Don't use Type-Moon references in Oregairu!

"Ah, although my brain isn't working too well yet, I'll still write it down first." Fujimaru Ritsuka squeezed the hands of the two people next to her, and then the two pulled her back forcefully.

Yukino, itching with anger, stomped on his foot.

"Hey Fujimaru-kun, why are you secretly taking advantage of me? You're making Yukinoshita blush, aren't you? Can't you just do it openly?" Utaha stood on tiptoe and rested her chin on Fujimaru Ritsuka's shoulder with a smile.

Wow, is this what they call the "push-back feeling"?

Fujimaru Ritsuka was utterly speechless: "I'm telling you to let go. Otherwise, are you two weaklings with less than C-level strength supposed to push this door open?"

"Oh ho ho, you're right, that's why you don't open your mouth but take advantage of the situation in a reasonable and justifiable way, right?"

"You're overthinking it! Okay, stop talking, grab my shoulders and pull on the back of my clothes, I'll push the door open."

Once the two were ready, Fujimaru Ritsuka took a deep breath, braced her arms against the door, and pushed open the heavy door.

31. This is cat paradise, meow!

The door was pushed open, and with a dazzling light, Fujimaru Ritsuka felt that she was no longer at the end of the stairs, but in a completely new place.

Fortunately, the hand tightly gripping his shoulder and the feeling of his clothes being tugged at the back told him that the three of them had not been separated.

Before setting off, Fujimaru Ritsuka diligently studied the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

The path we've walked before is a dream path leading to the Dreamland.

In Luo's book, the so-called dream realm is a parallel space similar to a mirror image of Earth, accessible through dreams, and a dimension constructed by the human subconscious. People can use their imagination to create whatever they desire within it.

Here, there are celestial bodies and environments similar to those in human perception, but there are also many differences from reality—the Earth is flat, many planets in the solar system hang in the sky, and it can be entered by spaceship. Many races and civilizations that cannot be seen in reality, as well as dream gods, live in this dream world.

However, based on his previous encounter with the mist, Fujimaru Ritsuka could roughly deduce that this dreamlike realm was likely a fragment of what Aki Tomoya had created. He was also prepared to face the nightmare realm that madman intended to create. What bizarre and fantastical sights would it be?

For example, the tree canopy blocks out the sky, and everywhere is a twisted forest of fungi emitting an uncomfortable glow.

For example, there are giant worms and Gorgons everywhere, and an underground world with only enclosed caves.

For example, the lunar surface is inhabited by toad-like moon beasts, and ancient black warships fly around.

For example, the edge of the earth where there are only sheer cliffs and abysses, where even the broken moon and the faint stars cannot illuminate.

Even the summit of the Kadas Mountains, inhabited by dream gods whose minds are no better than humans.

None of them.

It was a city shimmering in the setting sun.

The high walls, the temples, the colonnades, and the arched bridges built of textured marble—all shimmered with a magnificent and captivating brilliance; fountains with silver bases spouted water in the wide squares and fragrant gardens, radiating iridescent light; graceful trees, flowerbeds bursting with blossoms, and ivory statues lined the wide streets; layers of red roofs and old, pointed gables climbed the northern hillside, providing shelter for the grass-green cobblestone alleys below.

In the tranquil and beautiful city, few people are seen, only cats occupying the space. Black, gray, white, yellow, tabby, mixed colors; common house cats, Persian cats, Isle of Man cats, Tibetan cats, Angora cats, Egyptian Mau cats. Their fur is smooth, some yawning and lazily lying on the street, others energetically leaping and playing between the eaves. Occasionally, one or two will fall from a high rooftop, but they remain unperturbed, merely meowing before disappearing into the air and reappearing on the soft grass nearby.

"So many cats!" Fujimaru Ritsuka felt a series of cracking sounds coming from her right shoulder bone, and a hot breeze was blowing on her right cheek.

Her left arm was also enveloped by a huge, soft thing. Kasumigaoka Utaha was so surprised that she couldn't speak: "These cats can actually teleport! In Murasaki Shikibu's memory, even Abe no Seimei couldn't do it so skillfully!"

"Ah, according to Elder Luo, the cats in the Dream Realm can perform spatial jumps."

"Even if you say that, seeing it in person still feels devastating..." Kasumigaoka Utaha had already let go of her hand, kneeling on the ground, and dejectedly supporting herself with her hands. "I never thought that my magic is even worse than a cat's."

"No, cats are full of martial spirit. They have a glorious history of forming an army and tearing apart troublesome moon beasts with spaceships and monster inhabitants of the forest."

"Really?!" "Thank you for the compliment, meow~"

Did some serious remarks get mixed in?

The three of them turned their heads at the same time. The Persian cat with deep blue eyes spoke while licking its soft, silvery-white fur: "Welcome to this city, meow~ Although I don't remember anything you said, you're a good cat owner if you're willing to praise us, meow!"

"Come with me, meow~ Elder Meow wants to see you~" It walked forward slowly with elegant steps, and they had no choice but to follow.

As they strolled through the city, Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others truly appreciated its beauty.

This city is the favor of the gods; it is the ceremonial music played by the trumpets of heaven, and the resounding notes produced by the clash of cymbals in the divine realm.

Everything seemed familiar. Its presence could be seen in the rooftops on the hillside and in the glow emanating from the windows reddened by the setting sun. It seemed familiar in the fragrant parks and the verdant countryside where I played as a child.

"Like everything that has appeared in my past memories, beautiful and nostalgic, familiar yet strange." Kasumigaoka Utaha walked down the street with her hands behind her back, lost in thought, and recited a line of poetry in broken Chinese, "The peach blossoms still smile in the spring breeze?"

Indeed, writers of that era who couldn't speak a few words of Chinese were practically illiterate.

Fujimaru Ritsuka praised Kasumigaoka Utaha's keen insight: "This city, in my memory, appears in Rascal's 'Dream of the Secret Realm of Kadas.' That novel is different from most of his works; it's a fairytale adventure story set in a dreamlike realm, and could even be renamed 'Randolph Carter's Adventures in Wonderland.' Theoretically, this city is a lost dream created by Randolph Carter, a dreamlike microcosm of all the beautiful past moments of life. Even the gods were tempted by it, falling from the peak of Mount Kadas, which ruled the dreamlike realm, to this place for endless revelry. This caused the rule of the dreamlike realm to become disordered."

“However, it seems that this city has been drastically altered yet again… It might be our, or even more than just our, beautiful dreams.” Fujimaru Ritsuka commented, stating his speculation. Now that his mind was gradually returning to normal, combined with what he had gleaned through the mist, he made a guess that might be correct.

"Oh my, as expected of your human, you must have guessed right, meow." A familiar voice rang out, though much gentler, it was definitely Aki Tomoya's voice!

The three of them quickly leaped backward, drew their weapons, and prepared for battle. Then they stood still.

The owner of the voice, wearing large, round, black-rimmed glasses, solemnly adjusted the frames with her soft paws: "What's wrong, meow? Are you perhaps shocked by my majestic and wise appearance? You're granted special permission to offer me some dried fish to pat my belly, meow~"

A big belly, soft fur, orange and white markings—no doubt, it's a fat orange cat. Others might find its glasses comical, but Fujimaru Ritsuka wouldn't mistake them; they're exactly the same as Aki Tomoya's.

"Who are you, meow!"

"Human, you're not allowed to mimic our speech, meow!"

32. You beast, what do you know?!

Aki Tomoya... let's call him Aki-nyan for now. He sat cross-legged on the desk with a serious expression, his already small eyes narrowed, scrutinizing the three people and the cat in the room.

An Yi Nyan shakily took off her large, round, black-rimmed glasses and angrily threw them on the table: "Anyone who doesn't know what's going on, get out!"

The Persian cat yawned and winked: "I'll be going now, Elder. Remember to give me my reward later!"

Fujimaru Ritsuka touched her neck, her tone urgent: "But my elders, isn't it a bad way to treat guests to bring us here to play riddles?"

An Yi Nyan gestured with her paws, waving them haphazardly in the air: "Can't you guys stop for a moment, eat your dried fish, and then talk about serious business?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka slapped Twilight Muramasa: "The little fish is a small matter, stopping that guy from going crazy is the important thing. With this, can I stand up and kill that guy?"

"not enough."

"And what about the two of them?" Fujimaru Ritsuka pushed the two still bewildered ladies to the front.

An Yi Miao squinted at the two of them, then shook her head: "Not enough."

"What about those guys who came with us?" Fujimaru Ritsuka spread her arms and drew a big circle.

An Yi Miao glanced at him disdainfully: "Those guys are barely able to protect themselves; it's a miracle they haven't gone crazy."

"May I ask who you are?" Fujimaru Ritsuka leaned on the table, looking down at Aki-nyan.

Anki-neko sighed, easily picked up the glasses with her paw pads, and put them on her face: "They're just wreckage and obsessions."

"I understand."

"What do you even know?!" Yukino Yukinoshita revealed a bloodthirsty smile, looking at the person and the cat with ill intent. "Still playing riddles and joking around? Do you want to spar for a while?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka and Aki Nyan exchanged a glance, and were about to answer Yukino Yukinoshita when a violent tremor interrupted them.

From the window near the office, one can see the city as if manipulated by the invisible hand of a giant, the land being divided like building blocks, and a building appearing out of nothing on the excess vacant land.

The Persian cat rushed in: "Elder Meow, it seems someone else is coming."

"Let's go pick them up first. I need to talk to these guests and answer their questions."

Aki-neko turned to look at Yukino Yukinoshita and Utaha Kasumigaoka: "You two not-so-smart, cough cough, well-deceived female cat owners, do you see the new building outside?"

Yukino Yukinoshita withdrew her fist with satisfaction and nodded: "I saw it. What does it matter?"

"This is a false dreamland, a beautiful dream that has passed away, a city of illusory remembrance. It is a dream that corresponds to reality. When a powerful person enters this place, his dream will form a corresponding building."

Aki-neko licked her fur and said seriously, "Do you remember the number of buildings we saw as we walked here?"

Kasumigaoka Utaha said irritably, "It's like asking someone how many slices of bread they've eaten."

“Wait a minute…” She remembered some key words in the conversation, “Powerful? Impossible. There are so many buildings here, even if you include the missing Third Division, it’s impossible for them to provide that many buildings.”

Anki-neko sighed, "Of course it's not enough, so these are all the followers that guy infected in reality, the manifestations of their dreams and consciousness."

"Didn't we resolve the incident?" Kasumigaoka Utaha asked anxiously. "My jutsu isn't great, but I checked and Eriri definitely wasn't affected."

"Because that guy wasn't trying to spread curses at all. He used the cursed works created by the creators as memes to infect countless people, meow." Anki Meow counted on her paws. "Those who read the blog, those who read Eriri Sawamura's doujinshi, those who read the new works written by those authors who had given up, were all captured by the information memes, developed an interest in the Cthulhu Mythos, and then, through some ritual that guy somehow comprehended, were pulled in as novice believers."

"It's said that he brought you in, but it should just be a dream. However, he used various methods to create a dream world, and then dragged you supernatural ability users in one by one to suppress the unstable dream world, thereby theoretically turning the false into the real and connecting to the sea of ​​the subconscious."

Fujimaru Ritsuka stroked the hilt of Twilight Muramasa's sword, saying in an "I knew it" tone, "And you cats are just a tiny bit of self-awareness that dragged the infection into the dream. Except for you, though."

Aki Nyan scratched her belly with her paw pads: "Yes. The Sunset City now is a beautiful dream, a happy side of people. Aki Tomoya's remaining humanity has also been thrown out. After the reversal, cats and you will all have to face the ferocious and ugly side of your subconscious."

Swish

A chilling sword-like foot was placed against Aki-nyan's neck. Yukino Yukinoshita asked seriously, "If I kill you, will this ritual collapse?"

Anki Nyan carefully gripped the sword's foot with its paws, trying to push it out, but couldn't budge it: "Don't kill me! If it weren't for you guys, cutting me down might have been useful, but now that you're in, the Dream Realm has stabilized."

Kasumigaoka Utaha smiled menacingly and patted Aki-nyan's head: "But if I kill you and then try to send all the reinforcements away, won't the ritual collapse?"

The fur on its head exuded a cool aura, and it didn't look like it was being caressed, but rather like it was contemplating where to start. Anki-neko gasped and pointed out the problem: "But those guys who disappeared the first, weren't they probably already turned into human pillars by now?"

Nonsence.

The two ladies casually withdrew their hands, complaining that the people in the third department were more trouble than they were worth.

Fujimaru Ritsuka shook her head and scratched Aki-nyan's chin: "By the way, Elder Nyan, when does the ceremony begin?"

Anki-neko comfortably squinted her eyes: "As the sun sets and the city falls into darkness, the reversal begins. In the center of the city, there is a lake where you will see the reflection of the stone tower. When night falls, it will reverse, and that thing will be on top. However, after the reversal, the city will undergo large-scale geographical changes, so just focus on the tower and rush forward."

"Why are you being so honest with us?"

"If you all put in a little more effort to stop him, maybe we cats can survive, meow. And I still have a little conscience after all," Anki-neko earnestly instructed them. "But, there will probably be monsters around to stop you from going up. The shadow monster corresponding to each person will appear. Good luck."

Having said everything that needed to be said, Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others prepared to leave. Before leaving, Fujimaru Ritsuka asked with some curiosity, "Are you planning to tell everyone the truth?"

"Of course we will, but how many of us will make it there is another matter." An Yi Miao panted, put on a farmer's squatting posture, and showed a disdainful expression. "Besides, you'll find out when you get out of here that surviving in this city actually requires a lot of willpower."

What do you mean?

Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others went out with questions in mind. They decided to search for the other people in the city, and soon they did see their companions, but they just wanted to stare in disbelief and pretend they didn't recognize them.

Because this Scottish bounty hunter is currently [beep] sheep...

33. The bells are ringing, Old Su is busy.