Chapter 70 – Serious Problems for the Surrounding Area Caused by the Production

70: Serious Problems for the Surrounding Area Caused by the Production
It’s genuinely unsettling—having all the sounds of daily life around you but not a single human voice.

Walking through town was bad enough, but coming home to find my parents and little sister going about their everyday routines with their eyes closed, not saying a single word… that brought a fear I couldn’t put into words.

But there were two girls who felt a different kind of fear from the bottom of their hearts—not the same as mine.

“We did it… I’m terrified of the scale tomorrow…” (Amane)

“That was careless of me… If only I’d stopped at one parfait back then…” (Kagura)

In the middle of a horror scenario straight out of a nightmare, they’re worried about tomorrow’s weigh-in? I don’t even know what to say to that!

At this very moment, I’m talking from my room through the window to Amane, Kagura-san, and Konoha-chan.

By the way, Kagura-san is staying over at Amane’s place tonight for a sleepover.

I didn’t know this, but apparently the “Three Goddesses” are always having sleepovers at someone’s house, and on weekends they’d have pajama parties late into the night…

Hmm, the girls in their pajamas seen through the window look divine…

But today wasn’t for a pajama party—there was an important purpose.

“Alright, you two. We’re going into the dream world with ‘Shared Dream’ now, so make sure you hold Konoha-chan’s hand tight. Konoha-chan, I’m counting on you for the guard.” (Yumeji)

“Got it! Leave it to me!” (Konoha)

Right now Konoha-chan isn’t in her usual little fox form but in her blonde bob-cut kemonomimi girl style… and the goddesses, excited by her adorableness, had dressed her in children’s pajamas.

Oh no… two high school girls and a little girl in pajamas… too precious…

“Now then, both of you—especially you, Kagura-san, since this is your first time—when you enter the dream, make sure you’re conscious of the fact that YOU are dreaming. If we dive into the dream world that created this sleepwalking state and you can’t realize it’s a lucid dream, things are going to get complicated.” (Yumeji)

“Got it. So if we get caught, we’ll end up sleepwalking again too, right…” (Amane)

“O-okay. Um… can I really move freely in a dream like you say?” (Kagura)

As expected, Amane seems relaxed, probably because she’s used to the dream world, but Kagura-san looks a bit flustered, it being her first time.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry! Once you get used to it, you can fly through the sky, become a hero of justice, or a legendary warrior!” (Amane)

“For real!? Then can I do horror movies and battle action too!?” (Kagura)

But Amane’s words seemed to spark Kagura-san’s curiosity more than her nervousness, and her eyes immediately started glittering.

Something tells me when a third member joins this group, things are going to get terrifying… but I want to believe it’s just my imagination.

After our family restaurant meeting, we decided to invade the dream world that had swallowed up the people of the city, smoke out the suspicious figure, and identify the culprit.

But if we just fell asleep normally, we’d definitely be trapped in the “dream world” again and wouldn’t be able to maintain our real-world sense of self.

I’m an exception since I have the “Dream Book” that automatically protects me from the dream’s curse, but the other two aren’t so lucky.

So while they sleep, Konoha-chan will create a localized barrier to guard them from the dream’s control… that’s the plan.

…Honestly, if I took Konoha-chan’s role, it’d save us the trouble… but there’s no way I’m bold enough to sleep sandwiched between two girls (beautiful ones at that), and me entering that sacred space would be like stomping into a sanctuary with muddy shoes!

So as usual, I aimed the phoenix crest of the “Dream Book” toward the window from my room… and today, I decided to activate the “Shared Dream” while keeping a firm hold on it.

…Those two or three hours of sensing my female classmates taking a bath together, changing into pajamas, and giggling through the window felt oddly lonely… but that’s that.

“Sorry, Yumeji, but without me here you could’ve cuddled right up to Amacchi. I’m borrowing her for the night!” (Kagura)

“K-Kagu-chan!?” (Amane)

“Don’t say things like that!! Now I’m going to start having weird fantasies!!” (Yumeji)

・
・
・

Falling asleep with the Dream Book is always abrupt.

The moment I think “I’m going to sleep” while holding the book, I’m already entering the dream world. Amane, who indirectly experiences lucid dreaming alongside me, seems to be the same way… lately we’ve even been matching our bedtimes.

So we can handle sudden scene changes…

But when I realized I’d entered the dream world this time, unlike the lucid dreams I’d had before, it was pitch black—an empty void with nothing at all.

“What is this place? The problematic dream was supposed to be a moon city…” (Yumeji)

“It’s totally dark… where are we?” (Amane)

“Hey, is this what lucid dreaming is supposed to be? It’s not what I expected…” (Kagura)

But as we voiced our questions, music started playing from somewhere…

And then the dark world gradually began to brighten.

The scene that appeared was… a cityscape that looked like it had been caught in the aftermath of war, with high-rise buildings reduced to mountains of rubble. Standing alone on top of it all was a single boy… staring up at the sky with melancholic eyes—that guy was…

“Yumeji!? There’s someone over there…” (Amane)

“Could that be the main character…” (Amane)

Kagura-san, who hasn’t watched the anime, didn’t seem to recognize him, but Amane, who’s been watching even though she joined partway through, apparently knew who that guy was.

“Yeah, that’s the protagonist, ‘Lute’… but what’s he looking at?” (Yumeji)

The protagonist of this season’s robot anime, ‘Lute’, was a mercenary hired for money. The story begins when he meets ‘Dr. Alice’ while stealing the cutting-edge mecha she created.

If I think of the dream as following that anime, it’s not strange for him to be here… but why’s he staring at empty space…?

But just then, the quiet melody that had been playing from somewhere suddenly shifted into an energetic, stylish tune with the start of “lyrics,” and the moment the protagonist struck a pose, the anime’s ‘title’ appeared in the void—and then the protagonist’s mecha suddenly appeared!?

“W-woooooah!?” (Yumeji)

“Kyaaaaa!? What, what, what!?” (Amane)

“Watch out!?” (Kagura)

The moment we nearly crashed into it, we frantically dodged, but Lute didn’t seem to care and took Dr. Alice’s hand—who had also appeared out of nowhere—and climbed into the cockpit.

“Ah!? Isn’t that Kamu-chan? Hey, Kamu—” (Amane)

But just as Amane tried to call out to her, the scene shifted… as if the entire world had changed, and we’d been warped to a completely different place.

“Whuh?” (Yumeji)

“Huh?” (Amane)

“Hey, what the heck is this!?” (Kagura)

And what appeared was a massive swarm of humanoid robot weapons—wave after wave after wave…

I couldn’t tell which were enemies and which were allies, but they didn’t seem to care about making that distinction either—they just started firing all their weapons in random directions.

Ratatatatat… Boom boom boom… Bang bang crash… BOOOOOM…

“RUUUUN!!” (Yumeji)

“What the hell is this!? They’re shooting at everything—kyaaaaaa!?” (Amane)

“Where have they even been aiming this whole time!? What’s with these random attacks!?” (Kagura)

We ran around in a panic, chased by bullets and beam weapons and bombs and every kind of ordnance imaginable, with no idea where any of it was being aimed.

And all the while, the stylish BGM and female vocalist’s voice continued… w-wait, could this be…!?

I realized the truth behind these “attacks meant only for show” and went pale.

“It’s the opening! This is the opening scene from that anime!! The one where they just blast everything indiscriminately for dramatic effect!!” (Yumeji)

“Wha-whaat!? The opening?” (Kagura)

Kagura-san gave me a look like ‘What are you even saying?’ but as if to confirm my conclusion, the scene suddenly shifted again to a character introduction shot with a special mecha that completely ignored perspective.

Kudo was among those characters, making a smug face, which was oddly irritating…

But my realization made Amane go pale and scream.

“Wait a second!? In openings for robot battle shows like this, they usually just collect cool scenes to build up viewer expectations, right!? You mean until the song ends…” (Amane)

“……That indiscriminate attack isn’t going to stop… that’s what this means.” (Yumeji)

While we stood there understanding the situation, cold sweat pouring endlessly… the smug-face character parade seemed to end, and the staged attack scenes resumed, transitioning to a shot of the protagonist’s mecha flying through a barrage of fire.

…And of course, stray bullets came raining down on us.

KABOOOOOM!!

“Even if you’re faithfully recreating the anime, this is going too far! This is exactly why I can’t stand people who demand realism!! KYAAAAA!!” (Kagura)

I couldn’t come up with a retort to Kagura-san’s complaint in this situation.

I never imagined the dream world’s recreation would include an opening sequence either… What’s with this unnecessary realism!?

But still, this was undoubtedly a dream. I shifted my thinking and decided the priority was to focus on protecting ourselves.

“Both of you, this is a dream! Imagine something—anything—that can keep you safe in this attack!! We just need to hold out for about another minute until the opening ends!” (Yumeji)

“Ah, right!! Now that you mention it… okaaay…” (Amane)

“Huh!? You can’t just spring that on me… uhhh, something that can get me out of this pinch…” (Kagura)

At my words, both of them seemed to think of something, and their bodies were enveloped in light… And I imagined something that could absolutely withstand this situation…

Time-wise, it was probably about a minute and thirty seconds… anime openings usually end around then, but to us, that time felt like an hour, like an eternity.

The opening finally ended with a scene of the protagonist sticking his head out of the mecha and taking the hand of the heroine, ‘Dr. Alice’… and we watched that scene buried under rubble.

“What the hell was that… When I saw this dream before, this kind of scene never happened even once…” (Yumeji)

Still unsatisfied, I crawled out of the rubble and flipped open the ‘Dream Book.’

I was a little surprised to see that my hand had become that of a dragon covered in strong scales… but apparently, that’s what I instinctively thought of as something strong enough to withstand the attack.

Not quite what I’d call huge, but close to that green guy from American comics?

“Phew… that was rough…” (Amane)

Complaining as she pushed the rubble aside with a clatter, Amane appeared. She was clad in her signature hero suit.
I guess for her, this really is the definitive ‘strong form’ she goes for.

“Cough, cough… aah, is it finally over?” (Kagura)

And then Kagura-san appeared… Honestly, I was so taken aback I couldn’t speak, but Amane, still in her suit, covered her mouth and was clearly laughing.

“Kagu-chan… you’re so cute!!” (Amane)

“Eh… wha!?” (Kagura)

Her outfit was… well, it’s something you’d see on Sunday mornings, like Amane, but more aimed at girls, I guess? More like a magical girl…

And she wasn’t the main character, but the older-sister-type character in the group—I have to admit they really nailed the appeal there…

Kagura-san seemed to have just realized she was wearing that kind of outfit and started panicking.

“Wh-wh-wh-what is this!? Why am I in such an embarrassing getup…” (Kagura)

“I think it’s the result of imagining something strong that you have an attachment to, in order to survive?” (Yumeji)

As I said that, a pleasant breeze blew through.

“Hehe…” (Amane)

And when Amane laughed in her hero suit, Kagura-san turned bright red and started flailing.

“I-it’s not what you think!! I don’t have any special attachment to this or anything!!” (Kagura)

“Aww, so that’s why you never join in our robot discussions. I see, I see~ Kagu-chan likes that kind of stuff~ You could’ve just told me~~” (Amane)

“I said that’s not it!!” (Kagura)

A transformed hero joyfully hugging and teasing a magical girl… it was quite surreal.

Is it really a good thing to have your hidden sides exposed like this?

Leaving the two to their commotion, I flipped through the book and found a line under the ‘Shared Dream’ section, letting out a groan.

Notes on using ‘Shared Dream’ to invade another person’s dream.

Unlike those who were originally in the dream, since you’re aware this is someone else’s dream, the way you see the dream changes slightly.

There are benefits and drawbacks to being able to see things that were previously invisible through understanding.

“There are times when being fooled by illusions from start to finish is mentally easier,” the predecessor wrote.

“…So because we realized this dream equals that anime, we ended up having to sit through an opening we didn’t need to see?” (Yumeji)

People with strong psychic powers often say ‘it’s better not to see’… but I don’t know, something about this feels like they shouldn’t be lumped together…

But Amane, who seemed to have heard my exhausted muttering, stopped teasing Kagura-san and muttered something ominous.

“…Wait, Yumeji-kun. So because we became conscious of it, we got dragged into the opening scene?” (Amane)

“Seems that way… why?” (Yumeji)

“Well then… as long as we’re in this dream, there’s no way we’ll have to sit through the opening and ending every thirty minutes, right…?” (Amane)

I gasped at Amane’s horrifyingly ominous prediction.

“Haha… hahahaha… no way… that kind of thing every time…” (Yumeji)

A full-scale barrage of attacks every thirty minutes?

Cold sweat started pouring at the thought of that worst-case scenario…

But Amane’s bad omen of a prediction wasn’t over yet… an even worse future scenario was unfolding.

“And in that anime, when the opening changes in the second half, the scene moves to space, with massive armies shooting at each other, and eventually…” (Amane)

“!!! We need to hurry, you two! We have to identify the culprit and end this dream world before the opening changes—we’re cancelling it after one cour!” (Yumeji)

There’s absolutely no way I’m letting this transition to a second-season opening that ends with an explosion cliffhanger!!

“Don’t shout things that would get you killed if the fans heard you. Though in this case, I agree.” (Amane)