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“Foreign story?”

Ella asked Anastasia, looking puzzled.

As far as she knew, Anastasia had never traveled abroad.

At most, it was just Russia, Korea, and Germany?

And even then, considering she had only recently obtained a physical form, it hadn’t been long in terms of time.

Not to mention that she hadn’t even had any indirect experiences.

She didn’t hear stories from friends who traveled frequently, nor did she diligently watch travel programs on TV. She didn’t gather travel information or enjoy stories through the internet either.

So, to hear foreign tales from Anastasia was quite surprising.

“Hehe.”

Anastasia replied to Ella’s question with a smirk.

With an air of pride, she struck a pose as if to say this was her sisterly ability and that she deserved respect.

“This is my greatness. I can learn about foreign stories without taking a plane!”

She had the power to indirectly experience foreign places without diving into the internet or listening to others.

Anastasia had that ability.

“I can explore foreign places by wandering through dreams!”

That was her unique ability—dream exploration.

Anastasia grinned widely, gazing at Ella.

“You know what it’s like, right?”

“That place…”

Ella frowned at the mention of ‘dream.’

The reason was simple.

It was true that it was an extraordinary ability and that she could vividly experience it…

But was it a good place? Absolutely not.

The bizarre scenery was such that it seemed to sap one’s mental strength just by observation, and the fear of possibly getting trapped forever was ever-present.

And that wasn’t all.

Even seemingly ordinary and childish dreams could turn into nightmares with a single misstep in word choice, and if luck was bad, one might even witness someone else’s nightmare. When she saw the curse woven through dreams, she was utterly shocked.

Bizarre, unpredictable, and creepy spaces.

The dream world, in Ella’s opinion, was an incredibly dangerous place.

Anyone with normal sensitivity would be terrified of falling asleep in such a place.

“…To be honest, it’s not a pleasant place, is it?”

“Oh dear! How can you not appreciate the wonders of dreams? How pitiful!”

Ella, who hadn’t received a good impression of dreams, couldn’t agree with Anastasia.

But Anastasia looked at Ella with pity, as if her ignorance of the wonders of dreams was truly sad.

“The dream world is overflowing with fascinating things! Because… it’s a place brimming with intrigue!”

She said that and giggled.

Then, she pulled a chair and settled in a suitable position, beginning to weave her tale.

In the pitch dark, where only the distant city lights and the moon’s glow illuminated, along with the flickering lights from the mansion, the story began.

A tale from within a dream.

An adventure in dream exploration.

The very story of what Anastasia experienced in her dreams.

“Um. It happened a few days ago. I was exploring a dream. Yes, like an explorer. Sailing through the unknown sea of dreams like a pirate, delving through jungles like an archaeologist—that’s how I wandered in my dreams….”

Sounds cool when expressed like this, right?

Anastasia giggled.

“But you know there are adversities at sea, right? Like pirates, I was attacked by a terrifying and evil being. With a visage that stirred emotions just to look at, they flew gracefully in the sky, defying common sense! They flew in swarms, tearing everything apart as they went! It was…”

“Right?”

“…an evil penguin army!”

Evil penguins!

What a dreadful and terrifying existence!

“The penguins led their army and advanced. Countless penguins filled the sky, dropping almost bursting surströmming bomb cans on any enemies they spotted, launching a biochemical attack. It was truly a gruesome scene….”

Anastasia spoke as if she were staring into the distance.

As if she had witnessed a brutal war.

“The terrible stench of surströmming caused the lush grass to wither, and the polar bears sipping cola had no choice but to cover their noses and leap into the sea. Truly horrific, right?”

Anastasia looked at the other girls, seeking empathy.

But the other girls found it hard to relate.

No, it wasn’t that they couldn’t.

They simply could not.

A penguin flying around dropping bombs and causing polar bears to flee?

Do they really want them to feel sadness and anger about this?

Could that even be possible?

“Hmph. Well, I suppose that makes sense. It really was an astounding scene, even to me.”

But Anastasia was not discouraged.

Surely, you had to see it to imagine that surreal and grand battle.

“Anyway, I made efforts to avoid getting caught up in that fight. I was quite desperate. The penguins hovering in the sky were getting closer to me, and in the distance, penguins were incessantly flying from a giant turtle aircraft carrier. Moreover, in the other direction, there were seal tanks lined up… So, before I was completely surrounded, I dashed away.”

“….”

“….”

“….”

The girls stared at Anastasia, unsure of how to react.

No matter how you sliced it, it just sounded like a typical wild dream.

And as they listened to that content, which seemed like it would drive anyone crazy, a question naturally arose.

What in the world did ‘foreign’ and ‘urban legend’ have to do with that story?

“But!”

Just when doubts were plastered on everyone’s faces, Anastasia’s tone shifted.

It sounded heavy and low, as if to foreshadow a scary tale that was about to unfold.

Of course, even with that tone, it didn’t come off as particularly spooky.

“How long did I run away? I stumbled upon a strange building.”

“A strange building…?”

“Yes. It was a building that looked quite bizarre, even to me.”

She lifted her gaze as if recalling what she had seen in her dream.

“It resembled a giant stadium that might have been used when the Olympics were held? The building, with a gigantic ball half-buried in the ground, appeared both simple and unique.”

“….”

“It looked like it had been neglected for a long time, with the outer walls of the stadium peeling everywhere. At this rate, it might not be long before holes would appear. Moreover, the metal parts were heavily rusted, and many parts were bent or broken. Combine that with dust and dirt caked on, the exterior that should have been white was in complete disarray.”

“It sounds like a ruin.”

“Yep. That term fits perfectly. The building was crumbling down, and weeds were flourishing all around it. Furthermore, it was floating on the sea, seemingly detached from the land—it couldn’t have been a good ambiance.”

But isn’t that what makes it even more interesting?

“So I went inside.”

Anastasia grinned.

It was an innocent and curious smile typical of a child.

“And what I saw upon entering was….”

Anastasia paused for a moment to build suspense.

Just like a variety show that shouts, “We’ll reveal it after the commercial break in 60 seconds!”

“…countless chairs.”

“Chairs?”

“Yep. Chairs. In fact… there were really, really a lot of chairs.”

Chairs are common items in daily life.

You can find them at home, on the streets, and even see makeshift chairs made from tree stumps in the mountains.

Yeah.

A very ordinary item.

But what if that ordinary item existed in an extraordinary number?

“There were so many chairs that it was hard to even extend my knees in the narrow gaps.”

In a gigantic stadium.

Filled tightly with chairs.

“And the chairs were white, so from a distance it looked like….”

* * *

The chairs were lined up perfectly, placed in order.

Each one forming circles, like so.

One massive circle encapsulating another.

One within another within another.

Like those ripples you’d see when you toss a stone into a pond, they densely occupied space, endlessly expanding.

The circles grew smaller as they moved inward.

As if the teeth of some horrific creature.

The Olympic stadium became the gaping mouth of a horror, and the chairs were like sharp teeth stuck within it.

And at the very center of those teeth.

Was someone playing the role of a tongue.

This tongue was in the shape of a person, resembling melted wax, constantly yelling as if giving a speech. Like a soldier made from melted plastic bottles or like wax that had melted halfway, this figure shouted. In a voice that sounded like it was bleating blood, illuminated by the sickening glow of a dense lighting.

“Right now, in the Commonwealth of Australia, a monster is lurking!”

 

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