You said you were going to make games, how did you become the richest man without doing anything?

“There are indeed traces of a seal here, and it’s an ancient incantation.” Elsie’s eyes narrowed. “We must dive down.”

"I've prepared the ice resistance potions!" Fufu pulled three silver-blue bottles of potions from her backpack. "Drink these, and you won't freeze into a block of ice in the lake!"

The three exchanged a glance, and after each drinking the potion, Rein summoned his magical blade. A runic halo appeared beneath their feet, gradually expanding and enveloping them.

“When you’re ready, dive in,” he said.

-

The icy lake water had become much milder under the effects of the potion. Light refracted through the lake's surface, illuminating the mysterious underwater world. Amidst the swaying aquatic plants, one could vaguely see massive stone pillars and collapsed stone tablets, as if some ancient ruins were buried there.

"It's a ruin!" Fou's voice, uttered with an underwater breathing incantation, reached Rein and Elsie's ears clearly. "Look there, there's light!"

They swam deeper into the stone pillars, passed through a cracked circular archway, and entered a huge domed cave at the bottom of the lake. Floating in the center of the cave was a magic circle made of ice crystals, above which floated a dragon-shaped crystal that emitted a ghostly blue light.

“I can feel it breathing.” Elsie said gravely. “This is not an ordinary seal, but a… slumber ritual.”

Suddenly, a ripple appeared in the crystal, and a shadow emerged from it. Then, a black shadow solidified into shape—a huge ice dragon with four wings slowly opened its eyes, its pupils flashing with ancient wisdom and vigilance.

"Intruders..." The ice dragon's voice, like a chilling current, penetrated the three's consciousness, "Why have you awakened my slumber?"

“We have no hostile intentions,” Rein said, raising his empty hand. “We’re just here to follow up on leads regarding missing persons cases in the area.”

The ice dragon didn't answer directly, but instead flicked its tail, creating a surge of water. It lowered its head, gazing at Fufu, its icy voice suddenly becoming strangely gentle.

"You...you are of the Starry Bloodline...that's impossible."

"Huh?" Fufu's eyes widened. "You've mistaken me for someone else. I'm not a dragon."

"No, within your body lies some kind of ancient dragon language inscription... You are the lost inheritor."

Rein was startled: "What?!"

Just then, the magic circle began to rotate, the ice dragon's pupils contracted, and a magical power that did not belong to it surged out from the depths of the ruins. A corroded ice-type monster suddenly broke out of the ice and roared as it attacked the three of them!

"Fou, step back!" Rein drew his demonic blade and faced the monster.

"I'm here to help!" Elsie clasped her hands together and chanted a fire spell—"Blazing Radiance: Spiral Flame!"

Flames fell like meteors to the bottom of the lake, enveloping the monster's body and temporarily halting it. But the next moment, the corrosive power on the monster's body devoured the flames, and its body swelled up again.

"How could something like this possibly appear here?!" Elsie's expression changed.

"It was sealed here by the ancient dragon, which is why the ice dragon is in slumber." The ice dragon roared, "I've come to assist you, but you must help me seal it away, or the entire lake region will be doomed!"

Rein fought alongside the ice dragon, wielding his magic blade to slash at the corrosive monsters; Elsie, meanwhile, released sealing runes from behind to construct a barrier. Fou—she screamed as she waved her short staff, actually triggering a long-lost "Extreme Cold Rune".

"Oh my, this looks like the picture I drew in my dream!"

The runes activated, freezing half of the monster's body, and the ice dragon seized the opportunity to unleash its ultimate magic—"Ice Radiance: Sealing the Realm of Reincarnation".

A massive ice-blue barrier surged from the magic circle, completely imprisoning the monster and sealing it back to the bottom of the lake.

The lake bottom returned to calm, and the ice dragon's voice gradually deepened: "Thank you... Successor, Fufu, I will engrave your name in the Pillar of Slumber—if the world is plunged into frost again in the future, you must answer the call."

"Wow, that sounds so cool!" Fufu's eyes sparkled.

-

It was already late when they returned to the lake. Snowdreaming Lake was as tranquil as ever, and the moonlight shone on Fufu's hair, giving it a strange silvery glow.

“Rein,” Elsie asked in a low voice, “what do you think of Fou’s status as her ‘successor’?”

Rein looked at Fou, who was chasing after the snow crow, and smiled gently.

"No matter who she is, as long as she is Fufu, that's enough."

The moment the blue beam of light shot into the sky, the water pressure at the bottom of the lake seemed to distort, as if a giant hand was holding the entire ruins in its palm and twisting it gently, causing the surrounding space to tilt.

"Bam—!"

The water surged violently backward, and the relief sculptures surrounding the ruins cracked open, revealing the golem mechanisms coiled beneath. They were covered in ice-blue armor, their pupils glowing eerily, and the dragon wings in the reliefs slowly unfurled in the water, like ancient beasts awakening, revealing indifference and murderous intent to the intruders.

"These... are ancient guardian dragon statues!" Elsie shouted urgently, her fingers rapidly forming hand seals, drawing several cyan-blue runes in the water, "Water Pressure Barrier—Activate!"

"Fire Spirit - Blade Soaring!" Rein swung his sword directly, and crimson flames erupted at the bottom of the lake, instantly transforming into countless swirling blades that whistled past. However, the fire magic was limited by the water, greatly reducing its power, only slightly slowing down the charge of the two dragon statues.

As Fufu swam, she reversed her grip on the 'Crystal Lens' into the shape of a dagger, and, close to where Rein was swimming, suddenly activated a 'Flash Abyss Seal'. A silver-white light shield instantly unfolded, deflecting a claw attack from a dragon statue.

"Rein! That ring in the center of the ruins seems to be their core control point!"

"I understand." Rein gritted his teeth and charged forward, the cold light of his sword reappearing. A diagonal slash swept across, cutting a dragon statue blocking his path in two. However, the fragments had barely scattered when they rapidly reformed in the blue light.

"No, they won't die!" Fufu exclaimed.

“Then break the core.” Elsie’s voice was calm and steady. “I will interfere with their regeneration magic. You go and destroy the central device.”

The three split up in the water, their magic and swordsmanship clashing like stars. The moment Fou approached the ring, she suddenly saw a heart-shaped crystal embedded in its center, constantly beating. It seemed to be alive, resonating with the ruins.

Without saying a word, she reached out and took out the "Sinking Spirit Crystal Bullet" that she had brought from the Magic Investigation Bureau, and gently pressed it onto the crystal.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Rein arrived, his brow furrowed.

"Of course I don't know!" Fufu pouted. "But you always say that intuition is sometimes more reliable than logic!"

The moment she finished speaking, the crystal shattered, the light of the entire ruins suddenly went out, and the guardian dragon statues stopped moving one by one, their bodies disintegrating into rubble and sinking to the bottom of the lake.

The water gradually calmed down, the eerie blue light faded, leaving the three people floating in the water, still shaken.

“…Well done,” Rein said softly, reaching out to ruffle Fou’s hair.

Fufu beamed, "Hehe, don't I look like a master beast tamer?"

"You were clearly throwing crystals around like bombs," Elsie retorted casually, then let out a soft sigh of relief. "But it did solve the problem." They surfaced with a fragment of the core they had salvaged from the ruins. A ray of sunlight pierced through the layers of water on the lake's surface, casting long shadows of the three of them, as if bringing this adventure to a perfect close.

However, the real story has only just begun.

When they returned to the north gate of the capital, they found the atmosphere tense, and even a magic test was required to enter the city. Rein frowned: "What happened?"

“It seems there have been frequent monster attacks near the capital recently.” Fufu peeked out. “They also said that ‘sleepwalking dead’ have started wandering the streets… It sounds really bad.”

"Would monsters attack the capital on their own? Or are they sleepwalking corpses?" Elsie asked gravely. "This doesn't sound like a simple monster scourge."

They successfully entered the royal capital, but were blocked in their way by a silver-haired girl in front of the Magic Investigation Bureau.

She wore a black and blue standard mage robe, held a metal staff, and had a sharp gaze: "You are Rein and his group, right? I am Margaret, the captain of the Seventh Investigation Team directly under the Magic Investigation Bureau. We received a high-level alert that you may have been exposed to some kind of 'dream-corroding magic.' Please cooperate with the investigation."

Rein narrowed his eyes: "Dream erosion?"

Margaret nodded: "Yes, sleepwalking has been happening frequently at Snowdreams Lake recently. Some people claim to have seen an 'upside-down castle' and 'prisoners at the bottom of the lake' in their dreams. You just returned from Snowdreams Lake, so you might have some clues."

Elsie pondered for a moment, then handed her the fragment of the ruins' core: "We did discover unusual ruins and golems. Perhaps these things are related to the dream phenomenon you mentioned."

Margaret looked at the fragment, her expression changing: "This is not an ordinary relic core... this is part of the 'Illusionary Abyss Relic'."

"The Remains of the Illusionary Abyss?" This was the first time Rein had heard this term.

“Ancient magical theories suggest that certain ruins are not built by humans, but are products of ‘dream consciousness’ projected onto reality,” Margaret said, her expression turning serious. “Once the dream’s erosion expands, reality will no longer be stable, and it may even turn against the dreamer himself.”

Rein took a deep breath: "It seems that our trip to Snowdreams Lake has only just begun."

“That’s right.” Margaret nodded. “The Seventh Investigation Team is forming an expedition to the Source of Dreams, and I hope you can join us.”

Fufu's eyes lit up: "That sounds incredibly romantic! A dream adventure!"

Elsie sighed helplessly: "All you do is get excited... but it's fine, we have to find out the truth."

Looking at the dimmed core crystal in his hand, Rein felt a sense of unease.

The Seventh Investigation Team assembled in front of the teleportation array in the backyard of the Magic Investigation Bureau. Margaret, dressed in a blue and silver robe, stood in the center of the teleportation array, her silver staff already activated, runes intertwining to form a pentagram at her feet.

"The location of the dream's origin point is in the Misty Forest on the southern slope of the Elifis Mountains. The coordinates have been locked. A large number of free magic elements and illusion-type monsters have recently appeared in that area, which is likely due to the expansion of the dream's corruption."

Rein nodded as he checked his equipment: "Is there anything I should be particularly careful about in the forest?"

Margaret scanned the crowd, her gaze lingering briefly on Fou and Elsie: "Pay attention to each other's state of consciousness. Dream corruption will make it difficult for you to distinguish between illusion and reality. Once you start questioning whether you are awake, immediately take a sobering potion. Remember, do not believe anything you hear."

Fufu raised her hand and asked, "What if we hear Rein's voice?"

Rein's lips twitched, and he was about to speak when Margaret coldly replied, "Especially don't trust his voice."

"Hey?!"

A few light laughs rippled through the crowd, instantly easing the tense atmosphere.

The teleportation array lit up with a dazzling blue light, and the next moment, the scenery changed dramatically as if turning the pages of a book, and they found themselves deep in a fog-shrouded forest.

"Such thick fog..." Elsie murmured, reaching out to lift the thick, milk-like white fog in front of her, but her vision was still less than five steps away.

Fufu leaned closer, her eyes wide: "Why does this fog smell a little sweet?"

Margaret said in a low voice, "That's a dream reaction. Be careful not to breathe too deeply for too long."

Rein drew his sword, the red crystal on its blade glowing faintly, illuminating a winding path for them: "Watch your step, the terrain here... hmm?"

He paused, for the ground in front of him suddenly cracked open, and a strange green light spilled out from the crack.

"What's that?" Fou asked curiously as she leaned closer, but Elsie grabbed her arm.

"Don't come any closer!" Elsie pressed down on her shoulder with one hand, and with the other hand quickly took out a metal ball from her waist and smashed it into the crack.

"Shadow Domain Neutralization Missile, activate!"

The metal sphere exploded, releasing a cloud of gray mist that was enveloped in green light, instantly sealing off the eerie aura. A few seconds later, the crack closed again, as if it had never existed.

Margaret nodded: "Good judgment. Those green lights are rifts in the dream world. If you get too close, you'll be sucked directly into the illusion."

"Why would there be something like this in the forest?" Rein frowned. "Is that dream remnant expanding?"

“Perhaps it’s more than that,” Margaret whispered. “We’ve received intelligence that some magicians have recently begun researching how to ‘normalize the dream world.’ They’re attempting to merge dreams with reality to create a ‘controllable utopia.’”

"How can anyone believe such a madman?" Fufu said disdainfully.

“But they succeeded,” Elsie said in a deep voice. “At least, the dream in some areas has become tangible. The land we are standing on now might still be half a dream.”

The group fell silent, then quickened their pace.

After passing through the dense forest, they came to a dilapidated church. Strange moon emblems were carved on the church doors, the central bell tower had long since collapsed, and moss covered the stone pillars.

“This… doesn’t seem to be a place on the map,” Rein murmured.

Margaret frowned: "Dream interference... the real landscape is starting to change."

"Are we going in?" Fufu asked softly.

Margaret nodded: "We need to confirm whether the core of the dream has manifested here."

As the crowd pushed open the doors, a thick cloud of dust rushed in. The interior of the church was completely different from its exterior—the pristine white floor tiles reflected a deep blue glow, and the walls were adorned with self-illuminating paintings depicting children running through flower fields, old people sleeping soundly by the fireplace, and lovers walking hand in hand into the dawn.

"This...is it a dream?" Elsie walked past a painting and felt a warmth in her heart, as if the boy in the painting was her own childhood self.

"Don't look at it!" Margaret shouted sharply. "This is a dream world temptation, forcibly shut down visual input—!"

Before he could finish speaking, Rein's exclamation came from behind: "Fou? Fou—!" (End of Chapter)