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

"I have indeed locked the core of my soul."

Shiori Hachiya is a complete idiot.

When she was studying her own abilities, the first person she experimented on was herself.

Thus, selfishness was eradicated from her heart, and an excessively strong sense of responsibility and more moral principles were solidified. Honesty, loyalty, kindness, compassion... these shaped the ideal Shiori Hachitani.

"...Have you ever thought about what would happen if one day you stopped being yourself?" Koizumi Saki was very confused.

However, her confusion only received a very soft reply from Shiori Hachitani:

"At least, I created the ideal hero, the 'Dream Weaver'."

It was because of this technique that Shiori Hachiya's abilities were greatly enhanced, which enabled her to resolve the Mind Dissolution incident from back then.

However, this move, in a sense, has also brought bitter consequences to Shiori Hachiya.

In his theory of mental structure, Freud divided the mental structure into three levels: the id, the ego, and the superego.

In Freud's theory of personality structure, the superego refers to the moral conscience and ideal self within the personality structure. Shiori Hachiya uses her abilities to amplify that part of the superego to an extreme, thereby squeezing out the space for the id and ego.

As Shiori Hachiya's original self is gradually devoured by her heroic side, her id and ego become controlled by her superego, unable to achieve balance.

When only pure ideals remain in this body, and the desires and instincts that a person should possess are no longer there.

Shiori Hachiya will likely disappear, and in her place will be a Special Class Hero codenamed "Dream Weaver".

Gradually giving up one's real life and dreams, and focusing all one's energy on heroic activities and constantly running around for others, is also a process of imbalance.

If this continues, it will disappear sooner or later.

Shiori Hachiya knew this ending better than anyone else.

but……

Sometimes she thinks that things are fine this way.

By abandoning everything as Shiori Hachitani, she can pour all her spirit into her dreams, becoming a bulwark protecting the human spirit and doing what she cannot do while still maintaining her human body.

Just like when her soul dissolved back then, even though it was only for one night, the subtle feeling of abandoning her body, light and elusive, was unforgettable.

She can be omnipresent, can confide in countless people at the same time, and can be one person or many people.

However, the stage she saw in this dream caused her remaining sense of self to begin to ache.

Not reconciled.

For the first time in a long time, she felt a sense of resentment.

“…Clearly…” she murmured, staring blankly at her outstretched hand.

The veins and bulges were quite prominent, and the wrists were excessively thin. Rather than a hero or an idol, he looked more like someone who was ill.

The words that I could normally say with a simple thought, I just can't seem to say no matter what.

[Clearly, I also want to continue standing on the stage.]

Just say it.

Express your thoughts clearly and tell the "Dream Weaver" that it belongs to Shiori Hachiya.

However, this sentence, no matter what...

Shiori Hachiya felt as if something was blocking her throat, and the strong psychological suggestion made it difficult for her to express her desires and demands.

He opened his mouth, but couldn't make a sound.

After struggling for a while, I gave up and sat under the parasol of a coffee shop on the street, sighing silently.

Because of her complicated feelings, Shiori Hachiya's mind was in a mess when Nana Ohba used the simplest and most brutal method to trigger a backlash from her abilities.

After finishing her conversation with Kita Kirihara, she came to her senses and went outside, wanting to clear her head by herself.

I ordered a mocha and a hot cake and sat down on the street.

A cold wind rushed into her collar, and Shiori Hachiya instinctively shrank her neck and pulled her collar up.

Three minutes later, her food arrived.

The waiter, carrying a tray of food and drinks, spoke in a voice so familiar it gave Shiori Hachiya a bit of PTSD: "Sorry to keep you waiting, here's your mocha and cake... Oh? Ms. Hachiya?"

Lifting her face and stiffly turning her neck, Shiori Hachiya saw Nana Oba's rather innocent face, dressed in a waitress uniform.

The two looked at each other in bewilderment.

"...Why are you everywhere?!" Shiori Hachiya was on the verge of tears. "Ms. Oba, aren't you becoming a little too ubiquitous?"

Nana Oba hesitated, "But this is indeed my working hours..."

Rather, the members of the Silver Garden also work hard to earn money. Mr. Yoriichi even works at a dojo nearby.

Otherwise, where would they get the money to buy food and daily necessities?

Kita Kirihara himself was living off Koizumi Saki.

Suddenly, it dawned on him that he might have really left a deep shadow on Shiori Hachiya in his dream, which was why she reacted so intensely.

Nana Ohba laughed and said, "Please don't worry about what happened last night; it was all acting."

"So that's how it is. You really acted scary... Hey! Do you think I'd believe that?!" Shiori Hachiya almost jumped up from her seat, loudly criticizing Nana Ohba's statement.

PS: Here it comes!

40. A Child Prodigy Who Lost His Shine

Shiori Hachiya waited until Nana Ohba finished get off work. The latter went to the break room to change her clothes and came out waving happily at her.

The two found an okonomiyaki shop by the roadside and decided to have dinner there.

After Shiori Hachiya took her seat, she rested her chin on her hand and watched Nana Ohba text her companions what kind of okonomiyaki they wanted to bring back. She couldn't help but ask a silly question, but one that she really wanted to know.

So...you're working part-time?

What kind of organization is the Silver Garden...?

It's much more subtle than I imagined.

Before becoming a hero, Shiori Hachiya had accumulated a considerable amount of savings through her activities in the entertainment industry. Now, even if she doesn't work, she receives subsidies from the Tower, so she has no worries about money.

Unexpectedly, Nana Ohba, who could unilaterally defeat herself in a dream, would feel embarrassed because of money.

It really is... a rather subtle feeling.

Nana Oba looked up blankly: "I am indeed working."

As she spoke, she saw a look of surprise on Shiori Hachiya's face.

Heroes are never short of money, and Nana Ohba knew this very well.

However, even as undocumented individuals, the members of the Silver Garden aren't actually that short of money. In fact, quite a few members have cheated their way into acquiring large sums of money.

Some have even infiltrated organizations like the Shadow Association and the Tower of Civilization, and some are even close to securing admission to the Heroic Academy in April.

Nana Oba works part-time for two reasons: first, to keep herself occupied and interact with more people; and second, to save up some money for things she wants to buy.

"What do you want to buy?" Shiori Hachiya was a little confused, so she asked tentatively, "Baking tools or something?"

However, the look that Nana Oba gave her, coupled with a certain word that the other person uttered, sent chills down her spine.

“It’s for the funds to prepare the stage,” the other person said with a smile. “A stage that shines like a burning gem… That’s the kind of stage I want to prepare.”

Shiori Hachiya stiffly looked away from the other person's smiling face, lowered her head to take a sip of water, and concealed her unease and fear.

Stop using "stage, stage, stage" and "sparkling, sparkling, sparkling" all the time. If this continues, she'll become allergic to those words and die on the spot.

[Hilarious, that's the Dream Weaver's expression!]

This kid could probably be turned into a meme creator.

It's clear that Bee Valley just wants to escape from here right now.

I can see it too; these days, dream weavers are allergic to the stage.

Shiori Hachiya racked her brains for a long time, but could only come up with one sentence in response: "...I'm really looking forward to it."

"Yeah, you'll come to see it then, right?" Nana Oba had already confirmed the okonomiyaki flavor with Hibiki Tachibana, put her phone away, propped her arm on the table, and focused on chatting with Shiori Hachiya.

Looking at the pre-booked audience in front of her, she said happily, "I have already invited three audience members. As long as we deposit enough money and wait for everyone to come back, the curtain can be raised."

"...Three people?" Although she was curious about who the other two suckers were besides herself, Shiori Hachiya wisely chose not to ask any further. She was more puzzled about where Nana Ohba was going to perform. "Where is the venue?"

“The Seisho Festival should be held at school, of course,” Nana Ohba replied.

But as far as Shiori Hachiya knows, there is no school in the entire city of Tokyo, or rather, in the entire country, that has a "Seisho Festival".

The tower had investigated, but no matter what they did, they couldn't find any trace of the Saint Xiang Music Academy.

Not only that, Nana Oba also appeared out of nowhere.

Could it be that the undead came from those destroyed worlds connected by the void rifts?

Honestly, the girl in front of me is more vibrant than anyone else; she doesn't look like a ghost at all.

How could my thoughts have wandered to such an extent?

It seems that lack of sleep lately has affected my thinking.

This thought only lingered in my mind for a couple of seconds before disappearing.

Nana Ohba and those calamities from other worlds are completely different in appearance and structure, making it impossible to connect the two.

The viewers watching the live stream were also unable to read Shiori Hachiya's unspoken thoughts, causing this fragment of inspiration, which was closest to the truth, to slip away like a piece of debris that had not been retrieved in time, disappearing completely.

It's quite a pity.

"Speaking of which, isn't Ms. Hachiya's concert next month?" Nana Oba asked, stirring her iced juice with a straw, her emerald green eyes fixed on Shiori Hachiya.

Shiori Hachiya felt embarrassed for a moment.

Although she can sit with Nana Oba now, it doesn't mean that she can discuss this sensitive topic with this person in front of her, who just tore open her wounds last night.

Yes, sensitive.

She has now begun to rethink what the stage means to her.

However, due to self-suggestion, Shiori Hachiya has not yet been able to come to her senses.