"I al-already..."
The youth wanted to pour his heart out to the girl before him. All his sincerity would be met with a response amidst the girl's shyness.
Life was smooth sailing; he had found the happiness he desired. It was almost like—
Pat.
But a hand was placed on his shoulder, pulling him back. He turned around in confusion, seeing a person wearing a helmet.
"It's enough." The helmeted man spoke coldly. "You should go pursue the person you want in reality."
"Who... who are you?"
Panicked, the youth shook off the stranger's hand and shielded the frightened girl behind him.
The helmeted man raised a finger, pointing sharply at him. "This is nothing but your dream. This world, the girl behind you, even you yourself—everything is just a dream born of your imagination."
"My... dream?"
The youth looked at him in a daze. Something in his mind was loosening. He clutched his head in pain, feeling memories about to break through their seals.
"Ugh—"
"A-Song! Are you okay?" The girl supported him anxiously.
The youth gritted his teeth and looked at the girl beside him, wanting to give her a reassuring smile, but his eyes widened in horror.
The girl's fair face was flickering and distorting, unable to maintain its form. As the memories he had deliberately ignored flooded back into his mind, she became increasingly unstable.
"No... no..." He reached out frantically, but his hand passed straight through the girl's body. She simply dissipated before him.
The helmeted man watched all of this calmly. Waking a dreamer was very simple; one only needed to tell him that this was nothing but a fan—
Bam!
A punch landed on his helmet.
Lin stood where he was. He looked at the youth displayed on the monitor; now, his appearance was changing rapidly. Ugliness, old age, and rage took over the originally handsome face. He roared with resentment as he slammed his fist into Lin body.
Thud!
"Why did you wake me up! You scumbag! You shameless piece of trash!"
His voice was hoarse as if he were trying to tear his throat apart. His eyes were bloodshot and crimson. He no longer looked like the shy, refined youth from a moment ago, but like a middle-aged, decadent man who couldn't even be bothered to groom his hair.
"Do you just hate seeing me better off than you? You dregs are all the same!"
"...What you're pursuing here is only an illusion. Why not go to reality..."
"Bullshit!"
He let out a heart-wrenching roar.
This caused the calmly explaining Lin to fall silent. Beside them, the Eighth Herrscher covered her mouth and giggled.
"In reality, I have nothing! Everything I had was stolen by people like you, full of lies and grand platitudes! If I go back to reality, can I have the things I have here? My time, my wealth, and my lover!" The man grabbed Lin by the collar, lifting him up and slamming him onto the ground like a madman. "The real her loves me! That bitch in reality who left me is the one who's fake! That world is the fake one!"
"Tell me! Which one is real, and which one is fake—the world where it wouldn't be strange if I died any day, or this world where I can have everything!"
"..."
Lin did not know. He did not understand, either.
Seemingly finished with his venting, the man stood up from Lin body. Seeing the Eighth Herrscher nearby, he immediately broke into a smile, the wrinkles on his aging face twisting like a wrung-out rag.
"I... I want to keep dreaming! Is that okay?"
"Of course it is." The Eighth Herrscher smiled at him with tolerance, her every movement radiating extreme warmth. "I promised you that I would let you live forever and construct your dreams however you wish in this world. In exchange, you only need to promise me one thing: let me control your body in the real world..."
"Whatever! As long as I can keep dreaming! Nothing else matters!"
Lin lay on the ground like a lifeless corpse, looking up at the hypocritical blue sky.
The man never spared him another glance, transforming back into that innocent, youthful, and passionate boy.
At some point, they exited that door and returned to the initial conscious world. The Eighth Herrscher sat patiently beside Lin, waiting for him to stand up again.
"You see? I didn't force them. This is humanity's own choice." She leaned down and spoke softly into Lin ear. "In reality, I haven't actually killed anyone, right? Those people simply came here and made a deal with me. If you hadn't insisted on stopping me, I wouldn't have fought back."
"Of course, I know individual cases don't prove anything. So, shall we continue?"
...
"This person's life has probably surpassed ninety-nine percent of people in the world. She was born beautiful, rivaling even the biggest superstars. She was born into a family of wealthy merchants. Her superior circumstances and her own ambition earned her six doctoral degrees. She is polite, noble, and elegant—truly a 'pearl among the rubble,' a beauty like 'clear water in a silver basin.'"
The Eighth Herrscher led Su into another person's conscious world. Through her brief introduction, he already had a general idea of what kind of existence the master of this world was.
She lacked neither money, power, nor looks. She was polymathic and upright in character.
Such a person was the type most people couldn't even dream of being. Logically, she had no need for dreams; she was what one would call a "winner."
But when the truth was laid before Su, he was struck with shock.
What... was happening here?
Boom!
Cannons roared, beacons of war smoke rose, and flesh and blood flew. What he saw was a dilapidated world teeming with death.
"This is..."
"Woo-hoo~!"
A person cheered excitedly while driving a military off-road vehicle that sped uncontrollably past them. The whipped-up wind and pebbles struck Su's cheek, leaving him staring blankly at the receding vehicle.
On it was a woman with a sweet face, but she was holding firearms and a rocket launcher, laughing maniacally as she slaughtered others in a frenzy.
"That is the master of this conscious world. Isn't it fascinating? Even I find it surprising." The Eighth Herrscher rested her chin on one hand, revealing a treacherous smile. "The only dream she's had since coming here is to continuously start wars and then engage in slaughter until she dies."
A person with a happy life... the dream she would have was such a bloody and cruel... massacre.
Splat!
A spray of warm blood splashed onto Su's face, causing his features to twitch.
"What's wrong with this? Her desires cannot be realized in reality, and surely you wouldn't want her to do such things there. So why can't she be here, having her sweet dreams without interfering with anyone else? To them, this is already reality. They only wake up when the 'wake up' conditions they set themselves are met."
"It's so wonderful—a perfect world, a world that doesn't hurt anyone, a world where everyone achieves happiness."
"Such a world..."
...
"Such a world... isn't it the HAPPY ENDING you've been searching for?"
The Eighth Herrscher gently stroked Lin cheek as she spoke.