Chapter 6: It's Too Oppressive, Mo Se

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The sensation of the Dreamscape was incredibly peculiar. It could instantly immerse you into a pre-recorded ‘memory,’ allowing you to fully inhabit the body of the Dreamscape’s filmer and experience everything they felt. Whether it was fear, happiness, despair, pain, or comfort, every emotion was perfectly replicated in the viewer.

Creating a legitimate Dreamscape film was tremendously difficult because actors had to be able to fully invest themselves according to the script to deliver enough emotional impact to the audience. This was no easy feat and was a core reason why many Dreamscape films received mediocre reviews.

At the same time, this explained why the illicit Dreamscape content had become wildly popular worldwide. Many would affix recording devices to criminals, letting them engage in stimulating activities firsthand. Some even perversely placed them on victims, producing black Dreamscapes that delivered an intense sensory shock—an experience that was highly addictive.

Imagine a drug addict recording the moment of their own death with a Dreamscape. What would happen then? Countless addicts would buy that Dreamscape! Even if only to endlessly loop the sensation of dying in ecstasy when they had no drugs left, they would buy it!

Cases of brain death from this were common, yet black Dreamscapes persisted, defying all bans.

The Dreamscape that Morter experienced was official, but… was it truly “official” for a man? In just one hour, Morter successfully lived out the sensation of being a Sailor Guardian, including the exhilarating rush of fulfilling justice by arresting criminals, and the intimate camaraderie of embracing fellow Sailor Guardians in celebration.

Damn it, those comrades were all stunning! They looked no older than fifteen or sixteen, which made Morter feel a twinge of guilt over his excitement.

Of course, the filmer was definitely an adult; in the cyber world, age was just a number. Even an eighty-year-old woman could be transformed into a youthful beauty.

Besides that, there were those transformation sequences with clear, repeatable, and pausable “clothing-burst” scenes… Damn, the age rating for this was eight and up?

The shared experience of smell, touch, and every sense rekindled in Morter—a man who thought he had grown somewhat emotionally numb—the joy of feeling deeply again.

It was exhilarating. Taking off the Dreamscape headband, Morter still savored the final scene where a group of Sailor Guardians embraced him in celebration.

Only that in the Dreamscape, his avatar had two lumps in front and an empty feeling below, which was a little unsettling.

“Dreamscape is really amazing…”

If this was rated 8+, what must 18+ content be like? Damn it, Morter decided that once he got to Night City, he’d definitely find some Dreamscape to savor thoroughly—no, he should say, to analyze critically!

No wonder this world was going to hell; everyone could enjoy life through Dreamscape, so who wanted to suffer and struggle in reality? No matter how miserable your real self was, just put on the headband and instantly enjoy a perfect life. It was utterly corrupting.

“Right? Isn’t it amazing!” Kyoko’s voice snapped Morter back to reality, and he saw the others in the room staring at him with some odd expressions.

Tetsuya Daichi was the first to turn away, patting Leon’s head as they reconnected their personal data lines to the game console and dove back into the game.

Lucy couldn’t help but smile, her eyes crinkling as she looked at him. “Your smile just now… well, it’s the first time, besides Kyoko, that I’ve seen someone watch a Sailor Guardian Dreamscape and react like that.”

Morter kept his expression neutral. “It was just my first time experiencing Dreamscape. The feeling was indeed novel.”

Leon chuckled softly and got an elbow from Daichi.

Lucy laughed harder, growing more joyful until she was practically doubled over with tears at the corners of her eyes.

Daichi and Leon lost their inhibitions and laughed openly, while Kyoko looked puzzled, not understanding why. She only knew that Lucy had apparently covered Morter with a blanket…

Wasn’t that just to keep him warm? What was so funny?

Morter looked down and realized someone had kindly draped a blanket over his knees—he had forgotten he was still wearing his vacuum patient suit.

Why cover his knees? The answer came instantly.

Damn, even though Dreamscape shared the filmer’s emotions, it didn’t mean his own feelings disappeared—they were just overshadowed by stronger ones.

And because his mind was immersed in the Dreamscape, his awareness of the outside world was nearly gone.

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In other words, although he couldn’t feel his body in Dreamscape, his body faithfully reflected every thought he had within it.

For example, the excitement when getting close to the Sailor Guardians—damn, this guy was truly hungry… no, it was just the vitality of youth.

This had nothing to do with his personal will, really!

“Ahem.” Morter felt an old, almost forgotten emotion: embarrassment. It was more than simple shyness; it was the feeling of having led a child astray or being humiliated in front of one.

The sensation was overwhelming, and he couldn’t find a reason, so he just gave up.

“Well, that’s puberty for you—hormones…”

His feigned calm only made Lucy laugh louder.

She was practically leaning on the petite Kyoko, shaking with laughter, while Kyoko blankly stared at him. “What’s going on?”

“...Nothing.” Lucy caught her breath, wiped tears from her eyes, and straightened up. “He just looked so silly smiling at the Dreamscape earlier. It was kind of funny.”

“Come on, I’d react the same way watching Sailor Guardians. You guys are the weird ones!” Kyoko insisted.

Daichi and Leon couldn’t stop laughing. They exchanged a glance—no, Kyoko was normal; he was the odd one.

Usually, Morter seemed cold and distant… but it seemed he had been suppressing too much. This was Sailor Guardians, not some goblin battle.

Kids in the cyber world absorbed far more information than children from Morter’s previous world, much of it unfiltered, so pure kids like Kyoko were actually rare.

Alright, Morter decided to do something:

“In any case, Dreamscape is pretty interesting.

It would be great if we could extract Dreamscapes directly from human memories...

That might not be impossible. For us, deep diving means fully digitizing consciousness, hmm…”

He fell into serious thought—if he could achieve that, maybe he could check if there was anything unusual in his own data?

For example... had any AIs left traces in his data?

Moreover, if memories could be copied and recorded as Dreamscapes, he had many memories here that might be valuable... Childhood trips to pristine beaches with family, climbing Mount Hua, even many delicious meals...

Selling them was one thing, but maybe he could share these beautiful memories with close friends someday?

Or even revisit them himself. Dreamscape experiences were far more vivid than mere memory, at least now, even if he could recall the taste of those foods, he couldn’t truly savor them.

“Hmm, theoretically, memories can be extracted.”

Tetsuya Daichi kindly responded, “But precisely extracting and backing up memories is difficult. I’ve read online about some successful attempts.

However, converting memory data into Dreamscape hasn’t been concretely done yet.”

“Mm, I’ll research it further.” Morter then looked somewhat weary. “Alright, I need a short nap. The emotional stimulation from Dreamscape was intense; I only realized my headache after removing the headband.”

“Uh-huh... okay.”

Daichi and Leon exchanged a glance and immediately stood up. Yeah, no more suppressing emotions is probably good.

Lucy was still laughing… did this woman ever stop? No, she was a cheeky little brat. What was so funny?

Morter rolled his eyes. “I really hope you never get your brains fried like that…”

His words darkened the mood. The kids pictured scenes of comrades covered in blood, their heads smelling of burnt flesh.

Morter blinked and quickly changed the subject:

“Alright, everyone, get some rest. Think about what you want to do and where you want to go.

As for me, I’ve decided—when I reach my dream place, the first thing I’ll do is have a proper meal. Well, no, wherever I go, real meat is ridiculously expensive...”

His words sparked new ideas among the boys and girls. Tetsuya Daichi smiled and mused:

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“Hmm... if it were me, I’d want to swim—unfiltered water is fine—or maybe just play soccer. It’s been years since I could move freely.”

“I want to buy tons of games.”

Leon looked longingly at the game console in Daichi’s hands. Daichi thought for a moment and said, “Why don’t you sleep with me tonight? Let’s finish co-op career mode quickly.”

“Awesome!” Leon raised his hand in cheer.

Lucy was thoughtful but silent.

“I want Dreamscape! The later seasons of Sailor Guardians are out! Then Morter and I can watch them together! We could get those shared Dreamscape devices!”

Kyoko looked at Morter expectantly.

Morter twitched his mouth—just as he expected, everyone stopped their daydreaming and turned to tease him.

“No thanks. You and Lucy can watch. I… won’t touch Dreamscape anymore. It’s a waste of time.”

“...Pfft.” Lucy covered her mouth and giggled, grabbing Kyoko’s hand as they headed out. “Come on, let him rest. He just got out of the hospital; how can he rest with us making noise?”

“Got it~” Kyoko wasn’t ready to give up. She even sent Morter a private message through the neural interface:

[Kyoko: It’s okay. I know everyone thinks watching Sailor Guardians is childish. We’ll watch it secretly together! Promise~]

[Morter: Okay, on the day we’re free, we’ll watch together, but keep it secret.]

He smiled and winked at Kyoko.

Her face lit up with a happy, expectant smile as she skipped away with Lucy.

Once the room was quiet, Morter’s expression settled. He rubbed his temples and planned to lie down and rest for a while.

But after a brief rest, he sighed, sat up, walked to the desk, opened a drawer, and took out a Dreamscape headband.

This was the learning device provided by Arasaka for trainees and employees; basic courses were free.

For “child soldiers” like him who had signed training agreements, advanced tutorials in engineering, medicine, hacking, management, and finance were unlocked.

These tutorials were linked to Arasaka Academy worldwide. Completing any advanced course allowed an application for interviews to enter university for deeper study.

The courses were online; since he was inside the facility, he could connect directly to the Arasaka intranet education servers without needing learning pods or chips.

This ensured all teaching was up-to-date, and because he was an “advanced student,” he could request an AI instructor.

As long as the education server’s computing power was sufficient, he could have exclusive AI-led lessons.

So why wait?

If he wanted to lead these kids out of here... then treating it like a game wouldn’t do at all.

After all, here, there was no “load game” option.

[You have started Arasaka Learning Pass V7.21...]

[Your AI teaching request is connecting to the server... Your application is approved. Please select your learning program and estimate duration...]

[You have requested advanced hacking instruction. Estimated duration: one hour.]

[You have requested beginner technical engineering instruction. Estimated duration: one hour.]

[You have requested beginner prosthetic repair and surgery instruction...]

Rubbing his slightly aching temples, Morter resolutely activated the Dreamscape. As a blinding white light flashed, his consciousness dove into cyberspace.

Damn it, just do it!