Chapter 122 |
Dreamer II
It had been so long that I couldn't remember, but before I became an awakener, in my first cycle, I must have been a pretty decent young man.
Smoking? I didn't do it. Drinking? Not really.
Of course, I never got addicted to gambling either. Except for the fact that I re-rolled my life over 1,000 times to see the best ending.
-Oppa. I'm curious. I want to go inside.
"Hold on."
Therefore, even though Ha-yul tugged at my sleeve as soon as she saw the casino, I, a morally upright young man, didn't give in easily.
Instead, I drew my sword first.
A single slash.
Rumble—
Dust rose from all directions. A part of the casino building, which had started illegal operations in the void, collapsed without resistance.
"......! ......!"
Ha-yul jumped around excitedly beside me, but it was just a silent scream.
No matter how curious I was, it was crucial to test whether 'physical force worked' on the opponent.
It wasn't just because I was the type of TRPG player who would suggest to the Game Master, "Can I fetch gasoline and burn down the house from the outside?" before entering a suspicious mansion.
Simply determining if physical force was effective allowed me to gauge the danger level of the void and the monsters.
I calmly observed the reaction of that 'casino anomaly.'
"Hiieeeeek!"
And then I witnessed an astonishing sight.
Tiny creatures came rushing out from the casino entrance, shrieking and flailing.
"The headquarters is collapsing!"
"Hiieeek! An earthquake? Is it an earthquake?"
"That's impossible! Our revolutionary front base was built in the safest area of the Korean Peninsula, considering all possible natural disasters."
"But an earthquake is happening!"
"Comrade 107! How can you deny the reality of a disaster happening right before our eyes with your petty bourgeois attitude?"
"I cannot endure self-criticism anymore."
"Hiiek! Comrades! Please, no purging!"
They were none other than the Tutorial Fairies.
The avatars of the Fairy King, a subordinate of the Outer God Infinite Void. In short, they were just imitations of imitations, rushing out to repair the building.
'...Why are they here again?'
I was dumbfounded. I sheathed my cane-sword and approached the fairies.
Tap, tap. I tapped the shoulder of the nearest fairy.
"Hey."
"Hoeh? Is it a human guest? Sorry, but due to a sudden earthquake disaster, our establishment is temporarily... heeeek? Undertaker!"
The fairy flipped over. Other fairies, who were on ladders holding hammers and tools, all looked this way simultaneously.
"Undertaker? Why? Why is the Undertaker here?"
"The Nightmare of Busan Station!"
"The Tyrant of Baekhwa Girls' High!"
"Comrade 107! What is this? Didn't you assure us that this place would never be discovered?"
"Hiyyyyyak! Run! Run away! If we get caught by that bastard again, our whole race will be annihilated!"
The fairies scattered in all directions, but it wasn't a very smart move. Sometimes, in RPG battles, the 'Run Away' command doesn't work, and this was one of those times.
"Ha-yul."
-Yes.
Spider silk shot out from Ha-yul's fingertips.
Shortly after, all 27 fairies were wrapped in spider silk and delivered in front of me.
"Hiek, hieek..."
"Hey. Weren't you all exterminated along with the Fairy King when Infinite Void was sealed? What are you doing hiding in this backwater?"
The fairies trembled.
"The Fairy King was just our oppressor...! We never truly submitted to that creature!"
"Oh. So, you mean there's a faction for the king and a revolutionary faction? But wasn't that just part of your setting? Are you still living with that revolutionary stuff?"
"Saying it's just a setting! No! We are very serious!"
The following fairy's words were quite shocking.
"We originally lived well without the Fairy King! But that terrifying entity created the Fairy King to oppress us!"
"...Huh?"
"Now that the Fairy King has perished, we have finally achieved the long-desired liberation of our fairies! However, due to prolonged oppression, our national capital is limited... Thus, we reluctantly entered the gambling business to raise revolutionary funds...!"
"Revolution is innocent!"
After gathering the suspects' testimonies and information, I reached a startling truth.
"So, you mean you had nothing to do with the Outer God Infinite Void, but Infinite Void created the Fairy King and just forcefully ruled over you?"
"Exactly!"
"So, the division between those who followed the Fairy King and those who didn't was real... There were royalists and republicans?"
"Have you been listening with your ears or a toilet bowl, human!"
Goodness.
Yes, in fact, the 'Tutorial Fairies' had nothing to do with Infinite Void. Infinite Void had created the puppet dictator Fairy King to oppress the fairies.
It was a form of colonial rule.
However, after I and Cheon Yo-hwa exterminated Infinite Void, the situation drastically changed. The fairies suddenly found themselves liberated and scattered everywhere, turning into guerrillas with a determination never to be dominated by a colossal anomaly again.
The casino established here... the so-called 'Dream Casino' was a business run by guerrilla fairies.
The reason for its operation? To build a fairy anomaly community by the fairies, for the fairies, and of the fairies!
'Indeed, all the anomalies at Baekhwa Girls' High were ghosts, but the Tutorial Fairies felt somewhat out of place.'
Who would've thought such a secret was hidden?
As I marveled at the wealth of information I didn't know about the world, Ha-yul jumped up and down next to me.
-Oppa. Oppa.
"Hmm?"
-Over there. I want to look around.
Apparently, Ha-yul had been very interested in the casino from the beginning. Well, since the danger had been confirmed to be almost non-existent.
"Hey, little ones. Give us a tour of how this casino operates."
"Hieek. That's nonsense! We can't reveal the interior of our revolutionary base to a bourgeois oppressor...!"
"Should I call Cheon Yo-hwa and ask her to put you in the hourglass where Infinite Void was sealed?"
"A tactical retreat for strategic advancement is understandable even among proletarian comrades...!"
We entered the casino.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the missing members of the caravan were found inside. More precisely, not in the casino but in the hotel built above the casino, where all three were fast asleep.
"What? Why are they all sleeping? Is this your doing?"
"Hieek...! T-This was done with mutual consent! At our casino, we exchange the chips that guests win for dreams instead of money!"
"Exchange for dreams?"
"Yes! Look at our menu...!"
A fairy pulled something out of its bosom. It was a large menu. It was far too big to fit into the fairy's body, but instead of nitpicking, I decided to read it.
――――――――――
♪♫*♪~Feels like walking in a dream~♪♫*♪
Welcome to our 『DREAM』 casino ٩(♡ε♡ )۶! We sincerely welcome you!◕‿◕)⼃
――――――――――
Rip.
I reflexively tore up the menu.
"Hieek? What are you doing!"
"Sorry. It's my instinct..."
"Is your instinct to tear up menus when you enter a store? That's scary! We put a lot of effort into making these with good paper, so don't waste them!"
Hmm.
I calmly received another menu and read it again. This time, for the sake of my mental health, I excluded the emoticons and only narrated the contents of the menu plainly.
――――――――――
[Dream Casino Guide]
*Welcome!
*At 'Dream Casino,' guests can enjoy various games using Fairy Coins. Fairy Coins are purchased with your 'time.'
*Rate: 1 hour = 1 Fairy Coin.
*To use the entertainment facilities in this casino, you must bet at least 1 Fairy Coin.
*Fairy Coins can be exchanged for the following rewards:
- 10 Fairy Coins: Enjoy a comfortable dream for a night. Guaranteed sound sleep. Dream content is unspecified. You can freely set the time from a minimum of 2 hours to a maximum of 24 hours.
- 50 Fairy Coins: Enhance a specific sense in the dream. Vision, smell, taste, etc. The memory of the sense is likely to remain relatively clear after the dream ends.
- 100 Fairy Coins: Choose a specific location in the dream. Any space within 100 square meters (e.g., a top-class restaurant before the end times). Movement beyond the set range is impossible. You can decorate the scenery seen through the windows for 10 Fairy Coins. Please consult with a staff member for detailed settings!
- 1,000 Fairy Coins: Choose a person to appear in the dream. Even someone who no longer exists in reality is possible.
- 2,000 Fairy Coins: Set the relationship between yourself and the person in the dream. Please consult with a staff member for detailed settings!
- 3,000 Fairy Coins: Set your own appearance in the dream. Change of appearance, social status, forgery of resume, gender change, age change are all possible. Please consult with a staff member for detailed settings!
.
.
.
- 10,000,000,000 Fairy Coins: Guarantee a perfect lucid dream. Promises senses and intellect identical to reality!
This item is a membership. Customers who exchange for this item will be immediately upgraded to 'VVIP' status, and the 'lucid dream' will be guaranteed when using other products.
- 100,000,000,000 Fairy Coins: Freely set the flow of time felt in the dream. Do you want immortality? Live for 100 years in a dream during 1 second in reality! If you get tired of the dream life, you can wake up immediately.
This item is a membership. Customers who exchange for this item will be immediately upgraded to 'VVVIP' status, and the 'time speed control' will be guaranteed when using other products.
*Note: The maximum number of coins that guests can exchange at once is 9,000 Fairy Coins.
*Note: This establishment may demand the repayment of the principal at midnight sharp every day. If you cannot repay the principal, your time will be confiscated for the amount of the missing coins.
How the confiscated time is used is entirely up to this establishment. We wish you safe and healthy gambling.
――――――――――
"......"
I was at a loss for words for a moment.
There were so many issues to address that I didn't know where to start. But first, as a regressor, I asked the question I had to resolve.
"Hey, do you guys... have the ability to manipulate dreams?"
"Hoeh? Of course."
"We are dream fairies."
"We couldn't do our main job due to the oppression of the Fairy King, but our true name is Baku[1], the Dream Eaters."
Shock! A truth revealed in the 205th cycle!
The true identity of the Tutorial Fairies was Baku, the Dream Eaters, also known as Succubi and Incubi!
-Fairy Coin. 9000 coins, wish to exchange. Exciting.
Next to me, Ha-yul, who seemed to have absorbed some Japanese culture, was burning with the spirit of Pachinko. I flicked her forehead and looked at the fairies.
"What happens to human customers whose time is confiscated?"
"Hoeh. This happens."
Suddenly.
One of the caravan members who had been lying on the hotel bed suddenly stood up. Ha-yul, startled, shrank back.
The member was a middle-aged man. His beard was overgrown, likely because he had been trapped in the void for days.
He muttered with a vacant expression, his eyes glazed over.
"Hoeh, hoeh, Fairy number 5000... reporting my name and rank..."
"......"
Silence.
Both Ha-yul and I looked at the fairies, demanding an explanation.
The Tutorial Fairies, no, the Baku, tilted their heads with a clueless expression.
"Hoeh. That customer took out a full loan of 9000 coins and lost it all in baccarat in just one day. Now he has to work as a comrade of our Fairy Revolution Club for the next 10 years!"
"That's right!"
"Hoeh! We will keep advancing without stopping until the day of revolution!"
This is insane.
It's a breeding ground for anomalies.
Footnotes:
[1] Baku (獏 or 貘) are Japanese supernatural beings that are said to devour nightmares. They originate from the chinese Mo. According to legend, they were created by the spare pieces that were left over when the gods finished creating all other animals. They have a long history in Japanese folklore and art, and more recently have appeared in manga and anime.
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