Chapter 29

Hao Ren sat stiffly across from Raven 12345, waiting for her to enlighten him. At first, he hadn't expected her to be so willing to tell him everything. In his memory, Raven 12345 had always been a very stubborn person, and this impression had been solidified from the day she forcibly dragged him into this mess. But now it seemed... this woman wasn't as unreasonable as he thought.

"This world is more complex than you think," Raven 12345 sat unceremoniously on her desk, looking like a gang leader. "There are races, societies, and even spaces that you don't know about—most humans are completely unaware of them, but a few with special talents will encounter them, which is the Dream Plane."

Hao Ren subconsciously swallowed, the serious expression on Raven 12345's face making him feel an invisible pressure.

"Of course, the name 'Dream Plane' is something I decided recently. Before, I called it the Illusory Space, then the Mirror World, Phantom Universe... yeah, I think it was also called the Second Realm before," Raven 12345 scratched her head, losing all her seriousness. "Anyway, it's a unique phenomenon of this universe, so you can call it whatever you want. For now, let's call it the Dream Plane. If I think of a better name in a couple of days, I'll change it."

Hao Ren had already adapted to this strange woman's unpredictable rhythm and, suppressing the urge to comment, asked, "What exactly is the Dream Plane? A parallel space? I've heard of that theory..."

"No, it's more complex than that," Raven 12345 shook her head. "The Dream Plane is a special information structure of this universe, somewhat similar to a parallel space, but more illusory and unstable. The Dream Plane overlaps with this universe, the latter being real, stable, and orderly, while the former is illusory, changeable, and chaotic. When the real world operates according to the laws of the universe, the Dream Plane changes like a dream, following the real world, but the mapping between them is very chaotic, so this change is largely unpredictable. You just need to know that the Dream Plane is a place that overlaps with the real world, very unstable, but almost never intersects with it. It has mountains, rivers, plants, animals, and even possibly intelligent life, but everything is very chaotic. Before you have enough experience... it's best not to touch that place."

"Who would want to touch that thing!" Hao Ren immediately shrank. "I was surrounded and beaten by a pack of wolves not long after I fell in there, and they were at least twice as big as the wolves on Earth! You said the Dream Plane doesn't intersect with the real world, so what's going on with me?"

"I've already said that people with special talents can access it," Raven 12345 pointed to Hao Ren's forehead. "Through dreams. This world is an information state, everything is a form of information. Heat, size, mass, and other information stack up to make things describable and perceptible, thus creating everything. This is the most basic theory of information unification. Oh, this theory is actually more complex, but you've heard enough—just know that because of information unification, things in the Dream Plane can be guided to the real world, with dreams as the medium. That's why I recently named it the Dream Plane. Throughout human history, there have been people who could connect to the Dream Plane. Most of them had short lives, often killed by the twisted things in the Dream Plane, but their short lives brought endless trouble to the real world... the Black Death, floods, some... well, very troublesome things. Each person who died in the Dream Plane brought out something from there, and 80-90% of it was harmful to the real world."

Hao Ren broke out in a cold sweat, never imagining that the world he knew so well had such a side. A few days ago, he had complained that the world was too boring and that daily life was too dull. Now, he didn't think that way at all. On the contrary, the world suddenly seemed a bit too exciting!

"So, am I considered talented?" Hao Ren didn't know whether to laugh or cry, pointing to his nose with a strange look. "The Dream Plane sounds like something that can kill you if you're not careful... so what are you going to do about it?"

"Talented? You didn't have this talent originally," Raven 12345 grinned. "Don't think too much. You're just an ordinary person, but after interacting with me, you've been affected by information disturbance, which can gradually make you different from others. The first change is that you become more likely to encounter extraordinary things, which will help you in your future work. But don't worry—those who die in the Dream Plane are usually without support. Historically, none of those unfortunate people were employees of our agency. How long could they last on their own? You're different. You have a certificate, which means you're officially sanctioned. I'll try to pull you out whenever you're about to die..."

Hao Ren's forehead was drenched in sweat: "..."

"Now you know about the Dream Plane, but I doubt you can fully understand just by hearing it. You need to experience it more. When the time is right, you'll have plenty of opportunities to encounter it," Raven 12345 jumped off the desk and patted Hao Ren's shoulder, almost pinning him to the ground. "As for nightmares, you haven't had any in the past few days, right? This means the balance between you and the Dream Plane has been restored. A person in the real world won't fall into a nightmare just like that under normal circumstances."

Hao Ren rubbed his shoulder, finally remembering something else he wanted to ask: "By the way, do you know about the Demon Hunters?"

From Vivian, Hao Ren learned about the long-standing enmity between Demon Hunters and otherworldly beings, as well as the historical ties between otherworldly beings and humans: humans, who are weak but numerous; otherworldly beings, who are powerful but few and scattered; and Demon Hunters, whose origins are unknown and who stand between humans and otherworldly beings. These three groups were once equally active on the Earth stage, but now humans rule the planet, otherworldly beings are extremely marginalized, and Demon Hunters have gone underground in human society. What was once a three-way struggle has become a human-dominated world. On the surface, everything seems peaceful, but Hao Ren knew this peace was maintained by the tacit understanding between Demon Hunters and otherworldly beings.

Demon Hunters still roam the world, these powerful warriors who look no different from humans continue to hunt otherworldly beings, and unfortunately, Hao Ren has two of the most unusual otherworldly beings living in his home. He was eager to know what Raven 12345, who claimed to be a goddess, thought about this situation.

Or, to put it another way: How does the Xilin pantheon and the Temporal Administration view the various races on Earth? Which side are they on?

Hao Ren thought a lot, but Raven 12345 just waved her hand indifferently: "I know about them, but I don't care. They haven't found you yet, right? We'll see when they do."

Hao Ren thought about it and realized he couldn't fight the white-haired witch in front of him, so he obediently sat back in his chair, folded his hands, and said sincerely, "Then there's one last question: I'm a weak Earthling, and you're making me deal with those superhumans. Vivian and Lily are fine now, but what if I encounter someone with a bad temper... you need to give me some self-defense capabilities, right? How about a deal, give me two hundred years of power?"

Hao Ren was just saying this; he didn't really expect Raven 12345 to nod and pass him a manual of the Buddha's palm.

But Raven 12345 slapped her head: "Oh, you're right, I almost forgot! New employee training, I was wondering what was missing... good thing I remembered before sending you to the battlefield!"

Hao Ren: "..."

If he ever dies an unnatural death, it will definitely be because of this irresponsible, scatterbrained, and crazy boss!

---

If he ever dies an unnatural death, it will definitely be because of this irresponsible, scatterbrained, and crazy boss!