November. It is that awkward, half-assed month. Not cold enough to burrow under a blanket and hibernate, yet hardly warm enough to sprawl out and sunbathe. It drags itself forward, sluggish and dull. For humanity, this is the season when dead leaves scatter and couples start buying matching sweaters. But for Department 1031 of The Jade Palace Conglomerate, this marks the exact moment we detonate the blockbuster known as the "Diary of Dreams."

  To operate an event of this magnitude without sending the Tax Bureau or the Human Security Agency into a frenzy, we first need a flawless cover.

  Far East Oil & Gas, our department’s Tier 1 front company in this world, is scrambling to execute the plan and establish a subsidiary dedicated solely to the event. Dreamscape Inc. The name sounds like a classic "rug pull" crypto scam designed to fleece gullible investors. I wonder which brat in the diplomatic team came up with that. But whatever. It is fortunate we have a corporate titan backing us to ensure credibility, otherwise not a single soul would bother signing up.

  First, regarding that oil giant, it is essentially a legal money printer that specializes in selling raw resources created via cheap Creation Law. The net profit is used to pay the salaries of The Sensitives like Kaito or to cover the expenses of our underground "diplomatic" operations.

  I slide my finger across the hologram screen, reviewing the ad samples that the Marketing Team just unleashed onto the Marketplace.

  "Sick of your dull reality? Want to become the God of your own world? Let Dreamscape open the way for you."

  The slogan reeks of a pyramid scheme, yet it is incredibly effective on those who loathe their current lives.

  The flagship product this time is a Lucid Dream support device, Alpha version.

  We call it a "support device" to sound professional, but in reality, it is merely a wristband integrated with brainwave sensors, reinforced with a pinch of low-level "Sedation" magic from The Nexus to help users enter the REM state more easily. Simple, effective, and... cheap.

  I smirk while reading the bold, blood-red text that hangs provocatively on the virtual poster.

  [SPECIAL EXPERIENCE PROGRAM: THE DREAM CONQUEROR]

  "The device is still in the research and development phase. We need the bravest pioneers."

  "Challenge #1: If you achieve a Lucid Dream state for 7 consecutive days and have valid brainwave data recorded by our device, bring it to the Dreamscape headquarters. Instant Reward: 10 million Yen in cash."

  I whistle softly. Ten million yen for a week of sleeping. For an average salaryman in Tokyo, this figure is enough for them to sell their soul to the devil, let alone wear a wristband to bed.

  But that is not all. The final line is the key, the greasy piece of cheese sitting atop the giant mousetrap.

  [LEGENDARY PRIZE]

  "If any outstanding individual maintains a continuous chain of Lucid Dream data for 1 month without interruption, that person will become our Brand Ambassador and receive a gift worth..."

  500 MILLION YEN.

  "My, my," I mutter, my fox tail swaying rhythmically in amusement. "Our department is truly playing big this time. Crushing people with money in the literal sense. With this bounty, I bet all of Tokyo will rush to bed early like obedient children."

  More importantly, that 500 million yen is actually just a small fraction of the petty cash budget of Far East Oil & Gas. Using the sheep's own wool to pay for the shearing. It is the classic maneuver of conglomerates.

  "Order up, little fox."

  Alethea drops the hologram device onto the table with a sharp thwack, the dry sound dragging me out of my wandering thoughts. Inside it contains the detailed blueprints and the operating principles of the "DreamLink Alpha" device that we are about to launch.

  I skim through the lengthy technical specifications along with a mess of convoluted jargon like "Theta brainwaves," "REM resonance frequency," or "biofeedback mechanisms." Reading this stuff just induces headaches. I only need to care about the Hidden Features section.

  "Calling it 'lucid dream support' is just fancy marketing speak," I mutter, tapping my claw on a segment of bright red code in the schematic. "In reality, it is a metal detector, and the 'metal' here is buried memory."

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  The device will continuously emit an extremely low brainwave frequency, suggesting specific symbolic images: A monkey, an Unmanned Train, and a Red Station.

  Only individuals who have made contact, seen, or been victims of Kisaragi will resonate with this frequency and fall into a Lucid Dream. For normal people, they simply sleep better.

  "I think that man Seikō was truly a 'reject,' a glitch in the mastermind's production line," Alethea says while crossing her arms and leaning her back against the bookshelf, her tone sharp as always. "He remembered too much, and he even ran his mouth about it. As for the real victims who entered and escaped Kisaragi, they have surely been wiped clean of any traces on their conscious surface."

  She pushes up her glasses frames, her eyes flashing with a mischievous glint. "But with this method of ours, we do not need to interrogate them to see if they remember anything."

  "Oh, I get it," I nod, my tail swaying gently. "The subconscious does not know how to lie. It is easy to wipe a human's surface memories clean, but doing that to their deep subconscious is not simple at all. Even if they forget, the brain will still scream when it sees that monkey."

  The plan is clear as day.

  The first seven days are the "screening" phase. Thousands will participate, but only those with a resonance reaction can maintain a Lucid Dream continuously. They will be the only ones eligible (and greedy enough) to show their faces at the Dreamscape headquarters to claim the 10 million Yen package.

  That is the perfect moment for us to mark the targets.

  But the 10 million Yen is just bait. The 500 million Yen goal and the requirement to "wear the device for 1 month" is the true noose. It forces these living witnesses to keep connecting to the server, allowing the Diplomatic Team to penetrate deeper, digging into the deepest layers of memory to find commonalities, patterns, and perhaps even the identity of the one standing behind it all.

  "And naturally," I smirk, adding an important detail. "We must not forget to deal with the 'clout chasers' making up stories to claim the reward."

  "Rest assured," Alethea waves her hand with disdain. "I have already installed the Truth Benchmark module into the server. It functions like a soul-level lie detector. Human hackers are nowhere near the level required to bypass the Strategy Team's firewall. To hack this device, one would need at least the skill level of a Tech God from Asgard."

  The division of labor is set. My team will handle "psychological warfare" and information extraction. Zhen Shan's Security Team will be responsible for shadowing and protecting the marked subjects from Gakai's pursuit.

  Just as I am feeling smug about the prospect of glorious success, the silk divider leading to Zhen Shan's area lifts. The Tiger God steps out, holding a tray of steaming hot coffee just purchased from the automatic brewing machine, the high-end model I fought tooth and nail to get the budget for.

  "Hmph..." Zhen Shan places the coffee tray down, the rising steam blurring his stern amber eyes. He does not look very optimistic. "Good plan. But you people forgot to account for one more scenario."

  Zhen Shan takes a sip of the pitch-black coffee, his voice dropping to a threatening low.

  "Gakai is not a fool. He will immediately realize this trap when the event starts going viral. And if he cannot determine who our specific target is..."

  He slams the cup down on the table.

  "...That madman will kill indiscriminately. Participants in the event will be slaughtered en masse at random, as long as they wear that wristband, regardless of whether they are witnesses or not. He does not need to silence witnesses. He just needs to destroy our credibility. If participants start dying suddenly in large numbers, the shell company will collapse due to a media crisis, and we lose everything."

  I rest my chin on the soft fur of my hand, my fox ears rotating slightly forward, feigning deep thought.

  "Well, if he plans to play such an extreme game as you say," I narrow my eyes, "then he is practically walking into a trap himself. Let's assume he targets the goals marked by the Security Team. No matter how large the number of participants is, just one alarm signal of an attack is enough. Even if he uses The Law to flee to another universe, he will never escape our sight."

  Alethea nods, her slender finger pushing her glasses down the bridge of her nose, her eyes revealing admiration.

  "Correct. Based on his modus operandi until now, we can conclude that currently, Gakai does not dare to expose himself directly," she analyzes calmly, point by point. "The first time, when he threw Ogawa into World 4466, The Nexus was completely unaware of the jailbreak at Tartarus. And the destruction of Ogawa's soul? Takama-ga-hara has finished the forensic analysis. It was an arrow shot from an extreme distance, plunging straight down into the victim's private residence."

  She pauses for a moment, gently sipping a cup of tea that has gone cold. "There is a high probability that the Law of Probability intervened to ensure the arrow 'accidentally' hit the target without needing precise aim. But that kind of power is expensive. I bet that madman will not be foolish enough to burn through his resources like that again."

  Then she halts, her expression showing a fleeting hesitation. "There is one more detail. In the video of Seikō's murder that Itsuki received, the executioner who directly performed that barbaric act... was a human. The aura and biological fluctuations radiating from him were entirely mortal, with absolutely no trace of Gakai."

  Hearing this, Zhen Shan falls into a heavy silence.

  "The Security Team cannot possibly watch over every single participant," he says, his voice deep and heavy like rolling stones. "If the campaign explodes, the number could reach millions. Gakai only needs to use humans themselves to sabotage the event from the inside. This method is cheap but terribly effective."

  He looks up at me, his amber eyes etched with streaks of anxiety. "A few scattered deaths, we can still use the media machine to suppress the crisis. But if humans start slaughtering each other en masse... that would be a true disaster for the event's reputation. This plan would be considered a waste."

  Facing the dark scenario that Zhen Shan just painted, I do not flinch. Instead, I give a slight smirk, revealing a small fang.

  "Relax, Boss Tiger," I snap my fingers with a crisp sound, my tail swaying confidently. "Regarding this field, my team has plenty of fun tricks up our sleeves."