Dreams Within Dreams: Trial and Error
Dreams within dreams. Trial and error. To achieve a single success, one needs multiple failures and lessons learned. No accomplishment happens overnight. But some failures are so catastrophic they can shatter a person's entire world. Not everyone can learn from failure.
In that sense, the Pomegranate Princess is remarkably merciful. She possesses infinite opportunities and shares them with others. It may not be merciful to everyone... and it can even cause unintended harm. But that doesn't negate her mercy.
"Your Highness."
"Yeees?"
I, too, had benefited from her mercy. Her presence here meant I had already failed. And I was grateful for it. I thanked her.
"To be honest, I quite like you."
"Aha. I am pretty, aren't I...?"
But at the same time, she was my enemy. Every doomsday button was my enemy. Priscilla, Zara, Noah, Garnet... Every doomsday button that could destroy this world was a horrific villain to me. I felt fondness for all those characters. But it was a gamer's fondness. If needed to avert doom, I wouldn't hesitate to stab them in the back. What mattered was reaching the ending. In the world of Endless, she was a villain opposing the player.
"I'm thrilled to have earned Your Highness's favor as well."
"Then you'll marry me, right?"
So, I planned to use her. Exploit her abilities. Her fate. Make her go through trial and error. It wouldn't be hard. Right now, she was just a woman lost in a sweet dream. If I wished it, she'd use her powers freely.
"But if that favor stems merely from a promise made in a dream... I'll have to decline. I'm not the 'man from your dreams.' Dreams are just dreams. Don't drag me into yours, Your Highness."
"Tch. Then I have no chance at all."
"If it's not a dream, I'll love you as much as you want. If we judge each other based on first impressions, arbitrarily, and still feel drawn to one another, then I'll call that meeting fateful. But it won't start in a dream. Dreams create nothing."
"So it was wrong from the very start...?"
"Aren't you dreaming right now, by any chance?"
One uneasy point, though. I had no idea how many times this had happened. Maybe this wasn't the first time I'd said these words. No, we'd probably repeated this dozens of times.
"Starting completely over from the beginning doesn't sound so bad...?"
I had already failed. Repeating the same strategy twice would fail. Three times, four times—still failure. And I wouldn't learn a thing from it. No memories, no insights. It was Sisyphus's eternal torment, forever pushing uphill only to roll back down.
"Have I... been dreaming a very long dream?"
But in this trial, Sisyphus wasn't me. It was her. From now on. Time for the player to switch.
I woke up to find a golden retriever suddenly sitting beside my bed.
"Canaria?"
"Woof woof!"
"What."
She'd turned into a dog. This was my carefully considered decision. A real dog.
Canaria, transformed into a dog via her druid shapeshifting ability, asked:
"Dreams within dreams?"
"Yeah."
I'd had no intention of meddling with the imperial doomsday button. Touch it wrong, and it tangled into something irreversible. Better to leave it alone until the final chapter. But I'd changed my mind. Delaying doom didn't erase it. I didn't know what happened after the final chapter. If it exploded then, my options would be limited. Game knowledge wouldn't cut it. Everything I'd built could crumble.
"Doomsday buttons need defusing early. This world's too fragile; it ends too easily."
"I see. The empire's princess... I'm curious what she's like."
"Narcoleptic. Always sleepy-looking. In person, she seems totally listless."
Technically, it was backlash from her powers.
"Her ability's dangerous. Bad matchup for my plans. The whole imperial family's a minefield."
The biggest threat when facing the princess was the loop. She didn't remember her own dreams, repeating the same day. In the game, just part of the strategy. But now, in reality, even I—the player—couldn't perceive those dreams. It led to worse messes than doom itself.
"You seem more anxious than usual today."
"Rough night."
"Don't worry too much. You'll pull it off. Like always."
"Yeah. I have to."
A few uneasy points lingered. But this world was nothing but anxiety and absurdity. A sandcastle that could collapse anytime. Endless was a sand tower before the waves.
So. I'd just do what I could.
"Regression's tricky, though. Mimicking my inner self will be especially hard."
"We'll hijack her power in reverse."
I planned to flood her dreams with Gigachad. Tricky work... but if a mere "tricky task" scared me off, I never would've touched trash like Endless.
Princess Garnet stretched languidly as she woke.
"Haaaw... so sleeeepy..."
She yawned long and hard, then glanced around. Bed framed in gold, stuffed with soft cotton and feathers, sealed by magic. Silent, still air like everyone was asleep. Heavy eyelids fluttering from just waking... Her usual bedroom felt strangely unfamiliar.
Felt like a nice dream... but she couldn't remember. Dreams faded fast upon waking. Just a dream anyway—not important. Though her chest felt a bit tight for some reason... Probably not fully awake yet.
She rang the bell for her maid.
"Dahlia..."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Milk..."
"Right away."
The maid left, closing the door. Silence. The palace was quiet. Her bedroom especially so. Sleeping plenty—that was her job. If she didn't sleep, the world wouldn't advance a step; it'd stay frozen...
"Your Highness. Warm milk."
"Thanks..."
"Breakfast today?"
"Meat..."
"Understood."
Garnet stared blankly at the maid. Soon after she left, as Garnet lay back and closed her eyes, a strange voice whispered in her ear.
"Ganetppi."
"...Huh?"
"You Fucking Idiot. Body feels heavy, so you sleep all day? Look out the window. See that warm sunlight? Get up, wash your face, stretch. Time to rise."
Energetic male voice. Garnet looked toward it. Beside her sat an unsettlingly muscular man.
"A miraculous day awaits."
"...Dream?"
Unreal scene—had to be a dream. The moment she thought that, clap—a sound jolted her awake. Like floating up from the deep sea, buoyancy pulling her to shore.
Garnet woke.
"Ahh... just a dream..."
"You Idiot. Closing your eyes doesn't make it all a dream."
"...Huh?"
The voice. That voice from the dream. Still dreaming even after waking. Garnet turned to look. Still there. Even closer now, right beside her upon waking.
"Ah, still dreaming..."
Again. Garnet woke.
"You Fucking—."
"Still a dream...?"
Dreams within dreams. Dream inside a dream. That was her power's precise description.
"Why won't this dream end...!"
The moment she deemed this world a dream—when the moment felt blissfully dreamlike, or reality too unpleasant like a nightmare—she'd wake. This world was someone's dream. She'd wake again and again, still dreaming. Nightmare, sweet dream, ill omen, good omen.
"Ganetppi."
"Ugh... slept too much, head hurts..."
"Sleep too much, and it pours out. Wake up Strong. Time to get up."
"This... isn't a dream...?"
"Stop overthinking. That's not important. What's important is you're wasting precious time right now."
Dreams inside dreams. Dreams outside dreams.
"Come on. Let's get up strong. Time for a miraculous day."
What always mattered most. Was giving your all to this very moment.