Chapter 487: The Slumber Little Monkey is Even More Deranged! I have My Roommate on my Bedside!
"Wait, why do you still have that Slumbernana Monkey?"
Paperfold University.
Inside a classroom.
Because there were too many people watching the story unfold at the central stage, some students chose to group up and watch it in the classrooms instead.
At this moment, on the desk of a male student sitting in the corner rested a listless Slumbernana Monkey.
Naturally, this drew the ire of his classmates.
"The story already exposed it! It's most likely something cooked up by the members of the AtaviSearch Forest—it might even be carrying a meme virus!"
"If you don't want to turn into a monkey, you better throw that thing away right now!"
The boy nodded. "Heh, I know, I know."
"It's just that this Slumbernana Monkey looks so much like Brother Chao!"
"I originally planned to keep it to show him. But forget it, I'll toss it out first. My life comes first."
Just as the boy was about to throw the Slumbernana Monkey into the trash can, the plush suddenly twitched!
Its two clever eyes rolled around, glancing at the boy.
Then, it let out a screech: "Nana-nana-nana!"
It bounded off the desk in an instant, sprinting away as fast as a startled rat and disappearing from sight!
This scene left every student in the classroom dumbfounded!
The boy looked at his own hand, then at the empty desktop, exclaiming in shock, "Are toys these days really this high-tech?"
"That expression just now… wasn't that a bit too realistic?"
"I only bought this for the price of a breakfast!"
A student in the front row gasped, "Holy crap! Look at the stream! The monkey in the story ran away too!"
...
"My newly caught monkey!"
Stelle and Dan Heng were giving chase to the runaway Slumbernana Monkey.
Soon, the two arrived at the College of Fortune.
Inside a nanaclassroom, a course on dream marketing was underway.
"Whether rich or poor, most people come to Penacony for a more meaningful life."
"Yet spend just a short while in the Dreamscape, and you will realize those are utterly hollow words. Dreamseekers collapse before long from the relentless toil, and tourists grow weary after endless revelry."
"The legendary moguls and festival superstars we pursue lead dazzling lives that are so distant, as if belonging to another world entirely…"
"Yet, the Slumbernana Monkeys demonstrate a brand-new attitude toward life! Every single day, they do nothing but sleep and eat bananas. Thinking of nothing else, doing nothing else, experiencing the purest nanabliss!"
"To help you students grasp this better, this BananAdvisor has prepared a special Slumbernana Monkey plush doll. All students of the College of Fortune can enjoy an additional discount upon purchase…"
Starting from the Dreamweaving BananAdvisor, what seemed to be course material was actually shameless promotion for Slumbernana Monkey merchandise!
This Fortune BananAdvisor wasn't even pretending anymore!
At that moment, Dan Heng had a sudden thought: "…I have an idea. Stelle, can you use the Clockwork on it?"
Rappa, standing beside them, grew excited: "Clockwork Ninjutsu! Lord Silver Shura once described its magnificence and profound mystery to me. Please, I must bear witness to it!"
She selected the little monkey and used the Clockwork.
And surprisingly, it actually worked!
Calm, Happy, and Angry—all three emotions could be tuned!
Little Gui chose the Angry option.
[ Under the effect of the Clockwork, the little monkey begins to let out an irritated nanasound.
The moment you close its dial, you seem to resonate with its anger. You see an unsatisfactory report card, an even more dismal pay slip, and the disappointed expression of a youth…
Before you can fully process these emotions, the little monkey scampers off agitatedly into the distance… ]
Seeing this, all the students in the classroom widened their eyes!
Especially the boy in the back row.
Recalling the words he had just said…
"It's just that this Slumbernana Monkey looks so much like Brother Chao!"
And Brother Chao… seemed to have never shown up again ever since he bought that Slumbernana Monkey…
An eerie chill crept down his spine!
A terrifying thought took shape in the boy's mind.
His hand trembled slightly.
Yet, he still dared not be entirely certain!
Meanwhile, in the story, the Trailblazer's group followed the Slumbernana Monkey to the end of the corridor.
The Fortune BananAdvisor was currently conversing with a student named Richie.
"Wait, let's hear what they're saying first," Dan Heng suggested.
They saw Richie ask the BananAdvisor, "Nanateacher Fortune, didn't you tell me to come pick up the goods? But there's nothing here."
"Sigh, the Dreamweaving BananAdvisor clearly said the new batch would be ready. Truly un-nanareliable."
Richie's tone shifted slightly, speaking with hesitation: "Come to think of it, Nanateacher…"
"Did the people who turned into monkeys really do so voluntarily…?"
The moment those words were spoken, the bullet comments erupted!
…
"Huh?"
"Whaaaat?!"
"The plot suddenly turned into a horror story!"
"Holy crap, I guessed right!"
"Wait, I was literally eating and choked so hard on my food when I read that!"
"Dr. Primitive turned himself into a monkey? And now he's turning other people into them too?? That's terrifying."
"Looking back at that Slumbernana Club promotional video now… the more I think about it, the scarier it gets!"
"So buying and selling Slumbernana Monkeys was actually human trafficking all along?"
"Paperfold University students are so cooked in this life!"
…
Inside the classroom, dead silence fell!
The students unanimously turned their gazes toward the boy in the last row!
Just moments ago, they were amazed by how advanced the toy was…
How it could make facial expressions and run away on its own.
Now, the answer was revealed.
The boy stood there dumbfounded, as if struck by lightning!
The previous main storyline of Honkai: Star Rail had always revolved around clashes between major factions and titans.
As students, they were just watching for fun, following the plot as detached spectators…
Yet this time, the spectacle was happening directly to them!
To think that the Slumbernana Monkey he had been fiddling with lately—the one he had even deliberately hung on the bedside hook while sleeping…
Was actually his roommate!
While he had been sound asleep, his roommate had been hanging right there, staring at him unblinkingly!
After a long while, the boy finally snapped back to reality.
Only two words could express his feelings at this moment:
"Holy. Shit?!"
...
"It seems you weren't listening at all. Or did those auditing students feed you unrealistic fantasies again?"
The BananAdvisor acted like an amicable elder, patiently weighing the pros and cons for his student.
"Do you even know the background of those Nameless? You're just a struggling student who traveled countless light-years from an IPC-supported border planet to study here. You want to compare yourself to them?"
"Of course I know you want to make money, lots of it. After all, Paperfold University's tuition is an astronomical sum, far too exorbitant for an ordinary middle-class family, nana."
"Oh, and I heard your esteemed father came to Penacony as well. He switched jobs to work day and night at the Morning Kasumi Factory. Truly touching, nana."
Richie instantly blanched. "H-How do you know that?"
"Nana-nana-nana, because just a few days ago, he came here wanting to see how you were doing."
"I personally received your father. Truly pitiful—at his age, having to abandon half a lifetime's savings to come work in an unfamiliar place where he knows no one. I could feel his exhaustion and anxiety…"
"So, I conducted some nanateaching and guided him into becoming a Slumbernana Monkey—right in that batch you just sent out. Surprised, aren't you?"
Richie was entirely stunned!
He…
Had sold his own father as a toy with his own hands?!
The Fortune BananAdvisor declared proudly, "Because your father was far too tired, nana. I asked if he ever regretted it, and he said no. But when I peeled away that layer of nanacoating, what I found was the expulsion warning notice you hid away."
"Ah, how could I forget, nana? You are a hopeless, failing student. Rather than keeping you around to waste educational resources, it's better to turn you into merchandise for the College of Fortune. At least that way, you'll still hold some value. Nana-nana-nana."
"I promised your father that I would grant you the same happiness. Richie, it is time for you to take a rest, nana."
…
"Excuse me, what the hell?!"
"A 'failing student' here is only relatively failing! Back in Richie's hometown, he'd be considered a savior!"
"The immersion is too real, I'm malding, brothers!"
"Now even Richie is going to be turned into a Slumbernana Monkey and sold as merchandise."
"Neat and orderly—the whole family has to be neat and orderly together."
"What an absolute scumbag!"
"What kind of twisted freaks are these nanateachers?! Even Rappa calling them evil fiends is putting it lightly…"
"I can't take this anymore, I'm gonna smash this TV to pieces!"
"Deluding the masses with demonic lies! This isn't a BananAdvisor at all, it's a straight-up demon!"
"So this is what Dr. Primitive cooked up…"