Fantasy Clock～Dream Ruler～

Sometimes people wonder if they have been dreaming their whole life and never woke up from it.

Perhaps in a sense, that is the case.

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A faint ray of light flew into the distance.

Where is this...?

Remember just now...

Through this twilight, I vaguely realized that I was in a dark box.

The space is so small that you can touch the edge by turning over.

I groped and touched the four walls of the box, and my fingers were stained with an unknown viscous liquid.

The bloody smell lingering in the air penetrated into the nostrils.

Blood?

Immediately dense goosebumps crawled up my back, I kicked up hastily, and pushed open the box that sealed me. He climbed out of the box without hesitation.

I was just about to wave away the blood stains on my hands, but the scene around me made me stop the movement of my hands, and took a deep breath,

In this basement full of spider threads, there are many green coffins lined up horizontally and vertically, as if breaking into an ancient tomb somewhere.

Just now, I was lying in one of the moss-covered coffins. The bright colors and bloody smell made me very disgusted. I stretched out my hand and waved away the spider's thread, trying to find a way out of here, only to find a figure not far away.

Taking a closer look, it was a girl in a black cloak, with a pointed hat on her head, and her long crimson hair was scattered behind her back. Against the backdrop of the huge staff in his hand, he looks very petite.

There was a trace of blood on the girl's fair face, and there was still a lingering fear in her eyes.

"Who are you?"

I feel that my thinking is a little fuzzy, my vision is swaying like in water, and the picture is constantly swaying. The ripples in this vision made me realize that I only had the ability to observe what happened, not to manipulate my body.

Suddenly I became conscious, and suddenly remembered the fact that I was dreaming. Because Xia Yinci asked me to practice lucid dreaming, I went to bed early these days.

"You don't remember me? I talked to you when I was in the dream."

She looked at me with interest, tilting her head.

I squinted and looked her up and down.

I still remember a general idea of ​​the experience of going to the gap between dreams in the afternoon, but I almost forgot the details.

However, the strange dress of this crimson girl is still quite impressive, so there are still some memories of her in the brain.

She, the magician girl of number 9, never looks older than 12 years old.

"You are Ruler No. 9...? No..."

If you don't enter the cracks of dreams, and don't sleep in the same bed with others, you shouldn't meet other rulers, right?

So the person in front of me is probably just an "NPC" in my dream, right?

Based on the memory of the day, my brain created such a virtual character similar to the ruler?

"Ah, the NPC is gone, I don't have time to play with you."

I waved my hand casually, trying to send her away. Regardless of whether she listened to me or not, I just looked around and continued to look for the exit of the room.

The girl frowned and grabbed my arm, her mouth slightly pursed showing displeasure.

"Hey! I'm not an NPC!!... Are you listening to me!?"

Seeing my expression of unwillingness to talk to her, the girl's tone was a little weak. I waved my hand at her, signaling her not to follow me, and to stay wherever it was cooler.

"Oh, I know, NPCs won't admit they are NPCs..."

While talking, I propped my chin and observed. This is a completely sealed room, with no exit, only a high window with iron bars on it.

Just as I was about to jump up to reach the high window, someone grabbed my shoulders.

"What are you doing..."

When I turned around, I saw the girl standing on tiptoe with difficulty, which made me laugh out mockingly.

But before I could be proud of the height difference between us, I saw her swinging the staff in her hand and hitting my abdomen heavily. I couldn't help but bend down because of this, and now my eyes were finally at the same level as the girl.

The girl's pretty face was very close to me, and she showed a triumphant smile.

There is no shortage of dead house lolicons in this era. Fortunately, I am not Lolicon, nor Shaking M.

"Why do I think you're thinking of something perverted...?"

She took a step back defensively and gave me a hard look, but in order to prevent me from straightening up again to widen the height gap, she still grabbed my collar and didn't let go.

"At the end of the day...can you let go first? NPCs are so irritable nowadays..."

"Oh, can't you listen to other people's explanations?! During the 12-second countdown, I slipped into your dream with number 10!"

I glanced at her in amazement, she didn't look like she was joking.

I raised my eyebrows and asked in doubt:

"But, can such a thing be done?"

Probably because she noticed that I was finally willing to listen to her, she finally breathed a sigh of relief and gently loosened my collar.

"Of course!"

She suddenly pulled the cloak behind her and swung it forcefully, the staff in her hand hit the ground with a heavy sound.

After all, don't do such shameful actions, okay? Are you suffering from secondary illness? And the disease is not light!

"As long as you pass through the entrance of your dream world, your "World Gate", you can enter your dream."

Should I trust this middle school girl?

Leaving aside whether she is a ruler or a dream NPC, it is suspicious to appear in my dream like this...

"So you, the great magician, came here to explain the worldview to me?"

I asked her back in a provocative tone, only to see a trace of embarrassment appearing on her face, her eyes flickered left and right, as if she was thinking about how to speak like me.

"Don't tell me I'm leaving."

I turned around without hesitation and walked away, and the girl immediately hugged my arm.

"Don't go... Neither Charter nor I have the ability to leave other people's dreams, we need to ask for your help!"

Even though it was a request, she assumed an orderly tone.

Looks like it needs to be tweaked.

"Well, it's kind of sympathetic. It's like a kitten that can't find a home."

I deliberately glanced at the displeasure on her face, then changed the subject and said word by word:

"It has nothing to do with me."

The girl jumped up and hung her whole body on my arm.

"I'm counting on you! I'm really counting on you! My ability to control will be limited if I stay in your dream, I promise I won't waste too much of your time!"

The arrogant voice suddenly softened.

Successful training√

Although I really don't want to intervene in the affairs of other rulers, I can't rule out the possibility that she and number 10 have been in my dream, so I can't be called to the cracks in the dream.

If Xia Yinci and the others find Ruler No. 12 and find that we are missing two people...

The number of people who can find a replacement is okay, but if they are really deprived of the right to dream, and one day they fall asleep and can't wake up again, then the trouble will be big.

"It's not impossible to help you, but I don't want to help others for nothing."

"Oh, we will be the rulers of the same team in the future, you are helping me now and you are helping yourself!"

"But you and No. 10 laughed at me at the time, I am a person, I am not very generous..."

The magician frowned slightly, and asked feebly:

"Then what are you going to do..."

"I won't deliberately make things difficult for you. If you answer a few of my questions, I might help you."

"Then hurry up and ask, and I'll go home early after you finish asking!"

"First of all, why am I locked in here?"

Unexpectedly, the first question caused the girl a difficult time. She raised her right hand hidden in the cloak, and poked it with the index finger of her left hand aggrievedly.

"Ah... this... because I entered your dream through the "World Gate"..."

"I wanted to ask just now, what is the 'World Gate'?"

"That is the door that can lead to various dream worlds. If the conditions are met, every ruler can summon this door at will. We have not met the requirements for the time being, and we can only seize the right time when the dream world gathers. meet that door."

"Oh... the question just now, let's continue."

She pointed to the box I climbed out of just now, and said with some grievances:

"I didn't expect that after passing through your world gate, I was teleported there...and I couldn't open it."

I glanced at the blood stains on her face, and suddenly thought of the blood stains in the coffin just now. Regardless of whether she agreed or not, I grabbed her arm that had been hidden under the cloak since just now.

An obvious scratch was shocking.

She struggled to free my hand and put it back inside the cloak.

"It's okay, the scar will heal when you return to my dream. Even if you stay in your dream, it will heal slowly."

"Oh...so we get hurt in the dream too?"

I lowered my hand that was raised in mid-air. Although she said so just now, I still care a little bit.

"Well, to be precise, in the dream, our spirit is injured. You can understand it as the soul or thinking being injured."

Speaking of this, the girl's eyes were mixed with some strange emotions, and she said softly:

"There are so many traps in your dream, it makes people have to pay attention."

She was injured because of the so-called trap?

But even if she asks me where the trap came from, I don't know how it is.

"You are miserable, little magic cat."

I casually brought up the topic just now, and she raised her eyebrows lightly, as if she wanted to protest, but she was still worried that I would suddenly not want to take her out again, so she didn't attack.

"...In fact, you should be outside and I should be inside, but I sensed that someone would come, so..."

"At once……?"

"I used my swap magic to switch places between us!"

"So the person locked inside should be you?"

My questioning made her quickly avoid my direct gaze, and the fingers holding the staff moved restlessly.

"Yes...but you can open it, and you won't be attacked by traps inside...well...probably not. Anyway, I'm not the ruler of this dream, so..."

She didn't know how to continue her sophistry, she couldn't say a word for a long time, and rubbed her staff restlessly.

"Don't be so nervous, I have no intention of pursuing you."

It's still fun to tease her. It made up for the embarrassment of being laughed at by her and the detective man before.

"Then I will continue to ask...why did you and him enter my dream?"

I didn't expect that my question would cause her expression, which had just recovered, to take a turn for the worse again.

She looked up at me, blinking constantly, unable to utter a word for a long time.

In the end, as if she had compromised, she sighed and said in a low voice:

"...Okay, let me tell you! Because you looked stupid at the time, I want to confirm whether you have the ability to be a ruler!"

"real……?"

Seriously doubt it.

"It's really just a confirmation! I didn't mean to punish you...and it wasn't Charte who proposed to punish you! I didn't stop him!"

"..."

Did this little guy accidentally tell the whole truth?

Wait... Should "I didn't stop him" mean the exact opposite, or literally?

"Anyway, I didn't expect you to be so heavily guarded in your dream. You fell into a trap as soon as you came in and separated from him."

Listening to her baseless sophistry, I lowered my head helplessly.

If she hadn't been locked in and caught in a trap, she and that Charte would have used some strange means to trouble me.

Should I be thankful she's locked in...

"Forget it, this matter will not be pursued with you for the time being."

Although I was still a little concerned, I still waved my hand gently to her.

"Then will you pursue it later?"

She glanced at me warily.

"I don't know that. The last question, tell me how to check the countdown in my dream."

Her expression suddenly became very strange. She looked at me carefully, as if observing a creature from the ancient century.

What happened this time! Is my question just embarrassing you?

"How many times have you entered a lucid dream?"

I keenly caught a hint of doubt in her eyes, she looked extremely disbelieving that I would ask such a question.

"This is the second time."

The girl looked at me in astonishment, obviously wanting to ask further questions.

I curled my lips, imagining the scene of a cream bread appearing out of thin air in my hand, and then stuffed the materialized bread into her mouth without saying a word. She didn't expect my action, and took a few steps back, like a frightened deer.

"Am I asking you a question, or are you asking me a question?"

The girl swallowed the bread with difficulty, and said vaguely:

"Aren't you a cute sister Ji Pei..."

"Swallow the bread and talk."

girl eating...

"Goo...I mean, you can imagine a clock that can count down, appearing anywhere you can see it at any time."

"I see……"

I immediately pictured the sky and the countdown numbers in my mind.

But staying in this room with four walls closed, I don't know if it succeeded or not.

"Let's go out and talk later."

I pointed to the yellowed wall in front of me, and took the girl a few steps closer, imagining that a door leading to the outside had materialized on the wall.

"It's surprisingly convenient..."

I smiled and pushed open the door in front of me. At this time, the girl grabbed my shoulder, and the arrogance from before was restored on her face.

However, the soft voice and haughty demeanor are completely incompatible.

"Let me just remind you, you can control as you like in your own dreams, but in the gaps between dreams or in other people's dreams, your control ability will be severely restricted."

"It's the same when the ruler game starts three days later?"

The girl shook her head seriously and said:

"Yes. Everyone's ability in the gap between dreams will be restricted, and their respective abilities are mutually suppressed.

"Why are you telling this?"

"I just hope you don't rely too much on your current abilities."

She moved her face closer to me, clenched her right hand into a small fist, and changed back to the commanding tone at the beginning.

I watched her for a long time, and picked her up while she was not paying attention.

"I remember you asking for something, right? Is this the tone of asking for help? Huh?"

I looked at the girl's flurry of hands and feet, and assumed a condescending posture.

It's as easy as carrying a kitten.

Realizing that she couldn't break free, she hurriedly stopped and stared at me with teary eyes.

Adorable pass?

"Sorry! Anyway, put me down first~ I'm not a small animal! This is... too embarrassing..."

"Okay, little magic cat, I have to learn a lesson in the future, people have to bow their heads under the eaves~"

Saying that, I put her down gently. The girl stomped her feet angrily.

"This guy who pushes his feet...!"