When it came to recounting their experiences, Paimon instantly looked depressed.
"Don't even mention it! When we first arrived in Sumeru City, everything was great. We ate, drank, watched the Sabzeruz Festival that Nilou and the others prepared, made a bunch of friends—but who would have thought—"
"We'd end up trapped in our own dreams!"
Floating in the air with her hands on her hips, she vented to Lu Chen. "No matter what we tried, we couldn't break free. Every single day was the same thing, on repeat! It was enough to drive us insane!"
Since Paimon was only ranting, Lu Chen didn't get much useful information from her, so he turned to Lumine.
"Do you remember how many days the cycle lasted? And how did you realize that this world was fake—that it was all a dream?"
Lumine recalled with a serious expression. "At first, we didn't realize each day was restarting. But then, no matter what we did, we kept feeling this overwhelming sense of déjà vu. We were caught in the loop without even noticing, until something strange happened and we suddenly woke up..."
"Mm, that's a lot like our situation." Lu Chen nodded. Though he had only needed one day to notice something was wrong, Lumine and Paimon had already gone through countless cycles.
Lumine continued, "The day after the Sabzeruz Festival ended, we entered the first cycle. During that loop, the festival was held ten times."
"Ten whole days..." Paimon said with lingering dread. "By the end, we could recite the entire event by heart. We even ate so much of the festival candy that we got sick!"
Lu Chen thought for a moment. The Sabzeruz Festival had been last week. "You said that was the first loop. So there was a second one after?"
Lumine nodded. "The first cycle ended very suddenly, and we were both confused. We thought the strange phenomenon was over. But three days later, the second cycle began."
She glanced unconsciously at Ei. "Because of what we experienced with you in Inazuma—in the space of consciousness—we first assumed that time itself was broken, endlessly repeating the same day."
Then she looked at Dehya. "But because of one thing, I ruled that out."
Dehya gave a small hum. "The Sabzeruz Festival had already lost most of its attention, and with funding shortages it was becoming harder to hold. So I sold the weapon I'd relied on for years to help Nilou and the others raise money."
Lumine went on. "Since Dehya wasn't used to her new claymore, she got hurt. But in the second loop, I noticed her injuries were already healing. That proved time wasn't frozen—it was still moving forward."
"I really have to thank the traveler for telling me," Dehya admitted with a shiver. "It's terrifying... being stuck in an endless cycle, yet not even realizing it."
Hearing this, Lu Chen gave Lumine a look of approval. "Noticing a detail like that to eliminate the wrong guess—that's sharp."
"You're way better than me..." Lumine gave a bitter smile. "You just got here and already figured out the core problem. I'm nowhere near that."
As they spoke, the surrounding crowd slowly dispersed, leaving the streets nearly empty.
But mercenaries of the Eremites, hired by the Akademiya, began to close in on them in large numbers.
"It's not safe to talk here. Let's move," Lu Chen said.
"You guys keep talking, I'll hold them off," Venti said lightly, waving his hand.
A violent gust blasted out, sending the mercenaries tumbling.
Even so, more forces poured in from every direction of the city, so the group headed toward the outskirts.
...
"So what happened next?" Lu Chen asked curiously as they walked. "How did you confirm this was really a dream?"
"During the second cycle, Dehya and I came up with many theories," Lumine explained. "One was memory erasure—maybe because of the Akasha, everyone's memories were wiped daily, so they thought they were still in the previous day. Another was the dream theory, since it was suspicious that people of Sumeru don't dream at all..."
"So, we decided to strike at the source—go straight to the Akademiya and confront the Great Sage."
Lu Chen nodded. Simple and direct, though clearly ineffective.
Paimon huffed. "We snuck into the Akademiya and caught the Great Sage—but he turned out to be a fake! Just some slow, clueless puppet!"
Lu Chen thought to himself. The true mastermind, the real Great Sage, would never wear an Akasha terminal. To avoid suspicion, they must have made an artificial NPC to serve as a decoy.
"After we exposed the fake Great Sage, the second cycle ended immediately," Lumine said helplessly. "And of course, the real Akademiya put us on their wanted list."
"Not surprising..." Lu Chen muttered, already imagining what excuse these two would have when they ended up wanted in Fontaine.
"Then came the third cycle—the one we're in now." Lumine led the group to a remote valley outside the city, where a small wooden cabin in typical Sumeru style stood.
"We thought staying away from Sumeru City would stop the cycle," Lumine said with a bitter smile. "But after ruling everything else out, the only explanation left was that it was a dream. This third cycle has already lasted thirty days... until today, when we met you."
"First time ten days, second time twenty, third time thirty..." Nahida muttered under her breath.
Ei suddenly spoke. "The ban on Akasha terminals was lifted earlier—before the traveler even came to Sumeru. That means these secret experiments had already begun. What the traveler experienced may not have been the first time... nor will it be the last."
"The Akademiya has reset the collective dream this many times?" Venti's usual carefree expression turned grim. "These people are insane!"
"Experiments that harm the health of the people..." Nahida's face was expressionless. "It's utterly reckless. If we hadn't arrived, how much longer would they keep it going? Three months? Half a year? A year?"
"Not likely," Scaramouche sneered, crossing his arms. "If they push the subjects into becoming vegetables, the experiment won't work. They'll probably keep pressing until they find a breaking point, draining dreams little by little."
"That means their goal still hasn't been achieved," Lu Chen said firmly. "That's why they're so desperate, restarting the experiment again and again."
"Then what do we do now?" Dehya asked urgently.
Everyone turned to Lu Chen.
"Do we keep stirring up trouble like before, until the system collapses?" Venti asked.
Nahida considered it. "Theoretically yes. The dream is maintained by the immense power of Gnosis. If we keep creating bugs, the system could overload and collapse. But it would take time—a lot of time..."
And time was running out. The Akademiya outside must already know Lu Chen's group was sabotaging the dream. A city-wide manhunt was likely underway.
As everyone racked their brains, Nahida suddenly lit up with realization.
"Even though this dream is controlled by the Akasha, dreaming is uniquely human. The Akasha is just a cold system—it can't conjure something this vivid and real on its own."
"You mean..." Lumine tilted her head, confused.
Nahida continued excitedly, "Which means there must be a host. This is that person's dream—the mother, the foundation of it all!"
Her voice grew more animated. "Since this world comes from their consciousness, that person can shape it however they want through imagination."
Lu Chen's eyes brightened in sudden understanding. "So if we can make that person realize they're dreaming, everyone will wake up!"
"Exactly!" Nahida smiled.
"Good." Lu Chen instantly thought of a solution.
"Then we won't stop what we're doing—we'll push it even further!"
"The stranger, the more bizarre, the better!"
He looked at the group. "Until every person in Sumeru City—including the 'dream master'—realizes this is a dream. That everything here is fake!"