Chapter 42: Dream Eater Protocol

A gate opened in the sky.

Not one of light or shadow… but pure static.

From it descended a being unlike anything Hiragi had seen.

It wore a smiling porcelain mask.

Its body was stitched from corrupted school uniforms.

And from its back, six projector arms emerged—each displaying flashes of nightmares: burning classrooms, drowned hallways, and students screaming in silence.

D.R.E.A.M Protocol – Type: Eater Class

Code: Collector of Fears

"Mid-boss confirmed," Ishigami muttered. "This one feeds on unresolved trauma."

Hiragi stood ready.

The Void Knife pulsed violently.

The creature spoke, in many voices layered on top of each other:

"YOU DREAMED.

NOW YOU PAY THE MEMORY TAX."

It charged.

Projectors flared, firing illusions like bullets—

each hitting with a thought.

Hiragi's legs froze.

He saw himself as a child—alone in the hospital, holding his dying mother's hand.

His vision trembled.

The mask drew closer.

But then—

A sharp sound sliced through.

A violin string.

From the rooftop above, Airi appeared—clad in a digitalized combat gown, eyes glowing soft gold.

"You forgot one thing, glitch-face."

She raised her left hand—pulling a thread of light from her wrist.

"This isn't his dream alone."

The thread snapped—

and the illusion shattered.

Hiragi's body unfroze.

He leapt up—spun midair—

and plunged the Void Knife into the mask.

"Dream's over."

The creature screamed—imploded into data shards.

Ishigami stepped forward.

"We've broken through the Firewall."

Hiragi looked ahead.

There, deep in the false city…

…stood a floating tower made of memory cubes and bone.

"The Core."