excitement lit up Natsume-san's face; it was clear she'd stumbled upon something that fascinated her.
Besides eating, sleeping, reading manga, browsing forums, and gaming, watching movies was one of Natsume-san's favorite pastimes.
And by interpreting these dreams, she could observe the people and history of the past, much like watching a movie—but far more immersive. She could even place herself in the protagonist's shoes and experience the bizarre and fantastical dream worlds.
However, to avoid potential complications, while Natsume-san observed and interpreted the dream content she perceived, she strictly avoided actually recreating the dreams themselves within her own mind.
Anyone who knew a little about Indian Poker would understand the risks of letting someone else's dreams invade your brain.
Although there didn't seem to be any sneaky side-effects like the cards influencing her Personal Reality this time, the risk of brainwashing was still something to be wary of.
Natsume-san prioritized her own safety far above any other concern.
On the flip side of the physical universe, in this Phase world equivalent to the world's shadows, an ordinary young girl peered into all the history and fantasy lost to the flow of time. The novelty of it all felt incredibly fun to her.
It seemed that from this observational vantage point within the Phase, no one could block her prying eyes.
But Natsume-san was, ultimately, a proper young lady with a sense of decorum. She didn't attempt to actively spy on the privacy and secrets of people in the real world.
She merely skimmed the surfaces of those dream bubbles already adrift within the Phase, whose owners and histories were indistinguishable. Whether she might incidentally encounter dreams belonging to people in the real world within these bubbles wasn't something Natsume-san bothered to consider.
"Wow, this is combat knowledge."
An eyebrow raised, Natsume-san couldn't help but pay closer attention.
She'd long known that dreams could carry knowledge.
She'd been very curious about those skill cards from Indian Poker too. But here in the dream Phase, seeing this category of knowledge sorted out, forming dream bubbles primarily tinted in blues and greens, still gave her a thrill.
This meant Natsume-san was on her way to becoming a jack-of-all-trades, a veritable professional in everything.
Just thinking about such a future made her breathing quicken. Being able to effortlessly absorb vast amounts of knowledge was the ideal future for any student in Academy City.
Relying on books to transmit knowledge was just too slow, not high-tech at all.
And Academy City always poured most of its resources into ability-related technology, developing esper powers and even weapons. Technology that could benefit ordinary students seemed to develop much more slowly in comparison.
Come to think of it, Natsume-san had undergone special Judgment training with Yomikawa-sensei for a while last semester. She'd even bought Judgment combat training materials from a street stall. Deep down, this bun-girl harbored a dream of mastering martial arts.
However, Natsume-san's talent for combat was on the same level as Uiharu-san's.
Even with effort, she'd only barely managed to learn the Judgment combat techniques. Her physical reaction speed was simply too slow, making it impossible to form any effective practical combat ability.
"If I can find everyone's dreams lingering in the Phase by observing the real universe, then I should be able to see my own past dreams too."
Thoughts in her head were always complex and varied. Natsume-san suddenly realized her idea had merit, and a strong sense of curiosity welled up within her.
While she wasn't planning to snoop on everyone else's private lives in Academy City, looking at her own was a different matter.
Even though Natsume-san was an esper, she couldn't remember all the dreams she'd ever had.
But as she turned her gaze from the Phase back towards her own body, it seemed dreams that didn't belong to her were being fed back to her through this observation.
"The numbers feel off. There seem to be way too many."
"Wait, something's really wrong here."
Natsume-san's thoughts hesitated, and her jaw dropped slightly.
She'd heard a person has dozens of dreams each night, with only a very few clear ones remaining in memory. So, as one ages, the number of dreams formed becomes astronomical.
But Natsume-san was only twelve. Even an astronomical number should have a limit. It certainly shouldn't be like what she was observing now: dreams belonging to her were as vast as the sea, forming a minuscule but definite tidal flow within the dream ocean, far exceeding the limit for a twelve-year-old girl.
Her face immediately showed hesitation. Gritting her teeth, Natsume-san shifted her observational focus onto the Dorm Supervisor.
She felt a bit sorry for her Supervisor, but she needed to see if others had a similar effect—in scientific terms, she needed a control group.
That said, Natsume-san still wouldn't read the Supervisor's dreams. She merely took an extra glance at those pink-hued bubbles full of romance and a maidenly atmosphere surrounding the Supervisor.
'Why do I suddenly feel worried about the Supervisor? At her age, still without a boyfriend... I really hope she can get married soon.'
Pushing aside her sympathetic thoughts for the Supervisor, and seeing the far smaller number of dreams belonging to her, some strange notions surfaced.
Her own dreams were definitely problematic. It would take the accumulation of centuries, maybe more, to form a tributary of dreams that now surpassed her own ability to fully perceive.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL