Hearing Stelle say that, Acheron opened her eyes a little wider.
She didn't interrupt or speak, because the gray-haired girl in front of her wasn't finished yet.
Stelle wore a serious expression and said, "I've talked about this before with Nero, about having beautiful dreams. The answer we came to was that it's impossible."
"Because you can't keep dreaming forever without doing anything else. Your body's needs will wake you up."
"No matter how wonderful the dream is, you'll still get hungry and need to eat, thirsty and need to drink, and when your bowels are full, you'll have to use the bathroom. Those are all things a person needs to stay alive in reality."
"Unless you're dead. But if you're dead, you won't dream anymore."
"And even if you really became a spiritual life-form, that dream still wouldn't be as perfect as you described."
"As long as individual consciousness still exists, society keeps developing, civilization keeps moving forward through hardship, conflict and division will never stop."
"As long as living beings can still feel emotions, feelings of superiority can never be completely removed."
"So the question itself has no meaning, because it could never happen."
Acheron was stunned for a moment and didn't know what to say.
Even though Stelle had been completely serious the whole time she answered, that answer was... just a little too realistic and rational.
'Just how bored is Stelle and this person she called Nero? Did people really spend their free time thinking about things like this?'
Even someone as calm as Acheron was left speechless after hearing Stelle's "scientific and rigorous" answer.
No matter when or who they were with, people whose thinking went off in unexpected directions always managed to catch others completely off guard.
Meanwhile, Siberian Duck, who was doing the mission, couldn't help laughing when he saw that dialogue option.
"Haha. It doesn't look like a serious answer at all, so how did she manage to say it with such a straight face?"
[Pom-Pom: It's hard to imagine what Nero and Stelle's daily life is like. Why would they even talk about something like this?
[Dan-heart Eternal: The topic is completely off the rails, but the angle they used to reach their conclusion is so practical.]
[Knight of Beauty: Keeping your feet on the ground. That's good. As expected of Nero.]
[Aha's Emanator: Not gonna lie, it actually makes sense. Anyone who's ever been woken up because they had to pee, raise your hand.]
[Hunt Aeon: Lan: Me.]
[Black Cutter: Me too.]
[I Use Pantene: So even someone as beautiful as Nero has to use the bathroom?]
[Nero's Feet In My Mouth: Isn't that perfect then! I hereby announce that from today onward, I am the Astral Express's toilet!]
[Director of a Psychiatric Hospital: Haha, got you this time! @Nero's Feet In My Mouth Get in here!]
———
Acheron stayed silent for a long time. She felt there was no need to ask any more questions.
But in the end, she still spoke, "Then... if this beautiful dream is destined to fall apart, and everything will eventually leave you, friends, family, strangers... then the gentle wind, the birds in flight, the stars... and finally, yourself."
"Every person, everyone they remember, those smiles and tears, the promises that were kept and the ones that weren't... all of it will eventually reach its destined end... If, before setting out, you already knew where the journey would end..."
"...would you still choose to begin it?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Stelle asked back.
"If I never walk that road, how would I know that ending is my ending? If I never walk that road, how would I know what ending I'll reach? If I never walk that road, how would I know why I ended up with that ending?"
"Nero says fate has always been a blank page. Every so-called fixed ending is only the result of someone's reasoning, not something that already exists. A person's will and choices will always matter more than vague prophecies."
"If the future is painful, then it must be because I chose pain, not because I was always destined to reach it."
Acheron blinked twice.
She had expected Stelle to hesitate and think for a long time.
She never expected the girl to answer so decisively.
What an optimistic, positive, and confident way to live.
There was no need to keep asking.
Acheron took a deep breath. For a brief moment, she seemed to see a faint light shining from Stelle.
Just like...
The terrifying monster wandering the Asdana Star System.
Just like those glorious knights who had rashly stepped into Nihility.
Those rays of light illuminated the vast dream, then tore open a huge crack within it.
"Thank you."
Some memories quickly faded away like the receding tide.
"We each have our own road to walk. This is where we part."
"Will we meet again?" Stelle asked. Although the woman before her had asked several strange questions, she still had a good impression of this kind guide.
"The golden dream is about to stir," Acheron said. "During the long night ahead, you'll face many setbacks and witness countless tragedies. And in the end..."
She paused.
"Just as you said, witness the rest for yourself."
"Even if, in the end, all you can see is black and white... I hope you'll make your own choice, just as you said..."
With her back to Stelle, Acheron rested her hand on her sword. Her thumb gently pushed against the guard, and blood-red tears flowed from the corner of her eye like ink spreading through water.
"Return to the waking world. That's where we'll all find our answers."
Stelle felt as though she had been struck by something heavy and fell backward.
Liquids of every color burst out of her body like spilled ink, covering everything before her, as though painting a starry sky.
Her consciousness was fading.
———
"Mmm..."
"Hm...?"
Sitting on the sofa, Nero looked around at his companions in confusion.
The instant the warp ended and the Astral Express appeared on the star rail of the Asdana Star System, everyone had suddenly fallen asleep for some reason.
Not even a robot like Svarog was spared.
"Do you know what's going on?"
Nero gently patted the Cat Cake in his arms. It had a white shell, an eye-like pattern on it, and tasted mainly like purple grapes.
It wiggled its body and let out two soft little sounds.
"You mean memoria?" Nero blinked, then turned toward the mirror not far away.
The Memokeeper, who had been standing there the whole time, noticed Nero looking at her and immediately gave a little shake.
To be honest, the only reason she had stayed on the Express was for those memories. Everything happening on the train had nothing to do with her.
But now that this child had his eyes on her, pretending nothing was happening didn't seem possible anymore.
As she was thinking that, Nero had already walked over.
"This one says there's something wrong with the memoria here. Do you know anything about it?"
"Uh... The memoria density in the Asdana Star System really is much higher than in other star systems. And I can also sense that the memoria here seems to be flowing according to some kind of pattern."
After hesitating for a moment, the Memokeeper chose to answer honestly.
"Maybe that's what's causing them all to fall asleep."
"Mmm..."
Nero lowered his eyes and began thinking.
Back when he played Honkai: Star Rail, before going to the Reverie Hotel, Stelle had also entered a dream once and met Acheron there...
He also hadn't contacted Robin beforehand, and she was probably busy preparing for the Charmony Festival anyway... Maybe entering the Reverie Hotel required sleeping first.
Thinking that, Nero turned back to the Memokeeper.
"Can you show me how you control memoria? Anything is fine. Even the way you usually play with Stelle."