Reborn As A Ghost: Time To Build My Undead Army!-Chapter 1804: Floor 33, Brickoria

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Maria gasped as she found herself in a world entirely made of Imagination and Dream Essence. It was vibrant, colorful, and breathtakingly beautiful—fantastic and surreal, born from the dreams of countless children.

The landscape consisted of colorful plastic building blocks. From the ground beneath her feet to the distant mountains, the faraway houses, and even the towering structures, everything was constructed from them.

Block creatures roamed the land, mostly resembling animals. The sky was a perfect blue, but a closer look revealed faint grid lines, as though even the heavens had been assembled piece by piece.

The sun glowed with the soft light of luminous blocks, and the white clouds floated peacefully above, also formed from the same playful material.

"Wow! What is this place?" Nyx asked in pure awe, spinning around to take it all in.

"It’s a world made of building block toys, like Zegos!" Celes exclaimed excitedly.

"Oh yeah, you’re right..." Nyx nodded, eyes wide.

Both children had grown up with the privilege of owning and playing with many toys from Azure Star. Their version of Legos was called Zegos.

"This is a world entirely made of toys," Ferleen explained. "While Minimundi had toy people, this place is... itself a completely strange parallel dimension built upon that very concept... somehow."

"We’ve only been here briefly," Melianna added. "The place is wonderful. You can just grab stuff and build vehicles, houses, anything! It’s really fun!"

"But you cannot bring those things with you unless you’re an inhabitant of this world," Ferleen noted. "Anyway, welcome to Brickoria."

"Brickoria, huh?" Maria murmured, smiling warmly. "Amazing. All right, let’s tour around while we have the time!"

Maria and her family moved forward, walking across the slightly uncomfortable blocky ground. The incredibly smooth surfaces took some getting used to.

"Mama, I wanna build something!"

"Me too! Me too!"

The children dashed off toward the nearby forest, already dismantling whatever they found and beginning to create.

"Hahaha, hey! Don’t make too much of a mess, okay?" Maria laughed fondly as she watched them play.

Arachne and Melianna soon joined the fun.

"Ah, don’t worry," Ferleen assured her. "There’s a special force of nature in this world that slowly repairs places when they’re left like this for long."

"Huh... I wonder what kind of God governs this place," Maria mused.

After about an hour, the children returned proudly with their living Brick Constructs. Nyx had built a dragon-shaped car, Celes a majestic sea serpent, Arachne a spider with a comfortable seat on its back, and Melianna a whole group of adorable cats.

The most astonishing thing was that these creations... were alive. As children shaped them with imagination and dreams, and as long as the forms inspired belief that they were "alive," they truly became living beings.

"Amazing..." Maria breathed. "Well, shall we get going?"

They followed the yellow brick road toward the grand block city. Maria marveled at every detail around her.

Indeed, every world was a unique wonder, and Brickoria was one of those treasures that made her reflect deeply on the Tower—and on how every world deserved protection, not destruction or consumption.

"It’s so nice in here. A peaceful break from the previous world," Emeraldine said with a gentle smile. "Don’t you think?"

"Ah, yeah, it’s a nice break," Maria agreed softly.

Upon reaching the city, the family finally met the inhabitants: brick people. They were literally living beings made of bricks. Some were humanoid, others resembled dinosaurs, robots, cars, or animals. All of them spoke normally and expressed emotions through animated features on their flat faces.

"Welcome to Bricklyn. Have fun."

"Have fun~!"

They were incredibly relaxed. Maria was stunned at how easily they allowed strangers inside the city without any questions. They even waved cheerfully at the children.

Maria analyzed the world’s structure as they wandered, gazing at the sprawling city built from blocks—skyscrapers, small shops, clothing stores, everything.

The food, however, was all plastic and tasteless, and the clothes were unmistakably blocky.

They visited a few shops anyway, searching for anything worth buying, but nothing truly caught their interest.

Brickoria seemed to put very little effort into appealing to Players and their varied preferences. It was clear that Players were extremely rare here.

There was, however, a Building Competition underway in the central Plaza of Bricklyn. The prize was apparently special magic orbs that would allow winners to bring their creations to other worlds.

After the children begged to participate, Maria gave her permission. They ran off eagerly toward the event.

The family sat on brick seats and watched the competition. Both young Brickorians and young Players took part.

A group of four Brickorian judges evaluated the builds the children created and awarded points.

Maria watched with genuine fascination, observing again and again how the Elements of Imagination and Dreams wove life into the blocks.

The more vividly the children imagined and dreamed about their creations, the stronger and more durable those creations became.

For a moment, Maria looked up at the sky, sensing something profound.

An endless flow of those elemental energies pulsed everywhere...

"Wow... Is this world really... real? Or some sort of manifestation of a dream?" she wondered quietly. "Like the Haunted Manor..."

The Nightmare Realms that threatened Azure Star could be classified as worlds in their own right according to the Tower’s perspective.

It was entirely possible that Brickoria was a Dream Realm born from the collective dreams of Azure Star’s children.

Especially because, as she gazed upward, she could hear the faint laughter of children.

Translucent figures danced in the skies, grabbing blocks and building joyfully.

"What... is this world?"

She quickly decided to investigate. She sent forth a Soul Ego fused with a Body Ego—carrying nearly half her strength and consciousness—and guided it higher and higher.

As she ascended beyond the white clouds, she discovered another layer: a realm where those faint silhouettes—spirits born of children’s dreams—played, giggled, and interacted with their creations.

"What?!"

She was stunned. Her theory was real! But did this world truly originate from Azure Star? Or was it something entirely separate—or perhaps both?

And then a title surfaced in her mind.

"The Toy Maker...?"

She looked even higher and resolved to break through the sky itself.

Higher, and higher, and higher.

Until she touched the blue expanse.

As she suspected, it was a vast ceiling made of blue bricks, like the roof of an enormous cave.

She began tearing the bricks away one by one.

They were incredibly tough to dislodge, but still possible.

After persistent effort, she reached as high as she could.

Until...

She emerged into an ocean of pink clouds—not blocks, but soft, fluffy, normal clouds.

She stepped into them, and with her powers, she immediately understood what this place was.

"A Dream Sea... This must be the other Dimension that connects the Dreams of all people, the Dream Plane?" she whispered in amazement. "How incredible... then this brick world..."

She drifted farther away until she could see Brickoria clearly: a giant cube floating serenely in the sea of pink clouds.

"W-Wow..."

The same overwhelming sense of awe she had felt when first seeing the Canvas World washed over her again.

And as she expected, she was not alone.

"In all my years, this is the first time I’ve seen someone leave Brickoria. You are no ordinary person, right?"

She turned and found... someone. Or something.

It was clothing—the attire of a distinguished gentleman, complete with a mustache—but no body inside.

It felt like an invisible person, yet there was truly nothing there.

It both was and was not someone.

The figure sat on a chair, and before it floated a desk covered with various tools and toys.

"The Toy Maker?"

"...Hm? Only the Toykin from Minimundi call me that."

"Y-You created them?"

"No, I rather let them fulfill their true potential. I forge their hearts from the imagination and love of children. Then, after setting some important rules, I let them live their lives as they wish."

"Are you an Outer God too? Like The Painter?"

"So you know him, huh? I am not an Outer God."

"You’re not?!"

"Well, perhaps to you I fulfill all the conditions, but I don’t consider myself that. I am a Dream Nomad—simply a person who travels within dreams and eventually became dreams. I now live here forever, building dreams into reality."

"I see... Well, it’s an honor. I admire your work."

"Well, for an artist, there’s no higher praise. Thank you."

The figure lowered its head briefly before turning its attention back to the toys on the desk.

"Are you aware of the fate that awaits these worlds you’ve made?"

"..."

The Toy Maker fell silent, but Maria could sense that he knew perfectly well.

"I am working on a way for that to never happen again. We will destroy that tower devouring worlds across dimensions."

"Do you understand the risk that doing such a thing entails?"

"It’s risky, but if we are all going to get eaten anyway, is there really anything left to lose anymore?"

"...It’s not so simple. You can escape your fate."

"Over and over as we watch worlds fall endlessly?"

"I can make more."

"So you don’t care about your creations—your children—dying?"

"..."

The Toy Maker sighed deeply. Suddenly, he tossed something toward Maria.

It was a toy, a small, patched-up teddy bear plushie, slightly roughed and well-loved.

"What’s this?"

"You don’t remember it? It’s your precious childhood friend."

Memories flooded Maria’s mind—memories from her first life, from her childhood.

Of her cute teddy bear, Bobo.

"He was always there for you, even when you felt so lonely after your father left."

"...?"

"But at some point you forgot about him, didn’t you? I didn’t. Bobo was very sad... I picked him up, patched him up, and together we waited for the day you could reunite."

"B-Bobo...?"

Maria shed a small tear, smiling softly at the teddy bear as long-buried memories resurfaced.

But then realization struck.

"How do you know so much about me?"

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