"If we continue like this, everyone will be trapped in Dreamland forever."

"We need to eliminate the root cause as soon as possible."

"What do you mean by eliminating the root cause? Do you know how to solve this?"

"I know what I need to do."

We needed to eliminate Nirva, who orchestrated all of this.

To do that, we needed to find where he was located.

Considering his abilities and powers, he would likely be in the deepest part of Dreamland, in the deep layer.

But given that he temporarily appeared outside through Gregorium's corpse, we had to assume he could easily move between the middle and upper layers.

"Let's move first. Meeting up with the others is the priority."

We needed to meet with others and share opinions.

If this was a dream, it would be difficult to solve everything alone.

'If it affected Leathervelk, the others must have fallen inside too.'

I had created emergency escape routes in preparation for something like this.

However, I didn't think it would be free from demonic powers.

'Should I prioritize finding Sedina, Hans, and Seridan who fell first?'

Still, I felt I could figure out which direction to head.

The falling stars were concentrated in one particular area.

The sight of shooting stars falling from all directions converging in curves toward a narrow land was something that could never be seen in reality.

However, considering what this meant - a supernatural disaster - it was hard to simply admire its beauty.

"How much further do we need to go?"

"We need to get to where those stars are falling, so it's still quite far."

"It would take considerable time to walk there."

Julia nodded.

"If we walk, yes. But we're magicians, aren't we?"

"That's right."

The two used magic to fly up.

From the high vantage point, the landscape of Dreamland became even more apparent.

It was a place full of mysterious forests and plains.

Looking down while crossing over them, they could see some unusual creatures that only inhabited this place.

A giant salamander raised its head from the swamp and stared at Rudger and Julia flying in the sky.

Seeing it stick out its tongue with a slurping sound, they realized they would have been in big trouble if they had walked.

"You're keeping up better than I expected?"

To Julia's words, half admiring and half teasing, Rudger responded nonchalantly.

"And you seem to be performing better than usual."

"Have you forgotten who I am and where we are?"

"That's true."

Dreamland was home ground for Dream Walkers.

In dreams, anything impossible in reality becomes possible.

Dream Walkers, who freely roam these dreams, could demonstrate abilities far superior to what they could in reality.

"If you wanted to, could you even make wings?"

"Wings?"

"In dreams, anything you want should be possible, right?"

Julia's eyes went wide.

"That's honestly the most absurd thing I've heard, but it's also surprising because it's not wrong."

"Hmm. It was just a guess, but is it really possible?"

"Not here. The layer is too high. While the upper layer is properly Dreamland's domain, the surface layer's influence is still significant. It's a place where human reason is sufficiently maintained, and at the same time, reality's influence remains strong."

"Conversely, the lower you go, the stronger the influence of dreams and unconsciousness becomes."

"That's why Dream Walkers start their proper preparation process from the middle layer."

As the two were flying, they spotted numerous lights covering the plains and landed nearby.

"Are those people?"

"Looks like others have fallen here too."

These people, perhaps having fallen later, wore various types of clothing.

There were factory workers, restaurant servers, florists, janitors, and drivers.

Moreover, some were wearing clothes made of quite luxurious fabric, clearly indicating their wealth to any observer.

"It seems all of Leathervelk has been affected."

"This really is the worst situation."

The gathered people seemed very confused about why they were here.

Just when they thought the outside was turning golden in broad daylight, they lost consciousness and found themselves here when they opened their eyes.

It was natural that this would be hard to understand with a clear mind.

"Where on earth is this place!"

"Everyone, stay calm. What good will panicking do?"

"How can we stay calm in this situation?!"

People were gathered together, but this was only because of the unfamiliar environment.

Most of them were already in a state of panic.

Then someone in the crowd spotted Julia and Rudger.

"W-who are you?"

"Don't be alarmed. We're also people who fell into this dream world, just like you."

Julia stepped forward and spoke.

Hearing this, the people seemed to have an even harder time understanding.

"Dream world? What does that...?"

"Is someone playing a prank on us?"

Julia sighed.

These people were complete outsiders with no connection to magic.

It was clear they wouldn't understand even if she explained about Dreamland and such things.

"Y-you! You're magicians, right? If so, do something about this!"

"That's right! If you're magicians, you must know how to get out of here!"

People stared at Rudger and Julia with eyes full of hope.

Those eyes were filled with expectation, but also contained a hint of madness.

To these people drowning in confusion, the two appeared like a lifeline.

But what would happen when they learned the truth?

Julia realized the situation wasn't going well and quietly asked Rudger.

"What should we do? The people seem to be making some strange misunderstandings."

Seeing her asking Rudger for advice, the people targeted Rudger.

He appeared to be the superior, being older than Julia and having a certain presence.

"S-sir. Please let us out quickly. I'll make sure to compensate you well."

"Magician, please tell us where we need to go quickly."

"I have work that needs to be finished today!"

When their desperate pleas exceed hundreds, it becomes an ear-piercing noise.

Julia frowned at the voices crying out desperately.

The people started becoming more aggressive as they grew more anxious while attempting to plead and negotiate.

"You're suspicious. Don't tell me you're the ones who brought us here?"

"I've heard about this too! They say magicians kidnap people for experiments."

"C-could they be dark magicians?"

Hostility flowed from the people.

Julia found this ridiculous.

They hadn't said anything yet, but these people were already talking about dark magicians and whatnot on their own.

Moreover, despite calling them dark magicians, instead of being scared, they were even glaring at them.

Shouldn't they be more cautious if they think someone is dangerous?

Julia had difficulty understanding such overly emotional behavior from people.

She was intelligent and rational beyond her age.

Except for becoming emotional only regarding Sedina, she didn't understand well how ordinary people reacted in other situations.

"You filthy magicians!"

"Send us back right now!"

On the contrary, Rudger fully understood their feelings.

They must be confused. Frustrated too, and feeling lost after falling in an unknown place.

However, understanding their feelings and quietly listening to their verbal abuse were different matters.

"You seem to have no limits to what you'll say if I keep listening."

Rudger's voice shook the people when he opened his mouth.

The majestic resonance imbued with magical power instantly plunged the surroundings into silence.

Even those who were about to throw punches in their heightened emotions realized belatedly what they were trying to do and backed down.

"Listen well. The magicians you're looking for have nothing to do with this incident. Rather, we too are victims who got caught up in this."

People cowered whenever Rudger's fierce gaze fell upon them.

"Yet you try to frame us as culprits, which puts me in quite a bad mood."

Only then did people remember what they had forgotten.

How superior beings magicians were.

And what would happen if they angered a magician in this place where there were no watching eyes.

Once the people finally calmed down, Julia let out a sigh of relief.

Rudger had cut off the situation at an appropriate point before it could spiral out of control.

"What should we do now?"

"First, we need to take these people with us."

Regardless of how the situation turned out, they still needed to head to the central area of Dreamland's upper layer.

If they left these people here and they ended up getting attacked by Dreamland's creatures living nearby, it would leave a bitter aftertaste.

"Follow me."

At Rudger's single word, people quietly followed.

Rudger possessed charisma that went beyond simply showing his force earlier, something that couldn't be resisted.

All the people who had been panicking until now walked silently, watching only Rudger's back.

Julia marveled at how easily he subdued the fear of terrified people.

"Teacher, you really are excellent at handling people."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Of course it's a compliment. Just look at how those people who were full of complaints are following along like children. Maybe you appear as their only savior to them."

Savior, huh.

Rudger snorted at that cumbersome word but he didn't bother to deny or criticize it because he couldn't stop those people from thinking what they wanted, whether he liked it or not.

After walking for some time they could see a place in the distance where many people were gathered.

"This is unexpected. I didn't think it would be this well-organized."

Rudger quietly admired the scenery that reminded him of a small village.

"Of course. This is the first place you visit when you come down to Dreamland's upper layer. Since Dream Walkers frequently visit, we set up an outpost like this."

"Outpost, huh. There was something like this in the Kasar Basin too."

"We're the original."

Julia's voice was full of pride as she said this.

To use the word 'we' without hesitation despite having friction with the school people, Julia clearly had an attachment to the Dream School.

"Still, it's surprising. We made it to accommodate over 1,000 people, but it's already full and there are still people outside."

"Well, Theon's population alone is several times that number."

"And with Leathervelk's population added...this isn't good."

Julia glanced at the people sitting down here and there.

Most were sunk in despair, unable to adapt to this unfamiliar environment.

Dreamland was unfamiliar even to magicians.

So naturally, the psychological pressure felt by people completely unfamiliar with magic would be much greater.

As they went further inside, they saw familiar faces.

As Theon's students were among the first to fall into Dreamland, they were gathered in the center of the village among themselves.

"Teacher Rudger!"

One of the teachers who had been taking good care of the students spotted Rudger and ran over quickly.

"Teacher Selina."

"Teacher Rudger, you're here too. Are you alright?"

When Rudger said he was fine, Selina sighed in relief while stroking her chest.

Rudger checked the condition of the students.

Most didn't look good, but there was no one who seemed seriously depressed.

That must be because the other teachers had worked hard.

'But this is only a matter of time.'

Unless the fundamental problem was solved, the situation could only get worse from here.

Just as he thought about meeting with other teachers to talk, it happened.

-Kurrrrrung.

Screams erupted from everywhere along with a massive roar.

The people who had been sitting down jumped up in surprise at the violent tremors that suddenly shook the ground.

"Kyaak!"

As Selina almost fell, Rudger quickly caught her body.

"Th-thank you."

Selina's face reddened, feeling unnecessarily embarrassed.

After helping Selina steady herself, Rudger asked Julia.

"Julia. Do earthquakes happen in Dreamland too?"

"That's impossible. How could there be earthquakes in a world without fault lines in the first place?"

"Then what is this situation?"

"I don't know either."

Julia was also perplexed inside.

"Maybe we need to consider the worst-case scenario."

"Could it be worse than this?"

"Think about it. There have never been this many people in Dreamland before. This is practically unprecedented."

That would be true.

Usually, only Dream Walkers and a very few people in deep sleep came to Dreamland but now that number had far exceeded tens of thousands.

100,000, 200,000 and that number was still increasing in real-time.

"The upper layer is being strained because of too many people."

"Dreamland is?"

"I told you before, didn't I? Dreamland is like a whirlpool. It's a quagmire that gradually sinks down even when still. What do you think happens when this many people gather in such a place?"

"The speed of being sucked in increases?"

Julia spoke with certainty.

"That would be better. Although I shouldn't think this way, maybe..."

Kuguugugung───!!!

Before those worried words could finish, another earthquake occurred.

People screamed at the vibrations that were much bigger and longer than before.

"Uwaaa! S-save me!"

"Don't move! There's no use panicking here!"

"Everyone, please stay calm!"

Rudger noticed an anomalous situation occurring among them.

-Crack.

The ground started cracking and splitting.

Before he could even warn about what he saw, the split ground collapsed downward as if caving in.

-Uwaaaa!

More than 300 people fell down along with the collapsed ground into the deep abyss where nothing but pitch darkness could be seen.