Dream

Amel explained the situation simply.

They had entered the [Dream World],

Fought the [Ancient Nightmare],

And now only the boss remained.

“Of course, even the boss is just a Strand.”

Amel had witnessed a peculiar phenomenon during the fight: the world splitting.

The [Dream World] had divided into a large and a small part, and they were in the smaller [Dream World].

“In short, it ran away.”

Like cutting off a lizard’s tail.

“But if we leave it, we don’t know when it’ll come back and absorb us again, so we should deal with it. Chris.”

“Okay.”

“Wanna smash this floor with your fist?”

“If I break it, will we fall?”

“Who knows?”

She said it as if they’d only know if they tried.

Chris looked puzzled, as if asking what that meant, but still raised her fist.

Just then,

“Wait!”

Cappuccino stopped her.

“That won’t work!”

“It won’t?”

“Amel, this is a Dream. Trying to solve it physically won’t do any good.”

“Awakened Abilities work. They work really well. I know because I’ve tried it.”

“But all you know how to do is destroy.”

Well, that was true.

Awakened Abilities were more potent in the [Dream World].

It wasn’t that the Awakened Ability itself was stronger, but it felt like Electricity worked better?

Anyway,

“You have another way?”

“Trust me. I became human for times like this.”

“….”

“Don’t worry. I told her.”

“Really?”

She looked back at Chris, who nodded.

Cappuccino tugged at her clothes.

“Lend me a sword.”

“….”

She lent her a sword from her Inventory.

She watched Cappuccino, who held the sword in reverse and stabbed it into the ground.

Then,

Crack.

A fissure burst open.

Light seeped through the crack.

Cappuccino pushed herself and the others away while the sword was still stuck in the ground.

As if telling them to go far away, she scooped Cappuccino into her arms and Leap-ed high and far away, holding the other two close.

While Leap-ing and floating in the air.

She looked down at the ground.

The ground passed quickly beneath her, but it wasn’t just the speed of Leap.

The ground was also rushing beneath her feet.

She glanced back,

And saw it.

A giant eyeball.

The environment that made up the [Dream World] was gathering towards the eyeball, forming a shape as if a ‘giant eyeball’ was placed on the ground.

Landforms gathered like pupils, becoming a green and brown eyeball.

‘The sensation is strange.’

She had clearly passed through a flat plain,

But why… did she feel this way?

Like she had jumped from that eyeball to get here. No, that was right, but… Huh? She was engulfed in an indescribable sensation.

More than that,

Crack, crack.

The sword Cappuccino had stabbed.

The fissure that started from there.

White fissures spread across the entire eyeball of landforms.

Soon, as the fissures spread throughout, the shell covering the eyeball shattered with a pop!

White sclera.

Black iris.

Empty pupil.

A real eyeball emerged in the place where the shell made of landforms had broken.

The giant eyeball moved smoothly inside a transparent membrane, looking around the sky and then scanning the ground,

Then turned towards them.

The pupil grew larger,

Then smaller,

She could see the irises wriggling.

Then, tentacles wrapped around the giant eyeball from within, becoming eyelids that protected the eyeball.

It was grotesque,

But Chris and Hong Joo-ah were disgusted but didn’t show it.

[A Strand of the Dreaming Great Devil]

Ominous black letters.

The contents of the information window hadn’t changed.

It was hard to tell the difference once they went over level 30.

The appearance was different, though.

The one in the alley seemed to have tentacles as its main body, but this one was the opposite.

The eyeball was the main body, and the tentacles were wrapping around the eyeball like its limbs.

That was clearly the core.

She could tell just by looking.

Cappuccino said.

“That’s the Dream World we were standing on just now. If you compare it to a painting, that’s the picture drawn on the paper, and what we’re standing on now is the part of the paper without the picture, like the blank space.”

Blank space.

“What are we going to do now?”

“What else? Catch it.”

The moment Amel took a step forward.

The giant eyeball glared at her.

Then, shadows fell on the blank space.

A black silhouette rose up and slammed its fist down.

She dodged with a backstep, and although it was hard to tell at a glance because it was a silhouette, that was…

[Dream of the Ultra Iron Golem]

Red letters.

It popped up for easy identification.

The identity was visible in the information window.

A phantom of the [Ultra Iron Golem].

It was marked in red letters, but it had been quite a while since they caught that thing, and it was still red?

She tilted her head, but it was in black letters on the 27th floor, so it seemed about right.

“Is it red based on my current standards?”

She didn’t realize it was such a weakling.

In her memory, it was a very tough opponent…

The recollection came.

She caught it.

She vertically slashed the [Dream of the Ultra Iron Golem], splitting it all the way to the core.

Chris also caught a lion-like shadow, and Hong Joo-ah also defeated a human shadow.

Chris said.

“It seems to be summoning monsters we caught in the past as shadows.”

“It’s funny that it’s trying to stop us with just that. But can I catch that? I thought of a technique the other day.”

Hong Joo-ah raised her hand and insisted on going first.

They weren’t exactly planning to take turns, but since she wanted to go first, she yielded the first move to Hong Joo-ah.

As she took a few steps forward,

A human shadow.

[Dream of the High Knight]

Dark red letters.

The [Dream of the High Knight] rose up, and next to it, the [Dream of the High Knight] rose up in the same way, repeating.

Up to 30 [Dream of the High Knight] rose up, blocking Hong Joo-ah’s path.

When thinking about what the criteria for the monsters appearing as shadows were.

———.

A heat haze rippled from Hong Joo-ah’s body.

She stretched out both hands towards the [Dream of the High Knight].

The tips of her fingers shone one by one, igniting a heat haze with a high refractive index. Even the light from the heat turned on brightly.

Hong Joo-ah, who had gathered both hands in a posture to emit an energy wave.

Soon, she crossed both hands,

And heat rays were drawn out.

As she crossed both hands again,

Ten strands of heat rays became whips and flew towards the [Dream of the High Knight].

The heat rays that had cut down buildings in one fell swoop were drawn out in ten strands, and the [Dream of the High Knight] were cut down like mere soldiers.

Some managed to dodge through the gaps in the heat rays and charged in,

But Amel slashed down the [Dream of the High Knight] on the left,

And Chris smashed the [Dream of the High Knight] on the right with her fists.

“Thanks. But even if you didn’t protect me, their swords wouldn’t have pierced me!”

She swung the heat rays with all her might again.

And ran forward.

“Get out of the way..!”

She reduced the ten heat rays to two.

As Hong Joo-ah ran out, the shadow monsters released new entities.

Hong Joo-ah’s.

Chris’s.

Amel’s.

And,

[Evil Dragon]

Was that Cappuccino?

Well, whatever.

She followed Hong Joo-ah, protected her, and defeated the shadow monsters.

And,

The giant eyeball.

Looking straight ahead, it had come close enough to block half of her entire field of vision.

At that moment, Hong Joo-ah drew out all ten heat rays and swung them with all her might.

The heat rays flew quickly.

The giant eyeball tried to defend against the heat rays with its tentacles, but,

Swish-

Each of those heat rays was a Ray that had cut down buildings like tofu in the [Duel Arena].

The heat rays, which flew wildly like whips according to Hong Joo-ah’s hand and arm movements, crossed, twisted, and created complex patterns, grazing the giant eyeball.

Digging in deeply,

Digging in deeply,

Digging in deeply,

The heat rays flew in layers, cutting and cutting and cutting the giant eyeball.

The tentacles flew towards Hong Joo-ah in the middle, but were cut by the heat rays.

The power was strong, but Hong Joo-ah’s appearance of wielding the heat rays was slightly comical.

The body movements themselves were amateur… no, worse than an average person, but what she was doing was chopping up an eyeball as big as a mountain.

Every time the heat rays cut the giant eyeball and a piece of it popped out, the size of the eyeball decreased by that much volume.

The number of shadow monsters increased more and more,

But Amel was in the [Duel Arena], and Chris had [Geass]. They had become much stronger than when they last defeated a monster.

Among the shadow monsters,

[Chief Ogre]

Black letters.

[Elder Treant]

Ominous black letters.

Even those appeared, but they were defeated with ease, even though it took some time.

Even though it was just a Strand of the Great Devil, the monster with ominous black letters, the [Elder Treant], appeared in more than 10, coming to interfere with Hong Joo-ah.

But still,

Heat rays.

As the physiques of the [Elder Treant] entered Hong Joo-ah’s eyes, the heat rays covered the [Elder Treant], annihilating them with a single whip.

“….”

She was going to deal with them properly, but they were annihilated too embarrassingly.

‘After all, I have to acknowledge the power.’

The heat rays struck the giant eyeball dazzlingly.

Each time they struck, the heat rays dug in deeply.

It was just too thick to dig all the way through.

The fragments that were carved out to a sufficient depth and crossed reduced the volume of the giant eyeball.

Seeing that, was it just her imagination that she thought, perhaps…?

‘After all, that was developed to catch me, right?’

No matter how she looked at it, it was a technique designed to catch nimble opponents rather than giant monsters like the giant eyeball.

The heat rays clearly had the advantage of concentrating power, but there was also waste.

Hong Joo-ah’s main force, the explosion, had even more of a shockwave, so the overall damage was higher than the heat rays.

Explosions dealt damage in a plane, while heat rays had a linear attack range.

In that sense, Hong Joo-ah, who was all about firepower, had created something that could be called a personal technique for the first time. She honestly didn’t know if that was growth.

Still,

She looked at Hong Joo-ah,

She looked at Chris,

She also looked at Cappuccino.

‘And me.’

She thought the member composition was extravagant.

If the [Dream World] hadn’t split into large and small parts, they might have gone to catch the Great Devil’s main body as it was.

No, they would have gone to catch it.

It was just a shame that the giant eyeball was a lizard’s tail.

Amel called out to Hong Joo-ah.

“Joo-ah.”

“What?!”

“Just try attacking with an explosion.”

“I’m catching it well now, though?”

“The thing you’re using now seems more suitable for catching people than large monsters like that. Is there someone you want to catch?”

“….”

“Looks like there is.”

“Um…”

‘After all, is it me?’

She was targeted by Hong Joo-ah.

How nice.

The fact that she had become a threat to a world ranker was subtly pleasing.

“Anyway, do it like you usually do. Simple is best. You’re strongest when you’re simple because you’re strong from the start.”

“….”

“I guarantee it, as someone who’s fought you.”

The heat rays had their advantages, but they required the skill to manipulate them.

But Hong Joo-ah had no dexterity.

At least now, she was no different from a beginner.

The heat rays, which were developed to catch and carve up individuals, had instead created room for penetration due to her low skill.

She advised her like that.

“….”

Hong Joo-ah withdrew the heat rays.

She clasped her hands together,

And compressed the flames.

Simple is best.

Hong Joo-ah lifted the compressed flames with both hands and threw them with all her might.

The compressed flames, which flew far away with magical power, flew higher than the giant eyeball and fell in a parabola.

The giant eyeball followed the compressed flames with its eyes.

It felt the Magical Power imbued in the compressed flames.

The tentacles, sensing the threat, flew towards the compressed flames.

The moment they touched to eliminate it,

It shone.

Blinding flash.

Heavy shockwave.

The tentacles were torn to shreds by the explosion, and even the giant eyeball was caught up in the explosion.

The wind pressure from the explosion pressed down on her body, and only the results of the explosion remained quietly in the place where the flash had passed.

There were three more explosions.

Even so,

[A Strand of the Dreaming Great Devil]

It didn’t die.

How persistent.

It was just shrinking as much as the reduced volume, without any vital points. The form in which it received damage was not one that could kill it instantly.

The giant eyeball had now shrunk to the size of a house.

The eyeball smoothly rolled its pupils and looked at them.

Their eyes met.

Should she stab it to death?

Before she could pick up her sword,

Hong Joo-ah stepped forward.

“I’ll finish it.”

Go ahead.

Hong Joo-ah drew out the heat rays.

She wrapped them around the giant eyeball,

And crossed her hands again and again.

The heat rays grazed the giant eyeball and turned it into a sliced steak.

“Hmph.”

Only then did Hong Joo-ah snort and withdraw the heat rays with a refreshed face.

It seemed that she wanted a result like a sliced steak when she developed the heat rays.

“….”

‘So, she wanted to cut me up and kill me like that?’

How cruel.

Anyway,

She searched the information window.

Even a piece the size of a fist could still be alive, so she examined it,

And found it.

“What are you doing?”

“Give this to me.”

Cappuccino clenched the last piece of the giant eyeball in her fist.

“If you give it to me, I’ll open a Gate to another Dream World.”

“Is that possible?”

“It’s possible.”

“Really?”

She placed her hand on Cappuccino’s green hair.

“So, me taming you was for this moment?”

“You could say that.”

Still, Hong Joo-ah had caught almost all of it, so she asked about the ownership of the drop item, and Hong Joo-ah said she didn’t need it.

That’s how Cappuccino got the giant eyeball, and with the power she gained from eating it, she interfered with the [Dream World] and opened a Gate.

Beyond the Gate was another [Dream World], as she had heard.

To put it bluntly,

She was getting tired of it.

She was getting bored.

Should she quit soon?

‘Sigh.’

Because the forms of resistance in the other [Dream World] were all similar.

The forces of the [Ancient Nightmare].

The giant eyeball.

The tentacle eyelids.

The shadow monsters.

Everything flowed the same.

She didn’t like grinding.

She didn’t like Musou either.

When Hong Joo-ah stepped forward, she destroyed the giant eyeball with a big explosion.

When Chris stepped forward, she flew like lightning and smashed it with her Nuclear Fist.

Amel didn’t step forward.

Knowing that she lacked destructive power compared to the two, she prioritized efficiency and entrusted the subjugation of the giant eyeball to Chris and Hong Joo-ah.

Instead, she defeated the shadow monsters, but it was just trash mobs, trash mobs, trash mobs.

Did the super-large monsters only have the form of attacking by using their subordinates?

The impression that it was a waste of time grew larger and larger.

Still, she continued the subjugation with hope.

The next giant eyeball too.

The next giant eyeball too.

The next giant eyeball too.

She plucked out the Great Devil’s hair one Strand at a time.

The reason why she was doing this work was because there was a purpose.

Great Devil.

When are you coming?

‘Is it sealed and unable to meet even in the Dream World?’

Then she would feel sorry for Chris and Hong Joo-ah.

She had made them join a boring game.

‘We’re too strong.’

The appropriate level for the [Dream World] was probably level 70.

And,

“Nom nom.”

At the end of each [Dream World], a giant eyeball the size of a fist remained,

And Cappuccino ate all of them.

“Is it good?”

“Not at all.”

She shook her head.

“But I get a lot of power when I eat it.”

“It’s not going to cause any problems, is it?”

“I’m converting it all into my power, so don’t worry. The more I eat, the more the Great Devil’s power will decrease. Then, as you wish, it won’t be able to help but come out, right?”

“Ah…”

That was true.

But,

“Was that the purpose you asked for it?”

“No, I realized it along the way.”

She giggled, saying that curiosity was stronger at first.

And the next round.

The Great Devil himself came in person.

While subjugating the giant eyeball, the giant eyeball recovered to its original size.

The tentacles began to move busily, and they attached flesh to the eyelids, creating a person’s profile.

The giant person, who raised his upper body sideways as if taking out the body hidden in the ground, lowered his head as if a person was looking down at an ant, holding the floor with his giant hand.

[Dream]

Ominous black letters.

The humanoid super-super-giant monster with the simple name [Dream] looked at them with curious eyes. The hair flowing down his shoulders fell towards them.

The falling speed seemed slow in slow motion, but as they got closer and closer, their size was comparable to the giant tentacles seen in the alley.

There were hundreds of thousands of those strands.

Destruction.

The end.

Such words were etched in her mind.