Hayami Yuka, the eldest daughter-in-law of Hayami Shinichiro, and the wife of Hayami Taisuke. As a member of a family conglomerate even more powerful than the Fujikawa family, this woman's public profile is not low. Naga found the information he was looking for without much effort.
Although Ai didn't mention her surname, based solely on her first name, she's the only one who matches. Furthermore, the rest of the information also matches perfectly.
She dropped out of school at 18 to marry into a wealthy family, and quickly became beautiful and charming. Her handsome and charming husband turned into a devoted family man after marriage, shattering the illusions of countless gossip reporters and breaking the hearts of many beautiful women.
Those who don't know the inside story might only be jealous or envious of this high school girl's incredible luck, but in Naga's eyes, this is clearly a process of a dream eater getting rewarded step by step.
He had countless conquests, and the women he had been with could stretch from Ginza to Tokyo Bay. She was a full 12 years older than Yuka. It was something only superpowered individuals and romance novelists could come up with for a playboy in his prime to fall in love at first sight with an ordinary-looking high school girl on his way to buy breakfast.
Unfortunately, ignorant people can only believe that this is a real-life version of a sparrow turning into a phoenix.
Putting aside all the pre-prepared work, Naga surveyed the private room; it was a good place for a secret conversation. It seemed that Ai's influence on Yuka still lingered; after making a few phone calls, she arranged his schedule for that very evening.
Yuka probably had a premonition about what the meeting would be about, and Yui was not included in this date.
The chosen location was a VIP room in an upscale club. Naga didn't have a membership card, but luckily, many of the models in his company frequented such places, so he easily borrowed one, and even threw in a flying kiss as a bonus.
If he weren't so focused on the evening meeting, he would have been interested in flirting with that sensible and beautiful subordinate.
When waiting for this type of woman, Naga never expected her to be punctual, so when the door to the private room was opened three minutes before the agreed time, he assumed it was a waiter coming to confirm his order.
But it was Hayami Yuka who came in.
Presumably she had some concerns, she disguised herself well with a scarf and large sunglasses, and her clothes were ordinary and conservative, not as dazzling as when she appeared in front of the media.
However, Naga was stunned the moment he saw her, not only because of the wonderful charm she exuded after taking off her sunglasses and scarf, but also because of a feeling that struck his heart, like a wild dog that had been wandering aimlessly on the African savanna for a long time and suddenly met a kindred spirit who was both dangerous and friendly.
The other person clearly had a similar feeling. She stared at Naga with wide eyes, a slight, almost imperceptible twitch at the corner of her lips. Then, she took out her phone and dialed a number expressionlessly.
"Hello...yes, it's me. Our agreed time might need to be rescheduled...yes, I have something urgent. How about two hours later...it's okay, I can have Taisuke pick me up." She quickly gave some instructions, postponing a later event by two hours. It seems she originally only planned to take a quick look.
After putting her phone away, Yuka finally showed an expression on her face—a playful smile. She scrutinized Naga from head to toe, then slowly walked to the large sofa and sat down. Her slender legs were crossed in front of the coffee table, and she leaned back against the soft cushions.
This is not a graceful sitting posture. Yuka, by adopting this posture, quickly sheds the shell of an elegant young woman and reveals a more essential side of herself.
"I really didn't expect to meet someone like me in the same city." Yuka lowered her voice, her tone becoming quite relaxed. It was as if she and Naga were old friends she hadn't seen in a long time, and she didn't need to pay any attention to her tone.
Naga felt a mixture of warmth and crisis, which reminded him of certain spiders in their mating season, where smaller males risk their lives to approach females about to mate.
Seeing the cautious look on his face, Yuka stretched her arms and her smile deepened. "You don't need to be so wary of me. Although your abilities are poor, your own kind cannot devour each other. You'll have to go hungry for at least another month or two before I can use you as food."
Naga paused, a look of confusion on his face. He understood the meaning of food, but he didn't understand what "hunger" meant. Did it refer to the state of not being able to devour dreams?
Yuka looked at him, as if she understood something, and said, "It seems... you're a complete novice. Not only have you been without food for almost half a year, but you've also consumed so much energy. Tsk tsk, you definitely don't understand your own identity."
"Well... although I tried to investigate, it was really just some discussion in the cyberspace of some people with superpowers, and checking a few books in the library. All my understanding is just vague guesswork." Naga nodded somewhat dejectedly, speaking for the first time in front of her, "Indeed, I just realized that I don't know anything."
"That's normal." She smiled and patted his shoulder. Although she was younger, her expression was like that of an older sister. "Without investing a huge amount of manpower and resources, you can't understand us Dream Eaters by relying on unreliable rumors. The investigation I conducted reached as far as South America, and even then, I had to verify many facts repeatedly before I gradually confirmed them. I guess most of the newbies like you lost their abilities due to hunger while they were lost and returned to the lives of ordinary people."
"Could you explain this to me in detail? Please." Naga looked at Yuka earnestly, clasping her hands together.
"Of course." Yuka smiled, took his clasped fingertips in her hand, and gently kissed them. "Do you know how difficult it is to meet someone like you? How could I bear to let you disappear like this?"
A tingling current spread from her fingertips throughout her body, and the comfortable feeling of her whole body relaxing made Naga involuntarily hum.
Yuka's cheeks flushed with pleasure. She licked her lips, which were coated with glossy lipstick, and reluctantly pulled away a little. "Indeed, the feeling of being with the same kind is wonderful."
"Well then, let's start by telling me about your experience. Let me confirm what you know, what you misunderstood, and why you've been in a state of hunger for so long." She raised her wrist and glanced at her expensive watch. "We have plenty of time; you can tell me everything in great detail."
Naga hesitated for a moment, drank a glass of ice-cold beer, took a deep breath, and honestly and earnestly recounted everything that had happened since he met Nami on April 4th, the day of the recruitment, including everything related to the Dream Eater.
His intuition told him that the woman in front of him was one of his own, and the only one who could save him.
After refining the story, Naga didn't need to go on for long. A dozen minutes later, he nodded and concluded, "That's basically it. That's why I was so eager to contact you. I had a feeling that if there was anyone in this world who could help me, it was you."
Yuka leaned lazily against the sofa, unbuttoning a button near her neck to reveal a patch of fair skin. "As expected, this is the process for most beginners."
"Are you hot? Do you want the air conditioning on?" Naga looked at her, trying to look away from her exposed skin.
"No need." She shook her head, took his hand, and held it. "I'm just looking forward to what will happen after I teach you a lesson."
"Ahem, first of all, I have to correct all your misconceptions." She cleared her throat and took his hand, placing it on her soft, full thigh. "Since you activated this ability, you've only performed Dream Devouring once. Only that one time."
Naga looked at her in surprise and asked, "You mean... Nami?"
Yuka nodded and smiled, saying, "The moment a Dream Eater activates its ability, it has already evolved to a higher stage. Human dreams, that is, the world in the subconscious, are our food. All those who have been devoured will fall into eternal sleep, where there are only two possibilities: either it is the endless dark void left after being devoured, or it is a false illusion that we kindly bestowed upon them."
"Then...then what happened to me..." Naga asked, somewhat incredulous.
"That's the nutrition you get as the food you've eaten gradually digests." Yuka picked up her beer and pulled his hand to the cold glass. "Just like when you drink this beer, it goes through your digestive system and is converted into various nutrients, which eventually produce energy. All the benefits you get are the final energy."
She said in a guessing tone, "I think that Cai Mei must be a lively and enthusiastic young girl with a lot of expectations for life, and she probably loves to dream."
"Why... do you say that?" Naga, who didn't know the answer, could only respond in confusion.
Yuka held up her index finger and rubbed it back and forth on the rim of her beer glass. "For us, there are only a handful of the best ingredients. Those who can provide a lot of energy must possess an extremely rich and vast subconscious world. Experienced elders are one type, young people full of dreams and energy are another, and those with extremely strong imagination and creativity are yet another. Basically, only these types of people are worth devouring. Because..." She paused, looking intently at Naga, "Every time we devour someone, we bring them into a permanent sleep. There's no way to cure it; in other words, it's not much different from taking their life."
Naga's breathing became shallow, and the image of Nami lying on the clean hospital bed flashed before his eyes again. She would spend countless springs, summers, autumns, and winters in that hospital bed, relying on those medical devices to sustain her life, until she grew old and died...
"How many people have you... devoured?" Naihe looked at Yuka with a complicated and conflicted expression. This woman was undoubtedly younger than him as a human, but as a Dream Eater, she was undoubtedly his senior. Her experience was a very important reference for him.
"Not too many. Only five." Yuka said with a smile, as naturally as if she were talking about what she had eaten last night. "I have almost gotten what I wanted. As long as I maintain my daily consumption, the frequency will decrease a bit. Eating once every two to three years should not be a problem."
"Where are they all from?" Naga's voice trembled slightly, as some of humanity's preconceived notions were being rapidly overturned.
A strange light flickered in her eyes, a mixture of vengeful pleasure and a barely perceptible nostalgia. "I don't know the other four. Two were young people I randomly picked in Hokkaido and Kagoshima, two young men who seemed full of energy, just to test them out. The other one was a down-on-his-luck writer I met while traveling in Paris, and a stranger I bumped into at the Brazilian Carnival. This intractable slumber is bound to become news, and I don't want it to become some sensational terminal illness."
"Dream Eater... what kind of method is needed?" No matter how much he struggled in his heart, he was unwilling to give up such a precious ability. In fact, after hearing Yuka's explanation, he also felt a subtle sense of superiority.
Yuka took a sip of beer, exhaled a satisfying breath, and said calmly, "There are only two methods. Since you already have more than four months of experience, you should have already vaguely grasped it."
"The first method is the simplest, most brutal, and also the most effective: kill the target within the dream you construct." Yuka's voice grew increasingly calm, even taking on a cold edge. "This method can completely devour all of the target's dreams and obtain all their energy. The side effect is that it will make you feel a long-lasting sense of guilt as a human being, because in reality, it's not that different from killing them."
"The other method is slightly more complex and also requires a certain level of ability. However, since you are also a talented person who was chosen, it shouldn't be too difficult for you." Her rosy lips appeared even more alluring in the dim light, exuding a bewitching charm. As her red lips opened and closed, clear words were uttered one after another, imprinted into Naga's memory. "That is to construct a virtual world for the target, and let him live in that world indefinitely according to your settings, like… living in a different space, such as an alien planet, the future, the past, or something like that. This method will consume some of the energy you devour in the illusion you construct, and the only advantage is that it will prevent you from feeling too uneasy. You can pretend that the person is still living well in another dimension, without feeling guilty."
Looking at Naga, whose mouth was agape in surprise, she added, "No matter which method you use, you can do it as long as you concentrate while the target is asleep. Of course, you will also be asleep during the dream-devouring process, even if it's just for a short time. Please make sure to choose a place that won't arouse suspicion. It's best to do what Nami does, memorize all the characteristics of the target, and do it at home at night."
The private room fell silent for a while, giving Naga time to process the information. Yuka didn't speak again, but instead sipped her cold beer.
"Thank you very much, I... understand everything." Nearly ten minutes later, Naga finally spoke, her voice dry, her expression relaxing from its tension. "I think I still need to get used to this rather... uh... rather superior position."
Yuka raised her beer glass with satisfaction and gestured towards him. "Trust me, you'll adapt to your new role quickly. As your senior, my advice is to try not to act in ways that might arouse suspicion. There are so many people in this world; we won't lack food."
"I think we should see each other more often in the future. I'm starting to realize how wonderful it is to have someone like me." Completely relieved, Naga was finally able to turn her attention back to the captivating aura emanating from Yuka.
Yuka clearly thought so too. She licked her lips and unbuttoned another button on her already open neckline, revealing a tempting cleavage in her otherwise conservative attire.
"I'm also very curious about what kind of different pleasure real people of the same kind can bring." She breathed heavily and chuckled. "I think that should make it worthwhile for me to see you often."
With over an hour to spare, Naga smiled, stood up, walked to the door of the private room, changed the indicator light outside to "Do Not Disturb," and locked it from the inside.
He thought he would really like this unexpected gift.