Yeom Jun-yeol's confusion deepened.

It was rare for her to visit, and it was even rarer for her to talk about her dreams.

She cared for and loved her family dearly, so she never wanted to burden her son with worries from her emotionally sensitive past.

Thus, Yeom Jun-yeol's mother was always careful with her words and refrained from going out, unsure of what thoughts were on her mind.

What kind of dream could Mother have had?

Yeom Jun-yeol was curious, but instead of pressing her, he gently took her hand.

His mother, a descendant of the dragon who controlled fire, had warm hands, but they lacked strength and were trembling slightly.

If he showed his concern, it was obvious that his mother would pretend everything was fine, so Yeom Jun-yeol smiled brightly as if he knew nothing.

"Shall we sit down and talk? I'll make some tea."

"No, I'll just talk and leave soon, sorry for bothering you."

"Preparing tea for me isn't a bother at all. I just want to talk more with you, Mother."

As Yeom Jun-yeol, raised with lots of family love, spoke in a slightly spoiled way, his mother's expression softened.

However, she didn’t enter his room immediately. Her gaze briefly lingered on the red lion symbol engraved on the wall.

Yeom Jun-yeol’s room was on the same floor as Yeom Bang-yeol, and it was very close, just a few steps down the hallway.

In the corridor, in addition to the dragon’s energy-protective rituals, there was the red lion symbol engraved in crimson by Yeom Bang-yeol.

This symbol was etched by Yeom Bang-yeol when the Red Lion team was attacked by the demon army, during a sacred ceremony in the Dragon Palace.

While the building was usually protected by the dragon's power, at that time, at Yeom Jun-yeol's suggestion, his mother’s floor was also shielded by Yeom Bang-yeol's power.

Since then, his mother would occasionally stop in the hallway and stare at the red lion symbol.

She must be thinking about Father. Both of them always think about each other; it's nice to see.

Before the engraving of the symbol, his mother rarely ventured into the hallway. But after that, she started walking down the corridor more often, perhaps sensing her husband’s presence through the symbol.

Unlike Yeom Bang-yeol, who openly expressed his affection directly and passionately, she would respond shyly, but it was obvious she was affected by his feelings.

"Let’s go to the lobby table to enjoy the view outside."

Instead of leading his mother into the room, Yeom Jun-yeol chose a place where he could feel Yeom Bang-yeol's power clearly.

The lobby on their floor was well-equipped for socializing with other dragon kin or Red Lion team members.

His mother followed him slowly, walking at his pace. She kept looking at the red lion symbol as they walked, and every time, Yeom Jun-yeol pretended not to notice.

"I'm sorry for calling you out like this."

"It's fine. I wanted to talk with you too, Mother. There's a lot I want to tell you."

Yeom Jun-yeol shared the events of his day briefly, making sure not to talk too long.

The more he spoke cheerfully, the better his mother seemed to feel.

"It looks like there are a lot of fans expecting a sequel to the video you filmed with Yi-shin."

"Yes, if Yi-shin is okay with it, I’d love to meet the fans' expectations."

"Really? It seems to me your desire is bigger than the fans’ expectations."

"Did it show? Yi-shin’s busy and has many close friends, so we don’t get much time together."

She soon regained enough composure to joke with Yeom Jun-yeol.

He felt relieved inwardly.

Her dreams were no ordinary ones.

Although she wasn’t born with a special ability related to dreams, after an incident during her time at Eungwang High, she started having strange dreams.

She was once a member of the student council, staying late at school to finish council duties before accidentally falling asleep.

She thought she had just woken up from a nap, but her fellow council members were alarmed, urging the dragon kin who came to check on her to examine her thoroughly.

The dragon kin, being cautious, examined her body, but fortunately, nothing unusual was found.

The only oddity was that she had a strange dream.

The overly protective dragon kin immediately consulted the Dragon King about my mother's dream.

The dragon kin consulted the Dragon King and received an ambiguous response: "At the moment she fell deeply asleep, someone's dream crossed with hers."

The Dragon King himself couldn’t say for sure whether her dream was connected to someone else’s.

However, it wasn’t that Yeom Jun-yeol’s mother had dreams every day.

It happened infrequently—sometimes once a year, other times after several years—when she dreamed a dream that didn’t seem like her own.

By nature, Yeom Jun-yeol's mother wasn’t very outgoing, so after the crossing of dreams, she became more reclusive, avoiding external activities and shutting herself off from the world.

She was worried that if the dream's connection was with an enemy of the dragon kin or the Red Lion, what she knew could be transmitted to their adversaries.

There was said to be a way to sever connected dreams.

Using the power of the Dragon King and their connections, it was possible to break the link between dreams.

Both Qinglong and Yeom Bang-yeol suggested severing the dream link to stop the phenomenon, but Yeom Jun-yeol’s mother refused to agree.

She didn’t fully explain why, but they respected her decision.

"Jun-yeol, do you have plans to go to the island soon?"

Just as their casual talk came to an end, she spoke.

Yeom Jun-yeol’s schedule didn’t include any trips to the island.

His family had never been fond of the idea of him going to an island surrounded by water, so even if there was a suggestion to do a photo shoot there, they always declined.

However, he did have a trip planned as part of his school schedule.

"I'm going to Jeju Island for a field trip."

Her face darkened upon hearing his answer.

Yeom Jun-yeol cautiously asked.

"Did the bad dream you had have anything to do with the island?"

"...I dreamed of the island being engulfed in flames."

Yeom Jun-yeol paused, thinking about the word "dream."

Dreams are usually abstract and irregular unless they are prophetic or a revelation from a higher being.

For example, one might dream about eating lots of ice cream because of a strong desire for it, but the dream could take [N O V E L I G H T] an odd form, like getting covered in melted ice cream or just watching someone else eat it.

Although dreams don’t always directly reflect what one thinks, they are often connected to deep, recurring thoughts.

"The flames were definitely from the Red Dragon. Someone connected to my dream might have thought of your flames covering the island."

Yeom Jun-yeol believed that even though it was just a dream, his mother couldn’t have been wrong about seeing the Red Dragon's flames.

She had indeed seen the island engulfed in flames from the Red Dragon.

Who would think of something like that, with the Red Dragon’s flames consuming the island?

Yeom Jun-yeol immediately thought of Jo Yi-shin, the person trying to stop the dark forces.

But he quickly shook his head.

There had been many crises for Yeom Jun-yeol and the dragon kin, but his mother hadn’t had any strange dreams during those times, which seemed odd.

The crossing of dreams wasn’t something that happened easily, but something felt off.

If someone really is plotting, it’s possible that the person connected to my mother’s dream hasn’t been directly involved in the plans so far.

In a more peaceful scenario, it might be possible that someone vacationing on the island just happened to watch a broadcast featuring Yeom Jun-yeol and had a strange dream.

But if his mother was this worried and fearful, the dream must have been deeply unsettling and horrific.

While Yeom Jun-yeol was thinking about what to say to comfort his mother, a voice suddenly rang out.

"Lin!"

A passionate, thick voice echoed through the lobby.

Yeom Jun-yeol’s mother’s name was Chok Lin.

Her father, one of the Sea Dragon Kings, had ascended, so she inherited the surname Chok-ryong and used the character "Lin" (焛), which meant "flame," to create her name, Chok Lin.

There was only one person in the world who could call her name with such fiery emotion.

Yeom Bang-yeol, having just finished his meeting, spotted her at the end of the hallway, called her name, and then cheerfully shouted, "Jun-yeol!"

If Father is here, everything will be alright.

Yeom Jun-yeol, who had been picking someone to consult, felt a noticeable sense of relief upon seeing Yeom Bang-yeol.

His mother also smiled with relief upon seeing him.

While they began talking, Yeom Jun-yeol sorted through the information in his mind.

First, I’ll talk with Father, then with the dragon kin, and with the Dragon King... that will be difficult. The priestesses are busy right now.

Due to the rainy season, the Dragon King’s priestesses were occupied, and the only priestess at the Dragon Palace was also unavailable, making it hard to get a chance to consult with the Dragon King.

In that case, the next consultation was already decided.

He had an appointment with someone in a few days.

I should also consult with Yi-shin.

Thinking of Jo Yi-shin, his mentor and junior, Yeom Jun-yeol felt the same sense of calm he had when Yeom Bang-yeol appeared.

As the remaining vacation days passed and the day to meet approached, I arranged meetings with Yoo Sang-hoon, Jang Nam-uk, and Do Si-hoo.

It was a given that I would meet with Yoo Sang-hoon and Jang Nam-uk during the vacation.

The surprising part was that Do Si-hoo was also added to the list.

We’ve gotten closer while playing PlayerZ together, and that guy has grown up a bit too.

Do Si-hoo was still prone to making jokes, but recently, he’d stopped bothering Jang Nam-uk so much.

He no longer caused a fuss about jumping into the sea to overcome water, realizing he couldn’t because he was involved with Muji-gi.

"Hey, I’ll pay today. I’m treating everyone who came to cheer me on."

"Did you already get your prize?"

"Yeah."

Yoo Sang-hoon said this as he led us to a charcoal grilled ribs restaurant famous for its cold noodles.

It was surprising because it was a bit far from Eun-gwang-gu, and I thought Yoo Sang-hoon would prefer eating street food rather than traveling to a far restaurant.

"Yoo Sang-hoon choosing a restaurant outside of Eun-gwang-gu is surprising. He’s the type to hate wasting time on travel, especially since he’s always been saving time after starting PlayerZ to avoid any play loss."

"I thought so too."

I agreed with Jang Nam-uk, and Do Si-hoo proudly said,

"I recommended this place!"

"That guy wouldn’t stop rambling about wanting to go here, so I just made the reservation."

It turned out the culprit was Do Si-hoo.

Yoo Sang-hoon grumbled but didn’t scold him much.

It seemed like playing PlayerZ together had a big impact on their relationship.

When we arrived at the restaurant, something felt off.

It was a busy time, but the restaurant was empty.

Well, not entirely—there was only one table filled.

"We’ve arrived."

The person sitting at that table was Jecheon Daeseong.

The one waiting for us, blindfolded with a golden band, was Miho Wang.