Chapter 398: Chapter 333 Heart Barrier
The back of his hand was burning.
Igula had returned to his room early, wearing only a coral fleece bathrobe. For safety, he had also prepared a “Igula figurine” before entering the dream realm, but his real body was not hidden elsewhere; it was concealed within the figurine itself.
Illusory yet tangible, truth mingled with lies, it was a daily battle of wits against the air for a Swindler.
He stared at the sigil on his hand that was heating up and glowing, deducing from his Golden Level in the Spirit Faction Realm that the fuel burning in the sigil was, in fact, his own positive emotions.
This was a grandiose Miracle: within the Senheiser District, as long as the main Emblem activated a Miracle, all other auxiliary emblems would respond in kind. There were no secrets about this sigil; the Miracle was determined solely by the design of the emblem, meaning that if he so wished, Igula could easily draw a sigil for himself.
This flawed method of emblem authentication revealed that the Vatican Mura’s six families did not actually prohibit outsiders from entering their family dreams. One of the steps in Hanna’s original plan involved hiding among other Vatican Mura families, and Igula had even speculated about what assets she had that could allow her to bring a group of strangers into other families. Now, it seemed that joining the Vatican Mura sigil families was about as difficult as walking into a cafe–just passing by, you could easily be pulled in.
The problem was, joining was easy, but leaving was hard.
Cafes retain you with physical beauty, families dissolve your soul with love.
Thinking back to Banjee’s warning, Igula was also somewhat hesitant.
As someone who studied the Spirit Faction, he knew all too well the principle of “the best swimmers are the ones who drown.” He would never rely on his abilities in the Spirit Realm to challenge those addictive traps–like indulging in sweets, murder, gambling–indeed, the most Igula had done was cause someone’s death, but he had never killed anyone with his own hands; gambling was merely a means to an end while working, and he would never engage in it for leisure.
The more one explored the bounds of the spirit, the more a Spirit Mage would practice temperance. Only the ignorant believe that they can “overcome a sugar addiction,” “kill without blinking an eye,” “gamble for fun,” but the wise would never touch anything that might destroy their sanity from the outset.
Entering the family Rebirth Dream was akin to an oil addict working at a gas station for someone like Igula, who would have flatly rejected such a Task in the past.
For the public good, Igula was at the mercy of others, and since he, unlike Banjee, had not changed Hanna’s diapers before, he had no grounds to oppose her.
For personal reasons, Igula also wanted to ascend the second future rankings.
The Divine Lord’s desire, the future ranking–either was enough to pique the interest of a Swindler. As soon as Hanna had proposed the plan to “defile the Divine Lord,” Igula had made up his mind to join–after all, as a socially-minded social engineer, he found it hard to refuse the opportunity to deceive the whole world, which in Swindler jargon was called a “big deal.”
Beyond poetry and distant places, Igula had to consider the immediate needs; they were still not out of danger. Let alone Red Hat and the office, Hanna and Qinna, the mother-daughter duo, were a looming threat close at hand.
Even if just to increase his own chance of survival, Igula had to demonstrate his worth–when your value is high enough, others will cover for you; Ash was a prime example.
Having cast “Heart of Stone” and “Iron Will” on himself, Igula’s heart was now free from any fluctuations, impervious to emotions even if the sky crumbled and the earth split before him.
He did not plan to take immediate action on the first night of the dream journey but intended to do a trial run first. Under the premise of ensuring he would not succumb to addiction, he aimed to investigate the conditions of the dream as much as possible.
As his consciousness plunged into the burning sigil, Igula felt his soul turn into light smoke rising, heading in a direction utterly different from sinking into the Void Realm. When Igula opened his eyes slightly, he found himself in a vast, boundless white space, standing alone.
As he looked up, he saw many bubbles in the sky above.
Just by sweeping them with his gaze, he had a general idea of the worlds within the bubbles: a land of plenty with endless delicacies, Legendary Mage’s arenas, sea fishing spots for anglers amidst misty waves, warzones that served as Burial Grounds for thousands…
These were all worlds with a substantial number of participants. When Igula thought about ‘love,’ the bubbles suddenly shifted, all filled with those wanting romance, with numbers ranging from 1v1 to 100v1.
Igula didn’t rush to start directly but first made some adjustments to his appearance to prevent being recognized. He had a habit of disguising himself through makeup and dress-up, making him quite skilled at shaping faces.
“Image No. 78 – Literary Meiwa Girl.”
To stay completely hidden, Igula even used a feminine appearance he rarely employed, and his voice changed accordingly. Now, even Harvey and Ash wouldn’t possibly recognize him.
A voice came through the mist, and Igula was slightly startled before realizing that as he searched for “love” bubbles, he had also become someone else’s “love” bubble; hence, someone had directly approached him.
But judging by the voice… was the other party also a girl?
As footsteps emerged from the fog, hues of blue and green radiated and spread, dyeing the sky a brilliant azure while the ground turned into lush greenery. A cool breeze hit his face–this was the greatest charm of the family’s Rebirth Dream, where each dream was an independent little world, the environment changing with the master’s heart’s desire. To have one’s wishes instantly fulfilled was an understatement for such omnipotence.
Soon, Igula saw his first… love match.
She wasn’t tall, only about one and a half meters in height, wearing a dark red gradient coat that was clearly too big. On her face, she wore a mask that Igula found somewhat familiar…?
As soon as she saw Igula, she waved energetically and started running toward him–
She tripped halfway, tumbling onto the grass, and lay there, not getting up.
This appearance, this clumsiness, this personality…
Igula fell silent for a moment before walking over and squatted beside her: “What’s wrong?”
“I got you!” The dark red-coated girl suddenly jumped up to hug Igula and pushed him to the ground, rubbing her cheek against the young girl’s face Igula had just conjured, giggling, “Would Miss like to fall in love with me?!”
Feeling the softness of the cute person in his arms, there was no change on Igula’s face; he maintained the literary girl’s habitual indifference and calm.
Thank goodness he was fully prepared!
Thank goodness he had cast “Heart as Solid as Rock” and “Iron Will” on himself! This combination was enough to form an impenetrable Heart Barrier!
His heart hadn’t wavered in the slightest!
Battling wits with the air had its rewards!
Quick, this was the trap of the family’s Rebirth Dream, this was Qinna’s conspiracy. He needed to punch this annoying woman away quickly, or it would be too late!
Igula was taken aback–what was that sound?
It sounded like… the shattering of stone and the rusting of steel?
“What’s your name?” The dark red-coated girl clung to Igula’s neck, her eyes filled with starlight: “I’m called Little Hope.”
The Heart Barrier… couldn’t hold up any longer.