Chapter 386: Special White Clouds, Hoarding

Chapter 386: Chapter 386: Special White Clouds, Hoarding

[Ding! Special Notice: Due to the special nature of the Divine Kingdom of Sweet Dreams dungeon, all Players entering this area exist as pure spiritual projections.

In this state, all external items, equipment, and other physical or energy-linked connections are unusable.

They cannot be summoned or activated.

Players can only rely on their own spiritual strength, existing Skills, Talents, and any new Abilities acquired within this dungeon to function.]

Seraphina Sullivan: "???"

’Items can’t be used?!’

She immediately tried to sense her Buoyancy Bracelet, Transformation Ring, and other personal items.

Sure enough, it felt as if they were all covered by a thick membrane.

Although she could "feel" that their connection to her was still there, their Power couldn’t be projected into this Space at all. It was as if they had become mere ornaments!

And she was still falling!

Faster and faster, it seemed!

’This is bad! Don’t tell me I’m going to fall to my death the moment I enter this dream. That would be such a pointless way to go!’

Seraphina felt a surge of panic as her mind raced, trying to figure out which of her Skills could save her.

Most of her Skills required a physical body or Energy to function.

In her pure spiritual form, something like the Universal Sniper Rifle was clearly useless.

’Flower Therapy is useless too... Maybe I can try to influence the environment with Demon Eyes?’

But before she could test her theory—

Something unexpected happened!

From the magnificent, shifting void around her, huge clumps of fluffy, white clouds suddenly surged forth, looking as if they were made from the purest cotton candy!

These clouds weren’t stationary; they actively and swiftly converged on her!

Just a moment before she was about to smash into some unseen "ground."

Several huge white clouds appeared just in the nick of time, cushioning her from below!

POOF~

There was no impact, no pain as she’d expected—only the sensation of sinking into an incredibly soft, springy sponge.

The powerful force of her descent was cushioned and absorbed by layers of these bizarre white clouds. Her speed rapidly decreased until, like a feather, she landed gently, lying atop the fluffy bed of clouds.

"Phew..." Seraphina breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a wave of gratitude for having survived the ordeal.

She sat up.

The white cloud beneath her dipped slightly with her movement. The texture was marvelous—both soft and yet possessed of a firm, supportive strength.

’These white clouds... they’re so strange.’

Curiously, she reached out to touch a small wisp of cloud beside her. It felt cool and smooth.

It seemed to flow slightly, as if alive, yet it didn’t fall apart.

Her Eye of Resume activated instinctively.

The information it returned was quite simple, however.

[Unknown High-Concentration Dream Energy Polymer. Nature: Stable. Possesses excellent cushioning, shaping, and energy-bearing traits. Non-living. Unconventional matter.]

’Not a creature, and not an ordinary object... like some sort of highly condensed form of energy?’ Seraphina guessed, her eyes lighting up.

’I don’t know what it’s used for, but I have a feeling this is good stuff!’

Her hoarder’s instinct was instantly triggered!

’Who cares if it’s useful or not? I’ll collect it first and worry about it later!’

’It might come in handy later, right?’

Out of habit, Seraphina tried to open the spatial entrance to her Scavenger’s Farm.

She intended to stuff the clouds beside her inside.

But she immediately remembered that items and her Storage Space were unusable.

Seraphina felt a pang of disappointment.

She tapped herself on the head.

’What am I thinking? My Scavenger’s Farm isn’t an item, it’s a Skill,’

She focused, trying to mentally envelop a fluffy, washbasin-sized white cloud next to her.

She imagined pulling it through the spiritual channel connected to her Scavenger’s Farm.

’It worked!’ Seraphina was overjoyed.

She could actually collect it!

This meant that Scavenger’s Farm, being a Skill,

was so deeply bound to her spiritual essence that even in this special state, it could be used in a limited capacity through her spiritual power!

She immediately began her "hard work."

Like a hoarding hamster, she mentally wrapped up the purest, fluffiest-looking clouds around her and sent them one by one into her Space.

She had nothing better to do anyway, and stockpiling more of these peculiar "dream clouds" couldn’t possibly hurt.

Just as she was happily collecting her seventh or eighth cloud of varying size,

feeling a bit mentally fatigued and preparing to take a short break—

"AAAAAAAH—!!!"

"Help me—!!!"

"What the hell is this place—!!!"

Several terrified screams suddenly echoed from high above!

Seraphina looked up and saw, high in the magnificent, shifting void,

four or five black dots plummeting down like stones, their drawn-out, miserable screams trailing behind them.

They were rapidly growing larger as they plunged violently toward her position!

It seemed she wasn’t the only one who had been pulled into this "Divine Kingdom of Sweet Dreams" by the Beautiful Dream Stamp or a similar method.

And by the looks of it, these "companions" weren’t nearly as "lucky" as she had been; there were no white clouds appearing to catch them...

Seraphina watched the screaming figures draw ever closer, glanced down at the thick, soft cloud bed beneath her and the relatively open sea of clouds around it, and quietly scooted to the side. She also took a moment to slightly reinforce the "structure" of her personal cloud.

She probably couldn’t help them, at least not for the moment.

’But at the very least, I can clear a "landing zone" for them,’ she thought. ’And while I’m at it... I might as well watch the show?’

It was a chance to find out just who these "falling entities" were.

In a dream dungeon like this, with its bizarre rules and disabled items,

gathering more information was always a good idea.

The screams from the sky grew from faint to loud, like meteors streaking across the night, their shrill wails rapidly approaching the "ground."

Seraphina subconsciously held her breath.

The gruesome scene she was imagining—of mangled flesh and broken bones—seemed about to play out before her eyes.

However, just as the five figures were about to make intimate contact with the "ground,"

something strange happened once more!

The vast "earth" beneath them, which seemed paved with countless soft colors, suddenly underwent a miraculous transformation!

Its hard texture vanished like a receding tide.

In its place was an incredibly fluffy, soft, and springy texture!

The entire "ground" seemed to instantly morph into a colossal, unseen cotton candy trampoline!

"THWUMP!" "THWUMP!" "THWUMP!" "THWUMP!" "THWUMP!"

Five muffled, dull thuds sounded in quick succession.

There was no crack of breaking bones, no splash of blood.

The five figures had slammed into what felt like the softest sponge mattress.

Or rather, it was as if they had fallen into an immense, bouncy pile of cotton!

The "ground" dented deeply where they landed, forming five craters of various sizes, some vaguely human-shaped.

But then, the soft material slowly rebounded, "spitting" the fallers back out so they wouldn’t be buried.

The five figures lay sprawled every which way on the softened "ground."

Aside from being dizzy and shaken from the initial impact, they appeared completely unscathed!

Seraphina: ’So, even without the clouds I collected, these people wouldn’t have died from the fall anyway.’