Adam sweated a bit after cleaning the room. As he'd guessed… this world seemed to function like a game—or something similar. He looked at Manori, wondering what kind of psyche would imagine a world like this.
"So why are you following me again?" Adam thought, but he just couldn't get an answer. Maybe he was just handsome—that's why everyone seemed to want to be around him all the time. Or maybe he was charismatic. He blushed a bit, thinking about something weird like that.
Manori put the cleaning towel and bucket beside her and looked at him.
"Whatever you're thinking, that's not it," she said calmly, crossing an X sign on her hand. "I just wanna escape."
Escape… from what?
He thought it was funny for a bit. What reason could he possibly be the thing she'd escape with? He was just a person, after all. He wasn't symbolic or anything. He was just him. It would be weird to put him into something like that.
As they stepped outside, a brown-haired person came up to them, handing over some money—twenty dream coins at least. Her voice was something like a siren's—something you could understand, but couldn't quite hear. Her expression was faded, but there was a smile on her face.
"Thank you!" she said excitedly. "I'm Ryoko. Thanks for cleaning the house." She scratched the back of her head with an airheaded expression.
Adam tried to recall the things he'd done lately. Just some labor to cover expenses. He needed money to travel, after all, and there was a train on the edge of town—a way to leave and head toward the center of the map.
But unfortunately, the fare was 200 coins per passenger. And where the hell would he get that kind of money? You ask? Simple—just do what any person with no experience would do: go house to house and ask for part-time work.
And here he was. A light-haired old guy had asked him to clean his house, saying he wanted it "crispy clean," with a stern expression. They were going to move somewhere far away.
Ryoko spoke up. "If anything, you can always ask for help inside the Yuni household. Even explore some hobbies together! Yheh?"
[She seems to want to be friends with you two, Adam.]
Adam stared.
-_- "Well, anyone can see that…" Adam commented.
Adam gave a nonchalant thumbs-up. "Okay."
"Great! See ya then, neighbor!"
Manori didn't look at her, but as they headed outside, Adam noticed something odd. The rooftop sign was a white, blank canvas.
"Hey," he said. "Wouldn't it be better to have something on top?"
Ryoko's eyes widened. "No no, there's something on the sign, you see. It's… [blank]."
The sound of screeching static followed. Adam squinted, trying to pretend he heard it.
"What?" he asked.
Ryoko: [Blank].The screeching continued.
If he had to say something—this was creepy as heck. Trying to avoid the awkward silence, he asked, "Uh, what do you do anyway?"
Ryoko replied, "We're a bakery shop! If you want to, you can buy something from the shop, you know—for souvenirs. We have sourdough… [blank], [blank], and [blank]."
Her voice was becoming cryptic. It was cutting out.
Adam gently nudged Manori. His body language screamed what the heck is happening, gesturing in quiet panic.
Manori had a tired expression, looking at her fingers, palms straightening.
"I guess I'm forgetting… this happened, I guess. Well, no matter."
Voices whispered around her.
[You deserve this…][This is all your fault.][You'll always be alone.][Escape? If only you did that a long time ago.][It's too late.][Give up.]
The girl's neck and head elongated, spiraling around them like a coil. Countless mouths protruded from her now-twisting form, each whispering different voices. Her face had only two eerie, staring eyes—no mouth at all.
Adam freaked out. Sure, he'd survived starvation and an apocalyptic world before—but this? Nah.
He jumped onto Manori's back, surprising her. It calmed her a little—and she smiled, just a bit.
The girl turned into a puppet-like monster, her stitched face and fading arms now completely blank. Adam watched in horror.
"See ya again, stranger!" she said cheerfully.A smile with no face.Waving goodbye.
As they walked away, a thought surfaced in Adam's head.
"You know this is a dream, right?"
Manori was surprised by his sudden bluntness. "Yes…" she replied, her voice tired.
He realized it then. All of it. He watch newtube after all and understood lucid dreams. Adam looked around the town, noticing what he hadn't before—people with blank or fading faces, their clothes distorted, some of them not even human anymore. Some were monsters.
Why hadn't he realized it sooner?
This town felt like it was crumbling on its own… as if something was missing.
She held onto his hoodie and gripped it gently. Her eyes were hopeful… but her face was blank.
"You're weird, you know that?" she said softly. "You look so vivid. I hope it stays like that."