『 [ "So… what is the price for all of this?" ]
Hotaru asked after a moment of silence.
[ "The price is negligible. It is merely a… permanent martyrdom belonging solely to me." ]
[ "If one wishes to maintain this paradise for the masses, someone must remain in lonely wakefulness until the end of the universe." ]
Sunday turned away, speaking slowly.
[ "Wakefulness… that means this paradise is still a dream." ]
[ "To step into paradise means to abandon reality, doesn't it?" ]
Hotaru countered.
[ "This is not abandonment; it is transcendence." ]
[ "Flesh is weak. If material existence is the root of spiritual suffering, then we ought to overcome it." ]
Sunday replied.
[ "But in such happiness, people have never overcome suffering, and they have lost the opportunity to do so forever." ]
[ "To put it another way… this is escapism." ]
Hotaru did not agree with Sunday's assertion.
[ "You may think so, but escapism is nothing to be ashamed of." ]
[ "On the contrary, the seed of escapism exists within every heart." ]
[ "Doesn't Miss Hotaru feel the same? Why does life slumber? Because people are afraid to wake from the dream." ]
[ "But this does not conflict with the great cause." ]
[ "Only by acknowledging this can we understand the weakness of human nature, and in doing so, embrace and shelter it." ] 』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
Stelle: "Wow, for a second there, I felt like I could see holy light radiating from behind Sunday!"
Stelle: "Incredible. He really is the universe's greatest saint."
Stelle: "I just don't get it—why be so selfless?"
Stelle: "Are you just bored?"
March 7th: "Sacrificing yourself to build a paradise."
March 7th: "You're really incredibly ruthless to yourself!"
March 7th: "The problem is, even if your wish comes true, can you really endure that boundless, endless loneliness?"
Furina de Fontaine: "I think… if it really came to that, he'd probably start doubting life itself."
Furina de Fontaine: "He'd think his existence has no meaning, and then just embrace the void."
Hu Tao: "If you were the only conscious person left in the universe, anyone would find life meaningless, right?"
Aventurine: "That's a severe psychological disorder."
Aventurine: "Compared to him, my mental health is perfectly fine."
....
『 [ "I… acknowledge that you are a born leader." ]
[ "You are full of pessimism toward humanity, yet you still hold a heart of denial, offering equal pity to all living things." ]
[ "But I am different from you. I live for myself." ]
[ "In my view, people making their own choices is only natural, and it is their inherent right." ]
[ "Perhaps escapism is the nature of the weak, but who is weak… should not be defined by others." ]
[ "Or do you categorize me as one of the weak in your eyes?" ]
Hotaru questioned.
[ "…" ]
Sunday was silent.
[ "I don't think so." ]
Hotaru added.
[ "Since Miss Hotaru has stated her position, the Astral Express will naturally give our answer as well." ]
[ "It's up to you, Stelle. Just as Mr. Mikhail instructed, tell him our choice—" ]』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
Stelle: "Wait, what? What did Mikhail instruct us to do?"
Stelle: "Why don't I remember watching this part of the video?"
March 7th: "Of course you don't remember."
March 7th: "Because we never watched this video at all!"
Furina de Fontaine: "Seeing this now, I almost forgot about Mikhail, the Watchmaker."
Furina de Fontaine: "I remember… didn't he leave a dream bubble for the Express crew?"
Furina de Fontaine: "But there was nothing inside it."
Hu Tao: "It wasn't that there was nothing inside; it was that we didn't know how to see it."
Hu Tao: "Didn't Miss Himeko go to find a way?"
Hu Tao: "The video skipped over how that ended."
Guinaifen: "Don't worry, everyone, it's probably about to be shown, right?"
Silver Wolf: "The atmosphere is already built up to this point; it would be rude not to show it."
Stelle: "Then let's see what the old Nameless, Mikhail, left for us!"
Stelle: "I have high hopes—I hope it's a super treasure that lets me become an Emanator right away!"
Stelle: "Then I can walk sideways across the universe!"
Qingque: "Keep dreaming!"
Qingque: "If the Watchmaker had a treasure like that, wouldn't he have become an Emanator himself and saved Penacony long ago?"
Stelle: "Maybe he didn't know how to use it, and only I can?"
March 7th: "Alright, enough with the nonsense."
March 7th: "If you ask me, whatever the Watchmaker left us is probably not something material."
Welt Yang: "Indeed, my thoughts align with March's."
....
『 The scene shifts to The Reverie hotel from not long ago.
[ "Excuse me, where is this…" ]
At this moment, Misha looked at the surrounding environment, feeling somewhat lost.
[ "Do you have any impression of this place, Misha?" ]
Himeko looked at Misha and asked.
[ "I… I can't quite say." ]
[ "But it feels like a sense of déjà vu." ]
[ "Where is this?" ]
Misha felt that this place was somewhat familiar, but he couldn't recall anything.
[ "This is a dream bubble. Our consciousness has entered it." ]
[ "It is a gift left by a Nameless for the Astral Express, but strangely, when we opened it, we found nothing inside." ]
[ "Dr. Edward from the Dreamscape Sales Store told me that dreams are condensed from memories. If the core is empty, a dream bubble cannot form." ]
[ "So, I thought, as a hotel bellboy and one of the people most familiar with Penacony among the Astral Express's friends, little Misha, you might be able to help us solve this puzzle?" ]
Himeko explained.
[ "Hmm, I don't know much about dream bubbles." ]
[ "But if you all want to understand what this big house is… I will try my best!" ]
Misha promised.
[ "Then I'll leave it to you." ]
Himeko nodded.
[ "Himeko… I'm still confused. Why were you so sure that Misha is related to this dream bubble?" ]
March 7th suddenly asked out of curiosity.
[ "I couldn't be sure, I just had a hunch." ]
[ "But since Misha feels familiar with this place… it means my hunch might be correct." ]』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
Xiangling: "Little Misha?"
Xiangling: "Hmm… could it be that Misha is really Mikhail's descendant?"
Paimon: "Feels very likely, maybe Mr. Mikhail's grandson?"
Paimon: "But if Mr. Mikhail left behind a grandson, where are his son or daughter?"
Furina de Fontaine: "Penacony is so chaotic, maybe they sacrificed themselves long ago."
Himeko: "A grandson?"
Himeko: "I don't think so."
Himeko: "This little Misha always gives me a strange feeling."
Himeko: "Perhaps his true identity will be..."
Stelle: "In short, he definitely has a connection to Mikhail."
Stelle: "That's for sure."
....
『 [ "This scene looks a bit familiar…" ]
Stelle looked at the scene, feeling a sense of déjà vu.
[ "Exactly. You and Miss Hotaru encountered Death here—now we should call it 'Dormancy'." ]
[ "Considering its connection to the Dreamflux Reef, it's not hard to understand why it appeared here." ]
[ "The question now is, who brought you here?" ]
[ "Based on the current clues, it probably wasn't that Fool, so who it is becomes crucial." ]
[ "We are getting closer to the core of the truth again." ]
[ "Give Misha some time; he will surely unveil the secret of the dream bubble for us." ]
After Himeko finished speaking, she looked at Misha.
[ "Alright." ]
[ "But there are doors everywhere here. Which door should we go out of…" ]
[ "Misha, do you know?" ]
March 7th also looked at Misha.
[ "Hmm, I think… maybe this way?" ]
Misha relied on his intuition, chose a door, and walked toward it. 』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
Stelle: "Damn, I was wondering why this place felt so familiar."
Stelle: "So it's the room where Hotaru and I fought Sleepie."
Stelle: "Poor Sleepie, it got beaten up by Black Swan here too."
Furina de Fontaine: "Uh… I suddenly thought of something."
Furina de Fontaine: "If Miss Black Swan hadn't intervened, would Miss Stelle have discovered the truth one step earlier?"
Furina de Fontaine: "And then that whole chain of events wouldn't have happened."
Stelle: "You're right. That was Black Swan doing a good deed that turned out bad."
Stelle: "If she had just let Hotaru and me 'die together' here, we would have cleared the game by now."
Hotaru: "Die… together?? (blushing.jpg)"
Silver Wolf: "What are you blushing for?"
Black Swan: "Oh my, although I am a Memokeeper, I cannot peer into the memories of a Meme."
Black Swan: "So, who could have guessed that a terrifying Memetic Entity was actually just a harmless means of transportation?"
Lumine: "Indeed, using such a scary thing as transportation—I guess only Mr. Gallagher could pull that off."
Gallagher: "Apologies, my craftsmanship isn't great, so I could only sculpt something like that."
Gallagher: "Maybe if you had a more artistic Memeticist, they could have sculpted something better-looking for you?"
Gallagher: "But I think, as long as it works, it doesn't matter if it looks good or not."
Gallagher: "After looking at it for a while, you get used to it."
Paimon: "Uh… you know."
Paimon: "Ever since I knew its name was Sleepie, it really looks much cuter…"
Paimon: "Is… is something wrong with my perception?"
Amber: "No, there's nothing wrong with your perception."
Amber: "Because I think so too."
March 7th: "Hehe, a good name really adds a lot of points!"
March 7th: "When it was called Death, everyone was so scared they avoided it like the plague."
March 7th: "But as soon as they heard its nickname was Sleepie, everyone stopped being afraid."
Boothill: "Hey, don't say that. If you could ride this thing, it'd be cool as hell."
Boothill: "It's a shame this creature only exists in dreams."
Boothill: "Otherwise, I'd really want to get one as a mount."
....
『 [ "I'm not sure, but… let's try." ]
Misha pushed open the door and led everyone inside.
[ "We actually picked the right one on the first try?" ]
After walking to the end, they arrived directly in a new room.
This surprised March 7th.
[ "Strange, this clearly isn't the hotel, and the difference is huge, but I always feel like I've been here, and… lived here for a while." ]
[ "If I remember correctly, along that corridor, there's a warm fireplace." ]
[ "Mikhail and Clockie often roasted fire there, listening to the wood crackle." ]
[ "And the room on the other side is… the room where the toys are kept." ]
[ "I like to spread everything from the box on the floor all at once, then make up stories for them one by one." ]
[ "No, no, didn't I grow up in the Dreamflux Reef?" ]
[ "Then where is this…" ]
Misha felt as if many memories had appeared in his mind, leaving him somewhat confused.
[ "This might be a phenomenon called amnesia." ]
[ "Don't worry, little Misha, everyone forgets things from the past." ]
[ "But they haven't disappeared; they just fell asleep deep in your mind." ]
[ "Similarly, we can find them again." ]
[ "Since you have an impression of this place, let's go to a few more rooms and see if we can remember more, shall we?" ]
Himeko reassured Misha.
[ "Okay." ]
[ "Then, let's go to the two rooms I just mentioned." ]』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
Li Sushang: "Misha is gradually recalling memories about this hotel."
Li Sushang: "It seems he really did live here."
Li Sushang: "But why did he get amnesia?"
Qingque: "Bold hypothesis: to protect his descendant, Mikhail sealed Misha's memories."
Qingque: "To prevent him from being persecuted by the Family!"
Navia Caspar: "That makes sense."
Navia Caspar: "The Family and the Watchmaker are at odds; if Misha really is his descendant, then doing so is understandable."
....
『 [ "Mikhail—that's the name, now we all know he's the Watchmaker." ]
[ "So, who was he talking to?" ]
[ "Little Misha, do you know anything?" ]
After arriving at the room with the warm fireplace, March 7th, listened to the voice still echoing there and asked Misha.
[ "Sorry, I don't know much about the Watchmaker." ]
[ "But Mikhail…" ]
At this point, Misha paused slightly.
[ "Did you remember something?" ]
Himeko couldn't help but ask.
[ "Mikhail… is my grandfather's name." ] 』
『 ....』
—✦Omniscient Viewer's Chat Lodge✦—
Stelle: "Grandfather's name?!"
Stelle: "It's confirmed!!"
Stelle: "Misha is the Watchmaker's grandson!"
March 7th: "Uh… is it really like that?"
Himeko: "Mikhail's grandson?"
Himeko: "I just feel like it won't be that simple."
Furina de Fontaine: "But Misha admitted it himself, Mikhail is his grandfather."
Furina de Fontaine: "So there shouldn't be any doubt, right?"
Himeko: "Hmm… maybe I guessed wrong."
....