As soon as I entered, I was immediately overwhelmed by the tense atmosphere in the Deputy Commander's office.

Was it because of the “big problem” the Deputy Commander had mentioned?

Although the ever-dazed expression of the Knight Commander still seemed out of place, the seriousness of the situation remained unchanged.

“Deputy Commander, what exactly has happened…?”

“Do you remember what that knight said when you reported your location and were about to leave?”

Was he talking about the knight who caused trouble with his reckless actions, earning the superior’s anger? He had mentioned that there were increasing cases of severe mental contamination.

In this world, there’s only one entity capable of causing mental contamination.

“…Is it an attack by the foreign entities?”

“I wish it were just a matter of fighting foreign entities,” the Deputy Commander shook his head, denying my assumption.

If it wasn’t a foreign entity attack, how could there be mental contamination?

I stared at the Deputy Commander, puzzled, as he let out a deep sigh, dropping his head.

“I initially judged the situation to be less serious and decided to analyze it before deploying anyone. But I was wrong. After that knight spoke to me, several others came to report the same thing—there's been a sudden increase in cases of mental contamination.”

The Deputy Commander’s face was filled with guilt as he continued.

“And now, we even have casualties. Most of the deceased were identified as healthy young men in their twenties.”

He pointed to a straw sack in the corner of the room.

…Was that where the bodies were?

From what he said, it seemed like weaker individuals were less affected. But why?

The Deputy Commander took a deep breath, as if preparing to explain further.

“We decided to act immediately and investigate the cause. In the process, ten knights lost their lives.”

The Deputy Commander cast a brief glance at the Knight Commander, who was still staring blankly into space, before turning back to me.

“And the Commander also sacrificed himself.”

Startled by the Deputy Commander’s words, the Commander blinked and nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Then, with a solemn expression, he raised his finger.

“The steak I had in my dream was incredible!”

…What?

My mind went blank from the absurd statement, but the Deputy Commander remained completely serious, as if this wasn’t strange at all.

“The Commander had a dream where he encountered a grotesque being. As he fought it, he felt as though his body was being eaten away. The longer the battle went on, the more he realized he was going to lose. When he woke up, it felt like he had experienced death itself.”

…He was actually interpreting that nonsensical statement!

I was stunned, watching the Deputy Commander analyze the Commander’s bizarre outburst. But he paid no attention to my disbelief and prepared to continue his explanation.

“The Commander’s sacrifice allowed us to figure out the source of this crisis.”

…Did he really sacrifice himself, or did he just enjoy some intense dream therapy?

Regardless, I focused on the Deputy Commander’s words as he was about to reveal the cause.

“The issue is… sleep.”

Sleep?

No way.

It was such an absurd problem that I could hardly breathe. It was already bad enough that we were confined to this narrow territory because of the Frost Giant, but now we couldn’t even sleep properly?

I could forgive most foreign entities, but I would never forgive the Frost Giant and the Torturer. While other foreign entities might act defensively or unintentionally harm others, these two caused pain deliberately.

To disturb someone’s sleep—that was pure malice.

Sleep, the most important recovery mechanism for humans, being disrupted? That was unforgivable.

Seeing the anger on my face, the Deputy Commander raised his palms in a calming gesture.

“Calm down, Tanton. I understand how infuriating this is, but we must stay composed to solve this issue.”

With that, he wore a determined expression.

Which could only mean one thing…

“So, Tanton, I’m sorry, but we’ll have to rely on you for this one, too.”

Of course, I thought. I saw this coming.

Sure, I had managed to face Bell head-on before, but I was starting to feel like they were putting a little too much faith in me.

Then again… yeah, facing a foreign entity head-on is definitely something that defies logic.

“Yes, I understand.”

The phrase, "upper orders mean I do what I’m told," felt particularly fitting right now.

Well, it was fine. I was already irritated, so I might as well take it out on this problem.

“When are you planning to sleep?”

“I was about to sleep as soon as I returned.”

“Perfect. I’ll notify the branch leader.”

The Deputy Commander’s eyes locked on mine with an intense gaze.

“I’m counting on you.”

…Somehow, since the Knight Commander returned, the Deputy Commander seemed more relaxed. Was it because of me or the Commander’s return? Either way, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

After saluting the Deputy Commander, I quickly returned to my quarters.

As soon as I arrived, I headed straight to my room.

I lay down in bed, but just because I was going to sleep didn’t mean that mysterious entity would show up in my dreams right away.

If it didn’t appear, I could just keep sleeping until it did. If necessary, I could ask the Knights for some sleeping pills.

The exhaustion from the day, after listening to the Saint’s endless explanations, took over, and I allowed myself to sink into the feeling of drowsiness. Though my body relaxed, unlike usual, a ringing sound filled my ears, and my consciousness remained sharp.

It felt like the precursor to a lucid dream.

I focused on the sensation of floating, resisting the stiffness in my body, and gradually, a calmness enveloped me.

Instinctively, I felt it was the right time. Slowly, I opened my eyes.

“…Ah.”

Before me lay a dark, foggy space, as if I were standing in the middle of a dense mist.

I moved my body, feeling the stiff sensation as I rose completely.

Moving my hands, it felt like I was experiencing an out-of-body sensation—a strange, almost surreal feeling.

Was this the dream world?

Lucid dreaming wasn’t easy to achieve, but here I was.

“There’s definitely something here.”

However, I knew that moving recklessly wouldn’t be a wise decision.

Unlike when I faced other foreign entities, this space was shrouded in darkness, and I had no clue where to go.

Being in a dream, Ria wasn’t here either.

…It was frustrating to have no information like this. I suddenly felt a surge of gratitude for Ria and the foreign entities.

「Sniff sniff.」

Wait, foreign entities…?

「I smell something!」

Why was I hearing Bell’s voice?

「Woof?」

Even the Gardener’s voice?

This was clearly a dream, so how was this happening?

「We’re directly intervening with your consciousness. So, even in your dream, we can interfere with you.」

Ah, so that’s how it worked.

It made sense. Dreams are just byproducts of the brain’s activities, so foreign entities could manipulate them.

Wait… then, those embarrassing dreams I had where the Gardener hugged me…

「A-anyway, the explanation’s over!」

The Gardener’s presence suddenly faded.

Hmm. Suspicious.

「Woof! The scent’s coming from that way!」

Thanks to Bell’s voice, I snapped back to the present.

Alright, I could think about that later. Right now, solving this issue came first.

Even though it was a dream, I could vaguely feel Bell pointing in a specific direction. It reminded me of those moments when multiple spaces overlapped in my previous dreams.

“Okay, thanks.”

Bell let out a bright “Woof!” as I headed in the direction she indicated.

Though I was following Bell’s guidance, the pitch-black surroundings made me doubt whether I was going in the right direction.

It felt like walking with my eyes closed.

However, whenever I veered off course…

「Woof.」

Bell would make a disapproving noise, and I’d correct my path.

…I had been feeling pretty hopeless, but I was suddenly very grateful for Bell’s help.

「Gratitude is debt!」

…Where did she learn that phrase?! Now her remark was making me less grateful.

「Too late!」

What?! I didn’t even get a contract or anything, and now I had a debt to pay to a foreign entity?

What could I possibly give a foreign entity that already has everything?

「Woof, that’s a secret.」

…This didn’t feel great, but I had no choice for now.

Following Bell’s guidance, I kept walking, but nothing appeared. I started wondering if this was a dead end.

Had the entity left already?

“Could it have already vanished, leaving only traces behind?”

Just as I was thinking that, something tripped me, and I fell forward.

“Ugh!”

Though it didn’t hurt—this was a dream, after all—tripping on something still ruined my mood.

I turned to see what had tripped me.

“What the…?”

When I locked eyes with it, I froze on the spot.

In a dream, you can create anything you imagine. So, you can encounter things that don’t exist in reality and even touch them.

This applies to nightmares as well.

But I had Super Coward Mode to protect me, ensuring nothing too scary would appear before me.

However…

Standing in front of me was Andy Man from Digcraft.

To be fair, Andy Man wasn’t that terrifying to look at. The blocky graphics of Digcraft were almost cute.

But the reason I quit playing Digcraft was because of Andy Man.

“Creeeeaaaak.”

The mere act of that 2D graphic chasing me for no reason at all was terrifying.

It’s less about how scary something looks and more about the unknown intent behind it. Why was Andy Man chasing me? Just because I looked at him?

That unknown malice was what frightened me the most.

And just like that…

“Kreeeeak!”

Andy Man started rushing toward me.

“W-what the hell?!”

I didn’t know why, but my instincts screamed at me to run!

I scrambled to flee.

「Human! Not that way! Go left!」

Left?

Would that really work?

What if Andy Man cut me off diagonally?

But I trusted Bell’s words and quickly swerved to the right.

“Kreeeeeeak!”

“AAAHH!”

This crazy thing! It’s already right behind me!

I had no choice but to keep running.

「Go right now!」

Right? But the gap between me and Andy Man wasn’t that wide. If I turned now, it’d be right on top of me.

I gulped and, tears in my eyes, veered left.

“Kraaaagh!”

“It’s too close! TOO CLOSE!”

Andy Man was practically breathing down my neck!

That cute, blocky face with its menacing eyes was no joke!

「Human! Now turn right and throw yourself forward!」

Andy Man’s arm was reaching out toward me.

I took a deep breath to calm my racing heart.

With my fear momentarily under control…

“Haaah!”

I spun to the right and launched myself forward.

At that moment…

Rip!

I heard the sound of something tearing as my body rolled across a surface.

Survival instincts kicked in, and I scrambled to my feet, turning to check on Andy Man’s position.

“Kreeeeak! Ku? …Gurgle.”

Andy Man didn’t follow. Instead, it returned to its usual calm expression and teleported elsewhere.

“Haa… Haa…”

My heart still pounded in my chest, refusing to calm down.

This had been one of the scariest nightmares I’d had in recent memory.

「We’ve arrived!」

Bell’s voice boomed in my head.

Looking around, I noticed that the area had a faint reddish glow, different from the darkness I had been surrounded by earlier.

I stayed alert, not letting my guard down.

“G-get away! Don’t come near me!”

“Hehe, come on. I’ll show you something nice.”

I heard a desperate cry and a voice that sounded like it was mocking the victim.

When I turned to look…

I saw a demon-like figure with horns, dressed in a seductive outfit that was practically underwear, with pale white skin and crimson hair.

A succubus—just like those depicted in stories, luring men in their dreams.

I immediately dashed forward and positioned myself between the man and the succubus, protecting him.

The man looked at me, confused, and I urgently shouted,

“Run! Get out of here!”

The man nodded, bolting in the opposite direction.

Once I confirmed he was safely gone, I turned to face the demon.

“Hehe, this is a first.”

“…I’ve found you.”

Just from the way it spoke, I knew.

I’d finally found the culprit behind this whole mess.