Chapter 7: The Nightmare's Awakening

After her dance, the announcer girl stepped forward and said:

Announcer girl: "Thank you, everyone!"

The announcer was a girl with long, deep black hair and sharp, piercing eyes.

She Thoughts as the people disappeared: "That girl—Vega—messed up the plan in this dream too. I have to kill her to give him a nightmare."

The plan was clear: "If she hadn't shown up, everyone would've blamed Steve, and he would've been beaten by his classmates."

As she walked to the back of the stage, her thoughts were heavy with determination.

She thoughts: "She's a star. If I kill her, she'll die in the real world and won't be able to return to any other dream. Then, I can give him nightmares—so terrifying that he'll be scared to close his eyes."

Moon: "This is bad. It's a Dreambreaker."

Little Stars: "What is it, Mama?"

Moon: "They are the ones who give you nightmares. They feed on negative emotions, and there's a huge ball of negativity deep inside Steve. This isn't a regular Dreambreaker—it has consciousness."

As the Moon finished speaking, the day broke, and Steve woke up with a smile, the warmth of the dream still lingering in his heart.

[For the nerds:

A Dreambreaker feeds on negative emotions inside the unconscious mind. Most Dreambreakers are like worms—mindless and short-lived, dying after a few days. But this one is different. It has consciousness. To defeat it, Steve must overwhelm it with positive emotions. However, bringing positive emotions into the unconscious mind is incredibly difficult.

This Dreambreaker has some control over his dreams, making it especially dangerous for Vega (the star). If a star dies in someone's unconscious mind, they cannot return. If Steve realizes he's dreaming within the dream and remembers it in real life, he can bring Vega into his conscious mind. In rare cases, he might even be able to communicate with her in his thoughts.]