Stelle's line of thinking was actually very simple.
She could tell the difference between dream and reality now, but she lacked the keen intellect to discern what was possible within the dream from what was impossible.
Anything that could be experienced in the dream was, by definition, possible.
But right now, it felt like anything was achievable in the dream, as if nothing was out of reach.
Immersed in the dream like this, Stelle figured it would be very difficult to find the so-called "impossible thing."
[Stelle, have you ever experienced sexual intercourse?]
'*Whoa—isn't that a bit of a sudden topic change?! Of course not! I'm still a pure, innocent maiden!*'
Stelle's face flushed, and she looked like she was about to explode on the spot.
Noldrei knew why she was flustered and continued with his deduction.
[Don't get excited. You have no actual experience with it. Therefore, when you sleep, it's impossible for you to dream of the actual sensation of a deeper, intimate exchange. Because your brain has no sensory memory of it stored, when you reach that crucial step, you'll realize you have no idea what it feels like.]
[In other words, something that has never happened in reality is what's impossible in a dream.]
Stelle was genuinely impressed by the example. She gave him a thumbs-up. "Damn, now that's a vivid example even I can understand!"
Noldrei didn't think it was anything worth praising.
He steered the question back to the matter at hand.
[Stelle, what experience do you think no one who has entered Penacony has ever had?]
Stelle's brow furrowed. She had never considered such a difficult question.
Wasn't this putting her, the Galactic Baseballer, on the spot?
She stood there in the middle of the amusement park, brow furrowed, staring into the distance with a serious expression.
It was as if she hadn't come here to have fun at all, but to contemplate the philosophy of life.
'*What is it that none of them have experienced?*'
This was no less difficult than asking Stelle to figure out what sensations these people had never felt.
"Could it be... the destruction of the universe? They definitely haven't experienced that, right?"
Stelle figured it had to be something that big. What else could there be that no one had experienced?
Most of the people here were powerful or influential, or had some special status. Their lives were probably far more colorful than hers.
How could there possibly be something they hadn't experienced? Even if they hadn't experienced it directly, they had surely used some kind of technology to simulate it, like the Simulated Universe.
At the very least, a special experience like the destruction of the universe could be simulated.
Noldrei thought Stelle's imagination was truly running wild.
[If they had experienced the destruction of the universe, would they still be able to come to Penacony to dream? What are you thinking?]
[In a dream, in order to conceal an 'impossible thing,' you must make it conform to your imagination of what an 'impossible thing' is.]
[And the destruction of the universe is precisely the kind of special experience that can be imagined, making people believe that's what it's like.]
Stelle felt like Noldrei was just trying to pick a fight with her.
She would propose an "impossible," but Noldrei would say that this "impossible" could be virtually imagined, making people believe the "impossible" was "possible."
In that case, how could there be anything "impossible" in a dream?
Wouldn't everything in a dream just become "possible"?
'*You're such a jerk! Now I finally understand how Diviner Fu felt when she had to deal with your questions! For something like this, I think I should go ask Mr. Yang and Himeko for the answer!*'
Noldrei didn't think it was necessary to go to them for the answer at all.
In fact, the answer was already laid out in plain sight.
[I've explained it so clearly, why do you still not understand? The point isn't turning the 'impossible' into the 'possible.' It's making the dreamer realize that they can absolutely never turn the 'impossible' into the 'possible.']
[That process would inevitably go against their own self-interest!]
'*What do you mean by that?*' It wasn't that Stelle didn't understand the situation; she just couldn't grasp the crucial point.
[First, what kind of people come to Penacony?]
Stelle frantically scratched her hair and shouted in frustration, "Aaaaaaah! How the hell am I supposed to know what kind of people I've never even met are!"
[For crying out loud, they're living people! Do you get it? No one here has experienced what death is, which means it's impossible to construct a world in the dream specifically for experiencing death!]
'...'
His words struck Stelle like a bolt of lightning. She truly had never considered that possibility.
[Not only can they not do it, but from the perspective of their own self-interest, they could never accept a dreamed experience of death as real death. Can you understand the existence of this 'impossible' now?]
[The people who come here are seeking the beauty of dreams, seeking spiritual fulfillment they can't get in reality. That means they absolutely require a foundation of being alive to do so.]
[Even in a dream, they could never construct an experience where they believe they can die in the dream. The moment they entered such an experience, they would be startled awake and abandon the false dream.]
[Otherwise, if they truly let their consciousness slumber, collapse, and commit suicide, they would become vegetables in reality.]
[Because it goes against their self-interest. They only want to experience death, not actually die. But the moment they have that thought, they can no longer experience the truest sensation of death, and falsehood takes over the dream. Therefore, 'the experience of death' is an absolute impossibility in a dream!]
[If you truly wanted to die, you would have already killed yourself outside of Penacony; you wouldn't come here to 'experience' it. For humans, death is singular, absolute, and material. It cannot be altered, let alone virtually recreated in the mind!]
Stelle sucked in a sharp breath. She never would have dreamed that the "impossible thing" in this dreamscape was "the experience of death."
Because everyone who entered the dream was alive, no one could have brought that experience with them.
At best, they could simulate a near-death experience, but it would always fall short of true death.
And precisely because all the dreamers were alive, they could never accept a truly real experience of death. Therefore, death in a dream would inevitably be false. At that moment, the impossible thing in the dream would reveal itself.
"Damn, bro, you're a genius! Is this the legendary dialectics?! So this is how you use it?!"