The Clockie Boy's rewards, his previous experience with Cocona, and the strange feeling this dream gave off inside and out, made Pei Guang set aside his thoughts of wandering around Penacony with beautiful girls.
Once the storyline was done, he could take strolls whenever he wanted. Now that he'd discovered something useful, it was more practical to push through the plot first.
At the same time, he began considering something: the Bloodhound Family were family members, and family members dropped coins. So, rounding it up—didn't that make them enemies for now?
But there was a question: was the whole family the enemy, or just part of it?
Thinking back to his time with Robin, Pei Guang felt it was the latter. And if that was the case, then Penacony would be even more interesting.
A cry for help from the Nameless, hostility from the Family… what would happen here? With too few clues, Pei Guang couldn't figure it out, but he couldn't help cracking a joke.
"Surely Penacony doesn't have some kind of Mental Terminator device where, if the quest fails, everyone gets mind controlled? Or maybe a Stellaron hidden in Penacony, and failing the quest means the Stellaron fully takes over?"
Pei Guang's wild speculations ran on.
For a player, guessing at what comes next in the story was part of the fun. Right or wrong, it gave a powerful sense of involvement.
While Pei Guang chatted with the Clockie Boy, Firefly and Sparkle, watching him talking happily to himself, both swallowed nervously.
They could clearly see him carrying on a conversation, even sending a few texts on his phone—then showing a cruel smile like he wouldn't leave anyone alive.
So, while Pei Guang spoke with the Clockie Boy…
Firefly: "Um… Ah Guang, who are you talking to?"
Sparkle: "Is something here? Could it be… a ghost?"
Firefly's tone was a little nervous but overall a normal question. Sparkle's voice, however, was softer and sounded much more frightened.
Even Firefly felt the urge to comfort her after hearing it.
But Sparkle's little act had no effect on Pei Guang. For a player aiming to clear the game, no amount of character charm would make them waver.
Pei Guang explained normally: "Look~ a Clockie Boy was here earlier. Didn't you see it?"
Firefly: "Clockie Boy?"
Sparkle: "I didn't see anything…"
Pei Guang stroked his chin, thinking: "Maybe the Clockie Boy is like that waiter I met before—like a ghost, invisible to ordinary people?"
"Ghosts?"
At that word, Sparkle shivered. Her body trembled as she looked at Pei Guang in fear. "There are ghosts here? That's too scary… can we leave this place?"
Pei Guang: "Leave? Well, it is about time. Not much money drops here anyway. Firefly~ I'll take you to something more exciting. Dare to try? But if we do, the worst case is you might not be able to stay in Penacony anymore."
At his words, Firefly lowered her head in thought.
Whether or not she could stay in Penacony wasn't important. What mattered was experiencing as much as she could in the dream before taking action.
And along the way, Pei Guang's behavior had made her willing to trust him. With that in mind, Firefly made her choice.
"Alright! Then I'll leave the fun stuff to you."
Sparkle: "A fun place… may I come with you? I'm really not familiar with this area…"
Her hesitant look already made her intentions clear. And her pitiful expression was such that even Firefly couldn't harden her heart against it.
Pei Guang glanced at Sparkle, then smiled. "Looks like she wants to tag along. If she wants to follow, let her. One more won't matter."
Firefly: "That's true… but what exactly is the fun thing?"
Pei Guang rubbed his hands together excitedly. "Farming coins from the Bloodhounds, and helping people here recover their lost emotions! But it's dangerous work. Are you sure you want to come?"
He turned his gaze on Sparkle. At the word "dangerous," her first reaction wasn't fear but nervousness.
She looked at him nervously and asked in a small voice: "Will you protect me then?"
Seeing her like this, Pei Guang's playful side came out. He stepped closer, gazed at her with gentle eyes, and said softly, "Of course I'll protect you. How could I not, when you're this cute?"
Originally, Firefly felt uneasy hearing Pei Guang say he would protect Sparkle. But looking at his tender expression, she sucked in a sharp breath.
Gentle, so gentle—gentle enough to make even her feel jealous. Yet somehow, seeing that gentle look gave her a sense of reassurance.
After all, since the day they met, Pei Guang had been wild and chaotic. Whenever he looked serious, it usually meant he was thinking.
But in the midst of all his madness, if she thought back carefully, she could recall the way he had looked after her, after Stelle, and even after that ordinary girl Cocona.
That kind of care and concern seemed instinctive: lifting your spirits, pulling you along into fun, helping you forget your worries in his own way…
Through it all, he showed every kind of expression, but never that one: the gentle, tender gaze meant only for a single person.
Seeing it now, Firefly couldn't help but feel like Pei Guang was about to trick this girl.
Remembering all this, Firefly suddenly realized: since this girl appeared, Pei Guang's attitude had been a little off. He thought more whenever he looked at her!
But as the saying goes, the onlooker sees more clearly.
At that moment, with Pei Guang's gentle gaze on her, Sparkle didn't think of any of that. After all, though she had stuck close to him along the way, she had spent more time offline than actually following him.
She had watched some of his streams, but those were from version 1.0. By now, Pei Guang was already at 2.0, maybe even 3.0!
In fact, not just Firefly: even other viewers who had seen those streams could tell she was about to be tricked.
Whether it was Pei Guang falling into a trap or Sparkle being tricked, it was the kind of drama everyone loved to see.
Nobody was going to warn them, because everyone just wanted to enjoy the show.