12. Entering the Daydream Hotel in a Dream

“Black Swan did mention something about Miss Hanabi to us.”

Walter pushed up his glasses, the lenses briefly reflecting the ceiling lights with a flash of pure white.

“Sorry that you got dragged into this because of Xing.”

Rachel explained the earlier situation to Walter, softening her tone just enough to appear a little innocent, trying to minimize how much she deserved being involved.

To be honest, if she set aside the urge to help others and her curiosity about the undercurrents beneath the seemingly calm surface of Pinoconi, she could have completely avoided following Xing and Firefly, and thus never encountered Hanabi at all.

Truth be told, everyone on the Star Rail is fundamentally good—except for a few extremely abstract exceptions, most are easily restrained by moral obligation when the time comes.

Walter was no exception. After halting Rachel’s one-sided account, he showed an apologetic expression and slid the bar’s drink menu toward her, apparently wanting to offer her a drink first.

Rachel replied, “It’s okay. Anyway, a kind Remembrancer already brought me to a safe place, and now—”

She glanced at Hanabi beside her. Hanabi had already accepted the reality during their journey here and was now rolling her eyes, a mischievous idea clearly brewing behind them.

Rachel looked at her, and Hanabi returned the gaze, even flashing a dazzling, perfectly aligned smile. “Darling, why are you staring at me? Could it be because you love me so much that you can’t stand even a second without seeing me?”

Her words were genuinely nauseating, Rachel thought. This “hand in hand” stuff really inflicted a lot of damage on others while hurting herself, but at least she hadn’t lost out entirely.

“—Now, I’m bringing her to you because I have no understanding of the current situation in Pinoconi. I believe handing her over to you might yield more answers.”

Rachel asked the bartender for a glass of lemon water to soothe her slightly dry throat after speaking so much.

“Of course, I request that the findings be shared. Also, I want to know everything you know so far.”

She wore an expression of complete entitlement, and in fact, Rachel felt fully justified.

After all, she was a student at Pinoconi! Whether this dream world was about to undergo a grand upheaval or face total destruction, she had the right to know and to make judgments based on the current situation.

Whether it was swiftly finding connections to transfer to another higher education institution or trying to save Pinoconi, she had to act first. Simply waiting to die would yield no results.

Even a drowning person struggles desperately; let alone her, who was not yet drowning, possessing special abilities that were not yet fully mastered but were already quite formidable.

Walter nodded. “A very reasonable request. However, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a moment because, aside from me, everyone else is currently in the dream.”

Rachel raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

Walter explained, “Let me clarify. Something happened earlier—not much, but enough to suddenly make the situation severe.”

*

Actually, until Xing and Firefly were sent into another layer of the dream by Hanabi, nothing particularly special had happened to the Star Rail group.

That was, until Hanabi struck her forehead.

A dangerous, peculiar dream—and—

“We also received a message from the Star Core Hunter. More precisely, not just us.”

Walter nodded at Hanabi.

“I believe this young lady received it as well.”

He opened his phone to a certain page and then handed it to Rachel.

Rachel wasn’t sure where the coordinates in the dream pointed, and she knew very little about the Star Core Hunter—her clearest knowledge was only what she’d overheard about the Clockmaker’s legacy.

Even that, she didn’t understand thoroughly.

So she straightforwardly asked Walter about these unknown matters and pulled out her phone to search for the Star Core Hunter.

After briefly glancing at the stunningly beautiful Kafka and then at a long-haired, strikingly handsome man who looked half-dead but was genuinely beautiful and well-endowed—a figure she would have eagerly added to her favorites in a past life—Rachel saw a tall figure clad in a predominantly silver-white mech suit.

Rachel: “…”

Rachel: “…………”

*

The image was vivid—truly, too vivid.

She thought of the song “Miracle Reborn” and another earlier song she couldn’t quite place, and at this moment could only sigh, “I wanted to recreate it, but I never imagined it would be so alike.”

Looking at Walter’s expression, she suspected he didn’t know that their youngest member had been shopping with a Star Core Hunter, the atmosphere between them so sweet it was practically bubbling pink, to the point she wanted to request they sing “Love Circulation.”

Tsk, probably even that Miss Star herself wasn’t aware.

Rachel mused inwardly: What a massive scam—wearing an innocent girl’s face but actually a mech pilot executing scorched earth tactics.

Rachel asked Walter, “Mr. Walter, do you have confidence in subduing Hanabi and preventing her escape?”

Walter pushed up his glasses again, white flashes flickering before Rachel’s eyes. He replied confidently, “If Miss Hanabi refuses to take responsibility for her actions and provide a reasonable explanation, I’ll have to ask her to prepare to be torn apart by gravity.”

At the same time, a tiny black hole appeared atop his cane—not large, but certainly dangerous.

Rachel felt reassured.

Summoning a black hole by hand was a pretty impressive skill, and at least she couldn’t do that.

Hanabi rolled her eyes, sitting unceremoniously. She raised both hands, legs dangling from the edge of the high stool, swinging her feet and the loosely tied shoes on her ankles like a swing.

Seeing this, Walter said to Rachel, “Miss Rachel, you may go do whatever you wish.”

Letting him watch Hanabi was basically a sign she wanted to take care of other matters. After learning so much hidden information, if anything urgent arose, he would fully understand.

He smiled, “I’ll be here waiting for my companions. After you’re done, feel free to come find me in this bar. For the time being, I’ll just be passing time here.”

*

Rachel borrowed the dream entry pool in Walter’s room.

After all, the pathway to Origami University’s dream gate didn’t allow one to input dream coordinates freely—both family and school guarded against students skipping classes or running away.

She directly input the coordinates from the Star Core Hunter’s message.

Since the others from Star Rail and Black Swan were all at these coordinates, she felt the most appropriate action was to catch up.

If Pinoconi truly harbored some problem, it would be irrational to blindly side with her family or blindly follow Star Rail just to protect its good reputation.

She had to see with her own eyes, discover for herself, and make her own judgment—she couldn’t let an internship seal cloud her stance.

Rachel found herself standing in a hotel corridor that felt like it was deep underwater.

Same lighting, same horror movie set atmosphere. Familiarity bred comfort. She snapped her fingers to set a rhythm and began humming, “Who sent me to your side…”

Of course, she remembered the original lyrics were “Who sent you to my side,” but that would imply dragging everyone here toward her, which wasn’t necessarily wrong but considering the potential issues of destroying the scene and possibly not being able to find it again soon, Rachel decided to change the lyrics to bring herself to the others.

It was her first time altering song lyrics, unsure of the effect. After singing a couple of lines, she waited.

No effect.

Well.

Rachel sighed, not really expecting a sudden inspiration, but still a bit disappointed.

Other “road”-related songs were similar—barely guiding, but not truly fitting.

She ruffled her hair twice. It seemed the technical route was a dead end; her playlist was too sparse.

But no matter—the technical route failed, but what did that have to do with her metaphysical approach?

It had been a while since she sang “Good Luck Comes,” but songs like that weren’t forgotten just because of a brief pause.

Rachel kicked up her leg and burst out singing:

“Good luck comes, wishing you good luck,
Good luck brings joy and love,
Good luck comes, our good luck comes,
Welcoming good fortune, thriving and prosperous across the seas~
Fold a thousand paper cranes, tie a red ribbon,
Wishing kindness—”

Before she finished, she caught a scent that immediately put her on alert: the fragrance of iris, prompting her to want to follow up with, “It must be my nose playing tricks.”

Rachel stopped singing “Good Luck Comes” and said to the still empty, lonely corridor, “Miss Black Swan, I told you I could smell you.”

*

Black Swan had been rather frustrated all day.

Not just today—ever since she fixated on that odd “Sea Ranger” and confidently approached to invite him to dance, her ease and grace had disappeared almost entirely.

First, she nearly died inside the ranger’s memories, then she met a certain lady whom she had brought out of the primal dream but who repaid her with ingratitude, leaving behind a lingering, intoxicating scent on her—she only watched quietly while that lady sang, was that a crime?

Later, while negotiating cooperation with Star Rail and—

Black Swan blinked, her eyelashes briefly veiling what she saw.

…Even then, because of the scent, she was met with suspicion!

Star Rail was one thing—Miss Hime politely voiced doubts—but the other one—

If not for maintaining the Remembrancer’s elegance, Black Swan really wanted to roll her eyes.

Weren’t Remembrancers supposed to thrive in places like Pinoconi?

What a scam!

Now she was even more frustrated.

Walking with Xing through the daydream hotel in the dream, she unexpectedly encountered the Yomi who still made her legs weak just by looking at him, and a paper crane suddenly landed on her shoulder.

The paper crane bore coordinates from some dream, along with a certain memetic mark. For Black Swan, this was a coordinate sent to her, clearly marked with a few words: “Come pick me up—Rachel.”

How unfair, treating her like a working goose? No matter what, she was an excellent Remembrancer, a powerful one, a—

Black Swan sighed softly and turned to Yomi and Xing. “A friend has entered the daydream hotel too. I guess she wants me to pick her up. Since Miss Yomi and the Nameless Guest don’t mind having more companions, I think she could join our team.”

Xing wasn’t opposed to others, and Yomi, though seeming cold, nodded gently, “Of course.”

Black Swan: “I’ll be back soon.”

The elegant Remembrancer vanished, then reappeared in the corridor still echoing with festive songs.

“Yes, Miss Rachel, your singing really works. I…” Black Swan restrained the urge to grit her teeth, “I quite enjoy the scent of iris.”

Even after the Star God’s battle that erased the cosmic path, Black Swan’s mouth would still be able to open and close in the void, saying, “I quite like the scent of iris.”

Rachel held back her retort in her heart: Seems like my luck is really good. Miss Black Swan, I’m looking for the Nameless Guest of Star Rail. Could you guide me? Rest assured, I’ve already spoken with Mr. Walter Yang.”

Black Swan: “Of course. But may I ask out of curiosity—how did you get involved with Star Rail? Mr. Walter even showed you the dream coordinates. How did you convince him?”

Rachel: “Because I caught Hanabi and asked him to watch over her briefly.”

She stepped forward, placing her hand gently on Black Swan’s shoulder, lightly patting it with a smile.

“Pinoconi looks splendid but hides danger deep within. After much thought, there’s no safer alliance than with a Remembrancer and Star Rail in a place like this. Besides, I’m not entirely useless to you either.”

“You agree, don’t you, Miss Black Swan?”