The alley wasn't what you'd call narrow; it was at least wide enough for several people to walk side by side.
Maybe it was just because the towering skyscrapers surrounding it nearly blotted out the entire sky.
Standing there, it made the path feel particularly cramped.
But through that sliver of constrained sky, Sylvia squinted as she studied it.
She could vaguely make out the reflection of the city's neon lights.
"...Is that the Dream's Twelve Hours up there?"
Sylvia was a bit awestruck by the sight of the inverted city in the sky.
And back in the Twelve Hours, when she looked up, she couldn't see this place.
After gazing for a moment.
Sylvia withdrew her gaze and quickly walked to the end of the road. After rounding a corner.
She was surprised to find a very old-looking elevator. As she approached, its doors actually slid open.
It looked like it was still working.
And behind the elevator.
Tucked away in the shadows was a huge Clockie statue that, because of its setting, actually looked kind of creepy.
Compared to the dazzling, golden Clockie statue in the Golden Hour square.
Not only was this one bigger, but that ever-smiling clock head.
Also felt like it was leering, thanks to the desolate atmosphere.
Sylvia looked around. The high-rise in front of her obviously wasn't something she could easily climb.
Better take the elevator.
Sylvia stepped into the elevator, accompanied by the screech of the metal doors closing behind her.
The elevator began its ascent smoothly.
After a wait longer than she'd expected, the elevator finally reached the top floor of that massive building.
And outside the door.
Sylvia was astonished to see a large crowd of people gathered out there.
Not only that.
Their faces were full of expression, but the one thing missing was fear.
That meant this place definitely wasn't any kind of danger zone.
Otherwise, the residents here wouldn't have looks like that on their faces.
Speaking of which...
This is the rooftop of the building, isn't it?
Sylvia stepped out of the elevator.
Her full-body armor and silver-white hair immediately drew a lot of attention from those nearby.
Sylvia didn't mind, because her gaze was fixed on the sky straight ahead.
There it was, the Penacony Grand Theater, which she could already see from the Golden Hour.
Now it was hanging upside down in the sky, and it looked even bigger than it did from the Golden Hour.
Meaning she was actually closer to the Grand Theater from here.
And further behind the Grand Theater, the increasingly clear inverted image of the Twelve Hours came into view.
"Well, well... ended up in a pretty strange place."
Sylvia was surprised that Penacony had a settlement like this, and that quite a few people lived here...
Was it deliberately isolated by the Family? Or just ignored?
And what was the deal with that Memory Zone Meme?
Why did she end up here after getting stabbed by that thing?
Filled with questions, Sylvia ignored the stares gathering around her.
She walked forward along the path. It was clear that the elevator was in some kind of plaza.
The entire settlement radiated outwards in all directions, with the elevator as its center.
Looking down.
Beside the bottomless high-rise, there were escalators leading down to other floors.
Down on the lower levels, she could see lit-up areas.
People here probably lived in these skyscrapers.
Sylvia walked around the rooftop, which was like a corridor, only to find herself in a...
A place that looked like a cemetery.
A small garden, with three tombstones standing in it. Two had names carved on them, one was blank.
Sylvia hadn't planned on looking closely, but the names etched into the tombstones caught her eye.
'Razalina' and 'Tiernan'
No way!
Just as she was about to walk past, Sylvia suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and snapped her gaze back.
She stared intently at the stone slab bearing the two names.
Razalina Jane Estella, and Breukelen Tiernan.
Those two names...
Weren't they the two Nameless that Pom-Pom mentioned in the story?! The ones from the trio?
So that meant, if nothing else, the last blank Nameless tombstone should logically be for the final Nameless, the one named Mikhail?
But why wasn't the name there?
Could he still be alive?
No, wait... what actually happened back in the day during the Penacony liberation?
It couldn't be that the Family just swooped in and took credit for the Nameless' work, could it? Why else would those three names be completely unsearchable in Penacony's history?
Sylvia stared hard at the tombstones, her brow furrowed tightly.
Aren't the Family followers of Harmony? Was it all just an act?
Following the same playbook as the Interastral Peace Corporation?
Just as Sylvia was standing there, lost in thought.
A middle-aged man sitting on a bench nearby seemed to notice her.
He stood up and walked over to Sylvia:
"Hello, my dear young lady. Allow me to introduce myself briefly. My name is Micah, the caretaker of Dreamflux Reef's graveyard. Might I ask, are you a tourist who stumbled in here by accident? Or perhaps someone from the Family?"
Being suddenly addressed snapped Sylvia's attention back from her thoughts.
She looked up, studying the blond-haired man. He looked a bit older, but his build was strong.
And his self-introduction was interesting.
"Caretaker? So, this really is a cemetery?"
"Yes, though it's more of a symbolic cenotaph, to commemorate the heroes who liberated Penacony back in the day."
Micah stood beside Sylvia, his tone calm as he explained the tombstones to her.
"What about the other one? What's with the empty monument here?"
"The other one was still alive when Dreamflux Reef was founded and the cenotaphs were erected. He figured his time would come too, so he had his own placed right there alongside the others."
When he mentioned the last person, Micah's tone shifted noticeably.
Combined with what he'd just said, that Nameless named Mikhail probably had a pretty close connection to Micah.
Having said that, Micah seemed to want to drop the subject. Instead, he asked:
"Come to think of it, I still don't know your name, miss."
"Sorry, I'm Sylvia. I was... brought here? By a Memory Zone Meme."
Setting aside the monster's aggressive appearance, judging purely by its actions, it seemed to have forcibly dragged her here.
"I see. Ah, my apologies. That Memory Zone Meme is called Dormancy. Gallagher looks after it. It just looks scary; it's never actually harmed anyone. It just occasionally takes a fancy to bringing certain dreamseekers here."
"..."
Hearing a strange name in a strange place.
Gallagher was from here?
"Well then, could I ask you about Dreamflux Reef?"
"Of course. I'll tell you everything about this place, miss. About the history of Penacony, and the history of Dreamflux Reef."
For some reason, after Sylvia actively asked, Micah's tone became noticeably more eager.
Almost as if he'd been wanting to pass on this information all along.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.