Overturned Tower

It was already half past three in the afternoon when Russell entered the house.

He sat on the massage chair, turned on the zero-gravity mode, inserted the data chip that the deer-headed statue had brought to Russell into the interface on his left arm, and began to read the files in the chip.

"……Huh?"

Russell originally just read it with a preview mentality, but he soon realized the importance of this knowledge with a sigh of relief.

That was the deer-headed statue's experience in the "Dream World" - yes, she called the illusory world composed of group consciousness where the mages arrived after their dreams the "Dream World".

The mage's dreaming behavior is called "dream exploration".

As the name suggests, it is aimless exploration.

Because in the dream world, there are no coordinates, no day and night... or even boundaries.

Perhaps looking into the distance from the original wasteland, there is endless wasteland in any direction.

But after walking through a certain line, you will suddenly come to ruins full of crystal remains, or you may suddenly come to an abyss full of lava. And if you continue walking from the abyss, you may enter an underwater city, or you may enter a dim cave; when you reach the end of the crystal ruins, you may be a maze composed of countless mirrors, or it may be a city composed of giant toys...

All areas have no obvious boundaries. All regions are changing and changing every day...the interior of the region will also change, the region itself will move, and different regions will eat each other.

They are like monsters composed of different thoughts, devouring, digesting, and integrating each other.

There are as many different areas in the dream world as there are different ideas in the human world.

Because of this, it is impossible to draw a map of the dream world.

Because it is impossible to measure without entering the corresponding area, and the moment you enter the corresponding area, the dividing line has already changed. Therefore, it can be said that the map of the dream world is always inaccurate. If an ignorant young mage entered the original wasteland, he would probably get lost in it. When a mage walks with his heart, the dream world will gradually guide him to the path that suits him best.

It's like a psychological test that's constantly being corrected.

Of course, the biggest problem is... the mage's own thoughts are constantly changing. Therefore, their own position in the dream world will always move and deviate.

But based on the experience of the deer-headed statue, there is also an experience of being able to barely recognize the way.

That is to find the "Tower of the End".

Although these areas are constantly moving, eating, and merging, the general direction they belong to will not change easily.

After waking up from the dream world, you can see the Tower of the End when you are about to leave the initial wasteland - it will always appear directly in front of you when you are about to leave the initial wasteland.

The Tower of the End is a shadow. Those who walk straight in that direction will never reach it no matter how far they go.

But it always points in a fixed direction and can be seen in all areas of the dream world.

In other words, the Tower of the End can be used as a coordinate in the dream world.

For example, a person who has advanced a certain distance toward the right side of the tower at a sixty-degree angle will definitely fail if he wants to walk back along the same path at the opposite angle. Because he will not reach the previous area, but will enter another new area where the "tower tilts 120 degrees to the left".

On the other hand, if you walk 180 degrees away from the Tower of the End, you will eventually reach the "Primary Wasteland" no matter which area you were in before. This is also the method used by those mages organized to "dig new people".

Because different regions want to grow stronger. But every mage will not stay in a specific area... they will inevitably walk on the road.

Those "lines" that connect different areas are called "roads".

Every time you walk on the road, you will explore the dream world - whether it is exploring within this area or reaching the next different area from this area. As long as you don't go back and look at "what you've already seen," you can give the mage access to different types of spells.

The essence of these "paths" is actually the method that a mage will choose immediately when encountering difficulties or acting in an unfamiliar field.

For example, "the way of answering", "the way of practice", "the way of anger", "the way of stillness", "the way of joy", "the way of contemplation"... The spells obtained by mages are often helpful. For them to continue walking on the "path".

The deer-headed statue also shared her own path with Russell: she first walked on the path of contemplation, and the specific coordinates were fifteen degrees to the left of the Tower of the End.

She passed the "Crystal Ruins", "Mirror Maze", "Fossil Sea", and "Books" and stopped here.

Then her path changed.

She has ended her contemplation and turned to the "way of practice." That was a direction thirty degrees to the right from the Tower of the End—when she crossed the border, she would follow this path and enter the next area.

After that, she switched back and forth from time to time between the "Path of Practice", "The Way of Protection" and "The Way of Stillness", and now she has returned to the "Path of Practice". And moving forward all the way, we arrived at a place far, far away in the dream world... called "the road forward". In this area, she is currently the only mage.

The spell she is using now - the spell that can connect different doors in series, comes from the power of this area.

"And the mage who recruits new people came back along the 'Way of Anger'. The specific angle is that the tower tilts 45 degrees to the right."

The quiet and ethereal voice of the deer-headed statue was also recorded in the chip: "You can record it every time they change directions.

"After entering the dream world, all the abilities brought to you by the chip cannot be used. You will enter the dream world in the form of 'without a prosthetic body', so the abilities of the prosthetic body series cannot be used... because there is no slot. Therefore, the 'consumable chip' provided by your company cannot be used.

"But besides that, you can bring some cold weapons. My recommendation is a crowbar or an engineer shovel. The action recorder is too easy to detect, but you can bring a pendulum with a scale and disguise yourself as a fortune teller... …Use the pendulum and tower to determine the angle of your progress at this moment.”

According to the advice of the deer head statue, Russell packed his bags.

Pendulum, engineer shovel, crowbar, windproof goggles, windproof and waterproof jacket. Plus bandages, wound medicine, "saint's beheading", and most importantly...a shotgun.

——Yes, guns can be brought into the dream world.

But the ones that are too high-tech won’t work, because the ones that have to be connected to prosthetics to automate the operation... the simpler ones will work.

This was the gun Russell had seized from the mercenary leader on the airship. The gun was later sent to the Enforcement Division, and Russell, using his authority, wrote a note and loaned it out.

After that, Russell prepared a quick-acting sleeping pill. The purpose is to fall asleep quickly during the short period of time when he transforms into a bluebird.

So Russell put on a mask while fully armed.

In the ultramarine flames, he suddenly grew taller and turned into a bluebird with a cheerful smile.

Then, he immediately injected himself with sleeping pills that delayed the onset of effect.

There are many keys to entering the dream world - the method taught to Russell by the Deer Head Statue is to cover his eyes with white cloth and wrap his ankles and wrists with white cloth. If you do this, it will be difficult to inject yourself... So Russell first tied the eyeband and the white bandage on his ankle, and then tied the bandage around his wrist after inserting the acupuncture.

After that, Russell quickly fell into a deep sleep.

A strange yet familiar feeling of drowning and falling made Russell feel suffocated.

It's like having your hands and feet tied and submerged in the sea...

When Russell couldn't bear the suffocating feeling anymore, he suddenly woke up and sat up from the ground.

"--Pooh!"

He first took a few puffs and spat out the sand that had filled his mouth because of the suffocation.

Then, Russell forcefully broke away the bandage on his wrist. And take off the bandage covering your eyes.

That moment—Russell didn't expect it.

The intense light made him burst into tears for a moment.

It really brought tears to my eyes.

"It's so bright..."

He couldn't help but let out a low breath.

As soon as the voice came out, it seemed as if it was drowned by something... The strange feeling made him really feel like he was "in another world".

To maximize his information, Russell didn't buy tinted goggles.

As a result, when I opened my eyes, I was almost blinded by the flash.

He was on the empty island and had never seen such strong sunlight. The sudden exposure made it difficult for Russell to even open his eyes. If you open it even a little bit, you'll burst into tears.

And when Russell gradually adapted to this strong light and opened his eyes to look at the world around him...

Only then did he realize that he was standing in a desert.

The flying sand blown up by the wind made it difficult for him to see very far away.

The sunlight was also bright and dim in bursts...the dimness was because it was partially blocked by the dust.

And when Russell stretched out his hand to block the dust and tried to raise his head to look at the sun.

——He was stunned.

Because above the head, it was the bright sun that was so clear and so dazzling that it was impossible to look directly at it.

as well as……

What was once familiar to Russell but is now unfamiliar to...the clear blue sky.