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Ella fell over just like that.

Her eyelids became heavy as if they were weighed down by a ton, covering her eyes, and a wave of lethargy washed over her.

Her breathing steadied, and her muscles relaxed as if they had just received a massage.

Ella felt that the bed she was lying on was as plush as soft water, and the pillow that Iarin had placed beneath her felt like a cloud. Unable to resist the oncoming waves of sleep, Ella slowly drifted off, and soon began to breathe steadily, plunging deeper into slumber.

Once Ella was asleep, Iarin nodded with satisfaction and retrieved the blanket she had tossed aside. She covered herself up to her neck and then approached Iserin, giving her a light poke with her finger.

At that, Iserin, who had been lying like a ghost, flinched in surprise, brushed her hair aside, and peeked through the strands to look at Iarin. And when Iarin brought her finger to her lips and made a shushing sound while pointing to the bed, Iserin finally grasped the situation.

Iarin’s eyes silently conveyed,

‘Got it?’

Iserin replied with her eyes,

‘Understood.’

The sisters began to carefully exit Ella’s room, where she was enjoying a rare deep sleep. Since she was out cold after being knocked out by the spell, it would take quite a bit to wake her under normal circumstances, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Iarin used her perfected footwork technique, the Grass on Top Flying, to reach the door without making a sound, while Iserin employed the powers of Grimoire to cross the soft sand silently to the door. Then they turned off the lights in the room, making sure to close the door quietly.

With a nod to one another, they were about to return to their own room.

“Eh? Is the party over?”

But someone stopped the two of them from leaving.

“I thought there might be a party happening in my sister’s room, so I came to check!”

It was Anastasia.

With a disappointed look, she gazed up at them as if to say, “Are you leaving already?” Especially targeting Iarin, she put on a pitiful expression that was hard to resist.

Anastasia looked like a kitten peering up with teary eyes, and Iarin felt her resolve weakening in response.

However, Iarin resisted Anastasia’s allure.

As much as playing was important, it was more important for Ella to rest.

In a very quiet voice, she shared the crucial detail with Anastasia.

“Um, Ella is sleeping.”

She was effectively saying not to enter because Ella was asleep.

But Anastasia interpreted Iarin’s words differently.

She viewed the fact that ‘Ella was deep in sleep’ as the perfect opportunity.

“Ah—rin. Thanks a lot!”

Anastasia, with a sudden sparkle in her eyes, grinned and dragged the red bag she had brought into Ella’s room without a care in the world. Iarin and Iserin pondered for a moment on what to do, but since they were technically Ella’s sisters, they figured it couldn’t be anything too serious, and thus turned to head back to their room.

So without anyone’s restraint, Anastasia was able to safely enter Ella’s room.

The red bag, which had something inside that occasionally twitched as if trying to escape, was just a bonus.

Anastasia slowly approached Ella, who was fast asleep in the dark room, dragging the bag behind her. Then, she climbed onto the bed while clutching the bag tightly and opened its mouth.

Creeeak.

The mouth of the bag slowly opened, and something began to walk out from it.

It was something the size of a human head.

It shimmered with RGB lights as if it bore the title of ‘Gaming’ and moved its thin legs slowly. It stood tall on the cushioning bed, proudly thrusting its short beak towards the ceiling in an ecstatic display of freedom. Its small, shiny black eyes, resembling polished game pieces, were wide open, celebrating its newfound liberty.

The celebration did not stop there.

The creature let out a soundless roar, and with a vibrant display of RGB lights, transformed the room into a party atmosphere, wiggling its fluffy round body and rolling around on the bed. Adding to its antics, the uninvited guest bounced up and down on the bed with no consideration for sleeping Ella, scurrying around, even ending up sitting right around her waist.

Only one being could stop the mischief of that evil entity: Anastasia.

But Anastasia merely gazed on in satisfaction at the antics of whatever crawled out of the bag.

Even as she watched it roll around on top of sleeping Ella, she did not intervene.

In fact, she carelessly nudged the creature to the side and used Ella’s body as a pillow, drifting off to sleep herself.

They were truly wicked beings.

* * *

When Ella opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a masked platypus hero flying through the sky. The vigilant platypus, hiding its identity behind a mask, soared between buildings using its superpowers, battling the evil Cabibara army.

“This is a dream,”

Ella realized immediately upon witnessing the nonsensical and surreal scene that was impossible to conjure while awake.

There was no need to figure it out.

How could one claim that the platypus was soaring through the sky, defeating the Cabibara army and rescuing people from a giant beaver robot that they had brought out in a final act of desperation, was anything but a dream?

It was certainly a dream.

No way it could be anything else.

Ella quickly accepted that she was in a lucid dream and sought out an intact bench to sit on after the chaotic battle.

“Ugh.”

The bench felt oddly plush yet cool.

It was akin to a cotton candy that had just come out of the refrigerator.

Displeased with the strange sensation the bench offered, she slightly frowned.

Contemplating whether to stand up or not for a brief moment, she soon confirmed that there was nothing solid around and decided to remain seated on the bench.

‘A dream, huh…’

Ella sat on the bench, falling into thought.

She couldn’t quite remember how she had fallen asleep.

She began to recall what she was doing just before she passed out, and suddenly, clouds began to billow around her shoulder, forming a small panel right in front of her face. The panel gradually smoothed out and eventually transformed into a monitor.

The cloud, now resembling a monitor, seemed to be trying to offer a solution to her worries by displaying a video.

The video showed the events from just before she had fallen asleep.

In other words, it played back the chaos wrought by the two intruders who had come to her room.

“Oh, right. I was… attacked by a puma…”

Watching the video helped Ella piece together the memory.

The puma, which Iarin had used to subdue her, causing her to drift off to sleep.

At that moment, she felt a fleeting anger towards Iarin for knocking her out without her consent, but it was soon replaced by a long, resigned sigh.

It wouldn’t be right to get mad at her for doing something out of concern.

Ella thought to herself that there was no changing what had already occurred, and when she awoke, she’d have to warn her never to do that again, leaning back against the bench.

As she leaned against it, the plush sensation engulfed her back.

It was a fantastical, warm feeling as if clouds were molded to support her back.

The cool sensation provided by the strange reality also gave the impression of a refreshing breeze creating a backrest.

As she reveled in the comforting embrace of the bench, she suddenly felt radiant light flickering beyond her closed eyelids. She questioned what it was, recalling the battle between the platypus and the Cabibara army happening outside.

‘Police car? Fire truck?’

Ella thought the distraction plaguing her was the sirens coming from outside.

She turned her head to where the sirens seemed absent.

However, the light peculiarly did not fade away.

As if it were there, the flickering continued to bother her from the same spot.

Ella turned her head to the other side again.

‘Again?’

The light did not retreat.

Feeling a strange annoyance, Ella slowly lifted her eyelids.

“Eh?”

What she saw when she opened her eyes wasn’t a siren.

It was something shining like a siren.

Ella found herself staring into the gleaming eyes of something that sparkled brilliantly, possessing a deep black color but shining like a well-polished game piece. She could not help but be captivated by its glossy eyes as the light radiating from its body dazzled her, even as it overwhelmed her senses.

She could only stare blankly at the creature, which fluttered small wings while levitating in the air, and slowly murmured the name of an animal from reality that resembled it.

“Gaming Owl…?”

 

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