Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: Dreamwalker II
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Shin Noah
4
It had been so long ago that I couldn't even remember anymore, but before transferring to Awakener in my first regression cycle, I must have been a pretty upstanding young man.
Smoking? No. Drinking? Not really.
Naturally, I'd never gotten hooked on gambling either. Aside from the fact that I'd reset my life over 1,000 times to see the best ending.
-Oppa. I'm curious. I want to go inside.
"Wait a second."
That was why, even when Ha-yul grabbed my sleeve tightly the moment she spotted the casino, the upright and moral young man in me didn't give in easily.
Instead, I drew my sword first.
One Stroke.
A sudden swing of the blade. My exclusive equipment item, the staff sword Do-ha, cleaved the world long and diagonally in two.
Rumble—
Dust rose from all directions. A corner of the casino building, which had illegally opened for business in the Void, collapsed helplessly.
"……! ……!"
Ha-yul bounced around beside me, but it was just a silent uproar.
No matter how strong the curiosity, it was crucial to test right away whether physical force worked on the opponent like this.
It wasn't just because I was the kind of player who, upon joining a TRPG, would coldly and scientifically suggest to the master, "Master, can't I get some gasoline and burn the house down from the outside before going into that ominous mansion?"
By checking if physical force applied, I could gauge the danger level of the Void and the approximate level of the anomaly to some extent.
I leisurely observed the reaction of that "casino anomaly."
"Hieeek!"
And then I witnessed an astonishing sight.
From the casino's front door, tiny creatures came swarming out, convulsing with "hieeek" and "hiik" screams.
"Th-the headquarters collapsed!"
"Hieeek! Earthquake? It's an earthquake, right?"
"That's impossible……! Our Revolutionary Front base was built in the safest region on the Korean Peninsula, taking all kinds of natural disasters into account!"
"But the earthquake happened!"
"Comrade No. 107! With disaster striking right in front of us, denying reality like some rotten petit bourgeois party fairy means execution! Execution, you know!"
"I can't help my self-criticism."
"Hiek! Comrades! Please, anything but the purges!"
They were the Tutorial Fairies.
The split bodies of the Fairy Lord, who was a split body of the exiled god Mugeon. In short, these anomalies—mere copies of copies—came pouring out and began repairing the building.
'...Why the hell are these guys here again?'
In my 205th cycle, I was dumbfounded. For now, I sheathed my staff sword and walked toward the fairies.
Tap tap. I patted the nearest fairy's shoulder.
"Hey."
"Hoe? A human customer, you know? Sorry, but the casino is temporarily closed due to the sudden earthquake disaster—hieeeek? Undertaker!"
The fairy toppled over. The other fairies, who had been up on ladders holding hammers and tools, all turned to look at me in unison.
"Undertaker? Why? Why Undertaker?"
"The Nightmare of Busan Station!"
"The Tyrant of Baekhwa Girls' High School!"
"Comrade No. 107! Wh-what is this, you know! Didn't you guarantee this place would absolutely never be found out, you know!"
"Hiyaaaaak! Run! Run away, you know! Getting caught by that bastard again will wipe out our clan, you know!"
The fairies scattered in all directions, but it wasn't a very wise move. Sometimes in RPG battles, the "flee" command simply didn't work—and this was one of those times.
"Ha-yul."
-Yeah.
Spider silk shot out from Ha-yul's fingertips with a whoosh.
A moment later, all 27 fairies were tightly bound in spider silk and lined up before me.
"Hiek, hiiiiek……."
"Hey. Weren't you all sealed away with the Fairy Lord when Mugeon was subjugated? What are you doing hiding out in a backwater like this?"
The fairies trembled.
"Th-the Fairy Lord was just our oppressor……! We've never truly submitted to him even once, you know!"
"Ah, that thing—royalists versus revolutionaries? That was all just your little role-play anyway. You're still going on about revolution?"
"Role-play?! Gah! We're super serious, you know!"
What the fairy said next was pretty shocking.
"We lived just fine without the Fairy Lord from the start, you know! But that terrifying existence created the Fairy Lord and oppressed us!"
"...Huh?"
"Now that the Fairy Lord has perished, our long-dreamed liberation has finally come to us fairies! But due to long oppression, our national capital is inevitably meager……! So, with tears in our eyes, we've plunged into the gambling business to raise revolutionary funds……!"
"Revolution is innocent, you know!"
After collecting testimonies and information from the suspects, I arrived at an astonishing truth.
"Uh, so. You guys were actually anomalies with no relation to the exiled god Mugeon at all, and he just created the Fairy Lord and forcibly dominated you?"
"That's exactly right, you know!"
"Then the ones who follow the Fairy Lord and the ones who resist being split into royalists and republicans... that story was real?"
"Have you been listening to us with your ears plugged by a toilet bowl, human?!"
Good heavens.
Yes. In truth, the "Tutorial Fairies" anomaly had no connection to Mugeon. Mugeon had created the puppet dictator Fairy Lord to oppress the fairies.
A kind of colonial rule, you could say.
But when Cheon Yo-hwa and I subjugated Mugeon, the situation changed dramatically. The fairies suddenly gained liberation, and vowing never again to be swayed by giant anomalies, they dispersed everywhere and turned into guerrillas.
And this gambling den built here... the so-called "Dream Amusement Casino" was a business run by the guerrilla fairies.
The reason for operation? To establish an anomaly community for fairies, by fairies, of fairies!
'Well, the anomalies at Baekhwa Girls' High School were all ghosts, but the Tutorial Fairies did feel a bit out of place.'
Who would have thought such a secret was hidden.
As I marveled at how much information about the world I still didn't know, Ha-yul bounced beside me.
-Oppa. Oppa.
"Yeah?"
-Over there. I want to look around.
Ha-yul seemed extremely interested in the casino from earlier. Well, since it was confirmed to have almost no danger.
"Hey, runts. For starters, show us how you're running this casino."
"Hieeek. Ridiculous! We can't reveal the inner workings of our revolutionary base to a bourgeois oppressor—"
"Shall I call Cheon Yo-hwa and ask her to put you all in the hourglass where Mugeon is sealed?"
"A tactical retreat for one step forward is something even proletarian comrades can understand, you know……!"
We entered the casino.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the missing management corps members from the caravan were found inside. To be precise, not in the casino, but in the hotel built atop the casino building—all three were passed out, oblivious to the world.
"What the? Why are these guys all asleep? Your doing?"
"Hieeek……! Th-this was a legitimate transaction under mutual agreement, you know! In our casino, we exchange customers' chips not for money, but for dreams, you know!"
"For dreams?"
"Yes! Look at the menu here, you know……!"
The fairy pulled something from its bosom. A large menu board. No way it should fit in a fairy's body, but instead of nitpicking, I read it.
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♪♫*♪~Feels like walking in a dream~♪♫*♪
Welcome to our 『DREAM』 Casino, everyone! ٩(♡ε♡ )۶ We sincerely welcome you!◕‿◕)丿
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Tear.
I reflexively ripped the menu board.
"Hieeeek? What are you doing, you know!"
"Sorry, my instinct……."
"You're the type whose instinct is to rip the menu when entering a shop, you know! Scary, you know! This used good paper, took a lot of effort, so don't waste it, you know!"
Hm.
I calmly took the menu back and read it. But this time, for my mental health, I'll omit all emoticons and plainly describe only the menu contents.
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[Dream Casino Guide]
*Welcome!
*At this "Dream Amusement Casino," customers can enjoy various games with fairy coins. Fairy coins are purchased with customers' "time."
*Rate: 1 hour = 1 fairy coin.
*To use the amusement facilities in this casino, you must bet at least 1 fairy coin.
*Fairy coins can be exchanged for the following prizes.
-10 fairy coins: Sleep peacefully through one night of dreams. Guaranteed sound sleep. Dream content undetermined. Freely set from minimum 2 hours to maximum 24 hours.
-50 fairy coins: Enhance a specific sense in the dream. Sight, smell, taste, etc. Memories related to that sense are likely to remain relatively vivid even after the dream ends.
-100 fairy coins: Choose a location to be in within the dream. Anything within 100 square meters is possible (e.g., a top-class restaurant from before the apocalypse).
However, movement beyond the range is impossible. Scenery reflected in windows, etc., can be decorated with 10 fairy coins. Please consult a counselor for detailed settings!
-1,000 fairy coins: Choose one person to appear in the dream. Even people who have already disappeared from reality are possible.
-2,000 fairy coins: Set your relationship with the person in the dream. Please consult a counselor for detailed settings!
-3,000 fairy coins: Customize your own self in the dream. Appearance change possible, social status alteration possible, resume forgery possible, gender swap possible, age change possible. Please consult a counselor for detailed settings!
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-10,000,000,000 fairy coins: Guaranteed perfect lucid dream. We promise sensations and intellect identical to reality!
This is a membership item. Customers exchanging this are immediately promoted to 'VVIP' rank, and 'lucid dream' is guaranteed even when using other items.
-100,000,000,000 fairy coins: Freely set the time flow felt in the dream. Desire immortality? Live 100 years in the dream during 1 second in reality! If tired of dream life, you can wake up immediately.
This is a membership item. Customers exchanging this are immediately promoted to 'VVVIP' rank, and 'time acceleration control' is guaranteed even when using other items.
*Note: Customers can exchange up to 9,000 fairy coins at once at this branch.
*Note: At midnight every day, this branch may demand repayment of principal from customers. If unable to repay, time equivalent to the shortage will be seized.
How the seized time is used is entirely up to this branch. We hope you enjoy safe and healthy gambling.
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"……."
I was at a loss for words for a moment.
There were so many things to point out that I didn't know where to start. But first, as a regressor, I decided to ask the question that absolutely needed resolving.
"Hey, you guys…… Could you manipulate dreams all along?"
"Hoe? Of course, you know."
"We're dream fairies, you know."
"We couldn't practice our trade under the Fairy Lord's oppression, but our true name is dream demons (夢魔), you know."
Shock! The truth revealed after a whopping 205 cycles!
The true identity of the Tutorial Fairies was dream demons—succubi and incubi!
-Fairy coins. 9,000 coins, wish to exchange. Thrilling.
Beside me, Ha-yul, true to a kid raised on Japanese media, was burning with pachinko spirit. I flicked her forehead and looked at the fairies.
"What happens to human customers whose time gets seized?"
"Hoe. This happens, you know."
The middle-aged male management corps member lying on the hotel bed suddenly sat up. Ha-yul flinched in surprise.
He was a middle-aged man. Having been trapped in the Void for days already, his chin was covered in unkempt stubble.
With a dazed look—his eyes so vacant no sign of wits remained—he mumbled.
"Hoeoeoe……."
"……."
"Hoe, hoe, Fairy No. 5000…… Reporting name and rank, you know……."
"……."
Silence.
Both Ha-yul and I turned to the fairies. Our gazes demanded an explanation right now.
The Tutorial Fairy—no, dream demon—tilted its head with a clueless, dopey face, as if it had no idea what was wrong.
"Hoet. That customer took a full loan of 9,000 coins and lost it all to baccarat in just one day. Now he has no choice but to work as a comrade in our fairy revolution club for the next 10 years, you know!"
"Right, you know!"
"Hoeoe! March on without stopping until the day of revolution, you know!"
This is insane.
It's an anomaly breeding ground.