The dream bubble burst without a sound.
Huo Linfei's boots sank into thick, plush carpet. The cool mist of the Dream Pool—sweet on the nose—still lingered in his sinuses, but the scene in front of him had changed completely.
His first impression was simple:
Luxury.
A towering dome ceiling hung with a dazzling crystal chandelier, spilling warm light in soft halos. Dark wooden walls gleamed like polished mirrors, inlaid with intricate metal reliefs depicting vast, mysterious motifs—oceans of stars, swirling nebulae, and other grand celestial patterns.
The air carried the subtle blend of perfume and sea breeze. Elegantly dressed men and women walked arm in arm, murmuring and laughing in low voices as wine glasses clinked with a crisp, pleasant ring. Somewhere in the distance, a languid jazz melody drifted through, adding an extra layer of lazy intimacy to the lavish setting.
"The Blues Hour…" Huo Linfei muttered. "So it really lives up to the name."
He rubbed his temples by reflex. The aftereffects from his brutal fight with the Whale Shark King hadn't fully faded, and that nightmare—an enormous, grotesque hand and pale flames—left his mind heavy and tired.
Hands stuffed into his coat pockets, he wandered through the massive interior of the ship with no real goal. The constant pairs and couples made him feel out of place, like an intruder who'd stumbled into someone else's celebration.
"Tch…"
Just as he was thinking of finding somewhere quieter, his gaze flicked past a corner—
In that instant, the lights seemed to flicker, ever so slightly.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a pallid shape in the shadow of a luxurious curtain: a woman in a bloodstained nurse's uniform, her face a sickly gray-blue, eyes hollow and dead. She wore an unnaturally wide smile, staring straight at him.
Huo Linfei jolted, stopped dead, and snapped his eyes toward her.
Nothing.
Only fabric, shadow, and shifting light. The horror-movie figure was gone, as if his exhausted brain had played a cheap trick on him.
"…A hallucination?" He frowned. Energy stirred faintly within him, driving off a little of the fatigue. "Definitely didn't rest enough."
He shook his head and kept moving, forcing himself to focus on the ship's opulent décor. Passing a huge porthole, he glanced out at the deep blue "sea" of the dreamscape.
On the surface, half a golden sun was reflected in the water.
But beside that glow, another reflection appeared—blurred, dripping wet: a dark-haired human head pressed close to his own reflection, a pair of pupil-less white eyes "looking" up at him from the water.
"Holy—!"
He jumped back on instinct, snapping into a defensive stance, fingers almost flaring with heat.
Outside the window, there was only calm water and a beautiful sunset. No floating head. No dead-white eyes.
A couple walking by startled at his overreaction, gave him a strange look, then giggled as they hurried away.
Huo Linfei lowered his hands awkwardly, cleared his throat, and smoothed clothes that weren't even wrinkled.
"Didn't rest enough," he told himself. "Absolutely didn't rest enough…"
But his pace quickened all the same.
He cut through a corridor lined with portraits—stern figures in classical dress, faces stiff with solemn dignity. He tried not to look at them, yet still felt as if something's gaze clung to his back.
Then he heard it.
A soft click behind him.
He whirled around.
At the end of the hallway, one portrait had shifted—seemed to have moved. A man in a top hat had twisted his head a full one-eighty, facing Huo Linfei directly, mouth split into an exaggerated grin stretched to the ears.
Every hair on Huo Linfei's body threatened to stand up.
He practically fled, bolting out of the corridor and stumbling into a wide hall. In the center, a dance floor. Couples glided in slow steps, everything perfectly normal.
He let out a shaky breath and leaned against a marble column.
The music was soft. The lighting gentle.
Then, above his head—
Drip.
Something cold and viscous fell onto his forehead.
Huo Linfei went rigid. Slowly—very slowly—he raised his head.
On the ceiling, a little girl in a white dress clung there on all fours. Her skin was deathly pale, her irises pitch black. Long dark hair hung down like curtains.
She stared at him as her lips slowly split into something that wasn't human.
A second drop of dark red liquid slid from the corner of her mouth and fell.
"..."
The next second, Huo Linfei scrambled away in a half-crawl, half-sprint, blasting out of the hall and charging straight for the door to the deck. Behind him, he thought he heard the faint echo of a little girl giggling—but it drowned beneath the music and the murmuring crowd.
With a loud bang, he shoved open the heavy glass door leading outside.
Cool, salty sea wind hit him full in the face, sweeping away the suffocating mix of luxury and wrongness. The open horizon and the blazing sky flooded his vision, and the iron grip around his nerves finally loosened.
"Haa…"
He exhaled hard, gripping the railing and staring at the half-sunken golden sun on the distant seam of sea and sky. His heartbeat began to slow at last.
"Hey—are you okay?"
A crisp female voice, bright with amused teasing, came from behind him.
Huo Linfei turned.
Not far from the railing, a girl was leaning casually. She wore a refined outfit made for movement, embroidered with an unfamiliar family crest. Her long pink hair lifted lightly in the wind, and her lively eyes curved into crescents as she studied him with open curiosity and zero restraint. A clear, sunny smile rested on her lips.
"I think I just saw someone bolt out of there in a panic," she said, the smile widening. "You almost tripped over your own feet. Did something scary happen?"
Huo Linfei looked at her smile and, for no reason he could explain, felt something familiar—something… adorable. A corner of his mind, drowned in fog, seemed to stir, but no clear image came.
That inexplicable warmth made him even more determined not to embarrass himself in front of her.
He straightened up immediately, forced on a calm expression, and said stiffly, "Scary? Don't be ridiculous. It was just stuffy inside. I came out for air. Haven't been sleeping well. Must've been seeing things."
"Ohhh—seeing things bad enough to make you jump?" The pink-haired girl dragged out the words, clearly not believing him. She bounced closer and leaned in, inspecting his still-pale face. "You sure you weren't spooked? I heard there've been some… odd rumors about this ship lately."
"Absolutely not." Huo Linfei cut her off and tried to change the subject. "What about you? Alone? In a place like this… where it's basically couples everywhere?"
The girl blinked, straightened, and clasped her hands behind her back, suddenly looking mysterious.
"Me? I'm here to look for a 'surprise'…" She smiled. "You can call me 'Moon.'"
"Moon?" Huo Linfei raised a brow. "That doesn't sound like a real name."
"Names are just labels." She waved it off cheerfully. "What about you? Mr. Totally-Not-Scared—what should I call you?"
Huo Linfei stared at her bright expression, and some hazy impulse rose in his chest. Before he could think, the answer slipped out.
"…L."
"L?" Moon froze for a split second, then laughed even harder. "That sounds way more fake! And kind of edgy, too!"
"Right back at you," Huo Linfei snorted, though he felt himself relax.
The sea wind swept past. The last light of the sun edged the girl's pink hair in warm gold, and the chill from the ship's earlier "hallucinations" seemed to fade with it.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 175)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 126)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter134)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 87
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 79
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 64
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 73
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 45
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 49
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 45
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 45
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