Fantasy Clock～Dream Ruler～

Turning the handle of the door, the tea cat is kneeling on the sofa in a duck sitting position. Coupled with the fact that a white nightgown looming on my body reveals parts that shouldn't be exposed, I can't help but have a little imagination.

Just thinking about it, the tea cat sank its head as if it hadn't woken up yet, and after a while it woke up again and raised its eyes, fixed on me, showing a warm smile. I quickly put away the strange expression, and turned to look at her with puzzled eyes. I couldn't help wondering if she was waiting for me to wake up and tell me something.

But before I could speak, she stretched herself and wobbled down from the sofa. It seemed that he was staggering all the way and was about to fall at any moment.

"Morning~" Tea Cat greeted and walked to the door. The pure white nightdress on her body suddenly fell off, and in the blink of an eye, she put on a small pink T-shirt with off-the-shoulder.

"You have to use the ability to control reality to change clothes...isn't it too much of a fuss?" Before meeting her, I was definitely surprised by this scene that can only be seen in fantasy stories, and I couldn't calm down for a long time. But after a few days of getting along, this kind of situation is not uncommon.

"Hmph ~" Tea Mao always seemed to be indifferent to answers, but it didn't make her seem alienated. She scratched her cheeks as if she was thinking about something, then suddenly remembered, knocked her right hand clenched into a small fist against the palm of her left hand, opened the door, and said, "I'm going to see your student~ See you this afternoon~」

I was taken aback when I heard this, and then I realized that she was referring to Su Ruoyang and the others. Presumably they must have encountered some trouble here. Although I always want them to leave the game and don't want them to continue to dominate the war, I always have some strange curiosity about Su Luoyang and the people around him. When I came back to my senses, the tea cat had disappeared, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

I don't know what kind of changes the arrival of the tea cat has brought to me. I feel extremely boring staying at home. In the end, I had to go out for a long time without going to work under the early morning sun.

Seaside City seems to never have night, and people are always in a faint enthusiasm. Four or five minutes walk next to the residential area is the city beach. I narrowed my eyes slightly, looking at the sea through the sand, and a yacht docked by the sea caught my attention. Two men were walking towards this side one after the other. And one of the slightly fat men felt a little familiar for some reason.

But just as I was watching him, he stared back at me with puzzled eyes and didn't stop. In this way, the distance became wider and wider, and he also turned his head and disappeared in front of my eyes.

"Chen Yong? Someone you know?" The man next to the chubby boy asked him puzzled, and he shook his head slowly.

I don't intend to continue to entangle, and instead walk back. After passing by Detective Street, where boys and girls come and go regardless of weekends or school days, turn right at the end of the street, and you will see another scene-a coffee shop exuding an elegant charm, and a wafting hook. A Japanese restaurant with a scent of people, a statue of a Marvel superhero in front of a hand-made shop, and even a mischievous Turkish ice cream...

In short, all kinds of shops that do not fit into one scene are mixed together, and the crowds come and go without stopping. With these elements, a unique commercial street called "Rongtan Street" is formed.

When I was confused, I always felt that everything in front of me was a bit unreal. I took a deep breath, and my eyes could not stop staying at the entrance of the alley. What image flashed through my mind. I mobilized my legs and turned into the alley as if bewitched, the sudden bleak atmosphere covered up the previous bustle, but after walking through the alley, I found another world hidden inside.

In the past, the headmaster would always bring you here to stop drinking. This decadent bar named "Turn of the Century" can be regarded as one of the characteristics of Rongtan Street. But today's destination is not here. After passing this bar, and then passing a few shops, the signboard of "Taoyuan DreamLand." comes into view. Many middle-aged men will gather in this bar, and no one has ever seen the owner of this bar.

I pushed open the lacquered door of the bar, and there was a crisp "ding" sound in my ears, and a few words of discussion burst into my field of vision with the collision of wine glasses. Immediately afterwards, the oil painting hanging next to the man who happily put the wine in the glass into his mouth attracted all my attention, as if only me and the oil painting were left in the world.

I deliberately turned into this alley because of this oil painting - it was an unbelievably gorgeous starry sky, but the abstraction brought back my memory not long ago. For some reason, the starry sky in front of me is exactly the same as the sea of ​​stars surrounding the small town in the dream. I suddenly couldn't tell whether I was in a dream or in reality. I panted heavily, trying to relieve my inner depression. But the depression just made me more and more out of breath. The discomfort that finally spread to my throat made me take several steps back. The bartender was looking at me puzzled, and the customer was as curious as observing a different kind. I quickly turned around and pushed open the painted door.

When the "ding" of the copper bell came into my mind again, the dazzling white light on the other side of the door gradually dissipated, and I stepped out of the threshold without thinking. But what broke into my eyes was not the noisy street scene in the alleys of Rongtan Street at all, but more than a dozen giant dragons hovering in the red void, men's unwilling roars, and the most peripheral onlookers not far away .

"This is..." I opened my mouth in disbelief, and suddenly realized that I had come to the dream world again for some reason. The dragon-shaped ruler, the girl waving a fan, the blond-haired boy with a swinging stick...all these are the scene of the dream world in the last second. A fierce heat wave rushed to his back, and there was a "boom" sound of gravel everywhere, his consciousness suddenly became dim, and the tingling gradually intensified and squeezed towards the center of his brain.

It seemed that the body shifted at this moment.

Immediately afterwards,

It was as if someone had pried open the skull and stirred the brain with pliers,

Everything in my head is being hollowed out bit by bit.

＊＊＊

Being spat out by the cloud of black mist, Xiao Lulu fell heavily to the snow-covered ground, he couldn't help grunting, and finally stood up. As if she quite disliked herself, the black mist disappeared in front of her eyes in a blink of an eye. This made her feel extremely uncomfortable.

"What... obviously I got you out." Xiao Lulu complained softly, and turned his eyes to look for other people who were thrown here. A figure in the distance was sitting upright on the snow, her lavender hair was blowing up in the wind, and the black cat's hair accessory was very familiar to her. Beside the girl, a handsome young man was stuck upside down on the snow in a rather indecent position.

Suddenly the young man pulled his head out, and spit out the unmelted snow that had run into his mouth with a "puchi". Xue Xueer knelt and sat on the ground with a rather downcast look.

Just as Xiao Lulu wanted to go over and ask her if she was okay, a note suddenly floated in the air. Xiao Lulu grabbed the note in a daze, and saw that it was written in delicate handwriting - "Here is the master of clock No. 8. We have already returned to our dream world through the world gate first. See you later If you want to return to the cracks in the dream, I left my world gate here."

She gently put down the note and breathed a sigh of relief. It's just that there is always a feeling of missing someone in my heart. She suddenly remembered something, because she couldn't see Lin Yu anywhere.

There is a vague premonition of something bad. Xiao Lulu hurriedly looked around, and caught a glimpse of a dilapidated iron gate not far away. Without thinking about it, she rushed over, grabbed the handle of the door, thought of Lin Yu softly in her heart, and pushed open the door of the world. At the other end was the nothingness some distance away from the Xinghai Tavern. After a closer look, it was found that the door was hanging over the Xinghai next to the town, and Lin Yu was lying on a few tiny star dots covered in blood.

Beside the ruined Xinghai Tavern, the invisible ruler said something to the people who were still there, and the giant dragon hovered in the air with doubtful eyes, looking for Lin Yu's trace.

"If you die in the dream world, according to the rules, you will be reborn in 4 hours... That guy must have disappeared with the impact of the explosion." Huang Mao suddenly recalled the scene of the man with dark green eyes disappearing in front of his eyes , There was a burst of nausea in the abdomen. The fan girl's eyes wandered around, as if looking for the trace of the man who wanted to hide.

Probably noticing the commotion here, the girl first cast her eyes on Xinghai, and Xiao Lulu hurriedly pulled Lin Yu's body back to her own world. The door was hastily closed by Xiao Lulu, and the abnormality in front of the girl's eyes disappeared suddenly.

Before he knew it, his sister had come to him, Xiao Lulu couldn't help turning his head, but he didn't know that his eyes were full of worry and apology.

"... Lin Yu has entered the Xinghai Tavern, right?" the black cat murmured softly. Small white hands brushed away the hair on Lin Yu's forehead. I don't know if it is a good thing to be pushed to the star sea by the impact of the explosion. Originally thought so, but the black cat frowned quickly, shook its head, "No...something is wrong."

The scene where the dark green pupils were pierced by the stick and turned into crystal particles and dissipated into the air appeared in the black cat's mind. If it was the death of the dream world, then what does it mean that Lin Yu in front of him has not disappeared? A trace of uneasiness could not help but pass through the heart of the black cat.

＊＊＊

The loud noise of the explosion and the beating of the heart suddenly disappeared, leaving only the intense tinnitus. The tingling sensation was replaced by icy temperature in the next second, and he couldn't feel anything except himself. Just now, the tongue coating felt the smell of blood and the dust that got into the nasal cavity, as if it had never appeared before. The line of sight is also briefly disconnected.

I am left with a clear awareness of—

This is death.

Never has it been so real before my eyes.

But I just get it...

The fact that I died.

...

However, there is a subtle difference from "death".

"Death" means that I can no longer wake up from the lethargy; it means that no matter what happens around me, it is no longer relevant to me; it means that I bid farewell to this world.

From this level, I am not "dead". This is a small episode before reawakening, at best it is just a "death experience".

then. After just a few seconds, the darkness in front of my eyes was once again replaced by light. ——The pain that disappeared in the last second returned to the awakened consciousness along with the other four senses. A soft touch like clouds came from behind me, and I opened my eyes in confusion, but it was an empty and frighteningly dark night.

——The darkness without any stars and moons, it is pure "black". The "black" that monopolizes the field of vision and does not allow all other colors to decorate itself. I was suddenly overwhelmed by this darkness and felt extremely lonely. I sat up in a panic, trying to escape from something, and finally there was more than just darkness in my field of vision, and I realized that there was an endless expanse of green beneath me.

The unique fresh smell after the rain floats leisurely. This air of reassurance neutralizes the fear of falling into the dark. And I suddenly felt the sight of someone behind me, which made me turn my head in confusion and curiosity—the girl sitting behind me had long brown hair floating in the air, and she seemed to have a kind of excitement that no matter what situation she was in. The magic that can calm anyone.

"Where is... here?" He clearly felt that his voice was still trembling. I had no choice but to swallow my saliva to pretend to be calm. "I didn't lie on your lap again just now, did I?"

"It seems that they really want to kill the number two clock~" Tea Mao's tone was so light that one would miss her words if one was not careful.

"So...you don't plan to answer any of my questions?" No matter how calm he was, his tone was inevitably tinged with a hint of haste. The tea cat's eyes also fixed on me, which relieved the uneasiness a little.

"An abandoned star. That's all." The tea cat responded to me inexplicably. Then he showed his iconic smile, and I really don't understand the meaning of this smile. "Also~ You fell asleep lying on my lap~ You seem to like it very much. I hugged it for a while. Your legs are a little numb."

At this time, I don't know whether to care about the first half of the sentence or the second half of the sentence, my mind is really a mess. All I know is that the girl stood up naturally after saying that, she didn't have the anxiety of being in a strange place at all, only I was terrified. I was silent for a while before calming myself down a bit.

"Please forget about that first!" I managed to use my drowsy consciousness to catch that strange word. "What do you mean by 'abandoned star'?"

The tea cat raised its eyes slightly, looking at the black night sky that I dare not look at. Whether it's an illusion or not, time passes very slowly. She said faintly, her voice was as gentle as if it was close to her ears: "In short,——it's a desolate star." Seeing me, I still looked at her with a puzzled face. The tea cat sighed, and continued, "Hey~ You should still remember what happened at the beginning of this domination war?"

Suddenly, there was a scene in front of him - the dream maniac with distorted faces and the girl fell into the sky, entangled together. The cracks in the dream suddenly boiled strangely. I asked uncertainly, "You mean...the thing about you wrestling with the dream madman?"

She shook her head slightly, denied what I said, pursed her lips again, and said in a corrected tone: "I was referring to the five and ten clocks that disappeared at that time. Remember? How they quit ?”

"Of course I remember." Almost without a gap, the words of response blurted out. The screen came into view——

Flying into the reddish void like a star, the dazzling starlight is not a smile from a star admirer, but a desperate cry for help. The phrase "Here, I will give you the punishment for not dreaming!" from the dream madman sticks to my ears like hard glue, which cannot be shaken off. In addition, "I will definitely destroy your rules", I said so at that time... All this is clearly reproduced in front of my eyes.

"Then you should understand, what does "Desolate Star" represent?" A sudden voice brought me back to reality.

The moment I stared at her and understood what she meant, I felt my eyes darken. ——the number of people was not gathered, so they were abandoned among the many stars. And the tea cat said that we are now on the deserted star, which means that we are also being abandoned.

"Why? Isn't this unreasonable? Besides, if I die completely in the dream world, doesn't it mean that I will also..." I dare not express my guess. But when I saw Tea Mao nodding his head with a wry smile, all my luck collapsed. Thinking that the scene in front of me may be the last second of my life, the only word in my mind is "despair".

Obviously I should be reborn four hours later, but the fact before my eyes is that I am on an abandoned star; it is obviously a "death experience", but now death is clearly placed before my eyes . The darkness at the top seemed to still stretch greedily. For some reason I thought, someday I too will be a part of that darkness.

"Actually, before this happened, I didn't know what happened...but the boy at the eighth clock must be in such a situation now." The tea cat reminded me of the moment before my death. What happened in seconds - I stepped out of the door of the tavern, thus triggering the trap set by the Dream Thief. The cause of death was definitely the explosion.

"You mean, that I'm here now is related to the method that the Dream Thief found to kill the Dominator completely, right?" I spit out my guesses in disbelief.

Tea Mao looked at me again with a wry smile and nodded his head. "Well~ Xinghai Tavern is the link between reality and the dream world. In other words, this is the place where reality and dreams are most similar. In reality, it is impossible to resurrect after death, so the vicinity of Xinghai Tavern also tries to follow This is the rule of the real world. That boy must have been attacked around here~"

"Is that why?"

"Besides that, you and that boy have one thing in common—there is no dream maker."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, everyone has a dreamer, the key is whether they have enough recognition and imagination to make them appear. And the dreamer not only creates the "personal dream", but also guards the "individual in the dream". People who lack dream makers will naturally lack a blessing." Speaking of this, Tea Mao paused meaningfully, "However, I think that almost everyone on the second clock has dream makers who can appear , is even more astonishing.”

What the tea cat said really took me by surprise. The meaning of the words obviously means that there are not a few rulers without dreamers. However, William seems to be deliberately trying to assemble a Dominator Clock that all has Dreamers. At that time, after he knew that I had no ruler, I was driven back to my dream world by him. Of course there was a reason for William to do this, and that reason seemed to be right in front of me now.

"But what about Xia Yinci? I remember that Xia Yinci said at the time that she didn't have a dreamer either?"

"It's not that she doesn't have a dreamer." Tea Mao shook her head seriously, and said, "Because her dreamer is herself~"

I couldn't help but froze. After clarifying everything, a sense of emptiness and nothingness suddenly rose in my heart, followed by extremely strong dissatisfaction. The reality of death makes me not in the mood to take care of other people's affairs. Even the minute-by-second conversations now, the life is slipping through my fingers bit by bit.

The powerlessness of being unable to grasp the slipping hope of survival even if you hold on desperately is far more fatal than death itself.

"Why on earth is this?"

Unwilling.

"What kind of messed up 'Xinghai Tavern', I don't care about that!"

Even though William reminded me of this related topic on the Dominator Clock earlier, I should have expected this, but still——

Unwilling, unwilling, unwilling, unwilling.

"Just because there are no dream makers, is it easier for us to die?"

as well as. despair.

"Why don't you let us participate from the beginning!"

The tea cat didn't answer my question, but slightly raised the corners of its mouth.

"What are you gloating about?" I clenched my fists with inexplicable discomfort.

The girl's twinkling eyes were full of mystery, and her whisper-like gentle whisper broke through the seemingly endless complaints of the dying person——

"Well~ don't lose hope so quickly. There is no dream maker, which means that your subconscious mind has not yet recognized the existence of the world of "Dream"~ So, there is no need for "Dream" to recognize you." Speaking of this, Tea Mao turned his gaze back to me and continued, "Then what if you really admit that you are the ruler here? Or, like Xia Yinci, admit that you are your own dreamer?"

"Or—" For some reason, her eyes trembled. There is a clear dark night sky, as if several new stars have sprouted. The passing night wind finally subsided, and the long hair fell on the girl's shoulders. She tilted her head slightly, "Admit that I am your dream maker. From the bottom of my heart~"