Firefly felt like she was going insane.
She'd thought Sam's job was crazy enough, but compared to Stelle, whose immediate solution was to dismantle Penacony to uncover its secrets, Sam's methods were far too conservative.
What was the Clockmaker's Legacy?
Did you think you were in for a thrilling puzzle-solving adventure?
Or perhaps an exploration of a bizarre and ever-changing dream world?
Today, someone had provided the real answer.
I don't know what the Legacy is, but I know if we tear Penacony down, we'll definitely find it!
So, if everyone helps tear it down, we can find the Clockmaker's Legacy even sooner!
And to help everyone find the Clockmaker's Legacy faster, Stelle had decided to lead the charge and kill every last dreamer!
The logic was perfectly sound. The course of action was perfectly sound. It was just that the process was a little hard to stomach.
Firefly was even beginning to wonder who the real Stellaron Hunter was.
"Firefly, there are only two impossible things in a dreamscape. The first is true death, and the second is destroying the dream to wake up. The former goes against your self-interest, and the second goes against your desires."
"See, what I'm doing right now goes against the desires of all these people who came to Penacony for a good time. My kill-rate is too low on my own, so I want to see if I can find other friends who share my hobby."
"I mean, I'm already in a dream. If I can't do whatever I want, then didn't I dream for nothing?! As long as I can get more people to think and act like me, they'll surely join our Interstellar Rampage Crew!"
It's so much faster when you have a formula.
Stelle had already grasped how to find the impossible thing within a dream, all thanks to Noldrei's dialectic of possibilities.
And forcing people to wake up and face reality was precisely against the real-world desires of those who came to Penacony. This, too, was an "impossible thing" within the dream.
In Stelle's eyes, Penacony's order wasn't just full of cracks; it was a sieve riddled with holes.
Firefly knew that this could indeed destroy the Penacony dreamscape, but she also knew that such a plan was not so simple to execute.
"Then how are we supposed to find people like that?" Firefly asked with concern. "Or rather, where would we find so many people willing to follow you to destroy the dream? Everyone who comes here is here to enjoy Penacony... Getting them to destroy it together seems like an impossible thing in itself, doesn't it?"
Stelle also fell into thought. It wasn't realistic for her to slaughter everyone in Penacony by herself.
"It's fine! I'm sure we can find like-minded companions!"
Just as Stelle was boasting, she suddenly seemed to hear an incredible sound, as if someone were calling for help.
"Sounds like someone's calling for help? Could it be that someone else has already started killing people, just like me?!"
Stelle was suddenly excited. "Did you hear that?" she said to Firefly. "I heard someone calling for help! Someone else must be thinking about killing in their dreams, too!"
Firefly thought Stelle was hearing things.
But Stelle paid her no mind, sprinting off in the direction of the cry. She absolutely had to go give the killer a hand!
But the reality was completely different from what she had imagined...
Appearing before Stelle was—a talking clock.
"What the—it's just a talking clock..."
Stelle was deeply disappointed. She was crestfallen that her path as a dream villain had hit such a snag right at the start.
"What do you mean, 'a talking clock'?! I'm Clockie! The superstar of Dreamville, Penacony! My friends and I protect the peace of this town—they are the Hanu Brothers, Mr. Soda, the Origami Birds, the Hamster Ball Knight..."
It was indeed a clock. Unfortunately, Firefly couldn't see it, or else Stelle could have pointed it out to her.
"Why did you suddenly start running? Where was the cry for help?!"
When Firefly caught up with Stelle, she didn't see anyone calling for help, only Stelle staring at the ground with a look of disappointment.
The little Clockie wasn't tall, only reaching up to Stelle's knee.
"Wait! You—you can see me!"
Clockie, the talking clock, stared at Stelle in shock, as if he had just witnessed something incredible.
Firefly looked around. She clearly didn't think Stelle had a screw loose.
Could someone with a loose screw come up with such a clear-headed and world-shattering plan to solve Penacony's problems?
"Alright, alright, Clockie. Was that you calling for help just now? What's the trouble? Huh... no, wait... never mind. I already agreed, might as well get it over with."
Stelle sighed and pressed a hand to her forehead. She had almost forgotten she was supposed to be playing the villain in this dream. But her instincts had kicked in, and she had reflexively reverted to the Astral Express's righteous hero persona of solving everyone's problems.
[See? Look at you, already trapped by your own thinking. Back on my Earth, we'd call that being conditioned; they've found your weak spot!]
'*Don't make me sound like some wage slave. The life I've lived on the Astral Express has always been one of receiving the best hospitality from various factions. Is that the treatment a wage slave gets? Don't just project!*'
Stelle mentally berated Noldrei for his demeaning behavior.
"That's great! Misha can be saved! Misha's in danger—tick-tock! Help!"
"Misha? Oh, right, I remember him..."
Stelle remembered. Wasn't that the service staff member who had cleaned her room, only for a note to appear afterward?
[Let's go check it out first. We can decide whether to save him later. Something was off about that Misha from the start.]
"Who are you talking to? What Misha?" Firefly still couldn't see the entity.
"Huh? You can't see him? It's Clockie, the one you told me about. He's right in front of me, talking to me."
Stelle found it strange, too. She had never expected to encounter a problem like this.
"Tick-tock! I guess only those who are straightforward, innocent, and pure of heart can see me—like this gray-haired friend here!" Clockie declared.
[Is he serious? If that were true, he should be surrounded by cheering tourist children, not here shouting for help with no one paying him any mind. They could at least come up with a better lie, right?]
'*Stop talking like everyone thinks I'm an idiot, okay?*'
Stelle felt that Noldrei was becoming more and more malicious. How could he attack her like that?
"What? You can really see Clockie? Then why can't I?" Firefly was getting confused. Now even invisible cartoon characters were showing up.
Stelle explained calmly, "It's probably because you're introverted, worldly, and mature. They say it's hard for grown-ups to be as innocent as they used to be."
"I-is that so..."
Firefly's expression was complicated. She didn't see a single innocent thing about Stelle. And that wasn't how you fooled people, was it? Looks like she still doesn't see me as a friend, she thought.