*Da-da-da—*
Footsteps echoed from afar, getting closer, followed by the soft creak of a door opening.
Because of the thick curtains surrounding him, **Evan Walker** couldn't see what was going on outside. But based on the voice he heard, it sounded like a girl had just entered the room he was in.
> "Mr. Phantom, I'm praying to you again today," the girl said from just beyond the curtain. "Please rest in peace—don't scare me in the middle of the night, okay?"
Evan heard her voice clearly. She sounded like a girl in her early teens, now just a few feet away.
> "Ughhh—another boring day… Why did I have to get assigned to this creepy place?" she continued.
> "And I'm the only one who can even *see* this stuff… Whatever. Let me finish that manga from yesterday…~ Hmm~~"
Her voice grew relaxed as she flopped onto the bed, flipping pages while humming cheerfully to herself. Judging by her tone, the manga was clearly something she loved.
> "In human terms," the **Nightmare Lord** said inside Evan's mind, "the one outside is a female about thirteen or fourteen years old."
> "In other words," Evan muttered mentally, "a little girl. No—actually, a *young woman*, right?"
He paused, something about the girl's earlier words catching his attention.
> "Wait, didn't she say that *only she* can see 'this'...? What does that mean?"
> "Ordinary humans can't perceive spirit bodies like ours," the Nightmare Lord explained. "This 'Food No. 1' is a special case. There's powerful spiritual energy sleeping within her. She's the key to restoring my strength."
> "Huh, really? How many humans like her have that kind of spiritual power?"
> "So far, she's the only one I've found."
> "Are there a lot of people nearby?"
> "Plenty..." the Nightmare Lord replied thoughtfully. "Humans her age are everywhere—and they're all flavorful morsels. But none compare to *this one*."
> "Humans her age... Don't tell me this is a school?"
> "Enough small talk," the Nightmare Lord snapped. "Now that Food No. 1 is back, let's craft a nightmare and feast tonight. With her immense spiritual energy, we should be able to recover a significant portion of our power—!"
> "..."
## **Half a Month Later**
> "Whew. Finally done…" Evan exhaled, standing at the edge of their newly completed dream world.
But even before he could relax, the Nightmare Lord's voice thundered inside his mind.
> "You better hope your brilliant plan works! Or be prepared for another round of [Painful Torment]!"
> "Don't forget that you'll suffer too," Evan replied calmly.
Over the past two weeks, Evan had completely ignored the Nightmare Lord's obsessive desire to consume "Food No. 1" and swiftly regain his lost power.
Instead, he had focused on a **different kind of plan**—a creative, ambitious one.
Together, the two of them had crafted a new nightmare scenario.
Its name: **Monster Hunter: World**.
Yes, based on the wildly popular monster-hunting game from Evan's original reality.
After learning from the Nightmare Lord that dream energy could be harvested from **all** emotions—not just fear and agony—Evan had an idea. Positive feelings like excitement, joy, and curiosity could also be turned into energy, even if it was slower.
That was when it hit him—**virtual games.**
While the Nightmare Lord insisted that pain yielded the best results (and Evan didn't entirely doubt that), mass murder for strength just wasn't an option he could accept.
> "The power of endless pain may be fast," Evan admitted, "but it's not sustainable. And it's not... human."
The Nightmare Lord disagreed, of course. But Evan argued that if they instead **used dreams to create immersive virtual games**, they could gather emotional energy from willingly engaged players.
True, the power might come in smaller doses at first—but the potential was enormous.
In his past world, online games had long dominated human attention. Some people played for entire days without rest. There were even addicts who lived in cyber cafes for weeks at a time, risking death just to keep gaming.
And that was without full immersion.
Even basic computer games could mesmerize millions.
If **realistic virtual dreamscapes** were introduced?
It would be game over.
Compared to the terrifying nightmare constructs the Nightmare Lord used to make—ones that killed players within days—Evan's dream games would be **safe, addictive**, and *inviting*. People would line up to enter. The dream world wouldn't need to "catch" victims—**they'd join willingly.**
Besides, they still didn't know much about the current world. A sudden surge in unexplained deaths would just bring law enforcement or supernatural investigations down on them. Not worth the risk.
With Evan's logic (and the leverage of shared agony via [Painful Torment]), he finally got the Nightmare Lord to accept the idea.
Though skeptical, the Nightmare Lord had no choice but to go along.
Still, things hadn't gone smoothly. Creating a simulated virtual game-world was very different from the fear-based nightmares the entity was used to forging.
What used to take him minutes now took weeks.
But after nearly a full month of effort, they finally did it:
> The **dream realm of "Monster Hunter: World"** had been born.
Well… the **Ancient Forest** map was finished, at least.
The rest would come later.
Now, all that was left was to invite someone—or rather, **some *player***—to enter and experience it.
Evan turned thoughtfully toward their most suitable test subject.
> "It's you," he said with a wry smirk.
> "My lucky charm… Food No. 1... my sweet little gamer girl!"
**To be continued...**