Don't use Type-Moon references in Oregairu!

"Yeah. Hey you, Ito, let's go, don't be so nervous."

"Yes, sir! I'm coming right now!" Ito Reita followed Fujimaru Ritsuka and Artoria into the elevator with a fawning tone.

The young girl stared blankly into thought: I thought it was that sleazy middle-aged man leading the handsome young man and the beautiful woman in some fancy games, but it turns out the young man is the one in charge? He really knows how to have fun.

Fujimaru Ritsuka was well aware of the girl's expression, but it was something he couldn't say. As the saying goes, "the more you try to hide something, the more wrong it becomes," and many things only get worse the more you talk about them. However, Artoria also sensed something subtly amiss and grabbed him to ask what was going on, but he tried to brush it off with a few words.

"...So, don't overthink it. Your intuition isn't really that accurate."

"Is that so?"

"If you don't believe me, just ask Mr. Ito."

Ito Ryou shrank back, not daring to speak, pretending not to have noticed. Unexpectedly, the blame was thrown on him, so he quickly cooperated and said a few words to appease the half-believing Artoria.

Once inside the room, the three of them briefly discussed the matter. Although Ito Reita offered to help keep watch, he was refused.

Firstly, Artoria doesn't completely trust Reita Itō and can't fully trust him.

Secondly, as a being similar to a flesh-eating Heroic Spirit, she doesn't actually have a high need for sleep and can go without sleep for a short period of time to guard against enemies who may attack at any time.

Therefore, Ito Reita simply lay down on another bed in the room and soon fell into a deep sleep.

"Looks like he got chased pretty badly by those monsters today, he fell asleep right away." Artoria turned her head. "But why aren't you asleep yet?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka took out the pillow that someone had given her, patted it, and then put it behind her head: "I'm about to sleep, aren't I? Besides, not everyone can fall asleep in a few seconds like Nobita."

"Do you need my help?" Artoria asked eagerly.

He immediately broke out in a cold sweat: "No, I know you want to knock me out and make me fall asleep, but you don't need to. Or if I'm still not asleep in half an hour, you can do it then."

"I see..." Artoria said with a hint of regret.

...You probably still remember how we beat you up while you were asleep, right?

She looked at her suspiciously, but Fujimaru Ritsuka saw her righteous expression and could only assume that she was being petty and judging a gentleman by her own standards.

However, this pillow was a bit tricky. Not long after he lay down, his eyelids began to feel heavy, his vision blurred, and he began to drift into a sweet dream.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself back in the desolate wasteland strewn with swords and knives.

But today is a little special.

The usual clanging of blacksmiths was no longer heard; instead, a series of explosions and roars followed.

"You brat, don't run away! You trespass on someone's property and you think you're in the right?"

"Wait... I'm outta here! I'm telling you, old man, stop hitting me, you can't hit me anyway."

"And what about me? Eat my poisonous flames!"

"Muda, muda...wait, this thing can burn the spirit? Don't go too far!"

"Kuhahahahaha!"

Fujimaru Ritsuka stood speechlessly, arms crossed, staring at the terrible scene before her.

Flying swords, crimson flames, poisonous fire, and lightning; various missiles and sword energies to defend against; and a seemingly shouting and cursing conversation between three people who were actually quite happy.

"I said, can we stop for a moment..."

boom.

The magic bullet struck Fujimaru Ritsuka's face. He patted his slightly sore cheek, his face contorted with rage: "You like playing around, huh? Take this!"

Tonight, Fujimaru Ritsuka has also joined the hunt!

The four of them fought with swords and knives for quite a while before finally calming down.

Rohan Kishibe, leaning on his knees and panting, said, "So you're finally willing to give me some peace and quiet... I told you, I'm a good person, and I had an invitation."

Senji Muramasa spat out a mouthful of blood, his face full of disdain: "I know, but I just don't like the look of you, so I'll slash you a few times."

“Me too.” The count leisurely lit a cigarette. If you ignored the bruises on his face that looked like he’d been punched by someone, he was actually quite presentable.

"I agree. Since we can't kill him anyway, let's beat him to death." Fujimaru Ritsuka clapped her hands with satisfaction, finally feeling relieved after being ridiculed by the riddle-maker.

Rohan Kishibe was extremely helpless. Although the three of them had been sneakily attacking each other during the melee, their main concern was taking care of himself. If it weren't for the fact that the Nightmare wouldn't die even if it was pierced through the chest or broken through the head, he would have lost almost half of his nine lives.

He should have protested the rough treatment, but to be honest, because of the riddle, he didn't really care anymore—by the way, it had been a long time since he'd been chased and hacked to death in a dream, so it was a rare experience indeed.

Because being chased and attacked in a dream can actually lead to death many times, but in the current dream world, as long as he doesn't provoke certain dream entities, it's rare for him to encounter someone who is consciously chasing him.

At this moment, he noticed Fujimaru Ritsuka's accusatory expression and quickly tried to suppress his resentment with an excuse: "Fujimaru, it's not that I don't want to help you, it's just that the guy involved is a bit..."

He pointed subtly to his mouth, then pointed upwards.

"You mean to say that what you say might be sensed?" Fujimaru Ritsuka asked, frowning.

Rohan Kishibe nodded: "It's not just about saying it out loud. If I reveal it through writing or other recorded means, it might find out, so it would most likely do more harm than good."

"Is an ambiguous hint acceptable?"

"That has to be very, very subtle, and even if you guess it, don't say it out loud."

Fujimaru Ritsuka felt a chill run down her spine. This was similar to the Dungeons & Dragons series that she had learned about by chance before. Could it sense that someone was chanting the name of a god?

He asked thoughtfully, "Actually... Luna isn't called Luna, is she? I suddenly realized that Luna is actually Luna, one of the moon goddesses in ancient Roman mythology."

Rohan Kishibe didn't answer his question directly, but instead explained the mythology in a scientific tone: "To be precise, Luna is the earliest and most representative moon goddess in ancient Roman mythology, but she was later gradually replaced or incorporated into the goddess Diana. Some people think she is the Romanization of Artemis from ancient Greek mythology, while others think Diana is. Mythology is always ambiguous and vague, but you can consider her to be a moon goddess who was 'replaced'. In addition, Luna has also been called the 'Mad Moon' by some people, and the term 'mental disorder' originates from this moon goddess Luna."

Fujimaru Ritsuka silently memorized some of Rohan Kishibe's key words, slowly pondering them in her mind.

Rohan Kishibe smiled and said, "Alright, that's enough about the science lesson for now. Let's go see Luna first."

He magically produced a staff with a peculiar design, seemingly bound with a mass-produced holy sword.

With a slight pause, a rainbow bridge rose from the wasteland. One end of this rainbow bridge floated above the wasteland, while the other end stretched beyond the wasteland, leading into the boundless void.

"Please." Rohan Kishibe pressed his hand to his abdomen and extended his other hand outward, extending an invitation to Ritsuka Fujimaru.

Just as Fujimaru Ritsuka was about to step onto the bridge, the Count approached and stood beside him, asking, "May I go with Fujimaru? Perhaps I can hide in his shadow?"

Rohan Kishibe kept shaking his head, rejecting the count's ideas one by one: "No way, I'm already being extremely careful with Fujimaru Ritsuka alone. Even if you're a frequent visitor in dreams and possess extremely mysterious skills, you're still likely to slip up in front of [that person]."

"Tsk." The count had no choice but to step back.

Fujimaru Ritsuka said no more and leaped onto the Rainbow Bridge.

Then, he was enveloped in a rainbow of light and flew away into the distance.

Qianzicun stood still and coldly snorted: "If you had come earlier, I might have been able to find a way to make something for him to protect himself."

Rohan Kishibe protested his innocence: "Seriously, officer? How can you blame me for this? He wasn't even asleep. How could I possibly get in here while he was in a dream? Besides, if you need to defend yourself somewhere, you'd probably have to actually forge a half-and-half-similar Ama-no-Kurakumo."

“Fifty percent? Hmph…” Senji Muramasa stopped dwelling on Rohan’s words and turned back to the anvil, tirelessly beginning to forge.

"Yes, at least it should be able to hold them off for a bit..." Rohan Kishibe said so softly that no one heard him.

The bigwigs quietly awaited Fujimaru Ritsuka's return, unaware that she had already begun to run into trouble.

163. In the heart of a dream, one does not call upon the beast of love (5k2)

What are dreams?

To put it bluntly, it is nothing more than an illusion that the brain does not completely stop functioning even when it is at rest; it is a world composed of all the sounds, images, and sensations during sleep.

But this is not the case for others.

Freud said it allows you to glimpse the sexual repression hidden within your heart.

Zhuangzi said that it is the transformation of things, the unified self and other.

The half-dream demon said it was an extremely delicious food.

Some myths say it is a return to humanity from the great dream called the world.

Fujimaru Ritsuka wasn't aware before that those were accurate descriptions of her dream, nor would she be aware afterward. Because the dream was so beautiful, it defied description.

He stepped onto the rainbow bridge, the tangible rainbow light beneath his feet carrying him endlessly toward the unknown beyond. And so he saw a sight beyond the comprehension of ordinary description.

Within the endless, hazy mist, bubble-like objects would occasionally rise slowly from the obscure depths. The contents of these bubbles were indistinct, yet glimpses could be made through their hazy outer walls: some were absurd and fantastical, their interiors a jumble of bizarre mosaics and black lines; others were lifelike, mirroring everyday reality. Some were filtered through a fairytale lens, depicting heartwarming and beautiful stories; others were filled with madness and repression, where evil spirits and monsters roamed freely, one moment perfectly healthy, the next transformed into indescribable monsters; still others were filled with anguish and oppression, unable to let go of what they desired, yearning for what they could not have; and some even exuded a pinkish atmosphere, making the loyal Astartes monks wish they could issue an extermination order.

Weakness and strength, instinct and reason, indulgence and restraint... the inner world of all sentient beings is revealed, veiled and concealed, in this land of dreams.

Fujimaru Ritsuka took a deep breath. He had glimpsed the truth and naturally understood that the place where he was was the dream realm of the entire world, the "Land of Nothingness" mentioned in "Free and Easy Wandering," a place between nothingness and existence, seemingly illusory yet full of brilliant or dim dreams.

While he was overwhelmed by the sights, something in the distance floated up.

"This is outrageous..." Fujimaru Ritsuka stared blankly in that direction, which was the direction the Rainbow Bridge beneath her feet was flying.

The dreamscapes he saw, in terms of sensory perception, were mostly no larger than a small villa. There were also vast and complex dreamscapes, but they could still be contained within a small square. But his destination was far more extraordinary—so enormous that it could be described as a planet. Even he, after traveling for a while, was astonished to discover that the enormous curved surface was not the boundary of the Land of Nothingness, but the curved surface of this dreamscape itself.

However, the size of this curved surface was enormous. Even in this vast space, it was as if he had suddenly encountered a wall. This wall was infinitely high above, infinitely deep below, infinitely far to the left, and infinitely far to the right, filling his entire field of vision.

In the depths of this dreamscape, which defies description, he finally saw the gentle, flickering light. Just seeing that faint, candle-like glow from afar, Fujimaru Ritsuka's natural fear of facing such a colossal object was instantly soothed.

“I’m here, Luna,” Fujimaru Ritsuka said with a smile.

Then he sensed something was off: "Wait, Rainbow Bridge, there seems to be something wrong with your angle? Hold on a minute! Can't you adjust it?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka squatted down in a fit of rage and frantically pounded on the rainbow bridge beneath her feet.

Rainbow Bridge: ......

It was powerless to do anything! Didn't you see how desperately it tried to change direction, but its path was still distorted?

Fujimaru Ritsuka also noticed this. Watching it seemingly flicker with light, yet still gradually twisting its direction and falling at an off-center angle, she couldn't help but feel a little desperate: "Kishibe-sensei, I must go back and have a good talk with Ms. Lisa Lisa."

In that desolate wasteland, Rohan Kishibe unexpectedly sneezed: "Achoo! Why is someone talking about me? It doesn't make sense. I've already submitted my manuscript."

"Speaking of which... I don't think I've ever brought a human into the dream world before... Could it be...?" Rohan Kishibe suddenly realized something, turned his head sharply, and saw that the Rainbow Bridge had completely sunk into the wasteland and was straining against the ground.

"..."

I'm standing by the shore, and right now I just want to stay still.

He suddenly remembered a secret: half-dreamers actually have almost no weight. For example, there's a female Merlin from a parallel universe who completely disregards the opinions of ordinary people, and even when walking in reality, she only retains the weight that allows her to interfere and interact. That's 5KG.

So...could it be that the Rainbow Bridge is overweight?!

Rohan Kishibe instantly grasped the situation; he could feel two invisible, reproachful eyes staring at him from behind.

“Indeed…light has weight too.” Rohan Kishibe exclaimed with the air of a scientist, then rushed to the Rainbow Bridge and got to work without another word.

While straining to stabilize the Rainbow Bridge, Rohan Kishibe subtly noticed two people surrounding him, their faces covered in sweat: "Looks like I've messed up?" Although he'd already finished adjusting, it was too late; he'd just pretend to keep going. He could stall for time until Fujimaru Ritsuka returned so he could run away and escape the beating!