Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

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Does this mean that I'm becoming increasingly difficult to control?

Thinking about this, Xiangzi's hands trembled, and he made more and more wrong notes in his performance.

It was just a wrong note, and maybe only professionals could hear it. Of course, Miao Meng could hear it, but it was hard to say for the bartender and Jill, who were in the audience. But if this continued, there would be more and more mistakes, and even ordinary listeners would start to notice something was wrong.

How to do.

What to do, what to do, what to do, what to do...

His thoughts suddenly became extremely chaotic, and the mistakes in his notes became more and more numerous. Xiangzi never expected that he would make such serious errors in his area of ​​expertise. His mentality collapsed like an avalanche, and cold sweat even seeped through the back of his clothes. His throat felt like it was being tightened inch by inch by an invisible thread.

"(That's enough, stop whining.)"

Miao Meng suddenly slowed down the wild drumbeats, blending them with Xiangzi's flawed melody.

“(Let’s finish this entire impromptu piece first, even if there’s only one audience member, we can’t let her down.)” Miaomeng said. “(Oh no, there are two now.)”

“(The audience?)” Xiangzi responded to Miaomeng for the first time in his reading.

Yes.

How could she forget that she was still playing a piece?

Miao Meng's reminder was like pulling Xiangzi out of the water. Only then did Xiangzi realize that Jill was still behind her, sipping her wine and listening to their impromptu performance.

She still has an audience, even if there is only one or two audience members. It is still a performance. Since it is a performance, she should present her best self to the audience. Making frequent mistakes because of fear is not allowed and is a heinous crime.

How could she forget something so important?

Xiangzi lowered his head and took a deep breath.

Calm down and take it easy.

Meow Dream has given up the competition for dominance; all you have to do now is bring the performance to a smooth conclusion.

Calm down, Toyokawa Shoko.

Xiangzi slowly opened his eyes, and his movements slowed down.

Then, guided by Miaomeng, the disordered rhythm slowly returned to its original state, and the previous theme song, "Mia and Sebastian," began.

"It's become more harmonious." The bartender praised upon hearing the soothing melody. "The piano has become much more grand after calming down, and the drums are not as impatient as before."

"They've reached an agreement, haven't they?" Jill smiled understandingly. "I feel like they're always bickering like this, but once everyone's vented, they can sit down and be quiet together again."

"It's such an enviable relationship. So many people have a fight and then never see each other again," the bartender said.

“Yes.” Jill nodded.

Under Xiangzi's guidance as he regained his composure, the melody eventually returned to a stable and comfortable level. When the last note fell, Xiangzi sat there, covered in sweat, not wanting to move at all.

The two seemed to have had a huge argument over a song.

After the argument, Xiangzi calmed down.

Miaomeng moved a chair and sat down next to her. Xiangzi heard the sound of the chair being moved, and suddenly looked up, staring wide-eyed at Miaomeng.

Miaomeng was also watching her.

His thick dark circles under his eyes were impossible to hide any longer; Xiangzi looked utterly exhausted.

Now that I've realized how Medion has influenced me, I can only try to overcome that influence. Otherwise, things will only get worse if I actually face her in person later.

"When I enter a dream state, my mind is not very stable," Xiangzi said honestly, his voice barely audible. "Something else might intrude."

Seeing this, Miaomeng's tone, which was about to become stern, softened as if a deflated balloon had gone limp.

"...So that's how it is." Miao Meng sighed, as if she had known. "Give me the task of designing dreams. I can do it...as much as I can. Believe in the efforts I've made to realize my dreams."

"Okay." Xiangzi nodded. "I'll leave everything to you when we get back."

Xiangzi lowered his head, seemingly deep in thought.

“And one more thing.” She looked up again, meeting Miao Meng’s eyes, “After you take over, don’t let anyone other than the dreamer know the details of the dream, especially me.”

She has thought it through.

"To prevent the troublesome things in your head from being reflected in your dreams, right?"

"Hmm." Xiangzi gently closed the piano key cover and turned his head. "I'm entrusting the dream-making to you."

"Don't worry." Miao Meng put her arm around Xiangzi's shoulder, giving a thumbs-up with the hand holding the drumsticks. "I won't let you down."

The Tale of Reincarnation: The Path of Fall, the Road of No Return: Chapter 607 I Bribed the Airlines

Let's take it one step at a time.

Xiangzi stood in front of a whiteboard, behind which a string of numbers was written in Arabic numerals, but the content after the numbers was empty.

"Let's start from the very beginning. What's the first step?"

After counting "1", Xiangzi wrote down the question "What do we need to do?" using a whiteboard marker.

“Steal her thoughts from Medine’s head and use them as evidence,” Chu Hua said, raising her hand like a well-behaved student answering a classroom question.

“This is Rebecca’s request.” Xiangzi nodded, then shook his head. “Our requests are similar but not exactly the same. We need to ensure that everything Medine does will not affect the landing at Reed Plains to fight against the Witch’s Night.”

"Right now, it's just suspicion," Hailing said.

“If she doesn’t have the relevant information in her head, then we can rule out suspicion,” Xiangzi said. “But my intuition tells me that’s impossible, so our goal is completely aligned with Rebecca’s—to stop Medine from continuing what she’s doing.”

======================

"That's right, sir."

Not far from the old factory, at the international convention center, a woman with long black hair sat on a long table at a press conference, calmly answering questions from reporters.

She is here as a spokesperson for several third-world countries, and what she is saying will be broadcast to television stations around the world. Perhaps many powerful and influential people are watching this live television broadcast.

Although they are just a few poor and small third-world countries, they took advantage of this international exhibition to showcase themselves to the world—through Medien, a cultural ambassador.

These small countries rely on hired public relations firms even for diplomacy, and sometimes they have to band together to pay for the same person to hold that position.

"Are you planning to sell the country as a resource?"

The reporter's question sounded rather pointed.

But there's no problem.

“You are right. We intend to take this opportunity to sell ourselves. Look, this country is full of hardworking people who have laid down their weapons and entered civilized society. It has beautiful mountains and rivers and abundant natural resources.”

This woman's voice seemed to possess a certain magic. Her speech sounded like singing, with a distinct rhythm between the words, and the long sentences formed by them were like melodies, very pleasant to the ear, making one unable to resist focusing their gaze on her lips painted with dark lipstick.

Her poised and confident demeanor made the reporter who asked the question realize that he wouldn't get any useful information, and he sat back down dejectedly.

Medine nodded, turning her gaze beyond the flashing lights to the far end of the crowd.

She saw two girls, barely teenagers, who seemed completely out of touch with these international affairs. The girls probably thought they were safe hiding behind the flashing lights, unaware that they had already been discovered.

Medine curled the corners of her lips and turned her gaze to the next reporter who raised their hand to ask a question.

"Next, sir, it's your turn."

============

"Second, how to do it, and where to start." Xiangzi wrote another line on the whiteboard, "How about starting with 'how to make the other person fall asleep'? It also includes how to keep her from waking up."

Xiangzi picked up a glass bottle from a small table to the side, held it up, and showed it to everyone.

"This is?"

“Sleeping pills,” Xiangzi explained. “In order to keep the target in the dream, Miaomeng used her connections to get a special formula of sleeping pills. This formula contains a powerful sedative.”

===========

In the old factory workshop, Miaomeng sat on a chair, breathing steadily, her eyes tightly closed.

"Is Meow Dream really asleep? So quickly?"

Xiangzi just gave Miaomeng a sleeping pill, and Miaomeng quickly closed her eyes within a minute, sitting in the chair like a dead person.

Xiangzi walked over to Miaomeng's side. Miaomeng was sitting in a chair, her head drooping, leaning against the backrest, but unable to find a place to lean against, she was slumped over, looking like she was about to get a neckache. This sleeping position was clearly uncomfortable; it was hard to imagine how she even managed to sleep.

At this moment, Xiangzi suddenly raised his hand and slapped Miaomeng across the face.

Snapped!

A crisp slap rang out, and a patch of red appeared on Miaomeng's cheek. But strangely, Miaomeng remained slumped over, completely still, as if she were dead.

"See?" Xiangzi said, "The effect is outstanding."

Hailing placed her finger below Miaomeng's nostrils and detected a faint breath.

“She’s still alive,” she said. “I thought you strangled her, Xiangzi.”

"Of course she's alive. She's stealing time in her dreams right now, and I also took the opportunity to test the sleeping pills I just got on her," Xiangzi said. "With this, she's not afraid of Ping."

"Is this medicine really that effective?" Chu Hua also came over and looked at Miao Meng several times.

Mu reached out her finger and poked Miaomeng's face.

No matter what those people did to the person in the chair, Miaomeng remained completely still, like Sleeping Beauty. Xiangzi, hands on his hips, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips, bent down and gently patted Miaomeng's face a few more times.

Xiangzi went around behind Miaomeng and put his arm around her shoulder.

"It's obvious to everyone, isn't it?"

=================

"This sleeping pill won't just be for Medine; everyone will need it. As a powerful sleeping pill, it will speed up the brain's processing speed, which will be reflected in dreams as a larger time scale."

Xiangzi, holding the small medicine bottle, continued to explain to them.

"How long do sleeping pills last?" Hailing asked.

"Ten hours." It was Miaomeng who answered the question; she wasn't asleep yet. "We have ten hours, Haizi."

"Ten hours, how long will it take after entering the dream?" Hailing continued to ask.

"The first level is one week, and if we continue down, it will become six months. This is the depth we are currently planning."

Is it possible to go deeper into the area?

"...Then it's best if those two other things don't happen." Xiangzi bit his lower lip. "Going down another level, it will become ten years."

Ten years of dreams within dreams, it truly feels like a lifetime has passed when I wake up.

“This gives us plenty of time, but who can endure that long?” Chu Hua frowned and pouted in dissatisfaction. “Isn’t this exactly the same as the barrier in Fairy Tale Town?”

Although Miaomeng had never seen Fairy Tale Town in person, she had heard Xiangzi explain what exactly happened in the previous game, as had Hailing.

"If the goal has been achieved, do we just have to stay inside until we naturally wake up?" Miaomeng said.

“That will take at least six months,” Chu Hua said. “Six months is a bit too long.”

"Treat it like a six-month vacation?" Hailing shrugged. "It's not impossible."

“Impossible. The sooner we get out after achieving our goal, the better. If Medine realizes that someone is spying on her subconscious during this time, who knows what might happen,” Xiangzi said. “Theoretically speaking, committing suicide in a dream can wake her up.”

Why use the term "theoretical"?

“Because of the Soul Gem.” Xiangzi took out the Soul Gem and placed it on the table. “The Soul Gem will also be taken into the dream. The filth produced at the moment of death is very dangerous for magical girls.”

“But it doesn’t mean it will actually shatter or turn into a witch like it does in the real world.” Rebecca sat on the table, looking curiously at Xiangzi’s flower-shaped gem, which was so different from a normal soul gem. “Why does your gem look like this? I’ve never seen one like it before.”

“I don’t think anyone would want to escape a dream by committing suicide if given a choice.” Xiangzi retrieved the Soul Gem, ignoring Rebecca’s last sentence. “We do have a choice. When I asked the pharmacist to prepare the sedative, I asked him if there were any safety mechanisms to keep in place to wake people up.”

===========

"You guys watch carefully."

Xiangzi raised his hand and gently pushed Miaomeng backward.

Miao Meng leaned back in her chair.

When it was halfway down, Meow Dream's eyes had already opened.

"Meow--!"

thump!

"Wow! Xiangzi, what are you doing!" Miaomeng got up from the floor, rubbed her messy hair, and found that everyone was there, even Mu and Rebecca, who were supposed to be monitoring Medien.

How come everyone is here?

"Hey, what are you all doing here?"