Chapter 71 – Suzu-nee’s Awakening and the “Dream World Prison”

After getting put through the wringer with that “living the opening scene” experience, the scenery shifted again. This time, we found ourselves standing in the middle of a painfully familiar landscape—the heart of Moon City.

There, as you’d expect, everyone walking the streets had their eyes wide open. A bitter irony, perfectly mirroring reality: people fully awake in the dream world while sleepwalking in the real one.

“Alright then… if we’re on the moon after the opening, that probably means we haven’t reached episode five yet. Which means the heroine, Dr. Alice, should be running around escaping from terrorists and hired mercenaries about now.” (Yumeji)

Lute and the heroine steal the protagonist mecha and escape Moon City in episode five. That much I was sure of.

The hero starts by trying to steal the latest mecha with his mercenary buddies, but Alice’s noble ideals—stopping a war that grew out of technological conflict—move his heart, and he chooses to help her instead. That’s the kind of hype early-game development we’re talking about…

“Hearing just that part, it sounds like a normal serious show. But slap Kamu-chan in the role of Alice, and it looks completely different… I mean, that girl’s whole philosophy is basically ‘hot guys are the best!'” (Yumeji)

“Let’s just forget about that for now… If we dwell on it, even the original story we genuinely enjoyed in reality won’t feel the same.” (Amane)

Yeah, let’s really just forget it. Thinking about that would ruin even the authentic story I’d been enjoying back in the real world.

“For now, let’s stick to the original plan. You two handle the search for Dr. Alice—she’s easy to spot. As you know, the heroine’s running around with your close friend’s face—Kamui Airi’s. If you move according to the story beats I outlined from episodes one through five, she’s bound to be somewhere.” (Yumeji)

“Got it. We just need to confirm the main characters gathering around the heroine, right?” (Kagura)

“Hopefully none of them are familiar faces…” (Kagura)

Kagura-san let out a sigh, digital camera in hand.

Before entering the dream world, I’d explained the general route the heroine would take through episode five to both of them. The official site had detailed map info for Moon City, so explaining was easy enough.

Since the person who becomes a main story character—and the real-world person wearing that role—are suspects in creating this dream, I planned to have them record as many people connected to the protagonist and heroine as possible.

I’d already confirmed during the opening commotion that both of them could perceive this as a lucid dream despite being trapped in the enemy’s spell. So they’d handle this much easily.

But there was one thing bothering me.

“One thing—even if it looks like your friend Kamui-san’s in trouble, try not to intervene, okay?” (Yumeji)

“Huh? Why? Even if Kamu-chan’s in danger?” (Amane)

Amane’s brow furrowed in visible displeasure. Can’t blame her for reacting that way when told not to help a friend in need.

But Kagura-san seemed to catch what I was getting at. Her expression turned thoughtful.

“Wait… if we don’t follow the story’s flow, we won’t be able to predict what happens next… something like that?” (Kagura)

“Pretty much. Even more so if this world is faithfully recreating the actual anime.” (Yumeji)

“Hey! Don’t just nod along without me!” (Amane)

Maybe feeling left out from being the last to understand, Amane demanded an explanation with clear frustration.

Kagura-san thought for a moment before speaking.

“You know how in movies—time travel stuff—carelessly altering the past affects the future? Same logic here. Except in this case, it’s the ‘story.'” (Kagura)

“Ah… right. So if the story’s ending changes, Yumeji-kun’s knowledge of this anime becomes useless?” (Amane)

“…As a possibility.” (Yumeji)

I nodded at Amane, who seemed to understand.

I’d had plenty of lucid dreams before, and I’d taken actions outside the story more than a few times. Sometimes the story changed drastically. Other times, only small adjustments happened.

Small changes meant things like place names or destinations shifting. But drastic changes? The archenemy could become an ally. Hell, I’d even had a dream where we clearly allied with the Demon King to destroy God.

…I couldn’t say for sure the same thing would happen in this “someone’s dream world” that recreated everything down to the opening. But I still needed to set up safeguards.

“If we do nothing, saving the heroine is the protagonist’s job. No matter how dire it looks, Dr. Alice isn’t going to die in early-game Moon City. Keep that in mind.” (Yumeji)

Even if something did happen, it was just a dream. Sakaki-san had told me via Konoha-chan that there was no real-world harm.

“So… no matter what happens, we hide from terrorists and mercenaries and tail Kamu-chan from the shadows?” (Kagura)

“Exactly. Kagura-san, since you’re new to lucid dreaming, be careful. Not that I’m worried with Amane there.” (Yumeji)

“I know, I know. Today I’ll focus on sticking with Ama-chan.” (Kagura)

Kagura-san nodded at my words. Early on, people new to lucid dreaming can’t fully embrace the idea that ‘in a dream, anything is possible.’ But she had the imagination to turn into a magical girl on the fly. She’d be fine.

“So what about you, Yumeji-kun?” (Kagura)

“I’ve got something I need to check out.” (Yumeji)

*

I left the heroine chase to the girls and split off from Amane and Kagura-san. There was someone in this dream I absolutely had to confirm things with.

A place run by someone familiar to both me and Amane—even in “this world.” A shop that never once appeared in the anime during the Moon City arc.

And a person who, despite having a side gig as a mercenary—the most on-the-nose job imaginable—was completely excluded from the main cast.

I headed to Café Sword Mountain to see Suzu-nee.

“Her last name’s Kengadake—’Sword Mountain’—but here it’s Sword Mountain? Isn’t that a bit… on the nose? This naming sense.” (Yumeji)

I muttered my rude commentary at the shop sign and pushed open the café door.

“Welcome… oh, that’s rare. Alone today?” (Suzu-nee)

Suzu-nee called out to me from behind the counter. But it seemed she had another customer—an elderly man at the counter—and she went back to a serious conversation with him.

Something about “that side-job stuff.” I could tell from the atmosphere.

But that elderly man was…

“Well then, I’m counting on you. The city’s been dangerous lately.” (Elderly Man)

“Yeah, yeah, I got it. Tell the mayor to step it up, would you?” (Suzu-nee)

“…I’ll see what I can do.” (Elderly Man)

He stood up and left the shop. The way he carried himself had an air of dignity, like a seasoned old-timer with gravitas.

“Who was that?” (Yumeji)

I played dumb even though I already knew. Suzu-nee answered with a wry smile.

“A higher-up from ‘that work.’ Someone you don’t need to know about.” (Suzu-nee)

“Ah… so that’s the role he plays. The former owner.” (Yumeji)

“Huh? Wait, what…?” (Suzu-nee)

Suzu-nee’s voice showed she didn’t understand my muttering at all. But when I suddenly took her hand, her face shifted to surprise, and she lost her words.

She looked around the room for a while, then let out a sigh.

“…Ah. This is some kind of dream, isn’t it? And I’ve been caught in some kind of spell.” (Suzu-nee)

“Morning, Suzu-nee. Don’t you think the shop name’s a bit too on the nose, though?” (Yumeji)

“Don’t blame me… Even in this dream’s setting, apparently my old man came up with it. You’re not a Moon City college student, Yumeji-kun—you’re still a high schooler.” (Suzu-nee)

Right now I was asleep with the Dream Book in my hand. I’d theorized that touching someone intentionally might have the same effect as waking them with the Dream Book. Looked like I was right.

Suzu-nee, now back to her senses, understood the situation instantly and made a sour face.

I explained the current situation to her while she made me coffee—how sleepwalking had spread across the entire city in the real world.

“Can’t believe I got caught off guard… I never imagined there was someone in ‘this world’ capable of casting a Dream World Prison on this scale.” (Suzu-nee)

“Dream World Prison? Is that what’s happening right now?” (Yumeji)

The ominous ring of the term made me ask, but Suzu-nee shook her head.

“Not exactly. The Dream World Prison is a magic spell that uses someone’s dream as a medium to drag a large number of people’s consciousness into the dream world, putting them to sleep and immobilizing them. There are even stories of it being used on a large scale to slaughter helpless people.” (Suzu-nee)

Put them to sleep and slaughter them while defenseless… Just how brutal was Suzu-nee’s “past life” memory?

But something else bothered me more.

“If they’re immobilized… then in reality, everyone is going about their daily lives while asleep, right? What happens in that state?” (Yumeji)

Far from being helpless, we’d just been binge-eating at a family restaurant staffed by people in exactly that state.

Suzu-nee’s expression grew even grimmer.

“That’s probably ‘Human Dream Manipulation’ magic—controlling them while they sleep. From what you’re saying, it seems designed to avoid causing chaos in the real world. But just how much magical power would that require…?” (Suzu-nee)

“Can’t you do it?” (Yumeji)

“Of course not. I don’t know any methods for manipulating dreams. And more than that… there shouldn’t be anyone in ‘this world’ who can use magic on this scale as a human. It would take a god or a demon.” (Suzu-nee)

“A god… or a demon…” (Yumeji)

A month ago, I could have laughed off Suzu-nee saying things like that with a straight face. Now, I couldn’t laugh at all.

I was literally holding the Dream Book. The other day, I’d fought a nightmare demon—something beyond human.

“You were incredibly lucky to have awakened. Whoever created this world is meticulous, cunning, and wielding an enormous amount of magic power ‘for some purpose.’ And…” (Suzu-nee)

“And?” (Yumeji)

“How should I put this… Whoever set up this massive spell seems to know the person called ‘Tenchi Yumeji’ quite well. There are signs of it everywhere—including my role in this dream.” (Suzu-nee)

That unease had been nagging at me the whole time.

Amane was placed beside me to trap me in a sweet dream world. Suzu-nee was positioned as a mercenary with no connection to the main cast—to keep me away from the fighting. They were trying to isolate me without making it feel strange.

…Like someone knew my personality inside out. I couldn’t shake that chill.

And even realizing all this… I couldn’t muster any anger toward the culprit. That pissed me off too.

But letting myself be played any further pissed me off more.

I decided to squeeze Suzu-nee for whatever information she had as “café owner and mercenary” in this dream world.

Strange as it sounded, I only knew the story centered on the protagonist. As a “viewer,” there was no way to know the surrounding details.

But Suzu-nee crossed her arms and made a troubled face.

“Mercenaries are hired separately in scattered groups. From what you’re saying, I was probably placed in a group with no contact with this ‘protagonist’ of yours… Even the me from just now was thinking hard about how to keep you guys out of the fight.” (Suzu-nee)

I really had been marked meticulously. They were even using Suzu-nee’s professional conscientiousness against me to steer us away from the story.

“Anything’s fine at this point. Like info about your mercenary buddies, or your employer…” (Yumeji)

“Hmm? Well, when you say employer… mercenary groups on Moon City are basically hired by the mayor for their jobs.” (Suzu-nee)

“What?!” (Yumeji)

I was stunned by the casual information Suzu-nee had just dropped.

A mercenary group risking their lives for money… The protagonist Lute was originally part of one too, but the anime never went into detail about who employed them.

Moon City officially claimed neutrality between the two major factions. But the fact that the mayor was secretly working for one side wasn’t revealed until the second half of the story…

“The mayor is the employer?!” (Yumeji)

“Yeah, we took a security contract from Moon City’s mayor, Hamanaka… That old guy from earlier was the city hall contact. Now that I think about it, that was Yamaguchi-san.” (Suzu-nee)

“Hamanaka is the mayor?!” (Yumeji)

Suzu-nee gave a wry smile, but I was stunned by the sudden name drop.

This confirmed the roles of everyone in our circle who’d been pulled into this dream. But I had a sinking feeling things were about to get way more complicated.

When I told Suzu-nee that all the main characters in this dream were my friends, she let out an understanding “Ah…”

“Come to think of it, Yamaguchi-san also mentioned that the Flame’s Last Stand crew had taken a contract and were on the move. He told me to keep an eye on them so they didn’t screw anything up.” (Suzu-nee)

“The hell kind of name is that? They mercenaries too?” (Yumeji)

Suzu-nee nodded lightly at my exasperated question.

“Yeah. A bunch that does sloppy work and causes trouble everywhere. Their leader, Kaguya 91, is especially self-centered. Absolutely not suited for security. They’ve got a terrible reputation in Moon City. But apparently, the mayor hired them to ‘secure a certain doctor who stole information from a research lab and is on the run.'” (Suzu-nee)

“Secure… the doctor?” (Yumeji)

That job description… Wasn’t that exactly the same contract the protagonist’s original mercenary group took? To capture Dr. Alice?

The anime never revealed the name of the group Lute betrayed. Were parts of this dream world just filled in arbitrarily?

“…Wait. The leader’s name is Kaguya 91?” (Yumeji)

“Huh? Yeah. A totally flashy, self-centered lowlife who mistakes having multiple girlfriends as a status symbol.” (Suzu-nee)

As Suzu-nee indignantly described him… I had a really bad feeling about this.

Considering this was the moon, a name like Kaguya made some sense. But unfortunately, that name left a terrible impression on me.

And 91… Ninety-one… Kyuu-ichi… Yuichi!

That bastard’s face floated up in my mind along with a wave of disgust.

No, it wasn’t strange for that playboy to be in this dream. After all, the entire city’s population was trapped in here.

But still…

At school, the girls made an effort not to show their discomfort around him, trying to keep things smooth. From an outsider’s perspective, they seemed on decent terms.

But in reality, those two girls harbored even more disgust for him than I did. And now that I knew the heroine (Kamui-san) was being chased by those guys…

“Ohhh, I might have screwed up…” (Yumeji)