After finishing sorting those damn papers and delivering them to the appropriate offices, Alicia told me I could leave.
She added that she wouldn’t be contacting me over the next few days, since she would be leaving the Axis for a while... probably some family matters.
Either way... that meant I had a paid vacation.Maybe. I wasn’t entirely sure about that last part.
After leaving Alicia’s office—and making sure Nola wouldn’t jump out and bite me the moment I turned my back—I headed toward the library.
Yeah. The library...
I entered a large white building, and the first thing I encountered was an inquiry desk, with a young man who didn’t look much older than me sitting there, completely absorbed in a book like a true bookworm.
I walked up to him until I was standing in front of the desk."Hello. I have a question. Where can I find books that talk about the dream world and the creatures that live there?"
The young man raised his head, examined me with his eyes, then replied,"Look in section B2. You’ll find what you’re looking for there,"before returning his focus to his beloved book.
I turned around and continued inside, passing through a large glass entrance, only to be met by a vast space filled with study tables. Many students were walking back and forth, books piled in their arms.
Behind them rose towering bookshelves that stretched up several floors.
"Wow, everyone’s really studying hard," I muttered as I walked forward—until my eyes landed on a particular table.
Three girls were sitting there, reading and taking notes. Of course, it was the princess, along with Izel and Leona. Even Elliot was sitting with them.
So that’s why I never saw them in the evenings. Turns out they came here after classes.
What else would you expect from main characters, anyway?
I ignored it and headed toward the bookshelves.
I walked between them, searching for the correct section, until I found a specific sign.
"B2... here it is."
I slipped between the shelves and began pulling books out, scanning their archives.
I was looking for books that talked about the Demon of Dreams. Sure, I already knew some information about it from the game, but it wouldn’t hurt to learn more.
After hours of searching, I finally found a few useful books.
I took them and sat down at one of the tables in the corner."Looks like I’m getting another sleepless day," I muttered.
The first book I chose was titled [The Walker Between Dreams]. Its cover looked new compared to the others, as if it had been printed recently.
I opened it and read the author’s name: [Darin Hailor].The name felt familiar, as if I’d heard it recently... but whatever.
I ignored it and began reading.
An Introduction to Dreams:
Some believe that dreams and nightmares are merely fabrications of the sleeping human mind. This is true for ordinary humans.
For us, however, it is another world—one connected to all beings.
A world made up of millions of overlapping dreams, whether human dreams or those belonging to other creatures.
To simplify it, imagine an empty space.
When you fall asleep, your mind and soul are automatically transferred into that space.
That space recognizes the arrival of a new soul, and thus automatically creates a small room to contain it, isolating it from the chaos of that realm. Sometimes, your mind and thoughts influence that room, altering its design, eventually giving birth to a dream or a nightmare.
This is the simplest explanation, but that place is far more complex than this, governed by strange laws... I doubt you would truly understand it unless you saw it yourself.
Now, the question circling your mind as you read this book is...If dreams are considered a world, then are there beings that live there?
The answer is... yes.
Some are born there and live within that void outside our dreams... don’t worry, they cannot slip into your dream, as that violates the laws of the dream world... well, most of the time.
Others exist between the two worlds. They possess real bodies and have the ability to freely enter the dream world, creating their own space within it.
I flipped through the pages until I reached a new title.
Tips and Instructions to Follow If You Somehow Find Yourself Conscious Inside a Dream:
Under normal circumstances, when a dream is natural, you will wake up the moment you realize you are dreaming. However, there are ways to remain inside a dream with full awareness—or even if the dream was artificially created by something. In such cases, you must follow certain instructions to ensure your safety.
First, do not stare at your reflection—especially mirrors. If you do, and your reflection begins acting on its own, destroy the reflective surface immediately.
Second, they slip through errors, so ignore them. Such as a human-shaped shadow with no one casting it—especially if it waves or moves on its own—or a person standing in one place, smiling without moving or reacting in any way...
Third, dreams usually revolve around only a few people or objects. However, sometimes there are large crowds. If your dream contains many people designed merely to fill the background—such as pedestrians in the streets or spectators in a movie theater—do not interact with them or scrutinize their behavior.
If you do so by accident... and it ends with everyone looking at you at the same time, with wide eyes and cold smiles, or saying something like:"You’re not supposed to be here,"then try to ignore them and calmly move away. Do not run... you might succeed.
Fourth...
I continued reading these strange instructions... honestly, this was new even to me. It felt a bit unsettling.
I kept turning the pages one after another, while the library had grown completely empty... it was probably past midnight.
And as I flipped another page, I reached a new heading.
How to Exit an Artificial Dream