[To learn the truth in the morning and die at dusk—one could ask for no more]

Ranen: “? Huh?”

This kid’s question sounded as if he had already assumed Ranen was an evil god.

Oh, wait.

Ranen leaned closer to Albert’s eyes, clearly seeing his current appearance reflected in them.

His face was shrouded in mist, and his attire was suspicious.

Alright, that did indeed seem very evil god-like.

Recalling the words Albert seemed to have overheard earlier, Ranen, with his rich experience of being misunderstood, immediately understood something.

Seeing Ranen lean closer, Albert instinctively wanted to pull away, but then he noticed the Ghoul Lord, completely drained by terrifying plants, lying nearby. Albert swallowed hard, not daring to do anything that might anger an evil god, feeling uneasy and anxious, like a suspect awaiting judgment.

Then he heard the evil god say, “Why didn’t you listen to me?”

Albert froze, recalling the cryptic words the evil god had left him when he was a child. His expression wavered.

“I… I wanted to investigate the truth about Archie’s father.”

Alright, Ranen knew that mere words wouldn’t be enough to change the course of these events.

Ranen sighed. Just as he was about to return to a normal distance, a strong warning flashed through his mind. Without time to think, Ranen instinctively reached out, grabbed the back of Albert’s head, and pulled him forcefully toward himself while leaning backward.

*Bang—*

Almost in the next moment, a bullet laced with golden flames grazed past Albert’s scalp. Ranen’s pupils reflected the bullet’s trail as he looked toward the corridor outside.

A blurry figure stood by the second-floor window of the library, seemingly observing them. Upon realizing the shot had missed, the figure showed no intention of pursuing further, retreating into the dark.

Who’s that? 

Is the bizarre attack still going on?

Ranen’s mind grew heavy with these thoughts. Meanwhile, Albert’s entire mind had gone blank.

Or rather, from the moment he felt the strength of the hand on the back of his head, pulling him closer and closer to Ranen, passing through something and catching a fleeting glimpse of the scenery beyond the mist, his brain had already stopped functioning.

Because at this moment, the distance between them was practically negative, Albert didn’t even notice the bullet that had passed by his head. His entire brain was flushed, and the temperature of his cheeks rose.

“Get up.”

Ranen’s voice snapped Albert out of his daze. He suddenly realized the danger that had just occurred. He rose and looked where Ranen was facing, but saw nothing.

“They’re gone,” Ranen said.

So, He saved him again?

Albert pursed his lips, feeling uneasy about this inexplicable help. When his gaze met Ranen’s mist-shrouded face, a flicker of disappointment passed through his eyes, unnoticed even by himself.

At this moment, a commotion outside the window caught their attention. Albert turned his head and saw the dog from the university, dragging its injured body while fighting other ghouls. It hadn’t sustained further injuries, but the wound from the Ghoul Lord’s claws had worsened, and it was now bleeding profusely.

Albert realized that this dog hadn’t intended to harm him before—on the contrary, it had saved him.

He started to approach, but the dog lowered its body again, letting out a threatening growl in Albert’s direction.

No, it wasn’t threatening Albert, but…

Albert glanced sideways at Ranen beside him. The dog’s gaze was fixed on Ranen.

Ranen also looked at the dog. The surroundings were as quiet as they had been in Albert’s childhood home, but this dog was the only one to break the shackles of this memory, able to “see” him and attack the strange entity.

Why is this? Is there something special about this dog?

With a thought, Ranen spurred the carnivorous plants on the ground into action. They surged toward the dog with lightning speed. The dog, slowed by its wounds, was a beat too late to react and was seized by the plants, presented before Ranen.

The dog struggled frantically, seemingly doing everything it could to break free from the plants’ grip, continuously growling threateningly. But as the plants drew closer to Ranen, the dog’s growls gradually weakened, and it finally shrank back with a somewhat timid expression.

Albert couldn’t bear it and instinctively looked at Ranen. “Can you let the dog go?”

He felt that this unknown entity glanced at him. Then, the red on the carnivorous plants suddenly faded, turning white.

Golden sap appeared on the branches again, but this time, the sap wasn’t corrosive—it was healing. The dog seemed to widen its eyes, then comfortably rubbed against the trunk.

When the plants released it, the bloody gash on the dog’s body had vanished. Wagging its tail, the dog approached and affectionately nuzzled Ranen’s leg.

…For some reason, a faint irritation suddenly welled up in Albert’s chest.

Ranen let out a soft chuckle, crouching down and scratching the dog’s chin with his fingers. “Good dog.”

To reiterate, Ranen was absolutely a dog person.

But why was this dog able to attack the anomaly? Setting aside these dream-invading anomalies for a moment, everything here, except for Albert, should be part of a fixed storyline, right?

Just as Ranen thought this, the mist suddenly reacted, splitting into two tendrils that surged into the dog and Albert’s bodies.

Albert’s eyes flickered with confusion, and he clutched his head. “Why does this scene feel…”

It was as if he had experienced it more than once.

Hazy memories flashed by quickly, but he couldn’t grasp the fleeting image of a white dove. At this moment, he noticed that the mysterious figure beside him was becoming ethereal again.

“You…”

Ranen looked down at himself, his tone still calm. “Looks like this is where it ends this time.”

“What is it that you want?”

“Hm? Didn’t I already tell you what I want?” Ranen looked at him, his tone steady. “Leave the Inspection Bureau as soon as possible, Albert.”

That’s not exactly a great organization.

After saying this, Ranen’s figure vanished before Albert’s eyes once again.

The surrounding silence was instantly broken, as if the isolated special space had returned to normal. Chris, panting, caught up to Albert. Naturally, he also saw the shattered glass scattered across the corridor and the bullet holes in the walls.

“What happened here?”

Albert was still pondering Ranen’s earlier words, unaware that the dog had disappeared at some point. He turned to Chris and asked, “Senior, have you ever heard of the Inspection Bureau?”

“Hm? Of course I have. The Inspection Bureau often comes to our school to recruit new members, but I’ve never been there, so I don’t know the details,” Chris said. “Why? Are you interested? You could ask your mentor about it and get a recommendation letter from him.”

In truth, Albert was already a member of the Inspection Bureau. Of course, he couldn’t say that outright and brushed it off vaguely before asking, “Did you capture any footage of the dog?”

“Oh, I was just about to tell you.” Chris handed Albert the camera and played the recording. “Take a look.”

In the footage, there was only Albert, abruptly darting around as if dodging something. But what he was dodging didn’t appear in the camera’s view.

“We both saw the dog, but the camera didn’t capture it. This means my guess was probably right,” Chris said, pushing up his glasses. “The reason the dog hasn’t appeared in front of people all these years might be because, to some extent, it’s no longer a creature of the real world.”

“But it makes sense. Generally speaking, a dog’s lifespan is far shorter than a human’s. Its owner, a professor at the university, passed away years ago. If it were an ordinary dog, there’s no reason it would still be alive today. If the legend is true, maybe something really did change in it. I really want to study it…”

As Chris spoke, he kept glancing at Albert, but Albert completely missed his hints. His mind was entirely occupied with Ranen’s earlier warning.

Why did he specifically warn him not to join the Inspection Bureau? What is wrong with the Inspection Bureau?

Having been sent on an undercover mission shortly after joining, Albert hadn’t had much time to experience the internal atmosphere of the Inspection Bureau. His impression of the organization was still limited to it being an official investigative agency.

*Click—*

The sound of a camera shutter suddenly rang out nearby. Albert froze, watching as Chris, with a face full of mock resentment, pulled out his camera and snapped a photo of him.

“What’s that for? This is fine, right? Taking photos is my habit—it helps me recall the curiosity and drive of this moment when I’m doing research.”

“Then why take a picture of me?”

“You’re decent-looking enough,” Chris said lazily. “As a model, you’re passable, though you don’t exactly ignite my passion.”

Though Albert didn’t say anything, he couldn’t help but shoot Chris a look of disdain in this moment—who wants to ignite a guy’s passion?

In any case, the night passed like that. Later, Albert went to see his mentor, Aldous, pretending to be an ordinary student who had casually heard about the Inspection Bureau and was intrigued.

“The Inspection Bureau? Ah, that organization. If it were before, I’d have recommended you join,” Aldous said while tending to his plant garden. “But things have been a bit off in recent years. Whether you join is entirely up to your own judgment.”

“Has something happened in the Inspection Bureau?” Albert asked.

“For now, there’s no major issue, but changes are happening,” Aldous said, pushing up his glasses. “When one person becomes a permanent beacon, flag, or savior, whether that’s a good or bad thing for humanity—no one knows.”

“Remember, Albert, when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back at you.”

Aldous’s words carried a warning. Albert pondered them for a long time but still couldn’t come to a conclusion. When the Inspection Bureau urged him to pass on intelligence again, Albert hesitated for a moment before sending the suspicion that had arisen in his mind when the dog chased him.

No matter what, the Inspection Bureau was currently the only organization Albert knew of that could thwart the conspiracies of the Outsider.

No matter what, he had to protect everything around him.

In a place he couldn’t see, Ranen quietly observed the unfolding events. Whether it was because the outcome was fated and unchangeable, or because this was a dream—a memory—everything he did seemed to inevitably lead toward the final result.

But speaking of which…

These two attacks seemed to occur around the times Albert made contact with the Inspection Bureau.

Ranen recalled that the first anomalous attack happened when Albert first connected to the internal network, which, if he wasn’t mistaken, was likely the moment Albert joined the Inspection Bureau.

And the second attack happened after he handed over a clue about the possible identity of the Outsider leader to the Inspection Bureau?

It seemed both incidents were connected to the Inspection Bureau. Ranen furrowed his brow, wondering if there was some link between the anomalous attacks and the Inspection Bureau.

No, this isn’t right. That line of thinking didn’t make sense. No matter how powerful the Inspection Bureau was, it shouldn’t be capable of interfering with someone’s Trial of the Dream Rift, right? If Albert was the master of this dream, why did the anomalous attacks only occur at these two specific points?

At this moment, the bullet laced with golden flames flashed through Ranen’s mind, and a certain hypothesis emerged.

—-

Meanwhile, as Ranen was immersed in Albert’s dream,

In reality,

After the inspection team finally began to recover, Eugene impatiently urged them to act quickly. The group traced an unmasked signal to Arkham Hospital.

But there was a problem: the place was bustling with people, and aside from finding a phone that was likely the one used to send the message, they found nothing else.

The phone was sent to Chris Chapman for inspection. It was just an ordinary model, probably bought temporarily, and the ID tied to it was a black-market purchase—completely worthless.

Edmund said, “The trail’s gone cold, hasn’t it?”

“No, it hasn’t,” Eugene suddenly pulled a golden pocket watch from his pocket. Its hour and minute hands were spinning erratically. “On the contrary, we might have hit the mark.”

The golden pocket watch was a new device developed by the Inspection Bureau’s internal research team. Its principles were complex, but its function was to detect special realms. These realms formed through intricate mechanisms—perhaps through unique spells, corruption by evil gods, or specific terrain and celestial phenomena. The magical energy in the air would draw on a person’s psyche, creating realms that transcended reality and bordered infinitely close to the dream world.

Strictly speaking, when Arkham City was enveloped in mist before, it had, in a sense, become a massive realm of this kind.

In such places, the barrier between reality and dreams was shattered, bringing the two infinitely close. Anomalies could easily manifest before people, visible even to ordinary individuals, who could also be harmed by them.

There were many such realms in the world—some appearing only during specific seasons, some fixed, some temporary, some existing due to corruption by evil gods. The Inspection Bureau had been studying these realms for a long time, and the golden pocket watch in Eugene’s hand was one of the recent fruits of their efforts.

Job couldn’t help but frown. “…Could this be a trap?”

Setting aside whether the person who contacted them was Albert himself, if it was, why would he lead them into a special realm built atop reality? If the other party had malicious intentions, wouldn’t this be a setup?

“Whether it is or not, this is the only lead we have right now,” Eugene said coolly. “Oh, right, I almost forgot about Archie back at the Bureau. Why don’t we have him take the lead?”

“…Mendley!” Job grabbed Eugene’s collar. “Don’t go too far! The Inspection Bureau’s mission is to…!”

“To protect humanity. But if sacrificing one or two people can achieve the goal of saving humanity, why not?” Eugene gripped Job’s hand. “In fact, you think the same, don’t you? No need to rush to deny it. I’ve seen all of your mission records, so I know you’ve made those kinds of choices before.”

Eugene’s gaze swept over Job and then to Dana and the others behind him. Dana stood with her arms crossed, her posture defensive. Edie appeared nonchalant, but his eyes were fixed on the floor. Only Edmund and Eunice, who had recently joined, looked utterly confused.

“Did you know?” Eugene suddenly burst into a cheerful smile, his delicate face appearing innocent, yet the malice within was like a viper flicking its tongue. “Once you convince yourself to sacrifice someone’s life for the greater good, it becomes inevitable that you’ll start weighing human lives on a scale. And, of course, the side with the greater number will always tip the balance.”

“What’s wrong with that? You can never save the majority. Sacrificing the few to save the many—just keep going like that, and it’s enough.”

Seeing everyone present fall silent, Eugene curled his lips into a smirk and turned to walk away.

“Then what gives you the right to decide that sacrificing a few can save humanity?” 

Eugene turned back to see Edmund standing in the corner, half his body cloaked in shadow. His freckled face bore an innocent expression as he posed the question: “Are the few who are sacrificed really being sacrificed to save humanity, or are they sacrificed for selfish desires? Is their sacrifice truly for justice?”

“Of course,” Eugene replied without hesitation. “Because we all follow the chief’s orders. That person is absolutely infallible, and every sacrifice has meaning.”

“Hm, can I say something? That sounds an awful lot like an evi—” Edmund’s words were cut off as Eugene, removing his glasses, interrupted him. Job, startled, quickly stepped in front of Edmund, closing his eyes. “What are you doing!? Mendley, are you going to turn on your own teammate?”

“I’m just telling him to watch his mouth. If he doesn’t want to, I can help remove it,” Eugene said coldly. “If I hear that kind of disrespectful talk about the chief again, you won’t be so lucky next time.”

Eugene walked off to make a phone call, leaving the others in a heavy silence. Finally, Edie let out a cold scoff. “He’s practically the chief’s rabid dog.”

“Edie,” Job quickly hushed him, glancing around.

“Captain, you don’t have to be so wary of him, do you?”

“He’s the chief’s secretary, after all. If he really wants to make trouble for you, things could get a hundred times worse,” Job sighed. “Besides, Eugene doesn’t exactly have a great reputation in the Bureau for this kind of thing. You’ll likely have to deal with him again in the future, and I don’t want any of you to end up in real trouble one day.”

“Tch,” Edie clicked his tongue but said nothing more.

“And you, Edmund,” Job turned to Edmund, “strictly speaking, you’re not yet an official investigator. When we return to the Bureau for review, all official investigators have to go through the chief and his secretary’s scrutiny. If he wants to make trouble for you, he has countless ways to do it.”

“I understand,” Edmund said obediently, then shifted the topic. “What do we do next?”

“Mendley confirmed there’s a realm here. He’s probably calling Chapman over now, since he’s the expert in this area. Once we find a way to enter the realm, we can start the investigation,” Job replied.

Edmund’s eyes flickered. “I see…”

Later, using the excuse of needing to use the restroom, Edmund slipped into a bathroom stall. After confirming no one was nearby, he closed his eyes and quietly recited a prayer.

But something strange happened—the prayer went unanswered.

Edmund paused, then stubbornly recited it again. Still nothing.

This time, his expression finally changed, realizing the situation might be spiraling beyond his control.

Why isn’t Lord Ranen responding? Has something happened?

—-

At this moment, Ranen was still immersed in the dream. Time passed quickly for Albert, and a year and a half had gone by in the dream. By now, Albert had acquired enough knowledge and, through his diligent efforts, had finally earned Aldous’s approval to assist in the laboratory. This allowed Albert to finally access the core of Aldous’s research.

“Artificial realms?”

“Yes, to be precise, my project is about creating something akin to a realm—or rather, a small-scale dream world,” Aldous said, unable to contain his excitement even with his usual composure. “Did you know, Albert, about ten years ago, professors from various departments at Miskatonic University collaborated on a monumental project? It was to explore humanity’s greatest secret, the land of myths and legends—the Dreamlands, or the Dream World.”

“Professor Llewellyn Foster from the Ancient Potions Department recreated a lost potion from ancient texts. We tentatively called it the Dreamwalking Potion. Its effects have been verified—it can smuggle someone into the Dream World.”

Albert’s eyes widened in shock. “Enter… the Dream World?”

“Yes. The phantom grass you borrowed from me earlier is one of the core ingredients for the Dreamwalking Potion. Unfortunately, the other key ingredient, the scale powder of the Soul-Eating Butterfly, is extremely hard to come by. On top of that, the potion is so difficult to brew that no one besides Professor Foster could manage it. So, in a sense, the potion is effectively lost.”

Aldous’s face was full of regret.

“What happened to Professor Foster?”

“Well, I haven’t finished yet. The Ancient Potions Department’s role ended there. After that, professors from the Geography, History, and Mythology Departments gathered data and formed the strongest team of investigators Miskatonic could muster,” Aldous said with a smile.

“Through some magical means, we established a communication channel with them and obtained incredibly valuable information, including the geography and cultural landscapes of the Dream World. And do you know what kind of place it is? It’s absolutely unbelievable—you’d never guess! It’s an idealistic world where everything in the dream is determined by the will and spirit of the Dream World’s inhabitants! It’s such a romantic, incredible world!”

Aldous’s pale skin, a result of spending years holed up in the lab, flushed with excitement as he gestured animatedly, trying to convey his enthusiasm and longing to Albert. “Everyone is a god in their own world. As long as they believe, gold can rain from the sky, and the ground can sprout milk and honey. It’s practically a true paradise!”

“My goal is to recreate this paradise in the human world. That’s the entire purpose of my research. I want to use artificial realms to craft a human paradise that’s as close as possible to the Dream World. Even if people live mundane lives in reality, once night falls and they enter the dream, they can become masters of their own world!”

“Half reality, half dream—two lives!”

Albert listened calmly to his mentor’s ambitions. “If that’s the case, I doubt anyone would want to return to reality.”

“No, no, you’re wrong there. There’s a crucial rule in the Dream World: only those with the strongest willpower can make things happen. I plan to apply this rule as well. If someone develops an escapist mindset, they won’t find happiness in the dream either,” Aldous said, shaking his head.

Albert wasn’t particularly interested in this. Compared to that, he was far more curious about the project Aldous had mentioned earlier.

“What happened to that team of investigators? They made such a monumental contribution—surely they didn’t remain unknown?”

“Hm? What are you talking about? They didn’t come back,” Aldous said in a calm, almost envious tone. “Sigh, it’s a pity I was just a student back then, not qualified to join such a major project. Otherwise, I really would’ve loved to see that world.”

His face was full of regret, and Albert could tell he genuinely felt it was a shame he hadn’t been able to go.

The rumors outside are spot-on, Albert thought. The people here are a bunch of eccentric weirdos who’d willingly drown for their ideals.