"Strange… everyone seems to be engrossed in their dreams. No, according to this universe's terminology, it should be 'Memoria.' Let me use my phone to search for what this place is."
After a temporal-spatial shift, Raiden Mei and Xin Yu arrived in a peculiar star system. The two immediately sensed they were in a world that blurred the lines between illusion and reality. It felt as if, by merely extending their thoughts, they could enter a dream world.
Xin Yu used the phone given to him by the Astral Express crew to connect to the signal and, after some searching, learned that he was in Penacony, the Planet of Festivities. Here, everyone could enter a beautiful dream, and within that dream, everyone could enjoy whatever they desired.
And this place belonged to the faction known as "The Family" of Harmony. It was also a major entertainment hub in the galaxy, a place outsiders would move heaven and earth, even spend their entire fortune, just to enter.
Xin Yu frowned slightly as he looked at the multitude of positive reviews and praises popping up on his search engine.
Although he didn't know just how good Penacony's dreams were, Xin Yu considered himself somewhat experienced in this regard. After all, he could make people indulge in dreams forever. Even the Yae Sakura from the original history, because he had given her a beautiful dream, preferred to remain immersed in it until death.
If the dreams of this Planet of Festivities were truly that wonderful, did that mean some people would be unable to resist their allure, abandoning reality to be forever lost within them?
After all, in the dreamscape, there was no concept of lifespan. One could remain forever young, never dying, never suffering, and perpetually live in the happiest, healthiest, peak state of their life.
And since this place was touted as the biggest and best entertainment venue, did that also mean some people would spend their entire fortune just for a fleeting moment of joy?
But when the dream ended, and they had to face a flawed and painful reality, how would those who had squandered their wealth and enjoyed their fill of dreams continue to live?
"Mei, according to my search, this place seems to be the most fun place in the universe… So why is it that even in the cosmic era, the advertisements are still so monotonously similar? I've already found four or five places claiming to be the 'most fun in the universe.' What gives them the right? Oh, I see, it's because of the company that owns it. That's not surprising then."
Raiden Mei curiously watched Xin Yu fiddle with his phone. It didn't look much different from the smartphones on Earth, but it could receive signals even in space, and the internet speed seemed quite fast. This alone proved that this small phone contained black-box technology that would make most scientists on Earth scratch their heads in bewilderment.
Xin Yu noticed Raiden Mei's curious gaze. He then took the phone from her and, after a flash of purple light in his hand, returned it. Raiden Mei discovered her own phone could now also connect to this universe's network.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Mei, your situation is different from mine; you don't have a built-in universal language understanding function. Here, take this Synaptic Beacon. Just think of it as an automatic translator. It will translate whatever you say and hear into a language you or the other person can understand."
Xin Yu, of course, didn't know how to create this device himself, but he had indeed encountered one before. If he replicated it one-to-one, The Family's side might detect some anomalous signal, which would be troublesome. So, he simply created a shell, then overlaid it with a layer of conceptual reality-distorting power. Anyway, the function was identical, so there was no difference.
Raiden Mei took the device Xin Yu handed her. It resembled a Bluetooth earpiece, only much lighter, like a Synaptic Beacon that clipped onto her ear.
"Alright, I just checked. There don't seem to be any vacancies here in Penacony because they seem to be holding some event recently. So, there probably aren't any spare rooms left for us."
"Although doing this isn't quite right, we'll just have to deal with the official entry later."
Xin Yu planned to first place his and Raiden Mei's physical bodies in a pocket dimension, then have their consciousnesses sneak into the dreamscape. As for the issue of their identities, a slight distortion of reality, a change in perception, would suffice.
It wasn't about altering the perception of everyone in the dreamscape, but rather that anyone who saw them and started investigating their identities would naturally generate a virtual identity for them within their own cognition.
They could sort out the official entry later.
Xin Yu snapped his fingers. A portal suddenly materialized in the empty cosmic space. Pushing it open, Raiden Mei saw a sea of flowers and a small deer leisurely strolling among them.
"This is a small world I created. I always carry it with me. We can place our bodies here for now."
Xin Yu then conjured a large bed amidst the sea of flowers. With a wave of his hand, the sun in the sky instantly transformed into a moon, and beside the moon, many twinkling stars even appeared.
This miraculous, divine-like scene made Raiden Mei's eyes widen slightly, and she couldn't help but think, Xin Yu truly is a god.
The two removed their shoes and lay flat on the bed. Raiden Mei looked at a tiger in the not-so-distant woods, which was lying there, curiously observing them.
"It's fine. All the animals here were created by me; they won't cause any trouble… unless you, you idle fellow, suddenly decide to stir things up."
Raiden Mei couldn't help but look at Xin Yu when he suddenly said this, noticing he was looking up at the sky.
Yet, in the sky above, apart from the moon and the twinkling stars, what else was there?
Although Raiden Mei was curious, she didn't press further. After all, if Xin Yu wanted to explain, he would tell her. If he didn't, it meant that this information was something she didn't need to know for now, or perhaps couldn't know.
Raiden Mei reached out and took Xin Yu's arm. They looked at each other for a moment, then closed their eyes with a smile.
...
"Protecting beautiful girls is my undeniable duty!"
March 7th stood with her hands on her hips, looking rather smugly at the beautiful girl she had just met.
Just moments ago, while strolling through Penacony, March had seen the other girl being hassled by The Family's personnel – oh, no, it should be The Family's staff.
And when she saw such a beautiful girl in distress, she adjusted her clothes, made a dashing entrance, and was about to rescue this damsel from the clutches of two bad guys. What? Was there no proof they were bad guys?
Oh, she's so cute, how could she be a bad person?
"Hello, I'm Firefly."
"Hello, beautiful young lady, I am… I am… Holy crap! An Aeon!"
"Huh?!!"
Firefly, who had been smiling as she watched March introduce herself, froze when she saw March's expression suddenly contort, followed by her shouting "Aeon!" Firefly's own expression faltered.
What the heck, an Aeon came to Penacony?! This wasn't in Elio's script!
March's shout immediately drew the attention of everyone present. They followed her gaze and saw a rather plain-looking young man, holding the hand of a purple-haired girl, pointing at himself with a bewildered expression.
Xin Yu had originally intended to greet March, but when he saw her pointing at him and shouting "Aeon," he was momentarily stunned.
"Me? An Aeon?"