As Pei Guang led Cocona to ignite the dreamscape, because of his presence, she also witnessed a part of Pei Guang's "memories."
No—that wasn't quite it.
Just like how Pei Guang had stepped into her consciousness and experienced her life, she too now saw and felt the entirety of his past.
What confused her most was: why did the person standing before her clearly look like a man, yet in the dream, Pei Guang appeared as a woman?
That woman's body was outfitted with some rather outdated prosthetics, and judging from the surroundings, she seemed just like Cocona herself, a worker at the bottom rung of society.
She saw how Pei Guang in those memories worked diligently, only to be betrayed by colleagues. She saw a small person struggling to survive in the underbelly of society, and a world just as devouring as Penacony.
But unlike Penacony, Pei Guang's world was even more cruel and ruthless.
At least in Penacony, random gunfights weren't everywhere. But in that world, gunfire could erupt at any moment, and no one knew if they would live to see tomorrow.
Amidst those brutal memories, certain words pierced straight into her consciousness:
"Would you rather live in peace as Mr. Nobody, die ripe, old and smelling slightly of urine? Or go down for all times in a blaze of glory, smelling near like posies, without seeing your thirtieth?"
It sounded fiery, passionate—but when Cocona saw the very person who said it immediately get shot dead, even she found it absurdly comical.
Yet absurd or not, those words still sank deep into her heart.
As the memories rushed on, she saw and felt Pei Guang facing death: giving up hope and ending things himself; joining a corporation and barely scraping by; charging against the company alongside lovers and friends.
What confused Cocona most was how strange these "lovers" were: sometimes male, sometimes female, all genders, all orientations… encompassing every preference imaginable.
But all of this went by too fast, as if entire spans of life had been skipped.
Until the final moment: the memory of one last choice.
Cornered with nowhere left to run, Pei Guang picked up a gun and turned it against the city itself.
And as he stood against the corporation, Cocona saw the final line:
"Huh, you just discovered what it takes to become a legend... Grab your iron—let's mobilize"
With his last broken body, he resisted the corporation.
Success or failure didn't matter: what mattered was making one final push for the dream of becoming a legend.
Extreme? Yes.
But that raw extremity burned bright like a beacon, guiding Cocona, showing her what she should do.
After witnessing and personally experiencing this event in the memories, an even fiercer flame ignited in her heart.
A year? Ten years? A hundred? Or… just an instant?
Cocona didn't know how much time had passed. She only knew she had wandered through Pei Guang's experiences for a very long time.
And when she finally left those memories, she saw her own world of consciousness already ablaze in flames.
To change oneself, to reclaim hope… it was hard. But after everything she had gone through in this bizarre dream, Cocona found she had her own thoughts now.
Unrealistic as they were, they were better than simply jumping off.
Just like Pei Guang's words, just like what she had experienced: she might have nothing, but she still had her body, her life.
And that alone was enough to kindle fire.
Gazing into the roaring flames, recalling what she had lived through, Cocona suddenly laughed.
"Are you… a god?"
To Cocona, Pei Guang was no less than divine. He could make her rediscover herself in an instant. He could let her live a completely different life. Even dreams couldn't do something like this.
"Hm? Why would you ask me that?" Pei Guang was caught off guard.
He had no idea she had witnessed his memories, because to him, only an instant had passed.
After thinking for a moment, he shook his head: "I'm not a god. I'm just a passing player. I saw the exclamation mark above your head, born from your obsession, so I came here to resolve it, and get the reward you'd give me."
Cocona: "But… I have nothing to give you…"
Pei Guang: "Who said that? Some money, some materials, a drink, a thank you—or maybe just a bit of goodwill toward me and my companions. My lady, you're a very wealthy person. So, do you have a commission for me?"
Cocona smiled. This time it was a smile of release: "I've already mastered the secret to becoming a legend. Let's blow this dream sky-high!"
And at that very moment, the hands of the Memokeeper watching this trembled slightly—because they truly saw something that even made them shudder.
Pei Guang had taken Cocona and really ignited the dream.
And then really blew it sky-high!
As the dream burned fiercely, Cocona smiled. She knew: it was time to wake up.
This wasn't destruction in the true sense. Instead, the entire dream, the memories, all became fuel for the fire.
The flames didn't annihilate this world, on the contrary, they made it stronger. Strong enough that not even a Memokeeper could interfere anymore.
All her past experiences had become fuel, lighting the path ahead.
Because to a player, no matter how powerful you set up a game, under normal rules, the game can never interfere with a player's cutscenes or save files.
Cocona woke up, and with her awakening, Pei Guang also returned to Stelle and Firefly's side.
Seeing him reappear, Firefly asked nervously, "Are you okay? You just suddenly disappeared…"
Pei Guang waved his hand. "It's fine! I'm in great shape. I just went into her consciousness and burned her dreamscape to ash."
"Burned to ash?"
In just the blink of an eye, he had burned someone's dream to ash? Wouldn't that cause problems?
Pei Guang shook his head. "No. How should I put it? It wasn't really me burning her dream. She ignited her dream herself."
As Pei Guang explained, Cocona's eyes burned like fire as she looked at him.
"Thank you for your help…"
Pei Guang: "I wouldn't call it help. I just took a spin through your consciousness. How do you feel?"
Cocona: "I… I've never felt this good before…"
Pei Guang: "So what do you plan to do next?"
Cocona: "I will ignite the dreamscape!"
Fire flickered in Cocona's eyes. Penacony was a terrible place, and she couldn't do what she had seen in Pei Guang's memories—charging alone against everything.
But the dream taught her one truth.
Seeing Cocona change so drastically in mere seconds, Firefly widened her eyes. "What… did you do to her?"
Pei Guang stroked his chin, thinking. "Didn't really do anything. After she pulled me into her consciousness, we just set a fire together. We didn't quite burn her dream to ash, but the flames sure burned hot."
Watching Firefly's bewildered expression, Stelle comforted her. "It's normal, normal. You'll have to get used to this process. Spend enough time with Ah Guang, and you'll find the weird part is when nothing happens."
"But…"
Firefly felt her brain couldn't keep up, but when she saw Cocona had recovered, Pei Guang immediately reached out a hand toward her.
"Alright, we've healed your body, and your emotions look stable again. My lady, shouldn't we be receiving our reward now~?"
"Reward?"
Cocona took a deep breath, then hugged Pei Guang tightly. "Thank you. You and your friends can forever purchase anything in my shop at cost price."
As store manager, she had the right to set discounts. Even if the owner objected, she could cover it herself. And if the boss wanted to nitpick, then maybe this fashion shop needed a new boss.
Although Cocona's nature had returned to normal after the dream, she was still influenced by the experience, so her temperament now carried a touch of volatility.
Seeing Cocona hug Pei Guang, Firefly opened her mouth but didn't know what to say.
Stelle only sighed and shook her head helplessly. "Ah~ Ah Guang always draws people in like this. Don't misunderstand though: not just women, men like him too, even things that aren't people like him. Ah~ truly a sinful man."
As Stelle complained, Pei Guang, now freed from Cocona's hug, walked over and grabbed Stelle's face, kneading it. "Who are you calling sinful?"
Stelle: "Mmmfff~"
After a brief struggle, and a bit of playful scuffling, Pei Guang let go and looked smugly at her. "See? This time the mission reward is permanent discounts at a fashion shop. Super worth it."
Stelle: "Nice~ March will definitely love this one, huh?"
Pei Guang nodded. "For sure. But before grinding March's affection, I'll grind a bit of hers first~"
He turned to Firefly, inviting her. "Come on! I've already secured this fashion store. Everything's at cost price. Take whatever you like—it's on me."
"Uh…"
Before Firefly could say anything, Pei Guang dragged her into the shop. "Why did we help her? For the discount, of course! Only an idiot wouldn't buy when it's on sale. Come, take whatever you like. You treated me before, now it's my turn to treat you~"
Stelle chimed in, sidling closer. "Exactly, exactly. And let me tell you—Ah Guang is loaded. And even if he wasn't, we could just grab a couple of guys off the street, beat them up, and we'd have cash."
"…"
Firefly was at a loss for words.
But unfortunately, now that she was part of Pei Guang's group, even if only temporarily, she had no way to refuse. Pei Guang even had Cocona help pick out an entire set of luxury goods for her.
These things looked pricey, but after Cocona's discount, the prices were actually affordable for normal people.