Millennium Witch.

Chapter 5-5- Who changed her clothes?
Guided by AI, Yvette spent an afternoon learning how to use this retro-style "wellness art," completing her initial introduction.

But after trying it, she realized that meditation couldn't save her.

Once she leaves this dream, she will immediately face a survival crisis due to food shortages, and the effects of meditation will not become apparent for several years. By then, it will be too late, and what use will it be?

Then, around four or five o'clock in the afternoon.

After being reminded by Dr. Tebbsa, she had to remove her vision terminal and go with the doctor to the large cafeteria at the end of a corridor on the floor for a meal.

"...Little girl, you're at the age where you're growing, you should eat more." The uncle serving Yvette's food in the cafeteria said warmly.

Glancing at his right arm, which had been completely replaced with a metal mechanical arm, Yvette smiled sweetly: "Thank you, Uncle."

After getting her food, she found a quiet corner to sit down, her smile immediately vanished, and she began to think.

In her interactions with the cafeteria worker, Dr. Tebbsa, and the staff she met along the way, she felt that the people here were all normal and friendly.

This made her have some doubts about her "human experimentation hypothesis".

After all, if it were really about conducting human experiments, there would be no need to treat these orphans so well, with single rooms, visual terminals, and a large activity room, and with such a gentle attitude... Wouldn't it be better to just lock them up and provide them with some basic water and food? It would also save on the budget.

However, we cannot rule out the possibility that Dr. Tebera and the others were kept in the dark. But if she has a chance to leave and survives, she can look for clues in the ruins of the base...

Thinking of this, another thought suddenly popped into Yvette's mind—what if this dream is eternal?
Will she be trapped here for the rest of her life?

but……

Going out means being trapped, coming in means being trapped too. Between two evils, choose the lesser. Staying in this dream seems a little better?
……

Over the next few days, Yvette spent most of her time in the computer lab, learning Black Tide language and constantly using the AI ​​programs there to gather information about this world and find ways to survive after leaving the dream.

But the AI's response made her heart sink to the bottom.

Even in the wild, it would be manageable; she could simply survive in the wilderness. But she's in a metal base from which she can't escape. A place where even cockroaches and rats can't survive—where is she supposed to find food?

Although the Magic Light Vine is beautiful, it is full of toxic alkaloids. Even if you are not poisoned by eating it, you will die from intestinal obstruction because the cellulose is difficult to digest. It is not suitable as an emergency food.

In summary, the only way to survive is to stay in this dream and never leave!

After realizing this, Yvette suddenly found it somewhat amusing.

If the protagonist in a normal novel were trapped in such a bizarre dream, they would definitely try their best to escape. But she not only didn't want to leave, she also tried to stay in the dream a little longer...

Obito is right.

What's wrong with a world of illusions!
Thus, Yvette spent six months in her dreams, caught between a conflicting mindset of striving to survive and despairing to die.

Late that night, as she watched the walls gradually disappear, Yvette knew that she was finally going to leave.

To be honest, after staying in the dream for so long, she thought this place was permanent, and she would never be able to get out unless she starved to death in the real world.

Now it seems that wasn't the case; it was just that the dream lasted a bit longer. With mixed feelings, she changed into the white dress she had come in, and after an anxious wait, when all the scenes disappeared, what appeared before Yvette was deep darkness.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw the tenth basement level of the ruins filled with magic light vines.

She finally woke up.

But unlike before entering, the surrounding fog had disappeared, as if it had never existed.

Yes, just like the AI ​​said, magic also follows the law of conservation of energy. The dissipation of the mist means that the energy has been used up...

As for what this fog actually is, the AI ​​program in the dream offered a reasonable conjecture: it's a magical energy field formed when the spirits and memories of a large number of deceased individuals, before they could dissipate, intertwined for some reason. It also cited information about cults researching necromancy to demonstrate its feasibility.

Considering that this place had indeed suffered a great disaster and many people had died, Yvette decided to accept this explanation for the time being.

Then, she stood up, patted her skirt, and feeling that she was in relatively good physical condition, she decided to look for recyclable items on this floor.

Suddenly, a small discovery made her abruptly stop in her tracks.

If I remember correctly, before entering the dream, she was only wearing a white dress and nothing else. But now, she has underwear, white stockings, and clean little leather shoes—all of which she was wearing in the dream!

Who changed her clothes?
But to obtain it so perfectly, could it really be something she brought from her dream?
Yvette's heart pounded. There were two possibilities: one was that a mysterious person was hiding here, able to see into her dreams and secretly dress her in extra clothes while she was asleep—but that was obviously absurd and could be ruled out almost instantly.

Secondly, this dream may not be just a dream; it may be a special way of time travel. She used this dream to actually go back to the past and bring something back with her!
Damn it, I should have brought some tools!
Yvette was filled with regret, and then after a while, she suddenly realized something. She immediately took off her pantyhose and began to examine the soles of her feet—she had been walking barefoot before entering the dream, and her feet were covered in a lot of gray and black dirt. On the first day before entering the dream, she had been thinking about this and had made a point of washing her toes clean before going to sleep.

If her feet are still clean, it means she did indeed experience a physical transmigration; otherwise, it's still a dream.

A few seconds later, in the dim blue light, Yvette's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly—they were still dirty; she hadn't physically transmigrated.

Where did the extra clothes she was wearing come from?
Could someone else really be hiding here? Some kind of ghost or evil spirit? Were the dreams she experienced actually just illusions created by an evil spirit?

Thinking of this, Yvette felt a chill rise from the bottom of her heart, and the surrounding scene became terrifying, as if countless eyes were secretly watching her in the darkness.

Fortunately, as someone who values ​​logical thinking, she was quick to adjust, and within a few deep breaths, she dismissed this low-probability event.

Of course, the main reason is that she knows very well that the worst thing to do in this situation is to scare herself.

Don't let yourself develop mental health issues before external factors even appear; otherwise, the false will become true.

So, after searching the entire tenth basement level without finding any clues, Yvette could only attribute this anomaly to the strange dream fog.

And after that...

Returning to the ninth basement level where she had lived for half a year in her dream, Yvette couldn't help but grin and show a helpless expression as she looked at the magic vines in the lobby.

It feels numb when you squeeze it, so I've set it up!
If I starve, I'll just start over!

(End of this chapter)