"Ah...! ...Ah, I’m back..." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

When Shiori’s submerged consciousness resurfaced, it wasn’t the dream world, but a room in a real inn.

As Shiori sat up in bed, realizing she had returned from the dream, a display appeared in her vision.

You have been marked by the ’Nightmare Reem’.

"Ah...! Marking... Ah, ah... Could it be the ring he put on my finger at the end...?"

Reading the display, Shiori recalled what Reem had done just before she left the dream world, and she stared at the ring finger on her left hand.

There was no ring there—it had shattered and seemed to be absorbed the moment it was placed on her. However, the act had clearly had some effect, because a new display appeared in the menu.

△△△△△

The Blessing of the Nightmare Reem

Effect: You will no longer be attacked by succubi other than ’Succubus Reem’.

Resistance: Sleep

Magic: Currently unavailable

Special Skill: Currently unavailable

Special Magic: Currently unavailable

This is a mark of "Nightmare Reem," a sign of her lust that she only uses on those she particularly likes.

The effectiveness of the blessing increases with the number of times you encounter "Nightmare Reem".

△△△△△

"Blessing... marking... so things like this exist..."

Shiori stared at the display, which she’d never seen before, and examined its contents.

"First, let’s check what’s already usable..."

"This sleep resistance seems to be... resistance to things like sleeping pills, being knocked out, or fainting from lack of oxygen. There doesn’t seem to be any particular downside... and it looks like you can turn it on and off freely, so I can turn it off when I want to lose and be violated, and otherwise just leave it on."

First, she confirmed the effects that actually applied in daily play. At this point, the only usable ability was sleep resistance, but since it wasn’t generally a bad effect, Shiori nodded with apparent satisfaction.

"Next... these three are currently unusable: magic, special skills, and special magic."

"This is... just like the description says... it seems if I meet Reem multiple times in the dream world and strengthen the blessing’s effect, I’ll eventually be able to use them."

"It hasn’t revealed what kind of magic I’ll be able to use, but... well, I guess I’ll find out when I actually can use it."

Three types were unavailable for use. Having confirmed that, Shiori turned her attention to the effect text at the very top.

"And then, I’ll no longer be attacked by succubi other than Reem..."

"Actually, I didn’t realize there were other succubi in this game."

"I totally thought it was just Reem. I wonder what the others are like. I’m a little curious, but... since I’m here, I’ll just continue with Reem’s route."

In a sense, this was arguably the most important effect. Shiori had a thoughtful expression, suggesting she had a lot on her mind about it, but in the end, she seemed to accept it and nodded.

Incidentally, Shiori hadn’t researched much about succubi, so she didn’t know much about them. According to information posted online, there were about ten other succubi besides Reem, and some people encountered a different succubus each time they entered the dream world. However, very few people were actually marked, making it a fairly rare event... but Shiori would never know this.

"But still... I wonder what’ll happen in the end if this blessing gets stronger... If it just means the number of spells I can use in the game increases, then it really is just a blessing."

"But they’re using the expression ’marking.’"

"And considering this game, it’s hard to imagine it ending on such a positive note."

"I wonder if there’s a bad ending where you can’t return from the dream world... ♡"

"......Hehe......I’m kind of looking forward to it...... ♡ Maybe I should meet up with Reem regularly from now on...... ♡"

Having finished checking the blessing, Shiori’s cheeks were slightly flushed, but after calming down, she stood up from the bed.

"Well... let’s leave Reem aside for now... and go on a quest."

With that, Shiori left the inn and ventured out into the night, heading to the sea to carry out the main quest for this trip: Investigating the Ghost Ship.

"I never imagined I’d be going out alone..."

And then she arrived at the beach. Shiori was exploring the night sea in a small boat provided by a quest-specific NPC that had appeared.

"We can see somewhat thanks to the starlight, but it’s still dark. I need to find it quickly or I’ll get lost..."

She was already quite far from the coast. Since the only light source was starlight, it was difficult to see much of her surroundings. Shiori had never even operated a boat before, so even moving in a straight line was hard for her.

Because she was already struggling before even encountering the ghost ship, Shiori rowed her oars, hoping she’d find it soon.

"...Oh...? Suddenly there’s a light... No, this is... fog...?"

Meanwhile...

Suddenly, a white mist began to drift around Shiori. There had been no sign of it until just before, but now fog rolled in, causing Shiori to stop rowing and look around... Suddenly, a small light appeared before her.

"Ah...! This... this is..."

Slightly blinded by the sudden light, Shiori tried to pinpoint its source, and a sailing ship came into view.

It was made of wood. It was probably a magnificent ship in the past, but now it was completely dilapidated and barely resembled what it once was. Upon seeing the ship, Shiori instinctively realized it was the one she was looking for.

"A ghost ship...!? Ah, ahh!?"

The moment Shiori uttered that name...

The ghost ship shone with a bright white light. The light obscured Shiori’s vision... and she was dragged into the ghost ship.