The comments section all think I'm a really good person.

"Let's eat," Kita Kirihara said with a smile, walking into the kitchen to bring out the food, and pulling Saki over as well, so that Shiori Hachiya could have some peace and quiet.

Shiori Hachiya, with a mix of thoughts and complex emotions, finished her dinner, which was far more delicious than she had ever imagined.

Even when she closed her eyes on the sofa at Koizumi Saki's house and used her ability to enter a dream, her feelings were still complicated.

When she entered the dream, she could see a mist obscuring her vision. A road stretched straight ahead, with countless chaotic fragments of the dream floating beside it, faces and scenery flickering within.

It's like a highway shrouded in thick fog at night.

She needs to find traces of Yuki Uesugi in this chaos.

Standing at the boundary between dream and reality, she mustered her strength and tried to move forward, searching for the dream that bore traces of Yuki Uesugi's mental fluctuations. Suddenly, a familiar melody rang out in the distance, drawing her attention.

At that very moment, a fiercely burning cross-shaped star suddenly burst forth with a dazzling golden light, enveloping her within it.

The Dream Weaver tried to avoid it, but sensed Yuki Uesugi's mental fluctuations within it.

She thought about it for a moment, then moved closer.

As she gradually sank into the dream, the surrounding scenery became increasingly distorted, and the light became realistic and cold.

When she came to her senses, she was already standing at the entrance to this dream, holding a brass doorknob in her hand.

Looking up, you can see a sign that reads "STARLIGHTTheater".

Turning her head, she saw that the path she had come from had turned into a long staircase that stretched upwards and was covered with a red carpet.

She was in the entrance to the underground theater, the STARLIGHTTheater.

30. Oba Pictures Co., Ltd.

From somewhere, a light-hearted yet slightly eerie ringtone rang out.

In the vast, pale dream space, such sounds struck the walls that were without distance, intertwining and vibrating into an even more hollow sound.

Shiori Hachiya subconsciously looked in the direction the sound came from, and suddenly realized that she was holding her phone in her hand without realizing it.

A strange page appeared on the phone screen.

White background with black lettering, a circular black and white giraffe pattern, a small yellow round flower, and a four-pointed star placed in the center.

Below the image, there is this sentence:

Seize that star you yearn for.

Shiori Hachiya took a slight breath, realizing that something was wrong with this dream.

The staircase extended upwards, seemingly leading to the ground. The light outside the theater doors was cold and eerie, with glimmers of light seeping through the cracks in the doors and reflecting off the shimmering water.

The golden lights resembled golden scales leaping on the water's surface. Peeking through the crack in the door, the empty stage was almost devoid of any stage scenery, except for a solitary, tilted tower placed atop it.

The audience seats were submerged in water, and the originally bright red cushions had turned dark red and faded, showing an unusual state of disrepair.

The shimmering water reflected on Shiori Hachiya's face, clearly revealing her solemn expression.

She could sense a powerful emotion emanating from within, seemingly calm, yet surging forth continuously.

Just like this water.

It was dark and deep, with no bottom in sight.

She rarely sees such vivid images in the dreams of ordinary people. Most people's dreams are blurry and disjointed, presenting a fragmented montage-like scene, and sometimes she can only piece them together by feeling.

However, this place is not much different from the real scene.

Simply put, a normal dream is 360P and even has frame drops, but this dream is actually 1080P high definition and Blu-ray quality.

I'm afraid I've fallen into a trap.

Shiori Hachiya thought so.

But even if it's a trap, she'll push open the door.

When you enter someone else's dream, you must act according to their rules.

Now that she had received the giraffe's invitation, she felt she should at least meet the owner of this dream.

With that thought in mind, she finally exerted a little force on the brass doorknob and pushed open the door.

A burst of golden light suddenly erupted, filling her entire field of vision.

The next moment, she was sitting in the dark audience seats directly facing the stage.

The actions in between are ignored and skipped, since it is a dream and the continuity of actions is not important.

Almost her entire body was submerged in water, the icy water reaching up to her chest, yet miraculously she didn't feel any pressure, or even the real sensation of being submerged; she only felt her body was cold.

"Clap."

I heard the sound of a projector turning on behind me.

The tower on the stage had vanished, replaced by a large screen that filled Shiori Hachiya's entire field of vision. The image projected by the film projector was slightly blurry and shaky, carrying a unique feel from over a decade ago.

Only the sound of the projector operating filled her ears. In the monotonous silence, a film company logo she had never seen before appeared on the screen—

——Oba Pictures Co., Ltd.

To be honest, this scene inexplicably made Shiori Hachiya want to laugh out loud. She felt like this image was from a parody video.

She waited, and the film began to play.

The familiar yet blinding golden light suddenly filled the entire scene. The bright light caused Shiori Hachiya to reflexively cover her eyes, gradually adjusting to the light.

Familiar figures appeared on the screen.

The reason I say we're familiar is because we only met today.

Nana Oba.

In a space filled with golden light, she stood in front of a leaning tower, wearing a middle school uniform she had never seen before, seemingly talking to someone.

people?

No, that's not it.

"……Why?"

A soft, questioning sound came from Nana Oba's mouth.

What did she see?

It was a giraffe that looked no different from any other giraffe you'd see in a zoo, except for the ribbon tied around its tail.

Standing under the light, its long neck appeared even more slender in the illumination.

A clear outline is reflected on the stage.

Then it spoke.

It is a deep, magnetic male voice.

Good evening, Nana Ohba.

From Nana Ohba's perspective, the giraffe standing against the stage lights presents an unusually eerie yet calming sight.

Is it dazzling?

The giraffe asked this question.

Nana Oba paused slightly.

She slowly lowered her hand, which had been shielding her eyes from the glaring light, her eyes revealing a deep sense of loneliness and solitude.

"It's dazzling."

The sound, however, came from off-screen.

The image froze, and the projector stopped running.

The sound of boots striking the ground echoed across the empty screening room and the water.

Nana Ohba, dressed in unfamiliar attire—which should be called a revue outfit—entered the stage expressionlessly and stood in the very center.

The screen suddenly went dark, and in the darkness, a red light projected the icon of the 99th Seisho Festival onto the screen, and Nana Ohba stood directly below it.

A sense of oppression.

She was merely staring indifferently at Shiori Hachiya in the audience, yet her eyes seemed to hold no one at all.

"Is it dazzling?" she asked, her voice inorganic and devoid of emotion.

Shiori Hachiya felt her hair stand on end, and the broken and chaotic music that had started playing around her made her even more terrified.

“I feel dazzling. From that time until now, I still feel incredibly dazzling…”

Receiving no response, Nana Oba simply answered her own question.

Even now, having left everyone, I still feel restless because of the lingering brilliance of the past.

Unreachable, hence dazzling.

She remained silent and drew a long knife from her waist.

The gemstones embedded in the hilt of the knife gleamed with a golden light.

She calmly pronounced her solfège name:

"The fruitful results on the stage"

But everyone is too tender.

Someone must protect it.

99th generation member Nana Oba

I will protect you forever, no matter how many times…

Suddenly, she realized something, paused slightly, and then let out a self-deprecating laugh: "Ah... I forgot, everyone isn't here right now."

"A stage for one is too lonely. Miss Dream Weaver, would you please perform with me?"

Then, on stage, Nana Oba pointed a knife at Shiori Hachiya in the audience and issued a chilling and murderous invitation.

"Show me...your brilliance."

The lights shifted.