Chapter 122
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Dream Box II
Shin No-a
4
I can't remember anymore since it's been too long, but before I became an Awakened, in my first playthrough, I was quite a wholesome young man.
Cigarettes? Don't smoke. Alcohol? Not really.
Naturally, I never fell into gambling either. Except for the fact that I rerolled my life over 1,000 times to see the best ending.
-Oppa. I'm curious. I want to go inside and see.
"Wait a moment."
That's why, even though Ha-yul tugged firmly at my sleeve the moment she saw the casino, I—being a wholesome and moral young man—didn't easily give in.
Instead, I drew my sword first.
One Flash.
A sword arc swung without hesitation. My exclusive equipment, the cane-sword Do-ha, bisected the world diagonally in a long line.
Rumble—
Dust rose from all directions. One corner of the casino building that had illegally opened for business in the Void collapsed helplessly.
"……! ……!"
Ha-yul hopped around beside me, but it was nothing more than a silent screaming.
No matter how curious she might be, testing whether 'physical force works or doesn't work' on the opponent like this was extremely important.
It wasn't simply because I'm the type of player who, if participating in a TRPG, would propose a calm and scientific opinion like "Master, can't we just get some gasoline and burn the house from the outside before entering some ominous mansion?"
Just by finding out whether physical force was applicable, I could gauge the danger level of the Void and the level of the grotesque to some extent.
I leisurely observed the reaction of that 'casino grotesque.'
"Hieeeeek!"
And I witnessed an amazing sight.
Tiny creatures came rushing out of the casino entrance, going 'hiek, hiek' in spasms.
"T-the headquarters has collapsed!"
"Hiiieek! An earthquake? Is it an earthquake?"
"That's impossible……! Our revolutionary front base was built in the safest region of the Korean Peninsula, considering all possibilities of natural disasters!"
"But an earthquake has occurred!"
"Comrade 107! A disaster occurred right before your eyes, yet you deny reality—you wicked petit-bourgeois party member fairy must be executed! Executed, I say!"
"We cannot endure self-criticism."
"Hiek! Comrades! Please, anything but the purge!"
They were none other than the tutorial fairies.
Clones of the Fairy Lord, who was a clone of the Outer God Mugan. In short, grotesques that were nothing more than imitations of imitations came swarming out and began restoring the building.
'…Why are they here again?'
I, the 205th playthrough me, was dumbfounded. First, I sheathed my cane-sword and walked toward the fairies.
Tap tap. I knocked on the shoulder of the nearest fairy.
"Hey."
"Hoeh? A human customer? I'm sorry, but our establishment is temporarily closed due to a sudden earthquake disasteeeeeer?! The Undertakeeeeeeer!"
The fairy flopped over backwards. Other fairies who had been holding hammers and tools on ladders also all looked this way at once.
"T-the Undertaker? Why? Why the Undertaker?"
"The nightmare of Busan Station!"
"The tyrant of Baekhwa Girls' High School!"
"Comrade 107! W-what on earth is happening! Didn't you guarantee that this place would absolutely never be discovered?!"
"Hiyaaaaak! Run! Run away! Our clan will be destroyed again because of that bastard!"
The fairies scattered in all directions, but it wasn't a very wise response. Sometimes in RPG battles, the 'Flee' command itself doesn't work—and this was exactly that time.
"Ha-yul."
-Yeah.
Spider webs sprayed out from Ha-yul's fingertips.
A short while later, all 27 fairies were wrapped up tightly in spider webs and presented before me.
"Hiek, hiiiiek……."
"Hey. Weren't you guys all exterminated along with the Fairy Lord when Mugan was sealed? What are you doing hiding in this remote village?"
The fairies trembled.
"T-the Fairy Lord was merely our oppressor……! We never once truly submitted to that guy!"
"Ah, what was it, the Royalist faction and the Revolutionary faction? That's just your setting roleplay anyway. Are you still going on about revolution?"
"Setting roleplay! Gaah! We are extremely serious!"
What followed from the fairy was quite shocking.
"We originally lived just fine without the Fairy Lord! Then that terrible existence created the Fairy Lord and oppressed us!"
"…Huh?"
"Now that the Fairy Lord has finally perished, the liberation we dreamed of has finally come to us fairies! However, due to long oppression, our ethnic capital was inevitably meager……! So we are gathering revolutionary funds by tearfully diving into the gambling business……!"
"Revolution is innocent!"
I gathered testimony and information from the suspects and arrived at a shocking truth.
"Wait, so. You guys were actually grotesques completely unrelated to the Outer God Mugan, and Mugan just created the Fairy Lord to coercively rule over you?"
"Exactly so!"
"Then the division between those who followed the Fairy Lord and those who didn't……. The Royalist faction and Republican faction, that was real?"
"Were you listening to everything we said through your ear canal or your toilet bowl, human!"
Good heavens.
That's right. In fact, the 'tutorial fairies' as grotesques had nothing to do with Mugan. Mugan had created a puppet dictator called the Fairy Lord to oppress the fairies.
A kind of colonial rule, you could say.
But when I subjugated Mugan together with Cheon Yo-hwa, the situation changed drastically. The fairies suddenly found themselves liberated, and determined never to be swayed by giant grotesques again, they scattered across various regions and transformed into guerrillas.
The gambling den established here… the so-called 'Dream Land Amusement Center' casino was a business operated by the guerrilla fairies.
The reason for operation? To establish a grotesque community of the fairies, by the fairies, for the fairies once again!
'True, the grotesques at Baekhwa Girls' High School were all ghosts, but the tutorial fairies did feel a bit out of place.'
To think such a secret was hidden.
While I was marveling that there was still so much information in the world I didn't know, Ha-yul bounced up and down beside me.
-Oppa. Oppa.
"Hm?"
-There. I want to look around.
It seemed Ha-yul was quite interested in the casino since earlier. Well, it had been confirmed there was almost no danger.
"Hey, tiny ones. First, explain how you're operating this casino."
"Hieeek. That's nonsense! We cannot reveal the inner workings of our revolutionary base to a bourgeois oppressor……."
"Should I call Cheon Yo-hwa and ask her to put you guys in the hourglass where Mugan is sealed too?"
"A two-step retreat for one step forward is something proletarian comrades can understand……!"
We entered the casino.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the missing management team members from the caravan were found inside. To be precise, not in the casino, but in the hotel built atop the casino building—all three of them were fast asleep, completely unaware of the world.
"What? Why are they all sleeping? Is this your doing?"
"Hieeek……! Th-this was done legitimately through mutual agreement! At our casino, customers exchange the chips they won not for money, but for dreams!"
"Exchange for dreams?"
"Yesss! Here, look at our establishment's menu……!"
The fairy pulled something out from its bosom. It was a large menu. It was definitely not a size that could fit in a fairy's body, but instead of questioning it, I first read it.
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♪♫*♪~Like walking through a dream~♪♫*♪
To everyone who visited our 'DREAM' casino ٩(♡ε♡ )۶ We sincerely welcome you!◕‿◕)丿
――――――――――
Rrrrip.
I reflexively tore the menu.
"Hieeeek? What are you doing!"
"Sorry. My instincts……."
"Your instinct is to tear up a menu when you enter a store! That's scary! We used good paper for this so don't waste it carelessly!"
Hmm.
I calmly received the menu again and read it. However, this time, for my mental health, I will completely exclude emoticons and describe only the contents of the menu plainly.
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[Dream Casino Guide]
*Welcome!
*At this 'Dream Land Amusement Center,' customers can enjoy various games with Fairy Coins. Fairy Coins are purchased with customers' 'time.'
*Exchange rate: 1 hour = 1 Fairy Coin.
*To use the amusement facilities at this casino, you must bet at least 1 Fairy Coin.
*Fairy Coins can be exchanged for the following rewards.
-10 Fairy Coins: Can dream comfortably for one night. Sound sleep guaranteed. Dream content is undetermined. Time can be freely set from a minimum of 2 hours to a maximum of 24 hours.
-50 Fairy Coins: Can enhance a specific sense within the dream. Vision, smell, taste, etc. Memories related to that sense are likely to remain relatively clear after the dream ends.
-100 Fairy Coins: Can choose what location to be in within the dream. Anything within a 100-square-meter space is possible (Example: The finest restaurant before the end of the century).
However, moving beyond the range is impossible. Scenery visible through windows, etc. can be decorated with 10 Fairy Coins. Please consult with staff for detailed settings!
-1,000 Fairy Coins: Can select one person to appear in the dream. Even those already gone from reality are possible.
-2,000 Fairy Coins: Can set what relationship you have with the person in the dream. Please consult with staff for detailed settings!
-3,000 Fairy Coins: Can set yourself as you appear in the dream. Appearance change possible, social status alteration possible, resume falsification possible, gender change possible, age change possible. Please consult with staff for detailed settings!
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-10,000,000,000 Fairy Coins: Perfect lucid dreaming guaranteed. We promise senses and intelligence completely identical to reality!
This item is a membership. Customers who exchange for this item will immediately be promoted to 'VVIP' rank, and 'lucid dreaming' will continue to be guaranteed when using other products.
-100,000,000,000 Fairy Coins: Can freely set the flow of time experienced in the dream. Do you desire eternal life? Live 100 years in a dream during 1 second in reality! If you tire of life in the dream, you can wake from the dream immediately.
This item is a membership. Customers who exchange for this item will immediately be promoted to 'VVVIP' rank, and 'time speed adjustment' will continue to be guaranteed when using other products.
*Note: The maximum coins customers can exchange at once at our establishment is limited to 9,000 Fairy Coins.
*Note: At our establishment, we may demand repayment of principal from customers every day at exactly midnight. If the principal cannot be repaid, your time will be seized equivalent to the number of insufficient coins.
How the seized time will be used is entirely up to our establishment. We hope you enjoy gambling safely and wholesomely.
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"……."
I was at a loss for words for a moment.
There were so many things to point out that I didn't know where to begin. But first, I decided to ask the question I had to as a returner.
"Hey, you guys……. Did you actually have the ability to manipulate dreams?"
"Hoeh? Of course."
"We are dream fairies."
"Though we couldn't do our main job while suffering under the Fairy Lord's oppression, our true name is actually Dream Demons."
Shocking! The truth revealed after a full 205 playthroughs!
The true identity of the tutorial fairies was actually Dream Demons. In other words—Succubi and Incubi!
-Fairy Coins. 9000 coins. Want to exchange. Fascinating.
Beside me, Ha-yul—true to a kid who'd consumed Japanese media—was burning with the soul of pachinko. I flicked her forehead and looked at the fairies.
"What happens to human customers who have their time seized?"
"Hoeh. This is what happens."
Startled.
One of the management team members lying on the hotel bed suddenly got up. Ha-yul shrank back in surprise.
The management team member was a middle-aged man. His beard had grown scruffy, showing he'd been trapped in the Void for days already.
With somehow blank eyes—eyes so hazy you couldn't find a shred of presence of mind—he muttered.
"Hoeee……."
"……."
"Hoeh, hoeh, Fairy 5000……. State name and rank……."
"……."
Silence.
Both Ha-yul and I turned to look at the fairy. It was a gaze demanding an immediate explanation.
The tutorial fairy—no, the dream demon—tilted its head with a blank face, as if it didn't know what it had done wrong.
"Hoeh. That customer pulled a full loan of 9000 coins and lost it all at baccarat in just one day. From now on, they have no choice but to work as a comrade of our fairy revolution club for 10 years!"
"That's right!"
"Hoeee! Forward without stopping until the day of revolution!"
These crazy bastards.
This is a grotesque training camp.